The Blessed Farm Girl Has a Spatial Storage
Chapter 20 Medical Book

Chapter 20: Chapter 20 Medical Book

After leaving the mill, Zhao Dong did not return home immediately. Instead, he took a detour to Carpenter Wang’s house. Carpenter Wang had already made ten tofu frames, so Zhao Dong took them back with him.

Carpenter Wang promised to deliver the remaining nine sets later that night.

By the afternoon, all the tofu frames and wooden tubs had been brought back, and Sun Mei had already begun to scrub them in the courtyard.

Zhao Dong, on the other hand, was soaking the soybeans needed for the next day.

These past two days, Zhao Dong and Sun Mei had been incredibly busy. Zhao Zhitong saw it all, so she was exceptionally well-behaved today.

Since she was too young to help out with anything substantial, all she could do was fan her parents, bring them tea and water, and cheer them up with her endearing words.

Otherwise, she would just sit alone on the little stool by the door, staring blankly into the distance.

In the space, Grandpa Bai noticed that Zhao Zhitong’s mood was down and asked, "What’s wrong, young girl? Aren’t you feeling happy?"

Zhao Zhitong’s eyes were rimmed with red, and she muttered dejectedly, "Grandpa Bai, I feel terrible here," pointing her small finger at her chest.

Grandpa Bai fell silent for a moment before asking, "What happened? Did someone bully you?"

Zhao Zhitong shook her head. "Nobody bullied Tongtong. I just feel bad seeing Daddy and Mommy working so hard, and Tongtong can’t help them."

These days, the family was making tofu, which required a lot of water. Since there was no well at home, Zhao Dong had to fetch water from the nearby well before dawn each day.

Although the well was not far from their home, going back and forth to fill two large tanks of water had chafed his shoulders raw from the strain.

Plus, his leg had been injured before. His constant back-and-forth trips strained it even further, causing him a lot of pain whenever he rested at night. The pain was so severe that he couldn’t sleep well.

One night, she woke to find her mother rubbing her father’s leg, while her father gritted his teeth in pain.

However, the next day, before the break of dawn, her father and mother were up and working again.

Listening to Zhao Zhitong’s words, Grandpa Bai chuckled affectionately, stroking his beard. "Young girl, the best way to repay your parents is to be a good girl, study hard, and make something of yourself in the future."

With her small head resting on her knees, Zhao Zhitong gazed at the horizon and sighed, "I can’t wait to grow up."

Then, she could help her parents with their work.

Suddenly, something occurred to her, and she asked Grandpa Bai excitedly, "Oh, right! Grandpa Bai, you’re so amazing. If Daddy’s leg hurts, you can definitely do something about it, right?"

Grandpa Bai stroked his beard and thought for a moment before saying, "Young girl, Grandpa Bai is not omnipotent. Your father’s leg problem is because he didn’t get timely and effective treatment after the injury. If a good orthopedic doctor could see him, there might still be a chance for recovery."

Hearing that there was a possibility of recovery, Zhao Zhitong perked up even more. She jumped off the small stool and said excitedly, "Grandpa Bai, then you should take a look at Daddy’s leg quickly."

Grandpa Bai fell silent for a moment, and then he said, "Young girl, I’ve only collected some medical books; I don’t know anything about medicine. Plus, Grandpa Bai can’t leave this space, so there’s no way I can treat your Daddy."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhitong dejectedly returned to her little stool. Her face filled with disappointment as she lamented, "Then what should I do? Tongtong’s so useless."

Seeing Zhao Zhitong looking so down, Grandpa Bai felt a pang of distress. He sighed silently and then had a sudden bright idea. "Oh, right, young girl! You can collect medicinal herbs for your father."

Zhao Zhitong asked, "Collect herbs?"

Grandpa Bai replied, "Exactly. I have come across a medicinal plant in a book named Xu Duan. This plant is known for strengthening muscles and bones and stabilizing the body’s channels. It got its name because of its ability to ’continue mending broken bones.’ You can gather it, young girl, and apply it to your father’s leg."

