Chapter 10: Free of charge

Qin Haodong did have something to do — he was going out to get a present for Tang Tang. Lin Momo had agreed to let him be Tang Tang's godfather, and he needed a gift for when his daughter called him “father” for the first time. The market was very big. There were small stalls lining the path for about two kilometers after the entrance, and behind them was a huge medicine wholesale market. In the wholesale market were large-scale wholesalers of medicinal materials which had high quality, so the prices were naturally higher. The stalls outside sold medicinal materials picked from the mountains by nearby medicine farmers. Their prices were lower, on average, but with good and bad materials mixed together, it was easy to get fake medicines. Qin Haodong didn't need to worry about these. As a practitioner, he was very sensitive to Spiritual Qi. He could distinguish the authenticity and the year of the medicinal materials at a glance. The two most important ingredients for the preparation of the Marrow-Cleansing Pill were Polygonum multiflorum and Ginseng. Normally, this would be very simple, but the pill required the herbs to be hundreds of years old. He walked slowly along the stalls outside and hadn’t found anything after walking past half the stalls. After all, there weren’t many wild herbs in this era, let alone precious herbs aged hundreds of years. The scattered stalls were coming to an end when Qin Haodong's eyes were caught by a Polygonum multiflorum in a stall. A quick glance told him the specimen was several hundred years old. The stall owner was a middle-aged man about who stood out amongst the other vendors. It was midsummer in Jiangnan, and most people wore very little clothing; some had even stripped to the waist. This man, however, wore long clothes and trousers with his body all covered up as if he was afraid of catching a cold. He looked pale and fatigued. "How much is this?" Qin Haodong asked, pointing at the hundred-year-old Polygonum multiflorum at the vendor's feet. The vendor perked up at the sight of a customer. He said, "This Polygonum multiflorum is aged. It costs 20,000 yuan!" "20,000?" Qin Haodong was surprised and said, "Isn't that a little overpriced?" In fact, he was surprised that the price was so low. According to the normal market conditions, the price of Polygonum multiflorum this old should be over 100,000 yuan. It seemed that the vendor only knew that the herb was aged, but he did not know that it had reached 100 years. The vendor said, "This is pure wild Polygonum multiflorum. I dug it out from a remote mountain, myself. It had been growing for at least 40 or 50 years. 20,000 yuan is not expensive at all." Sure enough, the vendor did not know the value of his product. Qin Haodong said, "The appearance of this Polygonum multiflorum is not good. It looks like it has been displayed for a long time. Most people would not buy it. I'll pay 10,000 yuan for it, no more." The vendor hesitated for a moment. This particular herb was not appreciated, despite its age. It had been on display for over a month. "All right, 10,000 yuan." After all, it was hard for retail vendors to sell high-end medicinal materials when all the rich people would go to the wholesale market to avoid getting fake goods. "Deal!" Qin Haodong was delighted with the fact that he acquired one main ingredient for his prescription. He took the medicinal material and reached into his pocket. His expression became awkward immediately when he pulled out only one coin. Only then did he realize that he was no longer the Emperor Green Wood of the Divine World with endless money. This one-yuan coin was the only currency he had. "What's wrong?" the vendor asked. "Can... Can you sell it to me for one yuan?" Qin Haodong asked, holding up the coin in his hand. Seeing the coin in his hand, the vendor almost fell to the ground. He had seen stingy people but never this stingy. "Are you crazy? One yuan for medicine worth 10,000 yuan? I don't think you're here to buy medicines; you're just trying to make trouble. Go away, or I'll call the police," he said, grabbing the herbs from Qin Haodong's hand. "I don't have any money, but I think you should sell it to me," Qin Haodong said. "Are you awake?" The stall owner glared at Qin Haodong. "This aged Polygonum multiflorum costs at least 10,000 yuan! Now you want to buy it with one yuan. You must be sick in your mind. Hurry home and take some medicine. Don't go out without taking medicine in the future." Qin Haodong said quietly, "I'm not sick… but you are." "You're sick! Your whole family is sick!" said the vendor, thoroughly enraged. "Don't be angry. I really want to buy this Polygonum multiflorum." Qin Haodong said in a calm voice. "Although I have no money, I'm not a troublemaker. Believe it or not, you will give it to me for free." "Free? Are you crazy?" The vendor laughed with anger left behind, looking