Chapter 4: Living Is Quite Interesting

Chapter 4: Life Is Quite Interesting

The medical clinic was located in the town, accessible only by boat.

The village head's son, Xu Lei, owned a boat, so they had to ask him to take them to town.

Following his newly formed memories, Lin Su headed to the village head's residence.

Along the way, he organized the original owner's memories, trying to get into his new identity.

To Lin Su, the official language of this world sounded as foreign as a dialect, with some accents and colloquialisms that were particularly awkward and obscure.

Lin Su spoke very unnaturally, but he counted on Fu Yun being too out of it to notice anything unusual.

Fortunately, he had fully inherited the original owner's memories. By coaxing Fu Yun into talking more along the way, by the time they reached the village head's house, his accent showed no signs of being off.

He dropped his thug-like attitude, presenting himself as a refined and elegant scholar.

"Oh my, Little Su, what happened to you? Those debt collectors were ruthless, they even broke your leg!"

The news that Lin Su and his partner had been driven out of the Lin family by debt collectors had already spread throughout the village. When the village head's wife, Xu Shi, saw Lin Su on crutches, with half his body bound with boards and ropes, she exclaimed.

"Mrs. Xu, could you ask Brother Stone to take us to the medical clinic in town?"

"Stone, hurry up and take your two younger brothers to the town clinic." Even Brother Yun couldn't cure them, so they had to see a doctor in town—the injuries must be serious. Xu Shi hurriedly called for her son.

Xu Lei nodded without hesitation. The dark-complexioned man of few words, seeing Lin Su's difficulty walking, picked him up without a word and carried him away.

In a flash, he was gone.

Fu Yun, frozen in place, suddenly widened his eyes.

"Brother! Big brother!?"

Help! Someone's taking his brother!

-

Without a word, Xu Lei rowed in silence, and in under half an hour, he plopped Lin Su onto the bamboo chair in front of the doctor.

The town clinic was very small, with only one old doctor and a medicine apprentice.

There weren't many patients today. The old doctor stroked his gray beard and asked kindly, "Young man, are you here about your leg?"

This handsome young man had been carried in by the dark, burly man with boards strapped to his leg—clearly his leg was injured. The old doctor wondered to himself how serious the injury was.

If the bone was badly broken, even after treatment, he might be left with a disability.

"Yes."

"No."

As soon as Xu Lei spoke, Lin Su immediately denied it.

Xu Lei: "...?"

The old doctor was also startled. He looked Lin Su up and down, noticing his pale complexion and low spirits, and asked, "Any other complaints?"

Lin Su smiled and waved his hand, "Doctor, you misunderstand. I'm not the patient."

Hearing this, the old doctor frowned and looked at Xu Lei. That big guy looked perfectly fine—he didn't seem to have any problems.

"Brother—"

Fu Yun rushed into the clinic, panting, and tightly grabbed Lin Su's clothes.

That big guy had walked too fast; he couldn't keep up and almost lost his brother.

Seeing that he had finally arrived, Lin Su said, "Fu Yun, come here."

He scooted over to share the bamboo chair and explained to the old doctor, "Doctor, this is the patient."

"Last night, he choked on some dirty water and then developed a fever that hasn't gone down. When he woke up, he's a bit out of it. I don't know if it's because he bumped his head. Doctor, please take a look at him."

Fu Yun looked around. The clinic felt really familiar and comfortable to him, so he automatically placed his hand on the pulse pillow.

The old doctor placed his hand on Fu Yun's pulse. After several minutes, he stroked his beard, frowned, and said thoughtfully, "The pulse is taut and sluggish. This is due to external pathogen entering the lungs, combined with Qi stagnation, and causing heat toxin damaging the lungs and entering the brain."

The old doctor's wrinkled face contorted in anger. "Why didn't you bring him in last night? Delayed like this, even if a divine healer were alive, the brain damage would be irreversible!"

"Are you this young man's husband? How could you be so negligent toward your own partner!"

Lin Su touched his nose. It was indeed on him, so he silently accepted the scolding and urged, "Doctor, he still has a high fever. Please quickly prescribe some medicine and have him take it."

The old doctor shot him a dirty look, then wrote a prescription and handed it to the medicine apprentice.

