Chapter 3
Not noticing the stiffness on Ashina Yu's face, Shen Ah Heng handed him a bowl of dark, steaming medicinal soup while speaking, and said, "The medicine is ready, drink it while it's hot."
As soon as she brought the medicine bowl closer, an indescribable strange smell wafted over.
It's not the bitterness of ordinary medicine, it's a bit like rotten leaves mixed with rust, with a very light fishy sweetness.
The medicine in the bowl was dark brown, thick as indissoluble mud, with a layer of fine brown foam floating on the surface. Even stranger, there seemed to be something indescribable floating in the medicine. Occasionally, a few gray-black fragments would float up, looking like the dead bones of some animal, or the body of some reptile. As the rim of the bowl was gently shaken up and down, the medicine slowly fell out, leaving behind a trail of crawling tracks...
Just the smell of it makes one nauseous.
"Why, are you afraid that I'll poison you?"
Seeing that the other party was reluctant to take the bowl, Shen Ah Heng mistakenly thought that he was afraid that he would poison you, and curled his lips and said, "Don't worry, I dragged you back from the woods with great difficulty. I was counting on you to survive and pay me back for the medicine. It would be of no benefit to me to poison you."
"Besides, our Qingxiu Sect has been established for a hundred years, specializing in treating difficult and complicated diseases. We are well-known throughout the surrounding area. If you don't believe me, you can go and ask now."
Ashina Yu didn't understand what she said, but he understood the meaning in her expression. He looked at her for a while and seemed to understand a little. His eyes fell on the bowl of steaming black medicine in front of him. The smell of the medicine was so strong that it made people unable to open their eyes.
After a while, he raised his hand. His wrist bones were still pale, and the lavender lines were faintly visible under his cuffs.
When his fingertips touched the edge of the coarse porcelain bowl, he paused slightly before taking it steadily and softly uttering a string of Tibetan words.
The sound was as light as a feather falling to the ground. He did not look up again, but only lowered his eyes to drink the medicine. A few strands of long hair slid down from his shoulders, covering half of his face, revealing his graceful jawline and the occasionally bulging Adam's apple, which had a kind of fragile beauty.
As soon as the medicine entered his mouth, the bitter taste mixed with the fishy smell rushed straight to his throat. There was no expression on his face, and he didn't frown. He swallowed it calmly, mouthful by mouthful, his eyes still empty.
It was as if what he drank was not a hard-to-swallow medicine, but just ordinary sweet water.
Only when the bowl was empty did Ashina Yu slightly tilt his head and return the empty bowl to her. Her already pale lips were stained black by the medicine juice, and he gently rubbed them away with his fingertips. His movements were extremely gentle, but his voice became even hoarse. Then he said, "Sprinkle the blue."
He didn't show any resistance throughout the whole process, as if he was handed a bowl of poison and he could drink it without changing his expression.
Seeing him drink the medicine calmly, Shen Ah Heng was stunned for a moment, his eyes lit up instantly, as if they were full of stars, and he slapped his shoulder hard, with uncontrollable excitement: "My goodness, you really drank it!?"
Shen Ah Heng's voice was quite loud, shaking the hair on the side of the boy's neck, but he did not dodge, just swayed slightly along the force, very docile.
"Those old stubborn people in the village all say that a young girl like me doesn't know anything about pharmacology. None of the neighbors here dare to drink the medicine I make. Ever since my master passed away, they would rather go to the town for treatment than come to me. If I can cure you this time, you will be my living signboard from now on!"
Shen Aheng became more and more excited as he spoke, patting his chest with his other hand, and made a bold statement to him: "Just wait, I will definitely cure you and make sure you recover as full of energy as possible."
She felt the bony shoulders under her palms. She could feel the clear bones through the robe. It was so thin that it seemed as if only a layer of skin was left. She was extremely uncomfortable. Shen Ah Heng paused in patting his shoulders, and suddenly seemed to remember something. She suddenly picked up the medicine bowl and turned to run out.
When she reached the door, she turned back and pointed at him, saying, "I'll get you something to eat. Your legs and feet aren't so convenient, so just sit down or lie down. Don't move around casually. Don't let yourself get starved before you're healed."
The patched coarse cloth curtain was shaken by her, and the person disappeared, leaving only a series of light and quick footsteps.
The boy still maintained the same posture as before. There seemed to be a trace of pressure left on the shoulder where he had been patted. It was not obvious, but it seemed a little hot.
Ashina Yu slowly raised her eyes and looked towards the door. Her long eyelashes drooped, covering the emptiness in her eyes. She was as quiet as an emotionless jade statue.
Shen Ah Heng rushed into the back kitchen. The stove was in a mess. The pottery pot used to boil medicine was tilted randomly, and the residue of the medicine was scattered all over the stove. There were large bundles of dried herbs piled everywhere on the ground, and even the cloth towel used to wipe hands was wrinkled and piled in the corner.
