Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Everyone in the ward stared at the blackened screen, bewildered. Did he just go offline like that?

If you think this streamer doesn’t care about money, he was subtly asking for gifts earlier. But if you say he loves money, he gave up such a great opportunity to make a fortune and decisively logged off.

With the live stream suddenly closed, the excited audience couldn’t send comments, so they turned to the community discussions on the Shark Video Platform.

"Teen mode, so Wu Heng is actually a high school boy? High school boys are so cute, even cuter than college guys! Yum!"

"Real snake birth, or rather, snake spitting? Shark Video doesn’t have such effects, so it must be real? Too bad I joined the stream late and didn’t see it with my own eyes."

[I searched online and found hundreds of places nationwide called 'Chengde Medical Hall,' but I’m not sure which one this is.]

"That wealthy mother and son who connected earlier—I saw them in the year-end meeting photos posted on the He Group’s official website. If they’re from the He family in the capital city, it’s unlikely they’d team up with an internet celebrity for publicity."

"Just one question: will the streamer be live again tomorrow for consultations?! Can’t wait!"

...

Mrs. He quickly skimmed through the comments, which had already surged to 999+, and hurriedly clicked on Wu Heng’s avatar named "Chengde Medical Hall." The official verification confirmed it was indeed a medical hall, but the account description didn’t include any contact details.

Mrs. He had no choice but to send another private message, including her WeChat ID, phone number, and even every email address she could think of.

Being stuck waiting for a response made Mrs. He incredibly anxious, especially when she looked up and saw the grayish-white snake curled up in her son’s collarbone, contentedly flicking its tongue. The bizarre sight sent chills down her spine.

Noticing the horrified gazes of her mother and the nurse, He Yunxiao, with a pale face and a bulging belly, suddenly asked dryly, "Uh, should I transfer to obstetrics? Or... gynecology?"

Mrs. He: "..."

The nurse: "..."

Mrs. He clenched her teeth. Has this kid gotten hooked on giving birth?!

Mrs. He glanced at the "unread" notification on the private message page and made a decision: "Let’s check out and go home. We need to find someone."

*

Wu Heng sat at the consultation desk, staring at the phone’s teen mode password prompt. He paused, lowering his fingers that were poised to perform a calculation, and casually placed the little paper figure with He Yunxiao’s birth details into his pants pocket.

He Yunxiao’s condition wasn’t serious, but he still needed something. He had to find someone to borrow it.

Wu Heng strolled to the counter, where Eugene, oblivious and drenched in sweat, was busy sorting herbs.

Wu Heng leaned an arm on the counter, glanced at the herbs in the yellow paper package, and said, "Eugene, that looks like raw rehmannia, not scrophularia."

Eugene quickly checked and broke out in a cold sweat: "It really is raw rehmannia! I mixed them up because I was so busy!"

Raw rehmannia and scrophularia look very similar and are easily mixed up. Getting the pharmacology wrong could lead to trouble.

Eugene’s eyes widened in surprise as he stared at Wu Heng. Has Xiao Heng really become normal, just like the Village Chief said? He can even recognize Chinese medicinal herbs now?

Curious, Eugene opened the drawers behind him, which were filled with various herbs. He took out some herbs and quizzed Wu Heng: "Xiao Heng, tell me, what are these, that, and the one next to it?"

Wu Heng glanced and rattled off, "Poria cocos, fritillaria cirrhosa, ophiopogon japonicus."

All correct. Eugene was stunned: "Xiao Heng, how do you know all this?"

Wu Heng glanced at the labels in the bottom right corner of each drawer and said with a hint of exasperation, "Eugene, there are labels."

Some labels featured Chinese characters alongside minority scripts.

Eugene was pretty easygoing, and hearing this, he was even more pleasantly surprised: "Our little Heng can read now? He's really turned out normal!"

"If Master knew, he'd be over the moon!" Eugene kept chattering with joy, "We gotta celebrate this big time. Let's close up early today, and I'll whip up something special!"

From what he remembered, Eugene's cooking was a fire hazard. Wu Heng discreetly stepped back and immediately said, "No, Zhou Yi's got me covered."

Eugene knew Master had left Wu Heng with the Zhou family for meals while he was out gathering herbs, so he could only express a slight regret for not being able to showcase his culinary skills.

Wu Heng left Chengde Medical Hall right on time but instead of heading to the Zhou family, he turned towards the distant Lai family, where the gongs and drums were booming.

In the Lai family's courtyard, a jet-black coffin sat, with a fire basin right in front. Around the open space, a dozen or so square wooden tables were scattered around, and a red brick stove was set up on the slope. Several bare-chested chefs, drenched in sweat, stirred large pots with big spoons. Steam billowed from the nearby steamers, filling the air with mouth-watering smells.

Wu Heng grabbed a corner seat, picked up some bamboo chopsticks, and snagged a slice of beef. As he ate, his eyes lit up with delight.

Wu Heng ate quickly but quietly, staying under the radar.

"Why's Lai Wazi's coffin outside? I heard they're burying him tonight at midnight? Don't we usually bury folks at four or five in the morning?" a middle-aged man at the same table whispered to an old man beside him.

