Chapter 108: Insect Swarm |
After taking his pulse and conducting an examination, Qian Muzhen said, "Your body is strong and vigorous, your vital energy and blood are abundant. Any minor ailments you had have long since healed."
"Really, I'm fine now?"
"You are perfectly fine."
After receiving this confirmed answer, Qin Ziwen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was good to be fully recovered.
Ever since he learned he was sick, he had been worried about accidentally transmitting it to others in the household.
Even though he felt the symptoms had improved significantly, he didn't dare to take the risk.
Now, with a professional's reassurance, he could feel much more at ease.
"If you are still concerned, sir, taking two more doses of a heat-clearing, detoxifying formula to consolidate your recovery would suffice," Qian Muzhen added.
Qin Ziwen nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "Doctor Qian, do you remember where you came from?"
"Suzhou..." Qin Ziwen pondered. Li Tieshan was from Yangzhou, Qian Muzhen from Suzhou. Both were from the Jiangnan region.
Qian Muzhen asked, "Sir, does our Home have a medical clinic?"
"No, but there is a Pharmacy."
Qian Muzhen smiled. "Having a Pharmacy is good too. There will be a place to store the medicinal herbs we collect daily."
Exiting the master bedroom, Qin Ziwu, who was cooking breakfast, heard the commotion. "Brother, you're out?"
"Yes, I'm fully recovered, so I came out to look around."
Qin Ziwu's gaze fell on Qian Muzhen behind him. "And this is?"
"Doctor Qian. From now on, he will be our Home's physician."
"Great! Doctor Qian, do you eat spicy food? Since you just joined today, I'll add a ladle of chili oil for you."
Qian Muzhen hurriedly said, "Mild is fine. This old man follows a health-preserving diet."
Li Tieshan, yawning as he emerged from the guest bedroom, saw Qin Ziwen and immediately stood at attention. "Sir!"
Qin Ziwen nodded. "Hmm. You forged another animal trap?"
"How did you know, sir?" Li Tieshan was astonished. "I made another animal trap modeled after the previous one. This time, I used a stronger spring, so the clamping force should be greater than before."
"Excellent. Keep up the good work, and thank you for your hard work, Master Li," Qin Ziwen expressed his approval.
When he checked the daily settlement this morning, he noticed an additional animal trap.
This daily settlement shows a summary of all types of production within his Home. It usually only reports the most important few major events, but there's an ellipsis. Expanding that ellipsis reveals the detailed contents.
Arriving at the main entrance, he took out the [Building Card] for a Level 1 Steel Door.
The usage requirement for this building was simple: it could be attached to any "door" type structure.
After use, an additional steel door could be installed at that location.
There were many doors in the apartment: bedroom doors, bathroom door, kitchen door, living room main door.
Naturally, Qin Ziwen chose the living room main door location without hesitation.
As light enveloped and covered the door.
An additional layer of light appeared on the inner door.
When the light dissipated, a heavy, bulky-looking double door, entirely bluish-gray in color, stood in its place.
The door extended from left and right, its surface a matte material with no extra patterns.
His first impression was that it was solid. He felt it should be harder than his apartment's original door.
(Image: Door)
He had originally thought the door from the building card would be like other classical structures—an ancient-style door. He didn't expect it to have such a modern aesthetic.
[Level 1 Steel Door: Level 1 Hardness, Level 1 Shock Resistance]
Meanwhile, inside the Pharmacy.
Qin Muzhen walked into the Pharmacy, smelling the faint medicinal fragrance in the air. He carefully examined the room's layout, nodding occasionally.
Qin Muzhen muttered to himself, "This Pharmacy is quite good."
He walked to the medicine cabinet, looking at the small wooden drawers with labels. He found it quite considerate.
This way, there was no worry about grabbing the wrong medicine.
He gently pulled open a drawer labeled 'Ginseng'.
"Huh?" The drawer wasn't empty.
Qin Muzhen was initially surprised, but when he saw clearly, his face immediately darkened.
What was stored in this drawer labeled 'Ginseng' was definitely not ginseng; it was clearly Imperata cylindrica root (cogongrass rhizome).
How could these two be confused!
Although both have fibrous roots, they look nothing alike. How could anyone mix them up!
If this were his apprentice, he'd make him copy the materia medica book a hundred times!
Another drawer nearby was labeled 'Lingzhi Mushroom'.
Qin Muzhen pulled it open.
It was packed full of Plantago asiatica (plantain).
He was silent for two seconds.
Qin Muzhen held no hope for the herbs in the subsequent drawers. Sure enough, apart from dandelion, honeysuckle, and licorice being in the correct places, all the others were wrong.
Professional obsessive-compulsiveness drove him to pour out the herbs from the drawers and slowly, meticulously, begin sorting them.
Qin Ziwu came over and called out, "Doctor Qian, breakfast is ready."
Qin Muzhen put down his work and went to the living room.
After sitting down, he poured out his grievances to Qin Ziwen.
"Sir, medicinal herbs cannot be placed randomly. If some herbs are placed incorrectly, their medicinal properties might adhere to the drawer. Later, when different herbs are placed inside, their properties might cross-contaminate."
Listening to Qian Muzhen's complaints, Qin Ziwen coughed lightly. "Doctor Qian, actually, it's not that troublesome. If the medicine is in the wrong place, you can just tear off the label and stick on a new one."
Qin Muzhen was stunned.
Ah, right. He could do that.
Then what was all that hard work he just did?
Qin Ziwen looked at everyone present and spoke. "Alright, today our task is to continue hunting and stockpile preserved meat. That is the main activity for today. Apart from that, if anyone has encountered difficulties in their work recently or has any ideas, feel free to speak up."
Liu San quickly voiced his grievance. "Sir, the brine output from the Salt Well isn't enough! The six of us are working at full capacity, speeding up salt production, but now the Salt Well's brine production rate can't keep up with our salt-making speed. Sixty catties of coarse salt per day is already the limit."
"The Salt Well can't keep up with production?" Qin Ziwen was surprised. It seemed six people were too many. Unless the Salt Well was upgraded to Level 2, there was no need to support six refugees.
Li Tieshan's eyes widened. Could he complain like that too?
He turned his head, observing left and right, then quietly raised his hand. "Sir, I'd like to take on two apprentices. I could leave some miscellaneous tasks to them, and the daily iron output could double!"
Qin Ziwen looked at Liu San. "Then transfer two refugees from your side to work as helpers for Li Tieshan. They'll get full meals, but they must be willing to endure hardship and work hard. No lazy ones."
Liu San hurriedly nodded. "Yes, sir."
Qian Muzhen was just about to open his mouth,
Suddenly, screams and waves of exclamations came from the open space outside the building.
Qin Ziwen looked outside.
Opening the two layers of doors, he and the others ascended to the rooftop.
Then they witnessed an extremely spectacular scene.
Above the residential complex, the sky was densely packed, swirling with countless flying insects.
These flying insects were over a meter long. They circled and mated in the sky.
Under the morning sunlight, their transparent wings refracted golden light.
On the river surface below, one Forest Giant Mayfly after another emerged from the water. Their crystalline wings struggled free from their original shells, catching the wind, flying up into the sky, joining the massive dancing swarm.
"They've finally emerged."