Chapter 21: Absolutely Won’t Live Past Two and a Half Years
The mountains were clear of fog as usual today. Yuan Ye stood on the mountain ridge, gazing at the vast expanse of peaks. After a long silence, he returned the way he came.
By the time he got back to the village, A Qing had already completed her task and returned. She had submitted the quest item 【 A Man’s eating utensils 】. A Man was spreading them out on the ground for inspection: a Japanese biwa, a shakuhachi （ a wind instrument with five holes, typically one shaku and eight sun in length, hence its name ）, a broken bowl, a bag of Pai Gow, and three dice.
A Qing, who was supposed to assassinate Yuan Ye last night, had also temporarily hidden her personal belongings for convenience. These included a seven-foot bronze hoop staff and a small vermilion lacquered drum. She dug them up now and was sitting in a corner of the earthen seat, quietly cleaning them with Little Monkey.
Yuan Ye glanced at them briefly before going to wash up. After he finished, he called them to eat.
Breakfast was as lavish as ever, with unlimited rice for everyone. Even foolish followers like the Momoi Brothers, Yayoi the part-time little maid, and A Qing’s pet little monkey could eat unlimited rice. It was served with bean paste, dried bamboo shoots, mushroom soup, dried bittern meat, pickled radish strips, and one boiled egg per person. The soup was incredibly salty, a true display of extravagance—a breakfast that seemed normal, even a bit meager, to Yuan Ye was considered a luxury by A Man and the others, a sign of a prodigal spender.
A Man not only finished all the meat and vegetables but also had two more large bowls of rice. After eating, she wiped her mouth. Even though she was incredibly thick-skinned and intended to take advantage, she felt a bit embarrassed at this point—she had thought the fatty chicken yesterday was a special occasion, but this meal was not much different!
With rice, meat, and vegetables at every meal, who wouldn’t be dazed!
Her good impression of Yuan Ye increased again, and she found him more and more pleasing to the eye. She couldn’t help but eagerly ask, “Do you want to listen to some music? I’m free, so I can play a few songs for you?”
Yuan Ye wasn’t eating as ravenously as she was and hadn’t finished yet. He casually waved his hand in response, “No need, you should rest well!”
“Then how about a monkey show?” A Man, wanting to reciprocate, asked solicitously, “Do you want to watch a monkey show?”
“Monkey show?” Yuan Ye was taken aback. His gaze shifted to A Qing and the Little Monkey beside her, and he suddenly understood.
No wonder she kept a Little Monkey and had a lacquered drum; she was a “monkey show performer” who begged for a living by performing with monkeys. This was quite similar to A Man, the “blind monk” who begged with her biwa and shakuhachi.
A Qing was quietly and quickly eating her rice from her bowl, completely focused. When she suddenly heard about a monkey show, she looked up and met Yuan Ye’s gaze, momentarily bewildered.
After a moment, she realized what was happening. She immediately lowered her eyelids, avoiding his gaze. However, her small hands holding the bowl couldn’t help but tighten, veins bulging. Her long eyelashes trembled incessantly, and her face flickered between pale, green, and red, suggesting intense internal turmoil. She had never eaten such a refined and abundant breakfast in her years of wandering and begging. She couldn’t help but eat a little more, and upon realizing it, she suddenly felt a pang of shame and embarrassment.
Indeed, she disliked Yuan Ye, or rather, she detested all samurai. Yet, she couldn’t help but eat so much of his rice. Being looked at by him suddenly made her feel ashamed, and she inwardly cursed her lack of self-control, feeling a growing sense of shame. She could only resort to changing her expression.
Yuan Ye found her changing expressions baffling and muttered to himself, “As expected, she’s a strange child.” He quickly waved his hand, “No need. I’m not really interested in watching monkey shows… well, not much.”
He was actually a little interested; he had never seen a monkey show before. But he wasn’t familiar with A Qing, hadn’t even spoken a word to her, and on top of that, she was putting on a show of changing her expression, acting strangely, as if ready to explode at any moment. So, he decided against it!
