Seeing Yu Qingze coming over, Chang Hao quickly said, “Brother Yu, I saw someone on the mountain across. It looks like they stumbled and can’t get up.”
Yu Qingze frowned and looked in the direction he was pointing, but all they could see was dense forest. He asked, “Really? Are they injured? Take a closer look, where exactly?”
Squinting his eyes, Chang Hao looked for a while and then said, “Right across from here, next to a big rock. I know the spot. It seems like the person grabbed a tree branch and tied several branches around their right leg…”
“Tied branches around their leg?” Yu Qingze exclaimed, “That means they have a fracture. Come down quickly, take me there to have a look.”
“Okay.” Chang Hao quickly climbed down from the tree.
“Jiabao, stay here and watch the firewood. I’ll go with Xiao Hao to the other side.” Yu Qingze quickly said.
Jiabao nodded, “Okay.”
Yu Qingze followed Chang Hao and climbed up the opposite mountainside. They indeed saw a person with branches tied to their leg in an open space near a large rock. The person appeared to be an elderly individual, around fifty to sixty years old. There was a backpack and a makeshift crutch made of a tree branch placed next to them.
“Sir, are you okay? Did you hurt your leg?” The two of them hurriedly approached.
The elderly person, upon seeing someone approaching, expressed joy, “Oh, young ones, it’s so good to see you. I was collecting herbs on the mountain, and I accidentally rolled down from the rock, fracturing my leg. Could you please help me down the mountain?”
Yu Qingze nodded and said, “Come, I’ll carry you on my back. My younger brother saw you fall and couldn’t get up from the other side of the mountain, so we came to check on you.”
“Oh, I see. Thank you so much, young ones,” the elderly person thanked Chang Hao as he looked at him.
Chang Hao helped the elderly person pick up the backpack and the makeshift crutch, shaking his head and saying, “No need to thank us, Grandpa.”
Yu Qingze carried the elderly person down the mountain. When they reached the small path at the foot of the mountain, he told Chang Hao, “Xiao Hao, you’re faster. Go back and ask your brother to go up the mountain and bring Jiabao back with the firewood.”
“Alright.” Chang Hao quickly ran back home with the backpack on his back.
As Yu Qingze carried the elderly person out of the mountain, they coincidentally met Jiabao and Brother Le who had rushed over.
Brother Le gestured and asked if everything was alright.
Yu Qingze replied, “Everything’s fine. You go and bring Jiabao back first.”
Brother Le nodded and went back first.
When they returned home, Yu Qingze helped the elderly person onto a chair and was about to go and fetch Dr. Yu to have a look at the leg.
The elderly person waved his hand and said, “No need to call the doctor, I am a doctor myself. Just find two flat and suitable-sized wooden boards for me.”
Yu Qingze found two wooden boards, and the elderly person also asked to borrow some paper and a pen from him. He asked Yu Qingze to help him gather some herbs from Dr. Yu’s place and then proceeded to reset his own bone, apply the herbal medicine, and put on a splint.
“Young man, in the afternoon, could you do me a favor and deliver a letter to the Fulai Inn? I will have someone come to pick me up,” the elderly person said to Yu Qingze after he finished tending to his leg.
Yu Qingze nodded and said, “In the afternoon, we are also going to the city. If you don’t mind riding on a cart, we can give you a ride there?”
Upon hearing that, the elderly person nodded and said, “That will do. I appreciate your help.”
At noon, the elderly person had lunch together with the Chang family. He greatly appreciated Chang Le’s cooking skills and said it was the most delicious meal he had ever eaten.
Upon hearing this, everyone laughed and said, “The most delicious meal? You haven’t tasted anything yet.”
The elderly person introduced himself as Dr. He and mentioned that he was a traveling doctor who liked to collect herbs. He had come specifically to this area because he heard there was a rare herb on the nearby mountains.
Grandpa Chang was surprised and asked, “What kind of rare herb? I’ve been living here for over ten years and haven’t heard of any rare herbs.”
Dr. He replied, “It is said that there is a herb here with a very strong medicinal effect. Just a tiny bit of it can instantly paralyze and make a person lose consciousness.”
Grandpa Chang shook his head, “I’ve never heard of it.”
Disappointed, Dr. He said, “I’ve been searching in this area for a few days but haven’t found it.”
After lunch, Yu Qingze went to the village chief’s house to borrow a cart. Dr. He noticed that Grandpa Chang was coughing and asked him about it.
“It’s an old problem. I always cough severely in winter. Medicine doesn’t work much. It lasts for more than two months, and once the weather gets warmer, it’s fine again,” replied Grandpa Chang.
Once the twelfth lunar month arrived, Grandpa Chang’s old problem recurred. He had to brew medicine every other day, or else he would feel extremely uncomfortable. When he drank the medicine, he felt better.
Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.
Dr. He took Grandpa Chang’s pulse and asked him about the medicines he had been taking. After understanding the situation, he shook his head and said, “Stop taking that medicine. If you trust me, follow the prescription I will give you to brew the medicine.”
Chang Le immediately gestured and asked if Dr. He could cure Grandpa Chang’s old problem. Chang Hao translated for them.
Dr. He said, “Complete cure is not possible, but it can greatly alleviate the condition. It’s much better than the medicine you’ve been taking before.”
Chang Le and Chang Hao were delighted and quickly requested Dr. He to write the prescription.
When Yu Qingze returned and heard about this, he was also very happy.
Dr. He wrote the prescription while saying, “This prescription is good, but it contains some expensive ingredients, so the cost may be a bit high. There are some relatively precious herbs in it.”
Upon hearing about the expensive herbs, Yu Qingze said, “Dr. He, we have a ginseng root. Can you see if it can be used for my grandfather?” He asked Chang Le to bring the ginseng, the one that was originally gifted by the Cai family.
“You have ginseng?”
“Yes.”
After Chang Le brought it out, Dr. He examined it and said, “This is good. The quality and age are both good. Older brother, you can brew it in water and drink it, or you can chew a slice every morning. You don’t need too much, just a thin slice will do. It can enhance your constitution.”
Once Dr. He finished writing the prescription, Yu Qingze took the prescription and, together with Brother Le, used the cart to take Dr. He to the Fulai Inn in the city.
Afterwards, Yu Qingze brought Brother Le to the shop and said, “I’ll bring Grandpa here tomorrow to see Doctor Li and get the medicine according to the prescription. Since Grandpa is not in good health, I’ll stay at home and take care of him. I’ll come back and forth every day, and when I come back to the village, I’ll have Brother Chang come over and keep you company.”
Brother Le shook his head and said he would stay home.
“The shop needs someone to take care of it. It’s more suitable for you and Brother Chang to stay here. It’s not convenient for me to stay with Brother Chang. Besides, the weather is getting colder, and I don’t want you to make the round trip. Be good, everything will be fine. Me and Jiabao will come back and forth with Xiaoshu and the others every day.”
After giving instructions, Yu Qingze hurriedly returned home with the cart.
NOTE:
The Laba Festival, also known as the Rice Porridge Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival celebrated on the eighth day of the twelfth month of the lunar calendar. It is considered a prelude to the Chinese New Year, which follows about two weeks later.
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Thank you for the chapter! A short one this time