Chapter 2

"Your noodles are ready."

As Li Ang locked the wooden box containing all the money, Chai Cuiao emerged from the kitchen carrying two steaming bowls of egg noodles.

The master and servant ate the noodles. Perhaps due to her fear of poverty from childhood, Chai Cuiao had a great appetite. Even the plain noodles without oil made her eyes light up and she slurped them with relish.

"Take it slow, don't choke."

Li Ang smiled and reminded her. Chai Cuiao responded with a "Mm" and continued to eat, one mouthful of noodles and one of vegetables. When she finished, only a whole poached egg and a little broth remained in the bowl. She reluctantly bit into the crispy edge of the egg and finished it with the broth.

"Knock, knock."

The knocking at the door interrupted the tranquility. Li Ang frowned and looked towards the entrance of the Security Hall.

The mourning period had just ended; who would come to visit?

He glanced at Chai Cuiao, who immediately understood. She wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, stood up, and carried the wooden box filled with coins to the backyard.

After Chai Cuiao left, Li Ang cleared his throat, walked to the door, and asked, "Who is it?"

"Is Master Li at home? I am Yu Jie, a clerk from Qing'an Hall in the eastern city. You can call me Yu Liux."

The voice outside said, "My master sent me to deliver the gift box from the recent meeting of the Medical Association."

"Your master? Qing'an Hall?"

Li Ang narrowed his eyes. Qing'an Hall in the eastern city, like the Security Hall, was a pharmacy and clinic. Its owner, surnamed Yu, named Miaoshui, was a highly sought-after "Fuyi" in Yizhou City.

Fuyi does not mean he is from Fuzhou or a fat person, but rather a doctor with "good fortune."

Li Ang grew up in a clinic and had a deep understanding of the medical system of this era.

The medical resources of the Yu Kingdom could be broadly divided into official and civilian categories.

Officially, the leading institutions were the Imperial Medical Bureau in Chang'an, the Imperial Pharmacy Bureau, and the Imperial Medicine Storage Bureau. The Imperial Pharmacy Bureau and the Imperial Medicine Storage Bureau served the emperor and the crown prince, and sometimes treated princes, ministers, and concubines at the emperor's command.

The Imperial Medical Bureau was responsible for national medical administration and medical education.

These three central institutions were well-organized, concentrating medical elites, and their medical standards were the best in the world. However, in contrast, the medical standards in the regions of the Yu Kingdom were backward.

The "Yan's Family Instructions" in the Sui Dynasty described the "broad but not deep" scholars as follows: "...divination with six out of three, medicine treating ten and curing five, music ranking below dozens, archery ranking among hundreds..."

The medical sage Sun Simiao of this dynasty bluntly stated in the "Essential Prescriptions for Emergencies": "Today's doctors only know how to diagnose and prescribe, but do not understand the timing of harvesting herbs, the origin and quality of the land, the freshness and condition of the herbs, so they can only cure five or six out of ten patients, and this is the real reason."

Curing five or six out of ten means that most doctors have a cure rate below 50%.

It is important to note that the medical system of this era lacked sufficient data for reference, such as the patient's constitution, age, physical condition, specific illness, severity before treatment, and duration of the illness.

Many illnesses can be cured by the patient's own immune system, and these cases are also counted as successful cures, meaning that the actual cure rate of most doctors is even lower.

The overall mediocrity of doctors severely undermined the public's enthusiasm for seeking medical treatment, leading to widespread criticism and ridicule in many classics.

The "Book of Han: Catalogue of Arts and Literature" states: "...and when they are not suitable, they make the hot even hotter and the cold even colder, injuring the vital energy internally, which is not visible externally, and this is their unique mistake. Hence the saying, 'If you have a disease and do not treat it, you will often get a moderate treatment.'"

This long-standing proverb means that not treating a disease can sometimes result in a moderate treatment, which is better than being misdiagnosed by a quack.

"Even if it does not completely eliminate minor illnesses, it is better than taking bad medicine."

In essence, this is a criticism and ridicule of quacks—interpreting it as advice to avoid taking medicine and to rely on the harmony of heaven and man and natural healing is a misinterpretation, turning criticism into praise.

