Chapter 313: Stiffness
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Ren Zhongyang looked up at Chen Fei, feeling a sense of familiarity. He believed he should know Chen Fei, but frustratingly, as the words were about to leave his lips, he couldn’t recall the name or remember any interactions they might have had.
“Do you want to eat some fruit? They’re sweet and delicious!” Chen Fei called out, holding a handful of jujubes and offering them to the village woman. The woman cast a cold glance at Chen Fei, then took the jujubes from his hand and stuffed them into her mouth.
Ren Zhongyang, seeing the woman’s actions, instinctively wanted to stop her. Her stomach was hurting, and eating like this might worsen her condition.
The village woman chewed vigorously, and Chen Fei quickly took out some small apples and white sweet potatoes from his woven basket. When it came to selling fruit, Chen Fei had already gained some experience.
He had to give three items to each person simultaneously; otherwise, once they realized it, they might not buy anything, and there would be no returning customers.
Chen Fei’s approach now was to find one person, quickly sell to them, and then move on to the next. The village woman, chewing on the jujubes, couldn’t taste anything. She hesitated for a moment when Chen Fei offered her apples and sweet potatoes but eventually took them and devoured them one by one.
A sly grin appeared on Chen Fei’s lips as he took a breath and gestured. His empty cooking stance executed a three-strike combo, and the woven basket magically produced more jujubes, apples, and sweet potatoes.
Ren Zhongyang looked at the village woman, then at Chen Fei’s peculiar actions, and found himself feeling somewhat bewildered.
Not only was Ren Zhongyang feeling bewildered, but the village woman was also in a state of confusion. What had she eaten? Wasn’t there supposed to be something taken from the source for her to absorb? What had she absorbed?
The strange moves of “breathing and waving hands to stir-fry pig’s liver”? What kind of bizarre thing was that?
Do you want more?” Chen Fei asked the village woman tentatively as he took out an apple from his basket.
The village woman, with a cold look in her eyes, took out three copper coins from her pocket and reluctantly handed them to Chen Fei.
Chen Fei sighed with a tinge of regret, then turned to look at Ren Zhongyang.
A familiar stranger—this feeling was too peculiar. Chen Fei hesitated for a moment and didn’t try to sell fruit to Ren Zhongyang. Instead, he looked at the others in the clinic.
The attendants in the clinic were busy coming and going, and when they noticed Chen Fei’s gaze, they pretended not to see him and continued with their tasks.
In the past, when they encountered fruit vendors, there was no need for persuasion; they would simply rush over and devour all the fruit. As long as they kept eating and finished all the fruit, they wouldn’t have to pay.
However, the village woman had just eaten three pieces and had unexpectedly stopped eating, even paying for them. No matter how you looked at it, this was not normal.
Chen Fei sighed with some regret and turned back to look at Ren Zhongyang. The two of them stared at each other, with Ren Zhongyang casting a glance at the village woman and then back at Chen Fei. In his eyes, there was a hint of pleading. Although Ren Zhongyang couldn’t recall where he had seen Chen Fei before, he had an inexplicable sense of trust in him.
At this moment, Ren Zhongyang had no way to deal with the village woman. He continued to examine her pulse, feeling an extreme aversion. Although he didn’t know what had happened, Ren Zhongyang was aware that if this continued, he might be in big trouble.
Chen Fei noticed the expression in Ren Zhongyang’s eyes and, deep down, he was willing to help Ren Zhongyang.
“What’s bothering you?” Chen Fei asked the village woman.
“My stomach hurts!” The village woman looked at Chen Fei with a sinister gaze. “Can you treat illnesses? Can you help me? My stomach hurts so much, please help me!”
Despite her plea for help, the village woman’s expression was filled with coldness, sending shivers down one’s spine.
“I’m not a doctor.” Chen Fei shook his head and turned to his basket, rummaging through it. Chen Fei vaguely remembered that he seemed to be skilled in alchemy.
While he didn’t have much knowledge of medical skills, he knew that there were many medicinal herbs and pills in alchemy that could directly treat physical ailments. However, it was rare for people to use them because pills were relatively expensive, and normal illnesses didn’t usually require them.
After searching through the basket, Chen Fei held two pieces of fruit in his hand. These two fruits gave Chen Fei the feeling that they were related to alchemy—detoxifying pills and healing pills.
Stomach pain could be caused by food poisoning or an actual illness. Both detoxifying pills and healing pills should come in handy.
But now, these seemed to be fruits. How had they turned into the appearance of pills?
As Chen Fei was contemplating how to explain to the village woman that these were actually two types of pills, a few coins in his sleeve began to tremble slightly and then dissipated. The two pieces of fruit in Chen Fei’s hand transformed into two pills.
Chen Fei blinked and touched the coins in his sleeve again, confirming that he had lost some money. Chen Fei hadn’t expected that money could have this effect.
“If you have a stomachache, I think taking these two pills should relieve it,” Chen Fei said, showing the pills to the village woman. Just as the village woman was about to take them, Chen Fei quickly withdrew his arm.
The village woman stared at Chen Fei, her eyes turning bloodshot. The surrounding atmosphere became eerie and cold, as if it could freeze someone in place.
