Chapter 5: The Guizhitang Pharmacy

  Fennel saw that his brother hadn't wasted any money, so he let out a sigh of relief and took the purse back from Left Shao Yang's hand: "Brother, let's go. The sun is about to set. If we don't leave now, it will be dark on the road."

  Zuō Shǎo Yáng took the musk again and couldn't help but admire it for a moment before putting it in his bosom, then walked back with the medicine bag on his back. As he walked, he said: "This girl isn't mute, is she? From start to finish, I only saw her smile, didn't hear her say a word."

  "What a dumb girl, she was just talking to me, must be a country girl, afraid of strangers, seeing you this big guy and being shy."

  As if to prove the words of Angelica, a clear and crisp mountain song came from afar, and judging by the voice, it was the firewood girl.

  The sun has set

  The water at the beach is rushing about.

  Who's flowing with the tide of Shantou water?

  Sister goes west to detain the sun.

  Zuǒ shǎo yáng zhàn zhù le, huí tóu wàng qù, yǐ zhōu bù jiàn nà dǎ chái gū niang de shēn yǐng, ěr bān zhī hòu nà piāo piāo de shān gē huí xiǎng zài shān jiān, bù jué yǒu xiē chī le. Wèn dào: "zhè shān gē zhēn hǎo tīng! ——jiě, tā shuō jiào shén me míng zi le ma?"

  "I didn't say that, I saw you fall down from the cliff below and tried to climb up but couldn't make it, so anxious that I cried at the foot of the cliff. She happened to be passing by carrying firewood and asked me what was wrong, I told her, she immediately climbed up the cliff and rescued you."

  "Sister, you're really something! Someone saved me and you didn't even ask their name."

  "You've been unconscious for so long, I was scared out of my wits, how could I have thought to ask these things? — What? You've taken a liking to the young lady? Hehe"

  "I didn't have one, it's just that someone saved me, I should at least ask."

  "I know what you're thinking, and you're not getting any younger, it's time to settle down. But let me tell you something, don't get your hopes up, our family may not be well off now, but Father thinks highly of himself as a scholarly family, and he has high standards for choosing a daughter-in-law. A country girl like her? Father would never approve."

  The concept of door-to-door marriage in ancient times was very strong, and Zuo Shao Yang knew this from studying history. Even if a scholar was extremely poor, they generally looked down on peasants (with the exception of a few "nonconformists" like Tao Yuanming). Mencius once said, "Those who labor with their minds govern others, while those who labor with their strength are governed by others." Liu Yuxi, a great literary figure of the Tang Dynasty, lived in a thatched hut and was very poor, but he looked down on ordinary people and said in his "Humble Abode Inscription": "I discuss and laugh with Confucian scholars, but I do not associate with commoners." Since ancient times, most doctors were scholars who had failed to make a name for themselves and had turned to medicine as a profession. As the saying goes, "If one cannot be a good prime minister, one can still be a good doctor." Therefore, it is not surprising that Lao Da Ye Zuo Gui had such thoughts.

  "Hey, sis, look what you said, I'm not in a hurry at all, hitting the nail on the head... ouch!"

  Left Shǎo Yáng Guāng was speaking, didn't pay attention and his foot slipped, almost fell down. Luckily, the quick-witted Huī Xiāng behind him grabbed hold of him: "Be careful! The road is all snowy, focus on walking, don't think about that girl, walk slowly! Don't step on the snow, just walk on the muddy ground, dirty shoes are easy to wash, stepping on snowy ground will get your shoes wet and catch a cold!"

  On the left, Shǎo Yáng heard her muttering to herself and couldn't help but laugh. He said: "Sister, there are so many mulberry tree roots in our basket, what do you dig up so many mulberry tree roots for?"

  "Peel off the white skin."

  Zuoyang knew that Sangbaipi was a commonly used herb for relieving cough and asthma, so he asked: "Even if it's for medicinal use, shouldn't you be digging up various herbs? Why are they all digging up Sangbai roots, taking up half of the carrying basket?"

  She sighed, but didn't answer. Zuo Shao Yang didn't press the issue either, instead he became more curious about ancient social life and started asking a string of questions, including what they ate, what they used, who their relatives and friends were, how many people lived in their state and county, what everyone did for a living, and so on.

  Anise listened to his questions, which were all very childish, and didn't think that his younger brother had really died. The person in front of him was a modern young man who had traveled through time from over a thousand years ago, full of curiosity about ancient times. He thought he had hit his head and lost his memory, and couldn't help but worry more in his heart, but didn't dare show it on his face. He patiently answered every question, and fortunately, he remembered everything as soon as he was told. Thinking that by helping him remember like this, he should be able to recall all the things from before. Only then did he feel slightly at ease.

