Daily Intelligence System: Don't Kill Me, Honey!

”Jiu Si, after copying the medicine classics so many times, have you gained any insights?”

In the Bai Family Mansion, Doctor Bai asked Chen Jiusi.

Jiu Si replied, ”I have learned quite a lot. May I know what specifically Master would like me to discuss?”

”Heh heh, although there are many medicines, there are some that are essential. Do you know what the hallmark medicine of our Bai family is?”

”Yellow lotus, greatly nourishing!”

Chen Jie thought for a moment before responding.

Doctor Bai, with an unchanging expression, asked, ”And why these two in particular?”

Chen Jie pondered for a moment and said, ”Yellow lotus is bitter and cold, purging the heart to eliminate food retention, clearing heat to brighten the eyes, it can lower fire and cause qi to ascend on its own.”

”Greatly nourishing is bitter and warm, and can ease bloating and diarrhea, resolve phlegm and dysentery, raise the yang and lower desires. Combining the two creates the most basic yet powerful medicine. Although it may seem unremarkable, it can play a significant role and has a broad range of applications, just like the common cabbage and radish we eat every day, simple yet foundational to the main dish.”

”Haha, good, good, you have this understanding, which shows you have truly grasped the essence of the medicine classics. Well done, very well done.”

Doctor Bai was very pleased with Chen Jie’s explanation.

”Thank you for the praise, Master.”

Doctor Bai nodded and then said to Chen Jie, ”Jiu Si, starting from tomorrow, you can begin studying prescriptions. If there are patients, you may also accompany me on house calls.”

”Yes, Master,” Chen Jie nodded in acknowledgment.

”Alright, that’s enough for today’s lessons. Oh, and take this pack of medicine back with you and soak it in water; it will be very beneficial for your martial arts training.”

Chen Jie, looking at the medicine Doctor Bai was offering, excitedly asked, ”Master, is this prescription ready?”

”Hmm, yes, but although this prescription is highly effective, it is also quite potent. If you find it too intense, let me know, and I will adjust the formula for you.”

”Master, the prescription can be changed?”

”Of course, why not,” said Doctor Bai. ”You’re studying medicine, so you should understand the principle of treatment according to the specific case. A single formula is not suitable for everyone. For instance, if the nature of this prescription is too cold, and someone has a cold constitution, they shouldn’t use it. The prescription needs to be adjusted to be warmer before it can be used.”

”This medicine for martial artists may be potent, but the principle behind it doesn’t change; it just involves using some precious and effective ingredients.”

”Like this Skin Tempering Soup; I extracted it from a damaged ancient text. Because the book was incomplete, only five ingredients were left, making the effects quite average. However, after some experimentation, I finally adjusted it to this formula of twelve-ingredient Skin Tempering Soup.”

”Thanks to this prescription, I was able to establish myself in the Fishing Guild as one of the Inner Hall Eight Doctors.”

Doctor Bai proudly recounted the glorious years of his past, filled with deep emotion.

Chen Jie listened carefully, noting to himself that even medicine soup isn’t set in stone; it can be adapted by adding or reducing ingredients to achieve the best effects.

He felt fortunate to be learning medicine; otherwise, he might have just ignorantly used the same formula on himself.

One could truly learn valuable things with Doctor Bai.

After taking the medicine, Chen Jie bid farewell to Doctor Bai, who invited him to stay for a meal. Chen Jie declined, saying he needed to buy a bathing tub in town to soak the medicine.

Doctor Bai heard this and said, ”Do you have enough money? I have some here if you need it...”

”Master, I have enough money.”

Chen Jie tactfully refused, and Doctor Bai didn’t insist further. Leaving Doctor Bai’s home, he ran into Mrs. Bai, who had returned from buying groceries.

”Jiu Si, it’s almost time for dinner, where are you off to?”

”Auntie, Master has given me a medicine to prepare. I’m going into town to buy a bathing tub…”

”Oh, I see. Go and come back quickly; we’ll wait for dinner.”

