The lotus stems crisscrossed at the bottom of the lake, and the murky water severely limited visibility. Xu Yi held his breath, pushed aside the surrounding stalks, and looked around searching for the person who had fallen into the water.
The lake water had low flow, so anyone who had drowned wouldn’t drift too far in a short time. Most likely they were tangled in water plants or lotus stems. If they couldn’t swim, it would be even more troublesome.
Time was of the essence. Without overthinking, Xu Yi determined his direction and dove straight toward the deeper part.
On the lake surface.
The people on the boat were startled by Xu Yi’s action.
“He… why did he jump in?!” Tao Qinghao looked at Xin Shengyuan in shock.
Xin Shengyuan panicked a little. He didn’t know either! Flustered, he grabbed the boatman who had just climbed out of the lake and shouted, “Hurry and go save him, someone else jumped in!”
The boatman gasped for breath. His heart sank at these words. He’d just managed to save one person, and now someone else had gone in!
“That person jumped in on his own, probably to save someone. He should know how to swim,” someone on the boat that had the accident said rather rationally.
Xin Shengyuan snapped irritably, “I don’t care. He’s been down there for so long without coming up.”
“Cough, cough, cough… My friend is still in the water. Hurry, save him…”
The person they’d rescued caught his breath and struggled free from his companion’s support, also trying to run to the side of the boat, but was forcefully held back by his companion.
“Wait a moment. With his great fortune, he’ll surely be fine.”
The scene grew chaotic. People on the shore noticed something was wrong and poled their boats over.
Amid the clamor, bubbles suddenly gurgled up from the lake surface. Everyone’s eyes locked on the spot. The next moment, the boatman emerged.
He grasped the boat’s edge, panting heavily. “Not… haven’t found them yet.”
Xin Shengyuan wouldn’t give up and urgently asked, “What about the person who just jumped in? Didn’t you see him either?”
“No…” The boatman became flustered under his questioning. These were all sons of wealthy families, each one he couldn’t afford to offend. If he failed to save them, his life might not be spared today. At this thought, his legs, still soaking in the water, suddenly went weak.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the lake, Xu Yi had already found the young man who had drowned.
He quickly swam over, grabbed him under the arms with both hands, and struggled to swim back to the surface.
The young man still had some consciousness. The terror of death made him desperately clutch at the lifeline before him.
Xu Yi’s legs were tangled by him, making it impossible to swim back. His heart jolted. He grabbed the young man’s elbow, pulled close to his upper body, and delivered a punch to the Zhangmen acupoint at his lateral ribs.
“Glub glub glub…”
The young man was punched and bubbles came out of his mouth from the pain.
Xu Yi wasn’t worried. This Zhangmen acupoint would only make the person lose all strength without causing fundamental harm. Grasping his now limp body, Xu Yi pulled him back toward the surface.
“Splash!”
The two emerging from the water made quite a commotion, immediately attracting the attention of the people on the nearby boats.
Xu Yi swept back the hair plastered to his face and swam toward the boats with one-armed strokes.
The boats were also moving toward Xu Yi.
Soon, Xu Yi saw Xin Shengyuan leaning over the side, anxiously watching him.
“Xu Yi, hurry up, I’ll pull you up.” He extended his arm, shouting loudly.
Seeing his thin arms and legs, Xu Yi chose the boat’s edge beside him instead. As soon as he grabbed the boat plank, people jumped down and also pulled up the young man behind him.
Now, seeing Xu Yi climb safely onto the boat, Xin Shengyuan said both angrily and anxiously, “Why didn’t you say anything before jumping in? You had me waiting up here for ages, thinking you’d fallen in with this… this person who fell in the water, and we’d have to wait for someone to fish you both out.”
“It’s my fault. I jumped in without explaining.” Xu Yi wrung out the water from his sleeves. The wide sleeves, soaked with water, clung heavily to his body and carried the smell of lake bottom silt.
He removed his wet, heavy outer robe and went to check on the young man he’d rescued.
On shore, quite a few people surrounded the rescued young man, all calling his name. When Xu Yi approached, someone voluntarily made room.
“How is he? Is he awake?” he asked.
The companion lying beside him immediately looked over, eyes red, and called out, “He’s not awake. His belly is very swollen, like he drank a lot of water.”
An experienced boatman was performing first aid, but his heart was terrified, afraid this incident would cost him his life. Both his hands trembled uncontrollably.
“Let me see.” Xu Yi stepped forward and pulled him away. The man tried to lunge back over, but Xu Yi blocked him.
“I have a way to try. You wait beside us.”
His tone was unhurried, giving others a convincing sense of steadiness. Seeing that he was the one who had rescued the person, they placed some additional trust in him.
