Chapter 28 - A Comforting Gesture (1)

Chapter 28 – A Comforting Gesture (1)

Once Zhao Xi finished wiping the needles, she thought of the other things she needed to prepare for. She had to consider each and every contingency and take proper precautions, since she couldn’t afford even a single error in the procedure and risk losing Shen Fei.

For example, in case of an emergency, she needed to have ginseng tablets in his mouth to enable him to breathe. She had to replace the herbal medicines she didn’t use with something useful and to prepare a separate concoction beforehand to pour it down his throat if she needed to.

In addition, she went to catch a particular snake called ‘crisp-bone snake’, a rare species that only appeared in the mountains, a holy medicine for broken bones.

It was magical, in its distinction that when touched or frightened, its bones would break, dividing the body into fragments; but when its body parts were put together, they would regenerate and repair by themselves, as good as new.

It is not easy to catch them, though. Zhao Xi only saw it once, when there were no human beings in the valley, and it was completely tranquil. The snake was hanging from the tree, basking in the sun.  Her sudden appearance scared it, and his bones snapped and fell into seven knots with a thud sound, and then united into one on the ground; it was then, very efficiently, caught by Zhao Xi.

The snake was very fragile; although she did her best to raise it, it died. Its body was grounded into a powder by Zhao Xi and fed to Ping An who was seriously injured then and ate it all.

For Zhao Xi, it was almost impossible to catch another one since these snakes are very timid. If someone lived close by them, they moved to another place. It has been here three years since Zhao Xi has been trying to look for another one; she has hunted down every corner, but never found one. She intended to look for it again.

*

Right now, she was a bit reluctant to leave the bed and played with Shen Fei’s hand. After sleeping next to this person, and talking to him more, they seemed to have grown closer. This person always left a large area when he lay in bed, and that empty space tempted her to stay.

Thinking that this person may die in the future and his body would turn cold and stiff, she wanted to feel his warmth whenever she could.

It was still early in the day, Zhao Xi took a pair of scissors and cut his nails for him. She held his nice hands, beautiful like a doll’s, at her mercy, to cut the nails. Shen Fei remained motionless throughout the whole process, making Zhao Xi feel self-conscious and shy.

She couldn’t help but think that if this person’s legs are healed, and within a year, he’s willing to grow old with her and spend a lifetime together, wouldn’t it be beautiful?

If she still can’t move his heart within a year, then it means that they are not suitable for each other. It is natural for one to leave. Zhao Xi didn’t wish to force it. She just felt sorry that such a beautiful person might die.

She would never meet anyone more beautiful than him in the future, and no one will sit still, like a statue, letting her play with his hands like this without saying a word, as if he was hers. She played with his hands with confidence, acting like they were her own.

Upon thinking that she wouldn’t be able to play with them anymore, she sighed so deeply and in such despair that after hesitating for a while, Shen Fei raised his pale, almost transparent hand, and caressed the top of Zhao Xi’s head softly. Only two shadows of a man and woman, close to each other appeared on the wall.

Zhao Xi was half lying in Shen Fei’s arms, when he stretched out his hand and stroked her head. When Zhao Xi raised her face, that hand had already withdrawn. Shen Fei put it into the quilt again, acting like she had dreamt it all.

“Don’t do anything for these two days and just take care of your body. Adjust your mentality. I will practice more acupuncture on you after I’m ready.” Zhao Xi looked at the clear sky, “I have to go downtown today, and I will be back in the evening. The rice is in the pot. Don’t forget to drink the medicine. I’m leaving now.”

Giving brief instructions, she took the medicinal materials she didn’t need in her bag to replace them with the ones she needed downtown.

She left a bit late today, so she might be home back late. She sent Ping An to hunt on its own in the woods nearby.

Shen Fei might only have a few days left and Zhao Xi wanted to be with him as much as possible. She didn’t care about the pharmacy down the hill nor Ping An. This time, she wanted to devote all her energy and time to Shen Fei.

*

The process of exchanging the medicines went well; She had the finest medicines in her collection, having replaced low-quality ones with exquisite ones. Thus, people were willing to see her and told her to come again next time.

The shop, she visited was the one that sold her caterpillar fungus last time, whose store’s owner knew her and often gave her some money. He wanted to recruit her as a doctor in the shop and offered her a good monthly salary.

Zhao Xi, however, firmly refused. She didn’t want to stay at a place for long; if her master hadn’t asked her to wait, she would have left long before to other places and learnt more medical skills and experiences in order to ease her conscious about being a quack.

If she had to be a quack, she reasoned, she would be a fine one. She counted the extra money she received from the owner, carefully; it was over ten tails.

She wouldn’t use the money for herself. The sole purpose of her life, right now, was to buy better medical equipment for Shen Fei, such as a wheelchair or maybe, another apparel.