"Congratulations, host's first check-in! Obtained [Level 1 Enhanced Wound Powder] ×1, [Funds] 100 yuan."
Lin Chen stared at those two lines of prompts in his mind, unable to speak for a long time.
He had harbored a sliver of wishful thinking, hoping to get something like a nourishing formula or qi tonic, even if it was just a fragment. But wound powder and one hundred yuan... He smiled wryly, then thought—something is better than nothing. Since the system exists, it won't only give one reward; he could check in tomorrow, the day after, accumulate over time, and there will always be something useful. And one hundred yuan in Qinghe Town could already do a lot.
Wound powder... treats external injuries. Stops bleeding, generates new tissue, reduces swelling—good for cuts, bruises, and flesh wounds. But his grandmother's was internal injury and deficiency, illness in the organs and qi-blood; what she needed most right now was conditioning qi-blood and warming the organs—the formula the wound powder could use wasn't appropriate for now. He "took out" the wound powder from the system storage and glanced at it—a small bottle of medicinal powder, with a faint herbal smell, the instructions reading "for external application, do not ingest." He put it away, thinking: save it for now, in case someone has external bleeding in the future, it might come in handy.
As for one hundred yuan...
Lin Chen smiled wryly. One hundred yuan, in the city, wasn't enough for a decent meal, let alone buying any good medicine. But in Qinghe Town, one hundred yuan could do a lot. The herbs at the small town pharmacy weren't expensive—codonopsis, astragalus, angelica, atractylodes, poria, sour jujube seed, cinnamon twig, chuanxiong... these common herbs, according to the dosage in the formula in his head, could probably prepare a week's worth of medicine. Before, he had to calculate every ten yuan in his pocket—this hundred yuan was like a godsend. He accepted the reward, watching the funds column in the system interface change from 0 to 100, and let out a long breath. Something is better than nothing. First, use the Qi Observation Technique's judgment to prepare a conditioning formula for grandmother, prop her up for now; meanwhile, as long as someone came to him for treatment, he would accept, building reputation while waiting for the next check-in and for tasks to trigger.
That morning, Lin Chen headed to town with that hundred yuan. Before leaving, he decocted the morning medicine for grandmother, fed her to drink, then made congee and fed her half a bowl before confidently leaving. Grandmother's spirit was slightly better than yesterday, at least willing to drink a bit more. Lin Chen left the door slightly ajar, nodded to Neighbor Zhang across the way, saying he was going to town to take care of some business, asking her to keep an eye on grandmother. Neighbor Zhang agreed, saying, "Go ahead, I'll keep an ear out for the old lady." Lin Chen thanked her, put the money in his pocket, and walked toward town. Along the way, he repeatedly recited that formula in his mind, afraid of missing any ingredient or remembering the dosage wrong. Codonopsis, astragalus, angelica, atractylodes, poria, sour jujube seed, cinnamon twig, chuanxiong—he had the dosage for each herb memorized, could just state them directly at the pharmacy.
Qinghe Town's main street was only so long, walking from east to west took just ten minutes or so. On both sides were general stores, tailor shops, small restaurants, occasionally a couple of shops selling farm tools or seeds. On market days it would be more lively; normally there weren't many people, mostly locals from the town and nearby villages buying daily necessities and getting medicine. Lin Chen walked along, repeatedly reciting that formula in his mind, afraid of missing any ingredient or remembering the dosage wrong. The pharmacy was in the middle of the street, not a large storefront, with an old sign reading "Jisheng Tang"—reportedly has been open for decades, townspeople with minor ailments are used to getting medicine here. Lin Chen pushed the door in, hit with a wave of herbal medicine smell. Behind the counter was an elderly pharmacist, wearing reading glasses, weighing medicine with a steelyard. Lin Chen didn't mention the system, just said he was preparing medicine to condition an elderly family member, according to his own prescription. He handed over the pre-written formula—codonopsis, astragalus, angelica, atractylodes, poria, sour jujube seed, cinnamon twig, chuanxiong—each herb with the dosage marked. The pharmacist took the formula, adjusted his glasses, read through from start to finish, then looked him up and down, asking, "You wrote this?"
"Yes." Lin Chen nodded. "The elderly family member has qi deficiency and weak spleen-stomach, wants to gradually tonify."
The pharmacist didn't ask further. The formula's combination was standard, all tonifying qi and nourishing blood, strengthening spleen and calming spirit—no outlandish herbs, dosage was steady. He weighed, wrapped, and stacked the packages neatly, finally quoting a price: ninety-eight yuan. Lin Chen paid, carried the medicine out, two yuan left in his pocket. He bought two steamed buns on the street for lunch, munching as he walked home. Along the way, he ran into a few acquaintances; when asked what he was carrying, he said medicine for his grandmother; some gave him a longer look, as if wondering when this Lin kid learned to do medicine. Lin Chen didn't explain much, just nodded and hurried past. Some things, too much talk invites suspicion; when grandmother truly gets better, people will believe.
