Chapter 1

In the third year of the reign of Emperor Zaiqian of the Yu Kingdom, in the Jiangnan Circuit, Yizhou City.

An early summer rain had washed away the muddiness and heat from the world.

On the Yizhou Bridge, pedestrians were numerous, and carriages and horses were densely packed.

Below the bridge, the wide and deep river flowed quietly from south to north, carrying ships loaded with salt, tea, grain, and other goods.

Huge ships, thousands of vessels, were either pulled by纤夫 or rowed by boatmen, without a moment's rest.

The Yu Empire inherited the canal transport system from the former Sui Dynasty, and Yizhou City was one of the important nodes on the Yu Kingdom's canal route.

As the saying goes, "Wu Gate transports grain and silk, sailing across the sea to Penglai."

"Cloud-sailed ships turn the Liaohai, bringing rice from Dongwu."

The south-to-north and north-to-south ships and goods brought a large number of migrant populations and... business opportunities to this city in the Jiangnan Circuit.

The shops along the riverbank at the foot of Yizhou Bridge had prepared to open for business before the sun rose.

Whether it was teahouses, restaurants, wine shops, or cosmetic shops, pawnshops, and rice shops, all the storefronts were spacious and grand, bustling with people. However, among the many shops, one was tightly closed with no intention of opening.

It was a pharmacy with a sign that read "Baoan Hall."

"Snap."

The cloth used to wipe the pharmacy counter was thrown aside.

A young hand first swept heavily across the ancient and elegant paulownia wood table, then brought it close to the eyes to examine if there was any dust left on the fingertips.

"Finally clean."

The young man blew on his palm, casually threw the cloth into a wooden basin filled with water, stretched, and sat in the chair behind the counter.

He was about fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a gray robe, a short red shirt underneath, a headwrap, and long boots. His appearance was ordinary, but his expression was particularly calm.

His name was Li Ang.

Or rather, it was his name in this life.

Four months ago, the former owner of Baoan Hall, Li Ang's father Li Hanquan, and his wife Cui Yi, died of illness one after another. During the mourning period, Li Ang, who was in a daze, also had an accident—

Memories, fragmented and chaotic, began to continuously surface in his mind.

A bustling city full of skyscrapers, steel vehicles speeding on the streets, mobile phones, computers, the internet...

And a person named Li Ang who lived in that world.

The source of the fragmented memories had the same name and even the same appearance. Was this a case of Zhuangzi dreaming of being a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming of being Zhuangzi?

Or perhaps, it was the legendary "time travel"?

Li Ang shook his head, putting aside the chaotic thoughts, and focused his gaze on the familiar Baoan Hall pharmacy.

The pharmacy was relatively spacious, with blue stone slabs on the ground. Each of the four pillars had a round stone at the bottom, and three thin ropes hung from the beams, tied to a thin wooden stick. Below the wooden stick, packets of medicine with a medicinal aroma and small wooden signs with names like "Xiaoqinglong Decoction," "Mahuang Decoction," and "Dihuang Decoction" were hung.

Above the counter, there were bamboo baskets, medicine scales, and mortar and pestle.

Behind the counter, wooden shelves held boxes and ceramic jars filled with herbs like Mahuang, Kudzu root, Wu Yao, and Danshen.

"Master... we're almost out of money."

A gentle female voice interrupted his thoughts. Li Ang turned his head and saw a young girl in a green maid's uniform sitting in the corner of the shop.

She was about the same age as Li Ang, with a cute oval face, slightly frowning as she arranged a pile of coins on the table.

Chai Cuixiao, Li Ang's maid.

Eight years ago, a rebellion broke out in the southern part of the Zhou Kingdom, and the rebel army, like a raging fire, successively captured ten state cities. Faced with the disaster, the northern Zhou Kingdom's people fled their homeland and flooded into the Yu Kingdom.

At that time, the situation was chaotic, and many people sold their children. Li Ang's mother, Cui Yi, bought Chai Cuixiao to be Li Ang's maid.

The Yu Kingdom, as a major power of the time, had a vast territory, strong national strength, and prided itself on being the most civilized. The law stipulated that there were servants but no slaves in the country.

Even maids were not the private property of their masters. They had the right to receive wages and the right to decide their own marriages. If they were abused by their masters, they could file complaints with the government, guilds, or civilian mutual aid organizations like the "Women's Society" to forcibly terminate the master-servant contract.

