After pondering for a while, Ji Yuan looked up at the horizon, and saw a paper crane co fluttering over on a gentle breeze. Soon, it landed on Ji Yuan’s shoulder, pecked at his clothes twice, and then burrowed into the brocade pouch on his chest.
“You’ve worked hard, you should rest now. I should rest for a while too.”
It had been quite a while since he had last slept, and the most comfortable place to sleep was, of course, his own ho. Even though it was already dawn, Ji Yuan wanted to go back to bed and sleep for a while.
The long-awaited bed was still as comfortable as ever. Apart from a slightly musty sll in the sheets and blankets in the closet, everything was fine. This minor issue was easily resolved by Ji Yuan simply dusting them off.
The people of Ning’an County had always maintained the sa daily routine. Although it was now winter, and they spent much less ti tending to the fields, the people in the county still got up very early.
Only Ji Yuan remained sleeping soundly until the sun was high in the sky, showing no signs of waking. On the other hand, the little paper crane, after a night’s rest, had once again slipped out of the brocade pouch and through the crack in the door to wander around the outside yard.
There were still so rustling sounds in the courtyard: it was a small group of calligraphy spirits whispering to each other — or rather, arguing in hushed tones.
Because Master Ji Yuan was sleeping, even these small characters subconsciously kept their voices down, for fear of waking him from his sweet dreams. As a result, Ji Yuan slept straight through until noon.
Around noon the next day, Ji Yuan comfortably rolled over in his bed and then sat up.
“Hooh…”
Sotis, a relaxed yawn and stretch could be its own kind of joy.
After getting dressed and going outside again, perhaps due to the psychological effect of a good night’s sleep in his own ho, Ji Yuan felt refreshed.
After leaving the house, Ji Yuan ate so braised noodles at Sun’s Noodle Stall, and then wandered around the city, experiencing his hotown in his own way.
Of course, he also had so other things to do which Qin Zizhou had entrusted to him. So after wandering around for a while, he went north of the main street of Ning’an County’s capital, and headed to the famous Ji dical Hall.
When Ji Yuan arrived, he saw that the elderly Doctor Tong Xian was still sitting in the hall, patients coming and going from ti to ti. Not only were there patients from Ning’an County, but also from distant towns and villages.
Only after Dr. Tong finished prescribing the last pregnant woman her soothing dicine did he have ti to stop and eat lunch.
“Master, it’s ti to eat. I’ve kept Li’s shop’s wontons warm for you!”
A middle-aged man nearby tid it perfectly. As soon as his master finished seeing the patient, he imdiately ran to the dicine stove outside the door and opened a large earthenware pot.
Amidst the billowing steam, the man glanced at Ji Yuan, who had been watching from the street outside, muttered a questioning remark to himself, and then focused on the food in the pot.
Inside wasn’t so dicinal soup, but rather a bowl of large wontons. The assistant, with his thick skin and tough flesh, wasn’t afraid of getting burned by the edge of the pot, despite it being winter. He simply reached through the gap and scooped out a bowl of wontons, quickly carrying it inside.
The man brought over the large bowl of wontons with a spoon and placed it next to Tong Xian’s consultation table.
“Master, eat it while it’s hot. As doctors, we must pay more attention to eating at the right ti. It’s almost noon.”
However, the man discovered that his master was not looking at the steaming wontons, nor was he looking at him.
“Move aside.”
“Huh?”
“Hey, I told you to move aside!”
Tong Xian was in his seventies or eighties, but he was surprisingly strong. Most other old n in Ning’an County would be in their graves by now, but he pushed his sturdy apprentice aside, his gaze fixed on sothing outside the pharmacy.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan couldn’t help but laugh. It seed that Doctor Tong had not only learned his master Qin Zizhou’s dical skills, but also mastered the art of health preserving exercises.
After clearly seeing Ji Yuan approaching Ji dical Hall, Tong Xian subconsciously stood up from his seat.
“Mr. Ji?”
Tong Xian’s voice carried a hint of disbelief, and he even rubbed his eyes. In the anti, Ji Yuan had already entered Ji dical Hall and bowed respectfully.
“Dr. Tong, you have such excellent eyesight and mory! Dr. Tong is probably the first person to have recognized at a glance in Ning’an County.”
Upon hearing the calm and composed voice’s confirmation, and seeing Ji Yuan’s appearance and deanor, Tong Xian suddenly ca to his senses and quickly returned the greeting.
“Mr. Ji, it really is you! Actually, it’s not that I have a good eye, but rather that last night I heard an old man from Tian Niu Lane who ca for a dical consultation ntion that you might have returned, so I couldn’t help but take another look when I saw soone who looked similar!”
Tong Xian looked around and then dragged over a chair.
“Mr. Ji, please sit down. Have you eaten? I have a bowl of wontons here, from Li’s shop. Although they’ve been reheated, they should still taste pretty good.”
“No need, no need. I’ve already eaten Sun’s braised noodles. Doctor Tong, please eat your al. Your apprentice is right, there’s a correct ti for eating!”
The middle-aged doctor standing nearby also looked Ji Yuan up and down before realizing what was happening.
