Shi Yan came back with the medical box. He walked quickly to the desk and placed the medical box on it. He opened the medical box and said, âLord Fu, stop signing the papers. Letâs take care of the wound first.â
Fu Tingyu had already signed all the documents. He just needed to go to the public office to stamp it.
He took the pen, capped it, and put it in the pen holder. He handed the signed document to Shi Yan. âTake it to the public office to stamp.â
â...But your wound.â Shi Yan took the document and hesitated.
Fu Tingyu said coldly, âIâll take care of it myself.â
âIâll leave now.â
Shi Yan had followed Fu Tingyu for so long and knew his temper too well. If he didnât go now, he would get angry.
Shi Yan took the signed document and left. He closed the door of the study as he went out.
The study was quiet again.
Fu Tingyu glanced at the medical box. He reached out and took out cotton, gauze and other supplies needed. He bandaged his wound roughly and then put the medical box on the chair at the side.
He picked up the agarwood and carving knife again and started carving the agarwood in his hands.
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In the woods
Han Xiao walked to a relatively open place and stopped. He looked at the open ground. It was relatively flat and the area was wide enough. He turned back to look at Qin Shu: âLetâs set up a tent here.â With that, he put down the backpack on his shoulder.
Qin Shu followed closely and sized up the space. âThe ground is quite flat and spacious enough. Itâs very suitable for setting up a tent.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âYes, there will be extra space even after we set up two tents.â
Han Xiao opened the travel bag, took out the tent and tools, and started to set up the tent.
âIâll help you.â
Qin Shu walked over and helped Han Xiao to set up the tent.
Han Xiao had the experience of setting up a tent so his actions were quick and quick.
With Qin Shuâs help, the two tents were quickly set up.
Qin Shu looked at the two tents. She was going to sleep here tonight. She was indescribably excited because it was her first time.
Han Xiao packed his tools and stood up. He glanced at Qin Shu and asked, âWhat are you doing in the mountains?â
âI came to the mountains to look for medicinal herbs. Otherwise, I wouldnât have gone through so much trouble to come here.â Qin Shu looked down at the time on her watch and realized that it was already one oâclock in the afternoon.
Knowing that she was here to look for medicinal herbs, Han Xiao glanced at the forest. He knew one thing. The medicinal herbs that she needed were not available on the market.
âIn that case, letâs go and look for them first. Weâll return to the tent at five oâclock. Otherwise, it will be very dangerous when the sky turns dark.â
Qin Shu nodded in agreement. âYes, I hope we can find it as fast as possible.â
After making up her mind, she put the backpack into the tent and zipped it up.
Han Xiao and her each carried a backpack with tools inside just in case they met any danger.
This time, Qin Shu walked in front while Han Xiao walked behind. There werenât so many weeds in the forest.
However, the road was quite wet. The trees were so tall that they almost blocked out all the sunlight above their heads.
Because of the climate and geology here, it was easier for rare herbs to grow.
âWhat do the herbs you are looking for look like?â
Han Xiao did not know what kind of herbs Qin Shu needed so even if he saw it, he would not recognize it.
âLet me show it to you. However, these four herbs are very difficult to distinguish.â
Qin Shu put down her backpack and unzipped it. She took out the notebook she made and handed it to Han Xiao. âThis is it. There are actual pictures in the book. These are the herbs I need to pick this time.â
Han Xiao reached out and took the notebook. The cover of the notebook was light blue and the texture was a little hard. He opened the first page and the first thing that came into his sight was a colorful picture of a plant that he had never seen before.
However, there were notes at the bottom. Even the medicinal properties were clearly written.
Although the light in the forest was a little dim, he could still see the words very clearly.
Qin Shu looked thin and weak but her words were just like her. They were not like the delicate and graceful words written by an ordinary lady. Instead, there was strength in her words.
He turned his head to look at Qin Shu. To make it more convenient for her to travel in the mountain, Qin Shu tied her hair in a bun. Her face was the size of a palm and black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose covered most of her delicate facial features.
She was looking down at the notebook in his hand very seriously as if she was trying to memorize the medicinal herbs in the picture.
âThe notes you made are very detailed.â Han Xiao withdrew his gaze as he spoke and continued to look at the notebook in his hand. He also memorized the medicinal herbs in the picture so that he could identify them when he looked for them later.
âI did it so that itâs easier to find them. Chinese medicinal herbs are just like Chinese characters. The study of them is broad and profound. There are even homonyms in Chinese characters.â
Qin Shu pointed at the picture on the notebook and said, âJust like these two medicinal herbs. They look the same but their medicinal properties are different. Itâs also not easy to identify them. They can only be distinguished by their smell.â
Qin Shu was not the most worried about this because Gu Yan was there. The herbs looked the same but as a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, he could easily identify them.
Han Xiao looked at the pictures Qin Shu was pointing at. Just as she said, the herbs in the two pictures, whether it was their roots or leaves, looked very similar. It was impossible to tell them apart with the naked eye.
Qin Shuâs analogy was very appropriate. The homonym and these two herbs were indeed very similar. When the pronunciation was different, the meaning was different. The herbs looked the same but they had different names, Hence, they had different medicinal properties.
After looking at the herbs in the notebook, Han Xiao closed the notebook and handed it to Qin Shu. âLetâs go. These herbs shouldnât be easy to find.â
Qin Shu put away the notebook. She knew that it wouldnât be easy to find them. If they were easy to find, Gu Yan would have found them long ago.
She glanced at the vast forest, hoping that she wouldnât return empty-handed.
Finding medicinal herbs was the most time-consuming and tiring thing because the place where the medicinal herbs grew was not a place that could be seen easily. It required patience and good eyesight to find them.
Han Xiao turned his head to look at Qin Shu. Seeing that she was rummaging through the grass behind the tree, he reminded her, âThe bugs here are more colorful. They are poisonous. Be careful.â
Qin Shu heard Han Xiaoâs reminder and happened to see a purple bug that looked like a flower on a small medicinal herb at this moment. If she had not seen the leg below, she would have reached out to pick the herb. It was not easy to find a medicinal herb. It was not the one that she wanted the most but it was a good start.
She took out a pair of tweezers and a jar from her backpack. After opening the jar, she held the flower-like bug with the tweezers in one hand and moved it away from the medicinal herb. She held the jar with the other hand and put the bug into the jar before closing the lid.
She lifted the jar and looked at the bug inside through the glass jar. Its wings werenât just purple. There was pink on it too. It looked pretty but it was poisonous.
She put the bottle into her bag. There were air holes so she was not worried that the bug would suffocate.
She looked at the medicinal herb. It was shaped like wormwood but its roots were thinner. She reached out and pulled it up by the roots. The wet soil hung onto the roots. She could not help but shouted at Han Xiao, âI found a medicinal herb.â