The vibrant vitality of the back mountain was pleasantly surprising, with herbal varieties here completely different from those in the front.
Shen Jiang hadn’t expected to find medicinal herbs listed on her inventory just a few steps into her exploration.
To the left near the dragon lair grew a small patch of Wuye Grass, also known as Mahuang (Ephedra), whose roots and stems could both be used medicinally for inducing sweating and relieving superficial syndromes.
The optimal harvesting period for Mahuang should be after Cold Dew or Frost Descent. Currently, Shen Jiang felt neither hot nor cold – the seasons here seemed similar to her world, likely during the spring-summer transition, which theoretically wasn’t the harvesting season.
This reminded Shen Jiang of that remarkably potent Sanqi she encountered last time.
One must understand that medicinal herbs have optimal harvesting windows.
Typically, herb farmers would remove Sanqi buds during the flowering stage to concentrate all nutrients in the roots, eventually yielding Spring Sanqi.
But the wild Sanqi on this mountain had already developed plump, large red seeds, draining substantial nutrients from the roots. What she harvested could only be considered Winter Sanqi at best.
Spring Sanqi, with all plant nutrients directed to the roots, absolutely surpassed Winter Sanqi in every aspect – both in quality and medicinal efficacy.
Yet that Winter Sanqi still demonstrated remarkable effectiveness!
What if she could remove the Sanqi buds during flowering stage in advance, then harvest later? Would the Spring Sanqi’s potency become even more astonishing?! Shen Jiang’s breathing quickened unconsciously.
Truthfully, Shen Jiang wasn’t entirely sure whether her previous knowledge of medicinal herbs still applied here on Dragon Mountain.
According to her understanding, authentic medicinal materials each required specific growing environments – Sanqi should thrive in deep mountains with warm winters and cool summers, Cistanche deserticola in sandy soils, Huanglian in cold, damp shaded areas of high mountains…
Yet here they all crowded together on this dragon’s mountain, growing luxuriantly and proving through their vitality that they adapted perfectly here. The herbs produced on this mountain, even the comparatively inferior Winter Sanqi, far surpassed the authentic Sanqi from her world.
Shen Jiang didn’t dwell too deeply on this question. As for whether the herbs’ efficacy could be further enhanced, she only needed to compare results from several attempts to find out.
Eagerly, Shen Jiang recorded this new discovery on her phone:
Despite her excellent memory, Shen Jiang didn’t dare rely solely on it. The herbs here were numerous and varied – depending purely on memory would be tremendously laborious and prone to omissions over time. As the saying goes, the palest ink is better than the best memory, especially since she knew she’d get lazy sometimes.
After all, she was the only labor force available. To achieve maximum results with minimal effort, proper planning was essential. She could simply input these data into the computer beforehand and receive automatic reminders when the time came.
While searching for the herbs Grandma and Zining needed, Shen Jiang took the opportunity to compile a general survey of the mountain’s medicinal plants.
Rubbing her hands together in anticipation, Shen Jiang could hardly imagine how potent the herbs here might become if harvesting timing truly affected their efficacy.
While gathering Mahuang, Shen Jiang noticed a patch of lush green Wutou growing not far away. Wutou earned its name from the dark, jet-black mother root at the center of its rhizome—only this central root could be called Wutou, while the surrounding lateral roots attached near it were Aconite. Wutou was far more toxic than Aconite, and their effects differed significantly. Aconite’s primary function was to restore yang and rescue from collapse, whereas Wutou was commonly used to dispel cold and dampness.
This was knowledge of medicinal principles that Grandma had taught Shen Jiang on-site when she was ten years old, stubbornly insisting on following her up the mountain to gather herbs.
Back then, she had widened her eyes and asked, “So their relationship is like mine and Mom’s?”
“Yes, our little bone is so clever, remembering their characteristics right away.”
She remembered every word Grandma had ever said to her.
She even remembered the wind, the sunlight, and the scent of soapberries on Grandma’s clothes.
Shen Jiang closed her eyes to steady herself, and when she opened them again, only determination remained in her gaze.
When Chen Quan appeared at the cafeteria entrance with dark circles under his eyes, Zining stopped chewing, nearly startled by his drained, soul-sucked appearance.
“What’s wrong with you? Did you go thieving at night?” She had stayed up editing videos, but even she didn’t look as wretched as he did.
Chen Quan’s gaze was utterly vacant. He sat directly across from her, his hands fidgeting under the table as if casually asking, “You don’t think there’s anything wrong with me, right? My neck doesn’t seem to have any nodules.”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help but touch his smooth neck again.
“Don’t tell me you’re backing out of the check-up?” Zining shot him a sidelong glance, almost mocking his cowardice.
Chen Quan stammered awkwardly, “How could that be?”
