The young man looked bewildered. “What do you mean by that?”
“Pollen is the reason you break out in hives. Therefore, if you do not want to keep breaking out all over your body, you must avoid coming into contact with pollen.”
This was an explanation the young man had never heard before.
Moreover, could these tiny flowers really cause someone to break out in such a massive patch of hives?
Shi Mu reminded him once more, “Furthermore, it is not just flowers; the catkins of parasol trees and willows can also trigger your symptoms. You must be careful to avoid contact, or you may experience even more severe symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, dizziness, numbness in your limbs, and even loss of consciousness.”
After all, judging from the values of the allergen test, the young man’s degree of allergy to pollen was severe.
Dr. Shi’s words instantly reminded the bun-selling youth of an incident from his childhood.
When he was ten years old, he was once playing under a willow tree when a gust of wind blew by, and he suddenly collapsed and lost consciousness.
Later on, his parents told him that he had walked through the gates of Hell and was fortunate to have survived by sheer luck.
Not just this incident, but thinking back carefully on various occurrences from childhood to adulthood, everything matched up one by one under the guidance of this doctor.
“So it was precisely those pollen grains and catkins!” With the doubt that had lingered in his heart since childhood finally explained, the young man felt a sudden wave of enlightenment and relief. “Doctor, you are truly miraculous!”
Shi Mu understood him. Many patients, plagued by bodily symptoms, searched bitterly for answers. Regardless of whether a cure was possible, they always wanted to know what was truly wrong with their bodies.
“Thank you, Dr. Shi!”
The young master curved his lips lightly. “I am a doctor. Diagnosis and treatment, is that not my duty?”
Throughout the entire day, neighbors and residents from Liuli Lane and the surrounding Ping’an Ward came in an endless stream, and Shi Mu earned a full three taels of silver.
He specifically went to purchase some bedding before finally returning home.
Having slept on a pile of hay for so long, he had practically been on the verge of developing rheumatic bone pain.
As soon as he opened the door, he saw Jiang Xiaolan squatting in a corner, whimpering as she continuously slammed her head against the wall.
Knowing that her migraine was acting up again, Shi Mu hurriedly put down the things in his hands. “Mother!”
Jiang Xiaolan looked over with tear-filled eyes. “Xiaomu, you are back?”
“Are your headaches acting up? Why did you not take your pain relievers?”
Jiang Xiaolan paused for a moment before answering with a wronged expression, “I forgot.”
Shi Mu: “…”
Ah, my dear biological mother.
He helped her onto the bed and gave her the pain medication. Slowly, Jiang Xiaolan began to recover.
When her migraine flared up like this, the pain was indeed excruciating, but taking painkillers long-term was not good for her liver and kidneys either.
It was imperative to find out the root cause.
After Jiang Xiaolan’s migraine attack, her sleep was rather poor. Shi Mu stayed by her bedside, telling jokes and singing lullabies until he finally managed to coax her to sleep.
He made his own new bedding and rolled himself inside it.
Ah, comfort.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Shi Mu lay down on the bed, he felt parched with thirst, his entire body burning hot, making him yearn to gasp for a few breaths of cool air.
Yet both his body temperature and blood counts were completely normal.
This time, even taking paracetamol and ibuprofen had no obvious effect. He got up and went to the courtyard well, alternately drinking and pouring water over himself until he was completely soaked, which only managed to suppress the feeling slightly.
Shi Mu had never encountered such a situation before, nor was there any memory of it in the original body’s mind.
Although nothing happened during the daytime, these symptoms persisted continuously for three days.
It was not until the fourth day that they completely vanished, and he finally managed to get a sound sleep.
Although he was merely an itinerant physician and charged low consultation fees, it did not stop everyone in Liuli Lane from learning that there was a young man who was a doctor, and they flocked to him with their chronic, stubborn ailments.
There was someone with a skin fungal infection that had persisted for ten years without healing, a chronic rhinitis sufferer who sneezed frantically every day, and a woman suffering terribly from chronic pelvic inflammatory disease.
While he was busy, he suddenly heard the surrounding crowd repeatedly making sounds of disgust.
“Ew, what is that smell?”
“It stinks to high heaven!”
“Why is it so foul?”
Many people covered their noses and stepped aside to make room.
Shi Mu raised his head and saw that the target of everyone’s avoidance was an elderly man in his seventies or eighties wearing ragged clothes.
He stood far away at the very edge of the crowd, looking nervous and humiliated as he asked, “Doctor, how much is the consultation fee to treat a leg?”
Shi Mu looked down and saw a strip of cloth stained with so much filth that its original color was indistinguishable tied around the man’s lower leg.
Clearly, this injury had been there for a while.
“Old sir, let me examine you first.”
Shi Mu walked toward the old man. Despite wearing a mask, he could still smell an odor mixed with excrement and rotting protein.
He immediately realized that the condition of the wound was likely poor.