What if she really exploded and splattered him with blood? That wouldn’t be appropriate!
“Alright, suit yourself!” A Man saw that he didn’t want to watch and didn’t care. She had asked, and if he didn’t want to, it was his loss. This also saved her some effort!
She got up and lay down again, pulling her small cotton quilt over her. She patted her belly, intending to have a sweet nap. Her mood was quite cheerful.
This was the life she had always longed for: good food and drink every day without having to do anything. She hadn’t expected that being accidentally injured by Yuan Ye would inexplicably lead to this.
She planned to enjoy this period of leisure until Yuan Ye couldn’t stand it anymore and kicked her out.
…………
Temporarily taking in the sisters A Man and A Qing was just a small interlude in his transmigration journey, a pure accident.
After breakfast, Yuan Ye returned to his routine, continuing to execute his 【 Warring States period survival plan 】, which meant diligently studying medical skills to become a “Mongolian doctor” and increase his and his foolish son’s chances of survival.
He found a spot inside the earthen seat, brewed himself a bowl of tea, and then focused intently on the copied portion of the 《 Barefoot Doctor’s Manual 》 he had previously made. He was engrossed in his studies, oblivious to the outside world, dedicating himself solely to the classics.
Despite his youth, he possessed patience and perseverance. He sat down and remained there for the entire morning, not even moving from his spot. As lunchtime approached, A Man, having finished her nap, got up. He was still there, frowning in concentration, diligently studying and silently reciting, completely unaware.
A Man, being extremely curious, went over to see what he was doing. Seeing that the paper was filled with unfamiliar “Southern barbarian script,” she was greatly surprised and exclaimed in wonder, “Is this Southern barbarian writing?”
“You can think of it that way!” Yuan Ye replied casually.
“Oh? What does the book say?” A Man became even more curious.
Yuan Ye didn’t hide anything, as no one else could understand the book anyway. He casually said, “Some methods for treating illnesses and saving people.”
“A medical book…” A Man’s interest immediately waned by half. She peered at it for a while longer, unable to decipher the characters. Since Yuan Ye was too lazy to bother with her, she gave up. She got up and hobbled out to wander around.
Her name was indeed fitting; “Man”(Mǎn)) implied being unrestrained, and she was a very unrestrained person.
Before long, her voice could be heard chatting with Yayoi in the courtyard. The Momoi Brothers soon joined them, listening to her boast about her adventures and her stories of begging her way across the world.
Yuan Ye paid no mind, blocking out the noise and continuing to diligently study his books.
Time passed quickly, five days in total. During this period, no one came to rob him, and the villagers of Hibitsu Village didn’t plan a “Samurai Hunt” or try to surround him with manure forks to kill him. In this peaceful manner, his divine skill was perfected.
He had secretly finished copying the 《 Barefoot Doctor’s Manual 》, buried his mobile phone, and read through the book twice, roughly memorizing it. He had now preliminarily acquired the ability to treat the working people of Japan to death—this was actually quite impressive. Previously, he didn’t even know how to kill someone with treatment, but now he could. For a beginner, this was already quite remarkable.
As his uncle’s factory’s gatekeeper, the self-proclaimed non-famous trauma expert, Sayed Dog, once said: “Saving a person is like killing one. You can only save someone if you know how to kill them.”
Yuan Ye’s medical skills had now reached Sayed Dog’s level: he could treat. Whether he could cure or kill was uncertain, but he could at least treat.
Of course, the main reason was that the 《 Barefoot Doctor’s Manual 》 was originally a medical book for rural China, a super-accelerated textbook. It only required the learner to be literate, and most of it involved copying prescriptions, choosing one from several or even a dozen. For Yuan Ye, a university student, it was not difficult at all. Taking five days was already a sign of great respect for life.
Reading the book only got him so far. Skills like “recognizing acupoints,” “acupuncture,” and “pulse diagnosis” could not be mastered by just reading; they required extensive practical experience.
