Chapter 21: Hard to Find a Divine Doctor, the Strange Old Man

After dinner, Su Jinyan chatted with Xin Huimin for a bit before taking her children and slipping away.
Xin Huimin seemed to be used to being serious; every word she spoke sounded stern. Even expressions of concern carried a heavy tone.

It was overwhelming.

The two children, in a new environment with their grandparents, were filled with curiosity, firing off one little question after another, and they didn’t fall asleep until nearly eleven.

The next morning,

When Su Jinyan woke up, she found that she was the only one left in bed.

After a quick wash, she went downstairs to find that everyone had already finished their breakfast and was playing with the kids.

Aunt Liu wasn’t around, so Su Chengguo had sent a servant to buy soy milk, fried dough sticks, and steamed buns.

She hastily ate a few bites and then followed the servant, Xiao Li, to fetch Zhao Zhengjun and Mrs. Sun for their medical appointment.

Xin Huimin had prepared some gifts: two bottles of Moutai, a pound of peanuts, and several steamed buns.

The children were left at home, under the care of Xin Huimin and Su Chengguo, and after just the morning, they had experienced the difficulty of taking care of kids firsthand.

An eight-month-old baby sleeps less and is in a curious phase, crawling around. If you’re not paying attention, trouble can easily arise.

To make things easier, Su Chengguo even made a trip to the department store to buy two carpets to lay on the living room floor.
With that, sharp and topple-prone objects were put away, and the children could be placed on the carpet without worry, allowing them to leisurely enjoy tea and read the newspaper while keeping an eye on the little ones.

Although it was her day off, Xin Huimin was still busy, fielding one phone call after another and constantly checking data. Sometimes, reconciling the numbers would take her an hour or two.

When Su Jinyan arrived at the courtyard, the Zhao family was already waiting.

As long as the doctor could treat their legs and eyes, everyone held onto a glimmer of hope.

After all, they were still young; nobody wanted to be left as a limping invalid for decades to come.

“Dad, Mom, let’s go. I heard from my mom that this traditional Chinese medicine doctor comes from a family of imperial physicians. Your problems are not insurmountable; there’s plenty of hope.”

Even if there was little hope, she was determined to make it seem like there was.

She believed the well water from her space could probably solve the couple’s issues. When she returned with the medicine later, she would seize the opportunity to replace the tub water with the well water from her space.

Zhao Zhengjun was currently more like a walking corpse, and the whole house felt dreary. Only if the elderly couple regained their health could this home come back to life.

The car stopped about half a mile from the old doctor’s house.

Xiao Li said that over the years there had been a lot of commotion, and this old doctor had secluded himself deep within the alley, reluctant to leave his home and usually not willing to treat anyone. That he agreed this time was likely due to a favor from Su Jinyan’s grandfather.

Supporting Mrs. Sun, and with Zhao Yuanyi assisting Zhao Zhengjun, the four of them followed Xiao Li deeper until they stopped in front of a dilapidated courtyard.

“Just a moment, don’t talk too much. Just listen to Doctor Huo; the old man has a bit of a temper.”

Su Jinyan felt a flicker of anxiety but nodded and whispered, “Don’t worry.”

Xiao Li lightly knocked on the door. After a few knocks, he took out a piece of thick iron wire, inserted it through a small hole in the wooden door, and fiddled for a bit. There was a soft clack sound from inside.

The iron hook fell, and they pushed the door open to enter.

Su Jinyan raised an eyebrow at this operation.

It seemed that in this era, finding a good traditional Chinese doctor involved more than just knocking.

Divine doctors are hard to find.

The courtyard had only three main rooms and two side rooms, and rows of wooden racks filled with baskets of dried herbs were placed about.

There was no one in the courtyard, and Xiao Li directly opened the door to the main room.

Su Jinyan followed closely behind.

The dim room smelled musty and was piled high with clutter, leaving no space to step. Su Jinyan frowned slightly.

However, she quickly thought about the persecution traditional Chinese medicine faced over the past decade, and her heart felt heavy.
As they entered the eastern room, there was only a tattered straw mat on the clay bed, with an indistinguishable quilt piled up at the foot of the bed. An old man was sleeping face down, snoring loudly into the blanket. On the head of the bed, several empty bowls and chopsticks lay scattered.

The floor was occupied by a large round table, which held stacks of bamboo woven baskets brimming with herbs. The ground itself was littered with more herbs.

‘Hoo, hoo, hoo—’

The loud snoring resonated throughout the entire room, comparable to thunder.

Nobody said anything, and Xiao Li placed the items on the bed, pointed outside, and prepared to leave.

Zhao Yuanyi suddenly spoke, “The old man’s awake.”

The snoring from the bed continued unabated, showing no signs of waking.

Xiao Li was taken aback and looked at the snoring old man for a long while before saying, “Mr. Huo, if you’re awake, you should get up.”

The snoring stopped abruptly.

The old man lazily rolled over and squinted at Zhao Yuanyi, grunting discontentedly.

“Brat, such a young age and no manners. Didn’t your mother teach you not to disturb someone while they’re sleeping?”

Mrs. Sun, who was nearby, was so frightened that her legs went weak, and she quickly bent down to apologize, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, old sir. We’ll step outside now; you, you go back to sleep, go back to sleep.” As she spoke, she tried to pull Zhao Yuanyi away.
Zhao Yuanyi stood his ground, showing no signs of retreat, and looked back at Huo Zhongtian, speaking calmly, “Disturbing someone’s sleep is impolite, but you weren’t actually asleep, were you?”

Huo Zhongtian’s eyes were lazily open but showed no intention of waking up as he narrowed his gaze at Zhao Yuanyi without saying a word.

“Guests have arrived; feigning sleep is impolite.”

“Hmph, what do you kids count as guests? Get lost, old man is in a bad mood today; I’m going back to sleep.”

The old man’s expression was dismissive as he shot a sideways glance at the people in the room before closing his eyes and dismissing them, “After you get out, lock the door.”

This…

Xiao Li was just as confused, glancing at Zhao Yuanyi, thinking that this young man was quite naive.

With things turning out like this, if they can’t be treated, he wouldn’t be able to help.

Why did the old man suddenly get angry?

The mood swings were too unpredictable, making Su Jinyan feel somewhat helpless.

Su Jinyan was at a loss, observing the irritable old man who was kicking them out, unsure of how to approach.

She wasn’t the main character; she didn’t have the luck of a Koi fish nor a heavenly father to support her. Thus, she couldn’t count on being lucky enough for everyone to recognize her or to sweet-talk her way into getting favors.

She was just a minor character without that kind of luck.

More importantly, in her previous life, she was just an ordinary college graduate and an average working-class employee—not particularly clever or eloquent. In this rebirth, she didn’t gain any additional intelligence; it was unlikely she could become smarter.

With no plan and no way forward, should they just retreat?

“Yanyan, take your parents outside.”

Zhao Yuanyi said to the old doctor without turning back.

Su Jinyan quickly ushered the two older people out of the room, dragging away the hesitant Xiao Li.

She had no idea what Zhao Yuanyi intended to do, but she wisely chose not to say anything.

Zhao Yuanyi was impressive; from their days together, she had learned that this man was ten times smarter than she was. She couldn’t help, and she didn’t want to be a hindrance, right?

It was better to give it a try than to leave without doing anything.