Shi Mu first had the old man sit down before squatting to roll up his trouser leg. As he peeled away the tattered cloth strip that had already stuck to the wound, revealing the complete injury, the surrounding people could not help drawing in a sharp breath.
Although parts of the large wound’s surface had scabbed over, the underneath had already festered into pus, and even tiny white maggots were wriggling inside.
It looked utterly shocking.
The wound was severely infected.
People nowadays were accustomed to antibiotics, but before antibiotics were discovered, infection was a very severe disease, and countless people lost their lives to it.
The onlookers began to discuss among themselves.
“How on earth can a wound that has rotted this badly be treated?”
The person responding shook their head helplessly. “This is too terrifying. How to treat it? There is no cure! I know a young fellow who works as a porter at the Tanqiao medicine market; his leg got injured, and it never healed, rotting away severely. Guess what happened?”
“What happened?”
“He developed a fever and fell delirious, almost losing his life. In the end, they had no choice but to amputate his entire leg just for him to survive.”
“Ah? That terrifying?”
“You bet it is.”
These remarks instantly caused the old man to panic, his withered fingers repeatedly gripping his trouser leg. “Doctor, can you please not cut off my leg?”
Shi Mu gave a reassuring smile. “Do not worry, old sir, you have me.”
Shi Mu first rinsed the wound clean with hydrogen peroxide, then used tweezers to meticulously remove the scabs and pus from the wound. After a full half-hour of thorough debridement, he applied anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving ointment and wrapped it in gauze.
Finally, he took out antibiotics and instructed the old man to take them orally every day.
Holding the medicine bottle and looking at the neat bandages on his leg, the old man was at a loss for words for a moment.
He had arrived in Yidu three months ago and had been living in a deserted small temple in Liuli Lane.
Because he was penniless, he had been surviving this entire time by dumping night soil for people.
A month ago, his lower leg was scratched, and the wound was so deep it almost reached the bone.
For poor families, getting a minor injury was just a routine part of life, and the old man had no money to see a doctor. He simply wrapped some hemp cloth around it to stop the bleeding, thinking the wound would heal sooner or later.
Never did he expect that after a month, not only had it failed to recover, but it had rotted deeper and festered into pus.
If he hadn’t heard that this young doctor charged extremely low consultation fees, he wouldn’t even have dared to come for treatment.
His life was worthless anyway; what did it matter if he was cured or not?
It was just that he still harbored a lingering attachment to the son he hadn’t seen in five years, barely clinging to life.
Tremblingly, the old man fished a coin pouch out from the very inner layer of his tunic, feeling another wave of humiliation. “Thank you, doctor. I am not even sure if my money is enough for the consultation fee.”
Before he could pull out the copper coins, his hand was pressed down by the other person.
“No need to pay, old sir.”
The old man raised his turbid eyes, looking with incredulous disbelief. “No need?”
Shi Mu’s eyebrows curved like crescent moons. “Just remember to tell people outside that there is a remarkably skilled doctor here.”
Tears instantly streamed down the old man’s face.
It was as if his own biological son had never shown him even a fraction of this warmth. He trembled as he repeated, “Thank you, thank you. You will surely live a long life.”
“Thank you, old sir, you will live a long life as well. Remember to come back on time tomorrow to change the dressing!”
After sending the old man off and withdrawing his gaze, Shi Mu noticed that the neighbors were all watching him with an indescribable expression that almost seemed tinged with guilt.
“What is it?” As soon as the question left his lips, the neighbors immediately dispersed, beginning their established daily routines just like every other day.
Amidst the crowd, sighs and discussions drifted over from time to time.
“Are young masters like this really all of poor moral character?”
“Alas, in this world, it seems we can no longer tell what is true.”
During the noon break, Bao Xiaoji, who had already switched his stall to a new location, shoved two meat buns and a small paper package over to Shi Mu.
“This is…”
Bao Xiaoji smiled warmly. “For Dr. Shi, from me.”
Shi Mu smiled back. “Thank you, Brother Bao.”
The small paper package contained a round pastry, its layered shape resembling flower petals, adorned with a red floral center. He couldn’t help asking, “What is this?”
The young man smiled and replied, “This is the begonia pastry from Fuyuan Zhai. It tastes exceptionally good. I only dare buy one piece a month, and that is because I bought it for my wife. Since she is pregnant and doesn’t feel like eating anything else, she only likes the pastries from Fuyuan Zhai. I happened to buy one today and brought it for Dr. Shi to try, to thank you for curing my hives!”
Fuyuan Zhai was a high-end dim sum shop in the West Market.
This name still held a certain special significance for the original body.
The original body was a concubine-born son of the Shi family, never favored by his father Shi Xian, and constantly bullied by the legal wife.
Whatever the legitimate sons had, he never possessed; whatever the legitimate sons got to eat, he never tasted.
Not only did he have to do servant chores, but he was also bullied by the legal wife’s two children. Being denied meals, having his legs whipped with bamboo switches, and being splashed with cold water were everyday occurrences for him.