at Qin Haodong as if he were mentally ill. Qin Haodong said in a playful tone, "Have you been having experiencing aches and coldness in your waist and knees recently?" The vendor was stunned for a moment, but then realized it must have been obvious from the clothes he was wearing. "If I'm not mistaken, you’ve had these symptoms for about two months. The general manifestations are chills, soreness of waist and knee, and weakness of limbs. These are secondary. The most important thing is that your little bro has not worked recently, right?" Now the vendor was completely shocked. While the physical symptoms could be guessed, there was no way this stranger could have guessed the period of time! As for the issue about "little bro", other people didn't know about it except himself and his wife. "How did you know that?" he asked in surprise. "I am a doctor of Chinese medicine — of course, I can see it," Qin Haodong said. "I also see that you went to a very cold place before you fell ill." The vendor’s shock deepened. It was no secret that people like him often wandered everywhere to find herbs to sell, from mountains to marshlands. Recently, he’d gone to a small valley, which was had been bitterly cold, despite winter being long past. He’d gotten the medicinal herb he’d been looking for but also this strange disease. He had never said anything about it to anyone. How did the young man know about it? "Well, am I wrong?" Qin Haodong knew from the man’s expression that he wasn’t. "I’ll leave if you want, but you will lose the only chance to cure your illness," he said with pity in his voice, as he turned to go. "Don't... don't go, buddy! Don't go!" On hearing that his illness could be cured, the vendor took hold of Qin Haodong by the shoulders and asked eagerly, "Can you really cure my illness?" Qin Haodong knew this would work — for a man, nothing was more tragic than the breakdown of "little bro". The vendor was good at his job, and had saved quite a lot of money over the years. With such success, he’d just married a wife more than 10 years younger than him. They’d been happy until he’d gotten this… illness. Now, he and his wife were constantly fighting, and he was faced with divorce or being cuckolded. He’d tried numerous medicines and seen several doctors, but all in vain. Some had advised him to simply cut it off! Qin Haodong said, "I only treat people who are tied to me by fate. I can't force you to believe me, but I was able to diagnose you with a single look, after all." "I believe you! I believe you!" The vendor grabbed Qin Haodong's arm and said, "Buddy, if you can cure me, I’ll give you all of my medicines, let alone this Polygonum multiflorum!" Qin Haodong said, "If I'm not mistaken, the place you went to was very shady, and the ‘Yin Qi’ was too heavy. You’re lucky you stayed there for only a short time; any longer and you may have lost your life. Still, your kidney has been seriously damaged, and I'm afraid you only have two years to live if it’s not treated in time." The man’s face went pale. "What should we do then? You must save me! I can spend as much money as you want! "Don't worry — as long as the cause is found, the illness is easy to treat," Qin Haodong said, taking a needle bag out of his pocket. "With acupuncture, your illness will be cured!" "Really?" The vendor was now having some doubts. He’d seen several famous doctors and spent a lot of money. How could acupuncture possibly cure him? "There’s only one way to find out. I didn't ask you for money. It’s up to you." Qin Haodong was doing his best to remain patient. As Emperor Green Wood, no one would have treated him this way. But he really needed these herbs, and treating this man was the quickest way to get it. The vendor thought for a moment. He was still holding the polygonum multiflorum, and the young man hadn’t asked for anything else. There wasn’t much risk from being stuck by a few needles, and if it worked, he could finally settle back into a happy marriage. After thinking, he said, "I'd like to try it." Qin Haodong asked the vendor to turn around and thrust two silver needles into his Shenshu acupoint on both sides. This illness was incurable for others but very simple for Qin Haodong. All he had to do was replace the lost “Yang Qi" of the kidney. The vendor felt a slight chill in his back. Then two streams of hot smoke rose inside him, followed by a long-lost sense of warmth sweeping through his body, driving away the cold breath that had plagued him for many days. After a while, Qin Haodong took out the silver needles and asked, "How do you feel?" "I'm healed! I'm really healed!" The vendor was so excited that he almost jumped. He didn’t need to do any checks to know he was back at full strength. He was so excited that he could already feel his "little bro" working again. "Thank you! The herbs are yours!" The vendors eyes were shining as he knelt in front of Qin Haodong.