9. Act in danger
Three apprentices, born at the same time, in the same year, month and day.
It was as if the fate of being chosen at the same time had some special arrangement.
Chen Ji thought of how Old Man Yao liked to tell fortunes using the art of Liu Yao, and his technique of carrying stones and holding stakes to resist ice flows. He always felt that this master still had many secrets.
Could it be that in this world, the art of Liu Yao really has mysterious means to ask questions from the heavens to the underworld?
Just as he was thinking, a middle-aged man in a navy blue gown came to the door. Liu Quxing hurriedly greeted him with a smile: "Butler Wang, why are you coming to the clinic so late?"
The middle-aged man bowed to Old Man Yao and said, "Doctor Yao, my old lady has been vomiting and having diarrhea since lunch and is now unconscious in bed. My master has sent me to invite you to come and see her. If you are willing to come, I will reward you handsomely."
Old Man Yao glanced at him and casually tossed a copper coin six times on the counter: "Earth Fire Mingyi, Wind Ze Zhongfu... It's not suitable to go out tonight, I won't go."
Chen Ji: Ah?
The housekeeper looked embarrassed: "Mr. Yao, you are a doctor, you should have a compassionate heart. How can you disregard a person's life because of a vague hexagram?"
"There are so many doctors in Luo City, why are they short of me?" Old Man Yao glared at him. "Your Li family has always been stingy. Last time, I came to see him at night and promised to reward him handsomely. But after I saw him, I cured his mother's headache with just a single injection. Your old lady thought I was making money too easily, so she tried to refuse the so-called reward. Before I left, she actually gave me two smoked salted fish. Whoever wants to go can go!"
Housekeeper Wang was anxious: "Doctor Yao, my old lady is very old, please be considerate..."
Old Man Yao stroked his beard and said, "Don't bring up age. She's over thirty years younger than me. No one in Los Angeles can take advantage of my age."
Butler Wang: “…”
Old man Yao waved his hand and said, "She Dengke, please show me around!"
After She Dengke sent Butler Wang away, he came back and said to Old Man Yao, "Master, why don't you let us go out to see patients? We can earn one or two taels of silver per visit."
Old Man Yao cursed angrily, "You've been here for two years and you can't even feel my pulse. Now asking you to come out for a consultation is like sending a killer over there."
She Dengke's breathing stagnated: "Master, I am trying hard to learn..."
Old man Yao raised his hand and hit She Dengke on the arm with a bamboo stick: "Go and cook!"
She Dengke hurried to the backyard, and Liu Quxing followed him. One was tall and strong like an iron tower, and the other was thin like a bamboo pole.
When they reached the backyard, She Dengke said in a deep voice, "You've gone too far today. We're all fellow disciples, and none of us treat others like this."
Liu Quxing was stunned for a moment: "I went too far? How did I go too far? His family didn't pay him tuition, is it still my fault? Don't forget, Master only accepts one direct disciple!"
She Dengke fell into deep thought. Only the direct disciples could take over the official position of the Imperial Hospital. The three apprentices were originally in a competitive relationship.
…
…
The aroma of rice wafted from the kitchen. A low dining table and low stools were set up in the yard. Old man Yao was holding a bowl of millet porridge and drinking it slowly.
There was a plate of pickles and a plate of tofu on the table. She Dengke and Liu Quxing sat on small stools and waited until the master finished eating and wiped his mouth before they dared to pick up their chopsticks.
Chen Ji couldn't afford the tuition, so he didn't even have a place to sit and could only stand aside and eat whole-grain cakes.
The multi-grain pancakes were mixed with some wild vegetables, making them somewhat difficult to swallow. Chen Ji filled a bucket of water from the water tank, swallowed the pancakes with it, and walked back to the main hall, carrying the bucket and rag.
Old Man Yao glanced at him and said, "It's already dark, and you're still working?"
"I was afraid I wouldn't be able to finish my work tomorrow, so I got up and mopped the floor first," Chen Ji explained.
Buddhism and Taoism.
Old man Yao scratched his eyebrows and said, "A self-torture trick? Don't try to use a self-torture trick on me. I won't be soft-hearted."
Chen Ji smiled and said, "No, Master, I will earn the tuition money as soon as possible and give it to you."
He really wanted to stay in the clinic. Whether it was the threat from Jiaotu and Yunyang, or the unsolved mystery of the ice flow in his body, he needed to stay here to find a solution.
His situation after coming to this world didn't seem very good... but there was nothing to complain about. The world gave him a chance to live again, which was already very good.
Pessimists are always right, but optimists can always move forward.
Chen Ji put the bucket on the ground, wrung out the rag and wiped the floor. However, the moment he bent down, the icy current in his body suddenly surged out without any warning!
The bone-chilling coldness hit him, quickly draining the warmth from Chen Ji's body.
In just a few breaths, his whole body began to tremble, as if he was wearing thin clothes in the cold winter.
"What exactly is this ice flow? Is it really the ghost of someone who died? Maybe I can observe it when Master beats one of my brothers to death..."
Chen Ji trembled as he used the stone-carrying and stake-holding technique to suppress the ice flow. Strangely, this time the ice flow did not retract into his dantian, but continued to bump around in his body, as if looking for something.
He sensed the direction of the ice stream's impact and looked behind the counter, where there were rows of vermilion medicine cabinets.
"What attracts you?" Chen Ji moved step by step towards the medicine cabinet until he pulled out the drawer with the word 'Ginseng' written on it!
There is only one fifty-year-old ginseng in the drawer.
Chen Ji felt the guidance of the ice flow and tried to touch the roots of the fifty-year-old ginseng with his hand, but he saw that the six roots of the ginseng melted into a transparent liquid flowing in the palm of his hand, and finally condensed into a bead the size of a thumb.
