88 Elixir, Third Grade Standard

"Why are you barking so loudly? I thought you saw a thief!" laughed Wang Yao. He pat San Xian's head and said to him. "Did you say thank you to Da Xia?"

Woof! Woof! Woof! San Xian pointed at the bloody rabbit meat with his paw and then looked at Wang Yao.

"What do you mean?" asked Wang Yao, who was confused. "Oh, I see, you don't know how to eat it right? I've been feeding you too much canned food, so you've forgotten you can actually eat meat."

Woof! San Xian barked in a deep and low voice and stared at Wang Yao in a weird way, as if he was saying, "Are you stupid? Since when have I ever had raw meat?"

Ultimately, San Xian didn't eat the raw rabbit meat. Wang Yao cooked the meat and placed it on a plate for San Xian. San Xian barked at Da Xia to indicate that it can dine with him before eating the meat. He seemed to be a generous dog.

The eagle flew down from the tree and landed next to San Xian. It stared at the cooked rabbit meat and hesitated whether or not it should eat it. San Xian pushed the plate in front of the eagle and asked it to eat first.

"Wow, San Xian! Good on you!" said Wang Yao.

This dog has become more and more clever, maybe one day he can even read my mind! thought Wang Yao.

Wang Yao went home in the early evening and found his mother was in a good mood. She was singing while cooking.

"Hi, Mom, what makes you so happy?" asked Wang Yao.

"Your Uncle Fengshou just dropped in," said Zhang Xiuying

"What did he want?" asked Wang Yao.

"He just came here to thank you for the herbal formula you prescribed for his wife. Her diarrhea stopped just after one dose!" said Zhang Xiuying with a smile.

"That's good! I thought there was something else making you so happy!" said Wang Yao.

"I'm happy that I have such a capable son!" said Zhang Xiuying happily.

Wang Yao was touched. He was almost in tears. Parents are easily satisfied. Most parents just wanted their kids to be happy and safe. They worked hard to make their kids' life easier. Even small achievements and improvements and one kind word from their kids would make them happy.

"Mom, let me help you cook dinner," said Wang Yao as he was rubbing his nose.

"I almost finished, you just wait inside the dining room. It's warmer inside," said Zhang Xiuying.

Wang Fenghua seemed to be in good mood too. He drank one more glass of wine than usual at dinner.

When Wang Yao accidentally opened the system control panel to check his mission, he found some changes in his progress. His score changed to 5/10, which meant that two more people acknowledged his capability. The two people should be Wang Fengshou and his wife.

Wang Yao required acknowledgment from his family and patients.

...

It was still not very sunny the next morning.

Mission part three (herbal garden): successfully grow over one hundred types of herbs including a minimum of seven different licorice roots, which can contain licorice roots grown for part one and two.

Reward: Catalogue of Magic Herbs Volume 2, one herbal formula; one pack of herbal seeds, and one skill point.

Mission completed! said the system.

Wang Yao was thrilled to hear it.

Actually it had been days since Wang Yao planted the licorice roots, but he hadn't heard anything from the system. After observing the herbal field for some time, he knew his herbal field didn't have enough power to accommodate too many licorice roots. Although the licorice roots he planted later on could still grow, it would grow at a very slow speed. Nothing came out of the ground yet even with a little more ancient spring water than usual.

So, Wang Yao was a little relieved to hear from the system, and realized the problem of his herbal field.

Such a big hill couldn't provide adequate conditions for licorice roots to grow normally. Apart from issues of nimbus, Wang Yao presumed the density of herbs in the field could contribute to the slow growth of licorice roots as well.

He needed to look into it.

The Catalogue of Magic Herbs Volume 2 documented some licorice roots Wang Yao never heard of. There were 108 licorice roots documented in the Catalogue of Magic Herbs Volume 1 and 2. Wang Yao had only planted ten in his field. The quality of different licorice roots was also different. Some were of high quality, some were of medium quality and some were of low quality. Most of the licorice roots Wang Yao planted were of low quality.

The details of classification of licorice roots were briefly mentioned in the Catalogue of Magic Herbs Volume 1, but was explained thoroughly in a table in volume 2.

Wang Yao read it briefly before putting it in the storage box.

The 23rd of the lunar month was the time to offer sacrifices to the kitchen god, who was also called Eastern Chef. It was the last festival before Chinese New Year, so every family in the village took it seriously. The kitchen god was the master of the household. He was in charge of food, which was the most important thing to a human being. Every family offered sacrifices to the kitchen god to wish their loved ones all the best in the coming new year.

On the day of the 23rd of the lunar month, Wang Yao brought his sister back home from town. Wang Ru was quiet on the way home. She wasn't like herself and she looked unwell.

"What happened to you sis? Not feeling well?" asked Wang Yao.

"Yeah, I had dinner with my colleagues yesterday. I think I got food poisoning," said Wang Ru.

"Have you taken any medication?" asked Wang Yao.

"Yes, but I still feel upset in my tummy," said Wang Ru.

"I'll give you some herbs when we get home," said Wang Yao.

After they had arrived at home, Wang Yao felt his sister's pulse and found it was not serious food poisoning. His sister just went to a restaurant with poor hygiene. She just needed some herbs to settle her stomach.

"You are like a doctor now!" said Wang Ru. She drank some warm water and felt much better. The warm water seemed to help her regain some energy and she started to be talkative again. Wang Ru thought the way how her brother checked her pulse was like a real Chinese Medical Practitioner. She didn't think people could tell that her brother was actually not a qualified doctor.

"Who did you learn it from? From the old Chinese Medical Practitioner who doesn't exist?" joked Wang Ru.

"Well, I need to go up to the hill now," Wang Yao immediately changed the topic and left his home.

On his way up to the hill, Wang Yao was thinking about what herbs could work for his sister's condition. It didn't take him long to figure out an herbal formula, which could use the herbs in the herbal field.

...

The nights of winter were always longer.

The light was on in Wang Yao's cottage on Nanshan hill. The sparks of fire shot up, the ancient spring water was boiling, and the cottage was full of the smell of herbs. Wang Yao was brewing decoction.

Crack! Pop! Pitter-patter! Wang Yao could hear the sound of firecrackers.

People had started to celebrate Little New Year and see off the kitchen god to the sky. They would welcome the kitchen god back on the first day of Chinese New Year.

Done!

Wang Yao knew the decoction was ready when he saw the changes in the multifunctional pot for herbs. He poured the decoction inside a white porcelain bottle, cleaned up and went home.