Chapter 5: The Adorable Ancestors

Chapter 5: The Adorable Ancestors

The morning began with a familiar tune: "The golden sun shines brightly, the rooster crows thrice. The flowers awaken, and the birds groom themselves..."

"Attention! There's a meeting tonight at 7 PM in front of the village office to discuss weeding the fields. One representative from each family should attend. No need for everyone to come. Attention!"

"...Unity is strength, unity is strength, this strength is iron, this strength is steel, stronger than iron, stronger than steel..."

"Hey! Hey! Attention! There's a movie showing tonight at 7 PM in front of the town supply store. Bring your own chairs, lock your doors, and stay safe!"

"...The sun is reddest, Chairman Mao is the dearest, your glorious thoughts will forever illuminate my heart; the spring breeze is the warmest, Chairman Mao is the dearest, your glorious thoughts will forever guide my journey, your achievements are higher than the sky, your kindness is deeper than the sea..."

...

Life in the 1970s was as regimented as boot camp, and Zhen Mier found it both fascinating and infuriating. The daily blare of the loudspeaker, waking him up at the same time every morning, was driving him crazy. If it were farther away, it wouldn't be so bad, but unfortunately, his grandfather was the team leader, and the loudspeaker was right at his doorstep.

Finally, when the loudspeaker fell silent, and Zhen Mier had finished breakfast, all traces of sleep had vanished. Thus, he spent his days dazing. Compared to the days when he could spend hours tinkering with a wooden gun, this isolation felt like a test of patience.

However, there were no televisions, computers, or smartphones in this era, and books outside of certain guidelines were mostly banned. Truly, one was just alone.

Occasionally, Zhen Mier helped feed the children, but only when the three elders in the family were not around. Otherwise, they doted on the children so much that the biological father didn't get a chance.

Sometimes, Zhen Mier imagined what it would be like if Lian Hui were actually Zhang Donglin, and the Zhang family welcomed him, treating his triplets just as lovingly. "...There would be fights!"

As the only doctor in Xiema Town, Zhen Mier had to be available at the clinic unless he was making house calls. To avoid using any public resources and to save resources for the country, the clinic was right next to his home.

As the village leader, Zhen Grandpa would assign tasks at the village office in the morning but spent most of his time at the clinic.

Being the village leader, Zhen Grandpa needed to stay updated on national policies, so the Zhen family had a radio. Unfortunately, apart from political news, it played old storytelling programs. "...Last time, we talked about Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong... To find out what happens next, stay tuned for our next episode!"

Zhen Grandpa loved listening to the latest episodes of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," often getting so excited that he'd bang the table. But for Zhen Mier, it was more like a bedtime story that put him right to sleep. Especially since it was broadcast at noon, many times he would fall asleep listening to it while others were on the edge of their seats, weeping and sighing.

Eventually, Zhen Grandpa stopped letting him listen, scolding him for wasting the battery.

With only five days left of his month-long postpartum period, Zhen Mier had mentally prepared for his liberation. However, after feeling his pulse, Zhen Grandpa ordered that he sit for another half month.

Zhen Mier's eyes widened in shock. Before he could protest, Zhen Grandpa cut him off sternly, "Do you want to extend your recovery period to a full month? Your ability to conceive was only possible because of medication. Initially, it was your mother... Sigh! Now, you must nourish yourself to recover the nutrients lost during childbirth. This postpartum period and the following three months are the best times for recovery. Otherwise, a shortened lifespan is certain, and as you age, you might end up bedridden."

"Um, that's a bit exaggerated," Zhen Mier thought.

The old man glanced at him. "You've been studying with me for a while now. Don't you understand your condition? Can your legs even stand steadily when you walk? Lie down properly. Summer vacation is coming soon, and when your younger brothers are on break, I'll have them catch loaches for you. We'll make medicinal dishes with them. In half a month or a month, you'll definitely recover more."

"...," Zhen Mier thought, "Recovering from childbirth feels like serving a tougher sentence than prison!"

Perhaps noticing Zhen Mier's obvious expression, Zhen Grandpa reluctantly brought out the family's treasured medical books, which were usually hidden away in a place no one knew. In the past, when Zhen Mier wanted to read them, the old man had been unwilling and dared not take them out.

"With policies relaxing slightly, we still need to be careful. Study these books one at a time, and don't leave them out all at once," Zhen Grandpa instructed.

Zhen Mier sniffed the book. "It doesn’t have that musty smell. I thought you’d hidden it in the pigsty or something!"

The old man snorted, looking disdainful. "Good things are hidden in pigsties. Do you think those who confiscate things are fools, cough, what are you saying, brat?"

"Haha!"

"Study them well and ponder over them. These books contain the heart of our family's medical knowledge. Master them, and you’ll always have a way to support yourself. It’s a shame that after all these centuries, no one has truly carried on the tradition."

