The mountain was still without mist today, and Nozawa stood on the ridge, gazing at the vast mountains in silence, before finally returning the way he came.
By the time he returned to the village, Wen had already completed the mission and handed in the task item [A'man's Eating Utensils]. A'man was sprawling on the ground inspecting them: a Japanese lute, a shakuhachi (a five-holed wind instrument, usually about a meter long, hence the name), a broken bowl, a set of dominoes, and three dice.
And since Wen planned to assassinate Nozawa last night, for convenience, she had also temporarily hidden her personal items - a seven-foot Copper Ring Stick, a small vermilion lacquer drum, which she had also retrieved, and was now sitting quietly in a corner of the earthen seats, wiping them alongside her little monkey.
Nozawa glanced briefly before going to wash up, and once done, he called everyone to eat.
Breakfast was still abundant, with unlimited rice for everyone, even for foolish Lang Faction brothers like Peachmouth, Yayoi the part-time maid, and Wen's pet monkey, all could eat as much rice as they wanted, accompanied by bean paste bamboo shoot mushroom soup, dried egret meat, pickled radish strips, and a boiled egg for each person. The saltiness in the soup was just right, making it extremely indulgent - what seemed like a normal, even somewhat meager breakfast to Nozawa was sheer luxury and extravagance in A'man and the others' eyes.
A'man not only finished off all the meat and vegetables cleanly but also devoured two large bowls of rice. After the meal, she wiped her mouth, and even as someone with a thick skin, trying to take advantage, she felt a bit embarrassed - she thought the presence of a fat chicken yesterday was a special occasion, only to find this meal equally lavish!
With so much rice and meat and vegetables, who wouldn't be dazed after eating!
Her affection for Nozawa increased again, finding him more and more pleasant, unable to help proactively say: "Do you want to listen to some tunes? If you're bored, I'll play a few pieces for you?"
Nozawa, unlike her, did not wolf down his food like mad but wasn't done eating yet. He casually waved his hand upon hearing her: "No need, just take a good rest!"
"Then what about a monkey show?" A'man was eager to give something back, diligently asking, "Do you want to see a monkey show?"
"Monkey show?" Nozawa was taken aback for a moment, glancing at Wen and the little monkey beside her, and then he understood.
No wonder she kept a little monkey and had a small lacquer drum, turns out she was a "monkey show performer", relying on performing with monkeys to beg for food, not too different from A'man, who played the lute and blew the shakuhachi for alms as a "Blind Mage".
Wen, who was quickly stuffing herself with rice, eating with great focus, suddenly heard about the monkey show and looked up to meet Nozawa's gaze, momentarily bewildered.
A moment later, she realized and immediately lowered her eyelids, avoiding eye contact with him, but the small hands holding the bowl couldn't help but start to grip tightly, veins popping out, her long eyelashes trembling gently, her complexion alternating between pale, green, and red, suggesting intense psychological activity - such an ample breakfast, something she had never encountered during her years of wandering and begging, she involuntarily ate more, and now realizing it, suddenly felt some shame and embarrassment.
Hmm, she didn't like Nozawa, or rather, she loathed all Samurais, yet couldn't help eating so much of his rice, felt ashamed being looked at by him, secretly hated her poor self-control, her inner shame brewing, forcing her to put on a changing face.
Nozawa watched her face change, utterly puzzled, mused inwardly "sure enough, a strange kid", and hurriedly waved his hand: "No thanks, I'm not really interested in the monkey show… well, not really."
In truth, he was a bit interested because he had never seen a monkey show before, but since he wasn't familiar with Wen, not even having exchanged a word, plus she kept pulling faces like she might explode any moment, better to leave it at that!
Just in case she really blew up and splattered him with blood, that would be inappropriate!
"Alright, suit yourself!" A'man, seeing he didn't want to watch, didn't care, after all, she asked, he wasn't interested at his own loss, saving her some effort!
She got up and went to the side to lie down again, tucking her little quilt, patting her belly, planning to have a sweet nap, feeling exceedingly cheerful.
This was the life she had always dreamed of, to enjoy good food and drink every day without having to do anything, unexpectedly, getting accidentally injured by Nozawa had strangely made it a reality.
She planned to enjoy this peaceful fortune until Nozawa couldn't tolerate it anymore and drove her away.
......
Temporarily taking in the sisters A'man and Wen was merely a small interlude in his journey, purely accidental.
After breakfast, Nozawa returned to his routine, continuing with his [Warring States Era Survival Plan], which was to study medicine diligently, trying to become a "Mongolian doctor" to increase the survival chances for himself and his silly son.
He found a spot within the earthen seats, brewed himself a bowl of tea, then applied himself earnestly, clutching the previously copied portion of the and started studying with dedication, ignoring anything outside the window, focusing intently.
Despite his youth, he possessed both patience and perseverance, sitting down for the entire morning without budging an inch. By the time lunch was approaching, A'man woke from her morning nap, and he was still there, deeply engrossed in study, reciting silently, oblivious to the world.
A'man, highly curious, approached to see what he was doing, was shocked to see what she didn't recognize as "Southern Barbarian writing", and couldn't help exclaiming in surprise: "Is this Southern Barbarian literature?"
"You could say that!" Nozawa responded casually.
"Oh? What does the book say?" A'man's curiosity piqued further.
Nozawa didn't bother to hide it, after all, others couldn't understand the book anyway, so he casually said: "Some methods for treating and saving lives."
"A medical book, huh…" A'man instantly lost half her interest, watched for a while longer, unable to guess the meanings of the words, and with Nozawa unwilling to entertain her further, she gave up, got up, and hobbled out the door for a stroll.
