Chapter Summaries

After Su Ziyang completed his study of pediatric tuina, Daoist Jin let him treat a child’s phlegmy cough and then taught him several medicinal application methods. The chapter ended with Su Ziyang taking notes on the different remedies.

• Su Ziyang told Daoist Jin he had learned the pediatric tuina techniques, and Daoist Jin urged him to master them fully.
• A father brought in his coughing daughter, and Daoist Jin asked Su Ziyang to treat her while he prepared medicine.
• Su Ziyang performed a series of pediatric tuina techniques, and the girl’s coughing and rattling phlegm grew quieter.
• Daoist Jin applied an alum-and-flour cake to the girl’s soles and explained how it helped draw out phlegm.
• Daoist Jin taught Su Ziyang several medicinal cake and paste application methods for different ailments.

Daoist Jin taught Su Ziyang the An Method, then treated Xiaobao’s stomachache with heated salt compresses. Su Ziyang learned how the treatment worked and was encouraged to use it for adults’ pain as well.

• Daoist Jin explained the An Method to Su Ziyang and asked him to remember it for later practice.
• Xiaobao came in with stomach pain after overeating, and Daoist Jin examined his bloated abdomen.
• Daoist Jin treated Xiaobao by pressing and rubbing warm salt pouches over his chest and abdomen until he burped and passed gas.
• Daoist Jin explained the hot-compress method and told Su Ziyang it could also help adults with body aches, abdominal pain, and menstrual pain.

Su Ziyang learned about the history of warming treatments and a method for treating food accumulation and phlegm from Daoist Jin. At lunch, Fairy Li impressed everyone with her cooking and heard that her wealth-attracting arrangement had helped a company land major deals.

• Su Ziyang recalled the story of Su Wu and discussed its warming treatment with Daoist Jin, who explained the history and principles of warming methods.
• Daoist Jin taught Su Ziyang a hot medicinal compress for treating food accumulation and phlegm blockage, and Su Ziyang took notes.
• Fairy Li invited Daoist Jin, Mr. Mengfei, and Yang Tianzheng to lunch at her home, and Daoist Jin ended the lesson.
• Fairy Li served an impressive meal, surprising Mr. Mengfei, Daoist Jin, and Yang Tianzheng with her improved cooking.
• Daoist Jin told Fairy Li that the company she had helped with a wealth-attracting arrangement had landed many major deals, while Yang Tianzheng and Mr. Mengfei competed for the last pieces of nine-turn intestines.

Daoist Jin treated Xiaobao’s lingering fever with egg white, realgar, sesame oil, and a lock of his mother Li Hong’s hair, while Su Ziyang observed and learned the method. After the child settled and fell asleep, Daoist Jin explained the treatment’s principles to Su Ziyang.

• A tearful Li Hong brought her feverish child Xiaobao to Daoist Jin after treating his fever at home for two or three days.
• Daoist Jin prepared egg white with realgar and sesame oil, then asked Su Ziyang to warm the mixture and Li Hong to cut off a lock of hair.
• Daoist Jin dipped the hair into the mixture and patted Xiaobao’s chest until his whimpering stopped and his breathing steadied, then taped the hair to his chest.
• Daoist Jin told Li Hong to let Xiaobao rest at the clinic until he woke, and she asked Daoist Jin to prepare more Foundation Establishment Wine for her husband.
• Daoist Jin explained to Su Ziyang that the fever had driven heat into Xiaobao’s interior and described how the ingredients and the mother’s hair were used to treat him.

Su Ziyang treated patients and agreed to prepare medicinal pastes for Han Jinkai’s friends. When Li Hong’s husband brought Daoist Jin a bucket of liquor, Su Ziyang asked about the Foundation Establishment Wine, and Daoist Jin explained its purpose and shared its recipe.

• Su Ziyang returned to treating patients after memorizing Daoist Jin’s advice, then helped Li Hong pay for the realgar and stop the pharmacy from filling the prescription twice.
• Han Jinkai asked Su Ziyang to make more medicinal paste for friends, and Su Ziyang agreed to tailor the treatment to each person.
• Li Hong’s husband brought Daoist Jin a bucket of excellent undiluted liquor and returned the borrowed blanket.
• Daoist Jin gave Li Hong’s husband two bottles of Foundation Establishment Wine, which he eagerly took home.
• Su Ziyang asked Daoist Jin about the wine, and Daoist Jin explained how it replenished energy and primordial yang before sharing its ingredients and preparation method.

