Chapter 24.3

Just a few days later, another heavy rainstorm hit, though it wasn’t as severe as before. However, the small streams that had been raised by the mud and debris overflowed again.

After this second incident, no one even mentioned moving back. Everyone in Qingsong Brigade was focused on applying for a piece of land to build a house as soon as possible, making sure they had a place to live before winter arrived.

With the relocation of the people from Qingxi Village now settled, it was time to plan for the future.

Zhou Baohe, along with Yang Guozhu, made a trip to the commune, putting on a pitiful act, practically crying about how their autumn harvest would be difficult due to the flooding in the valley and the addition of so many new people—there wasn’t enough grain to go around!

Given it was one commune, the commune’s secretary wouldn’t be unaware of such a big issue.

“Alright, stop the dramatics in front of me. I know your point—applying for a reduction in tax grain isn’t something I can decide. I’ll try to help you push it through.”

Zhou Baohe pulled out a letter from his pocket, “This is our situation statement—everyone from the brigade has signed it, it’s absolutely legitimate.”

Yang Guozhu quickly added, “If the county leaders don’t approve, we can take them to the valley to see for themselves.”

“Oh, you’re really prepared—someone’s been giving you tips?”

Zhou Baohe and Yang Guozhu just laughed sheepishly without saying a word.

The secretary asked, “Have the people from Qingxi Village all moved out? What about that girl on Daqing Mountain?”

“She hasn’t moved out yet. Although her household registration is with our brigade, as you know, we’re not dealing with it right now—there’s the military side…”

The secretary nodded, “If she doesn’t want to leave the mountain, then let her be.”

“That’s what we think too. But the relationship still needs to be maintained, so we can easily exchange things in the future.”

The secretary tapped the table: “That detox medicine we got last year is really good stuff.”

“Absolutely. Not just that detox medicine, Guan Yue’s other medicines for treating fevers and colds are also very effective.”

Zhou Baohe was a good person, taking out a paper package from his pocket with words written on it.

The secretary took it and looked at it: “For cooling down?”

“Exactly, just got a lot from Guan Yue. I brought a bit for you to try and see if it works well.”

The secretary smiled and put the paper package in his pocket, taking a coin out from his chest pocket and placing it in Zhou Baohe’s hand: “Old habit.”

“Got it. We all understand.”

After taking care of things, Zhou Baohe went back with Yang Guozhu. On the way, Yang Guozhu asked, “Is it going to work?”

Zhou Baohe sighed and smiled: “Whether it works or not, let’s give it a shot first. If it really works out, we won’t starve this winter.”

“It won’t be that bad. If worse comes to worst, we can go up to the mountains and collect some dry fruits or something. It will be enough to keep us from starving.”

“Come on, Daqing Mountain. If we can avoid going up there, we should. After five or six years, the wolf packs on the mountain must have grown stronger. It’s not worth risking our lives just for a bite to eat.”

“You’re right. Let’s discuss it carefully and get everyone to make better use of their private plots, plant more vegetables.”

“Exactly.”

After moving to the Educated Youth point, Gu Sui needed at least an hour to go to Daqing Mountain. If Gu Sui got delayed while seeing patients, Guan Yue wouldn’t get to eat and would be left alone squatting on a half-sheer cliff, waiting, waiting.

Today, Gu Sui was late again.

As Gu Sui approached near the mountain temple, he saw a girl squatting on the cliff from afar.

Gu Sui smiled helplessly and thought, why doesn’t she listen? Why not stay at home properly and not squatting in the hot sun.

Guan Yue also saw Gu Sui and seemed to realize he was almost there. She patted her flushed face and prepared to go back.

She stood up a bit, then squatted back down, making hissing noises and squinting.

Seeing that something was wrong, Gu Sui ran over: “What’s wrong?”

The poor thing, Guan Yue: “My legs are numb.”

Gu Sui went to help her stand up: “Just stand up and walk a few steps.”

“I don’t want to, I don’t want to move.”

“Then let me carry you back.”

“Hmph, I don’t want to go back. Don’t come here anymore in the future, just let me starve.”

Guan Yue’s stomach growled from hunger, and now her temper was a bit irritable.

After seeing patients, Gu Sui ran over to cook for her, but this little girl wasn’t appreciative. Gu Sui’s face suddenly darkened: “Really don’t want me to cook for you?”

Guan Yue spoke sarcastically: “No, go away. You don’t care about my life or death.”

Gu Sui was almost driven to laughter by her, squatting down directly in front of her.

Guan Yue turned her head away, not looking at him. Gu Sui pinched her delicate chin, forcing her to look at him: “Ungrateful little thing, I spend so much time running back and forth every day just to cook for you. Do you think I’m that bored? No other things to do? I’m not tired of self-flagellation, you know?”

Guan Yue kept looking left and right, avoiding his gaze.

Gu Sui sneered, shaking his head. What is he doing?

Gu Sui pulled Guan Yue up: “Come on, what do you want to eat for lunch? I’ll cook it for you.”

Guan Yue obediently let Gu Sui lead her away, still with her legs numb, limping along. She was very angry: “I want to eat braised pork!”

“Don’t have it!”

“I want to eat Dongpo pork trotters!”

“Don’t have it.”

“I want to eat Buddha jumps over the wall!”

“Still don’t have it.”

“You asked what I wanted to eat, and then you don’t make it for me!”

Gu Sui looked back at her with a glance, and Guan Yue lowered her head: “Alright, then I’ll eat stir-fried preserved meat with garlic sprouts.”

“That’s fine!”

Reaching the end of the cliff, the two held hands and returned to the wooden house.

Over there in Hong Kong, Xu Hua’an received the medicine Guan Yue sent at the end of June. Of course, along with the medicine, he also received preserved meat and sausages from Guan Yue.