In just a moment, the icy flow in the body was completely drained away!
Um?
What is this thing used for?
Chen Ji picked up the bead and looked at it carefully. There seemed to be a snake-like thin mist constantly moving in the transparent bead.
He wondered in his mind whether he should eat the bead, but then he thought, if he ate it, wouldn't the ice flow return to his body?
Don’t rush to eat it. The bead won’t run away anyway. Check if there is any information about it in the books first.
Chen Ji stuffed the beads into his sleeve and looked down at the old ginseng. The roots, which were once quite dense, were now half bare...
"Will Master find out something's wrong? With his stingy personality, if he finds out the ginseng is of bad quality, how much will I have to pay?! Will he kick me out of the clinic?!"
Chen Ji was shocked when he thought of this. He immediately went to the clinic to check the inventory. He turned to the page about old ginseng and read: "One 50-year-old ginseng plant, three coins, and fourteen roots."
One qian weighs about 3 grams. The account is recorded too carefully. As long as Old Man Yao counts the inventory, he will definitely find the problem with this old ginseng.
He frowned and closed the drawer. His already poor family was now even more destitute. He didn't know how often Old Man Yao checked the inventory, so he had to solve this problem before his next check.
However, what he needed to solve more was the trouble at hand: tomorrow's school exams.
After wiping the floor, Chen Ji did not go back to sleep, but found the "General Principles of Medical Skills" to read. Although it was a bit too late to study it from the beginning now, he had to learn it anyway.
The sooner you learn, the less beatings you will receive.
At this time, there were light footsteps coming from the backyard, and Chen Ji put the General Outline of Medical Skills under the counter.
He turned around and saw Liu Quxing wearing a coat, peeking at him curiously.
"Brother, why are you awake?"
"I got up to pee at night and came to see you," Liu Quxing approached slyly, "I have to tell you something, otherwise I'll feel guilty."
"What's up?"
Liu Quxing said, "I asked you to help me with the work today because I really wanted to help you. Otherwise, if you can't pay the tuition, your master will really send you back home. Don't listen to She Dengke's nonsense. I have no ill intentions."
Chen Ji smiled and said, "Don't worry, Senior Brother Liu, I know your good intentions."
"Okay, as long as you know my good intentions," Liu Quxing returned to the house wearing a coat, while She Dengke was still snoring.
He shook Shedenke: "Wake up! Wake up!"
No response.
Liu Quxing said again: "Wake up quickly, Chen Ji is secretly reviewing his studies!"
With a bang, She Dengke sat up: "What?!"
Liu Quxing quickly changed the subject: "I just got up to pee, and thought I'd go see why Chen Ji hadn't come back to sleep yet, but I found out he was secretly reading a book while we were sleeping!"
She Dengke was shocked: "So despicable?!"
"Really? Why don't we learn it too!"
She Dengke was impatient: "What are you studying for so late at night? Go to sleep! You are not allowed to study either!"
"Well! No need to study! Go to sleep!"
In the middle of the night, She Dengke woke up because he had to urinate. He got up and saw that he was the only one left in the room.
The tall and strong young man stood up suspiciously, put on a long gown and walked into the yard, but found that there was an orange-red fire in the kitchen.
When I pushed the door open, I saw Liu Quxing, wrapped in a coat, sitting on a small stool beside the stove, lighting an oil-slag lamp, holding a book on typhoid pathology in his hands...
"You bastard!" She Dengke covered Liu Quxing's mouth and beat him. Even Chen Ji didn't expect that he would bring the evil spirit of internal circulation into the clinic.
While he was beating her, a girl holding a lantern hurried to the door of the clinic and shouted loudly: "Doctor Yao, Doctor Yao!"
There were three words written on the white paper lantern: "Prince Jing's Mansion".
The girl's screams attracted the attention of everyone in the clinic. She Dengke stopped beating Liu Quxing and ran out.
He came to the main hall and opened the door: "Chunhua, why are you here so late at night?"
Miss Chunhua looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old. She was wearing a bright green skirt and had a beautiful face. She asked anxiously, "She Dengke, where is Doctor Yao?"
At this time, Old Man Yao finally arrived, with his hands behind his back, and asked slowly, "What's wrong?"
Chunhua hurriedly said, "My wife is in trouble. Please go and see her."
Everyone looked at Old Man Yao, but saw him remain silent for a moment: "It's not appropriate to go out tonight, I won't go."
Chen Ji: Ah?
Isn’t this the Imperial Medical Clinic specially assigned to Prince Jing’s Mansion?
Chunhua was so anxious that sweat broke out on her forehead. She quickly winked at She Dengke, indicating that he should help her talk.
She Dengke hurriedly said, "Master, it's already past midnight and a new day has arrived. Do you want to tell me another fortune?"
Old Man Yao glanced at him and said, "Then let's do another fortune telling."
As he spoke, he took out a copper coin from his sleeve and tossed it six times, muttering to himself, "When nature created this world, it was still in its infancy. Hardness and softness began to blend, yet it was difficult for them to come into being. When one moves in danger, the mines gather..."
Old Man Yao's expression changed drastically: "This is terrible! I won't go, I won't go. I can't go now!"
Chunhua was so anxious that she almost cried: "Doctor Yao, if I can't get a doctor in the middle of the night, I'll die if I go back. Besides, I came here with the royal palace badge, so your Imperial Clinic must see patients."
She Dengke took a step forward: "Master, if you really don't want to go, I will go!"
Old Man Yao pondered for a moment: "...Chen Ji, you go."
Chen Ji: "Ah? Me?"
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