In summary, the backward medical standards of the Yu Kingdom have led to various irregularities. Many commoners, when sick, would copy the "New Bodhisattva Sutra" and the "Encouragement to Good Deeds Sutra" at home, hoping to cure their illnesses through good deeds and the copying of Buddhist scriptures.

Copying Buddhist scriptures instead of seeing a doctor is essentially a death sentence, but even believing in medical books is not much better—medical books of this era vary in quality, often contradicting each other and having vague and unclear language, and even contain bizarre folk remedies.

For example, the "Supplement to the Classic of Materia Medica" compiled in the early part of this dynasty claims that "human flesh can treat wasting diseases (possibly tuberculosis)," leading to "many filial sons and daughters and benevolent mothers and fathers scraping their own flesh to treat their parents," resulting in the deaths of countless filial children and benevolent parents.

These situations have led to the emergence of "lucky doctors," or "Fuyi."

These doctors have no medical skills but have become famous due to chance, "curing" a few patients (most likely due to the patients' own recovery), and thus becoming famous and widely praised. As long as they prescribe a medicine, hundreds of people will rush to buy it, regardless of whether it is appropriate for their condition.

If the patient's condition improves after taking the medicine, it is considered the doctor's good fortune, which has been transmitted to the patient through the medicine, leading to a cure.

If the patient's condition does not improve, it is considered a matter of fate, with the patient's thin destiny preventing them from benefiting from the doctor's good fortune.

Even if the patient dies, it is not the doctor's fault.

In any case, the Fuyi are invincible.

Yu Miaoshui is a typical Fuyi.

Six years ago, he was a poor itinerant doctor who could not even afford twenty coins, wandering in tattered clothes to Yizhou City. He gained fame by curing hundreds of patients with a so-called "miracle drug" that could "cure a thousand diseases with one dose," and became rich overnight.

His so-called miracle drug was—mung bean soup.

Yes, Yu Miaoshui initially prescribed only one medicine: mung bean soup.

Child abdominal pain? Drink mung bean soup.

Headache and fever? Drink mung bean soup.

Imbalanced qi and blood? Drink mung bean soup.

Gynecological diseases? Drink mung bean soup.

Yu Miaoshui instructed patients to drink it in the morning, in the evening, before meals, after meals, as a thick porridge, as a thin soup, hot or cold, causing the price of mung beans in the city to double.

There was a Medical Association (a guild formed by civilian doctors) in Yizhou City.

Faced with the outsider Yu Miaoshui, who openly deceived the ignorant masses, the doctors of the Medical Association were initially indignant and wanted to teach him a lesson.

However, as time passed, more and more people claimed that they felt better after drinking mung bean soup, making the doctors of the Medical Association doubt.

Less skilled doctors were skeptical but believed that Yu Miaoshui might be a truly lucky "Fuyi."

More skilled doctors, while knowing that Yu Miaoshui was a fraud, could not stop the enthusiasm of the ignorant masses—patients would provide evidence to support Yu Miaoshui, citing ancient texts that said mung beans were sweet and cool, and could clear the gallbladder, nourish the stomach, relieve heat, quench thirst, promote urination, treat dysentery, strengthen the intestines, improve vision, and treat headaches and vomiting...

If drinking mung bean soup did not help, it was because they had not drunk enough.

Yu Miaoshui knew how to seize opportunities. After becoming a "Fuyi" by selling mung bean soup, he retired and used his initial wealth to buy a shop in Yizhou City, opened a pharmacy and clinic, and hired real doctors to practice. He himself no longer made house calls or talked about the "mung bean soup cures all diseases" theory.

Li Ang quickly reviewed Yu Miaoshui's background in his mind, silently "tsk"ing, and reached out to open the door.

He had no good feelings towards such a charlatan, but it was surprising that the Medical Association had allowed Yu Miaoshui to join.

What had happened in the four months of mourning?

"Yu Liux, right?"

Li Ang nodded at the gray-clad servant outside, "The gift from the Medical Association..."

"It's here."

Yu Liux smiled and presented a wooden box with copper corners.