"Okay, okay!" Overjoyed that she could finally do something for her father, Zhao Zhitong immediately perked up, her previous dejection swept away in an instant, replaced by a surge of energy.

Grandpa Bai also laughed heartily, stroking his beard.

"Oh!"

Suddenly, Zhao Zhitong blurted out, voicing a concern, "But Grandpa Bai, I don’t recognize it! What does Xu Duan look like?"

Grandpa Bai thought for a moment, then went to the bookshelf and began to search.

A moment later, a book appeared in Zhao Zhitong’s hands. Her round almond eyes lit up like stars as she gushed, "Wow, what a big book! Grandpa Bai, are you giving this to me?"

Grandpa Bai stroked his beard, a look of reluctance on his face. "No, this book is just a temporary loan. You must take good care of it. Don’t damage it or get it dirty. Once you’re done, you need to return it."

Grandpa Bai had a study filled with bookshelves holding countless books. They were all copies he had collected and transcribed himself, his most cherished treasures.

Usually, he didn’t let her touch them. Now that he had given her one, Zhao Zhitong was over the moon. She was too excited to care whether it was a loan or if she had to return it. She only said, "Grandpa Bai, you’re so nice! I love it!"

Grandpa Bai kept reminding her, "Young girl, you must take good care of it!"

However, Zhao Zhitong was already engrossed in the book.

The book had a grey-blue cover with four large characters on it: Compendium of Materia Medica.

Zhao Zhitong got up from the stool, turned around, and set the book down on the small stool. Then she squatted down, her small finger pointing at each character on the cover, trying to sound them out.

"’Materia Medica...’ she began, then pointed to the third character, ’...what’s this one after ’Materia’? Grandpa Bai, how do you read this character?’"

Although Zhao Zhitong recognized many characters from her previous life, this book was written in traditional Chinese characters, which she found difficult. Having only recently arrived in this world, she had merely managed to listen in on a few of Mr. Meng’s lessons at the schoolhouse doorway.

Therefore, there were many characters she didn’t recognize, so she pointed to them and asked Grandpa Bai.

Grandpa Bai told her that character was ’Gang.’ He explained that the book was authored by Li Shizhen and named ’Compendium of Materia Medica.’ The book included records of 1,892 types of medicinal herbs, accompanied by over a thousand illustrations, allowing her a proper understanding and identification of medicinal herbs.

"Wow! This is fantastic!" Zhao Zhitong exclaimed, her mouth wide open in surprise, as she opened the first volume.

The first volume was the preface, filled with densely written characters, many of which she didn’t recognize. Moreover, it was not written in vernacular Chinese, which made it even harder to read.

Zhao Zhitong didn’t linger on the first volume for long and continued flipping through the pages. Soon she came across many illustrations, each followed by explanatory text.

Grandpa Bai explained that those characters described the ecological characteristics of the plant in the illustration, when to plant it, when to harvest it, how to differentiate the genuine from the fake, as well as its properties and what diseases it mainly treated.

Additionally, it also included many prescriptions for treating various symptoms using the medicinal plant in question.

Zhao Zhitong flipped to the ’Grass’ section. The first entry she saw was ginseng. She pointed excitedly at the picture and said, "Ginseng! I recognize this! Daddy once bought it for my maternal grandfather. He said it was a very expensive nourishing tonic."

"HAHAHA." Grandpa Bai chuckled amusedly, stroking his beard. "Young girl, it isn’t as one-dimensional as that."

Zhao Zhitong was happily flipping through the pages one by one. The second picture introduced one kind of peony, and the third, another.

Zhao Zhitong exclaimed in astonishment, "Wow, I never knew such beautiful flowers could also be medicine."

She didn’t recognize many characters yet and was mostly interested in the pictures in the book. However, she wasn’t in a rush. Grandpa Bai had told her she was smart and would surely be able to learn them all eventually.

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