Over the next week, Lin Chen decocted and administered medicine to grandmother twice daily.
He soaked the medicine half an hour in advance, then decocted on the stove. Fire intensity, timing, water amount—he followed the formula precisely, not daring to be careless. Decoction requires "first strong then mild"—bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer on low, generally over half an hour to fully extract the medicinal properties. Lin Chen tended the stove, watching the fire, not daring to leave for a moment. After decocting, he strained the liquid, let it cool to warm, then spoon-fed grandmother spoon by spoon. Sometimes grandmother drank smoothly, sometimes she would shake her head after a few sips, saying it was bitter, saying she couldn't drink it. Lin Chen would coax her, "Drink it so your body recovers faster. Don't you want to see me start a family and establish a career? You need to get healthy to see that." Upon hearing this, grandmother would drink a couple more sips. Sometimes she really couldn't drink it, so Lin Chen would add some warm water to dilute it, then coax her to drink. He knew it was bitter, but however bitter, she had to drink. Without drinking, the illness wouldn't get better. In terms of diet, he also tried to take care: congee cooked until soft, vegetables made tender, not letting her eat cold or greasy foods. Before bed at night, he prepared hot water to soak grandmother's feet and wipe her body, letting her sleep more comfortably. He also didn't slack on the Qi Observation Technique—every couple of days he would carefully observe grandmother's complexion and qi mechanism, seeing where there was improvement and where still weak, adjusting the formula's emphasis as needed. For example, when he noticed her palpitations had worsened somewhat, he appropriately increased the sour jujube seed; when he noticed her appetite had improved slightly, he slightly increased the atractylodes and poria to strengthen the spleen and aid digestion.
At first, there wasn't much change for the first two or three days—grandmother was still sleepy, ate little, had shortness of breath. Lin Chen's heart was uneasy, afraid the formula wasn't right, but didn't dare change it randomly, could only continue observing. Every day after feeding medicine, he sat by the bed keeping her company, even if she only responded vaguely a couple of times, he felt at ease. On the third night, grandmother coughed a couple of times; he immediately got up to check, found it was just a dry throat, fed her warm water and she felt much better. On the fourth day, grandmother voluntarily said her chest wasn't as stuffy—Lin Chen barely contained his laughter. On the fifth day, her appetite was slightly better, willing to drink half a bowl more of congee, and even asked, "Xiao Chen, have you eaten?" Lin Chen said he had, grandmother nodded, then fell asleep again. On the sixth day, when he was wiping grandmother's hands, he noticed her fingers were slightly warmer than before, no longer that icy touch. On the seventh day, when he used the Qi Observation Technique to observe carefully, a faint flush of blood color was actually visible beneath grandmother's wax yellow complexion, and her breathing was more stable than before—still weak, but that "about to die" feeling had lightened somewhat. Lin Chen felt a weight lift from his heart, knowing this path was right. Qi Observation Technique for diagnosis, ordinary herbs for conditioning—this path worked. As long as he persisted, and gradually accumulated reputation from check-ins and tasks to exchange for better formulas, grandmother still had hope.
The news somehow spread through the village.
First, Neighbor Zhang from across the way came to visit, supposedly to borrow a dustpan, but upon entering, she saw grandmother propped up in bed drinking congee, complexion much improved from before. Neighbor Zhang exclaimed, "Oh my, the old lady looks much more energetic!" Lin Chen, in the kitchen, responded casually, "Recently changed the formula, gradually adjusting." Neighbor Zhang pressed for details on what formula; Lin Chen just said "ordinary qi-tonifying blood-nourishing medicine, got it from town." Neighbor Zhang made understanding sounds, didn't ask further, but upon leaving, she told others: That Lin kid knows his medicine, even adjusted his grandmother better. Once this word got around, people took note. Then, neighbor Uncle Wang's chronic waist pain acted up—after several days of plasters with no improvement, turning over at night made him grimace in pain. His wife said, "Why don't you ask that Lin kid? I heard he adjusted his grandmother's medicine." Uncle Wang didn't believe at first, said what could a freshly graduated kid do—but with no other choice due to the pain, he still came. Lin Chen had him sit, used the Qi Observation Technique to observe—stagnation in the waist area, combined with cold-damp, from years of labor plus catching cold. He didn't have needles on hand, so he pressed on the acupuncture points for Uncle Wang, then wrote a formula for warming meridians and dispersing cold, relaxing tendons and unblocking collaterals, asking him to get the medicine from town and try. Uncle Wang took the formula skeptically, left; several days later, he came back, saying his waist pain had eased considerably, could sleep soundly at night, insisted on giving Lin Chen ten eggs. Lin Chen couldn't refuse, accepted them. Uncle Wang also told everyone, "That Lin kid has skills." Through this and that, both the east and west ends of the village heard: That Lin kid from the university, knows medicine.
A few days later, Uncle Li from the east side of the village came directly to the door.