Li Ang took the box, opened it, and glanced inside. It contained the usual small gifts like saltpeter and dangshen, just like the gift boxes distributed at each Medical Association meeting.

"Thank you."

Li Ang closed the box, glanced at Yu Liux, who was still standing there, and frowned. "Is there anything else?"

"Cough, it's like this."

Yu Liux bowed, pretending to hesitate. "My master wants to ask if you have any intention of selling the Security Hall recently."

"What?"

Li Ang's eyes narrowed, gripped the door frame, and said coldly, "No, good day to you."

Seeing Li Ang about to close the door, Yu Liux quickly said, "My master is willing to pay 180,000 coins for the Security Hall!"

180,000 coins, or 1,800 strings, was enough to buy 40 to 50 acres of medium-quality farmland outside the city or two similar-sized residences in a slightly more remote part of Yizhou City.

Bang!

The door slammed shut. Yu Liux clenched his teeth and stomped his foot, "180,000 coins, plus a house in the city..."

"I won't sell no matter how much you offer,"

Li Ang said coldly, "Go back."

"You..."

Yu Liux took a deep breath, calmed down, and bowed. "My master will visit again later to talk to you personally."

With that, he pursed his lips and left, leaving a cold "we'll see" in the air.

Li Ang listened to the gradually fading footsteps, turned around with a cold expression, and placed the gift box on the counter.

"Is he gone?"

Chai Cuiao's head popped out from behind the bead curtain, "What's going on? Yu Miaoshui wants to buy our house?"

"He probably has his eye on this location."

Li Ang waved his hand. "This street by the river is near Yishui Bridge, with a lot of foot traffic. Yu Miaoshui wants to move from the eastern city to here to advance further."

"Then..."

"Of course, we can't sell to him."

Li Ang smiled coldly. "He sent a servant to inquire about the price right after the mourning period ended, clearly thinking I am not yet of age and have no means to support myself.

All pharmacy and clinic owners can calculate foot traffic to estimate revenue and net income.

He probably thinks we don't have much savings and will sell to him without hesitation to avoid running out of money.

Hmph, Yu Miaoshui, with his business acumen but no medical ethics, would only help the wicked if he got this prime location."

"Right, right. He's too bad."

Chai Cuiao nodded in agreement, clenched her fists, and swung them in the air as if trying to punch Yu Miaoshui from a distance.

'Besides...'

Li Ang walked to the table, picked up the cold tea, stared at it for a moment, and drank it all, silently thinking: 'This Security Hall... still has secrets.'

Li Ang remembered clearly that four months ago, when he first awakened his memories from another world, it happened after drinking water from the well in the backyard.

Although he was unsure if there was any real connection, it involved his greatest secret, and he could not take the risk.

Li Ang listened to the fading footsteps, turned around with a cold expression, and placed the gift box on the counter.

"Is he gone?"

Chai Cuiao's head popped out from behind the bead curtain, "What's going on? Yu Miaoshui wants to buy our house?"

"He probably has his eye on this location."

Li Ang waved his hand. "This street by the river is near Yishui Bridge, with a lot of foot traffic. Yu Miaoshui wants to move from the eastern city to here to advance further."

"Then..."

"Of course, we can't sell to him."

Li Ang smiled coldly. "He sent a servant to inquire about the price right after the mourning period ended, clearly thinking I am not yet of age and have no means to support myself.

All pharmacy and clinic owners can calculate foot traffic to estimate revenue and net income.

He probably thinks we don't have much savings and will sell to him without hesitation to avoid running out of money.

Hmph, Yu Miaoshui, with his business acumen but no medical ethics, would only help the wicked if he got this prime location."

"Right, right. He's too bad."

Chai Cuiao nodded in agreement, clenched her fists, and swung them in the air as if trying to punch Yu Miaoshui from a distance.

'Besides...'

Li Ang walked to the table, picked up the cold tea, stared at it for a moment, and drank it all, silently thinking: 'This Security Hall... still has secrets.'

Li Ang remembered clearly that four months ago, when he first awakened his memories from another world, it happened after drinking water from the well in the backyard.

Although he was unsure if there was any real connection, it involved his greatest secret, and he could not take the risk.