Chapter 8 Not an Outsider

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Walking out of the Forestry Bureau, Zhao Yang felt a sense of relief.

Li Xingmao owned a furniture company in the county town; over the past few years, it had become a small brand with very good business. Cutting off their timber supply was like cutting off one of his legs. These days, Zhao Yang noticed two new furniture companies had opened in the county, signifying increased competition. Buying wood from others would raise costs, making business tough for Li Xingmao.

Zhao Yang did not go to the hospital. Instead, he whistled merrily and rode his tricycle back to the village.

Upon reaching Zhang Xiu'er's house, Zhao Yang knocked on the door but nobody was home.

Just as he was wondering about it, he noticed the door to Zhang Xiu'er's home had opened a crack from his knocking—it wasn't locked.

The security in the Li Family Village was quite good, with no thieves and such. Although it wasn't a place where lost items would always be returned or doors would be left unlocked at night, there wasn't a need for overly tight security, especially since Zhang Xiu'er had the village's fiercest big wolf dog in her yard.

Zhao Yang pushed open the gate and entered the yard where several chickens clucked in the corner, and the big wolf dog, Heizi, lounged lazily in his kennel, just sticking his head out to nap.

Hearing the noise, Heizi lifted his eyelids, glanced at Zhao Yang, and then lowered his head to continue sleeping.

Even though the dog seemed tame upon seeing Zhao Yang, not even barking once, it was extremely fierce towards strangers. Four years ago, when a village ruffian tried to harass Zhang Xiu'er, Heizi nearly bit through the man's throat.

Zhang Xiu'er, living alone, felt a greater sense of security having such a dog to guard her.

"Anyone home?" Zhao Yang called out.

Soon enough, Zhang Xiu'er, wearing a bathrobe, ran out of the house. As soon as she lifted her eyes, she immediately greeted him with great delight, "Zhao Yang, you're back!"

Zhang Xiu'er, rushing out, was wearing slippers. As she stepped over the threshold, she stumbled as if about to fall to the ground.

Zhao Yang hurried forward to help, but realized that Zhang Xiu'er, stumbling, seemed to be steadying herself.

Just as Zhao Yang was about to retract his hand, he felt the green silk bathrobe with the floral pattern suddenly slip off!

Zhao Yang was stunned. For a whole ten seconds, his eyes stared straight ahead, unblinking.

Zhang Xiu'er was also dumbfounded. In her rush to greet him, she had failed to secure her loosely tied bathrobe, which had now unexpectedly fallen off.

At this moment, Zhao Yang felt his body growing hot and parched, and he couldn't help swallowing.

Zhang Xiu'er, fresh from the bath, was stunning; the term "a beauty fresh like a lotus flower out of water" was no exaggeration at all in her case.

Zhang Xiu'er quickly turned away to fasten her bathrobe. Then she turned back, her cheeks as red as blood, looking charmingly beautiful.

"Zhao Yang, you, you're back. How are your dad and Yingtao?"

"Dad and Yingtao are still at the hospital. I was thinking of sorting things out before picking them up. Oh, Sister, sorry about this… I just came to say that I might need to use the car for a few more days." Zhao Yang hardly knew what else to say.

"Oh, no problem, you use it. It's been sitting there for years anyway," Zhang Xiu'er said, easing the awkward atmosphere. She hesitated for a moment before asking, "Want to come in and sit down?"

"Ah, no, I won't sit," Zhao Yang quickly waved his hand and said, "I need to hurry up the mountain to gather some herbs."

"You know how to gather herbs?"

"Yes, a bit. I learned it from my master in the mountains." Zhao Yang felt slightly uncomfortable and quickly said, "Well, Sister Xiu'er, I'll be going now."

Just as Zhao Yang reached the door, he heard Zhang Xiu'er call him. Turning around, he saw Zhang Xiu'er fidgeting slightly and biting her lip before saying, "Zhao Yang, we're not strangers. Don't worry about it."

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He wasn't a stranger—

On his way up the mountain, Zhao Yang's mind was flooded with thoughts of Zhang Xiuer and the last words she had uttered.

