Chapter 1: Master of Blasting It is a pleasant spring breeze in March. "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" Among the bushes on the hill, a group of birds with bright feathers were frightened and flew into the air with a fluttering sound, and their frightened eyes all looked in the direction of the sound. At the foot of the mountain, houses are lined up in rows, forming about a dozen courtyards, and flags with the word "medicine" on them fluttering in the wind. People come and go in the courtyard, creating a prosperous and lively scene. In the yard, a young man raised a stone pestle and hit the scorched yellow earth on the chopping board "bang bang". After the big pieces became small, he kept hitting them "bang bang". The noise that caused the flock of birds to scatter in panic just now originated from this. The boy was about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a delicate face, a pair of sleepy eyes, a gentle smile and a handsome appearance. He was wearing a short brown shirt made of whitish coarse cloth that had been washed, a cloth belt around his waist, trousers, and foot bindings around his shins. He wore a pair of hiking boots. His skin color was like ripe wheat. At first glance, he was obviously a child of the common people who had enjoyed the sun and rain. "Bang!" "Bang!" With constant hammering, the clod of earth soon turned into small clods.
Qiu Zhen did not stop, but changed from beating to grinding, turning the small clods of soil into fine powder. This thing is called "Fulong Liver". The name sounds very misleading, but it is actually the stove core soil, the burnt yellow soil at the bottom of the earthen stove used to burn firewood or weeds. You can get this thing by scraping off the burnt parts and impurities with a knife. About a quarter of an hour later, Qiu Zhen smashed a dozen or so "burnt yellow earth blocks" of various sizes in his hands, ground them into powder, and filled the pottery jar on the chopping board to the brim. Only then did he stop with satisfaction and went into the medicine room nearby. In the medicine house, there was a scene of bustling activity. A group of apprentices dressed similarly to Qiu Zhen were busy around an iron pot. Smoke rose and firelight shone, as if midsummer had arrived early. Qiu Zhen came to his "work station" with familiarity. It was an iron pot filled with boiling water. He scooped out the hot water in the pot and let the water vapor evaporate. Then he poured some of the "Fulong Liver" in the pottery jar into it, heated and stir-fried it in the pot. When the soil was slightly warm and some volatile components were driven off, he took a handful of "white peony" from the medicine basket beside the pot and threw it into the hot soil. He kept stirring and turning it with an iron shovel, and it was done in one go. Not long after. The "white peony" in the pot is fried until the surface turns slightly reddish yellow, and the inherent burnt aroma of white peony spreads. “The heat is just right.” Qiu Zhen smiled with satisfaction. White peony root tastes sour and slightly bitter, is slightly cold in nature, and has the effect of damaging hair growth. Fulonggan is warm in nature, and is formed by the energy of earth and fire. By being stir-fried in earth, the cold and sour nature of white peony is improved, and the ability of the earth to drain wood is obtained, so the medicinal effect is greatly enhanced. This is the stir-frying of herbs. As an apprentice at Qingmu Medicine Shop under the jurisdiction of "Medicine King Valley", Qiu Zhen deals with various medicinal herbs all day long and prepares them. Practice makes perfect and he works very efficiently. After a pot of "soil-fried white peony" was ready, he did not rest, but continued to change the soil and add medicine, and cooked white peony and angelica in the same way. The sun sets, the sunset covers the sky, and before we know it, it is evening. Qiu Zhen couldn't help but stretch. In front of him, there were five large bamboo baskets filled to the brim with various prepared medicinal materials, sorted by category.
