On the fifth day of the fifth month in Shengjing, dragon boats raced beneath Luo Yueqiao Bridge. People loved to bathe with orchid soup on this noon day, as the saying went: “A sip of noon water is better than three years of fine medicine.”

A’Cheng carried a wooden bucket out the door, planning to draw some well water at noon to brew tea. Yin Zheng sat in the inner shop wrapping date dumplings, while Du Changqing leaned against a long chair, listlessly reminding Lu Tong, who sat before the medicine cabinet: “Doctor Lu, we haven’t had any income for a month.”

Lu Tong remained silent.

“Xianxian” still had no customers.

Five taels of silver was too high a price for ordinary common folk. Moreover, the medicinal tea itself wasn’t meant to cure stubborn ailments like nasal congestion, which naturally made people somewhat doubtful.

As for old customers like Master Hu, they had no interest in this type of beauty-enhancing and body-lightening medicinal tea. Even if they wanted to support the business, there was nothing for them to support, leaving the clinic quite desolate for a time.

Du Changqing’s patience was limited. Seeing silver flowing out daily with none coming in, he couldn’t help but feel anxious. However, Lu Tong was even more stubborn than him, so Du Changqing dared only complain verbally, truly at his wit’s end.

As they were talking, a figure came running from the far end of the long street. It was the scorching noon of summer, and today being the Dragon Boat Festival, the city folk had all gone to watch the dragon boats beneath Luo Yueqiao Bridge. West Street was quite deserted, so the sudden appearance of this figure seemed rather peculiar.

The figure rolled along the long street under the blazing sun, heading straight for Renxin Medical Clinic. In one breath, they charged into the shop, and before Lu Tong could speak, they shouted loudly: “Medicinal tea! I want two jars of medicinal tea!”

Du Changqing sprang up from his chair with a “whoosh,” quickly stepping forward and blooming with an enthusiastic smile toward this month’s only customer: “What medicinal tea do you need?”

The visitor was a spirited woman, somewhat plump in figure. Without another word, she pointed at the white porcelain jar hidden among the pomegranate flowers: “That one!”

“Xianxian?” Du Changqing was stunned.

This medicinal tea had sat in the clinic for nearly a month with no customers. The pomegranate flowers A’Cheng had picked had withered, leaving only bare, withered branches before the medicine cabinet, adorned with the pink paper tag on the white porcelain jar, looking quite pitiful.

“This medicinal tea…” Du Changqing wanted to explain.

The woman interrupted him: “I know it makes you lose weight after drinking it!”

Seeing this, Yin Zheng smiled and stepped forward to ask: “Big sister, how do you know this medicinal tea makes you lose weight? Did someone tell you?”

The woman replied: “What do you mean someone told me? I saw it with my own eyes! Dai Sanlang, who sells pork at the temple entrance in the east of the city, used to be fat as a pig. After drinking your medicinal tea, he’s become a handsome man now, very respectable!”

Since many vendors on West Street had gone to watch the dragon boats today, few shops were open. Tailor Ge next door was leaning against his doorway drinking tea, squinting as he listened to this gossip. Hearing this, he couldn’t help but say: “Nonsense! Everyone’s seen that Dai Sanlang – his waist is wider than my winnowing basket. How could he be called a handsome man?”

The woman glanced at Tailor Ge’s broad figure and sneered: “Isn’t that so? But now he’s different from before. Even Widow Sun is eager to talk with him. If you don’t believe it, go see for yourself at the temple entrance in the east of the city!”

She spoke with such certainty that it left Tailor Ge speechless for a moment.

Du Changqing was about to speak when another voice came from outside: “I can vouch for her – she’s not lying!”

Everyone turned to look, and the newcomer was actually Song Sao, carrying a bamboo basket, running breathlessly. Before she arrived, her voice rang out first: “Sister Sun and I went to Dai’s shop together. That Dai Sanlang is quite handsome now, looking even more heroic than Shopkeeper Du!”

Du Changqing: “…”

Song Sao’s silk shoe shop was right here, and all the neighboring vendors on West Street knew her. She wasn’t usually one to speak carelessly, so for a moment, everyone looked at her with half-belief and half-doubt, asking in succession: “Impossible, right? Everyone knows what Dai Sanlang looks like – he could become a handsome man?”

Song Sao paid no attention to them and headed straight into Renxin Medical Clinic, saying to Lu Tong: “Doctor Lu, my sister from my maternal family asked me to buy a jar for her daughter too. Do you still have any?”

