Chapter 33: Winter Solstice Arrives

Chapter 33: Winter Solstice Arrives

Fu Yun frowned. He was reluctant to let anyone but his brother touch his medicine box. After hesitating, he still set it down: "Fine, but you can only look, okay?"

He placed the box neatly on the redwood table. It was about three feet long and one foot wide, with two columns of small drawers on each side (front, back, left, and right), exquisitely crafted.

Fu Yun opened each small drawer one by one. Every drawer was divided into four compartments, all filled with medicinal herbs.

Zhou Shuming examined them carefully, noticing many rare and precious herbs, and the processing methods were also very skillful. Moreover, although each small drawer had four compartments, they all contained the same type of herb.

Pointing to one compartment, he asked, "Are these classified by year?"

Fu Yun glanced at his finger and shook his head. "No, by medicinal properties."

By medicinal properties? This time, genuine surprise flickered in Zhou Shuming's eyes.

During the growth process, the climate changes constantly, and the sunlight and rain a plant receives can vary greatly. Even herbs from the same year and location can differ in their properties.

But being able to distinguish medicinal properties was something only old physicians with decades of experience could do. He'd never seen someone so young with this skill.

"Hey, do you still want a prescription?" Fu Yun interrupted Zhou Shuming's contemplation.

Brother had said that after giving this man his prescription, they would go to Drunken Immortal Tower for a meal, then buy mutton and head home to stew it.

But now it was almost noon, and this man still hadn't decided whether to get a prescription. He was starting to get a bit impatient.

Lin Su noticed this and squeezed his hand reassuringly. Fu Yun, as if receiving some signal, leaned closer to him, their shoulders pressing together.

"Alright, then I'll trouble Doctor Fu," Zhou Shuming said, clasping his hands in salute, before covering his face with a cough again.

While coughing, he had a wild thought: perhaps his turning point wasn’t this ginseng, but this young miracle doctor instead.

Seeing this, Lin Su raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. This Zhou Shuming had a good eye.

This was the future heretic doctor... Lin Su frowned. No, he should be called a divine doctor instead. In this life, Fu Yun would not go through the dark days described in the book, so naturally, he wouldn't be associated with the word "heretic." Once he recovered, he would become a renowned miracle doctor across the land.

In the book, Zhou Shuming had never been treated by Fu Yun and died before turning forty. Who knew if he could live longer now?

While Lin Su was lost in thought, Fu Yun had already placed his fingers on Zhou Shuming's pulse. When it came to medicine, he showed almost no sign of foolishness, reciting medical texts fluently, each word hitting the mark.

"The pulse is weak and floating, congenital deficiency," Fu Yun said, his gaze sweeping across Zhou Shuming's complexion. "Qi and blood are imbalanced, internal organs are weak and disordered, phlegm and turbidity are generated internally, making him susceptible to external pathogens."

Zhou Shuming nodded weakly. "Doctor Fu is absolutely right. I have been plagued by illnesses since childhood, both big and small. If not for my parents' constant care and medicine keeping me alive, I'd have died long ago... cough, cough—"

Lin Su listened, finding the symptoms increasingly familiar, and couldn't help asking, "Before you were born, did your mother suffer a bad illness?"

Zhou Shuming replied, "Yes, the winter I was born was exceptionally cold. My mother caught a severe cold and was sick for quite a while."

That was it. Lin Su now knew what disease Zhou Shuming had.

His symptoms perfectly matched congenital immunodeficiency—an immune system that hadn't fully developed in the womb, unable to resist external viruses and bacteria, making him prone to illness. The scary thing was that once sick, he couldn't recover quickly like a normal person using his own immunity; over time, any illness might kill him one day.

This disease couldn't be cured, only carefully managed.

Fortunately, since he was still alive, it meant it wasn't too severe—of course, thanks to his parents' tireless efforts to source precious ingredients and rare herbs to nourish him.

No wonder the original owner's father had been able to sell wild game from the mountains to the Zhou family at high prices. Animals and plants not only provided nutrients but could also contain trace substances with immune-boosting properties, compensating for Zhou Shuming's immune deficiency.

After taking the pulse, Fu Yun silently picked herbs from different compartments, preparing ten doses in total. Each dose had enhanced or reduced properties compared to the previous one, so he marked them with numbers.

He instructed Zhou Shuming, "Follow the order of the markings. Decoct one dose into a bowl of water, divide it into two portions, and take each with a bowl of plain water, once in the morning and once in the evening."

After writing the prescription, Fu Yun wrapped the remaining ginseng and packed it into his medicine box. He slung the box on his back and pulled Lin Su's sleeve. "Brother, let's go."

Lin Su quickly asked Zhou Shuming not to reveal that the ginseng hadn't been sold to him. After all, having a treasure invites trouble; with a dependent at home, Lin Su didn't want to take unnecessary risks.

Zhou Shuming agreed and called for the steward to see them out.

On the way, the steward slipped three banknotes into Lin Su's hand, saying they were consultation fees.

Lin Su took them without hesitation, naturally accepting.

He knew Zhou Shuming probably didn't think much of Fu Yun's prescription; this money covered the medicine fee and partly made up for the Zhou Yujin incident.

But regardless of the reason, they now had three hundred taels more in their pockets!

His little Fu Yun was truly impressive—one effort earned as much as a year of hawking on the street.

Though that thousand-year-old ginseng had suffered a bit of "skin-deep" damage.

Yes, Fu Yun had only pulled off some ginseng whiskers for the prescription, a stingy little move that even embarrassed Lin Su a bit.

But luckily, the ginseng was big and potent enough that the whiskers sufficed.

Leaving the Zhou residence, the two went straight to Xu Lei's lodgings from the night before, picked up the other three, and they all went to Drunken Immortal Tower for a meal. Then they bought lamb at the butcher's, bought three jars of Pear Blossom Spring wine from the wine shop, and rowed the boat home.

On the way, Lin Su, out of boredom, caught a fish. This time, he didn't use his powers; he'd made a proper bamboo fishing rod with an iron hook.

Perhaps as the boat dragged the hook along in the water, a big predatory fish mistook it for a little fish and bit hard, sinking the hook deep into its mouth. It was nearly impossible to pull out.

It was a ten-jin Mandarin fish.

Fu Yun and Xu Xiaohu excitedly gathered around the fish, and Lin Su took the chance to invite them over for dinner the next day.

The next day, Winter Solstice.

More chimneys in the village were smoking than usual, and every family was willing to splurge on some meat.

The smells of cooking spread through Xiaowan Village, but none was as fragrant as the old house in the woods behind the village.

Lin Su made a clear broth hotpot with perch, lamb backbone, lamb slices, and mixed mushrooms. The broth was milky white, sweet and light, warming the body. The meat with dipping sauce was incredible.

The rest of the lamb and lamb backbone were marinated, ready for everyone to cook themselves when they arrived. They gathered around the large stone slab, grilling and chatting, enjoying a leisurely and pleasant winter day.

Fu Yun, smelling the sweeter and sweeter aroma in the air, rubbed his eyes, climbed out of bed, and ran to Lin Su with messy hair.