Zhao Yang was a man, a normal man, and it was difficult for him not to be moved by a delicate and luscious peach like Zhang Xiuer.

However, as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Zhao Yang would immediately think of Li Ping and would naturally choose to restrain himself.

Zhao Yang still remembered how the first slingshot he used to shoot birds was made by Li Ping, who later on took him to sneak a peek at Widow Zhang bathing in the west of the village. That was the first time in Zhao Yang's life that he had a very vague notion about women.

Li Ping was not exactly a virtuous man, but he had a good heart and was kind to Ergou; Zhang Xiuer was the woman he had married after putting in tremendous effort.

Zhao Yang also recalled the day Li Ping took Zhang Xiuer away from Kaoshan Village and was ambushed by the village bully outside the village, nearly breaking his legs.

But it was also because of that same bully from Kaoshan Village that Zhang Xiuer settled down here after Li Ping passed away, not wanting to go back.

Upon reaching the mountaintop, Zhao Yang realized that the medicinal herbs he needed were not difficult to gather. He was initially puzzled, but then had an epiphany.

Nowadays, the knowledge of medicinal materials for the majority of mysterious doctors came from "Ben Cao Gang Mu," yet his master's lineage of knowledge clearly followed a different path. Whether it was the understanding of herbs or the mastery of their properties, everything was strikingly different from that of ordinary doctors. Even the names of many herbs weren't quite the same, and a lot of the herbs recorded in his master's ancient book were nowadays regarded as mere weeds.

Nanxing Grass, Fuzi Root, and herbs that invigorated yang, Zhao Yang quickly gathered a basket full of them.

If it were only for impotent men, he wouldn't need so much, but Zhao Yang thought of making extra, hoping he could trade it for some money when the opportunity arose.

In this world, money isn't almighty, but without money, there's next to nothing one can do. With more money, Zhao Yang could afford to send Yingtao to college and even purchase some rare medicinal materials.

Zhao Yang had learned some methods of refining medicine from his master, who said these techniques could at best cure diseases and disasters, prolong life, and at most, bring back the dead and turn someone into an immortal.

Zhao Yang didn't believe in any of that nonsense about becoming immortals or ghosts; but when he thought about his master's current state, he had to somewhat believe it.

His master was ninety-seven this year, yet his vigor didn't fall short of a young man's by much, and Zhao Yang admired him greatly. Even if he couldn't become any sort of goddamn immortal, if Zhao Yang could live to a hundred, he'd be willing to do anything.

When he got home, Zhao Yang subconsciously turned his head to look towards Zhang Xiuer's house, feeling inexplicably restless. He promptly put a Coolheart Leaf in his mouth, and instantly felt some of the fire inside him subdued.

This Coolheart Leaf was a splendid thing, containing the effects of calming the mind and cooling the blood, but it was extremely rare; Zhao Yang had only found one on the mountain.

The liquor was bought from the county, spending five hundred yuan on ten jars. Zhao Yang processed the gathered herbs by dry-firing and processing them, mixing them with the liquor according to the formula, and distilling them again in a pot.

Preparing medicine was a meticulous task, one that could not be taken lightly. If the balance of principal, minister, adjuvant, and courier in the concoction was mistaken, the properties of the medicine could change, and it could even be deadly.

Zhao Yang had seen his master prepare medicine on many occasions and was aware of the stakes; thus, he did not dare to be careless, watching over the cauldron without moving away for even a moment.

In the middle of the night, a unique fragrance wafted from the pot, immediately jolting a drowsy Zhao Yang wide awake!

"It's done!" Zhao Yang opened the lid of the pot and took a deep sniff, feeling a warm energy rising from his lower abdomen, and his mind began to wander with wild thoughts!

Damn, is it that effective?

Just by smelling the fragrance of the liquor, without even trying it, Zhao Yang knew the medicinal wine was a success!

He spent the entire night bottling the liquor, one jar after another, sealing them with mud. And just like that, ten jars of the secret concoction of Qiang Shen Jiu were ready!