The old man glared back, "You kids don't know squat! Lai Wazi was just a kid who drowned out there. How's his coffin supposed to be inside the house?"

Wu Heng kept his eyes on the frying pork knuckles, tuning out their chatter.

The old man grabbed a cup of homemade yellow wine, took a swig, and explained, "Folks who die bad deaths get buried at midnight. The time for Lai Wazi's burial was calculated long ago by old lady Lai. Hurry up and eat, you'll need to lend a hand later."

The Lai family held a very special place in Nan Nuo Village. In earlier years, Lai Mazi was rumored to be able to communicate with spirits, and old lady Lai was exceptionally skilled at the Nuo dance.

The burial time set by old lady Lai was not to be questioned by anyone.

Funeral banquets in the village did not accept monetary gifts. Villagers helped with the burial, and the banquet was a free thank-you for their assistance.

Wu Heng quietly and quickly ate the pork knuckle, mentally noting that the chef's skills were indeed superior to Zhou Yi's mother by several notches.

Since Lai Wazi's death was unnatural and not a joyous occasion, everyone quickly finished their meal to prepare for sealing the coffin and the procession.

Wu Heng alone remained at the table, eating leisurely, while the courtyard was already filled with wailing.

As the sky gradually darkened, a bright line of light bulbs lit up the courtyard, and the annoying summer night mosquitoes buzzed around the light source.

Wu Heng noticed an old woman with a hunched figure standing in front of the coffin. Her face and arms were painted with unknown bright colors, and she held a cane, sternly shouting, "Seal the coffin, let's go!"

"Men born in the year of the Rooster, women born in the year of the Ox, and minors, please step aside."

Wu Heng observed that the Lai family had many strange plants growing around, the sap of which was used as the paint on old lady Lai's face.

The young men called by the Village Chief to help followed the instructions, hammering seven nails to seal the coffin, then tying it tightly with two thick hemp ropes into a carrying knot, and finally attaching it to the carrying poles to lift the coffin.

The coffin was carried by seven or eight strong young men from the village, all exerting their strength, their arm muscles bulging.

The dark, heavy coffin rested on two long benches, unmoving.

The surrounding women, watching the men's hands turn red from the strain, their faces flushed and sweating profusely without any movement, began to whisper in shock.

"Why can't so many people lift it? I told you it's eerie."

"I heard when Lai Wazi was pulled from the river, his eyes were wide open."

"Could there be some kind of curse? What... what is that?!"

As the women exclaimed, Wu Heng, holding his chopsticks, saw a cold white snake standing about ten meters away from the coffin, its head faintly showing a pair of small horns.

Nan Nuo Village holds a profound reverence for dragons and snakes, with totemic symbols related to this reverence visible throughout the village.

The sudden appearance of the white snake caused panic among many villagers present, even the seven or eight burly men began to feel uneasy.

The leading burly man, pale-faced, said, "Old lady Lai, this, this... we might not be able to carry it..."

Village Chief Zhou, who had come to assist, immediately said sternly, "How can you carry the coffin and then just drop it? That's extremely bad luck."

The seven or eight burly men were divided in their opinions, and as the black wooden coffin started to tilt, one of the men suddenly felt the dragon pole in his hand was wet.

"Drip... drip..."

Water began to seep from the coffin, and in an instant, the hemp rope tied around the coffin was completely soaked, heavy, as if a giant python weighing thousands of pounds was tightly coiled around the coffin.

The water trickled down the hemp rope onto the bare arms of the burly men, instantly chilling them to the bone with a cold, fishy, and foul stench, making them gag uncontrollably.

Screams broke out in the courtyard, and some timid villagers turned and fled, not daring to look back.

Wu Heng sat motionless at the wooden table, gently set down his chopsticks, and smiled serenely.

He never took anything for free.

*

Capital City, He Family

Mr. He had rushed back urgently and was now sitting on the sofa with his wife and his heavily pregnant son, He Yunxiao. All three pairs of eyes were fixed on the pale pink swaddle in the baby carriage.

Inside the swaddle lay a pale gray snake, and as it flicked its tongue, a nauseating stench of decay could be clearly smelled, making everyone's scalp tingle.

Mr. He, trembling in disbelief, said, "This, this, is this what you gave birth to?"

Seeing the silent mother and son, Mr. He looked directly at He Yunxiao's large belly, which looked like it could still give birth to several more.

The image of seven gourd babies calling him grandpa flashed through his mind, and Mr. He felt a headache coming on.

Oh no, in his case, it was gourd snakes.

Seeing He Yunxiao holding his large belly and lowering his head, lost in thought, Mr. He, suppressing his fear, comforted him, "We just need to find that shaman doctor, Yunxiao, don't think too much, Yunxiao?"

He Yunxiao, as if waking from a dream, looked up at the couple sitting opposite him, who were looking at him with concern, and suddenly asked, "Do you think I need to do a postpartum confinement?"

"..." Mr. He was silent for a moment, then said earnestly, "You're a man."