“Please, you must revive him. I will certainly reward you well.” The companion said with a pale face, not forgetting to perform a standard bow to Xu Yi.
Xu Yi had no time to return the courtesy.
He pressed both hands on the young man’s neck pulse. The pulse was weak, the heartbeat slow. Pressing on his abdomen, as expected, quite a bit of water had accumulated.
In ancient times, he couldn’t use CPR to save someone, which could bring Xu Yi considerable trouble. However, he knew other first aid methods.
Confirming the person’s breathing was fine, Xu Yi helped him sit up, lifted his waist with his back facing up, used his knee to press against his abdomen, and pushed his head downward.
Before long, the young man retched and vomited out a stream of murky lake water.
He vomited repeatedly for quite a while. Seeing that all the water had been expelled, Xu Yi laid him back down in a supine position.
Checking his mouth, nose, breathing, and heartbeat, and confirming everything was normal, he pressed and rubbed the area between thumb and index finger for several seconds.
“Cough, cough…”
Finally, the young man’s chest rose and fell. His eyelids trembled as he opened his eyes, then he began coughing violently while clutching his stomach.
“He’s awake, he’s awake.”
“Finally brought him back…”
The nearby boatmen and servants all collapsed to their knees with weak legs.
Thank goodness, they wouldn’t have to die.
Xu Yi stood up and stepped back, giving space to the companion whose heart had been burning with anxiety. They should have much to say to each other.
His clothes were soaking wet. Picking up the outer robe he’d thrown on the ground, he planned to leave.
Xin Shengyuan and Tao Qinghao, who were coming over, stopped him.
Among them, Xin Shengyuan knew of Xu Yi’s capabilities, but Tao Qinghao was different. He looked at Xu Yi with quite a different gaze. Was this the ability that Xin Shengyuan had mentioned?
“You know how to swim? And how to save people too.” He murmured.
Xu Yi smiled at him, then moved his gaze to Xin Shengyuan and said, “I should go back now. I need to change these wet clothes.”
Although the summer heat was scorching, staying soaked in water for too long could easily lead to catching a chill.
Xu Yi didn’t want to experiment with whether getting sick in ancient times would kill him.
However, they didn’t manage to leave.
The steward of Emerald Garden hurried over, repeatedly apologizing to the young man who had fallen in the water, then came over to thank Xu Yi. With this delay, even more people gathered around Lotus Lake.
Quite a few people had come to Emerald Garden to enjoy themselves today. The steward, afraid the matter would blow up, wanted to invite them to a resting courtyard in the back.
Things having reached this point, Xu Yi could only go with the flow and asked if the servants in the courtyard had any clean clothes.
“Yes, yes. This servant will have someone fetch them and prepare hot water for the young gentlemen. Young gentlemen, please come inside quickly. There’s a warming brazier and hot tea here. Please rest, young masters, and don’t catch a cold.” The attending servant was extremely respectful, not daring to be the slightest bit negligent.
Xu Yi, Xin Shengyuan, and the others, along with the two young men who had fallen in the water, were all arranged in the room.
The two young men who had fallen in the water held warming braziers, their faces pale as they came to find Xu Yi.
“Thank you, elder brother, for saving our lives. We panicked earlier and didn’t have time to thank you properly. We dare not offer only words of thanks. Please tell us your name, elder brother, and tomorrow we’ll send someone with gifts.”
Being called “elder brother” was rather novel for Xu Yi.
However, looking at these two with their youthful features, they appeared to be about thirteen or fourteen years old.
Still children, and having suffered this ordeal, yet the two could still come over with such presence of mind to express thanks. Xu Yi couldn’t help but sigh—ancient people indeed matured early.
“No matter. I’m a physician. I cannot stand by and watch someone die.” Xu Yi said.
“So elder brother is also a physician. Truly, we two were fated not to die.” The other young man said joyfully, and without being standoffish, sat right down.
All three had wet robes and held warming braziers in their hands. Looking at them, they were truly brothers in misfortune.
Fortunately, Emerald Garden’s servants moved quickly, bringing clean robes and separately leading them to bathe and change clothes.
Xu Yi entered the room. Behind a screen, a bathing tub filled with hot water had been placed. As soon as he undressed and got in, a maid came to attend to him.
Xu Yi: “…”
“No need. You may leave.”
He didn’t need anyone to attend his bath. The room was supplied with pig fungus mixed with spices. Xu Yi used it to wash his hair and remove the silt smell from his body. After wiping his washed hair dry and letting it hang naturally down his back, he dressed in his robes and came out of the room.
When he came out, Xu Yi saw the Emerald Garden steward again.