"Hmm... how much is left?"

Li Ang sighed, stood up from the chair, and walked towards the maid.

Despite the interlude of Zhuangzi dreaming of being a butterfly, and the addition of countless fragmented memories, Li Ang's mind and consciousness had not changed.

After the sudden death of his parents, Chai Cuixiao, who had grown up with him since childhood, was the closest and most trusted person in his life.

By the way, the way servants in the Yu Kingdom addressed their male masters was "Alang," "Master," or according to the master's rank in the family, "Dailang," "Erlang," "Sanlang."

However, Li Ang, who had awakened to modern memory fragments, always felt that calling him "Dailang" was strange.

It gave him a sense that he was about to get up and take medicine the next second.

So he asked Chai Cuixiao to call him "Master" or directly by his name when there were no outsiders around.

"Three thousand two hundred and eighty-four copper coins, seven hundred and fifteen half-copper coins, seven hundred and seventy-nine third-copper coins, four hundred and twenty-one fifth-copper coins, two hundred and twenty ten-copper coins, thirteen taels of silver, and twenty guan of flying money..."

Chai Cuixiao's slender fingers pointed here and there, tilting her head, her expression somewhat puzzled, "In total, it's..."

"Thirty-one guan and three hundred and fifty-six copper coins,"

Li Ang sat down at the table, "Plus thirteen taels of silver."

The Yu Kingdom used copper coins as the basic currency. "Copper coins" were the smallest unit of the copper coin system.

The most widely circulated copper coins at present were the Kaiyuan Tongbao, which were round with a square hole, eight fen in diameter, made of copper, tin, and lead, and had star and moon patterns on the back.

Others included the Qianyuan Heavy Treasure and Dali Yuanbao, which were year coins issued by previous emperors.

As for the half-copper coins, third-copper coins, fifth-copper coins, and ten-copper coins, as their names suggest, their values were two, three, five, and ten copper coins, respectively. There were also twenty-copper coins, thirty-copper coins, forty-copper coins, fifty-copper coins, and even hundred-copper coins and thousand-copper coins. One thousand copper coins made up one guan.

As for flying money, it was a paper exchange voucher in the Yu Kingdom—due to the small value and heavy weight of copper coins, which made transportation inconvenient, paper bills (similar to bank checks) were created.

The flying money on the table at Baoan Hall was slightly larger than a palm, made of high-quality Xuanzhou hard yellow paper, which was tough and not easily damaged. In the middle of the paper, it read "Twenty Guan," with the time, location, and the money house and responsible person noted below. The edges of the paper were adorned with complex and beautiful anti-counterfeiting patterns.

"Recently, the silver price is about eight hundred copper coins per tael. Thirteen taels of silver is ten guan and four hundred copper coins. In total, we have forty-one guan and seven hundred and fifty-six copper coins."

Looking at the pile of coins on the table, neither the master nor the servant spoke, and a moment of silence fell.

This was all the usable funds that Li Hanquan and Cui Yi had accumulated over the years of running the Baoan Hall pharmacy.

Forty-one guan, not much, not little.

Li Ang sighed, "Has the price in the city changed much recently?"

"It shouldn't have."

Chai Cuixiao counted on her fingers: "White rice is seventy copper coins per dou (one dou is about six kilograms, ten dou is one shi), pork is forty-two copper coins per jin, grass carp is thirty copper coins per jin, a flatbread is two copper coins, a vegetable bun is three copper coins, a pear is three copper coins, and salt is forty copper coins per jin..."

"If we only count food for daily life, two people would need fifty copper coins each, a total of one hundred copper coins per day. But this only includes rice, salt, firewood, seasonings, oil, and vegetables. If we want to add a couple of dishes or soup, the cost would be about one hundred and thirty copper coins per day.

There's also money for buying clothes, coal, stationery, books, fruits, snacks, and candles..."

Li Ang quickly calculated that the daily living cost for him and Chai Cuixiao was one hundred and fifty copper coins.

If they wanted to maintain their previous comfortable life, it would be one hundred and seventy to two hundred copper coins per day.

"Without any income, forty-one guan would only last about half a year."

Li Ang rubbed his temples, not expecting the first problem he faced after time travel to be not a fatal illness or corrupt officials, but the most realistic crisis of a comfortable family going bankrupt.

"Master, actually..."

