Madam He could see Xu Yi’s determination and didn’t say anything about having him continue his studies. Instead, she was quite pleased: “Becoming a physician is good! Your parents would definitely be happy to know.”
Xu Yi: “…”
Who could say otherwise?
No matter what, being a traveling physician still sounded better than being a farmhand working in the fields.
Xu Yi didn’t continue this topic. He asked Madam He to wait a moment, went back inside the house, took out two of the bean cakes he’d bought at the market today, wrapped them in oil paper, and gave them to Madam He to try.
Madam He’s family circumstances were ordinary, not much better than the Xu family’s. Things like bean cakes were expensive but not filling, which she couldn’t afford to buy more than a few times a year.
“No, I can’t accept your things.” Madam He was startled and hastily refused.
How could she take Xu Yi’s things? This child had finally gone up the mountain to dig herbs and sell them for a bit of money. What would it mean for her to eat it?
Xu Yi looked at her, blinked, and said with genuine sincerity: “If Madam He hadn’t helped before, I wouldn’t have known what to do. If I really didn’t have anything extra to spare, I wouldn’t be giving Madam He these treats.”
This was him, on behalf of the original owner, thanking Madam He.
For the original owner, a teenage youth who had never experienced the death of a loved one, when his father passed away from illness and his mother followed in grief-stricken despair, his entire person was like someone whose soul had been extracted, completely unable to make any decisions.
If Madam He hadn’t disregarded propriety, busied herself greatly, and even went to hire people to handle funeral matters to get the burial done…
His body didn’t move, but his actions were quite resolute. If Madam He didn’t take it, he would just keep standing there.
Madam He had no choice but to take the bean cakes from his hands. Thinking that Xu Yi was still young and didn’t know the value of basic necessities, she spoke up: “You need to save up money. When you earn it, you can’t spend it all. And next spring, that girl from the Wang family will be coming to your door. You need to prepare the betrothal gifts all over again.”
Xu Yi: “…”
He fell silent.
He was a bit panicked too, not panicked about being unable to save up money for betrothal gifts, but because here, men mostly married and had children at sixteen or seventeen. Even if delayed, they would try to drag it out until before age twenty at the latest.
And there was that girl from the Wang family. He didn’t even know her name, yet next year he might have to live under the same roof with her, spending their days together for the long haul.
Thinking about this gave him a headache. Once his head hurt, he didn’t want to think about it anymore.
Madam He saw that he kept his mouth shut about this matter and guessed in her heart whether it was because of Xu Yi’s parents. She immediately felt she’d been too talkative: “It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have brought this up.”
“It’s not Madam He’s fault.” Xu Yi shook his head. Instead, he stared at her complexion and said softly, “Madam He, you should rest more during this time. Don’t overwork yourself.”
Madam He covered her mouth and laughed: “How would I be overworked? Every day I just sit and embroider. It doesn’t tire a person.”
Xu Yi said: “Sitting for long periods harms the lower back. Lower back muscle injuries aren’t easy to recover from. Sitting and embroidering for extended periods is equally bad for the eyes.”
After hearing this, Madam He felt warmth in her heart and verbally agreed.
After Madam He returned to her room, Xu Yi turned and went to the kitchen.
The black bean water had been boiling for about an hour and a half. Poking it with chopsticks, the black beans were all soft and mushy.
After boiling for another hour, it could be cooked into a mush-like state. This was when a filter would be needed. Naturally, the house didn’t have one. He hadn’t even seen an ordinary strainer.
He could only go back to the room and pick through the cabinet, selecting a piece of clean, unused plain cloth scraps that could work.
He used scissors to cut it into a square shape, first rinsed it in clean water, squeezed out the water, and hung it under the eaves to dry.
During the waiting time, since Xu Yi had nothing to do, he went to the main hall and wholeheartedly performed a complete set of Five Animal Exercises.
After finishing one set of Five Animal Exercises, a thin layer of sweat formed on his back. His body temperature rose, and even wearing the light spring shirt felt somewhat hot.
He was also somewhat tired. This body really couldn’t compare to the original one.
Xu Yi pursed his lips in disdain, but after, he performed another complete set of Five Animal Exercises before stopping.
By evening.
Xu Yi finished his evening meal.
The black bean water was completely cooked. After adding half a sheng of yellow wine and bringing it to a boil again, he could soak the heshouwu slices in it.
By the next day, after soaking overnight, the heshouwu had absorbed half of the black bean liquid. He sealed the jar and continued to simmer it over low heat until all the remaining black bean liquid was absorbed.
The Xu family courtyard was now filled with the unique strange medicinal fragrance of ripened heshouwu.
The rich medicinal aroma was even stronger than when Xu Yi had previously brewed medicine for his parents. The neighbors’ faces showed strange expressions, and they poked their heads out from windows one after another to check what was happening.
What was Young Master Xu up to!?
Soon, there was a commotion.
Bang bang! Bang bang! “Is young Xu home?”
Someone came knocking at the door.
This person was Accountant Chen who lived next to the Xu family. He was unwell today and taking sick leave at home. First, he smelled a strange odor. This smell was drifting over from the left house. The more he smelled it, the more uncomfortable his bloated stomach became.
In a gloomy mood, he came looking for someone, not restraining the force of his knocking.