Yuan Ye felt it was time to open a “black clinic.” However, before opening a “black clinic,” there was another problem: a clever cook cannot cook without rice. Without medicine, he couldn’t treat illnesses, and he had no medicinal materials on hand.
He quickly sent the Momoi Brothers to find A Man, who was currently wandering around the village. This girl was truly a wanderer. In five days, despite her injury, she had hobbled around and befriended everyone in the village. She was already discussing village gossip during meals and had even figured out which household had how many chickens and how many eggs they laid daily.
After finding her, he first poured A Man a cup of hot tea and then politely asked her where in Owari Province he could buy medicinal materials. After all, he hadn’t found a pharmacy when he went to Nagoya Castle last time, so he could only ask this “know-it-all.”
“Medicinal materials?” A Man was a wild child, not so well-behaved. She glanced at Meng Ziqi, who was lying down, and asked curiously, “Are you planning to treat your friend?”
“No, I’m planning to treat the villagers,” Yuan Ye said truthfully. After all, with his current skill level, treating his foolish son could very well lead to a tragedy. Therefore, he needed to practice on the villagers first to improve his skill level and gain some reputation.
A Man was even more surprised, looking at him as if he were an idiot. She wondered what had gotten into his head—the villagers of Hibitsu Village had already been squeezed dry by samurai and monks; they were a bunch of paupers. There was no benefit to be gained from treating them. Wasn’t this a sign of a broken mind?
However, before she could ask Yuan Ye if his head had been kicked by a donkey, Yayoi, who was boiling water in the earthen floor room, exclaimed in surprise, “Lord Yuan Ye, you… you’re willing to treat everyone?”
Born in this era and raised in this village, she knew that many people in the village had long suffered from illness. A close friend of hers from childhood had died in pain from illness last spring. She knew this but was powerless to do anything. Hearing suddenly that Yuan Ye was willing to be a doctor and treat villagers regardless of his status, she was both surprised and delighted. However, after speaking, she felt uneasy, worried that Yuan Ye was joking with A Man.
A Qing, who was grooming the Little Monkey, also looked over in surprise. Seeing the apprehension in Yayoi’s eyes, Yuan Ye’s attitude became a little more serious as he nodded, “Yes.”
“But… they might not be able to afford your…” Yayoi, being precocious, immediately thought of the same problem as A Man.
Of course, Yuan Ye didn’t intend to make money from the pauper villagers. He immediately smiled, “You don’t need to worry about that. It’s just a casual thing. I’ll just collect medicine money. If they can’t even afford medicine money, they can owe it, with no interest. They can repay me by helping me with some tasks later.”
“Is that okay?” Yayoi was even more delighted. She seemed to see a halo behind Yuan Ye’s head, suspecting he possessed a “sacred body of innate divinity.”
“Yes!”
Yayoi was almost moved to tears. She immediately knelt and bowed, placing her clasped hands on the muddy ground and bowing her head. She said emotionally, “Thank you so much! Everyone will be very happy to hear this news!”
Yuan Ye quickly waved his hand, “Don’t tell anyone yet. Let’s wait until we find the medicinal materials!”
“Yes!” Yayoi responded crisply and immediately looked expectantly at A Man.
A Man, unaware of Yuan Ye’s “sinister” intentions and completely unable to understand what he was trying to do, suspected that the second-hand donkey Yuan Ye bought secretly entered his room every night and kicked him in the head, otherwise, he wouldn’t be doing such unreliable things!
She said incredulously, “You’re not making money, so what’s the point of doing this? You treat illnesses, provide medicine, and let them owe you, with no interest. Are you bored with too much money?”
Yuan Ye glanced at her and said indifferently, “I am bored with too much money, is that a problem?”
“Yes! Yes! You have money, so you’re amazing!” A Man was just a “guest” recovering from her injuries and couldn’t control what Yuan Ye wanted to do. But as she retorted, her gaze towards him became pitying—no wonder you were exiled. If I were your father, I would have kicked you out of the house too!
What a young master who knows nothing of the world’s hardships!
People like you, in this world, won’t live for more than two and a half years!