The two legitimate sons frequently ate pastries from Fuyuan Zhai. The original body would watch the colorful, exquisite, and fragrant pastries piled in front of the two of them, his mouth watering with desire.
Yet he knew those items would never be meant for him.
Seeing Dr. Shi lost in thought, Bao Xiaoji urged, “What are you daydreaming for? Hurry up and taste it.”
Shi Mu picked up the flower-shaped pastry and popped it into his mouth.
Completely different from the overly rich, industrially produced texture of modern cakes, it possessed a pure, light sweetness and flaky fragrance, yet every nuance of flavor was hitting just the right note.
It was just as delicious as the original body had imagined.
In the evening, after finishing treatments for all his patients, Shi Mu did not rush home. Feeling the heavy silver in his pocket, he first bought a skirt for Jiang Xiaolan and then headed straight for Fuyuan Zhai.
Although Fuyuan Zhai’s storefront was not large, it was situated in a prime location on Zhuque Avenue in the West Market.
Indeed, it was different from the East Market; the West Market was populated by official families, princes, and nobles. With people coming and going, one’s eyes were filled entirely with brocade garments, jade pendants, and pearls.
In contrast, Shi Mu walking among them in his old clothes appeared thoroughly out of place.
Many passersby cast perplexed and even disdainful glances at the young fellow, but he remained completely unbothered, standing tall with his head held high, devoid of any shyness as he walked briskly and hopped steps into Fuyuan Zhai.
The moment he stepped inside Fuyuan Zhai, the sweet fragrance of pastries wafted over him, and Shi Mu’s mouth genuinely began to water.
Long time no see, my buttercream cakes, vanilla croissants, and brown sugar egg tarts!
Shi Mu checked the prices of the various pastries displayed on the trays.
The consumption level in the West Market was indeed very high: a serving of begonia pastry cost fifty wen, and a box of cloud-flake cakes cost sixty-five wen.
However, Shi Mu had money now.
That was a full string of cash, a whole one thousand wen.
The owner of Fuyuan Zhai warmly inquired, “Young master, what would you like to buy?”
“Everything looks quite delicious.”
The owner smiled hospitably, “Then how about we get a portion of each?”
As Shi Mu was pondering what Jiang Xiaolan might enjoy eating—after all, having been married to Shi Xian for twenty years, this woman had rarely eaten anything good—other customers stepped into the shop.
“Manager Xu, do you have glutinous rice cool cakes today?”
Another person said excitedly, “I want to eat arrowroot cakes, the sweetest kind!”
Both voices were extremely familiar.
Shi Mu raised his head and saw that it was the legal wife Lin Yan’s two sons from the Shi family: Shi Jing and Shi Zhong.
Shi Jing was also a young unmarried man; today he was wearing a turquoise cloud-brocade robe, with carved patterned silver bracelets adorning his wrists.
Shi Zhong had loved good food since childhood and was particularly fond of sweets. He had grown thick-waisted and round-bellied, with fat bulging across his entire face.
Upon seeing Shi Mu, both of them wore expressions of utter bewilderment.
Shi Zhong asked with astonishment, “Why is a stinking rat like you in a place like this?”
Compared to Shi Jing, who as a young unmarried man still needed to maintain a gentle and poised image, Shi Zhong would curse and hit the original body whenever the whim struck him.
On one occasion, simply because the original body accidentally spilled a few drops of his rock honey, Shi Zhong urinated into the original body’s meal, forcing him to go hungry for an entire day.
Seeing the two of them now, Shi Mu felt a surge of intense displeasure in his heart. He stood up, looked straight into Shi Zhong’s small eyes squeezed shut by fat, and asked coldly, “The shopkeeper welcomes guests from all directions and gathers wealth from across the realm, so why can’t I be here?”
After a moment of surprise, Shi Zhong broke into a mocking smile. “What? Don’t tell me you came here to buy pastries?”
Shi Jing also covered his mouth, deliberately asking, “Has younger brother even had a single meal since leaving the Shi estate?”
Ever since they were children, both of them had treated mocking and humiliating Shi Mu as a form of daily entertainment. Even though they hadn’t seen each other in two months, seeing him now means they naturally slipped right back into their old habits.
Shi Zhong looked triumphantly at the pastry shop owner. “This is a concubine’s son driven out of our household for breaking the rules. Manager Xu, you can just throw him out.”
Speaking as they were, the two ignored Shi Mu and triumphantly began instructing the shopkeeper to pack pastries for them.
Shi Mu calmly reminded them, “I was here first.”
Never expecting that this concubine-born son would actually dare talk back to him, Shi Zhong turned back around, looked him up and down with astonishment, and sneered, “Can you scrape together even half a copper coin from your entire body? And you still want to eat pastries?”
Shi Mu’s clear eyes held a trace of icy chill. “How strange. You say I have no money, so I have no money? You surely don’t think your stinking mouth has been blessed by the heavens, do you?”