Zining mumbled through a mouthful of egg pancake, “Good, then sit down and eat something. We’ll head out on time later!”
Listlessly, Chen Quan pulled out his phone and started searching. “Usually, you have to fast before a check-up, right… Oh, the internet says it’s okay to eat. Ugh, I have no appetite.”
Seeing him so lifeless, Zining set down her chopsticks. Suddenly, it dawned on her. “Hey, you’re not scared, are you?”
Chen Quan avoided her gaze guiltily. “…How could I be?”
Chen Quan didn’t know what was wrong with himself. All day yesterday, he had been thinking about what he would do if he got diagnosed today. In the middle of the night, he searched online for neck nodules and found a bunch of results saying thyroid nodules could very likely be thyroid cancer, along with numerous cases of metastasis to the lungs. The more he read, the colder he felt.
This was the first time in Chen Quan’s life that he felt so close to the terrifying word “cancer.”
He was still so young—he hadn’t even been in love… The more he searched, the more awake he became, until he watched helplessly as the sky gradually brightened.
When he finally saw what was on Zining’s tray, Chen Quan’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Hey, you’re eating way too happily!”
He knew Zining only saw him as a brother, without any romantic ambiguity, but he was suffering so much, and she actually had the nerve to buy the cafeteria’s most sought-after egg pancake—the one made from the chef’s hand-mixed batter, topped with a fresh egg and fried with just a bit of oil and salt to bring out its pure, delicious flavor.
It smelled so good—it felt like the most ironic mockery of his sleepless night.
Zining swallowed her bite of egg pancake. “Yeah, I got up early just to buy this to cheer you up. I had to wait in line forever to get it.”
Chen Quan picked up a piece of egg pancake with a ferocious expression, taking a vicious bite. “Then I should eat more. Normally, I can’t even get to eat this.”
Zining: “…”
Brother, didn’t you just say you had no appetite?
The two rushed to a tertiary grade A hospital in the city, spending most of the morning just figuring out how to register.
By the time they finally queued up and saw the doctor, it was already late morning.
Coming out of the consultation room, Chen Quan’s face was somewhat flushed.
Zining looked at her companion with an ambiguous expression: “Oh, so it’s not a CT scan after all, but an ultrasound~”
Last time, when this kid Chen Quan mocked Doctor Shen, saying something like ‘Do you think you’re a CT machine?’ – Doctor Shen must have had incredible self-control not to laugh out loud.
Probably seeing him as medically illiterate, she couldn’t be bothered to argue with him.
Chen Quan’s face grew redder from her sarcastic tone. “It’s just that I have no experience with this.”
When they finally got their number at the ultrasound department, the nurse told them to come back at 4:30 in the afternoon. Chen Quan was dumbfounded: “Can’t we do it earlier?”
“Everyone’s waiting in line. If you want it done earlier, come earlier next time. You’re only arriving now, almost lunchtime – you’re lucky to get it done today at all,” the nurse said bluntly.
Zining hadn’t expected that just getting a checkup would turn into a full-day hospital tour. She and Chen Quan looked at each other helplessly, with no solution in sight.
If she’d known, she would have brought her computer to the hospital to edit the remaining videos.
At 4 PM, Chen Quan finally entered the ultrasound room.
Zining brought her phone in to record. The doctor found it strange that she was even recording this: “What are you doing? It’s not like you’re accompanying a pregnant woman recording the baby. This is the first time I’ve seen a girlfriend recording her boyfriend’s thyroid ultrasound.”
Zining smiled cheerfully: “I’m just documenting life. Please continue with your examination, don’t mind me.”
The doctor really didn’t pay her any more attention. With all kinds of vloggers everywhere these days, and this girl being quite good-looking, she was probably one of them.
The doctor focused his attention on the computer screen, his expression gradually turning serious as the probe moved around.
“Young man, your situation doesn’t look too good.”
Zining held up her phone: “Doctor, he has a nodule in his neck, right?”
“Have you already had tests done at another hospital?” The doctor kept his eyes fixed on the computer screen, not looking up.
“No, it was a traditional Chinese medicine doctor who said I have a nodule here.” Chen Quan pointed to his neck, his face pale as he asked: “Is it thyroid cancer? It’s fine, please tell me straight, I can handle it.”
The ultrasound doctor seemed surprised: “You’re saying a TCM doctor detected this nodule by feeling your pulse?”
Seeing the doctor evade his question, Chen Quan suddenly felt a chill in his heart.
When facing that TCM doctor, he’d had the confidence to call her a fraud spouting nonsense, but here, he didn’t dare ask again.
Seeing Chen Quan fall silent, Zining suddenly felt uncomfortable. She couldn’t bear to see him looking so helpless.
“Yes,” she answered the doctor. “How is my friend’s condition?”