Su Ziyang returned home, shared Daoist Jin’s liquor with his parents, and prepared a jar of medicinal liquor for his father and uncles. Su Zang later invited him to dinner, where Su Ziyang found himself among unfamiliar friends and made an excuse when asked why he was not drinking.

• Su Ziyang went home, where his parents welcomed him and his father tried the liquor he had brought back.
• Su Ziyang bought herbs and a glass jar, then sealed a batch of medicinal liquor and explained how to prepare it.
• Su Ziyang wrote down the medicinal liquor recipe for his father to share with his younger uncles.
• Su Zang invited Su Ziyang to dinner, and Su Ziyang’s father warned him not to drink too much.
• Su Ziyang arrived at the restaurant and found Su Zang with several unfamiliar friends, who ate and drank without introducing themselves.
• Su Zang noticed Su Ziyang was not drinking, and Su Ziyang claimed he was taking medicine.

Su Ziyang joined Su Zang and his friends for drinks, then cleared up Su Zang’s misunderstanding about a health-boosting medicinal wine. The next day, Su Ziyang helped Su Zang buy herbs and baijiu and sealed the wine jar, unaware that it would lead to a falling-out among the brothers.

• At dinner, a drunk young man asked Su Ziyang for virility medicine and demonstrated his raw-egg-and-beer remedy, while Su Zang watched without joining in.
• Su Zang accused Su Ziyang of hiding virility wine, and Su Ziyang explained that the medicinal wine was for stamina and health rather than sexual enhancement.
• Su Zang demanded some wine anyway, and Su Ziyang agreed to help him buy herbs and prepare it the next day.
• After returning home, Su Ziyang told his father about the dinner, and his father warned him that Su Zang had gotten into trouble recently.
• The next day, Su Ziyang went with Su Zang to buy herbs, a wine jar, and baijiu, then sealed the medicinal wine for him.

Su Ziyang discovered that Su Zang’s medicinal wine turned pale green and bitter because he had used cheap, poor-quality liquor. By the end of the year, Su Ziyang and Fairy Li visited his parents, who warmly welcomed her and accepted their relationship.

• Su Zang complained to Su Ziyang that his month-steeped medicinal wine tasted bitter, and Su Ziyang saw that it was pale green and watery.
• Su Ziyang asked his father and uncles about their wine and learned that they had bought much more expensive liquor, while Su Zang’s seven-yuan-per-jin wine was likely blended and low quality.
• Su Ziyang told Su Zang to leave the wine alone until he could inspect it, but Su Zang remained displeased and Su Ziyang ended the call to return to treating patients.
• At the end of the year, Su Ziyang visited his parents with Fairy Li after leaving the Daoist temple’s blessing ritual; his mother gave Fairy Li a red envelope, and his parents were happy about their relationship.

Su Ziyang learned that Su Zang had lost his driver's license after drinking and riding an electric scooter, then reluctantly went to meet him for a late-night meal. Su Zang and Xiao Tong drank while making pointed remarks about Su Ziyang's refusal, leaving him awkwardly at the table.

• Su Ziyang's mother explained that she no longer worried about his outings because he had stopped drinking, and put him to work scrubbing jars.
• Su Ziyang turned down Su Zang's invitation to lunch, then learned from his father that Su Zang had lost his driver's license after drinking and riding an electric scooter.
• Su Zang invited Su Ziyang out again that evening, and Su Ziyang went despite his father's advice to stay home.
• Su Zang asked Su Ziyang to bring cigarettes, then introduced no one when Su Ziyang arrived at Old Gao's Hot Pot Chicken and met Xiao Tong.
• Su Zang criticized Su Ziyang for refusing alcohol, and Su Ziyang tried to leave before Su Zang pulled him back to the table.

During a tense meal, Su Zang got drunk and accused Su Ziyang of gossiping about him and insulting his hospitality over a failed batch of medicinal wine. Su Ziyang grew increasingly uncomfortable and left for the bathroom as Xiao Tong urged him not to take the drunken accusations to heart.

• Su Zang ignored Su Ziyang during the meal, then complained to Xiao Tong that relatives had spread news of his revoked driver's license.
• Xiao Tong rejected Su Zang's claim that Su Ziyang's family looked down on him, but Su Zang continued drinking and began cursing.
• Su Zang accused Su Ziyang of telling their relatives that he could not afford good liquor after the medicinal wine turned out bitter.
• Su Zang brought up the meals he had paid for and repeated his accusations, leaving Su Ziyang feeling helpless.
• Xiao Tong told Su Ziyang that Su Zang was drunk and advised him to discuss things the next day, and Su Ziyang went to the bathroom.