Today's work is done. "Brother Zhen, your skill in preparing herbal medicine is getting better and better." Qiu Zhen stretched his body and while he was stretching, two pharmacy apprentices who were dressed similarly and of similar age came towards him. One of them was a skinny, dark-skinned apprentice with a pointed face and monkey-like appearance. He stared at the herbs in the basket in front of him and exclaimed: "Tsk tsk tsk, the quality of this medicinal material and the temperature of the fire, there is no better one in the entire Qingmu Town." After one person finished speaking, another apprentice with a well-proportioned body, but an unusually large head, a round face, and a simple and honest face immediately joined in: "Who says it's not true? Brother Zhen's cooking skills are even better than the master chef in the city." "I'm not a master chef. If you tell others about me, they will laugh at me!" Qiu Zhen shook his head. One of the people was called Shen Liang, nicknamed Shou Hou, and the other was called Zhao Dou, nicknamed Da Tou. The three of them were from the same hometown, and their villages were not far from each other. Three years ago, they entered the medicine shop together as apprentices. They were naturally close and naturally gathered together. They had a very good relationship. The two were older than Qiu Zhen, Shou Hou was half a year older, and Da Tou was more than a year older. Perhaps it was because he had lived two lives, and after solving the mystery in the womb, he was more mature in all aspects of his behavior than others. Normally, the two of them were quite convinced of him. Or perhaps it was because over the past three years, his level of preparing herbal medicine had improved by leaps and bounds, and he stood out among all the apprentices in the pharmacy and his status was improved very quickly. After three years of getting along, the two of them unknowingly began to call him "Zhen Ge". Speaking of it, the preparation of medicine requires a lot of attention. It can be roughly divided into: not controlled by water or fire, controlled by water, controlled by fire, and controlled by both water and fire. It is not made by water or fire. Water-based methods are relatively simple, and are mostly rough and tiring work such as picking, splitting, knocking, scraping, washing, and soaking. The processing of ingredients using fire or using both water and fire is different. It requires particular attention to the temperature, pharmacology, preservation of properties, etc. It is a very profound art. Qiu Zhen worked in the medicine shop for three years, studying hard and mastering all the processing techniques. It is no exaggeration to say that the processing methods of many common herbs are perfect and the skills are extraordinary. As they were talking, the apprentices who were busy at the medicine house also heard the conversation between the three people. They became interested and joined in the conversation. "Shouhou and Datou are right. Brother Zhen is the real master of roasting. I don't respect others, but I respect Brother Zhen." "I'm convinced too. The medicines prepared by Brother Zhen are first-rate. Even our Manager Kang is always polite to Brother Zhen." "Brother Zhen is really capable, so Manager Kang is naturally polite. But we are in trouble. I heard that Manager Kang is in a bad mood recently and has a bad temper. I am afraid it will be difficult for us to complete our work." "Manager Kang is playing dice again? Then you have to be more careful in your work recently." "Hehe~Everyone, take it easy." Qiu Zhen didn't respond to everyone's praise or criticism. He just laughed it off and left the medicine room with the medicine he had prepared and put it away in the medicine cabinet. About a quarter of an hour later, he left Qingmu Pharmacy and hurried towards Xiangyang Village, five or six miles away from the outskirts of the city. Three months ago, he moved out of the apprentice house of Qingmu Pharmacy and rented a small courtyard in Xiangyang Village. These days, whenever he finished work, he would rush back as soon as possible.
"Master of Blasting." On the official road, Qiu Zhen sighed deeply in his heart. He was indeed quite skilled in preparing medicines, and had his own insights into pharmacology and the properties of medicines, which he mastered thoroughly. For example, the "earth stir-fry" used to prepare the medicine just now was taught by the master of the medicine shop to use the "east wall soil" from the sunny wall, but he used the "Fulong liver" that had been calcined in a fierce fire for a long time instead. It has fewer impurities and the earth and fire energy is purer, so the medicine prepared with it is more effective. As for this, he has his own insights into the preparation of various medicines, and can be called a "master". but There is an egg to use! It can't change his current situation at all. An apprentice in a pharmacy is still an apprentice. A worker is a worker after all. It is unknown when he can become a manager or a doctor. Besides, that's not his intention. He yearned for a wider world in his heart. Legend has it that in the depths of some swamps there are dragons lurking, in the sky above there are giant beasts several miles long that cross the sky and block out the sun, and there are human martial saints who chop down high peaks with their swords, and the sword energy spreads for several miles. With Qiu Zhen's current vision, it is impossible to verify the authenticity of the "miracle legend". However, he witnessed with his own eyes the shocking scene where the powerful martial artist from the medicine shop smashed a huge granite with his palm, causing gravel to splash and a pottery jar to shatter. He came from the countryside to Qingmu Town to be an apprentice in a pharmacy in order to seek opportunities and step into a wider world. After three years of hard work, he grew from a child into a teenager, had the ability to make a living, and finally encountered the opportunity he had always dreamed of. The sun sets and the evening clouds burn. On the ridge of the field, a figure walked briskly towards a village not far away where smoke was rising from chimneys. New book opened (End of this chapter)