“Yes.” Lu Tong took out a jar from the medicine cabinet and handed it to her, having Du Changqing weigh out the silver. Du Changqing had suddenly completed two transactions and was still dizzy, not yet recovered from this enormous surprise, when he heard A’Cheng’s voice ringing out from the far end of the long street: “Boss… Boss!”

The young assistant dragged a wooden bucket, running frantically from the far end as if someone were chasing him. In one breath, he ran into Renxin Medical Clinic. Du Changqing looked at the empty bucket in his hands and asked in confusion: “Didn’t you go to draw water? Where’s the water?”

A’Cheng wiped the sweat from his forehead and trembled as he said: “…So scary.”

“What’s scary?”

“I had just walked to the long well at the street corner when suddenly a group of people came asking me where Renxin Medical Clinic was. I thought I’d guide them there, but who knew that as I led them…”

Hearing this, Du Changqing was even more puzzled: “What happened as you led them? Did you lose the people?”

As soon as he finished speaking, they suddenly heard a noisy rumbling sound from the far end of the long street, growing closer. Everyone looked up and saw that at the end of the originally deserted street, a large mass of dark crowd suddenly appeared. This group included both men and women, all with robust and plump figures. When they ran, it seemed like they would crush the long street. With the rising and falling of this trembling sound, the group ran toward the clinic like madmen, shouting as they ran: “Xianxian, save me two jars of Xianxian!”

“I came first, I want some!”

“Get lost, I came first! Shopkeeper, serve me first!”

Yin Zheng was stunned.

Lu Tong made a decisive decision, saying only “Close the door” and pulled the large door shut.

“Bang” – it sounded like someone had crashed into the door with a loud impact. Then, “ping ping pang pang” sounds arose, accompanied by chaotic shouting: “Buy medicine, we want to buy medicine!”

“Open the door! Why close it?”

“Don’t hide! Come out quickly and do business! Don’t hide inside without making a sound!”

Countless people crowded at the clinic entrance, forcefully pounding on the door. From desolation to frenzy seemed to happen in just an instant.

Yin Zheng was somewhat surprised, while Lu Tong remained calm.

Only A’Cheng looked helplessly at Du Changqing.

Du Changqing swallowed: “…Indeed… very scary.”

…

The frenzy at Renxin Medical Clinic’s entrance lasted for quite a while.

Lu Tong waited until the people outside had calmed down somewhat before opening the door.

None of the people at Renxin Medical Clinic had seen what Dai Sanlang, who sold pork at the temple entrance in the east of the city, looked like now. But presumably this person was indeed completely different from before, otherwise so many people wouldn’t have rushed here without hesitation to buy “Xianxian” after seeing the current Dai Sanlang.

There were far more people buying medicine than Du Changqing had imagined. The “Xianxian” that Lu Tong had made in previous days was sold out in mere moments, leaving only the bare pomegranate branches swaying by themselves.

A round, fat man searched among the pomegranate branches for a long time, unwilling to give up. Finally unable to find an extra jar, he looked pitifully at Lu Tong: “Doctor Lu…”

Lu Tong said: “Don’t worry, I’ll make and sell another batch of Xianxian in the next few days.”

The man had been very dejected, but hearing this, his eyes lit up and he responded happily. The customers behind him who hadn’t bought any saw this and urged Lu Tong to make more, or wanted to pay the silver in advance to reserve the medicinal tea to avoid being unable to get fresh goods when the time came.

Yin Zheng coaxed and deceived, finally managing to send this group of people away. Under the envious gazes of the neighboring vendors on West Street, she closed the shop door early.

The sky was already approaching evening, and the lanterns in the inner shop were lit early. Du Changqing carefully brought out the iron box, cupped a handful of the silver earned today, letting the silver pieces flow down through his fingers, still somewhat doubting he was in a dream.

Yin Zheng walked over, silent for a moment, then said: “I’ve counted three times already, Shopkeeper Du. Today we sold fifty jars of Xianxian in total. Here are two hundred and fifty taels of silver. Subtracting the hundred taels you gave the young lady for medicinal materials some time ago, we earned one hundred and fifty taels today.”

“One hundred and fifty taels…” Du Changqing sat in his chair, murmuring this twice, then suddenly turned and grabbed Lu Tong’s skirt hem, looking up at her as if looking at the God of Wealth enshrined in a temple: “Doctor Lu, you’re truly the great savior of Renxin Medical Clinic, the living Bodhisattva of Du Changqing!”

