Family...
As the sole stranger in this unfamiliar world, Chen Ji could only carefully touch this world, sensing its mystery and dangers.
Every step was like walking on the edge of a cliff, at any moment he might fall into the abyss.
The words "family" held a unique attraction for him.
Chen Ji was soberly aware that, so-called family members were merely relations of the body he inhabited, while he was an intruder who had barged into this world after the original owner's death.
Yet curiosity couldn't help but rise in his heart... what if his parents also came to this world after their deaths?
After morning lessons, Chen Ji and his two martial brothers crouched next to the big water tank in the southeast corner of the courtyard to wash up.
He took a willow twig and pressed its branches into a brush-like shape, awkwardly scrubbing his teeth as he had seen his fellow disciples do.
The well-built brother who slept deeply last night grimaced as he crouched on the ground, "Master is in a bad mood today, don't provoke him. It's so painful, even my dad never hit me this hard!"
Chen Ji spit out the salt water from his mouth and tentatively said, "Maybe practicing this is useful?"
Liu Quxing pursed his lips, "What use? Been practicing for over a year without any sensation, do you feel anything?"
"No," Chen Ji shook his head, confirming that the warm current could indeed only be felt by himself.
The well-built brother continued brushing his teeth and asked, "Liu Quxing, when your mother comes later, will she bring those delicious oily pastries again?"
The skinny Liu Quxing rolled his eyes and spat out his mouthwash, "Stop pining for the food my mother brings, She Dengke."
She Dengke was displeased, "We are all martial brothers, what's wrong with sharing your food?"
Chen Ji laughed, "Yeah, what's wrong with sharing your food?"
Just then, Old Yao came out of the main house carrying a bamboo stick, "Still in the mood for jokes? Wait until I test your studies tomorrow, let's see if you can still laugh. All of you, go to the hall and study."
After washing up, the three brothers didn't even eat breakfast, sitting in a row on the threshold of the Medical Hall, each flipping through a medical book.
But really, their minds were not on the books anymore; they just eagerly awaited their families to deliver money and food, all except for Chen Ji, who silently flipped through the pages, because he had so much to catch up on.
She Dengke said, "Master is testing our knowledge tomorrow. We martial brothers share fortunes and hardships alike. Nobody is allowed to secretly study, got it?"
Liu Quxing's eyes darted around, "I haven't looked at books recently, and I've forgotten what Master taught before."
She Dengke sneered and clenched his fist, "You better be telling the truth!"
Liu Quxing shrank his neck, "Why don't you say the same about Chen Ji? He was hit the least with the bamboo stick this morning, and he's still reading now!"
She Dengke closed the book in Chen Ji's hands, "No more reading, let's all take our punishment together tomorrow. My dad had someone calculate my fortune; I can live into my seventies. Master can't beat me to death!"
Chen Ji: "…Is your fortune that solid?"
Time seemed to take Chen Ji back to the harsh yet wonderful days of high school, when everybody would walk to and from classes arm in arm, sweating together on the sports field, and collectively enduring the teacher's scolds.
Chen Ji pondered if he could accept a life like this in this new world. It seemed doable.
Before long, Liu Quxing suddenly sprang up, greeting a middle-aged woman wearing a green robe.
With a silver hairpin in her hair and embroidered shoes on her feet, she was elegant and gentle. A maid followed behind her.
She smiled tenderly at the sight of Liu Quxing, "Xing'er, have you caused Master any trouble recently?"
"No, no, Master likes me. How could I make him angry," Liu Quxing chuckled as he handed over a bundle of laundry to her, "Mom, here's my laundry for you to wash."
She Dengke sneered from the threshold, "How shameful, a grown man still having his mother wash his clothes!"
The woman took the clothes and handed over a wooden box and a wrapped bundle to Liu Quxing, "This bundle has your tuition fee for this month and some replacement clothing. In the box are some pastries I made, share them with your martial brothers."
At that moment, Chen Ji distinctly heard She Dengke swallow a mouthful of saliva.
However, Liu Quxing did not offer the pastries. Instead, he opened the box and stuffed the oily pastries and mung bean cakes into his mouth one by one.
Watching Liu Quxing stuff his mouth for nearly two quarters of an hour, he finally got the food down his throat and handed the box back to the woman, "Mom, you can take the box back."
Chen Ji: Huh?
She Dengke muttered, "You son of a..."
After talking for a while, Liu Quxing cheerfully carried the bundle back, burping as he stepped over the threshold.
The streets gradually filled with people. Amid the interspersed buildings, children chased each other in the alleys, and women carried basins to wash clothes by the Luo River.
Some drove ox carts eastward, and the oxen left behind dung, spreading a grassy, earthy scent through the streets.
Chen Ji immersed himself in it all.
She Dengke and Chen Ji just sat waiting anxiously, until a capable-looking man rushed over with a bundle at noon.
The dark-skinned man with a short robe and grey trousers, sleeves rolled up to reveal twisted tattoos on his arms, called out, "Youngest brother!"
"Third brother!" She Dengke's eyes immediately lit up.
The man laughed heartily, "I got held up helping out at the East Market this morning. Here, Mom prepared two strips of cured meat for you. One for Master, and you keep one to eat."
"Where did this meat come from?!" She Dengke exclaimed with joy.
"Big brother and I encountered a wild boar in the mountains a few days ago. Sadly, it was a male, with a bit of a gamy taste," his third brother laughed in response.
She Dengke's face broke into a wide smile, "Having meat to eat is good enough, who cares about a gamy taste!"
"Off I go. Tonight, there is a community event in the East Market, I'm going to help set up the stage, and I can watch a play for free," declared the vigorous third brother as he turned and left without hesitance.