The steward had been waiting in the room for a while. Seeing Xu Yi emerge, he immediately called for servants to come dry Xu Yi’s hair and light incense.
His face carried an ingratiating expression as he said with lowered brows, “Earlier, thanks to the young gentleman’s intervention in saving those people, this humble one knows the young gentleman has a good heart. Today was truly perilous, so I took it upon myself to prepare some modest gifts…”
As the steward spoke, he had the attendant behind him step forward and present the prepared gifts.
Among them were gold and silver items. A full fifty taels of silver in five ten-tael ingots, plus two small hand pieces.
The reason for giving silver was that he’d inquired and learned this person was a physician. He thought to himself: fifty taels could buy more than ten capable servants, surely the other party wouldn’t refuse.
Then, smiling, he said a few more words. The gist was that today’s incident was Emerald Garden’s fault for inadequate protection, and he hoped Xu Yi could say a few good words before those two young gentlemen.
“We are of humble status and cannot risk being resented by the young gentlemen. These gifts aren’t worth much, but they represent this humble one’s sincere intent. I have a presumptuous request. I hope the young gentleman can speak on our behalf to the young gentlemen and not hold Emerald Garden accountable for this matter.”
If this blew up, he, the steward, probably wouldn’t keep his position.
Since Physician Xu had saved them, if those two young gentlemen were grateful, they might listen to his words.
Xin Shengyuan, seeing that Xu Yi hadn’t returned for a long time, came looking for him and happened to hear these words.
He felt inexplicably angry and walked over, scolding, “You filthy creature, trying to insult my brother with this bit of money! Who’s like you, trying to shirk responsibility and hoping others will speak up for you?”
“Young gentleman has truly misunderstood this humble one. I dare not have any bad intentions. I sincerely want to thank Physician Xu.” The steward hurriedly explained, fawningly praising Xu Yi’s earlier bravery.
These words were quite effective on Xin Shengyuan. He waved his hand, no longer angry, and asked Xu Yi, “Will you accept these gifts?”
“No.” Xu Yi’s tone was calm.
In today’s matter, Emerald Garden was indeed negligent in management. So many young gentlemen of noble families came to enjoy themselves, yet when an incident occurred, the rescue response was so slow.
If they had really waited for Emerald Garden to send someone, the drowning young man probably wouldn’t have survived until rescue arrived.
Hearing his refusal, the steward privately assumed the gifts were too meager and was about to add another twenty strings of cash.
Xu Yi frowned. If you have this money, why not use it to compensate the people who fell in the water?
Though on second thought, perhaps they wouldn’t care about such amounts.
Of course, none of this concerned him.
He’d been out long enough. Xu Yi still needed to return. He bid farewell to the steward who urgently urged him to stay and asked Xin Shengyuan if he was going back.
“Yes!”
Xin Shengyuan also had no mood to continue enjoying himself and planned to leave with him.
“How disappointing. I think I won’t come to Emerald Garden to play anymore.”
Xu Yi smiled helplessly. “It’s not that bad.”
–
When the two young men who had fallen in the water came out after changing, they inquired and learned that Xu Yi and his companions had already left.
Those accompanying them recognized Xin Shengyuan among the group.
Two days later, when these two families couldn’t find Xu Yi, they sent their thank-you gifts to the Xin manor, hoping the Xin manor’s young master could pass them along.
The Xin manor’s steward looked at the thank-you gifts in confusion and had no choice but to report to his master.
Master Xin still didn’t know his youngest son had befriended a physician. He ordered servants to bring him back from the private school.
…
Xu Yi knew nothing of this. At home, he was eating fragrant beverages made with ice produced using saltpeter.
He’d also invited Madam He and Madam Chen to join him.
When they learned Xu Yi had ice, both their hearts skipped a beat. They could hardly believe it. Where did Xu Yi get the money to buy ice!
Ice blocks were so expensive in this scorching heat. Forget about seeing such a complete block of ice, they couldn’t even afford crushed ice.
“You just can’t sit still. Ice blocks are so expensive, and yet you bought them to make iced beverages.” Madam He felt sorry about the silver, and thinking that Xu Yi’s engagement had been broken off, that returned betrothal gift money shouldn’t be spent carelessly but saved up.
“I know you’re capable, but right now you have no parents or brothers, you still need someone close to look after you. That Wang family isn’t good. Tell me what you’re thinking, and I’ll find you a matchmaker.”
Xu Yi put down the ceramic bowl he’d raised to his lips and smiled awkwardly at Madam He.
How was it that even in ancient times, he couldn’t escape being pressured to marry?