“Which TCM doctor was this? Quite skilled. He does indeed have a nodule here.”
Zining felt somewhat proud – finally someone else who recognized Doctor Shen’s ability. “It’s Shen Jiang Doctor from Mingxintang. Doctor, is my friend’s nodule benign or malignant?”
The patient waiting behind the partition screen was a woman sitting in a wheelchair, gaunt and silent as she listened to their conversation. When she heard the doctor’s name, she couldn’t help but repeat it silently in her mind.
Mingxintang, Doctor Shengjiang? Doctor Shengjiang?
What a strange name.
The ultrasound doctor’s initially curious expression turned astonished. He looked up from his computer: “You don’t mean that… recently controversial and famous Mingxintang?”
“Surely not that one?” he added.
Zining shook her head with a laugh, speaking with unconscious pride: “It’s exactly that Mingxintang! The traditional Chinese medicine doctors there are really skilled.”
Just how many Mingxintang clinics were there in Nanze City?
The female patient waiting in line behind the partition was completely confused by their cryptic exchange.
Then they heard the doctor who had been chatting amiably with patients suddenly turn cold.
The doctor’s chilly voice carried a trace of impatience: “Go outside to get your report. There are other patients waiting. Based on my experience, the situation doesn’t look good. To determine if it’s a malignant nodule, we’ll need to do a needle biopsy for sampling and testing. We can’t do that now. Come back to see me after you’ve made your decision.”
Zining choked back her words, eyes wide with disbelief. How could the doctor who had been all smiles moments ago turn so cold so quickly?
The doctor called out toward the partition: “Is Lin Yunqing here? Come in for your examination.”
Chen Quan sat dazed, wiping the remaining gel from his neck with tissue paper as if he’d already been sentenced, looking utterly devastated.
Zining deliberately raised her voice: “Let’s go, we’re going to find Doctor Shen.”
Chen Quan didn’t react immediately, responding half a beat later: “Huh?”
“Are you stupid? Since Doctor Shen could diagnose your nodule, she must be able to treat it too. Let’s go see her for treatment right now.”
“You’re right!” Hope suddenly sparked in Chen Quan’s eyes.
The ultrasound doctor couldn’t help warning the young couple: “Don’t just randomly seek out folk healers outside for unproven remedies. You’ll regret it when it’s too late!”
Zining’s eyelid twitched as she retorted: “Doctor Shen is no folk healer. She’s a proper university graduate with a medical license.”
“Heh, if you’re not afraid of ending up with kidney failure, then by all means go ahead,” the doctor sneered, speaking with the authority of experience, his words dripping with disdain for the traditional medicine clinic.
Chen Quan looked helplessly at the doctor, who seeing his expression, felt some pity for him: “Don’t be afraid. Benign nodules don’t need treatment. Even if it’s thyroid cancer, just find an experienced doctor to remove your thyroid and you’ll be fine. But if you take random medications that irritate the nodule, then the outcome really might not be good.”
That made sense.
Chen Quan turned to Zining hesitantly: “Maybe… I should see what Western medicine has to say first.”
Zining snorted coldly: “Chen Quan, I never thought you’d be such a coward. If it weren’t for Doctor Shen, you wouldn’t even have known about your nodule. And instead of being grateful, you said such offensive things to her. Now when others call her a folk healer, you can stand listening to it, but I can’t.”
She turned to the ultrasound doctor: “We’re all doctors here. Since when are doctors outside the hospital not real doctors but folk healers? I suppose your hospital has never had any medical disputes then?”
The doctor frowned with dissatisfaction, “Young lady, you should know it takes two to tango. I’m considering what’s best for your friend—don’t bite the hand that feeds you…”
You’re the one biting!
Zining sneered, “Nothing has been concluded yet, and you’re already blaming the doctor based on online rumors. Such baseless assumptions are what truly hurt people. Let me tell you, there’s more to the medical dispute at Mingxintang—they are completely the victims.”
A flicker of irritation crossed the doctor’s face as he grew impatient. “Are you done? I have other patients. If you keep causing trouble, I’ll call security.”
Zining couldn’t be bothered to argue further. She turned to Chen Quan with an impassive expression, “This doctor can’t tell, but I know about your nodule. Doctor Shen told me the other day that it’s benign. Since she could diagnose your condition, she must have been confident to declare it benign. Stop worrying unnecessarily. Still, I should thank you for providing material—I don’t like owing anyone. I paid for your examination today, so no need to repay me.”
Having said this, Zining turned and walked away without looking back.
She couldn’t believe she’d ever considered such a coward her close friend—she must have been blind.
The ultrasound technician now stood up anxiously, “Young man, don’t leave! Let me finish with this patient, then I’ll examine you properly!”