Resplendent – Chapter 448

Chapter 448: Seeking Guidance

“Senior brother, may I take a look at your hare’s ear?” Gu Ye asked kindly.

The boy glanced at the pharmacist uniform she was wearing and frowned. Though a little impatient, he still placed the hare’s ear on the stall for her to examine.

Those attending a pharmacist gathering of this level came to exchange knowledge, hoping to gain something from each other. He probably assumed Gu Ye was just a low-level pharmacist, someone coming to learn the method of preparing hare’s ear from him.

The hare’s ear from a junior pharmacist was the most ordinary vinegar-fried variety. The preparation wasn’t particularly difficult, but controlling the heat wasn’t precise. During frying, the heat was slightly too high, making the hare’s ear overly dry, which reduced some of its medicinal potency.

“Your hare’s ear…” Gu Ye had just started to offer a few pointers when he interrupted her impatiently:

“I’m busy right now; I don’t have time to explain things to you.” Go look somewhere else!” The junior pharmacist said, then picked up the hare’s ear again and walked over to a mid-level pharmacist who seemed more approachable. He bowed respectfully and showed his herb to that person.

Gu Ye felt awkward—super awkward! 

Good intentions really do get struck by lightning sometimes! She looked down at her own pale blue collar, which had no embroidery, and shook her head with a smile.

“Um… Miss, could you help me check my medicine?” Behind her, a boy whose collar had faded from washing and whose clothing still had patches, looked at her nervously with a smile.

Gu Ye glanced around, pointing to herself: Me? You want me to check your medicine? 

Her eyes fell on the three Lingzhi patterns embroidered on his collar. A third-level pharmacist was asking her for guidance?

The boy smiled shyly, pressing his lips together, and said softly, “Outside Jinyuman Pavilion, I once saw you duel with the Huang Sect people over medicine…” 

Gu Ye’s eyes lit up with realization. I see!

She smiled at him kindly, signaling for him to bring over the herbs. The boy brought over Four-Processed Xiangfu. Four-Processed Xiangfu is generally used for irregular menstruation, qi deficiency and stagnation, typhoid during pregnancy, or damage to the flush vessel…

But something about this boy’s Four-Processed Xiangfu felt off to Gu Ye.  She picked up a piece, held it under her nose, inhaled gently, then slowly put it down and asked, “You didn’t figure out the processing method yourself, did you?”

The boy scratched his head awkwardly. “I bought the Four-Processed Xiangfu from a pharmacy and tried experimenting with it piece by piece myself…”

“Do you know that in the art of medicine, a tiny error can lead to a huge mistake? Ambition is good, but the herbs we pharmacists prepare affect patients’ illnesses. They affect their lives. A small mistake might be ineffective at best, but at worst, it could cost a life…” Gu Ye said, her tone calm but firm. She did not want to see a humble, well-meaning boy go astray in pursuit of higher pharmacist rankings. She couldn’t help giving him a little advice.

The boy’s face turned slightly pale. After hesitating for a moment, he asked softly, “Miss, is there something seriously wrong with my Four-Processed Xiangfu?”

“Nothing seriously wrong. It just won’t be very effective for treating illnesses,” Gu Ye replied. She put down the piece of Xiangfu and looked up at the boy. The fact that he had reached this point using store-bought Four-Processed Xiangfu showed he had some talent. With a little guidance, advancing to a mid-level pharmacist should be possible.

For all pharmacists, fourth-level is a watershed. Low-level pharmacists, without support from a master or family, can barely make progress. Practicing requires a large amount of raw herbs, and low-level herbs don’t sell for much.

The boy’s family didn’t seem wealthy. For him to dare challenge the complex processing method of Four-Processed Xiangfu without guidance already showed courage. The difficulty and effort involved were, one could imagine, considerable!

“This piece of Xiangfu is actually a failed work, am I right?” In fact, before Gu Ye, the boy had already shamelessly asked several mid- or high-level pharmacists to examine it. From their expressions and gazes, he understood exactly what was wrong.

But… in order to study the Four-Process Technique on Xiangfu(red nut sedge), he had poured almost all of his family’s savings into it. His mother had stayed up late into the night doing embroidery to raise money for him, damaging her eyes from the oil lamp…

On this trip to the capital, his mother had borrowed money from everywhere just to cover the travel expenses. If he couldn’t advance from junior to mid-level pharmacist at this Great Pharmacists Convention, then burdened by debt, he might never have the ability or energy to aim for higher ranks. He would ultimately remain a junior-level pharmacist…

He truly could not accept this. The old pharmacist who had taught him once said he had extraordinary talent. Sadly, that old master had only taught him for a year before passing away…

The fact that he had achieved a good result as a third-level pharmacist in the pharmacist assessment two years ago was all due to his own effort. Having talent and working hard, yet lacking a good master to guide him, was ultimately in vain. For a moment, he felt somewhat disheartened. Could a person truly not struggle against fate?

Gu Ye couldn’t bear to see the boy fall into despair. She had no choice. Her heart was too soft, wasn’t it?

“Actually, it can’t be considered a complete failure. It’s just that the preparation method was incorrect, so the medicinal properties weren’t fully brought out,” Gu Ye said. Her words made the boy, who had been hanging his head, lift it again. His eyes, filled with thirst for knowledge, fixed intently on her.

“The so-called ‘Four-Processed’ involves mixing fresh ginger juice, rice vinegar, yellow wine, and salt water, letting it marinate, and then frying it. For you to have reached this stage without anyone guiding you is already quite impressive. However, the proportions of ginger juice and salt water still have certain differences.”

The boy watched her silently, a flicker of hope rising in his heart. Perhaps, this girl, much younger than him, was the benefactor fate had sent his way. His intuition told him that what she would say next would benefit him for a lifetime. The boy focused intently, not daring to miss a single word she said.

His eagerness to learn only strengthened Gu Ye’s resolve to give him a helping hand. She paused for a moment, then continued, “For Xiangfu slices, the ratio to fresh ginger is twenty to one. In other words, twenty pounds of Xiangfu require the juice extracted from one pound of ginger for soaking. As for rice vinegar and wine, you’ll need two pounds each, and salt only requires four liang (liang=50g), which you dissolve in water and then mix into the soaking solution…”

The boy silently repeated these figures in his mind at lightning speed. These details were crucial to him! He never expected that the one who would finally resolve his doubts would be a young girl just entering her teens. The boy lifted his eyes to look at his ‘benefactor.’

A faint smile graced the girl’s cheek, and a ray of sunlight fell across her face, making her eyes sparkle brilliantly. Many years later, when the boy recounted these events to his disciples, he could still vividly recall that early autumn morning—the empty courtyard, the crowded throng—all seemed to fade away, leaving only those bright eyes, forever etched in his memory.