Chapter Forty-Eight: Repaying Kindness

“Aunt Xier, are you calling me?” Luo Wuqi pointed to his own nose and asked.

“Come quickly,” An Yi beckoned.

Luo Wuqi walked over and saw Li Guyu lying on the ground. He asked anxiously, “He was bitten by a snake! Physician Lu can’t cure snake venom. What should we do?”

“He wasn’t bitten by a snake. He’s sick,” An Yi replied.

“Oh, Aunt Xier, could you hold these for me?” Luo Wuqi handed over several bundles he was carrying to An Yi, then picked up Li Guyu and rushed toward Physician Lu’s house.

An Yi followed.

Li Guyu was not gravely ill. According to Physician Lu, it was simply a case of wind-heat invading the exterior, disrupting the lung qi, and causing fainting.

An Yi’s diagnosis was straightforward: a wind-heat cold.

Physician Lu asked An Yi to prescribe medicine.

An Yi thought for a moment and said, “Four qian each of honeysuckle, forsythia, and reed root; three qian each of bamboo leaf, fermented black soybeans, burdock seed, and schizonepeta; two qian each of mint and platycodon; and one qian of licorice.”

Physician Lu gave her an approving look and said, “Go gather the herbs and decoct them for him.”

An Yi weighed out the medicines, poured them into the medicine pot, and went to the kitchen to prepare the decoction.

Before the medicine was ready, Li Guyu awoke, looking around in confusion. “Where am I? How did I end up here?”

“This is my home, and it was Xier who had Wuqi bring you here. You fell ill,” Physician Lu put down his medical book and smiled gently.

Li Guyu stood up from the bamboo chair, his body swaying and nearly falling again. “Physician Lu, I don’t have any money for the consultation fee.”

Physician Lu laughed. “No money is no matter. Once you’re well, just catch a snake for me as payment.”

“Is that really alright?” Li Guyu asked in disbelief.

Physician Lu nodded slightly.

“Thank you, Physician Lu.”

“You should thank Xier—she saved you, and it was her prescription,” Physician Lu refused to take credit for his apprentice’s work.

Just then, An Yi brought in the finished medicine. “Li Guyu, drink your medicine.”

Li Guyu cast a grateful look at An Yi, took the bowl, tested the temperature, and drank it all in one gulp.

“Master, I should be going,” An Yi said.

“Very well,” Physician Lu nodded.

After An Yi left, Physician Lu told Li Guyu, “Come again this evening for another bowl, and for the next two days, come morning, noon, and night.”

Li Guyu respectfully bowed to Physician Lu. As he left, Physician Lu’s wife, Madam Zhang, handed him two boiled eggs, which Li Guyu refused to accept.

Madam Zhang said, “Take them, child. You’re so thin, there’s nothing left but bones.”

Li Guyu sniffled, “Thank you, Aunt.”

Madam Zhang stood at the doorway, watching him walk off, and sighed, “Such a well-behaved child—how could anyone bear to treat him like this? He’s so sick and no one cares. It’s just too pitiful.”

“Old woman, I’m pitiful too! Haven’t eaten lunch yet, so hungry my stomach’s stuck to my spine,” Physician Lu poked his head out.

Madam Zhang turned and spat at him. “You old thing! Xier’s using the stove for medicine, so where am I supposed to cook your meal?”

“I told you we should build two more small stoves, but you refused.”

“Building stoves costs money! You only charge a little for consultations—barely enough to get by. Yet you’re generous when it comes to spending; as if money falls from the sky.” Madam Zhang muttered as she headed to the kitchen.

“Hey, old woman, those eggs just now were from you, nothing to do with me. Why blame me?”

“You can be the good guy, but I can’t?” Madam Zhang stood at the kitchen door, casting him a sidelong glance.

“Of course, of course, I never said you couldn’t,” Physician Lu laughed.

Madam Zhang smiled and pursed her lips, then went inside to cook lunch for the old man.

After leaving the Lu household, Li Guyu didn’t return home. He lay under a large tree on the hillside at the edge of the village. Sunlight filtered through the branches, dappling his body with warmth that reminded him of his mother’s embrace. He recalled the days after his mother passed away, and sorrow welled up uncontrollably, causing him to bury his face in the earth and cry loudly. Exhausted from crying, he drifted into a fitful sleep.

When Mrs. Jiang saw that he hadn’t come home even after midday, she not only didn’t save any food for him, but showed no concern for his safety. She cursed venomously, “What time is it? Doesn’t know enough to die and come back, stupid thing. Best if he dies outside.”

A look of resentment flashed across Li Yuan’er’s thin, pale face. She turned and hid in a corner of the kitchen, silently shedding tears. At the beginning of dusk, seeing Li Guyu still hadn’t returned, Li Yuan’er grew worried, sneaked out to search for him, and asked several hunters, but none had seen Li Guyu.

Her anxiety grew. She ran up the mountain, and at the village entrance, encountered An Jian, An Yi, and the New Willow sisters, who were returning from gathering herbs. In desperation, she asked, “Have you seen Guyu?”

An Jian and the New Willow sisters shook their heads.

An Yi frowned, “He hasn’t gone home?”

“He went out this morning and hasn’t returned. I don’t know where he is,” Li Yuan’er said, frantic with worry.

“Did you check Physician Lu’s house?” An Yi asked.

“Physician Lu’s house?” Li Yuan’er looked at An Yi in confusion.

“He fainted from illness by the roadside. I took him to Physician Lu’s house,” An Yi explained.

“Sick? Fainted?” Li Yuan’er turned and rushed toward Physician Lu’s house in a panic.

She didn’t find Li Guyu there and, increasingly distraught, ran to the An family to ask An Yi, “Xier, Guyu’s not at Physician Lu’s house. I don’t know where he’s gone. Could he have... could he...”

“Child, don’t talk nonsense. He’ll be fine. He’s probably just sleeping somewhere. Let’s go look for him,” Madam Luo interrupted, putting down her chopsticks. She had An Jian accompany Li Yuan’er, and took An Yi to search the village.

Li Guyu slept the whole afternoon. Awakened by hunger, he saw night falling and remembered Physician Lu’s instructions to drink another dose. He got up and descended the hillside.

“Li Guyu!” An Yi spotted him at once and called out.

Li Guyu froze, staring blankly as the mother and daughter hurried over.

“Child, what are you doing here? Your sister’s been searching everywhere for you—she was so scared,” Madam Luo said anxiously.

“I fell asleep,” Li Guyu replied sheepishly.

“You’re still ill. How could you sleep out in the wild? If you get sicker, what will we do?” Madam Luo worried.

Li Guyu lowered his head, staring at his tattered straw sandals, and murmured, “I don’t want to go home.”

Madam Luo paused, sighed softly, and said, “Go to Physician Lu’s house first. We’ll find your sister.”

From Li Yuan’er, Li Guyu learned that Madam Luo and the others hadn’t even finished their meal before coming out to search for him. Moved by their kindness, he resolved to repay them someday.

After a day of medicine, his illness hadn’t completely healed, but he didn’t want to stay at home, listen to Mrs. Jiang’s curses, or see her unpleasant face, so he dragged his still-weak body up the mountain to catch snakes.

He spent the day searching for snakes, but caught none. Instead, he found two nests of wild eggs—one he gave to Physician Lu, and the other he brought to the An family.

This book was first published here. Please do not reprint.