When the Wang family came to break off the engagement earlier, rather than being angry, Xu Yi had felt more relieved. He wouldn’t have to marry a woman he’d never met, wouldn’t have to get married before coming of age.
Now, with no parents beside him urging, he naturally wouldn’t settle his marriage matters so early.
“Madam He, if we don’t drink this iced beverage soon, it will melt.” Xu Yi blinked, reminding her.
Madam He smiled at him, but her words meant something different. “You’re trying to distract me. I can see you have no such intentions. I won’t criticize you. I know you don’t like hearing these things. I don’t want to annoy you, so I won’t mention it in the future. Do as you please and stay in good spirits.”
What could Xu Yi say? He could only say he had no such thoughts for now, not refusing her outright.
He could reason about other matters, but on this issue, his thinking differed from most people of the time. Many families had people his age already married.
Some even had children early. No wonder Madam He was anxious. He Linqiu’s marriage hadn’t been settled yet.
Now she had one more person to worry about. She truly treated Xu Yi as her own child.
Madam Chen advised from the side, “All right, all right, my dear sister, say less. This fragrant beverage is so delicious. Discussing this is such a dampener.”
Madam He sighed, knowing this matter couldn’t be rushed.
In her view, Xu Yi had been hurt by the Wang family breaking off the engagement. After some time passed, once he thought it through, he wouldn’t keep saying he wouldn’t take a wife.
–
On this day, Xu Yi was drying medicinal ingredients in the courtyard when a donkey cart suddenly stopped outside.
Two people descended from the cart: Xin Shengyuan and Tao Qinghao.
The two looked left and right, somewhat disbelieving that what lay before them was the Xu residence.
“Is this really it? It’s so dilapidated. Does your good friend really live here?” Tao Qinghao frowned, speaking with some disdain.
Xin Shengyuan pressed his lips together, equally disbelieving, yet the address Xu Yi had given him before was indeed this place.
“Why don’t we…” Tao Qinghao wanted to suggest going back first. Before he could finish, the wooden fence gate beside them creaked open.
Xu Yi, wearing a dark blue narrow-sleeved robe, walked out from inside.
Tao Qinghao: “…”
Xin Shengyuan: “…”
This ramshackle thatched cottage really was Xu Yi’s home.
Xu Yi asked, “Why did you come to my house?”
Tao Qinghao pouted, grumbling quietly, “I happened to run into Xin Shengyuan and heard he was coming to deliver something to you, so I followed along.”
“Oh.” Xu Yi’s gaze moved to Xin Shengyuan. “Deliver what?”
Xin Shengyuan immediately explained why he’d come. It was about the two young gentlemen from last time. Their families had sent servants with gifts, who found their way to his home.
“The manor’s steward didn’t know the situation and accepted the gifts. My father said to have me bring them to you. School let out early today, so I brought them over.”
The carter behind them had already unloaded the gifts from the cart. They were two red-lacquered wooden boxes, about the size of stools. Looking inside, one could tell whether the items were valuable or not. Each piece was a fine object.
If sold, they could be exchanged for dozens of strings of cash.
Saving someone had indeed let Xu Yi see quite a few fine items.
Xu Yi withdrew his gaze, covered the boxes, and said to Xin Shengyuan, “These gifts must be returned. Please tell them that when I saved them that day, it was simply because I knew how to swim, not to seek wealth or profit. I appreciate their gratitude, but that’s enough.”
After hearing this, Xin Shengyuan asked nothing and told the carter to load the boxes back onto the cart.
Tao Qinghao was astonished. “Why won’t you accept them? If you exchanged these gifts for money, you could replace this broken courtyard behind you with a good residence.”
Xu Yi: “…”
So were children from wealthy families all this naively straightforward? One could even say they displayed their disdain and contempt for common folk completely and thoroughly.
And in their view, this was simply how things were. They saw nothing wrong with it.
Xu Yi didn’t answer him and asked Xin Shengyuan, “Would you like to come in for tea?”
“Sure.”
Xin Shengyuan didn’t want to leave just yet and pulled along the somewhat disdainful Tao Qinghao inside.
Upon seeing the furniture in the house, Tao Qinghao wore an expression as if he’d seen a ghost.
Then he saw Xu Yi bring out two not particularly refined ceramic bowls from the room, filled with osmanthus fragrant beverage.
The osmanthus fragrant beverage was made by Madam Chen. Xu Yi had gone to buy a new jar of tea and improved the recipe, crushing ice blocks and placing them inside to keep it chilled continuously.
Xu Yi said, “There’s nothing else at home, only this. Make do with it.”
