From Linjiagou Village to Huandong Town was only six or seven li. A fast walker could get there in just two quarter-hours.
Lin Chaonan headed straight for the clinic. Seeing that the clinic was busy, he didn’t go inside to disturb the doctor or the patients. He stood outside and waited.
He waited until dark.
“Big brother, I’ve seen you standing here for half the day. Is there something you need?”
The clinic staff had long noticed Lin Chaonan, who had been standing by the entrance for ages. They’d just been too busy to attend to him. Now that things had finally quieted down, a warm-hearted assistant came out to ask.
“Little brother, here’s the thing. My mother asked me to bring a few kinds of medicinal herbs to ask if your clinic accepts them. They’re all in here. Could you take a look?”
Lin Chaonan took the basket off his back and gave the assistant a shy smile.
The assistant peeked inside. The herbs—already looking malnourished from the drought—had all wilted. Still, there were indeed some herbs that the clinic was short of. But that wasn’t his call to make.
“Well, let me go ask our clinic’s Doctor Li. He’s the owner. But I can’t promise anything, alright?”
The assistant was being so helpful that Lin Chaonan couldn’t have asked for more. He thanked him repeatedly:
“Thank you, little brother!”
Lin Chaonan stood there waiting for a short while when the same helpful assistant came back out with an older gentleman in his forties or fifties. If Lin Chaonan guessed correctly, this was the clinic owner, Doctor Li, that the assistant had mentioned. He quickly stepped forward and gave an awkward, clumsy bow.
“Hello, Doctor Li!”
Doctor Li wasn’t at all surprised that Lin Chaonan recognized him. His Li’s Clinic had been in Huandong Town for decades—if not a hundred years. From the time he’d learned to read, he’d studied herbs with his father in this very clinic. He had treated countless patients over the years. It was only natural that villagers from miles around knew who he was.
“Hello there, young man! I didn’t expect you’d know your herbs. To be honest, our clinic has dedicated herb suppliers. Normally, we don’t buy small, scattered lots—unless they’re rare, precious herbs.
But with the drought going on for over a year now, even the suppliers are falling short. To tell the truth, the clinic really is short on herbs. I’ve looked at the herbs you brought. The clinic will only take these ones—Polygala, Pinellia, Dianthus, Rehmannia, and licorice.
Do you know how to process herbs? If not, you can still bring them in as they are. It’ll give the others a chance to learn how to process them. The price will be much lower than for properly processed herbs, though.”
Doctor Li didn’t look down on Lin Chaonan just because he was a young man. When Lin Chaonan sheepishly asked how to process the herbs, Doctor Li didn’t hold back. Even though he knew Lin Chaonan couldn’t possibly remember everything, he still carefully explained the processing method for each herb in detail.
He admired young men who were eager to learn—whether they were his own or strangers.
“It’s fine if you can’t remember everything. You can bring in the unprocessed herbs tomorrow. I’ll be teaching them how to process them tomorrow anyway. You can come and learn too. Whether you can master it is up to you.”
With that, Doctor Li patted Lin Chaonan on the shoulder and turned back into the clinic.
Lin Chaonan touched the spot where Doctor Li had patted him, his eyes sparkling as he watched Doctor Li’s retreating figure.
This was the first time someone had encouraged him. Suddenly, he had a goal in life.