Seeing that this handsome young lad had eyes as innocent as his four-year-old grandson's, the old doctor couldn't help but show pity. "What a pity. This young lad will probably never regain his sanity."

Lin Su: ...

What could he say? He couldn't exactly say that this little fool in front of him was more badass than a divine healer, that within a year he could cure himself and even make him into a living puppet to torture.

The medicine apprentice prepared the medicine—three doses total, one dose a day, twice in the morning and evening. Each dose cost sixty-five wen, plus a consultation fee of fifteen wen. In an instant, Lin Su's entire fortune was mostly spent, leaving only ninety wen.

He paid the bill and asked the medicine apprentice to brew one dose for Fu Yun to drink.

It would take some time for the medicine to be ready. Lin Su planned to let Fu Yun rest there while he went on the street to buy some supplies.

Right now, the house was so poor it didn't even have a single grain of rice; there was no food for lunch.

Speaking of which, he had at least eaten some mushrooms to fill his stomach, but this little fool hadn't eaten anything. Won't he throw up after drinking the herbal medicine?

Seeing this, Xu Lei stood up and said, "I'll go too."

He thought Lin Su couldn't move around easily, so he naturally wanted to help, planning to carry Lin Su again as a human taxi.

But Fu Yun, hearing this, immediately became alert. He glared at Xu Lei and said, "You're not allowed to go!"

This big dark lump always tried to take his brother away—so annoying!

Then he tugged at Lin Su's sleeve and looked at him pleadingly. "Brother, I want to go too."

Lin Su looked at him with a strange expression for a moment, then suddenly pinched the little fool's face, twisting that cute pitiful face out of shape, and said with a smirk, "Stay put and be good."

Fu Yun touched his burning face and said aggrievedly, "Oh."

Xu Lei followed Lin Su out. As he was about to pick Lin Su up again, Lin Su refused.

Lin Su was helpless. He wasn't a sack of potatoes; he didn't need to be carried back and forth.

He swiped the wooden doorstop and used it as a crutch. He said to the old doctor, "Doc, I'm borrowing this stick."

Although it wasn't market day in the town, the shops were still open for business, with basic necessities like rice, flour, oil, cloth, groceries, wine, and snacks all available.

Lin Su bought six large meat buns at the corner bun shop.

Two wen each, very cheap.

Lin Su immediately took a big bite of a meat bun.

The slightly dark bun skin was soft yet firm. Before he could even chew carefully, the sweetness of the wheat flour filled his mouth, making his mouth water. Then came the finely minced fatty and lean meat, along with crunchy, slightly sour pickled mustard stems—fragrant without being greasy, with a rich texture.

Overwhelmed by the taste he had missed for so long, Lin Su's head buzzed, and he suddenly wolfed down the meat bun in two fierce bites, choking until his eyes turned red.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xu Lei staring at him in shock. After composing himself inwardly, he handed the remaining four buns to Xu Lei.

"Brother Xu, it's nearly noon. Have two buns to tide you over for now, and please take the other two to the clinic so Fu Yun can have a bite before taking his medicine."

Startled by the sudden fierceness Lin Su had shown, and seeing that Lin Su didn't seem to need him, Xu Lei nodded, took the buns, and turned to leave without hesitation.

Once he was gone, Lin Su turned and said, "Auntie, I'll take two more buns—no, five!"

"Sure, young man, here you go. Ten wen." The bun shop auntie deftly lifted the steamer lid; white steam billowed out, dispelling the winter chill.

Lin Su counted out ten copper coins, and the auntie, with her chubby hands, handed him five plump white meat buns neatly wrapped in oiled paper. Lin Su took them, and ignoring the heat, he wolfed down four buns in a few bites.

With six meat buns down, after a gap of ten years, his stomach finally felt a belated warmth of fullness.

Lin Su stood dazed, rubbing his stomach. The dark-tiled, gray-walled streets came into focus through the white steam. Ahead, a shop assistant was arranging goods while beckoning to passersby; a street vendor sang a lively, rhythmic chant, occasionally striking his gong, attracting a group of children who chattered around him.

His eyes uncontrollably reddened.

At that moment, this world from the book finally took root in his eyes, real and tangible.

It's still nice to be alive.