  Along the way, Zuo Shao Yang saw many flat and fertile lands that were all overgrown with thorns, probably abandoned for many years. He asked again: "Sister, why doesn't anyone cultivate these lands? It's such a waste."

  "It's no use having land without people to till it and oxen to plow. In recent years, with war and chaos everywhere, all the able-bodied men were conscripted into the army, many died, and even their corpses couldn't be buried properly. Most of those who survived were old, weak, women and children, how could they possibly work on such a large piece of land? All we can do is watch it lie waste."

  The left Shao Yang still knows about major historical events. After the collapse of the Jin Dynasty, for the next two or three hundred years, it was a period of warlords vying for power, with long periods of war and few peaceful days. The population figures definitely did not increase. In an agricultural era, everything relied on labor force. With a sharp decline in population and a severe shortage of labor force, it is normal that the land was left uncultivated. Looking at these desolate fields, one cannot help but sigh.

  Two people walked and talked, Zuo Shaoyang learned from Ai Xiang that the mountain where they picked herbs was called Qianren Mountain. Because there were many peaks on the mountain, most of which were steep cliffs, it got its name. The county town where their family lived was called Shijing County, belonging to Hezhou, which was the location of the state government.

  As the sun was about to set, they finally returned to Shijing County, Hezhou Prefecture.

  From a distance, the city wall doesn't seem particularly high or grand. Outside the city, there's a moat with calm green water. The drawbridge is somewhat tattered and held up by thick iron chains that can accommodate two horse-drawn carriages side by side. At the city gate, several soldiers wearing armor stand guard, holding long spears and curved swords at their waists, vigilantly watching people coming and going. If they spot anyone suspicious, they pull them aside for questioning.

  Zuo Shaoyang was very curious, looking around and staring at the soldiers for a while. This was his first time seeing ancient soldiers, who looked similar to those in TV dramas but seemed more spirited. The soldiers didn't pay attention to them either, and the two entered the city smoothly.

  At first glance, the ancient town was a great disappointment to Zuo Shao Yang, far inferior to the sets of TV dramas like "Water Margin" and "Three Kingdoms", not only dilapidated but also with many ruins and broken walls. Although it was already the Zhenguan period, this was just the beginning, and the blessings of the Zhenguan governance had not yet reached the people, the wounds of war were still far from healed. The clothes of the people were even more simple, in this cold winter month, many wore thin clothes, shivering with cold. Zuo Shao Yang found it strange that these people's winter clothes were mostly made of hemp and linen, without seeing anyone wearing cotton-padded jackets. He didn't know that although cotton was planted during the Tang Dynasty, it had not yet become widespread, and few ordinary people had seen cotton.

  On both sides of the road, there were tattered beggars huddled in the corner of the wall, with a broken bowl in front of them, staring blankly at passersby with dull, black eyes. Occasionally, you could also see people who had eaten and drunk to their heart's content, staggering along and singing, but their clothes were very dull, far from the bright and cheerful ones in TV dramas.

  Angelica led Zuo Shao Yang through the streets and alleys, finally stopping in front of an old wooden house, turning her head to smile: "We're home."

  Zuo Shaoyang looked up and saw that it was a three-bay tile house with a large hall in the center. The four wooden doors were all open, with peach wood boards hanging on either side of the door frames, each bearing a peach symbol. Although simple, they were carved very smoothly, and the couplets written on them had an ancient, bold, and powerful style, clearly written by someone with great skill. They were all written in traditional characters. Above the gate hung a wooden signboard, also written directly on a smoothed-out peach wood board, bearing three large characters: "Gui Zhi Tang". The handwriting was the same as that of the couplets, obviously written by the same person. However, the handwriting had long since become old and faded, and if one didn't stand underneath to look up at it, but rather from a distance, it would be hard to make out what was written.

  There were two long benches by the door, and a long wooden table that had lost its color was placed horizontally in the inner position. Further inside, as it was already evening, it was very dimly lit and the furnishings could not be seen clearly.

  The threshold was curved downward, with many cut marks on its surface, probably left by people who often used it to chop and whittle things. Following the fragrance of angelica, Xiaoyang entered the main hall and saw an old man sitting behind a long wooden table. He was thin and gaunt, wearing a hood, with deep wrinkles all over his face and a white goat beard on his chin. He wore a black robe that was too big for him, billowing out in all directions like a dark gray pyramid, with the tip of the pyramid being his small head with a weathered face and a goat beard.