Chapter 4: Healing Injuries

  Lying in bed, Cong Ye was a little dazed for a moment. Growing up like this, it was the first time he slept in a girl's bed. The fragrance of orchids and musk involuntarily drilled into his nostrils, making Cong Ye's face flush and heart beat suddenly, even forgetting the pain on his body.

  "She is sister-in-law and the beloved of Pai Chang."

  Congye reminded herself in her heart, wanting to stop having any more wild thoughts, but no matter how hard she tried, it was all in vain. Instead, she recalled the scene earlier at the clinic, when her sister-in-law had cleaned her wounds and her slender fingers had touched her skin, making Congye's skin tremble. There was a strange feeling in her heart that made her dare not look at Yan Qingcheng in front of her, not even daring to steal a glance with the corner of her eye.

  Moreover, when his sister-in-law rushed up and shielded him with her body, he distinctly felt those two soft masses. Apart from occasionally holding hands with girls while playing in the orphanage as a child, Cong Ye had never come into contact with a girl's body before. After entering junior high school, he hadn't even touched a female student's hand, and during his three years in the army, he had hardly seen any girls at all.

  Yan Qing Cheng, Cong Ye muttered these three words, thinking that only a woman like his sister-in-law was worthy of this name.

  Cong Ye lay in bed, unable to fall asleep, his mind repeatedly thinking about Yan Qing Cheng's every move. Suddenly, Cong Ye remembered a past event.

  It wasn't until he was four or five years old that, due to the frequent visits of people coming to see the parentless children at the orphanage, and those visitors often bringing their families with them. Seeing those children being held in their parents' arms, Congye began to wonder for the first time who his own parents were and where they were. From then on, Congye became depressed and unhappy. He would often hide alone in a corner, not speaking or making a sound, waiting there for half a day.

  One day, while hiding behind a clump of leaves and staring blankly, he saw an old man with white hair and beard walk up to him, bend down to take a look at himself, and ask gently:

  "What's your name?"

  "Thicket of leaves."

  "How old is he?"

  "Five years old."

  "Why is someone hiding here instead of going out and playing with the kids?"

  "I miss Dad and Mom."

  "Do you know who Mom and Dad are?"

  "I don't know."

  "Do you want to know?"

  "I want."

  "If you want to know, then hurry up and grow up, once you've grown up, you can go out and find them."

  "Oh."

  Congye was only five years old at that time and did not notice the loophole in Grandpa's words. He nodded happily and firmly, just about to turn around and leave, but was stopped by Grandpa.

  "I have a way here that can make you grow up quickly, want to learn?"

  "Uh-huh."

  Congye nodded vigorously, he really wanted to find his dad and mom. Since Grandpa said that when he grew up, he could go out to find them, then everything that could make him grow up, he would learn. So, Grandpa gave him a method, not some sort of incantation.

  "Every morning when the sun first rises, find a quiet place, face where the sun is rising, take deep breaths, hold it in for yourself, wait until you can't hold it anymore, then exhale forcefully. Repeat this 200 times every day and it will help you grow quickly."

  After that, Congye practiced almost every day except for rainy days, inhaling and exhaling as Grandpa said. As the years went by, winter came and summer went, a year passed after another. By the time Congye was ten years old, he felt like there was a thin stream of heat flowing inside his body. However, Congye didn't know how to guide it or what meridians were. The only thing Congye knew was that since he persisted in doing so according to Grandpa's words for five or six years, he had hardly ever been sick.

  After junior high school, Cong Ye learned a bit about it. The old man taught himself that it was actually a low-level method of qigong practice. Out of curiosity, Cong Ye bought several books on qigong and memorized the introduction, especially the meridians and acupoints. Gradually, Cong Ye began to try guiding the fine hot flow in the meridians.

  When Cong Ye felt his emotions getting the better of him, he would start to think about the warmth in his body. Over time, this became a habit for him. Whenever he couldn't focus or was having trouble sleeping, he would think about that warm flow, and it really worked well. So tonight, lying on Yan Qing Cheng's bed, Cong Ye once again pinned his hopes on thinking about the warmth in his body to free himself from his fantasies about his sister-in-law.

  Soon, Congye's consciousness focused on the hot flow in his meridians, which was as thick as a small finger. All along, Congye didn't know how to use it. After flipping through many qigong books, he didn't see any similar situations. So, Congye just thought of it as a way to strengthen his body and eliminate diseases.

  When the hot flow guided by the Du Meridian passed through the Dazhui acupoint, Yamen acupoint, and gradually approached the Fengfu acupoint, Congye suddenly discovered that the previously smooth-flowing hot flow had encountered resistance, as if the Fengfu acupoint was blocked by something.

  Congye was making an effort to control the flow of heat, wanting to break through the resistance from Fengfu acupoint. Once, twice, thrice, Congye didn't notice that his body had already been drenched in sweat at this point. All of Congye's attention was focused on Fengfu acupoint, and every time he guided the flow of heat to attack it, it would bring him a thread of sore pain. One evening, Congye almost continuously attacked Fengfu acupoint without stopping, feeling that there had been some progress, but still unable to break through. It wasn't until dawn that Congye fell asleep in a daze.