The disciple’s tribute of preserved meat and sausages, he enjoyed early on.

To be honest, the taste wasn’t bad.

“Today at noon, after finishing the last piece of sausage, Xu Hua’an told Big Brother and Sister-in-law, ‘Wait until the New Year, let’s have that little girl send over more.'”

Xu Huaping smiled: “You, as a Teacher, don’t send anything to your Disciple, but just think about getting something from your Disciple.”

Jiang Zhi also stood by Guan Yue’s side: “Exactly. Hua’an, for the New Year, we definitely need to send a big gift to Guan Yue.”

Xu Huaping held his wife’s hand, and Jiang Zhi casually sat down on the sofa beside him.

“This medicine we got this time, I’ve been taking it for almost a month now. I feel like the effect is even better than last time.”

Xu Huaping added, “Yesterday, I met Lao Wei when I went out. He was quite surprised, saying that now I look no different from a normal person.”

Jiang Zhi: “I feel like your energy has been quite good during the day lately, and you’ve been sleeping soundly at night. You’ve indeed improved a lot.”

Xu Hua’an was quite pleased: “If only you’d believed me earlier, Big Brother wouldn’t have had to suffer for over a year.”

When things first went wrong, neither traditional Chinese medicine nor Western medicine worked for Xu Hua’an. He thought of Guan Yue, but at the time, he wasn’t very confident. He mentioned it once, but Big Brother and Sister-in-law didn’t take it seriously, so he didn’t bring it up again.

“That’s because Guan Yue is capable. Look at how proud you are.”

“My Disciple is like that. Disciple is better than the master; am I not allowed to be proud?”

Xu Huaping and Jiang Zhi burst into laughter: “You said that so well.”

“Hey, old Xu, I could hear your laughter from far away. You’re looking quite well; I was thinking of introducing a renowned Chinese medicine doctor to you.”

The person who arrived was an old friend of Xu Huaping’s, Wei Zongnan. The Wei family had been in trade—import and export—before moving to Hong Kong. Their family controlled shipping routes at sea, which led to the familiarity between the Xu and Wei families when they started their medicinal business.

The Xu family moved from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and the Wei family lent them a hand.

Xu Huaping, Jiang Zhi, and Xu Hua’an all stood up to welcome Wei Zongnan in and asked him to sit down.

Wei Zongnan introduced him: “This is Dr. Mu Liyan, from Zhejiang. He just arrived in Hong Kong this year.”

Mu Liyan smiled warmly: “It’s been a long time. Xu Sir looks to be in great health now.”

Xu Huaping quickly called for tea to be served: “Thank you, Dr. Mu, for your concern. I’m doing much better now.”

Wei Zongnan was surprised: “You know each other?”

Xu Huaping nodded: “During that time, Dr. Mu was in Shanghai. Back then, I was injured, and I also had Dr. Mu examine me.”

Mu Liyan agreed: “That’s right. At that time, I checked Xu Sir’s pulse, and the situation wasn’t looking too good.”

After checking Xu Huaping’s pulse back then, Mu Liyan even thought Xu Huaping would only last another two or three years at most. So when he heard from Wei Zongnan that Xu Huaping had gotten much better, he was particularly curious and wanted to visit in person.

Xu Huaping admitted: “You weren’t wrong at the time. Don’t be fooled by how I look now; not long ago, I really did look like someone whose time was almost up.”

Wei Zongnan was very curious: “How did you become like this now? I saw you yesterday at the trading company and wanted to ask you then, but I was too busy.”

Xu Huaping glanced at Xu Hua’an, who gave a sheepish smile and started to boast about his Disciple’s accomplishments without hesitation.

Wei Zongnan and Mu Liyan didn’t seem to believe it—especially Mu Liyan. As a renowned Chinese medicine doctor himself, how could a girl who had only been learning medicine for one or two years be more skilled than him in treating certain ailments?

“Xu Sir, do you mind if I take a look at the medicine you’re currently taking?”

“Of course, you can.”

Jiang Zhi went inside and brought out two bottles of medicine, carefully pouring one pill each onto a dish: “Qing Fei Pill (pill for lung health) and Yang Xin Pill for heart health.”

Mu Liyan scraped a bit of the powder off with his fingernail and tasted it himself. After a moment, his eyes widened—he couldn’t even recognize the components of the medicine.

Normally, for someone unfamiliar with the formulation, it would be difficult to correctly identify all the ingredients. But for someone of his level, making educated guesses should still be feasible.

Seeing Mu Liyan’s unusual expression, Wei Zongnan hurriedly asked, “How is it?”

Mu Liyan: “I can’t pinpoint it; I just know this medicine is quite potent. It must be using some top-quality ingredients.”

Xu Hua’an proudly laughed: “That’s my dear Disciple; no way she’s using subpar stuff.”

“Sir Xu, if you don’t mind, may I check your pulse?”

“Please do.” Xu Huaping extended his hand.

After taking Xu Huaping’s pulse, Mu Liyan made a diagnosis: “Your body is indeed getting better, but the root problem hasn’t been fully addressed yet.”

Wei Zongnan was excited: “For a disease like Huaping’s, just being able to stabilize it is already quite impressive. I wonder if other patients with heart and lung issues can also take this medicine?”

Wei Zongnan had a wealthy client in Hong Kong who was definitely among the top ten in terms of wealth. This person was very business-savvy but not in good health—reportedly with heart problems.

Wei Zongnan had been looking for an opportunity to establish a connection with this individual, and perhaps now was the chance.

Wei Zongnan looked at the bottles of medicine on the table with excitement—he needed to think carefully about how to proceed.