Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
âYes, I spend most of my time here on the hill,â said Wang Yao.
âGood for you that you can tolerate the loneliness,â said Xu Maosheng.
Most young people nowadays loved to live in big cities. They loved the busy and affluent streets and wanted to lead a voluptuous life that indulged in sensual pleasure. Only a few people could tolerate the loneliness of staying on the hill like Wang Yao did.
Xu Maosheng didnât stay for long; Wang Yao drove him home.
When Wang Yao arrived at home in the afternoon, he saw his sister and realized another week had passed. Time was like flowing water, passing quickly and quietly.
âHey, where have you been? I went to the hill to look for you,â said Wang Ru. Wang Yao hadnât seen Wang Ru for two weeks and found that Wang Ru was much less childish.
âI drove a friend home just now. Hey sis, you look so different after your promotion!â said Wang Yao.
âOf course!â said Wang Ru with a smile.
âI heard you went to Dao City some time ago to see my future sister-in-law. Do you have a photo of her?â It didnât take long for Wang Ru to become her old self.
Wang Yao showed his sister Tong Weiâs photo on his phone and shook his head hopelessly.
âWow, sheâs stunning! You should get your hands on her quickly!â said Wang Ru after seeing Tong Weiâs photo.
âSis, as an unmarried woman, can you please not to make vulgar jokes?â said Wang Yao.
âWhat are you talking about? Are you getting stupid after staying on the hill for too long? Mom! Dad! Say something!â shouted Wang Ru.
âDonât worry about your brother. Mind your own business. Youâll turn thirty very soon,â said Zhang Xiuying.
âI know, mom, let me help you cook dinner,â said Wang Ru.
âDonât try to change the topic,â said Zhang Xiuying.
Wang Yaoâs home would become much more alive every time Wang Ru was around.
It didnât take Zhang Xiuying long to get dinner ready. She cooked a lot of delicious dishes for her family. Everyone was eating happily.
âYao, do you know how to treat womenâs diseases?â asked Wang Ru suddenly when they were having dinner.
Wang Yao coughed. He almost choked after hearing his sisterâs question. He stopped eating and looked at his sister in surprise.
âAre you kidding me? You have a disease at such a young age? That doesnât seem to be possible to me,â said Wang Yao.
âAre you stupid! Of course not me. I was talking about one of my colleagues,â said Wang Ru.
âI donât know how to treat womenâs diseases,â said Wang Yao.
âI remember you said you could treat all sorts of diseases,â said Wang Ru.
âIt was just generally speaking. You canât honestly believe I can treat cancer, right?â said Wang Yao while having soup.
Wang Yao and Wang Ru were actually having fun when bickering with each other. They helped their mother wipe the table after dinner. Wang Ru also washed the dishes; then the whole family played poker games together until 9:30 pm.
âI need to return to Nanshan hill,â said Wang Yao.
âItâs getting late now. Youâve got San Xian and Da Xia help you look after the herbal field; no one dares to do any harm to your herbs,â said Wang Ru.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âIâve got used to sleeping on the hill, and you are too loud and interruptive. I canât sleep here,â said Wang Yao with a smile.
âAre you looking for a fight,â said Wang Ru as she pretended to beat Wang Yao.
Wang Yao walked out of his house with a smile. After he had left the village, it was already pitch dark outside. He couldnât even see his fingers in front of him. Wang Yao changed the way he walked. His steps and movements were taught by Zhou Xiong. He was feeling his steps while walking. Since he started to learn martial arts from Zhou Xiong, he always practiced his steps every time he walked in the dark. He improved his way of walking gradually by practicing in the dark.
Wang Ru went to Nanshan hill to look for Wang Yao the next day when Wang Yao was still doing breathing exercises. She was looking for something in the herbal field.
Woof! Woof! Woof! San Xian couldnât stop barking.
âWhatâs wrong with you, San Xian? You canât recognize me? Iâm not a thief! Donât think I wonât make you into soup if you keep barking!â said Wang Ru.
Woof! Woof! Woof! San Xiao became a bit agitated as if he could understand Wang Ru.
âWhat? You know what Iâm saying?â said Wang Ru.
Da Xia came and landed on a tree nearby. He looked at Wang Ru sharply.
Wang Ru felt uncomfortable with the staring from Da Xia and San Xian.
âWell, well, Iâll stop, okay?â Wang Ru stopped searching and lifted her hands to surrender. Then, she backed out of the herbal field slowly. She thought Da Xia and San Xian would attack her if she didnât stop.
Theses two animals are so intelligent now, thought Wang Ru.
She waited for Wang Yao inside the cottage. It didnât take Wang Yao long to return from the top of Nanshan hill.
âHi sis, how come you are here?â asked Wang Yao.
âYour pets seem to understand me. I just wandered into your herbal field, and they threatened me. They almost attacked me!â said Wang Ru.
âWhat were you doing in the herbal field?â asked Wang Yao.
âI was looking for some herbs,â replied Wang Ru.
âLooking for herbs? You? Can you recognize any herbs?â said Wang Yao with a smile.