  Cong Ye was startled awake by the cool sensation. Opening his eyes, he found Yan Qingcheng holding a towel dipped in a basin of clear water to wipe her body.

  "Sister-in-law."

  Congye shouted while suddenly sitting up. This time, Congye felt that his head was still a bit dizzy, but not as severe as yesterday, and naturally he didn't fall back onto the pillow again.

  "Get back in bed, you can't exert yourself so strenuously now."

  Originally wanted to say that Cong Ye felt a bit better, but the words reached his lips and he swallowed them again, lying down on the pillow again, closing his eyes slightly, and carefully experiencing the indescribable feeling brought by Yan Qingcheng's hands wiping his body.

  After wiping his body, Yan Qingcheng served Cong Ye to eat breakfast and instructed Cong Ye to lie in bed and rest well. She then returned to the clinic.

  Before long, Cong Ye fell asleep again in a daze. After all, he had been guiding the hot flow to strike Fengfu acupoint for an entire night, and Cong Ye only slept for a short while at dawn. When Cong Ye woke up again and looked at the clock on the wall of the room, it was already past 10:00 in the morning. He heard the familiar voice of Yan Qingcheng from the clinic, as well as another woman's voice.

  "Xiao Yan, Xiao Zhi has also left for almost two years now. I should consider my own affairs too, can't always be alone like this."

  "Sister Li, don't rush, mom just passed away not long ago, Xiao Hui hasn't graduated yet, let's wait for two more years."

  "Xiao Yan, fate can't be forced. I'm just introducing you two, whether there's a match between you or not depends on heaven's will. If you have time in the next couple of days, go meet each other, it won't make much difference either way."

  "These two days are really not possible, I have a patient here who is Xiao Zhi's comrade-in-arms from back then."

  "What's wrong?"

  "Originally came to watch the sea and travel, accidentally fell and injured the brain stem, lost control of body balance, and couldn't leave people's side for a while."

  Upon hearing this, Cong Ye had already figured out that the visitor was here to introduce a potential partner to his sister-in-law. He felt somewhat uncomfortable in his heart. However, he himself didn't know if it was because of the pain or because of something else. Not wanting to listen to their conversation anymore, Cong Ye was about to continue guiding the hot flow to strike the Fengfu acupoint when he realized that he needed to use the restroom. He carefully sat up and felt okay, so he slowly moved to the edge of the bed and, with a bit of effort, stood up using his hands on the bedside for support. Cong Ye's mood suddenly improved; it seemed that the problem lay in the Fengfu acupoint. As long as it was thoroughly opened, the balance disorder would naturally be cured. As for the other injuries, they were just superficial wounds and weren't a concern to Cong Ye.

  While calculating, she leaned against the wall and came to the door step by step. Outside the door was a two-level stone platform. Congye supported herself on the door frame, squatted down, wanting to move down one level at a time. Perhaps Congye's squatting speed was a bit too fast, and for a moment she didn't stabilize, with a thud, her whole body fell from the platform and instantly lay in the courtyard.

  In front of her, Yan Qingcheng, who was speaking, heard the sound and knew that Cong Ye had gotten into trouble. She immediately ran to the backyard and indeed saw Cong Ye lying in the courtyard, so she reached out to help him up while scolding:

  "Why didn't you call me?"

  "Sister-in-law, I..."

  At this time, the woman with the surname Li who had been talking to Yan Qingcheng also followed over, saw Cong Ye and then looked at Yan Qingcheng.

  "Li Jie, this is Xiao Zhi's former comrade-in-arms, Cong Ye."

  "Hello, Aunt Li."

  "Hello, did you get hurt?"

  "It's okay, I'm fine, just a bit bruised."

  Cong Ye's words made both of them laugh.

  "Do you want to go to the toilet? Let's go."

  Yan Qingcheng helped Cong Ye to the toilet door, lifted up the curtain at the entrance, and watched as Cong Ye walked in leaning against the wall before turning around to come over to Li Jie's side.

  "Why didn't Xiaoyan send him to the hospital?"

  "The hospital doesn't have any good way to treat this illness either, and it's expensive too. It's better to just rest at home."

  "But you..."

  "Hehe, Sister Li is thinking too much. Cong Ye was Xiao Zhi's comrade-in-arms before his death. Xiao Zhi mentioned him many times in his letters. We've always regarded him as a younger brother."

  "Oh, I see. Little Yan, I won't bother you anymore. Think carefully about what we just discussed and let me know when you've made up your mind."

  After finishing speaking, Sister Li turned around and left. Because she was worried about the Congye in her sleeve, Yan Qingcheng only sent off two steps before stopping her footsteps, watching Sister Li walk out of the gate, then turning around to head towards the toilet.