Chapter 164: Chapter 166: Hurting Zhong Yong Forever

For a time, neither the in-laws nor the parental home could stand her. For a long period, the Sang Family had no choice but to recoil into their own homes, hiding away from people.

Of course, these matters were all related to other people and had nothing to do with Tang Yuxin. Tang Yuxin was mostly recovered. Day in and day out, she followed Chen Zhong to collect medicinal herbs. Her hands were in contact with herbs every day, acquiring a scent of medicine.

“You know how important your hands are to a doctor?”

Chen Zhong picked up a bamboo stick, sometimes tapping the table, “Tang Yuxin, can you be a doctor without agile fingers or complete hands?”

Tang Yuxin was admonished till she could only hang her head, daring not to retort. If she did, she knew she would be reduced to ruin.

“Look at your claws,” Upon seeing the hands of Tang Yuxin, Chen Zhong was so angry he almost vomited blood.

How much effort has he put into her since she was a child? The thousand-year-old secret medicine and the unique formulas of the Chen Family had all been used for her, but to no avail. It was a waste of energy and years.

“You’re already dark and ugly, who will come to you for treatment without a pair of a good hands?”

Tang Yuxin sighed softly.

This was like a stab to the heart.

It hurt.

She put her hands behind her and dared not look at them. Her hands used to be soft and youthful, now they were rough and calloused, the back of her hand was even scarred from burns.

“Why are you still standing?”

Chen Zhong hit the table again with the stick.

Tang Yuxin looked up, baffled.

What was she supposed to do if not stand here? Go home?

“Go boil the medicine and soak your hands.”

Chen Zhong hit Tang Yuxin’s head with the bamboo stick, “You were quite clever as a child. How did you become like this? Not only are you growing uglier, but you’ve also become more foolish.”

“Did you truly damage yourself beyond repair?”

Chen Zhong mumbled to himself: He apologized to their ancestors and his grandfather for his lack of judgement in choosing a disciple.

Tang Yuxin went into the medicine room. She put the herbs into the medicine pot, a handful at a time without having to weigh them individually.

After the concoction was ready, she lifted the pot and poured it into a basin. As soon as her hand touched the water, she quickly pulled them back.

It’s so hot!

This was not soaking her hands, but scalding pig trotters.

However, she had no choice. As a doctor, it would hinder her work significantly, hence, learning the Chen Family’s Acupuncture Method required her to take great care of her hands.

Only thus could she insert the needle precisely when touching the needle with her fingertips.

She sat in a pile of herbs, casually sorting them out. She put her hand on her neck absentmindedly and pulled out a necklace. She couldn’t tell what material it was made of, probably silver. Hanging from the necklace was a uniquely-shaped pendant, nestled in her palm and warmed by her body heat.

She put the necklace back around her neck then got back to sorting the herbs.

“Yuxin, how come you’re not playing?”

Zhang Yindi was a regular visitor to Tang Yuxin’s home. Every child in the village loved to go to Tang Yuxin’s house, where the food was delicious, and they could sometimes have a meal.

Among them, Zhang Yindi was the most frequent visitor.

“I need to finish drying these,” Tang Yuxin picked up a basket and walked into the shade.

While medicinal herbs did not seem delicate, they required specific conditions to dry, such as exposure to rainfall, light, and temperature. The minor difference could bring about a huge disparity in results.

“I’ll help you,” announced Zhang Yindi as he took a basket and placed it under the sun. Meanwhile, Tang Yuxin merely pursed her lips and resumed her drying work after Zhang Yindi left.

Her drying work was complete, these were the herbs that couldn’t be left in the sun; they required drying in the shade, away from direct sunlight.

“Zhang Yindi, Zhang Xiaomei…” she mumbled these names, still uncertain why Gu Ning was so fond of Zhang Xiaomei – a girl of ordinary appearance who wasn’t too bright and hailed from the countryside. He had been smitten by her to the point that he offered to donate his kidney when Zhang Xiaomei’s failed.

Husband and wife are like birds of the same forest, when disaster strikes, they each fly separately.

However, it seemed Gu Ning had never held this belief.

He never abandoned Zhang Xiaomei, but in the end, Zhang Xiaomei abandoned him.Perhaps this was Zhang Xiaomei’s fate: to have a husband who loved her to the bone, a happy family and a man who would fulfil her every desire.

As for Tang Yuxin herself, she might have had a miserable previous life, but in this one, she simply wanted to live freely – which was good, in its own way. The outside world wasn’t always thrilling. Along with the excitement came unforeseen dangers. Today, you might be living well, but tomorrow, you might encounter all sorts of accidents. And accidents were the most unpredictable dangers for human beings.

For oneself, or others.

She bowed her head and put her fingers into the basket again. The herbs in the basket were ready for use. All of Chen Zhong’s herbs were self-collected, so he didn’t charge a lot for treating people.

Over the years, Chen Zhong’s health was not as good as before, hence the task of collecting herbs fell to Tang Yuxin.

“Ahem…Yuxin…”