The old shopkeeper was so anxious that sweat had broken out on his forehead. He hurriedly nodded and said, “Little brother, if you’ve got a method, use it. Don’t have any misgivings. No matter what happens, I’ll shoulder it for you!”
Li Qiuchen treated those words as nothing but a fart.
If the old patriarch really ended up dead, would you let me off?
The reason he had not been in a hurry to act just now was that he was truly somewhat afraid the old man might suddenly receive the Medicine Master’s calling and grow something strange on his body.
The bluestone platform had just been washed clean, and the Zhao family was also a key target of attention. Who knew if someone was watching from the shadows?
After observing a little longer, however, he realized something was off.
The old man was not possessed by a ghost; he was possessed by his own blood.
An old fellow over eighty years of age, his bones brittle from head to toe, had suddenly become brimming with qi and blood. His old heart could not withstand it, and even his brain cells had been boiled into a frenzy along with it.
It did not seem like a blessing from the Medicine Master. Rather, it was somewhat like the effect of some kind of medicine.
Li Qiuchen rubbed his hands and stepped forward, waving to signal the household servants beside him to move aside.
The old man howled and chopped down with his saber. Li Qiuchen dodged aside, at the same time grabbing the arm holding the blade and twisting it straight behind his back. Then he kicked him in the hollow of the knee, knocking the old man down onto one knee on the spot.
One hand locked his arm, while the other pressed against his back. Force surged out.
Holding Tiger Art!
This was a technique used by prison guards to seize prisoners. The internal force in the palm specifically struck vital acupoints to disperse a prisoner’s strength, which happened to match the old man’s current symptoms perfectly.
The old man cried out, and the strength of his struggling instantly diminished by half.
Without showing a thing on his face, Li Qiuchen lightly inhaled, drawing the old man’s overabundant qi and blood into his own body. Once that medicinal force dissipated, the old man let out a long breath and grew quiet all over.
“Done!”
Li Qiuchen released his hands and feet and gently laid the old man on the ground. Facing the expectant gazes cast at him from all around, he said solemnly, “Help the old patriarch down to rest. Remember, do not give him any more highly nourishing foods. He’s in this state because he ruined himself by taking medicine. Prepare some pickled vegetable lumps, millet soup, that sort of thing, and let him recuperate for a good while.”
“A divine physician!”
The old shopkeeper came forward and grabbed Li Qiuchen’s hand, so grateful that tears nearly flowed. “Brother Chu, it’s all thanks to you today!”
“No, no, no, please don’t flatter me.”
Li Qiuchen hastily humbled himself. “What do I know about medicine? It’s mainly because I happened to have seen a case like your old patriarch’s before. I had an old uncle who gathered a spiritual herb in the mountains. He didn’t know what effect it had, so he brought it home and steeped it in wine. After drinking it, he turned into this the next day, running bare-assed through the snow for a full day and night before he came back to his senses.”
This was a lie.
Not a single word of it was true.
But at a time like this, how could the old shopkeeper possibly disbelieve even a little? After hearing it, he flew into a rage, turned around, and questioned his family, “What nonsense have you all been feeding the old patriarch?”
“No! Nothing!”
The family members all denied it one after another. The old man was already this age, and the household had been in a complete mess during this period. If there really were some treasure, who would be willing to feed it into his mouth?
Who knew which filial son or worthy grandson had secretly done this fine deed.
In the alley outside the Zhao family courtyard, the two filial sons and worthy grandsons who had been eavesdropping at the wall looked awkward.
“You refined the pill yourself, and you still dared to randomly feed it to someone?”
“How is this my fault? If you hadn’t searched his memories last night and nearly killed him, would I have needed to feed him a pill?”
“Then you should have fed him less! The old man is over eighty. Did you think you were feeding a pig?”
“I’m not a professional pill master. How was I supposed to grasp the dosage?”
The two looked at each other, both feeling a lingering fear, and said no more.