Zhen Mier →＿→: "What do you mean by that last sentence, Grandpa? Are you saying that your prized collection, which you've boasted about for years, is actually just useless leisure books?"

A gentle summer breeze, carrying the fragrant scents of rice fields and fresh grass, wafted through the open windows, filling the simple but neatly kept bedroom. Zhen Mier, dressed in long sleeves and pants, feeling hot but only able to fan himself, stretched lazily.

"Finally, a breeze came along, almost enough to melt me. ...Wait, what? Why is there a martial arts manual here?" After stretching, Zhen Mier found an unread medical classic with illustrations that looked like something straight out of a kung fu movie. Upon carefully examining the traditional Chinese text, he realized that it was indeed a form of martial art. However, it wasn’t some invincible fighting style but a health-preserving practice, kind of like Hua Tuo’s Five Animal Frolics, designed to cultivate inner energy. It wasn’t about external conditioning but rather about practicing internal energy, specifically meant to complement the Zhen family’s unique Thirteen Needles of the Heavenly Gate.

Earlier, Zhen Mier had already learned the Zhen family’s exclusive acupuncture technique—the Thirteen Needles of the Heavenly Gate—from Zhen Grandfather. This acupuncture was great for all sorts of aches and pains, especially rheumatism. During the winter, elderly folks from the town and village loved coming over for a few sessions. If they were lucky, those with rheumatism wouldn’t experience any flare-ups throughout the winter.

"I seem to recall the old man mentioning that there was a secret technique in the Zhen family that worked even better with acupuncture. Could this be it?" Zhen Mier gave it a cursory glance. This medical book only had the first half but included a complete table of contents. According to the table of contents and the preface, if one were to master this qi cultivation technique and combine it with the Zhen family’s Thirteen Needles of the Heavenly Gate, it could perform miracles like bringing the dying back to life.

Resurrecting the dead? Yeah, not happening. In reality, this technique could only keep someone on their last breath alive. To truly save them, you’d still need miracle medicine.

The preparation of such miracle medicine was recorded in the latter half of the book, and the decoction still required true energy to prepare.

Unfortunately, this book—did not have a latter half!

"McDull, no fish balls, McDull, no fish balls and noodle soup... Damn it." The 'new' Zhen Mier cursed inwardly. Although he vaguely felt that this qi cultivation might be similar to the qigong masters popular in the 80s and 90s, human curiosity is what it is. Even if you know something like qigong is fake, you'd still want the whole deception. They dangled the carrot right in front of me, but just as I reached for it, they snapped it away.

It was too frustrating!

"...At any rate, I’m a guy with big martial arts dreams."

Truth and falsehood! As the heir of a medical family, the 'former' Zhen Mier had long been immune to the exaggerated and mystical claims found in many classical medical texts.

Because before, he had seen a book that claimed that, when practiced with massage techniques, it could provide relief or even cure those suffering from serious illnesses. Unfortunately, that book only had the latter half.

'New' Zhen Mier: o(╯*╰)o...

He also asked Zhen Grandfather, who laughed for a long time before telling him that, while medical classics were always supposed to be rigorous, ancient people were human too. They also fantasized about divine techniques. No one knew if they were real or not. Many legends claimed they were, but there weren’t many records in the past few hundred years. Moreover, many medical texts only existed in parts when seen by later generations.

"Haha! So ancient people were this interesting too." The newly arrived 'new' Zhen Mier was entertained.

"Well, you’ve successfully piqued my interest. Fine, I’ve decided to take a look during my recovery period." Lying in bed, bored, Zhen Mier muttered smugly. After skimming through the other books Zhen Grandfather had brought—mostly dry prescriptions and case studies—he found them too boring to finish. The cultivation manual was the only thing that felt novel.

Since he was bored, he decided to be a bit 'edgy' and give it a try. Who knows, maybe I’d actually pull it off. Hehe!

It must be said, at thirty-seven in my past life, I still had the heart of a kid.

In fact, Zhen Mier wasn’t the only one who studied these strange books. According to Zhen Grandfather, many older generations of medical masters also researched them. By then, most of them had retired and were pursuing the highest level of medical arts, unlike before when they learned whatever shortcuts they could to quickly treat and save people, purely as medical craftsmen.

"Huh! Could it be that I’ve got some natural talent and actually picked this up?" After studying for five or six days, this morning, after drinking Zhen Grandfather’s ginseng chicken soup, Zhen Mier felt waves of heat flowing through his lower abdomen as he practiced. He quickly pressed it down to his dantian, following the book’s instructions.

"What the—" As the heat entered his dantian, a flash of silver light suddenly appeared in his mind, and when he opened his eyes in panic, the scene before him changed from his old, neat bedroom, cleaned by Zhen Mother, to an endless field of wild grass, stretching as far as the eye could see.