Chapter 115 – Da Qiu Becomes an Apprentice

Zhou Yimin didn’t actually know the exact formula for the fast-acting heart pills. After all, in his previous life, that was one of the nation’s top secrets—how could he possibly know it?

Forget about the heart pills—even the formula for the widely known Yunnan Baiyao is also a state secret. The version available on the market is said to be a diluted version. The published ingredients are merely for reference.

So, Zhou Yimin could only propose the general idea and the main ingredients he knew of.

As for how to develop the medicine, that would have to be left to the professionals.

If even they couldn’t figure it out, then there was nothing to be done—only wait for Professor Zhang to step in.

Chen Baishu was in excellent spirits. On one hand, he had taken on a disciple. On the other, Zhou Yimin had offered him a fantastic idea—an idea that could potentially save countless lives. While it wasn’t very specific, it at least pointed in a direction, which was extremely valuable to him.

With his spirits so high, his efficiency in seeing patients skyrocketed.

By lunchtime, he had already prescribed medicine for seven elderly villagers.

Traditional Chinese medicine wasn’t too expensive these days—people could still afford it. Of course, things like decades-old ginseng were a different story. That kind of thing had never been cheap.

“Party Secretary, our village still has a lot of work to do!”

On the way to Zhou Daqiu’s house for the apprenticeship ceremony and feast, Zhou Yimin suddenly said this to the old village Party Secretary.

The old Secretary was puzzled.

But he still agreed, “Yes, that’s why I’ve been urging the folks on Weishan Mountain to put in the effort and get the chicken farm up and running as soon as possible.”

He thought Zhou Yimin was referring to the progress of the mountain being prepared for free-range chicken farming and that Zhou was expressing dissatisfaction.

Zhou Yimin realized the Secretary had misunderstood.

He chuckled, “It’s not just the chicken farm. Our village is still poor. Look—today, some of the elderly hesitated to seek treatment. At the end of the day, it’s because they don’t have the money.

I have a plan. Once the village collective has enough money, we’ll cover all medical expenses for the elderly. That way, our seniors can get treated when they’re sick, instead of hesitating like today.”

As soon as he said that, the old Party Secretary and the others around them were stunned. Then, their hearts suddenly started to beat faster.

If this goal could be achieved, Zhoujiazhuang really would be a paradise.

Kids wouldn’t have to worry about school. The elderly wouldn’t have to worry about medical expenses. What else could that be but a blessed land?

“We’re just afraid we won’t be able to afford it.”

Zhou Yimin replied, “Exactly. That’s why we all need to work harder and make more money—otherwise, it’s all just talk. Once the village collective becomes financially solid, we’ll be able to do a lot.

Not only can we provide free education for kids and free medical care for the elderly, we can also build other public facilities and services that benefit the people.”

The old Secretary fell silent.

At this point, he thought: Maybe you should be the one acting as Party Secretary.

He truly felt ashamed. He didn’t have the same kind of ambition as Zhou Yimin—or maybe he just didn’t dare to dream that big.

“Alright, let’s focus on generating income first. Once the village has some surplus funds, we’ll talk about the rest.” With that, Zhou Yimin quickened his pace to catch up with Eldest Uncle.

The old Secretary and the village leaders exchanged glances and nodded at each other.

They didn’t say anything, but they all understood: from now on, Zhoujiazhuang would follow Yimin’s lead. Whatever he suggested, the village would do.

It was clear to everyone that Yimin genuinely cared about the future of the village.

“Doctor Chen, come in! Sixteenth Brother, come in!” Zhou Daqiu’s father, Zhou Zhicheng, eagerly welcomed Zhou Yimin and Chen Baishu into the house, and had his daughter-in-law prepare tea.

He was taking this apprenticeship ceremony and feast very seriously.

The old Secretary and the rest trailed in behind: “…”

Damn it! So you only see Doctor Chen and Yimin? What, are we invisible?

“Daqiu, go change into a nicer outfit,” Zhou Yimin called out.

For a formal apprenticeship, one must first be properly dressed.

Zhou Daqiu quickly nodded and slipped into his room, pulling out his best set of clothes and putting them on.

When he came out, he looked a lot sharper—like a fine young man.

Chen Baishu nodded in satisfaction.

“According to tradition, one should first bow to the founder of the art, but since we don’t have a portrait of the founder, let’s bow to the Great Leader instead,” Chen Baishu said.

Nowadays, in any ceremonial setting, the Great Leader could serve as witness. Even in weddings, people bowed to his portrait.

Zhou Yimin silently praised this idea.

This was political correctness at its finest—so long as the Great Leader was involved, no one would dare say anything. No one would nitpick or criticize.

Next came the formal apprenticeship: offering a cup of tea.

After the bow and the tea, a gift was also required.

In ancient times, the six ceremonial gifts known as liushu xiu were presented when taking on a teacher: celery, lotus seeds, red beans, red dates, longan, and dried lean meat strips.

These days, the gifts could be more flexible.

Zhou Daqiu offered two strips of cured meat, two cans of yellow peach preserves, and a tin of tea leaves.

Even in the city, such an apprenticeship gift would carry significant weight—let alone in the countryside.

These days, people still couldn’t eat their fill, and even grain was hard to come by—let alone meat. As for canned yellow peaches, those were rare items. Bringing a couple when visiting relatives would make you look good.

Tea was even more precious.

Eldest Uncle himself only drank low-grade tea scraps, and not often. He rarely saw tea leaves like these—especially ones so nicely packaged. Just from the packaging, it was clearly a high-end product.

He understood—it had to be provided by Zhou Yimin.

He didn’t believe their village could produce such quality tea.

It was clear how seriously Zhou Yimin took this apprenticeship—or how much he cared for his new disciple.

Originally, according to his training plan, he intended to temper Zhou Daqiu’s character a bit first—have him do more work and only begin teaching him real skills after some time.

But since Zhou Yimin was placing so much importance on it, he decided not to go down that road.

Besides, with those three apprenticeship gifts, he had no excuse not to take it seriously and teach properly.

The happiest of all were naturally Zhou Daqiu’s family members. Their household was about to produce a doctor.

“I still have clinic hours later, so I won’t drink. You all go ahead, enjoy yourselves!” Chen Baishu said apologetically. His self-control was strong.

Hearing this, the old Secretary and others didn’t try to persuade him.

After all, he still had to see patients—and they were from their village. If he got drunk and made a misdiagnosis, it’d be their villagers who suffered.

“I’ll drink tea instead, I’ll drink tea,” Chen Baishu added.

“Alright, we’ll drink then. Doctor Chen, please feel free,” Zhou Zhicheng said, raising his glass and downing it in one go.

Then, he turned to toast Zhou Yimin. That toast was a must—without Zhou Yimin’s help, their Daqiu would never have had the chance to formally study medicine.

Since the teacher wasn’t drinking, Zhou Daqiu didn’t dare touch a drop either.

He didn’t want to lower his standing in his teacher’s eyes.

“Grandpa, don’t drink too much—I’m going to tell Grandma,” Zhou Yimin said to his grandfather.

He was allowing the old man to drink, but his intake had to be limited.

(End of Chapter)