Time skip.
Zhong Lin displayed a look of interest on his face and casually said, "You're not lying to me, are you?"
This statement made the doctor so angry that he flared his nostrils and glared at Zhong Lin, saying loudly, "I have been running this pharmacy for five generations, and it has been a hundred years already. Do you think I would deceive you?"
Zhong Lin did not respond and continued to ask, "What's the price?"
"Hmph! A dose of the Eight-Treasure Blood Nourishing Soup costs three taels of silver, which can last for three days."
Expensive!
Really damn expensive.
Zhong Lin hesitated a bit; after all, one dose costs three taels of silver, and the rent for the place he rented was only three taels for a whole year.
"Can you make it a bit cheaper?"
"I cannot."
"Is it really as effective as you say?"
"You don't have to buy it."
The doctor's attitude grew increasingly unfriendly, clearly annoyed by Zhong Lin's earlier remarks.
"Fine, let's try two doses."
After thinking for a moment, Zhong Lin decided to directly purchase two doses of the Eight-Treasure Blood Nourishing Soup.
Upon hearing this, the doctor stood up and walked to the back room. In no time, he came out with two paper packets of herbs and instructed, "Take it with hot water, once a day. Less is more."
Zhong Lin promptly paid six taels of silver and stepped out while holding the packets.
After buying the medicine, Zhong Lin didn't head home immediately. Instead, he turned and went to a tea house.
He ordered a pot of tea and two plates of dim sum, quietly sitting in a corner to savor them.
The tea house is a place to drink tea and relax. In the center was a high platform where an old man dressed in a gray robe was performing ventriloquism, mimicking male and female voices, dog barks, and bird calls, all incredibly lifelike.
After the performance, he took a sip of tea to moisten his throat and began telling stories.
Zhong Lin wasn't there to relax. If he wanted to unwind, the Tianxiang Tower and Nuanfeng Tower were much better than this place. His main purpose was to listen to people from all walks of life boast, gaining insights into the customs and culture of this world.
For example, the Heishan County he was in belonged to the Tianyang
The current ruler of the Great Chen is Emperor Shengyun, whose reign has lasted for one hundred sixty years.
After finishing the last sip of tea and swallowing the last piece of pastry, Zhong Lin finally got up to leave the tea house.
As he passed through the Eastern Market, he happened to see a snake catcher selling a freshly caught black-ringed snake.
The snake was entirely black, with a darker ring-like pattern around its neck. It was as thick as an arm and looked extremely fierce.
The moment Zhong Lin saw the snake, his eyes lit up. After some haggling, he bought it.
Upon returning home, he skillfully skinned and gutted the snake, saving the gallbladder to soak in alcohol.
After some preparation, a pot of fresh snake soup was ready.
During this time, Zhong Lin also lit a fire under a pot, adding a large piece of lard, a generous handful of chopped scallions, and a star anise to fry until fragrant.
He cracked six eggs into the pot and stir-fried them until golden brown, then poured hot water in, turning it into a milky white soup.
Once the pot boiled, he added the hand-pulled noodles he had prepared. Before long, a bowl of steaming hot hand-pulled noodles was ready.
"Let's dig in."
Zhong Lin and Little Shi each grabbed a basin and started eating. In a flurry, they swallowed all the noodles and finished off the snake soup.
It was truly satisfying.
After resting for a bit, he instructed Little Shi not to run around and then set off for master Liu's house.
Now Zhong Lin didn't go in the morning; he only attended in the afternoon to learn characters. With his maxed-out calligraphy skills, his speed in learning characters had increased dramatically, sometimes mastering over a hundred characters in one afternoon.
In just about a month, he could learn some commonly used characters, allowing him to read and write normally.
Master Liu had said that throughout history, there were probably over fifty thousand characters, but only about three to four thousand were commonly used. As long as one didn't encounter ancient texts, reading and writing generally wouldn't be a problem.
In the evening, upon returning home, Zhong Lin noticed it was still early, so he decided to try the Eight-Treasure Blood Nourishing Soup.
He opened one package, which contained not the usual herbs but rather some powder. He took out one-third and mixed it with hot water.
After taking the Eight-Treasure Blood Nourishing Soup, Zhong Lin soon felt a warmth gathering in his abdomen.
"What a potent effect; that old doctor truly didn't lie to me."
Zhong Lin didn't dare delay and quickly moved to the courtyard, beginning to practice his punches.
His breathing resonated through his mouth and nose, vibrating in sync with the unique breathing technique of the Iron Mountain Skill.
Unlike before, while practicing the Iron Mountain Skill, Zhong Lin clearly felt a warm flow rising from the fire in his abdomen, circulating with his blood throughout his body. Drops of gray sweat began to emerge from his skin's pores.
Zhong Lin was exhilarated and continued his practice.
Once, twice, three times…
This time, he practiced his punches a full six times before stopping. If it had been the day before, his body would have felt sore and strained long before this.
"The Eight-Treasure Blood Nourishing Soup really has miraculous effects. Just once, it allowed me to practice six rounds of punches, and thanks to my maxed-out Iron Mountain Skill, I could absorb the medicine's potency far better, wasting less than half. If an ordinary person took this Eight-Treasure Blood Nourishing Soup, they'd only be able to absorb about sixty to seventy percent of its potency."
Zhong Lin clenched his fists, feeling filled with strength. He understood why martial artists needed medicinal meals—having medicinal meals made all the difference.
"No wonder many people say that the poor study literature while the rich cultivate martial arts; only with medicinal meals can one progress rapidly. Unfortunately, they are just too expensive. Those who are not wealthy simply cannot train in martial arts. Forcing it would only ruin their health. I'll need to keep using the Eight-Treasure Blood Nourishing Soup; after all, the only downside of expensive things is their cost."
Zhong Lin squeezed the muscles in his arms. Normally, it would take months of proper nutrition to achieve this, yet he managed it in just two days of martial arts practice. This only deepened his admiration for the wonders of martial arts.
He brought a pot of hot water that Little Shi had boiled from the kitchen and used it to wash away the sweat on his body.
Half a month later.
Sweetwater Alley, Zhong Family.
A serving of cold mixed vegetables, a plate of crystal dumplings, and a bowl of white rice.
This was the lunch for Zhong Lin and his younger brother, Little Shi.
After half a month, Little Shi had completely shed his malnourished appearance of being big-headed and small-bodied. Zhong Lin himself had grown half a head taller, his dark skin now a healthier shade, turning bronze, and he was starting to gain muscle, transforming into a robust young man as described by Old Zhou.
Now, Zhong Lin had fully established himself in Heishan County. Every couple of days, someone would come to ask him to paint, and he never returned home with less than five taels of silver. Moreover, since he was now affiliated with the government office, no one dared to collect protection fees from him.
Zhong Lin couldn't help but feel grateful for becoming a painter at the Yamen office that day. Although he earned only one or two taels of silver per month for painting for the office, essentially volunteering, the official title allowed him to thrive in Heishan County.