Shen Ahheng didn't bother to clean up carefully. She straightened the pottery jar, grabbed a cloth and wiped the stove roughly, and then took out the shepherd's purse she had picked earlier from the bamboo basket in the corner. The leaves were still moist, and the roots were much cleaner after being washed by the heavy rain, so she didn't have to go through the trouble of washing them.
Shen Ahheng casually plucked off a few crushed vegetable leaves, rinsed them in a basin of water for a few times, and chopped them into small pieces with a knife. Then he stood on tiptoe to reach the bag of cornmeal on the top of the cabinet, took it down and took a look. He couldn't help but feel discouraged again.
It turned out that the bag of cornmeal was almost finished, with less than one third left.
Never mind, it’ll be enough for a few meals.
Shen Ah Heng poured out half a bowl of noodles, added some water and kneaded it in the basin.
Before she traveled through time, she was considered favored in her family. Her mother was career-oriented and busy at work, while her father had less work to do and took care of her the most. She had never cooked by herself. After she traveled through time, she learned cooking from her master, who was also very lenient with her. She basically followed her master around for food and drinks, so she never learned to cook properly until her master passed away.
Either the dough was too thin and sticky, or too dry and crumbled into pieces. Shen Ah Heng tried for half a day but failed, so he had no choice but to pour in the chopped shepherd's purse, stirred it into a sticky mass, and threw it all into the pot.
She burned the stove fire too strongly, and the water in the pot soon began to bubble up and turned into a pot of shepherd's purse and cornmeal dumpling soup, which looked really unsightly.
The shepherd's purse buns that he had been thinking about turned into shepherd's purse noodle soup in the end. Shen Ah Heng frowned and stared at the pot for a while. Not giving up, he sprinkled a handful of salt into it and finished it. He tasted it, but the taste was still bland and tasteless. However, he could not think of any other remedy. In the end, he divided the soup in the pot into two coarse porcelain bowls and sprinkled a handful of shepherd's purse on top. Only then did it look better.
"It's what I eat anyway, so I don't care if it looks good or not, as long as it doesn't kill me."
Shen Ah Heng held two bowls, one in each hand, and walked out carefully, fearing that the soup in the bowl would spill.
When Shen Ah Heng returned to the front hall with two bowls of shepherd's purse noodle soup, she saw the young man lying quietly, exactly the same as when she left. Even his hand on the quilt seemed to have not moved.
Half of the collarbone was exposed on the cold white side of the neck, and light blue blood vessels could be seen in the concave area.
He tilted his head, looking at the still drizzling rain outside the window. His cold and pale profile was almost transparent, so beautiful that it seemed lifeless, and even a trace of emotion could not be seen.
"The meal is here!" Shen Aheng shouted loudly, but he didn't respond at all, as if he didn't hear it.
Until Shen Ah Heng put his bowl on a low wooden stool at the head of the bed, raised his hand and pinched his ear, and said with a breath: "Hey, eat quickly, otherwise it will get cold."
The young man slowly turned his head, his eyes fell on the bowl of porridge on the low stool, and then moved to her hand pinching her ear. He didn't say anything, but nodded slightly as a response.
He sat up, stretched out his hand, and held the bowl steadily. His fingertips felt a little cold, and he wanted to reach in and grab it directly. The action was natural, like a habit engraved in his bones, and he didn't feel there was anything wrong with it at all.
Shen Ah Heng saw his hand about to reach into the hot soup with sharp eyes, and was startled. He quickly slapped his hand away and shouted, "Hey, hey, hey! You can't use your hands!"
The boy shrank his fingertips when he was slapped, and looked up at her blankly. There was still no emotion in his eyes, just a hint of confusion as to "why not?", like a little animal that didn't know the rules.
Not knowing what the customs were in the Western Regions, Shen Ah Heng sighed helplessly, and had to put down his bowl, grabbed his chopsticks, and began to teach him step by step: "In the Central Plains, we have to use chopsticks to eat. It's clean and hygienic, and it won't burn your hands. Come on, learn from me, first like this... then like this..."
Shen Aheng first placed a chopstick against his tiger's mouth, and pinched the other with his fingertips, slowly demonstrating the "pinching" action. He also deliberately picked up a small ball of dough and shook it in front of his eyes.
Seeing that he still didn't understand, she pointed at the food in the bowl, then at the chopsticks, repeatedly showing him how to "use this to pick up the food and eat it," while muttering, "Like this, like this! Use this to pick up the food, it won't burn your hands!"
The boy's fingers were as cold as ice as she grabbed and pinched them. His fingertips felt the warmth of her palm, which was much warmer than his own skin. His eyes fell on their folded hands, then moved to her face as she gestured seriously, and his long eyelashes trembled slightly.
Although he didn't fully understand the purpose of the two thin pieces of wood, he stopped struggling and obediently let her adjust the position of his fingers, still very docile.
