Chapter 74: Chapter 65: Medical Books
Very few people would recognize what a treasure this was. In another ten or twenty years, you wouldn’t even need to read the contents—the book’s age alone would make its value extraordinary!
It wasn’t that Xiao Man was greedy. Her eyes were simply fixed on the two words on the cover: "Sun’s Acupuncture."
In truth, acupuncture wasn’t that complicated. As long as you memorized the meridians and mastered the basic techniques, you could insert the needles. The only catch, of course, was finding someone willing to let you practice on them!
In her past life, Xiao Man had studied for a time under that person’s TCM nurse. It didn’t take long; after just over a month, she was able to help with the needling—that person had even volunteered to let her do it! With the nurse standing by, she was bold enough to try. But as for the reasoning behind it all—why two needles in the chest corresponded to four or five in the back—the questions involved far too many concepts, from medical principles and pathology to meridian theory... The nurse’s explanations were long-winded and complex, and at the time, she simply couldn’t grasp the essentials.
Later, a judge discovered that she, a complete novice in medicine, had dared to perform acupuncture on that person. He dragged her out and berated her fiercely. His words were so harsh that she never dared to try again and gave up on her studies completely.
Now, she was young. She could start over and learn everything properly!
As Xiao Man was lost in her thoughts, she heard Sister-in-law Sun’s gentle advice. "Miss Xiao Man, how about we pick something else?"
Mr. Sun looked at Xiao Man and asked, "Can you understand this?"
Xiao Man let out a soft "ah" and lowered her head to flip through a few pages. The cover and the text inside were written entirely in traditional characters and classical Chinese. She decided not to deceive the elderly gentleman. "I can understand a little more than half."
’In her past life, her literature teacher had been a professor of Chinese literature who adored classical Chinese. He’d nearly drilled it into her until her head spun.’
Mr. Sun blinked. "For someone so young, especially in this day and age, it’s quite impressive that you can read these characters! The other books here have annotations... Are you determined to study medicine? Is it for your Grandma?"
Xiao Man nodded. "Yes."
"Very well. These books are a complete set and cannot be separated. You should take them all. The field of Chinese medicine is vast and profound; acupuncture is but one part of it. If you’re going to learn, you should learn the entire system. As you study these books, you will come across certain prescriptions. They are the culmination of centuries of our Sun Family’s hard work. These family secret recipes belong only to Sun descendants. Any student who learns of them may not use them for personal gain, with the exception of treating their own immediate family. You must have the permission of the Sun Family Head to use them for profit! Can you do that?"
’Only then did Xiao Man realize what she had stumbled upon. And here she was, thinking it was just a single, simple book!’
She quickly put the book down and apologized, "I’m sorry, Grandpa Sun. I only wanted... That was presumptuous of me. Please forgive me!"
"I know what you’re thinking, child. I have only one question for you: Are you saying you cannot do it?"
"No, I can do it!"
"Then why are you afraid to accept them?"
"I... I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep them safe."
A flicker of light shone in Mr. Sun’s eyes. "You truly are a clever child! But you can rest assured, nobody wants these things in this day and age. The fact that you dared to pick up that book shows you have the necessary resolve. Take them with you, but don’t let anyone else see them. In the future, you can go to medical school. Using the knowledge your professors teach you, you can slowly study these books and integrate it all. I will make a promise to you now, and I will also personally add a note to these texts to inform my descendants: you need not have any reservations, nor are you bound by our rules. Whatever you manage to learn from them is yours to use! One day, the direct descendants of my Sun Family will return to Huaxia. When they do, you need only return these books to the main branch of the Sun Family. That is all."
After careful consideration, Xiao Man decided to accept the books.
’She had never known, and Grandpa had never told her, that they sold their herbs to *this* Sun Family!’
’Who was Sun Renxin? Few people probably knew the name these days. But in the future, his name would resound throughout the nation. Of course, he would be long dead by then; it was his descendants who made his name famous. The Sun’s medical skills had a legacy of seven or eight hundred years. The Sun Family produced famous physicians for generations, but they never entered the palace to serve as Imperial Physicians. Sun Renxin, however, was once forced to serve as an Imperial Physician to Empress Dowager Cixi. After nursing the Empress Dowager back to health, he fled. She had him hunted down, forcing him to escape to the South... In later years, the Sun Family’s medicine would become renowned both at home and abroad!’
’Xiao Man had no designs on the future Sun Group. She simply felt that the prestige associated with an Imperial Physician could be quite useful to her as well!’
Xiao Man bowed to Mr. Sun once more to express her gratitude. Outside, Grandpa was clearly growing anxious. He kept knocking on the iron gate and called out her name several times. Mr. Sun signaled for Sister-in-law Sun to show Xiao Man out, but without the books.
When Grandpa saw Xiao Man, he breathed a sigh of relief. He naturally asked Sister-in-law Sun to pass his greetings along to Mr. Sun. ’Mr. Sun must really have not seen outsiders in a very long time,’ Xiao Man thought. ’Grandpa is standing right at the gate and wasn’t invited in, yet he doesn’t seem to find it the least bit inappropriate.’
The middle-aged man led the empty ox-cart over. Coils of hemp rope and empty sacks were strewn across the cart bed. The grandfather and granddaughter spent some time tidying up, stuffing all the rope into a single sack and tying it shut. They rolled up the other empty sacks and secured them in a corner of the cart with a bit of twine. Then, Xiao Man climbed onto the cart, and Grandpa led the ox away.
Just as they rounded the corner of the house, Sister-in-law Sun caught up from behind. She stuffed a large, blue-patterned cloth bundle into Grandpa’s arms and said with a low laugh, "Mr. Sun took a real liking to Miss Xiao Man and told me to find something to give to the child. I couldn’t find much on such short notice, but there are two bags of sweet pastries in here for Miss Xiao Man to eat on the way, plus two freshly-knit sweaters and a few other garments. They were originally for my grandniece’s autumn and winter wardrobe—all brand new, never worn... Please, just consider it a gift from Mr. Sun to Miss Xiao Man!"
Grandpa repeatedly protested, saying it was far too generous. After some polite back-and-forth, Sister-in-law Sun simply placed the bundle on the ox-cart, smiled at Xiao Man, gave her a knowing look, and then turned and hurried away.
Xiao Man then said to Grandpa, "Mr. Sun is very kind. I only spoke with him for a little while, and he gave me all this. When we get back, maybe we could find some of our own local specialties to bring him in a few days?"
"That sounds like a good idea!" Seeing that Sister-in-law Sun was already far away and there was no way to return the bundle, Grandpa had no choice but to accept it.
Sister-in-law Sun returned to the small courtyard and stood beside Mr. Sun. "The medical texts passed down from our ancestors are more precious than life itself," she asked worriedly. "By entrusting them to that young girl, aren’t you afraid they’ll be lost?"
"They won’t be. That little girl has a remarkable constitution, and she seems to have a kind of protective aura about her. Her eyes... She’s no ordinary person."
Mr. Sun stared straight ahead, his gaze fixed. "We have more than just this one set of ancestral medical texts. A-Zong took one set, and Third Brother has another... However, the set in Miss Man’s hands is a compilation of the finest essentials. If she puts her mind to it and masters even twenty or thirty percent, it will be more than enough for her. In truth, she doesn’t need to master it completely. By placing these texts in her hands, I simply wish to forge a connection. She is a fine child, and I want her to be tied to our Sun Family. In the future, if possible, I hope she will become one of our own."
"I understand. But what if the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Masters, along with the elder aunts, find out?"
"We won’t tell them for now. We will wait for A-Zong to return before discussing it further."
"Yes."