“Are you going to pay for your treatment?” Chen Fei asked seriously, not oblivious to the ominous atmosphere around him.
After all, he had spent two coins to create these pills, and he couldn’t just give them away for free. He charged for selling fruit, so he couldn’t treat an illness without payment.
“I’ll pay once it’s cured!” The village woman looked at the pills with a hint of greed in her eyes.
“You just have a stomachache; this can definitely cure it. I can’t let you eat them and then claim they didn’t work and leave without paying later, that won’t do!” Chen Fei shook his head, not agreeing with the village woman’s proposal.
The village woman stared at Chen Fei and suddenly chuckled darkly, saying, “I will definitely pay, and if it works well, I might even buy more!”
“Alright!” Chen Fei grinned and handed the two pills to the village woman. The village woman inspected the pills and confirmed that they were indeed alchemical creations. It seemed that these pills weren’t as inexplicable as the three pieces of fruit from earlier.
Amid Chen Fei’s hopeful gaze, the village woman tossed the pills into her mouth without chewing, swallowing them directly.
In an instant, Chen Fei felt like he had lost two memories from his mind, but he remained calm. He pretended to have a spatula in his hand and started stir-frying yams and chicken in the air.
The village woman’s cold expression froze abruptly, lacking any knowledge of alchemical skills, possessing only culinary skills. She turned her stiff neck to look at Chen Fei, wondering what kind of being he was.
Clearly, these were real pills, so how did they relate to culinary skills? What was going on here?
Chen Fei conjured a plate of yams and chicken in the air, regaining his composure. He quickly turned to look at his basket, and unsurprisingly, the two pills reappeared inside.
“Is your stomach still hurting? I have more pills here, how about two more?” Chen Fei smiled and took out the pills from his basket, offering them to the village woman.
On the side, Ren Zhongyang watched the scene unfold. He didn’t know if those two pills had any effect on the village woman, but he could sense that she was seething with anger.
It was as if she could pounce on Chen Fei at any moment, tearing him apart to relieve her pent-up rage.
Ren Zhongyang swallowed nervously. This village woman was definitely not normal, and Ren Zhongyang had an instinctive sense of unease. However, Chen Fei, who could provoke such a reaction from the woman, also seemed far from normal.
It’s not effective, you continue treating me!” The village woman turned to Ren Zhongyang.
She just couldn’t figure it out anymore with Chen Fei. She preferred dealing with things she could understand.
“If it’s not effective, it’s probably because the dosage wasn’t enough. Try taking two more.” Chen Fei suggested as he stood by.
The village woman shot Chen Fei a cold glance, not engaging with his conversation. She had made up her mind not to eat anything given by Chen Fei.
“I’ve just examined your pulse; taking these two medicines will definitely make you better,” Ren Zhongyang chimed in, relieved that the village woman was still focusing on Chen Fei.
“See, the physician already said this medicine works!” Chen Fei grinned.
With bloodshot eyes, the village woman glanced at Ren Zhongyang and then back at Chen Fei.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore!” She clenched her teeth, causing a harsh, grinding sound as her teeth rubbed together. It sounded almost as if she was about to grind her teeth to bits.
“Oh, is that so,” Chen Fei said with a touch of regret as he collected the pills.
The village woman threw down five copper coins as her consultation fee, stood up without looking back, and walked away. Chen Fei happily pocketed the five copper coins. He had just sold two pills for five copper coins, which was far more efficient than selling fruits.
Ren Zhongyang watched the village woman’s retreating figure and, for a moment, felt that she appeared somewhat thinner compared to earlier. Before he could examine her closely, she had disappeared.
Chen Fei, content with his earnings, pocketed the five copper coins and looked at Ren Zhongyang. The position of a physician seemed quite promising, much better than peddling fruits.
Ren Zhongyang felt Chen Fei’s gaze and quickly got up to thank him. Chen Fei smiled and waved it off. Now, Chen Fei was more interested in knowing how he could take over this position.
Chen Fei glanced at the other people inside the clinic, but they seemed oblivious to what had just transpired here. When Chen Fei was selling medicine earlier, none of these people had come out to intervene.
“I think I can leave now,” Ren Zhongyang suddenly said.
“Leave? Leave what?” Chen Fei turned to look at Ren Zhongyang in confusion.
“I couldn’t heal that person earlier, and 1 couldn’t even leave if I wanted to. Now that person has left, so I can also leave this position,” Ren Zhongyang explained. When he faced the village woman earlier, he had wanted to leave, but he couldn’t. He felt that insisting on leaving would lead to something even more terrifying.
But now, with the village woman gone, it seemed like the restriction that prevented him from leaving had been lifted.
Chen Fei’s expression shifted slightly as he recalled his first experience selling fruits. It was only when no one around was buying anymore that he could leave with his basket.
Countless doubts swirled in Chen Fei’s mind, but he quickly pushed these thoughts aside.
“If you don’t want to be a physician, then let me take over for a while,” Chen Fei said, thinking about the five copper coins he had just earned.
If Ren Zhongyang didn’t want to be a physician, then he could take his place..