Lu Tong reached out, pulled her skirt hem from his grasp, and said: “Unfortunately, there’s no extra medicinal tea today.”

“That’s fine!” Du Changqing slapped his thigh and pushed the iron box toward Lu Tong: “Take this silver and let’s make more. If it’s not enough, I have more! Let’s make as much as we can and take advantage of these days to make a good profit!”

He swept away the gloom of recent days, his eyes and brows full of joy.

A’Cheng stared at him: “Boss, didn’t you say you had no money?”

Du Changqing spat at him: “What do you know? If I didn’t say that, what if all the silver got squandered? A household always needs someone to manage it!”

A’Cheng couldn’t respond to this.

Yin Zheng couldn’t stand it: “But this morning you were still advising the young lady to sell something else…”

“I was blind to Mount Tai, with poor judgment. Miss Lu naturally wouldn’t stoop to my level.” Du Changqing was flexible, then sighed: “Those people praised that Dai Sanlang to the skies. I really want to meet him. Saying he could match my heroic bearing – what nonsense are they making up? In just one month, he could slim down to become a handsome man?”

“The young lady said the medicinal tea makes you lose weight, so naturally it does.”

Du Changqing waved his hand: “But I originally thought only women in Shengjing loved beauty. I didn’t expect men to be the same.”

Lu Tong said: “It’s not necessarily about loving beauty. After all, people’s words can be fearsome.” She pulled the withered pomegranate branches from the flower pot. “Whether men or women, no one likes being pointed at behind their backs.”

“That makes sense.” Du Changqing nodded, looked at Lu Tong thoughtfully, then suddenly asked: “Doctor Lu, have you made this medicinal tea before?”

Lu Tong looked up.

Du Changqing touched his nose: “Otherwise, how could you be so certain this medicinal tea has good effects? I haven’t seen you test it on anyone.”

Lu Tong gathered the withered pomegranate branches together and said: “I have made it before.” Looking up again, she met the bright, expectant gazes of the three people in the room.

She paused, thought for a while, then slowly began to speak: “When I was learning medicine with my master, about five or six years ago, a lady came to my master, wanting him to develop a miraculous medicine that could slim her figure.”

Lu Tong sat down in a chair, still clutching those pomegranate branches in her hand.

“This lady and her husband were childhood sweethearts, harmonious as lute and zither, bearing children together. According to her, in her youth, she had a graceful figure and outstanding appearance. But due to years of managing household affairs, she couldn’t attend to herself. So when she finally realized it, she found herself aged and faded, with a bloated figure, unsightly to behold.”

The three people in the room didn’t speak, quietly listening to her story.

“Her husband intended to take a concubine. The concubine was beautiful and charming, graceful and delicate, completely different from her own heaviness.”

“She both hated and loved her husband – hated his fickleness and ingratitude, that he would despise his wife after years of her devotion, yet loved that he still retained some old affection for her. Because the concubine he took, whether in appearance, dress, or every smile and frown, resembled her eighteen-year-old self.”

“So she came to my master, hoping he could develop a miraculous medicine that would make her waist slender as a willow after taking it, so she could use this to win back her husband’s heart.”

“My master gave this task to me, asking me to make this miraculous medicine for her.”

The lamplight in the room was dim, and the wind from the small courtyard blew through the felt curtains, making the flame flicker precariously.

Lu Tong’s gaze gradually became distant.

She still remembered that woman’s appearance – wearing a faded brown robe, stained with mud from the slippery mountain paths on rainy days at Luomei Peak, clearly from falling along the way. The woman took out a silver box from her bosom. The silver ingots inside had been worn bright from handling, still warm with body heat when received.

The travel-worn woman looked at Yunniang as if looking at all the hope in the world.

However, Yunniang’s consultation fees were expensive. A mere hundred taels of silver wasn’t enough to hire Yunniang to make medicine.

Flatly refused by Yunniang, the woman seemed to lose all her spirit, collapsing to the ground. Lu Tong stood aside, her heart also aching for this person.

Perhaps seeing the sympathy in Lu Tong’s eyes, Yunniang smiled at her: “Though I cannot make medicine for you, this girl can. Why not ask her?”

The woman was stunned, instinctively looking at Lu Tong, hope rising again in her eyes.

Being looked at with such eyes, it was hard to refuse. Lu Tong struggled for a long time, finally nodding with difficulty: “I… I’ll try.”

She accepted the woman’s consultation fee and worked day and night making medicine for her, consulting countless medical texts, trying various medicinal concoctions herself, even dreaming about it at night. Yunniang watched her efforts with interest, her expression unreadable.