Chai Cuixiao fidgeted with the edge of her maid's uniform, hesitating for a long time before speaking in a low voice, "I have some private savings."

Li Ang didn't quite hear, "What?"

"Ten, ten guan."

Chai Cuixiao's face turned slightly red, and she said shyly, "Madam gave me a monthly allowance to buy what I wanted. Apart from buying some fruits and snacks, I've been saving it..."

"What are you thinking?"

Li Ang smiled helplessly, gently tapped Chai Cuixiao's forehead, and said, "Keep that money for yourself. I'm not going to rely on a maid to live."

Chai Cuixiao covered her forehead with both hands and pouted in silent protest.

"Cough, cough."

Li Ang cleared his throat, patted his thigh, and said seriously, "I plan to reopen the clinic."

"Eh?"

Chai Cuixiao put her hands down, looking shocked, "Eh!"

"What's with the 'Eh'? We need to find a way, we can't just sit here and wait for the money to run out."

"But..."

Chai Cuixiao opened her mouth, but hesitated to speak.

Li Ang glanced at her, picked up a teacup from the table, and took a sip, "Are you worried that I'm too young and no one will trust me? Or are you afraid that my medical skills are not good enough and I might accidentally kill someone?"

"Uh..."

Chai Cuixiao looked up at the ceiling, staring at the beam.

"Hey, you little girl."

Li Ang pretended to be angry, gently messed up Chai Cuixiao's hair, and said seriously, "I've read books like 'Treatise on the Origin and Symptoms of Diseases,' 'Qianjin Fang,' 'Qianjin Yifang,' 'Bencao Shiyi,' and 'Zhouhou Beiji Fang.' I can definitely treat people.

I have a plan, don't worry.

By the way, what's left to eat at home?"

"Master, are you hungry? There are two bundles of noodles, seven or eight eggs, two small jars of pickled vegetables and pickled mustard..."

"Then let's make two bowls of fried egg noodles. We'll make do for now. After eating, I'll go out. After the mourning period ends, I need to visit my teacher and ask about the state school examination. If I can pass the provincial exam and become a juren, it will make things like opening a clinic much easier."

"Oh, oh."

Chai Cuixiao nodded, seemingly understanding, turned, and lifted the bead curtain to go to the kitchen, but her face still showed a hint of worry.

Li Ang watched her disappear around the corner and sighed softly.

He knew himself best. Chai Cuixiao, designated by Cui Yi as half a daughter and a future daughter-in-law, was the person who understood Li Ang the most in the world.

Even she was worried about Li Ang reopening the clinic, so it was no surprise what others would think.

Li Ang ran his fingers through his messy hair, his eyes becoming brighter.

No matter how you looked at it, it was a pipe dream for someone his age to run a clinic and pharmacy, but...

Li Ang stood up from the chair, closed his eyes, and focused. In the faint sunlight shining through the thin window paper, he held his hands in front of him, palms open as if holding something.

A scalpel, cutting through the skin.

A retractor, exposing the abdominal cavity.

An aspirator, clearing the accumulated blood.

...

Li Ang's hands moved like a conductor on stage, gentle and steady.

Cut, stop bleeding, ligate, drain.

Remove, reconstruct, reconnect, transplant.

A virtual human figure seemed to appear before his eyes, lying horizontally, with eyes, nose, mouth, ears, heart, liver, spleen, and lungs all present. As Li Ang used the scalpel to cut the skin, the blood vessels, muscles, and nerves of the virtual human figure were exposed in detail.

The faint sunlight through the window paper was like an operating light, and the sound of slippers dragging on the sterile operating room floor seemed to echo in his ears, along with various odors from the memory fragments.

The smell of disinfectant soap when washing hands.

The smell of burning flesh from the high-frequency electrocautery.

Even... the sour smell of various lesions.

Li Ang's arms, suspended in the air, paused. He still couldn't remember his specific life experiences in the other world.

Whenever he tried to recall, he could only find clear information in the memory ocean, like books neatly arranged on a library shelf.

Inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, cell biology, pathophysiology, pathological anatomy, medical immunology, medical microbiology, physical examination, diagnosis, ultrasound, imaging, ECG...

A vague yet profound emotion welled up in his heart. The hardships and struggles of his studies, the nervousness and fear of holding a scalpel for the first time, the fatigue and satisfaction after completing a surgery...

Li Ang slowly lowered his arms, opened his eyes, and his eyes sparkled.

He was a surgeon.