“You’re Mr. Ji? Yes, of course you’re Mr. Ji! You look exactly the sa as you did back then, you haven’t changed at all! Sir, please have a seat!”
This doctor hadn’t even reached twenty years old back then. It was only thanks to Tong Xian’s influence that he had benefited from eating the jujube fruit from Ju’an Pavilion’s jujube tree. Because he had been an apprentice in the dical hall, he had been influenced by Tong Xian and knew more about Ji Yuan’s affairs than the ordinary people in the county, who were just listening to the gossip.
Ji Yuan sat down directly. As a doctor, Tong Xian subconsciously looked Ji Yuan up and down and saw that he looked very healthy, and had no signs of aging. His skin, from his face to his hands, was full and plump. With his full head of black hair, he looked like a man in his pri.
“Sir, you are truly a divine being!”
Tong Xian exclaid in admiration. Then he picked up a spoon and took a bite of the wontons. Feeling hungry, he ate several more.
“Mr. Ji, let boil so water for you to make tea!”
The man beside him wasn’t idle either, and hurried to the inner room after speaking. There was still hot water heating up on the dicine stove there, but it hadn’t reached a boil yet. He needed to add more fuel to the fire to make tea.
Under the influence of Ji Yuan’s calm and gentle aura, Doctor Tong’s initial agitation subsided. He ate and chatted with Ji Yuan.
“It’s been over ten years since I last saw you, Mr. Ji.”
Ji Yuan had heard this phrase a lot lately, so he just smiled and nodded.
“Yes, it’s been a long ti, so long that hardly anyone in Ning’an County recognizes .”
“Haha, then you should have co to see first, sir. I’m sure I would have recognized you!”
With that, Tong Xian ate a few more wontons, chewing and swallowing them before speaking again.
“I’ve heard people claim previously that you passed away in so remote location, and that your belongings had been entrusted to soone to deliver to Lord Yin. I always said it was just a rumor!”
“Hahahaha… Is that so?”
Ji Yuan couldn’t help but laugh. How could such a thing spread? Rumors truly transcended societies and eras.
“Yes, that story was quite detailed. They said you contracted tuberculosis and died on the carriage on your way back to your hotown. They also said that after receiving your last letter, Lord Yin sent soone on an urgent journey to bring your remains back to Ning’an County, but unfortunately, they couldn’t find them…”
Ji Yuan was stunned.
“So detailed? When did this rumor even start?”
Could people truly make up a whole story just from a few clues?
Tong thought for a mont and then said.
“It must have been at least six or seven years ago. A couple of years ago, when Lord Yin returned to his hotown to pay respects to his ancestors, I hesitated whether I should ask him about it, but after thinking about it, I decided against it.”
Ji Yuan was genuinely amused and shook his head with a smile.
“It’s fortunate that Doctor Tong didn’t ask, otherwise Master Yin might have been furious.”
“In that case, let him be angry! Find those gossips, the ones fabricating stories, and punish them to teach them a lesson!”
Although Mr. Tong was old, his sense of right and wrong was still clear as ever.
The benefits of having a good teacher to guide you impacted a lifeti, whether it was making a living or cultivating one’s own character and virtue. As the saying went, “a teacher for a day becos a father for a lifeti,” and the responsibility of teaching by example was fully embodied here.1
At the thought of Qin Zizhou, Ji Yuan took out a scroll from his sleeve and placed it on Doctor Tong’s examination table.
“Mr. Ji, what is this?”
Tong Xian looked at Ji Yuan with a puzzled expression.
“Doctor Tong, your master Qin Zizhou and I were friends in my younger days. He left so things for to keep safe, saying that they would be given to his disciples when the ti was right. I have been away from ho for many years, so I will give them to you now that I have returned.”
“Master’s things? Why…why didn’t he give them to us himself?”
Dr. Tong asked with a puzzled expression. He then quickly put the remaining two wontons in the bowl into his mouth. After wiping his hands with a towel, he carefully picked up the scroll and slowly unrolled it.
The scroll contained very few words, but quite a few pictures, depicting individuals in various poses and variations of gentle movents.
“This is… martial arts?”
Tong Xian looked at the little figure’s movents and asked in confusion, while Ji Yuan shook his head.
“No, this is not martial arts. It is a kind of health-preserving cultivation exercise from a Taoist lineage. Unlike martial artists who practice martial arts day and night, practicing these postures every morning will have a good effect on strengthening the body. But the key is to persevere.”
Tong looked at the scroll of pictures for a long ti before asking a question.
“If this is effective, can it be passed on to patients?”
Ji Yuan thought for a mont before speaking.
“This can only be learned by practitioners of dicine. It’s not that ordinary people can’t learn it, but how many ordinary people would be willing to spend half an hour on this every day? Unless the pain is unbearable, not many people will co to seek treatnt.”
“Ah, that makes sense. It seems that Master found this diagram for us healers to be able to heal ourselves!”
JY is complinting both Dr. Tong and Qin Zizhou on their moral fibre, saying that Dr. Tong learned his rock-solid moral compass from Qin Zizhou, and that Qin Zizhou’s teachings shine through in his disciple’s character.
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