”That’s alright, Auntie. I’ll just go straight home; carrying a tub around is too much of a fuss.”

”Okay then, I won’t keep you. Be careful on the way.”

”Ah, understand, Auntie…”

Chen Jie walked westward, leaving the village and heading straight for Xiantao Town. Once he arrived in town, he first ordered a bathing tub from the variety store, then bought a large and a small set of new clothes for a lady at the clothing shop, and afterward, he purchased some food staples.

The household had less than seventy catties of sorghum rice left, which was hardly enough.

Chen Jie bought another hundred catties of millet this time, and ten catties of wheat still in the husk. Flour was too expensive, but the price for this unprocessed wheat was still acceptable.

He went to the cooked food shop and purchased a roast chicken, ten large steamed buns from the bun shop, and ten catties of pork from the butcher.

He had filled a small pushcart to the brim with groceries—the same cart borrowed last time from a fellow townsman. This time, Chen Jie gave him ten cents as a rental fee.

After busying himself around the market, Chen Jie accumulated a grand assortment of goods.

Just as he was about to head to the miscellaneous goods shop to load the tub onto the cart and push it home, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

For there, at a dumpling stall on the street, he saw a figure dressed like a Hero of the River, looking travel-worn and dusty, with a bamboo hat on his head and a ferocious scar slashed across his face.

At that moment, the man was eating dumplings.

His eyes scanned the passing pedestrians with vigilance.

Suddenly, his gaze sharpened and turned in one direction, locking eyes with Chen Jie.

Chen Jie was taken aback, thinking to lower his head to avoid the gaze, but that would seem very guilty and make it even easier to arouse suspicion.

So, he calmed his mind and, facing the man’s stare, slowly walked toward the dumpling stall.

The man continued eating his dumplings, watching Chen Jie with his eyes slightly squinted, as if amused.

Chen Jie soon reached the dumpling stall and called out, ”Boss, give me a bowl of meat dumplings.”

”Alright.”

The boss responded, and Chen Jie approached the man, whom the aunties had fabricated as a Hero of the River, and asked as he took his seat, ”May I share the table with you?”

The Hero of the River smiled and said, ”Sure!”

Chen Jie sat down, and the Hero of the River scrutinized him, much like a lion eyeing a rabbit.

The terrifying pressure made it hard for Chen Jie to breathe.

Finally, the Hero of the River spoke, ”Do you know me?”

”I don’t.”

Chen Jie replied.

The Hero of the River said, ”You don’t? If you don’t know me, why have you been staring at me for so long? If you don’t know me, how dare you sit down in front of me?”

Chen Jie said, ”Well, to say I don’t know you isn’t entirely correct. I heard people talking about you this morning.”

”Talking about me? Has news of me already reached this place?”

The Hero of the River stared at Chen Jie, causing a sinking feeling in Chen Jie’s heart. This was another man with a story, but I really don’t want to hear your Jianghu tales.

”Yes, indeed, it has reached our village. This morning, people were inquiring whether anyone had seen you.”

Chen Jie remained composed.

”Oh? Who was asking about me?”

Chen Jie said, ”Master Yu of Yu’s Treasure House.”

”Master Yu? Heh, not many have the nerve to call themselves ’master’ in front of me. What’s the background of this Master Yu?”

”This Master Yu is quite something—running the biggest gambling house in our town, known as Yu Half City. He keeps dozens of tough house servants and bruisers under his command, each of them fierce and fearsome. We all dare not cross him, and it’s been said that he’s one of Guild Cao’s men from the city.”

”Hehe, such a character in this backwater place—Yu Half City, he’s quite wealthy then?”

Chen Jie replied, ”Very wealthy.”

”Good, little brother, your information is quite useful. I’m in need of money myself, so I might as well take a slice from this Yu Half City.”

Chen Jie exclaimed, ”Oh no, big brother, you better not do that. That Master Yu is a Skin Buff Realm Martial Artist, quite formidable. You really shouldn’t provoke him.”

”Skin Buff Realm? What’s that supposed to be?”

The Jianghu Guest showed no concern at all!