Su Ziyang paid for dinner with Su Zang and Xiao Tong, then left after Su Zang insulted him and continued ordering food. His father later explained that Su Zang’s anger came from losing his license after a drunk-driving incident, not from any gossip by Su Ziyang’s family.

• Su Ziyang overheard Su Zang admit that he had invited him to dinner to make him pay, and Su Ziyang covered the first bill of 400 yuan.
• Su Zang ordered more liquor and meat, kept insulting Su Ziyang, and Su Ziyang left after paying another hundred yuan.
• Xiao Tong and Su Zang caught up with Su Ziyang, apologized, and persuaded him to eat banmian with them before he went home.
• Su Ziyang told his father about the evening, and his father explained that Su Zang had lost his license after a drunk-driving collision and fight.
• Su Ziyang learned that Su Zang’s claim about his father and second brother gossiping about him had been fabricated.

After learning why Su Zang had lost his license, Su Ziyang stopped dealing with him, and the family returned to their countryside home for New Year. There, Su Ziyang calmed his frightened niece Tiantian after his brother and sister-in-law’s arguing made her cry.

• Su Ziyang's father explained that Su Zang had assaulted another man in front of the police, which led to his license being revoked and made it impossible to resolve the matter with a fine.
• Su Ziyang's father told him to avoid Su Zang, who never contacted him again.
• Su Ziyang's family returned to their old countryside home on the twenty-eighth and prepared dumplings for the New Year.
• Su Chen's wife asked Su Ziyang to check on Tiantian, who had been crying since Su Chen returned from playing cards the previous night.
• Su Ziyang recognized that Tiantian had been frightened, but his sister-in-law's shouting made her cry harder, and Su Chen argued with his wife.
• Su Ziyang stopped the couple from arguing, sat with Tiantian, and softly chanted an incantation to soothe her.

Su Ziyang spent the New Year with his family, soothed frightened children, and became so busy with villagers seeking his help that he welcomed returning to the county town. Two days before he was due back at work, Fairy Li arrived at his family’s shop with gifts for his parents.

• Su Ziyang soothed Tiantian after she was frightened, then returned home and helped his parents make dumplings.
• Su Ziyang celebrated New Year’s Eve with his parents, who asked about his marriage to Zijun.
• Word spread that Su Ziyang could soothe fright, and villagers crowded his home for treatment during the holiday.
• Su Ziyang returned to the county town on the eighth day and bought his ticket back to work.
• Fairy Li drove a Land Cruiser to Su Ziyang’s family shop, gave his mother a jade bangle, and brought cigarettes and liquor for his father.

After returning home, Su Ziyang became curious about Daoist Jin’s Bigu practice and asked to try it himself. Daoist Jin agreed to explain several methods, leaving Su Ziyang newly aware that abstaining from food involved more than simply enduring hunger.

• Su Ziyang and Fairy Li drove home together, taking turns behind the wheel and resting along the way.
• Daoist Jin returned with Mr. Mengfei, and the group gathered to exchange New Year wishes.
• Su Ziyang noticed Daoist Jin had stopped eating and asked to learn Bigu, but Daoist Jin refused; Mr. Mengfei also dismissed the request.
• Fairy Li reassured Su Ziyang that she would eat in front of him and cook for him if he became too hungry.
• Daoist Jin explained that Bigu could be practiced in different ways, including the difficult Qi Refining Method and the Medicinal Ingestion Method.

Su Ziyang asked Daoist Jin how he practiced Bigu, and Daoist Jin explained the Water-Drinking Bigu Method and its ritual steps. The chapter ended with the incantation used to bless the water and instructions for repeating the method after the first practice.

• Su Ziyang asked Daoist Jin which Bigu method he had used, and Daoist Jin said he practiced the Water-Drinking Bigu Method to advance his cultivation.
• Daoist Jin told Su Ziyang to begin by making a compassionate vow to save beings from the Three Paths and deliver all sentient beings.
• Daoist Jin explained how to choose an auspicious day based on the seasons, calendar, and practitioner’s natal element.
• Daoist Jin described purifying oneself, preparing three ceramic cups, reciting an incantation, drinking the water slowly, and walking in circles between cups.
• Daoist Jin said practitioners should avoid attachment to any insights or visions and gave Su Ziyang the water-blessing incantation.

