After his shock subsided, Wang Jiasen bolted in the direction Zhao Yuan had left.
Wang Xu and Wang Zheng hurried after him, asking in confusion, "Second Uncle, where are you going?"
Without turning his head, Wang Jiasen said, "I'm going after Zhao Yuan! I need to know if he has a different way of punctuating the rest of Wushan Medical Tales!"
"What?" Wang Xu and Wang Zheng's expressions changed in unison once more. They exclaimed, "That's impossible!"
If Zhao Yuan really had another way of punctuating it, that would mean his—or his master's—understanding of Wushan Medical Tales surpassed the Wang Family's centuries of dedicated research! For Wang Xu and Wang Zheng, such a thing was unacceptable.
"It's very possible," Wang Jiasen said with a grim sigh.
The three of them chased him out of the traditional medicine market, but there was no sign of Zhao Yuan.
"He's gone. Second Uncle, what do we do?" Wang Zheng asked anxiously.
"It's like the old saying goes: the monk can run, but the temple can't," Wang Jiasen said, gasping for breath. For a man his age, sprinting was strenuous exercise. "Wang Xu, book plane tickets immediately. We're going to Jinling today to get to the bottom of this with the Zhao Family!"
"Alright!" Wang Xu agreed, pulling out his phone to book the tickets.
However, the three from the Wang Family had no idea they were making a huge blunder. Although Zhao Yuan's surname was Zhao, he had absolutely no connection to the Jinling Zhao Family.
On his way back to University City, Zhao Yuan bought a cell phone. Wang Jiasen's earlier words had reminded him how inconvenient it was not to have one. It would be especially indispensable once his Soul-Stabilizing Incense business took off. Next, he went to a bank and transferred fifty thousand yuan to his family. It wasn't that he was being stingy; he was afraid that sending too much would worry his parents. After all, their family's annual income was only around ten thousand yuan. If he suddenly sent over two hundred thousand, it would definitely scare them to death.
Once the transaction was complete, Zhao Yuan took out his new phone and made a call.
His family didn't have a phone, so to reach his parents, he had to call the village committee office and ask someone to pass on a message.
The call connected quickly. Zhao Yuan, ever the charmer, heard a woman's voice and immediately called her 'Auntie' before introducing himself. Everyone in the village knew Zhao Yuan. It was rare for someone from their mountain village to get into university, which made him a local celebrity of sorts, not to mention the villagers had watched him grow up.
"Oh, Yuanyuan, do you need to talk to your parents? You just wait, Aunt Liu will go get them for you right now. Call back in about twenty minutes." Before Zhao Yuan could even say thank you, the woman hung up with a CLICK.
Although Zhao Yuan couldn't see her, he could just imagine Aunt Liu jogging all the way to his house to fetch his parents.
While waiting, Zhao Yuan didn't stay idle. He used the bank's Wi-Fi to download a rental app and started browsing for listings near West Hua Medical University. After a bit of searching, he found a suitable place located just outside the north gate of the Sports Academy, only about a hundred meters from the west gate of West Hua Medical University.
The apartment wasn't large—a studio of about thirty square meters—but it was fully equipped with a kitchen and a bathroom, which was perfect for Zhao Yuan. He wasn't planning on moving in; he just wanted a place for his Medicine Making and Cultivation.
'This is the one.' Zhao Yuan immediately called the number in the listing and arranged with the landlord to see the apartment right away. He shouldered his large bag of medicinal herbs and walked out of the bank.
On the way, seeing that enough time had passed, Zhao Yuan called the village committee office again.
The call was answered after just a few rings.
Before Zhao Yuan could even speak, a familiar voice came through the phone. "Yuanyuan, what's up? Are you out of money at university? Dad will go down the mountain to town tomorrow and wire you some."
An image of his father immediately flashed in his mind: a gaunt frame, slightly stooped from years of hard labor; rough, calloused hands; a face already etched with wrinkles and a head full of white hair, despite being only in his forties…
But even so, the pressures of life had never broken this man. On his not-so-broad shoulders, he had carried their family, allowing him and his sister to grow up in a childhood that was impoverished yet happy.
Hearing that his father's first reaction was to worry he was out of money and offer to send more, Zhao Yuan felt a sting in his nose. He quickly took a deep breath to hold back his tears and said with a laugh, "Dad, don't worry, I have money. I'm doing great here at the university."
Zhao Guodong let out a sigh of relief, then asked in confusion, "Then why did you call today? Is something wrong?"
"I transferred some money to the family…"
Before Zhao Yuan could finish, Zhao Guodong cut him off, chiding, "You silly kid, why do you keep sending money home? I've told you so many times, you should keep the money you earn from your part-time jobs for yourself. The cost of living in the big city isn't like in the mountains; it's very high…"
Seeing that his dad was starting to drone on and was about to launch into a full-blown lecture, Zhao Yuan had no choice but to interrupt. "Dad, wait, let me finish! Here's what happened: today, I happened to save a little girl's life. Her father gave me some money as a thank you, so I transferred fifty thousand yuan back home. Don't save it; use it to make life a little better. I'll definitely earn more money in the future and send more back to you."
Zhao Guodong was stunned. For a moment, he thought he had misheard. He stammered, "You… what did you say? H-How much money?"
"Fifty thousand," Zhao Yuan replied.
"Hiss!" Zhao Guodong sucked in a sharp breath, nearly crying out in shock. He glanced around to make sure no one was eavesdropping before lowering his voice to ask, "Why would someone give you so much money? There's nothing wrong with it, is there?"
"Don't worry, Dad. The money is perfectly fine." Left with no other choice, Zhao Yuan gave Zhao Guodong a brief explanation of the situation with Fang Ling and Boss Fang.
After hearing the explanation, Zhao Guodong was relieved. While marveling to himself that people in the big city were so wealthy, he said, "Yuanyuan, I know your heart is in the right place, but you should really keep this money for yourself. It's expensive in the big city…"
"Dad, I kept some for myself, and I've found a great part-time job. I won't be short on cash from now on." After much persuasion, Zhao Yuan finally managed to talk Zhao Guodong out of the idea of transferring the money back to him.
After chatting a bit more about how things were, they reluctantly hung up the phone.
After hanging up, Zhao Guodong thanked the people in the village committee office and was about to leave when the village chief asked curiously, "Old Zhao, what did your son call about? I thought I heard you mention money. Is he short on cash at the university?"
"Not at all. He earned some money and sent it home," Zhao Guodong said, his voice booming with a show-off tone, as if afraid others might not hear him.
"Whoa, Yuanyuan is that capable?"
"Isn't he still in school? Earning money already, what a promising young man!"
"Old Zhao, your family has raised a golden phoenix! You're going to live a comfortable life now!"
The people around them were either exclaiming in amazement or offering congratulations, filling Zhao Guodong's face with proud delight.