Uncle Li was over fifty, worked in the fields year-round, had waist pain for several years. Had tried plasters, taken painkillers, never got better, worse on rainy days, couldn't stand up straight when tired. He lifted his shirt for Lin Chen to see, complaining, "Xiao Lin, my waist hurts when I'm tired, has been for years, can you take a look?"
Lin Chen had him sit, used the Qi Observation Technique to examine carefully, and had a clear picture in his mind. Uncle Li had poor qi circulation in the waist area, deficient kidney qi; the waist is the house of the kidney, kidney deficiency means the waist loses nourishment; plus years of labor, dampness retained, cold-damp congealing and stagnating, leading to pain. This illness couldn't be cured in a day or two—needed to warm the kidney and disperse cold, relax tendons and unblock collaterals, gradually condition. Lin Chen didn't have silver needles, so he used his hands as needles, pressing and massaging several acupuncture points on Uncle Li's lower back: Shenshu, Mingmen, Yaoyangguan. His pressing force was moderate, each press asking Uncle Li how it felt; Uncle Li said "a bit sore, a bit bloated," Lin Chen nodded, continued pressing. After a quarter hour, Uncle Li said his waist felt looser, not as tight. Lin Chen then wrote a conditioning formula for warming the kidney and dispersing cold, strengthening waist and bones—eucommia, dipsacus, mulberry mistletoe, cinnamon twig, aconite, achyranthes, etc.—instructing him to take it for a month first, not do heavy work, keep warm, not let the waist get cold again. Uncle Li took the formula, looked at it, asked, "Can I get these herbs in town?" Lin Chen said yes, Uncle Li felt relieved. Uncle Li held the formula, asked skeptically, "Really can get better? I've taken a lot of medicine, hasn't helped." Lin Chen said, "Your illness accumulated over years, can't be cured with one or two doses. Take according to the formula, rest properly, don't let your waist get cold again, will gradually improve. If after a month there's still no effect, come back, I'll adjust the formula." Uncle Li looked at the formula, then at Lin Chen, said, "Alright, I'll try. If it really works, I'll spread your name." Lin Chen smiled and said not necessary, but Uncle Li waved his hand, thanked him, and left with the formula. At the courtyard gate, he turned back and added, "Xiao Lin, if your skills really work, everyone will come to you—better than working outside." Lin Chen didn't respond, just nodded.
Lin Chen walked him to the door, watching his figure disappear at the end of the village road, thinking silently in his heart: This is probably his first "patient" in the true sense—grandmother was family, but Uncle Li was the first neighbor who came specifically because he "knew medicine." Cure him, and reputation spreads; don't cure, and people won't trust him again. He had to do well.
He said to the system in his mind: From now on, whoever comes, I will treat them well. Reputation, funds, medical skills, accumulate them one by one. If Uncle Li really gets better after a month, reputation will naturally spread; when more people come, might trigger the system's tasks and get more rewards. He could also check in daily, accumulating bit by bit; when he accumulates enough reputation and funds, go to the store to exchange for better formulas and medicine for grandmother. One day, not only will he cure grandmother, but also establish himself in Qinghe Town, no longer letting people look down on him. Lin Chen turned back into the courtyard, saw grandmother's door was open, she was propped up in bed looking outside. He walked over quickly, saying, "Grandma, someone just came for a waist problem, I gave him a formula." Grandmother nodded, the corners of her mouth twitching, as if wanting to smile, said, "Good... my grandson... has a future." Lin Chen's nose tingled, looked away, saying, "You rest, I'll go decoct medicine."
He turned toward the kitchen, his steps lighter than when he came. That phrase from grandmother, "my grandson has a future," echoed in his ears; he clenched his fist, silently vowed: will make this sentence come true. Uncle Li's formula was written, Uncle Wang's waist pain eased—just continue like this, reputation will spread, tasks will trigger, reputation and funds will accumulate bit by bit. Then he can exchange for better medicine and better formulas for grandmother, letting her truly get better. The medicine pot in the kitchen was still warm; he lifted the lid to check, added a ladle of water, turned down the fire. Outside, daylight was fading, twilight gathering, another day was passing. In the distance, someone calling a child to eat, dog's barks, cow moos, scattered together. Lin Chen stood before the stove, watching the medicine bubbling in the pot, feeling unexpectedly more at ease. This week, grandmother's complexion improved; Uncle Wang's waist pain eased; Uncle Li took the formula and left, saying he would spread his name when better. Everything was moving in a good direction. As long as he persisted, treating one day at a time, accumulating one day at a time, eventually he will accumulate enough reputation and funds to exchange for better medicine for grandmother from the store. Then grandmother can truly get better, can walk around, can bask in the sun, can watch him start a family and establish a career. Lin Chen clenched his fist, took the medicine pot off the fire, strained the liquid, set aside to cool.
But for Lin Chen, this day was the true beginning. From now on, he was no longer that penniless kid with no way out, but the first Lin kid in Qinghe Town who could treat illnesses and cure people. He wanted everyone to know: Lin Chen makes a living by his own skills.