NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4
Xun Ying was startled. Then she turned around to see her grandfather’s stern face, his eyes cold and severe.
“Gr-grandfather, haha, why did you walk so quietly?” She quickly returned the ice cream and mumbled in defense, “I was just joking with Shengsheng, those words shouldn’t be taken seriously.”
Damn! When did Grandpa arrive?! He scared her to death.
Did she say anything too outrageous just now? She was just fooling around with the kid; she shouldn’t be punished with copying medical books, right…
Xun Ying also had a brother, studying at a university in another city. After high school, Xun Qingrui didn’t pay much attention to their grades, as long as they didn’t do anything wrong or get into trouble.
This resulted in her not being punished with copying medical books for over two years, which she now strangely missed.
Xun Ying realized her thoughts and shivered: What the heck? Was she going crazy? How could she have such ridiculous thoughts?
Xun Qingrui sniffed heavily, “Children have weak bodies, the things you eat are not clean, don’t let him eat them.”
This child was the apple of that girl’s eye. If he got a stomachache or something, it would waste studying time.
He was also counting on He Yu to pass on the Xun family’s medical skills for generations to come.
The descendants of the Xun family were all disappointing. His son was stupid, even after studying with him for decades, he still just recited from books; his grandchildren didn’t like to study Chinese medicine, with the former choosing physics as a major in college and the latter being too free-spirited.
None of them could handle things properly.
Xun Qingrui didn’t want the efforts of generations of the Xun family to end with him, so he reluctantly considered He Yu, who had exceptional talent, as one of the successors of the Xun family’s medical skills.
He had two apprentices before, but one left because he thought Chinese medicine didn’t make money and had no future; as for the other… it’s better not to mention it.
Xun Ying’s tone was sullen: “Grandpa, am I only allowed to eat unclean things?”
She was worthless as a granddaughter.
Xun Qingrui said with a grunt, “You’re as strong as an ox, eating as much as you want won’t hurt you. If you get sick, there’s medicine at home for you to drink.”
Xun Ying’s expression twisted as she thought of the dark Chinese medicine and its bitter taste, feeling terrible all over.
“Well, I’ll reluctantly eat two pieces of ice cream then. Grandpa, I’ll go back to do my homework.”
She quickly licked a rapidly melting ice cream, picked up another piece from the table, and ran into the house before her grandfather could explode.
Homework was impossible to do. Who would do homework on a Friday afternoon? You had to play enough before taking out the homework.
Wen Ze looked up eagerly at the gray-haired old man: “Great-grandpa, where’s my mom?”
After his mom settled him here, she got busy and disappeared. Worried that his mom wouldn’t find him, he didn’t dare to run around looking for her.
Sun Qiao had come over several times, bringing lots of snacks, afraid that he would feel lonely and homesick.
Xun Qingrui snorted, “What? Afraid I’ll eat your mom? Boys shouldn’t stick to adults so much, they should be independent.”
He wasn’t lying. If that girl had come to Jiang County earlier, he would have tried his best to bring her into the clinic. She wouldn’t have ended up with a man’s poisonous hands, at the age of studying and learning skills, choosing the most unreliable man.
Wen Ze was stunned for a moment, then slowly lowered his head, his thick eyelashes covering his eyes full of loss.
Yes, he wasn’t the five-year-old Shengsheng, he had lived for over twenty years in two lifetimes. The tragedy of the previous life was vivid in his mind, how could he still rely on his mom like a child all day long.
Great-grandpa was right, he was a little man, he had to work hard to strengthen himself so that he could protect his only loved one.
Xun Qingrui couldn’t bear to see the little rice ball so disheartened, so he knocked on his desk: “Your mom is in the backyard taking care of the medicinal herbs, wait a bit, you’ll see her in a while.”
Wen Ze showed a smile, “Okay, thank you, Great-grandpa.”
Xun Qingrui walked to the backyard, stood under the eaves, and looked at He Yu collecting medicinal herbs in the yard, quite satisfied.
Enduring hardships makes a person superior. Practicing medicine is not just about mastering theoretical knowledge, it’s far from enough.
He Yu had been at the clinic for over a year, but she was still far from being qualified to treat patients. Under Xun Qingrui’s instruction, she followed Sun Qiao to learn various detailed aspects. The main task was to understand the various medical books Xun Qingrui assigned her and memorize their contents.
She had good memory and strong learning ability. Coupled with her human ginseng origin, her knowledge of medicinal herbs came effortlessly. In this year and more, basic knowledge of Chinese medicine was a piece of cake for her.
Many common medicinal herbs in the clinic were collected from the counties below the province. This required the rough herbs to be refined and then collected one by one. Collecting medicinal herbs was a laborious task that couldn’t afford any mistakes.
It was past five in the summer afternoon, and the sun hung low in the sky. Looking up, the scorching light still pierced the eyes, but the yard had cooled down.
The ground, baked under the sun all day, was scorching hot and stifling. Even with the sunlight dwindling, the heat remained.
He Yu, not caring about the sweat on her forehead, collected the herbs into the house with Sun Qiao. They cooperated seamlessly and didn’t take much time.
She was about to help tidy up the yard when Xun Qingrui spoke up.
