Huo Yao rummaged through the box and took out a book called, ‘Shennong God’s Materia Medica’. She pulled up a bench to sit down.
The monograph came from the Shennong clan. It contained detailed descriptions, medicinal properties, and toxicity of over 300 Chinese herbs. It was one of the most detailed ancient Chinese medicine texts handed down through the generations.
Even though many versions of the book were available in the market, they only came with basic introductions. The original text was lost in translation or incomplete, so these modern versions were no good.
Huo Yao’s copy was the most complete original of the ancient text that was handed down for generations in her family. Last year, she stole the book from her family through a lot of hard work.
Her family was located in such a remote place that not even courier service was available.
Huo Yao couldn’t help griping a little. She flipped through the book as she contemplated before she turned straight to page 265. She recalled there was something about Seven Leaf Lotus on this page.
She was right.
The line drawing on the yellowed page of the book looked just like the Seven Leaf Lotus that Min Yu had given her. There was a description beneath the picture along with its medicinal properties.
She had already read this book when she was a child. She had been in a rebellious phase, so even though she could memorize its contents, she only managed to grasp half of what she read. Also, she had a lot of varied interests, so this book ended up being forgotten before long.
She only started reading this book after she transmigrated into this body and had to deal with her grandmother’s poor health.
Despite the detailed description, a lot of experimenting had to be done in order for her to fully grasp everything.
Huo Yao read the two pages over and over sitting on the bench. After quite some time, she finally closed the book. She had yet to come up with any solid ideas.
She went through the other ancient texts she had in the box quickly, but there was nothing useful, so she put the lid back on and got up to place it back in the cabinet.
She locked the cabinet and placed the key back under the flower pot.
Huo Yao left her grandmother’s bedroom as she contemplated. The moment she reached the living room, she glanced around and noticed Min Yu was not there, so she asked her grandmother casually. “Where is Min Yu?”
“Yu got a call before he left. He will be back at night,” replied her grandmother.
“I see.” Huo Yao nodded before asking. “Oh yes. Where is that stove of mine?”
Old Madam Yang just knew Huo Yao would ask about the strange stove the moment she asked about those books. She pointed at the backyard. “It is in the storage room in the backyard. Help yourself.”
Huo Yao acknowledged her grandmother before heading to the backyard.
Old Madam Yang watched from behind as Huo Yao left.
She shook her head and said to Huo Yulin, “Last year, she brought a strange stove home and keeps fiddling with it when she has time. She doesn’t have the same interests as people her age.”
Huo Yulin recalled the apparatus in the room back home and quickly figured it was probably a stove for making medicine. He smiled and replied. “Not everyone gets to do things they like, so we should leave her to it.”
“Uh huh. In the past, she used to be such an introvert, but after she fell terribly ill, she suddenly changed and became an extremely sensible kid…” Old Madam Yang couldn’t help wiping her eyes when she thought about the past.
Huo Yulin wasn’t good at consoling people, so he could only raise his hand and pat her on the back when she got emotional.