âIâve got a photo here!â Wang Ru showed a picture to Wang Yao from her phone.
âItâs sedum; what do you need it for?â Wang Yao immediately recognized the herb on Wang Ruâs phone.
âTo treat burns,â said Wang Ru.
âTreat burns? How did you know?â asked Wang Yao in surprise.
âI heard it from one of my colleagues. Itâs a folk prescription. What? Not right?â said Wang Ru.
âYou are right. Sedum can calm the heat, resolve poison and reduce inflammation. It can be used to treat burns. So what other folk prescriptions do you know that can treat burns?â asked Wang Yao.
âLet me think...Eggs and sesame oil?â said Wang Ru.
âEggs and sesame oil? Are you gonna stir fry the eggs to eat?â joked Wang Yao.
âNot for food. Raw eggs can be mixed with sesame oil to put on burned skin. So, do you have sedum?â asked Wang Ru.
âYes.â Wang Yao did have sedum in his herbal field, but he didnât grow much. So, it was not obvious to see.
âItâs here.â Wang Yao found sedum in the herbal field immediately. He knew exactly where the different herbs were in his own herbal field.
Sedum was commonly seen in the south of Yangtze River and belonged to the Evergreen species. It had multiple leaves on one bud. It looked green and lovely.
âHow much did you want?â asked Wang Yao.
âI donât know. I just wanted to see if you had any here,â said Wang Yao.
âSis, please try not to tell anyone about my herbal field,â said Wang Yao when he was looking at his herbal field.
âI know,â said Wang Ru. She knew exactly how much effort Wang Yao had put into his herbal field.
Wang Yao returned to his cottage after Wang Ru had left to add more information to his notes. He had made notes of Xu Maoshengâs wifeâs illness and treatment. He had decided to document all the weird cases he ever came across and put them together.
Maybe after several decades, my notes will become medical classics? Sometimes Wang Yao had such thoughts, or dreams. After all the herbs he used to treat diseases and illnesses were not common. They were valuable licorice roots.
Not long after Wang Ru had left, Zhou Xiong came to Nanshan hill with his son and started to teach Wang Yao martial arts as usual.
âDr. Wang, shall we discuss my sonâs treatment costs?â Zhou Xiong mentioned the fees again while they were taking a break.
âYou donât need to worry about it now,â said Wang Yao with a smile. In fact, he hadnât decided how much he was going to charge. According to systemâs calculation, the fee would be at least hundreds of thousands of yuan, but Wang Yao thought it was too expensive for Zhou Xiong.
âI plan to go back to Cang province with Kang in two days to address some family issues. We will return after everythingâs sorted, so...â said Zhou Xiong.
âHow about coming here before you leave?â said Wang Yao.
âHow about the fee?â asked Zhou Xiong.
âOne million!â said Wang Yao.
âThatâs fine,â Zhou Xiong accepted the fee without hesitation.
Actually, the fee was a discount. One million wouldnât even cover the cost of herbs, let alone the decoctions made by the licorice roots.
âIâll make another dose of Regather soup for Kang before you leave,â said Wang Yao. He had just checked Zhou Wukangâs pulse and found that Zhou Wukangâs immune system was recovering. He was still weak and required an external force to keep the immune system working. One more dose of Regather soup should do the job.
âOkay, thank you so much,â said Zhou Xiong.
Zhou Xiong and his son left before lunchtime.
Woof! Woof! Woof! When Wang Yao was ready to leave for lunch, San Xian started to bark.
âYes, San Xian, whatâs going on?â Wang Yao looked around but didnât find any intruders. He took a closer look and noticed that San Xian was barking towards an herbal plant, which was strange.
âWhat happened?â Wang Yao took a closer look at the herbal plant and found bugs on the leaves, just a few tiny insects. He wouldnât notice them if he hadnât look closely.
Insects?!
As far as Wang Yao was concerned, insects could appear on flowers, grass and trees. This was just common sense.
In the winter time, the cold weather stopped insects from harm the plants, so Wang Yao never worried about them. He presumed the licorice roots wouldnât have pest problems because those herbs were so special. Wang Yao hadnât done any pest control so far. Now, it started to get warm, and the insects started to wake up. There hadnât been many insects around the herbs and trees, but Wang Yao was worried he would face a big pest problem when the weather got warmer and warmer.
Some insects were not harmful to plants. They could even benefit the plants. But others were pests, which ate and destroyed the plants. Those pests must be eliminated.
How should I deal with the pests? I canât use insecticides!
Wang Yao only watered his herbs with ancient spring water since he had started to grow herbs. He had never used anything else to nurture his herbs. Therefore, his herbs were all naturally growing without any contamination. Wang Yao wouldnât use any chemicals on his herbs.
Wang Yao pinched every insect off the leaves as he was looking at them. As he did, he was thinking of how to kill the pests while walking downhill. Some herbs could cure diseases as well as kill pests. Some plants would distribute special odors to drive away pests, such as mint, telosma cordata, and deworming grass.
Wang Yao had rich knowledge about herbs.