“Wow, what a big dog!” The man moved backward a few steps in fear when he saw San Xian standing next to Wang Yao . San Xian was like a lion . It looked wild and scary .
Wang Yao noticed the thing in the man’s hand . It was a block of honeycomb that seemed to be soaked in water for a long time . The man’s arm was red and swollen . It seemed that he was stung by the bees .
“Honeycomb?” Now, Wang Yao was pretty sure that this man had been to the back of Nanshan Hill .
“Yes . I got it from the creek on Nanshan Hill,” the man said .
“What do you need this for? Wanna get honey out of it?” Wang Yao asked .
“No . I heard that honeycomb water can cure rhinitis,” the man said . “I suffer from rhinitis every spring . So, I took it when I saw it on Nanshan Hill . Fortunately I got this, otherwise I’ll suffer from rhinitis again . ”
“You are right . Honeycomb can treat rhinitis,” Wang Yao said .
Honeycomb could kill toxic insects, dispel wind, and relieve pain . It could also be put into spoiled water with pollen to treat rhinitis .
“The only thing is that honeycomb this time of the year is not very effective in treating rhinitis,” Wang Yao said .
“As long as it has some effect,” the man said .
“OK, see you later then,” Wang Yao said .
“See you,” the man said . He suddenly thought of something and stopped . “Wait a minute, Yao!”
“Yes?” Wang Yao asked .
“Be careful when you are on Nanshan Hill . There is a big snake on the hill,” the man said .
“A big snake?” Wang Yao asked .
“Yes, a black snake . It was at least nine feet long and this big!” The middle-aged man put his hands together to make a circle .
“Xiaohei!” Wang Yao immediately got what the man was talking about . It must be Xiaohei . He hadn’t seen Xiaohei for a while . It seemed the snake had grown bigger . “I think snakes should be hibernating . You probably got it wrong . ”
“No way! I wouldn’t hide near the creek if I was not trying to escape from the snake,” the man said .
He had been looking for firewood on Nanshan Hill two days ago . However, he only found a little bit . He spotted Xiaohei while he was wandering on the hill . Most people got scared when they saw a snake, especially a big snake like Xiaohei . He turned around and started to run . He ended up somewhere near the creek . Then, he saw several old jujube trees . Nowadays, a lot of people were into wooden sculptures . Jujube wood was considered valuable wood among the locals . So, the man picked a branch from one of the jujube trees . He carried the wood and continued to walk until he saw a honeycomb on the rock . He grabbed the honeycomb without thinking . Fortunately, the bees were still hibernating .
He sort of got good out of misfortune . He bumped into a big snake on the hill, escaped into the creek, and found some valuable wood and a honeycomb .
Of course he didn’t disclose every detail to Wang Yao . The villagers had changed their point of view toward Wang Yao over the past few years after several significant events . They knew they should never mess with this young man .
“I see . I will be careful,” Wang Yao said .
He was now clear about what had happened . It was just an incident . Wang Yao had peace of mind . But, it occurred to him that there would be more and more people coming to Nanshan Hill in warm spring . Some of them would approach his herbal field .
Snake? Wang Yao suddenly had an idea . “San Xian, where is Xiaohei?” asked Wang Yao .
Woof! Woof! San Xian took the lead . They went to the back of Nanshan Hill at the south and stopped outside a cave . The cave was quite deep . It was completely dark inside .
Woof! Woof! San Xian barked . Soon, Wang Yao heard a hissing sound . A snake as thick as a human’s arm came out of the cave . It flashed forth its tongue and looked at Wang Yao and San Xian .
“Hey, you’ve grown so big . ” Wang Yao patted the snake’s head with a smile . The snake didn’t move . It was as if it knew Wang Yao .
“I’m not sure if you can understand me,” Wang Yao said . “Can you wander around at the north side of the hill a bit more?”
Wang Yao pointed at the other side of the hill . “Let’s go, follow me . ”
The black snake followed him and San Xiao to the other side of the hill . The closer they approached the herbal field, the warmer it became .
“Can you come to these places often?” Wang Yao asked with a smile as he walked through the narrow paths on Nanshan Hill . The rocks on the hill were quite steep, and they were located everywhere . Therefore, it was almost impossible to grow anything in those areas . However, a lot of people liked to graze cattle and sheep there .
Last year, Wang Yao blocked all the paths leading to the herbal field by moving rocks and planting trees . He planned to plant more trees in spring .
He was not sure if the black snake could understand what he was saying . He just kept talking while walking .