Soon, a young master came out from the kitchen. It was Xu Yi.
His mood became even more sullen: “Boy from the Xu family, what exactly are you making at home? This smell is so terrible, it makes people feel nauseated.”
In the past when Accountant Chen saw Xu Yi, he would call him “Young Master Xu.” Back then, he felt Xu Yi was a scholar, and if he passed the civil examinations in the future, he as a neighbor could benefit from the association. Sometimes at the teahouse, when his employer didn’t want the leftover tea, he would bring it home and deliberately divide out a portion to give to Xu Yi.
These past two days, he’d heard that Xu Yi wasn’t studying anymore, so he no longer had the same pleasant expression as before.
In the future, this boy would just be a farmer. He was at least a teahouse accountant who had seen many high officials and nobles. This kind of boy with no future didn’t require him to painstakingly curry favor anymore.
Xu Yi narrowed his eyes. This person was different from the memories in his mind.
He hadn’t yet figured out where the problem lay, but the disdain that flashed in this person’s eyes was captured by Xu Yi.
After observing his complexion for a while, Xu Yi said frankly: “I’m just processing heshouwu. Although the smell is a bit strong, it shouldn’t make people nauseated.”
“Then why do I smell it and feel nauseous?” Accountant Chen frowned, clearly not believing what Xu Yi said.
Processing heshouwu?
What does that mean?
Anyway, he’d never heard of it. It sounded unimportant and had nothing to do with him. The important thing was that his purpose in coming over now was to stop Xu Yi from continuing to make this strange stuff.
Not studying properly, thinking about all sorts of nonsense all day long. Young Master Xu was ruined!
“I don’t care. Boy from the Xu family, this smell is so suffocating. What if it makes me sick!” Accountant Chen huffed and glared.
Xu Yi blinked: “But you’re already sick.”
Accountant Chen froze, his pupils widened in shock, so angry that he raised his hand and pointed at Xu Yi.
Xu Yi slightly tilted his body to dodge his finger.
Accountant Chen was at the height of his anger and didn’t notice his small movement at all: “You boy are too vicious! You dare curse me!”
From the early establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty to now, several decades had passed. There was already peace and prosperity, and foreign invasions didn’t reach this small Yanting County. The ordinary people here didn’t need to go hungry or fight wars. The only thing left to fear was getting sick.
Common people had taboos about illness and couldn’t afford to get sick. Suddenly hearing someone say he was sick, Accountant Chen initially didn’t dare believe it. But looking at Xu Yi’s calm face, he knew he hadn’t misheard! This boy was cursing him to be sick!
Detestable! Too detestable!
Given that he was the elder in terms of age, Accountant Chen coming to find Xu Yi was already unreasonable. Now being cursed, he still couldn’t strike back.
Just letting Xu Yi off like this didn’t sit well with him either. Accountant Chen stood outside the courtyard with a flushed face, stomping his feet, his lips chattering out a stream of output. Excluding the dirty words involving parents, it all summed up to one phrase: a cornered dog jumping over a wall.
Slam—
The stream of abuse halted. Xu Yi had closed the wooden gate.
Accountant Chen felt his scolding was like hitting cotton. The other party wasn’t hurt or bothered, completely not taking him to heart.
He couldn’t help but feel uneasy. That unpleasant smell seemed to have dispersed quite a bit as time passed, but his churning stomach didn’t weaken in the slightest. It even became more uncomfortable because of his anger.
His face turned pale. Staring at several pairs of prying eyes, he sheepishly returned home.
His wife saw him return and muttered disapprovingly: “How did you end up cursing outside? Didn’t you used to think the most highly of Young Master Xu? You thought he would definitely be the most accomplished person on South Street in the future?”
“What does a woman like you understand!” Accountant Chen was both angry and flustered, inevitably venting his resentment on his own wife.
Madam Chen wasn’t easily bullied either. Being scolded like this, she also got angry, putting her hands on her hips and scolding back: “What’s wrong with me being a woman! You were already feeling unwell today and came back on sick leave, and you won’t let others speak about it. I think what Young Master Xu said is right. You are sick.”
After speaking, she ignored Accountant Chen, went back to the room, and locked the door, not letting him in.
Accountant Chen shouted outside while demanding she open the door. Madam Chen didn’t respond to him.
Accountant Chen: “…”
He shouldn’t have gone out. He should have let others stop Xu Yi.
Xu Yi wasn’t in a bad mood because of this small interlude.
He was going out today. Of the three qian of silver he’d earned yesterday, he’d already spent half. Yanting County’s prices weren’t high, but money didn’t last. Living in the county, everything required money.
The straw shoes on his feet were almost worn out after climbing the mountain just once. He didn’t know how to make shoes. A decent pair of cloth shoes sold for twenty wen. Straw shoes were cheaper, but a pair still cost eight wen. There were many mosquitoes and insects in the mountains. Wearing straw shoes made it easy to be bitten by insects, which wasn’t worth the cost.
So he still needed to buy a pair of shoes.
Before leaving, Xu Yi brought Little Huang along. Even though he was just a two-month-old puppy, his nose was more sensitive than a human’s. If they encountered any animals, he could at least serve as an early warning.
He didn’t need Little Huang to do anything. Having a companion was fine too.