“Cough, let’s stop here for today. Your little brat stared at me all afternoon, not settling down at all.” The old man’s wrinkles were as dense as spider webs, his tone dull, with a hint of disdain.
But in the cloudy eyes behind those glasses, there was tolerance and kindness.
He Yu smiled, following his lead, “Grandfather Xun, was Shengsheng bothering you? Don’t be angry, I’ll talk to him properly later.”
As she spoke, her hands continued their actions without pause. With no herbs left to sort, there wasn’t much left in the yard.
Xun Qingrui, acting like a mischievous child said, “What’s there to talk about? He’s just a kid, what can he bother me with?”
He Yu smiled and didn’t respond, urged by Sun Qiao’s kind words, she went into the house and washed her face under the tap.
The summer water was warm. Splashing it on her face dispersed some of the scorching heat. With the skin on her cheeks soaked in water droplets, it appeared even fairer, radiating a faint rosy glow.
He Yu casually wiped her face and called out to the little brat reading a book nearby, “Shengsheng, pack up, we’re going home.”
Hearing his mom’s voice, Wen Ze’s face lit up, and he quickly packed up the things he brought.
On the way home, they encountered someone selling plums.
Considering the few fruits and snacks left at home, He Yu went over.
“How much are the plums, auntie?”
The plum seller weighed them one by one, efficient and nimble, and replied without looking up, “Three mao per jin, grown in our own yard, very sweet.”
(I had to do a lot of googling for this one. So 1 yuan equals 10 jiao or mao and 1 jiao equals 10 fen. Correct me if I’m wrong)
After another customer paid, the auntie quickly counted and put the money in her waist pouch. Seeing He Yu not moving, she picked up a few plums and wiped them on her clothes, cheerfully saying, “Girl, try some. Is this your kid? He’s so cute, like the fortune babies in New Year’s paintings.”
He Yu tasted one, the skin was a bit sour, but the flesh was crispy and sweet. Eating a few casually would be appetizing.
Just about to say she wanted two jin, she remembered she had nothing to carry them in. The plums were small, not like the big apples and bananas.
“Sorry, auntie, I don’t have anything to carry them in.” She said apologetically, “Can you wait for me a moment? I’ll go home and get a basket.”
The auntie was practical, digging out a thin, worn-out net bag from an empty bamboo basket. It looked like it had been reused many times.
“Here’s a net bag, do you want it, girl?”
He Yu: “Yes, thank you, auntie.”
Shitou’s mom, who was chatting and laughing with others, happened to notice the mother and son picking plums while squatting.
Her face instantly darkened, and she cursed, “Such bad luck, even picking up a kid, you can still encounter a seductive fox spirit.”
Others were surprised, “Who?”
Shitou’s mom nodded towards them, “The one from my street, I’ve mentioned it to you before.”
Others:…
She didn’t just mention it, she mentioned it countless times.
The appearance of He Yu and her son reminded Shitou’s mom of what Aunt Li and her son said at noon. It filled her mind with anger, and her eyes glared fiercely at the young woman who was picking plums.
Not far away, combined with Shitou’s mom’s loud voice, He Yu heard everything clearly. Indifferently selecting plums, she didn’t take her words to heart.
Little Wen Ze, wanting to protect his mom, couldn’t keep calm and turned around, staring with his big round eyes, his small fists clenched tightly. He seemed like a small raging lion roaring in anger.
He knew this woman, because they lived on the same street, his mom had been gossiped about behind her back by her many times. Most of those nasty rumors came from her mouth.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. Wen Ze opened his mouth, preparing to retort.
He Yu interrupted in time, “Shengsheng, come pick plums with Mommy.”
Wen Ze immediately threw away the irrelevant thoughts, eagerly looking at the basket of plums that didn’t look much different, “Okay.”
Unwilling to be ignored, Shitou’s mom rushed over, pushing and shoving pedestrians, wanting to kick her: “You seductive fox spirit, you’ve harmed my eldest, and now you won’t even spare the child? You’re so shameless… Ah!”
He Yu hugged Wen Ze to the side, gently avoiding the electric pole behind her.
Shitou’s mom kicked the electric pole in front of her, the big toe nail embedded deeply, usually she didn’t dare to knock or touch it. This time, the pain from her big toe nail being hit first, was so intense that her expression twisted into a chrysanthemum with countless grooves.
“You…you,” she squatted on the ground, wanting to touch her foot but not daring to touch it. She said ‘you, you, you’ for so long, the intense pain from her toenail made her wish she could faint from it.
People nearby didn’t give her any face, laughing out loud, not a single one said that He Yu had done anything wrong.
He Yu, satisfied with picking plums, paid and walked over to Shitou’s mom, squatting down, and said seriously, “Shitou’s mom, Xin Li wanted to watch a movie with me a few days ago.”
Shitou’s mom suddenly looked up, fiercely grimacing, “What? I knew you weren’t well-intentioned!”
He Yu smiled, her beautiful eyes cold and merciless, “So, if you say anything wrong or do something stupid again, it wouldn’t live up to the title you gave me.”
What fox spirit, she was clearly a ginseng spirit. She has no discernment at all.