“Alright, that’s pretty much about it . Let’s go to the herbal field,” Wang Yao said .
A man, a dog, and a snake entered the herbal field . Wang Yao didn’t know where the eagle was . It started to get dark .
“You can live here if you like,” Wang Yao said .
The snake didn’t indicate whether it wanted to stay . It just flashed forth his tongue .
Wang Yao checked the time . “I have to go now . ” He then left Nanshan Hill .
“Dad, you are back,” Wang Yao saw his father was planting a rubber tree as he walked through the door .
“Yao, where is that rabbit from?” Wang Fenghua asked once he saw the little rabbit in Wang Yao’s arm .
“I don’t know where San Xiao got it . I want to leave it at home because I don’t want it to eat my herbs on the hill,” Wang Yao said .
“OK,” Wang Fenghua said .
Wang Yao and his father chatted for a short while before Zhang Xiuying brought all the dishes to the table .
“Your sister’s engagement party is going to be on Jan . 26,” Zhang Xiuying said .
“I see . ” Wang Yao made a note of the day .
“I need to go to Beijing again a few days later,” Wang Yao said . He had promised Song Ruiping and Wu Tongxing he would visit again .
“OK . Don’t worry about your business on Nanshan Hill,” Wang Fenghua said .
“Thanks, Dad,” Wang Yao said .
In Dali, the second and third sons of Han’s family were having a discussion
“Brother, I won’t get it wrong . I have asked someone to obtain information from the King Pharmacist’s student,” said Han Zhigao, the third son .
“I think we need to talk to our big brother,” Han Zhiyu said .
“What if our brother doesn’t allow us to do it?” Han Zhigao asked .
“Then, we have to steal a little bit of the decoction to bring to the King Pharmacist,” Han Zhiyu said .
The decoction was still there . It could save their youngest brother’s life . It wouldn’t hurt to take a small proportion of the decoction . They could exchange the decoction for treatment from the King Pharmacist .
They went to speak to their eldest brother . The outcome was no surprise to them . Their brother didn’t allow them to take the decoction to the King Pharmacist .
“What should we do then?” Han Zhigao asked .
“Since our big brother doesn’t agree with our plan, we are not gonna waste our time to convince him . Let’s do it ourselves,” Han Zhiyu said .
“OK, I agree with you . Let us save our youngest brother,” Han Zhigao said .
The two brothers decided to go ahead with their planned business .
It started to get dark in the village . Wang Yao came down from Nanshan Hill .
While he was having dinner, his phone rang . It was Wu Tongxing calling him .
“Hello, Mr . Wu,” Wang Yao said .
Wu Tongxing just called to ask when Wang Yao would visit Beijing .
“I’ll go to Beijing in three days,” Wang Yao said .
“Great,” Wu Tongxing happily said .
Meanwhile, in Wang Zecheng’s house, his son was playing with his father . The house was full of the child’s giggles .
Wang Yilong was also very happy . His grandson had returned three days ago . He wanted to play with his grandfather all the time . Although Wang Yilong was still tired, he was in a good mood .
“Well, Haoyuan, your grandpa has been playing with you for the whole day . Can you let him rest for a while?” Wang Zecheng asked .
“No! I want to play with grandpa,” Haoyuan said . He was an innocent and intelligent kid . He knew who liked him .
“I’m fine . I’m not that tired . I can play with him for a little while,” Wang Yilong said .
“OK,” Wang Zecheng said .
It started to get late . The child fell to sleep immediately since he was exhausted from playing for the whole day .
“I think Dad almost finished taking all the decoctions,” Wang Zecheng’s wife said .
“Yes, actually he has taken all the decoctions . Let’s see how he goes . I’ll go to Yao’s clinic again tomorrow,” Wang Zecheng said .
“The only thing is the decoctions cost too much,” his wife said .
“Let me ask him again tomorrow and see if he can reduce the price,” Wang Zecheng said .
Meanwhile, Wang Yao prepared quite a few herbs on Nanshan Hill . Astragalus, pilose asiabell root, garden balsam stem, ganoderma, white peony root, pear grass, Cizhan, Changyang, Guiyuan…
All those herbs were for Wu Tongxing’s father . He could actually use the same formula on Wang Yilong to treat his cancer .
He also needed to prepare for another decoction . It contained pilose asiabell root, schisandra, poria, white peony root, and Yushuai . This formula was for Chen Ying’s brother .
Wang Yao thought, I hope I don’t need to visit Beijing again after this trip .