Let me learn a bit

Although he still had his doubts, Guan Tianya said no more.

Su Yang walked out of the pharmacy holding the medicine basket. Let's go. What are you still standing there for? Time waits for no one.

Are we going back now? Zhuang Mengli asked.

No need, we'll brew the medicine here at Elder Guan's place and then take it back.

Alright.

The two followed Su Yang out of the herbal room to the outer hall. Su Yang turned his head, looked around, and asked, Elder Guan, where do you usually brew medicine?

Normally, I just use a machine to brew it now, Guan Tianya said.

What? You don't have traditional tools?

I do, but wouldn't that be too slow?

Even if it's slow, it has to be brewed by hand.

Alright then, follow me. Guan Tianya agreed and led Su Yang toward the back hall of the clinic.

After passing through a long and narrow corridor, the three of them arrived at a room that looked like a kitchen.

There were many traditional clay pots in this room, though it looked like they hadn't been used for quite some time.

Su Yang looked around, picked up a relatively large earthy-yellow clay pot, walked over to the sink, and washed out the dust inside.

Then, he filled the pot with more than half a pot of water and placed it on a small stove to his left.

Does this stove still work? Su Yang looked at Guan Tianya and asked.

Of course it does. I used to decoct medicine right here.

That's good. If you two have nothing else to do, you can go wait outside. Brewing the medicine will take about two hours, so you don't need to stay here watching me the whole time.

It's fine, I'll stay and learn a bit, Guan Tianya stroked his white beard and smiled.

Elder Guan, you are a miracle doctor. What could you possibly learn from me? I wouldn't dare.

Miracle doctor or not, it's all just an empty title. Besides, I am completely helpless against Old Zhuang's illness. Since you can guarantee to cure him, I definitely have to observe.

Alright then. What about you? Su Yang looked at Zhuang Mengli beside him.

Zhuang Mengli shook her head and said, Don't mind me, just hurry up and brew it.

Okay, okay, okay, then I'll ignore you guys. Su Yang said as he turned on the stove. Then he picked up the medicine basket and started putting the herbs into the clay pot.

However, he didn't dump all the medicine from the basket into the pot at once; instead, he put them in one by one.

He added a different herb every five seconds, and when he reached the tenth one, Su Yang stopped.

Seeing this, Guan Tianya was stunned and asked, Why did you stop?

Because it needs to stop right now.

Why does it feel like you didn't answer the question at all? Zhuang Mengli chimed in.

Su Yang scratched his cheek and said, I say, can you guys not interrupt me? I'm counting the time.

You have to count the time to add herbs? And there's a specific order? Zhuang Mengli was puzzled.

Shh, stop! Su Yang extended his index finger and placed it in front of his mouth.

Zhuang Mengli crossed her arms and said, Tch, what does it matter if you tell us? So stingy. Are you afraid Old Man Guan will learn your secrets or something?

Hearing this, Su Yang rolled his eyes at Zhuang Mengli. If I were afraid of Elder Guan stealing my skills, would I be picking and brewing the medicine right in front of him?

Then why don't you say anything when we ask you?

I...

Forget it, think whatever you want, just stop talking to me. Su Yang couldn't be bothered to explain and turned back to look at the clay pot.

The two didn't say anything more and stood to the side, watching quietly.

The fire on the stove quickly brought the water in the pot to a boil. Because ten kinds of herbs had just been put in, the water in the pot had already changed color.

Seeing that the water was boiling, Su Yang immediately put the remaining six herbs from the basket into the clay pot in order.

After adding them, he picked up the lid, covered the pot, and turned the heat to the maximum for a quick, rolling boil.

Guan Tianya, standing to the side, didn't say anything more. Su Yang's sequence of using the heat was fine; generally, one would first use high heat to boil quickly for about fifteen minutes, and then switch to low heat for a slow simmer.

All the medicine had been put into the pot to brew, and there was nothing to do for the moment. Su Yang looked at the two standing nearby and asked, Sit down, why are you just standing there?

Not sitting. Zhuang Mengli rolled her eyes.

Guan Tianya smiled slightly, walked over to a nearby chair, and sat down. Su Yang didn't bother with Zhuang Mengli either; he pulled up a chair and sat by the stove to keep watch.

Just like that, none of the three spoke again. The high heat continued to brew for nearly twenty minutes. Not far away, seeing that Su Yang still didn't plan to turn down the heat, Guan Tianya cleared his throat to break the silence. Little Su, aren't you going to turn down the fire?

It's not time yet.

How long do you need?

Twenty-five minutes.

Alright. Guan Tianya closed his mouth and continued to wait.

The three of them neither played on their phones nor chatted. Guan Tianya was fine; after all, he was older, so smartphones didn't hold much appeal for him, and his ability to just sit quietly was quite strong.

But Su Yang was actually quite impressed that Zhuang Mengli could resist playing on her phone and just stand there the whole time.

Ten minutes passed. Su Yang, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened his eyes. He reached out and quickly turned the heat on the stove to the lowest setting.

After adjusting it, he used his bare hand to pick up the pot lid and take a look. Beside him, Zhuang Mengli frowned and said, You... grabbed it directly. Isn't your hand burning?

I have thick skin, I don't feel it.

Your skin looks better than mine... better than most girls, and you say it's thick?

It just looks good, but it's actually quite rough. Su Yang smiled and put the lid back on.

Humblebragging. Zhuang Mengli stared at Su Yang's face, her eyes full of envy.

Could you not stare at me so intently? It feels like you're going to swallow me whole.

I'm just jealous of you. How can a grown man have such good skin? It's infuriating!

Meaning your skin isn't good?

Do you know why I wear a mask?

Hearing this, Su Yang rolled his eyes and took the opportunity to say, Could it be that you have scars on your face?

Zhuang Mengli sighed and said, You could say that.

Then take it off and let me see. If there really is some skin problem, I can conveniently help you treat it.

Really? Hearing this, Zhuang Mengli's eyes suddenly lit up.

Really, it's no trouble at all. Su Yang smiled, thinking to himself, Hurry up and take it off so I can scan you!!

Then I'll take it off, okay? Don't make fun of me, Zhuang Mengli said, placing her hand on her mask.

I won't, I won't, hurry up and take it off. Su Yang's face was full of curiosity. He could finally see this girl's true appearance!

But from what she said, she probably contracted some skin disease, which caused some scars to grow on her face recently. However, it didn't matter; once he let the system scan her, he would know exactly how high her beauty level was.

Al... right. Zhuang Mengli said as she gently pulled off the cotton loops hooked over her ears.

......