Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Wang Yao guessed what had happened when looking at the blood trace on the ground. The Tibetan Mastiff probably came out of the village and came to Nanshan hill for whatever reason. It tried to get into the herbal field while San Xian spotted him. With the assistance of Da Xia, San Xian severely injured the Tibetan Mastiff, which escaped from the herbal field. It was badly injured and couldn’t go any further. In the end, it died at the foot of Nanshan hill.
“Well done! I’ll give you guys some nice treats tonight!” said Wang Yao happily.
Wang Yao dragged the body of the Tibetan Mastiff to the road and called the captain of the village security team to remove it. Then he went back to Nanshan hill. On his way, he saw a group of villagers who came to beat the body of the Tibetan Mastiff to let out their anger before dragging it back to the village.
“Do you know what killed the Tibetan Mastiff?” one of the villagers asked.
“Who knows? Definitely not a human being,” said another villager.
“Of course, who would go to Nanshan hill at this time? Maybe it was a wolf who killed it,” said a tall and thin villager.
“There is no wolf on Nanshan hill. Anyway, who are you calling, captain?” asked one of the villagers.
“Stop talking nonsense!” the leader of the group of villagers shouted and everyone else kept silent.
“Wolf?” he looked towards the hill.
If there were really wolves on the hill, Wang Yao must know. He wouldn’t have stayed on the hill every night, he thought.
Wang Yao was inside the cottage on Nanshan hill. He sat in front of the window and was reading a scripture.
Chinese New Year had passed and everything had gone back to normal. A new year started.
Wang Yao checked his herbal field in the late afternoon and gave San Xian some food before leaving Nanshan hill.
On the 16th of the first month of the lunar calendar, the big round moon was shining up in the sky.
Wang Yao drove his sister to town for work the next morning before going to Nanshan hill. He told his mother he wouldn’t go home for lunch as he had a lot of work to do. He was going to brew decoction.
Spring had sprung and it was getting warmer.
Wang Yao set up the fire inside his cottage. He placed the multifunctional pot on the fire and poured some ancient spring water into it. The water was soon boiling. Then, he added herbs to the water. The cottage was soon full of the nice smell of herbs. The color of the liquid inside the pot started to become darker. At last, Wang Yao added Guiyuan into the pot to merge all the herbs together.
Done!
Wang Yao poured the finished decoction into a bottle and then called Tian Yuantu to pick it up the next day.
In the evening, after Wang Yao had dinner at home, he received a call on his way to Nanshan hill. The number looked familiar.
“Hello!” Wang Yao picked up the call.
“Hello! My name is Zhou Xiong,” said Zhou Xiong from the other end of the phone.
Zhou Xiong? Wang Yao remembered him. Zhou Xiong was the middle-aged man who asked Wang Yao to treat his child a few months ago. He called Wang Yao during Chinese New Year but Wang Yao forgot to save his phone number.
Zhou Xiong told Wang Yao he was ready to bring his son to Nanshan hill and asked Wang Yao when would be the best time for him to come.
“Maybe after the beginning of spring,” said Wang Yao.
Wang Yao didn’t mind when Zhou Xiong was going to bring his son to Nanshan hill. He stayed on the hill most of the time, but he preferred the child to visit him after the beginning of spring as it was still quite cold at the moment. He was concerned that the child was too weak to travel in such cold weather.
Zhou Xiong agreed and asked Wang Yao the cost of treatment so that he could have the money ready.
Wang Yao was unable to provide a verbal quote at this stage as he hadn’t seen the child.
He’s so desperate that he just turned to any doctor he could find, thought Wang Yao after he hung up the phone.
Not many people knew Wang Yao was able to treat patients. Even in the village, only a handful of people knew about it. He Qisheng introduced Zhou Xiong to Wang Yao and Zhou Xiong was so keen to have his son cured that he didn’t mind seeing a practitioner who didn’t have medical qualifications.
The next morning, Wang Yao met a person on his way back home from Nanshan hill. The person was Tian Yuantu, who came to fetch the decoction. He also brought Wang Yao some presents.
“I’ve told you not to bring me presents anymore!” said Wang Yao. Tian Tuyuan and He Qisheng always brought him presents every time they visited Wang Yao. Wang Yao thought it was unnecessary.
“Just something small,” said Tian Yuantu with a smile as he placed the presents on the table.
“Please take a seat and let me make you some tea,” said Wang Yao.
Wang Yao made him a pot of green tea. The tea smelled very nice.
“Nice tea! Is it West Lake Longjing tea?” Tian Yuantu could tell what tea it was even without tasting it.
Wang Yao had West Lake Longjing tea from He Qisheng and Qimen black tea from Tian Yuantu. It was not appropriate to let Tian Yuantu drink the tea he brought.
“You know a lot about tea!” laughed Wang Yao.
The tea leaves of West Lake Longjing had a bright color and a mild aroma. It tasted nice and sweet—it was truly high-quality tea.
But Wang Yao wasn’t able to tell what tea it was just by smelling it. In fact, he hadn’t tasted many different types of tea. He used to drink the most common green tea and thought it tasted good.
“Not really. I drink Longjing tea a lot so I know the smell well,” said Tian Yuantu with a smile.
“How is your friend’s mother?” asked Wang Yao.
“She seems to be much better now, but…” Tian Yuantu hesitated if he should go on, he seemed reluctant to mention something to Wang Yao.
In fact, his friend’s mother was much better when he visited her before Chinese New Year. Wang Yao was highly regarded by his friend, who had been worrying about his mother’s health. He had taken his mother to a number of doctors and specialists but nothing seemed to work, so he really wanted to meet Wang Yao and invite him for dinner.
Tian Yuantu knew his friend well; his friend held a high social status. It was uncommon for him to invite a stranger to have dinner in his house. Most people would feel flattered to receive an invitation like this, but Wang Yao was not most people. Tian Yuantu thought Wang Yao never visited any of his patients in person.
