Chapter 35

Closing her eyes, Qian Jianing entered the familiar white mist and, as usual, found the small door with ease. She pushed it open, and the training ground from before had vanished. The room had transformed into a pharmacy. Qian Jianing poked her head in, looked around, and then slowly stepped inside, curiously examining everything in the room.

“You’re here.” A voice rang out. Qian Jianing followed the voice and discovered a quiet room behind the rows of medicine shelves, where a white-bearded Daoist wearing traditional robes was decocting medicine. She had no idea what kind of medicine it was, but it smelled absolutely foul.

“Daoist Master of Medicine.” Remembering Treasure Bowl’s instructions, Qian Jianing bowed respectfully.

“Sit,” Daoist Master of Medicine nodded slightly, his gaze still fixated on the medicine pot. After about three or four minutes, the pot suddenly released an acrid stench. Daoist Master of Medicine waved his sleeve to extinguish the fire and carefully poured the medicine into an empty bowl on the table.

Even holding her breath, Qian Jianing could smell the pungent stench. She couldn’t help but sympathize with whoever had to drink that concoction—whatever illness it was for, it must be extremely hard to treat. Probably someone with seriously bad karma in a past life.

“Come over and drink it.” Perhaps seeing through Qian Jianing’s thoughts, Daoist Master of Medicine wore a clearly gleeful expression as he pushed the bowl toward her. “It’s a pity we can’t add honey to it—then it might taste a bit better.”

Qian Jianing looked at the bowl emitting brown smoke and shuddered slightly. The color, the vapor, the atmosphere—everything about it screamed witch’s brew. She scooted back a little, her face filled with horror. “Daoist Master, I don’t think I’m sick? What’s this medicine for?”

“It’s for your brain,” Daoist Master of Medicine said plainly. “I heard Treasure Bowl gave you a Mind-Opening Pill before to enhance your memory and cognitive agility. But to study medicine, memory alone won’t cut it—critical thinking is even more important. No one can think clearly without a good brain. To make teaching easier, I specially brewed this brain-enhancement medicine for you, to further develop your intelligence. I have no interest in teaching a dull student.”

Seeing Qian Jianing looking like drinking the medicine was worse than dying, Daoist Master of Medicine grinned even wider. “This was personally brewed by me, you mustn’t waste it.”

With a face like she was going to the gallows, Qian Jianing picked up the bowl and took a small sip. A putrid, eye-watering taste filled her mouth; she nearly vomited. Still, however revolting, the medicine had to be taken—it was a rare, invaluable tonic. Once she felt the temperature had cooled enough, Qian Jianing closed her eyes and drained the bowl, gulping it down until the last drop. Then she clamped a hand over her mouth, grimacing. After a few deep breaths, the nausea slowly subsided, and Qian Jianing exhaled with relief.

Daoist Master of Medicine showed a hint of satisfaction on his face. “You have grit and perseverance. Even immortals would choke on this brain tonic.” He pulled a candy from his pouch and handed it to her. “Take this to clear the taste.”

Qian Jianing thanked him and popped the candy into her mouth. The subtle sweetness washed over the bitter, sour burn, finally reviving her taste buds.

Daoist Master of Medicine led Qian Jianing into the front pharmacy, pulled two thick books from the bookshelf, and handed them to her. “This book is the Comprehensive Compendium of Chinese Herbs. It records the properties and effects of medicinal herbs from ancient to modern times, complete with detailed illustrations of the raw plants, preparation methods, and the appearance after processing.” He randomly flipped to a page showing Fo-ti root and grabbed a piece from a cabinet, holding it next to the book to compare. “If the pictures aren’t clear enough, you can look for the actual herbs in the cabinets behind. I’ve got samples of every herb listed in here.”

Looking at the one-foot-thick book and the thousands of drawers behind her, Qian Jianing felt slightly dizzy.

But before she could even steady herself, Daoist Master of Medicine placed another equally thick book in front of her. “This one covers the theoretical principles of medicine and includes all known illnesses and corresponding prescriptions throughout history. You’ll need to memorize both books cover to cover before I can officially start teaching you medical arts.” He gave her a deep look and said earnestly, “If you want to learn more from me, memorize them in the shortest possible time. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee you’ll learn much in the next ten days.”

Those words instantly lit a fire under Qian Jianing. She sat down in a chair and started reading. Having previously taken the Mind-Opening Pill, she already absorbed texts at lightning speed and had an eidetic memory. Now, having had the brain tonic, her efficiency had multiplied—she wasn’t just memorizing, she fully comprehended what every sentence meant.

Her hands flipped through the pages rapidly. Only when she’d read nearly half the giant stack did she begin to feel tired. As she reached up to massage her brow, she noticed a plate of soup dumplings and a bowl of red date glutinous rice porridge, somehow placed beside her.

She set the book aside, picked up the chopsticks, and brought a dumpling to her mouth. Biting lightly through the wrapper, the hot, fragrant broth burst out, flooding her mouth. The rich flavor lingered. Tasting it, Qian Jianing’s eyes lit up—these were dumplings made by Food Elder.

She hurriedly put her chopsticks down and looked around the room. Hearing voices coming from the quiet room behind the herb cabinets, she quickly ran over. As she got closer, the voices grew louder. At the doorway she heard Food Elder boisterously shout, “Four twos—boom! Haha, we win this round!”

As his voice faded, Treasure Bowl’s childish voice chimed in, “Two jokers—boom! Haha, you’re left with a three, aren’t you? Let’s see you get out of this!”

