The next morning, Chu Yang opened his eyes, straightened his clothes, stretched lazily, and was brimming with energy and vitality.
"It's dawn, after making breakfast for dad and mom, I'll go up the mountain to dig for Mountain King Ginseng."
After washing up, Chu Yang prepared breakfast for his parents.
He ate breakfast, took the tools needed for the mountain trek, and left home for the mountain.
The mountains surrounding Yunxi Village are called Yunxi Mountain, and behind Yunxi Mountain lies the Primitive Forest.
Normally, the villagers of Yunxi only venture into Yunxi Mountain to gather herbs, hunt, and pick wild vegetables and fruits; they dare not set foot in the Primitive Forest.
Chu Yang left the village and headed straight for Yunxi Mountain; he crossed over into the Primitive Forest.
The herbs surrounding Yunxi Mountain had been basically picked clean, and the best way for Chu Yang to find Mountain King Ginseng was to venture into the Primeval Deep Forest. Hardly anyone entered this area, making it the most likely place to find the ginseng. However, there were many wild beasts and poisonous snakes, and a moment of carelessness could be life-threatening.
Fortunately, Chu Yang was strong enough, and more than half of his military life was spent diving into barren mountains and wild forests; he had rich wilderness survival experience.
This difficulty counted for little to Chu Yang.
"There's a cliff ahead that's hard to cross; better go around it," Chu Yang noticed a cliff up ahead and decided to bypass it.
His gaze swept over the cliff, and he suddenly saw something green and lush. It looked familiar.
"Hold on, what's that?" Chu Yang immediately looked closer.
Because it was too far away, Chu Yang couldn't see clearly. All he could make out was a green and lush plant on the cliff. He looked up, down, left, and right, and found that there were several protruding stones on the cliff to his right, which he could use to climb up.
Chu Yang grabbed the stones and climbed up to a ledge, looking towards the green and lush plant on the face of the cliff.
"It's Mountain King Ginseng, it really is Mountain King Ginseng, and such a big one at that, definitely over thirty years old," Chu Yang immediately became excited.
Fortune favors the persistent, and after a hard day's search, he finally found Mountain King Ginseng.
After the excitement subsided, Chu Yang calmed down. He carefully estimated the distance from his perch to the Mountain King Ginseng on the cliff face; the straight line distance was at least fifty meters, and the plant was at least eighty meters above ground level.
And since it had just rained heavily the previous day, the cliff face had become very slippery. A wrong grip could lead to a fatal fall.
"If I'm careful, there shouldn't be any problems," Chu Yang held tight to the protruding stones on the cliff face, climbing up as agile as a monkey.
Half an hour later,
Chu Yang arrived at the spot where the Mountain King Ginseng was. He couldn't help but look down; the height of over eighty meters was terrifying. A fall from here would surely be grisly.
Chu Yang carefully dug out the Mountain King Ginseng and placed it in the backpack on his back, then cautiously made his way back down, bit by bit.
It took a full hour to descend from the cliff face.
Phew.
Chu Yang let out a breath, moved his sore arms around, and felt that everything was worth it as he looked at the Mountain King Ginseng in his backpack.
"It's getting dark; time to head back to the village," Chu Yang headed back to the village.
As he emerged from the Primitive Forest and crossed Yunxi Mountain, night had completely fallen by the time he reached the village.
Soon after returning to the clinic, Xu Qianqian walked in timidly with flushed cheeks, "Chu Yang, are you busy right now?"
"Sister-in-law, you're here, please take a seat," Chu Yang warmly took Xu Qianqian's hand and had her sit down.
Xu Qianqian did not refuse Chu Yang, allowing him to hold her hand.
"Sister-in-law, did you need me for something?" Chu Yang asked.
Lowering her head, Xu Qianqian's voice was as timid as a mosquito: "I came to you for treatment."
"Huh? Treatment? What treatment?" Chu Yang was taken aback, not catching on.
Xu Qianqian's face grew increasingly flushed with embarrassment; it was really difficult to speak of such matters: "You... you treated me yesterday and told me to come back tonight for a continuation... Oh my... it's the massage for promoting milk flow..."
It dawned on Chu Yang then: "I remember now."
He took Xu Qianqian's hand: "Sister-in-law, come with me."
Xu Qianqian followed behind Chu Yang into the treatment room.
Chu Yang locked the door behind them and turned on the light inside the room.
"Chu Yang... that... could you turn off the lights?" Xu Qianqian asked with a blush.
"Ah? Why?" Chu Yang inquired.
"I... I'm embarrassed..." Xu Qianqian's face and ears turned red; her voice grew softer and softer.
Chu Yang glanced at Xu Qianqian, who was wearing a white blouse today, its buttons at the chest stretched taut, fearfully close to popping open. She looked fuller than the day before, indicating that the previous day's massage had been effective.
Chu Yang said with conviction: "No, the lights cannot be turned off. You're my patient, and I must be responsible for you."
"If the lights go off, I can't see clearly."
Xu Qianqian bit her lip lightly: "Then... then okay..."
"Take off your clothes and lie down on the bed," Chu Yang instructed.
Xu Qianqian's fair hands unbuttoned her blouse and removed it.
She reached behind her back to unclasp her bra, carefully placed the blouse and bra beside the bed, lay down, and closed her eyes, not daring to look at Chu Yang.
"Cough cough..." Chu Yang cleared his throat and focused his mind, suppressing the fire within him. He took Xu Qianqian's hand and began the massage.
This time, the technique for the massage was different from the previous day.
Chu Yang started the massage with the Five Shu Acupuncture Points, fingertip by fingertip, moving to the crook of the elbow, the shoulders, and then down to the chest and lower abdomen.
Xu Qianqian felt very comfortable, as if soaking in a hot spring, particularly in the areas that Chu Yang massaged. They felt pleasantly ticklish, with no discomfort whatsoever, but rather very relaxed. She had never experienced such comfort before.
Chu Yang massaged with undivided attention, never taking his eyes off the task at hand.
This massage session was more exhausting than the last, and Chu Yang was covered with sweat. He dared not relax in the slightest, as the massage was now complete and it was time for the critical final stage.
If the closing technique was not executed well, the effect of the massage would be greatly diminished.
He pressed on Xu Qianqian's Shenfeng Acupoints on both sides, and finally the Danzhong Acupoint to conclude the session.
"Ah..." Xu Qianqian cried out in pain when her Danzhong Acupoint was pressed, feeling as if pricked by a needle. After the pain subsided, a warm current emerged, bringing immense relief.
"Cough cough... Sister-in-law, today's treatment is complete. After reinforcing it two or three times, you'll be fully healed," Chu Yang said after clearing his throat.
Xu Qianqian's attention was entirely on Chu Yang, and upon hearing his words, she snapped back to reality, quickly grabbing her clothes to cover herself: "Ah... alright... thank you... I... I'll be leaving now..."