The next day began not with pain or aching muscles, but with a calm, unfamiliar sense of purpose.
The simple bowl of radish soup, once an object of pure disgust, now felt like a necessary fuel for the day's labor.
Daniel ate it without complaint, his mind already focused on the endless green field that awaited him.
This acceptance marked the beginning of a new, disciplined routine that would define his life in the Eastern Medicine Garden.
Every morning, he would rise before the first artificial rays of dawn touched the valley.
He would perform a series of slow, deliberate stretches, feeling the new, hard-earned strength in his limbs.
He would then join Old Man Hemlock for their silent, shared breakfast of radish stew and radish buns.
The food was still plain, still earthy, but his body no longer rejected it.
It welcomed the simple sustenance, the fuel for the long day ahead.
