Going Out to Learn a Skill

The Daoist Medicine Clinic was being renovated and expanded.

Su Ziyang was forced to take time off, while Mr. Mengfei said he had business to attend to and left alone. Su Ziyang's plan to spend more time learning from his master was thrown into disarray.

Fairy Li had originally invited Su Ziyang to visit her mountain dwelling, but just as the two were about to leave, her master suddenly summoned her back for something.

With nothing to do, Su Ziyang could only stay cooped up at home, reading and cultivating, and watching cartoons every day for amusement.

One day, Su Ziyang was watching Tom and Jerry when his phone suddenly rang. Seeing that it was his master, he hurriedly answered and greeted him. "Hello, Master."

"Good, good, good! Xiao Su, didn't you say last time that you wanted to learn that acupoint striking? Do you still want to learn it!?" Mr. Mengfei asked, sounding somewhat tentative.

Su Ziyang felt a surge of excitement.

Acupoint striking!

When Su Ziyang was little, he had seen those great heroes in historical dramas strike people's acupoints with a rapid smack-smack at the slightest provocation, leaving them unable to move!

If he learned acupoint striking and cultivation, and he already knew how to treat illnesses, wouldn't he be getting closer and closer to being a great hero!?

Just thinking about it made flowers bloom in Su Ziyang's heart!

This was practically a dream come true for an eighth-grade syndrome teenager!

"Yes, Master! Of course I want to learn!" Su Ziyang agreed without a second thought.

After Su Ziyang agreed, Mr. Mengfei chuckled on the phone. "Haha! Then come to Jiangxi in the next couple of days! I'll send you an address and a phone number in a little while. Call that number when you arrive, and someone will pick you up!"

Mr. Mengfei hung up, and soon afterward Su Ziyang received a WeChat message. The place was a small town near Mount Longhu in Jiangxi.

Su Ziyang checked the tickets and found, to his surprise, that there wasn't even a direct train. He would have to transfer to get there.

Chugga-chugga... the train headed south...

Su Ziyang hadn't managed to get a sleeper ticket, so he could only squeeze into the hard-seat section with two middle-aged men.

"Young man!" The middle-aged man spoke with a strong southern accent.

Su Ziyang was drifting off in the crowded carriage. Hearing someone speak to him, he lifted his heavy eyelids.

"What is it, sir?" Su Ziyang asked.

The middle-aged man smiled a little sheepishly. "My phone's run outta power. Could I borrow your power bank?"

As the saying went, away from home you depended on friends; at home, you depended on your parents.

Su Ziyang had often run into people borrowing things on trains before, so without thinking, he pulled the power bank from his bag and handed it to the man beside him.

The man took the power bank, his rough, large hand brushing against Su Ziyang's wrist. One look at the middle-aged man's hand told Su Ziyang that he was probably someone who had done manual labor for years.

Generally speaking, people like that were migrant workers with straightforward, honest natures, so Su Ziyang wasn't worried about lending him the power bank.

The man took the power bank, a smile spreading across his weather-beaten face. "Thank you, young man! I'll charge it for a bit and give it back as soon as my phone turns on! Thank you, young man!"

"No problem, there's no rush. Just give it back before you get off. My phone still has power. By the way, sir, where are you getting off?" Su Ziyang figured it was like beating a child on a rainy day-he had nothing better to do, so he might as well chat a little to ease the weariness and boredom of the journey.

"Haha, I'm getting off once we reach Jiangxi. What about you?" The middle-aged man laughed it off without telling Su Ziyang exactly where he was getting off.

Seeing that the man didn't seem particularly interested in chatting, Su Ziyang replied casually, "I'm going to Jiangxi too, haha."

The two smiled at each other and said nothing more.

Before long, Su Ziyang reached the station where he had to transfer. He had managed to buy a sleeper ticket for this leg, and the train wouldn't arrive until the next morning. After boarding, he felt utterly drained, so he laid his head down and fell into a deep sleep.

On the train, Su Ziyang dreamed that he had a huge hole in his back, with blood pouring out nonstop. It was a terrifying dream, and Su Ziyang was terrified in it, but even though he knew perfectly well it was a dream, he couldn't wake up.

"Buddy! Wake up. Wake up. We're almost at your stop!"

Su Ziyang opened his eyes and saw the attendant patting his blanket. He pulled it back and found that he was soaked all over.

"All right! Thanks!" Su Ziyang was bleary-eyed and felt awful, as though his whole body were about to fall apart.

The feeling was familiar, but that had been when Su Ziyang was very young, the first time he stayed in a school dormitory. He had kicked off his blanket during the night and caught a cold, running a fever of thirty-nine degrees. This was just how he had felt then.

"Damn! Don't tell me I've got a fever!" Su Ziyang cursed under his breath. Then he got up, rolled up the blanket, gathered his phone charging cable and earphones, checked his wallet, and dragged his exhausted body off the train.

It was early autumn. In the north, the weather had already grown a little chilly in the mornings and evenings, but it was still somewhat hot in the south.

Su Ziyang left the station and stared at the blazing sun outside, feeling dazed and dizzy. He touched his forehead and found it burning hot.

"Damn, what lousy timing. I really do have a fever!"

Su Ziyang cursed to himself.

Mr. Mengfei had told Su Ziyang to call the number he had given him once he left the train station.