“Unbelievable! Are you crazy? You didn’t see any jokers in the draw and still dared play four twos as a bomb? I lost so much money following your lead,” Daoist Master of Medicine grumbled, clearly frustrated. Qian Jianing could even imagine the way his beard was probably standing on end in anger.

Treasure Bowl chuckled smugly, “Straight flush, ten to ace!”

Silence fell in the room. Then Treasure Bowl burst into hearty laughter, slamming down his last card. “You two lost big this time! Divine Doctor, you still haven’t paid off your last debt, and now you owe even more. Interest is adding up fast.”

Daoist Master of Medicine growled, “We’ll extend the lessons to twenty days—deal me in again!”

Qian Jianing stepped away from the door, deciding not to interrupt. She returned to the table to finish her dumplings and porridge. No wonder so many immortals owed Treasure Bowl high-interest loans—he won at cards wherever he went. His knack for attracting wealth truly deserved respect.

By the time she opened her eyes in the morning, Qian Jianing had already finished one of the books. As usual, she dragged Qian Jiafeng out for martial arts practice, then went to the kitchen in the shop next door to prepare breakfast for the family.

Now that the weather had turned cold, Qian Jianing no longer let Li Wanzhen sell breakfast on the streets. Instead, she only sold marinated snacks at noon and in the afternoon. Each time, Li Wanzhen took two large full tubs to the stall, and within an hour, everything would be sold out.

Li Wanzhen was used to rising early. Since she wasn’t allowed to vend in the mornings anymore, she kept busy by sweeping both courtyards. By the time she’d finished, breakfast was ready.

After eating Food Elder’s soup dumplings the night before, Qian Jianing felt further inspired. That morning, she ordered a generous slab of fatty pork belly, fresh shrimp, and flour from Xiantao.com to make her own shrimp soup dumplings.

As the appetizing aroma filled the air, Li Wanzhen served the porridge from the pot and set it on the table. Qian Guosheng and Qian Jiafeng came over, and the four of them gathered around for breakfast.

“Slurp…” Qian Jianing sipped the savory broth from inside the dumpling and suddenly said, “Mom, I’m thinking of taking a trip to the Imperial Capital.”

Li Wanzhen froze. “What for? Is something urgent? I’ll go with you.”

Qian Jianing quickly waved her off. “No need. I mainly want to research medicinal cuisine—go learn some medical theory and look for old herbal recipes. One of my customers in the Imperial Capital is quite influential and offered to introduce me to a senior TCM doctor. To be honest, I’ve already bought my ticket. I need to head to the station right after breakfast.”

“But you’re still so young,” Li Wanzhen said worriedly. Qian Guosheng didn’t look at ease either. “What if you get kidnapped and sold off to a remote mountain village?”

Before Qian Jianing could reply, Qian Jiafeng suddenly blurted out, “Mom, if my sister runs into traffickers, who knows who’d be the unlucky ones? With her temper? She might not even leave them a leg.”

Remembering the scene where Qian Jianing smashed a wooden cabinet door with a single punch, both Qian Guosheng and Li Wanzhen fell silent. Seeing this, Qian Jianing quickly said, “I’m already eighteen. I can definitely go out on my own. Besides, in another year or two, I’ll be going to college, and won’t I have to move to another city by myself? You can relax.”

Li Wanzhen thought for a moment, then still gave Qian Jianing a word of advice: “If you really run into some shameless troublemaker, make sure you don’t hit too hard. Don’t go breaking bones with one punch again—we’d still have to pay their medical bills.”

Qian Jianing looked awkward. “I’ll be careful with my strength.”

Knowing Qian Jianing was becoming more and more level-headed, plus with her having money and the ability to protect herself, Qian Guosheng and Li Wanzhen discussed it and decided to respect her wishes. They simply asked that she make sure to be home before the New Year.

The little shop had long since posted a notice of temporary closure. After breakfast, Qian Jianing added a new notice atop the previous one, then went back inside to pack and headed to the train station.

Although the regular morning park-goers already knew Qian Xiaomi’s shop wouldn’t be open today, they still came by with a hint of hope—maybe the boss had returned early and decided to reopen. But they were disappointed to find the shop was still securely locked.

Meng Yimin, always detail-oriented, had a nagging feeling that the leave notice on the door looked different from the one she’d seen yesterday. She quickly stepped forward to take a closer look, and suddenly cried out in shock, “Boss Xiao Qian is taking half a month off!” Her voice was a bit loud, and the customers nearby, who had started to wander away, all turned around and came back, surrounding Qian Xiaomi’s shop completely.

“For the sake of improving culinary skills and developing new dishes, the owner has decided to go study for a while. The shop will be closed for half a month. —Qian Xiaomi”

The group looked at one another, then all sighed. Not being able to eat Qian Xiaomi’s cooking for half a month—none of them were sure they could survive that kind of craving.

At this moment, Qian Jianing was already on the train. To make the journey to the Imperial Capital more comfortable, she had thoughtfully purchased a sleeper ticket in advance. After lifting her suitcase onto the luggage rack, Qian Jianing climbed into the middle bunk, closed her eyes, and prepared to resume reading the book given to her by the Daoist Master of Medicine.

No sooner had she passed through the white mist and pushed open the little door than she heard the Daoist Master of Medicine shout furiously, “Again! At worst, I’ll just extend her time by another half month!”

Qian Jianing let out a worried sigh. She didn’t even know if she’d ever actually graduate.