Tao Qinghao took the ceramic bowl and discovered it was ice cold. The crushed ice inside hadn’t melted yet, floating on top of the tea with golden osmanthus flowers. It was quite a beautiful sight.
“This…” He exclaimed.
Where did this ice come from?
His family ran a tavern. The ice at home was used sparingly, only adding crushed ice to the fragrant beverages at the tavern for customers.
Who would have thought that Xu Yi, a mere physician, could use ice blocks so freely at home to make beverages?
“There’s more in the kitchen. So let me know if this isn’t enough.” Xu Yi said to him.
–
After seeing them off, Xu Yi continued tending to his medicinal ingredients. With the scorching summer upon them, his trips into the mountains to dig for medicinal ingredients had decreased.
Southern summers also brought much rain. After rain when the clear sky emerged, Xu Yi would take advantage of the lingering coolness to go out for walks and clear his mind. However, whenever he saw begging children on the streets, he would always think of that child called Cow Dung.
Strangely enough, recently when he went to Miracle Hands Hall to sell medicinal ingredients, he hadn’t seen that child either.
When he asked the apprentice, the apprentice only said he didn’t know, saying so many people came to the hall to sell medicine; how could he remember them all?
Xu Yi knew asking him was useless and didn’t inquire further.
These past few months, his days had been quite stable. The residents of South Street knew he understood medicine, and when they felt unwell, they would occasionally come ask him a question or two. He’d also adapted to Yanting County’s climate. Besides practicing martial arts daily for exercise, he’d made several trips into the deep mountains.
However, he hadn’t touched that agarwood tree. The few pieces of agarwood at home still lay on the wooden beam, and Xu Yi still had no plans to touch them.
But on this night, he was awakened by thunderclaps and dog barking in the middle of the night. Upon waking, he heard bean-sized raindrops pounding against the wooden window, making startling sounds.
Xu Yi got up and put on his outer garment, hearing the sound of water dripping inside the room.
“Drip, drip, drip.”
It was falling from the upper end of the roof beam. The night was hazy and unclear. Xu Yi groped in the dark to light the oil lamp and saw that a large area of the floor was already wet, with water pooling in the uneven spots.
“Woof, woof, woof.”
Little Huang, who had been guarding by the door, ran over, anxious as if trying to say something.
Xu Yi came to his senses and immediately took him outside. As soon as he opened the door, rain water splashed across his face.
But looking carefully, he discovered that part of the kitchen area had collapsed.
Xu Yi’s brow twitched sharply as he remembered there were still undried medicinal ingredients inside. Especially medicinal ingredients that couldn’t get soaked. Even if re-dried after getting wet, they would be unusable.
His heart panicked. Carrying the oil lamp, he went to the kitchen and indeed saw that several types of medicinal ingredients in the winnowing baskets on the bamboo racks had already been soaked by rainwater.
“Woof, woof, woof!”
At this moment, Little Huang anxiously bit at his trouser leg, pulling outward, wanting him to leave.
Xu Yi frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Woof, woof, woof—”
Little Huang persisted in biting his trouser leg. This puzzled him. Little Huang had always been well-behaved and wouldn’t bark randomly.
Barking so fiercely now, Xu Yi instinctively turned back to look at the kitchen and complied with his wishes, coming out.
With a “boom,” just as he and Little Huang emerged, the kitchen’s wooden beam broke with a crash and fell from above, landing precisely on the bamboo rack.
Xu Yi stood frozen on the spot.
Without any warning, if not for Little Huang, with his reflexes, avoiding it completely unscathed would have been difficult.
“Whine, whine, whine~” Little Huang rubbed against Xu Yi’s trouser leg, settling down now.
“All right, thank you Little Huang for saving my life.” Xu Yi crouched down, patted his head, and said with lingering fear, “It’s too late now. There’s nothing we can do here. Let’s go back to the room first.”
He returned to the room and took ceramic jars and wooden basins to catch the dripping rainwater. Because the oil lamp’s light wasn’t enough, he also retrieved candles and lit them.
Dragging over a wooden stool, he stepped up to retrieve the package from above the beam.
Xu Yi opened the package to check the agarwood stored inside. The rain was too humid—while the agarwood hadn’t been directly rained on, it had absorbed moisture.
It seemed it could no longer be kept on the wooden beam.
Xu Yi rewrapped it and placed it in a cabinet, thinking that with the kitchen collapsed, tomorrow he would need to hire a craftsman to repair the house. The kitchen needed repairs, and many places were old and dilapidated, so he might as well have everything properly fixed.
As for whether to rent a better residence, Xu Yi had no such plans for the time being.
He just didn’t know how many households would suffer from tonight’s heavy rain.
Little Huang once again proving why he’s the best boy