No matter what, it was good that no one had died.
…………
In the north, no respectable family’s banquet table could ever have a dish like sauced big marrow bones on it.
Tasty was tasty.
But if you brought that thing out, people would laugh at you.
When a proper family invited guests, what had to be served at the table was a crystal pork knuckle with skin and bone intact.
That knuckle could not weigh less than three jin, the layer of fat had to be more than two fingers thick, and it had to be fried into tiger-skin crackle before being braised in a large iron pot for two hours. Only when it was cooked to a dark jujube-red and served with a glossy crystal-thickened sauce could it count as not having wasted that pig.
Then you grabbed it with your hand and pulled, easily drawing the bone out from the meat. The remaining skin and meat, together with the sauce, were mixed into rice.
Just go ahead and eat.
One bite, and you would fall silent. Even your throat would get glued up with it.
In all the years Li Qiuchen had been alive, it had been a very long time since he had eaten proper food.
Many people liked to praise the so-called “original flavor,” meaning that as long as the meat was good, it would be delicious no matter how it was cooked.
That was pure nonsense.
The correct way to put it should be—as long as you possessed basic culinary skill, then if the meat was good, it would be delicious no matter how you cooked it.
Country folk could not even read a single large character. You expected them to have cooking skills?
That was not called “delicious no matter how it was cooked.” In truth, it was because there was no oil or grease in your belly, so anything you ate tasted good.
Li Qiuchen understood this deeply.
He had grown up in Pine Forest Village eating whatever food others gave him, and he had extremely deep impressions of certain relatives’ cooking.
To this day, he still could not understand how someone could make freshly steamed cornbread as indestructible as a brick, reeking of feet, and capable of being thrown out as a hidden weapon.
The cooks of a landlord’s household were different.
As the saying went, a fine horse deserved a fine saddle, a precious blade belonged with a hero, and good ingredients also had to be prepared by a good cook.
After hugging the pork knuckle and finishing three great sea-bowls of mixed rice, once that carb-dazed feeling came over him, Li Qiuchen suddenly felt that cultivating immortality seemed to be just so-so.
It was not that interesting.
Granny Liu had also been invited to the feast, after all, she had put in effort.
She still wanted to take the pork knuckle away together with the plate, but with Li Qiuchen and Hu Haier staring at her, she was too embarrassed to make a move.
The old shopkeeper held a very high seniority in the Zhao family. The Zhao landlord who had been taken away was his eldest brother. Among his generation, he ranked third, but he was not part of the main household.
To put it plainly, he was a “clan elder.”
Now that the household had no leader, and the old patriarch had encountered such a matter, he could only step forward to preside over the situation. For a time, he had no leisure to entertain the guests.
By the time he finished dealing with the family matters and hurried over, Li Qiuchen had already eaten until he was stuffed to the brim and was sitting off to the side drinking tea to cut the grease.
“The house is in chaos, and that flock of womenfolk all have long hair and short insight. We were remiss in our hospitality and have made a joke of ourselves before you all.”
The old shopkeeper was a tactful, perceptive man. As he spoke pleasant words, he reached into his sleeve and took out several silver ingots.
The promised reward to Granny Liu had been twenty taels of silver, not a single coin less. On this side, what he gave Li Qiuchen was also twenty taels.
Granny Liu was extremely embarrassed and hurriedly declined. “Third Brother, what are you doing? I didn’t help much at all.”
“Old sister, don’t say such things. The fact that you were willing to come help is already giving me face. We’ve been neighbors for so many years, so you mustn’t be polite with me.”
Whether or not she had helped in the end, she truly had invited an immortal down. The old shopkeeper was smooth in his dealings, so naturally he would not offend such a capable person over a matter of money.
As for Li Qiuchen’s side, by rights he ought to have given more. But if he gave too much, Granny Liu might very well feel uncomfortable about it. Women, especially women of this age—could you really expect them to be reasonable?