Until later…

“What happened then?” A’Cheng had been listening intently. Seeing Lu Tong stop speaking, he couldn’t help but ask.

Lu Tong came back to herself, paused, and said: “Then I made this medicine and gave it to her.”

“After she drank the medicinal tea, did she become very beautiful? Did her husband change his mind afterward?” The young assistant was very anxious.

Lu Tong was silent for a moment: “No.”

A’Cheng was stunned.

“She drank the medicinal tea and indeed became much slimmer. From behind, she looked no different from an unmarried young lady. However, her husband didn’t change his mind and still took that concubine.”

“How could that be?” A’Cheng couldn’t help but speak indignantly. “She had already become beautiful – why did her husband still take a concubine?”

Yin Zheng sneered: “She only lost weight but still couldn’t match a new person’s captivating beauty. Besides, men are creatures that will change their hearts even if they find a fairy. How could one medicinal tea remedy that? Those who serve others with beauty find that when beauty fades, love grows cold. When love grows cold, favor must end. How can childhood sweethearts compare to fresh novelty?”

“Agreed.” Du Changqing nodded. “Men are no good. Since he already found a concubine, don’t talk about cherishing old feelings.”

A’Cheng was dejected: “How could this be…” He looked up and asked Lu Tong: “What happened to this lady afterward?”

“I don’t know.” After a long time, Lu Tong said: “I never saw her again.”

“Ah.” A’Cheng sighed deeply, his expression somewhat regretful. This wasn’t the ending he wanted.

Having heard a story that wasn’t particularly pleasant, everyone’s earlier joy from earning silver was somewhat dampened. After discussing together the medicinal tea to be made and sold in the coming days, Du Changqing left with A’Cheng.

Yin Zheng busied herself in the courtyard, finding the medicinal materials needed for tonight and sorting them into bamboo baskets by category.

Lu Tong returned to the room in the small courtyard, where the shadow of the plum tree by the window fell on the desk. That small bundle of withered pomegranate branches lay on the desk, dry and stark.

Lu Tong adjusted the lamp wick and placed that small bundle of withered branches over the oil lamp. The flame made crackling sounds as it burned, and a small wisp of smoky smell rose from the oil lamp, abruptly breaking the night’s tranquility.

She lowered her eyes.

Actually, she had seen that woman again later.

The woman who had slimmed down after using the medicinal tea returned to Luomei Peak. Lu Tong saw her again – she was no longer bloated, even could be called gaunt. Her withered body swayed in her robes like a withered pomegranate branch, without beautiful flowers, only dry and lifeless.

Clearly she had gotten her wish, yet her gaze looked even more desperate than before.

She offered all her silver, wanting Yunniang to make her a miraculous elixir of youth, hoping to return to her former self.

But where in this world was there an elixir of youth?

Yunniang smiled and pushed back the hand holding the silver.

The woman’s face was ashen.

“Actually, there’s no need for such trouble. If you want to win back your husband’s heart, it’s very simple.”

Yunniang reached out, handed over a snow-white porcelain jar, and whispered in the woman’s ear: “Here is a poison. Colorless and tasteless. Used continuously for a month, the person will surely die, and no one will notice.”

Yunniang released her hand and looked down at the bewildered woman, speaking gently: “When he’s dead, he won’t change his heart anymore.”

Lu Tong stood behind the building, watching the woman clutch the porcelain jar in her hand and stumble down the mountain.

A month later, Lu Tong heard that a woman in the town below had poisoned her husband and then drowned herself in a well. She ran back to the building, where Yunniang was making wine-steamed chicken. The kitchen was filled with the clear scent of wine and the aroma of steamed chicken, but Lu Tong felt like retching.

Yunniang turned around with chopsticks, smiling at her as if watching a clumsy, amusing opera. Finally, she asked: “Did you see clearly?”

Lu Tong didn’t speak.

Yunniang said lightly: “Medicine cannot heal people, but poison can.”

Medicine cannot heal people, but poison can.

Above the flickering flame, the last pomegranate branch had finished burning. Charred remains scattered on the desk, the original beautiful traces unrecognizable.

Yin Zheng called from the courtyard: “Miss, the medicinal materials are sorted.”

Lu Tong responded, cleaned up the ashes, and walked out carrying the oil lamp.

“Pitied always for her slender waist…”

Perhaps Xianxian was never medicine, but poison.

Just like herself – she had never been a doctor who saved lives and healed the wounded.

Yunniang, a truly insane person.