Shen Ah Heng taught for most of the day, and his mouth was dry. Then he let go and said, "Yes, that's it. Have you learned it?"
When she let go of her hand, Ashina Yu lowered her eyes, and her long eyelashes trembled slightly like butterfly wings. Her cold white fingers still maintained the posture when she let go, holding the chopsticks and hanging above the bowl.
After a moment, he slowly raised his eyes to look at her. His pupils were like black jade immersed in snow water, as if he was slowly digesting her instructions. After a long while, he nodded gently.
Soon, he picked up the bowl again and clenched the chopsticks with his fingers. His posture was still a little awkward, but he no longer thought about grabbing the food with his hands like before.
When he picked up the noodle for the first time, his chopsticks shook and the noodle lump fell back into the bowl, splashing a little soup. He didn't stop and tried again. This time he finally picked it up steadily and slowly put it into his mouth.
He chewed very steadily, without showing any impatience, and without making any other mistakes.
Seeing this, Shen Aheng couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Fortunately, this person is not too stupid.
Compared with the delicacies from land and sea that she had eaten before, this noodle dumpling soup was really hard to swallow, but it could barely fill her stomach. Shen Ah Heng held the bowl and couldn't help frowning after taking only one bite. When she looked up at him, she saw that he was eating quietly. He was obviously eating the rough noodle dumpling soup, but he looked like he was savoring some delicacies from land and sea, without showing any disgust.
The cold white profile of the face was immersed in the dim light outside the window, emitting a faint soft light. The arc at the end of the eye was long and narrow, and the natural color was illuminated more and more obviously. It was as beautiful as a Western Region statue without any worldly airs, and people dared not approach it casually.
After the meal, Shen Ah Heng wiped his mouth and quickly cleaned up the dishes for the two of them. When he came back, he had a Tao Wan filled with herbal juice and a clean cloth in his hands.
Shen Aheng came over and squatted beside his bed, raised his hand, and motioned him to raise his arm, and the boy raised it obediently.
His cold white arms were wrapped in old cloth strips with some brown medicine stains.
Shen Ah Heng untied the cloth strips, revealing the wound underneath that had not yet healed. She tried to move as gently as possible, for fear of hurting him. When she dipped her homemade brown medicine juice and applied it to his wound, he did not hide, but just sat quietly, his eyelashes drooping, covering the emptiness in his eyes.
The cold white skin was stained with the medicine, which made the wound look less hideous.
Then, he treated the wound on his ankle.
After treating the wound, Shen Ah Heng put away the changed cloth strips and reached out to pat the cloth mattress under him. There was hay underneath, which was quite soft and comfortable. Feeling satisfied, he said to him: "Don't kick the quilt when you sleep at night. It's very cold outside under the rain. You are in poor health. It's not good to catch a cold."
After a pause, he pointed to the curtain and said, "Your legs are not convenient, so you can sleep here for the next few days. When you feel better, I will help you move to the east wing in the backyard. It will be more comfortable than here."
Perhaps it was because no one had listened to her for a long time since her master passed away. She talked on and on for a long time, but he remained silent the whole time. Only occasionally when she pointed to the backyard, his eyes would glance outside, and then quickly fall back on her face.
There was no emotion, as if he was listening attentively, but also as if he was just watching.
After Shen Ah Heng finished speaking, he scratched his head, and suddenly seemed to remember something, and patted his forehead in annoyance: “Look at me, I’ve taken care of you for a long time, but I still don’t know your name.”
Without waiting for the boy's reply, she squatted beside the bed and pondered, "Look at your physique. I'm afraid a gust of wind would blow you away. How about calling you 'Iron Pillar'? Aunt Fifth's son next door is also called Little Iron Ox. When he was born, he was skinny and small, and always sick. But ever since his grandmother gave him that name, he's gotten stronger day by day. Now he's a well-known naughty kid in the whole area!"
The more Shen Ah Heng thought about it, the more reliable it seemed. Just as he was about to clap his hands to settle it, he heard the young man suddenly speak softly.
The voice was very soft, and there was a bit of awkwardness in the Central Plains dialect. Each word was pronounced with great difficulty, but it fell clearly into her ears.
"Ah...Shina...Yu."
Shen Aheng was stunned.
It took her a long while to realize he was saying her name. Her eyes widened in surprise and delight, and she said, "So you can speak Central Plains dialect? And you can even understand it! Why didn't you tell me earlier? I had to spend so much time trying to figure it out!"
"Ashina Yu..." Shen Ah Heng slowly repeated these four words twice in his mouth, saying slowly: "A-Shi-Na-Yu..."
The more she read it, the more pleasant it sounded to her ears. Her eyes lit up again, and she couldn't help but praise, "This name is great! It's much better than what I just thought of. It's both nice and pleasant to the ear!"
Ashina Yu said nothing, but just lowered his eyes slightly, his gaze still empty.
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