She Dengke strode back to the Medical Hall, while Liu Quxing leaned against the doorframe and jeered, "I've heard the meat of a wild boar always smells of urine..."
Chen Ji admired, "Senior Brother Liu, you truly are the moral lowland of our Medical Hall."
She Dengke glared fiercely at Liu Quxing, "Believe it or not, I can knock out your front teeth?"
Liu Quxing immediately shrank his neck, then turned his head to Chen Ji, "It's this time, and they still haven't arrived. Your family probably isn't coming, right?"
Chen Ji shook his head, "I don't know."
Liu Quxing took schadenfreude pleasure in saying, "Maybe they're not willing to pay your tuition fee, two hundred cents a month is indeed not a small sum for an average family. Maybe you should beg the master for some leeway, to give you an extension."
As soon as he finished speaking, Old Yao stood behind the counter, while counting his books, said slowly and deliberately, "The law should not be passed lightly, the Way should not be sold cheaply, masters don't visit the unbidden, doctors don't knock on doors, I only teach those who are truly dedicated. If your family considers even two hundred cents too much, then there's no need for you to learn."
"Understood, master," Chen Ji responded.
She Dengke scratched his head, "Master, we'll still support you in your old age and see you off at your end, show some sentiment."
Old Yao stroked his beard, "Sons may not even be truly filial to their own fathers, what can I expect from you? When you grow old, you'll understand everything clearly, money is what's most important. Feelings can change, a long life brings much shame, one can only have dignity with money. Your families give tuition fees, I teach you skills. There's no need for too much affection between master and apprentice."
Chen Ji sat silently on the doorstep, from early morning to noon, and from noon until evening.
He had returned to the Medical Hall only at the third watch of the previous night, tormented by Ice Flow until the fifth period of the night. He really couldn't take it anymore and fell into a deep sleep leaning against the doorframe.
He didn't know how much time had passed when someone patted Chen Ji on the shoulder, and he opened his eyes wearily.
She Dengke was holding a bowl of rice, eating cured meat while mumbling indistinctly, "Chen Ji, why don't you go eat something first? I'll keep watch here. If your family comes, I'll call you."
Chen Ji didn't reply.
Across from the Medical Hall, the assistants of the food shop, pawnshop, and grain and oil shops came out and one by one started closing up shop to prepare to close.
One of the shop assistants saw Chen Ji and greeted cheerfully, "Dr. Chen, waiting for someone?"
He responded with a smile, "Yeah."
However, Chen Ji's family never showed up, and his biological parents couldn't possibly have forgotten such an arrangement.
As the afterglow of the sun gradually sank in the west, and the stream of people heading home dwindled, shadows crept away from his face until nightfall.
Someone once said, never wake up at dusk.
At that moment, the bell from afar and the whole earth fell silent, the sun also passed the horizon, and you watched the gray sky from afar, as if departing alone.
Suddenly, he remembered, before the gears of fate began to turn, someone had asked him:
"Are you able to endure loneliness?"
Chen Ji's answer at the time was, "I can."
...
...
The afterglow of the evening fell, finally disappearing behind the scattered towers and pavilions.
Chen Ji sat on the doorstep, watching the last shop across the street close its doors, the last pedestrian go home, then he stood up and dusted himself off.
Life must go on, back in reality, he had to seriously think about his situation:
At this time, Old Yao was still standing behind the counter counting the books, without even lifting his head he disparaged, "What, has your family abandoned you?"
In his heart, Chen Ji thought, his master's mouth was as if dipped in poison, but he smiled and responded, "Master, perhaps they got held up with something. They will bring the tuition fee tomorrow."
Old Yao scoffed, "You've been here for two years, at least the other two households know to bring me gifts for the holidays, but your family has never sent anything. Even if they manage to pay the tuition fee on time, I don't want you as a disciple."
"Give me a month, and perhaps I won't need my family's help to pay the tuition fee," Chen Ji said earnestly.
Old Yao shook his head, "Who can't make empty promises?"
Chen Ji reflected for a moment, "The monthly tuition fee is two hundred coins, if you give me an extra month, I will pay two hundred forty coins each month thereafter."
Old Yao pondered for a moment, then took out a Copper Coin and tossed it six times, interpreting the divination calmly, "That does show some sincerity... But as an apprentice with no right to collect a consultation fee, where will you earn money?"
"I'll find a way."
"Heh, quite the big talk. You're just an apprentice now, can't even take a pulse accurately, how do you plan to make money?" Old Yao shuffled the abacus beads mockingly.
Senior Brother Liu, enjoying the spectacle, laughed, "Chen Ji, how about I give you a hand?"
"How do you plan to help?" asked Chen Ji.
"We three take turns doing chores. Tomorrow, it's my turn to carry water, sweep the Court, and polish the main hall's floor. If you could polish the floor for me, I'll give you two cents; if you can sweep the Court, I'll give you one cent; if you can fill the water tank, I'll give you two cents. It's not much, but it's a start—a fifty cents a month."
The hierarchy among apprentices became clear all at once.
Chen Ji, "Okay, I'll do the chores for Senior Brother Liu."
She Dengke looked at Old Yao, "Master, is that appropriate?"
"As long as the tuition fees are paid in full, it's appropriate," Old Yao said indifferently.
She Dengke looked towards Chen Ji, "Doesn't it make you angry? This scoundrel Liu Quxing is treating you like a drudge."
Chen Ji said with a smile, "Senior Brother Liu is also helping me out."
"What nonsense about Senior Brother Liu. The three of us were born in the same year, same month, same day, even at the same hour, what makes him qualified to be the elder brother?" She Dengke said disdainfully.
Chen Ji paused for a moment. Why did the Imperial Physician choose three apprentices with exactly the same birth details?