Her name is quite fitting, "Full of Bounce," because she's indeed a very lively character.
Soon, voices of her chatting with Yayoi were heard from the courtyard, and the Momoi brothers quickly joined in, starting to listen to her boast about her gallivanting around the world and stories of begging across nations.
Nozawa didn't care; he turned a deaf ear to it all and quietly continued studying his book.
Five days quickly passed, and during this time, no one came to rob him again. The villagers of Hibi Village didn't plan any "Samurai Hunt," nor did they consider grabbing dung forks to finish him off. Amidst this peace, his divine skill reached completion.
He had secretly copied the entire "Barefoot Doctor's Manual," buried the phone, and roughly memorized the book twice. He now possessed the preliminary ability to treat Japan's working class to death—which is quite impressive, as before he didn't even know how to go about treating people to death, but now he can. For a beginner, this is already remarkable.
Just as the gatekeeper at his uncle's factory, the self-proclaimed non-famous trauma expert Sebede Dag, once said: "Saving people is like killing them; only those who can kill can save."
Now, Nozawa's medical skill had reached Sebede Dag's level: he could treat, but whether to cure or kill, that was uncertain. Either way, he could treat.
Of course, the main thing about the "Barefoot Doctor's Manual" is that it was originally a medical book for China's rural areas, a super fast-track textbook that only required the learners to be literate. For the most part, copying prescriptions was sufficient, even selecting from a few to a dozen. For college student Nozawa, it wasn't difficult at all; spending five days is already quite respectful towards life.
And reading up to this point was the limit; things like "identifying acupuncture points," "acupuncture," and "pulse diagnosis" were useless without practice; mastery could only come from a lot of hands-on experience.
Nozawa felt it was time to open a "Black Clinic," but before opening it, there was a problem: A clever housewife can't cook without rice, and he had no medicinal herbs.
He quickly dispatched the Momoi brothers to find Amü, who was wandering around the village. This guy could really go around; in five days, not fully recovered from her injuries, limping all the while, she had already gotten to know everyone in the village and started gossiping during meals, knowing exactly how many chickens each family had and how many eggs they laid daily.
When they brought her back, he first poured Amü a cup of hot tea, then politely asked where in Owari Province he could buy medicinal herbs, since he didn't find a pharmacy the last time he went to Nagano Castle, so he could only ask this "Master of All Things."
"Herbs?" Amü, being a wild child, wasn't so compliant. She glanced at the lying Meng Ziqi and curiously asked, "Are you planning to treat your friend?"
"No, it's to treat the villagers," Nozawa said honestly, as his current skill level could likely lead to a tragedy if he treated the foolish son first, so he needed to practice on the villagers first to hone his skills, while also boosting his reputation.
Amü was even more astonished, looking at him like he had lost his mind, wondering what had suddenly snapped in his brain—villagers of Hibi Village had long been scraped clean by the Samurai and monks, just a bunch of paupers, treating them wouldn't yield any benefits, wouldn't doing so mean his brain was faulty?
But before she had the chance to ask whether Nozawa's head got kicked by a mule, Yayoi, who was boiling water in the earth oven, exclaimed, "Mr. Nozawa, you... you're willing to treat everyone's illnesses?"
Born and raised in this village in this era, Yayoi knew well that many villagers suffered from long-term ailments. A childhood friend of hers had died painfully last spring due to an illness. She understood, but was powerless to do anything about it, and hearing Nozawa was willing to act as a doctor disregarding his status, she was both surprised and delighted, though after speaking, she felt anxious, fearing that Nozawa was joking with Amü.
Aqing, who was grooming a little monkey, also looked over in surprise, and seeing the apprehension in Yayoi's eyes, Nozawa took on a more earnest demeanor and nodded, "Yes."
"But... everyone might not be able to afford your..." Yayoi, being perceptive, immediately thought of the same problem as Amü.
Nozawa of course didn't plan on making money from the poor village, and he immediately smiled, "Don't worry about that. It's no trouble; we'll just charge for the herbs. If they can't afford the herbs, they can owe for now, with no interest. Later, they can help me with some tasks as compensation."
"Is that okay?" Yayoi was all the more delighted, seeing a halo appear behind Nozawa's head, beginning to suspect he might possess the "Innate Divine Buddha Saint Body."
"It's okay!"
Yayoi was almost moved, quickly kneeling to show her respect, crossing her hands on the ground, bowing her head, exclaiming excitedly, "Thank you so much, everyone will surely be delighted to hear this news!"
Nozawa quickly motioned a hand, "Don't tell others yet, wait until we get the herbs first!"
"Yes!" Yayoi answered crisply, immediately looking expectantly at Amü.
Amü, not understanding Nozawa's "sinister" intentions at all, couldn't comprehend his motive, suspecting the second-hand donkey Nozawa bought secretly came in every night to kick his head, otherwise, why would he think of doing such unreliable things!
In disbelief, she said, "You're not making money, what's the point of this? Treating illnesses and giving medicine, can even owe it first, no interest, is your money burning a hole in your pocket?"
Nozawa glanced at her, replying coolly, "Yes, my money is burning a hole in my pocket, is that a problem?"
"Alright! Alright! You have money, you're amazing!" Amü, just a recuperating "guest," couldn't care what Nozawa wanted to do, but her glance was filled with pity—no wonder you got expelled, if I were your father, I'd have kicked you out too!
A true young master unaware of the hardships of the world!
People like you wouldn't last two and a half years in this world!