Mo Lixia returned home, feeling a bit listless.
She and her master lived halfway up the mountain, about a thousand meters away from the village below. A long flight of stone stairs connected them to the world.
Originally, the stairs were lined with tall weeds, but Mo Lixia had insisted that a home should look like a home. After discussing it with Qian Chuan, they planted grafted wild roses along the path.
Years later, the bushes were thick and lush. Whenever they bloomed, the air was filled with an intoxicating fragrance.
Before she reached the top of the stairs, Mo Lixia looked up and saw a figure pacing back and forth at the gate.
"Brother Shen?" she called out from a distance.
Shen Muqing turned around. Seeing Mo Lixia, a faint blush appeared on his cold, youthful face—hard to detect, but there.
He stared at the beautiful figure getting closer and forced a stiff smile. "Lixia... You went gathering herbs again?"
"Brother Shen, why are you here?" Mo Lixia asked calmly. "Is Aunt Shen sick again?"
"No... no," he stammered. "I hunted a pheasant in the mountains today. My mother asked me to bring it to you. Doctor Qian's health hasn't been good lately; this will make a good soup for him."
Without waiting for Mo Lixia to refuse, Shen Muqing dropped the pheasant at the gate and turned to leave.
"I have to go!" he said, practically running down the stone stairs.
Mo Lixia watched his retreating back in silence.
He's still carrying his bow and arrows, she noted. If his mother sent him, he would have come from the village, not the mountain.
She wasn't dense. She knew Shen Muqing had feelings for her.
Since realizing this, she had visited Aunt Shen less frequently. Mentally, she was a woman nearing thirty. Being in a strange world, feeling small and helpless, she had no energy for puppy love. She just wanted to live a quiet life until old age.
She picked up the pheasant and walked inside. Well, it's perfect for a chicken and mushroom stew today.
"Master... I'm back," Mo Lixia called out as she placed the basket and the pheasant in the kitchen.
A moment later, a weak, hollow voice drifted from the inner room.
Mo Lixia sighed.
Master's health had been fluctuating recently. Physically, he was fine, but Mo Lixia knew he had a "sickness of the heart."
She had accidentally seen a painting of a beautiful woman in his bedroom. Often, she would catch him staring at it in a daze. Even the highest medical skills cannot cure a broken heart. Qian Chuan knew this too, and his appetite had been shrinking day by day.
Mo Lixia glanced at the hourglass. It was nearly noon.
She carried some hot water from the stove to the stone sink outside to clean the pheasant.
This sink was one of Qian Chuan's brilliant inventions. It had running water, just like modern tap water.
The water source was a mountain spring flowing from a crevice five meters above the house. Qian Chuan had used bamboo pipes to guide the water through the wall and directly into the kitchen.
The water flowed into a bamboo frame over a wooden basin, and the drainage system led the wastewater out to irrigate the trees and herbs.
When Mo Lixia first arrived, she had been amazed. "Master, how did you think of this? It's genius!"
Qian Chuan had simply replied, "My time is precious. Why should I waste it carrying buckets of water?"
He had even rigged a similar system for the bathroom, allowing for easy baths.
Mo Lixia's daily life was simple. Aside from tending to the medicinal fields, she spent her time reading about herbs unique to this era.
The kitchen was her domain. Qian Chuan had designed a custom iron stove—a rare luxury in ancient times. It had multiple burners for brewing medicine and even an oven on top for drying herbs.
Although Mo Lixia thought this invention should be shared with the world, Qian Chuan refused. "I worked hard to design this. Why should I let others take advantage of it?"
Mo Lixia could only lower her head and stay silent. Her master was truly eccentric.
In her previous life, Mo Lixia was born into a prestigious medical family. Her grandfather was a renowned doctor, and her grandmother was a master of incense making. She had started learning from them as a child.
Following her grandfather's advice to "learn broadly," she had specialized in surgery but also dabbled in everything else. During holidays, she would help at the family clinic, make incense with her grandmother, or go on food tours with classmates.
Cooking was second nature to her.
Since she took over the kitchen, the food had improved so much that Qian Chuan had promptly sent Uncle Liu home to rest.
Mo Lixia finished cleaning the pheasant and washed the mushrooms she had picked. After putting the rice on to steam, she went back outside to wash the fresh shepherd's purse she had found.
The sun was high, and the aroma of cooking food soon began to fill the courtyard.