Su Ziyang learned several grain-abstention methods from Daoist Jin and Mr. Mengfei, then prepared poria medicine while listening to his fourth uncle describe a grain-abstention program. The chapter ended with Fairy Li warning him that her eldest brother was arriving to discuss possible engagement dates, making Su Ziyang nervous.

• Daoist Jin taught Su Ziyang the water-ingestion method, and Mr. Mengfei showed him the Light-Swallowing and Qi-Clamping Method, which burned Su Ziyang when he tried it in the midday sun.
• Daoist Jin explained two ways to prepare poria for grain abstention, and Su Ziyang returned to the clinic to make the honey-and-poria medicine.
• Fairy Li photographed Su Ziyang preparing the medicine and posted a caption calling him crazy.
• Su Ziyang's fourth uncle called to boast about going fourteen days without food at a grain-abstention program and kept talking until the pounding medicine drowned him out.
• Fairy Li tried pounding the medicine, blistered her finger, and then warned Su Ziyang that her eldest brother would arrive in two days to discuss possible engagement dates.

Su Ziyang agreed with Fairy Li to marry that year, then used a massage technique to help Jin Tiantian’s friend Li Mu lose weight. The chapter ended with Su Ziyang beginning the treatment after Li Mu agreed to exercise and eat less.

• Fairy Li asked Su Ziyang to marry her that year, and he agreed to propose after her master chose a date.
• Su Ziyang massaged Fairy Li, who said her breasts had gotten bigger, then took him out for spicy mala mix.
• Jin Tiantian visited Su Ziyang and asked him to help her childhood friend lose weight, but he had no Leopard Fetus Tendon-Altering Pills left.
• Jin Tiantian brought Li Mu to Su Ziyang, and Li Mu said he wanted to lose weight but struggled to control his appetite.
• Su Ziyang offered to seal Li Mu’s acupoints to reduce his appetite, and Li Mu agreed to exercise and begin the treatment.

Su Ziyang treated Li Mu with massage and acupoint pressing, then prescribed him a tea-steeped herbal weight-loss remedy. After Li Mu left with Jin Tiantian, Song Li asked Su Ziyang to help a wealthy woman who had repeatedly failed to lose weight, and Su Ziyang agreed to examine her.

• Su Ziyang massaged Li Mu's Conception and Belt vessels, then pressed and sealed abdominal and limb acupoints to treat his weight problem.
• Su Ziyang prescribed Li Mu lotus leaf, hawthorn, and winter melon peel to steep in water, and Li Mu left happily with Jin Tiantian.
• Su Ziyang explained some health risks associated with obesity after Li Mu departed.
• Song Li arrived with his daughter and asked Su Ziyang for a weight-loss prescription for an influential woman he hoped to befriend.
• Su Ziyang said the woman would need an examination, and Song Li promised to arrange a consultation.

Song Li introduced Liu Meilan to Su Ziyang, whose weight-loss treatment impressed her enough to bring her sister Liu Meichen in for vitiligo treatment. Su Ziyang prescribed internal and external treatments, and Song Li later told him he would receive a fifth of the profit from a project whose construction had begun.

• Song Li brought Liu Meilan to Su Ziyang, who treated her for weight loss; she lost ten jin in a month and returned to thank him.
• Liu Meilan asked Su Ziyang to examine Liu Meichen's vitiligo, and Su Ziyang agreed to assess her in person.
• Su Ziyang examined Liu Meichen, attributed her condition partly to stress and internal heat, and prescribed decoctions alongside gentle scraping with raw pangolin scales.
• Liu Meilan arranged for Liu Meichen to take time off work and visit the clinic daily so Su Ziyang could perform the external treatment.
• Song Li called Su Ziyang after the sisters left and promised him a fifth of the profit from a project whose construction had started.

Fairy Li advised Su Ziyang not to refuse money that others offered willingly, and he cooked dinner for her. The next day, Su Ziyang diagnosed Han Jinkai’s wife with a snake-head furuncle and gathered ingredients for treatment, which he had not yet begun when the chapter ended.

• Fairy Li told Su Ziyang that people offered benefits because they wanted something and advised him to accept what they gave willingly.
• Su Ziyang bought groceries and cooked lamb and di san xian for Fairy Li, who praised his cooking.
• Han Jinkai brought his wife to Su Ziyang, asking him to examine her painful, swollen index finger.
• Su Ziyang diagnosed a snake-head furuncle, learned that a mosquito had bitten her, and reassured her that he could treat it.
• Su Ziyang gathered realgar powder, mung beans, and an egg, then ground the beans while Han Jinkai watched.