Silently cursing himself for getting sick just as he had come out to study, Su Ziyang dialed the number.

"Hello?" A clear male voice sounded. "Hello, who is this!?"

Su Ziyang felt he barely had the strength to speak, so he said softly, "I'm Mr. Mengfei's disciple. Mr. Mengfei told me to call this number when I arrived!"

"Oh, oh! You're Su Ziyang, right!" The voice on the other end had a slight southern accent, but for a southerner, his Mandarin was definitely fairly standard. "You're already there! Hang on, I'll come pick you up right away! I should be there in about half an hour!"

Su Ziyang sat on the steps outside the train station, waves of dizziness washing over him. At the same time, his joints felt as though little ants were constantly burrowing in and out of them. The sensation was just too delightfully agonizing...

From Su Ziyang's years of experience taking trains, there were usually pharmacies around train stations. He wanted to buy some cold medicine first to temporarily relieve his symptoms.

Although Su Ziyang was a practitioner of Chinese medicine, he had to admit that Western cold tablets and fever medicine were convenient.

Su Ziyang looked around and discovered that this place actually... had no pharmacy.

That couldn't be right... Su Ziyang was speechless.

Generally speaking, there were plenty of hotels, large and small, around train stations. Where there were hotels, there would be pharmacies, because people staying at hotels might need certain special things, such as contraceptives or medicine. It was all part of a one-stop industry chain.

But the facts were slapping Su Ziyang right in the face, because there really was no pharmacy here.

Su Ziyang could only drink the mineral water in his bag to moisten his somewhat dry lips and throat.

"Beep, beep, beep..."

Su Ziyang's phone rang.

"Hello, Ziyang, where are you? I'm here."

"I'm in the square in front of the train station. I have a red bag on my back and a bottle of mineral water in my hand!"

"Okay, I see you!" The voice on the phone was brisk and decisive.

Su Ziyang then heard the call end. Judging by how quickly the man had hung up, he had a vague feeling that the person picking him up was a little... unreliable.

As Su Ziyang looked around for the person who had called him, a black Passat pulled into a parking space nearby. A young man wearing sunglasses got out. He wore a white short-sleeved shirt with Garfield on it and a pair of jeans. All in all, he was dressed very casually.

"You're Su Ziyang, right?" The man in sunglasses walked over and asked him.

"Yes, I am." Su Ziyang nodded, looking at the man, who was half a head taller than him.

"My name's Jiang Tian. Just call me Xiaotian." The man took off his large sunglasses as he introduced himself.

Su Ziyang noticed that Jiang Tian was quite handsome, especially his pair of heroic sword brows. Paired with his long, narrow, bright black eyes, they made him look just like a young general described in an ancient book.

"Hello." Su Ziyang took Jiang Tian's outstretched hand.

Su Ziyang shook Jiang Tian's hand. As they shook, Jiang Tian let out a very quiet "Huh..."

"What is it!?" Su Ziyang saw that Jiang Tian seemed to have a question.

"Nothing, nothing." Jiang Tian hurriedly waved his hand. "Let's get in the car, come on! You haven't eaten yet, right? Let's find somewhere to have breakfast first, then go see my eldest uncle!"

Jiang Tian enthusiastically helped Su Ziyang load his rolling suitcase into the car, and the two of them got in.

"Xiaotian, is there a pharmacy nearby?"

Su Zi had forced himself to summon the energy to exchange a few words with Jiang Tian, but now that he was sitting in the car, he felt terrible, aching and hurting all over.

"What's wrong? Feeling unwell?" Jiang Tian looked at Su Ziyang inquiringly.

Su Ziyang nodded. "I might have caught a cold on the train. I think I've got a bit of a fever now, so I'll buy some fever and cold medicine!"

Hearing this, Jiang Tian pressed the back of his hand against Su Ziyang's forehead. "Hiss... you really do have a fever... you're burning up!"

"All right. Let's skip the meal and buy some medicine, then head straight home!" With that, Jiang Tian turned the car around and drove in the opposite direction.

After the car had traveled about two li, a pharmacy finally appeared.

Jiang Tian was a generous sort. Without letting Su Ziyang get out of the car, he went straight into the pharmacy and bought two boxes of cold and fever medicine, as well as a box of cooling patches.

Su Ziyang wanted to get out and buy them himself. After all, they had only just met; how could he impose on someone else? But his legs were now so sore that he couldn't stand. He forced himself to try, but couldn't get up.

"I've got some bread here. Have a couple of bites, or your stomach will feel bad. Then hurry and take the medicine!"

Jiang Tian took a piece of bread from a box in the back seat and handed it to Su Ziyang.

"Thanks, brother!" Su Ziyang felt a little embarrassed watching Jiang Tian bustle around for him.

"Oh, what are you thanking me for? Mr. Mengfei and my eldest uncle are very good friends, and you're Mr. Mengfei's disciple, so the two of us are good brothers too. Even though it's our first time meeting, you don't have to stand on ceremony with me! Hurry and eat something, then take your medicine!"

With that, Jiang Tian started the car again.

Su Ziyang took two bites of the bread, but he really had no appetite, so he quickly opened the bottle of mineral water and took the cold medicine.

After taking the medicine, Su Ziyang felt a little better and fell into a deep sleep...