Elixir Supplier

“Are we going back tomorrow?” the boy asked.

“Yes,” Gong Aiguo replied.

“Okay. These dishes are delicious,” the boy said.

Kids are always innocent.

“The living condition here is much better than the place we live,” his father replied.

People might laugh or not believe that the villagers from where Gong Aiguo came didn’t often get the chance to eat pork. Occasionally, one of the villagers killed a pig for catering purpose. Normally, the pigs were used to exchange for money.

Gong Aiguo and his son got up early in the morning, so did Wang Mingbao. He made something simple for breakfast. After they had finished breakfast, Wang Mingbao took Guo Aiguo and his son to Wang Yao’s clinic. By the time they arrived at the clinic, they saw Wang Yao coming down from Nanshan Hill.

“Dr. Wang gets up so early,” Gong Aiguo said.

“He normally sleeps on the hill,” Wang Mingbao said.

“What? Sleep on the hill?” Gong Aiguo was surprised.

Wang Mingbao didn’t go into any details.

After they all gathered at the clinic, Wang Yao packed up before heading to Gong Aiguo’s village. They were going to travel in Wang Yao’s vehicle, functioned better and had more comfortable seats. His vehicle was also four-wheel-drive, which was suitable for the uneven roads on the hills. Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao would take turns driving.

Wang Yao said goodbye to his parents before leaving. After all, he was going to drive thousands of miles. His parents would be a bit worried about him.

Shangjun was located in Qinzhou, which was a very poor place. Wang Yao had never been there. He was going to meet strangers from thousands of miles away.

“Are you tired? If so, I can drive for a while,” Wang Mingbao said.

“I’m fine,” Wang Yao replied. He had only driven for about three hours. Given his current fitness level, he wouldn’t even feel tired after driving for three days.

Purr! The boy’s tummy started to rumble again.

“Are you hungry?” Wang Mingbao asked.

“Yes, a bit,” the boy said with some embarrassment.

“Let’s stop for lunch then,” Wang Yao suggested.

He continued to drive until he reached the highway resting area. Wang Yao pulled in so they could all have lunch and take a break.

The food of the resting area was just so-so. However, Gong Aiguo and Gong Ziqiang seemed to really enjoy it. Compared to what they ate in their village, the food in the resting area was considered delicious.

After a while, they arrived in Bingzhou, where they planned to stay overnight. Bingzhou was a historical city with more than 4,000 years of history. However, it was not as developed as the cities on the east coast. The city was ancient with rich history and had a feeling of solemnity.

They walked around the city after dinner. The city at night was quite unique.

“I want to learn more about this place on our way back,” Wang Yao said.

He had never been there before. Since he was going to pass this place on his way back, he wanted to stay there a few days. Travelling was also a kind of practice.

“Okay,” Wang Mingbao replied after lightening a cigarette.

After walking around, they went back to the hotel to rest. The next day, everyone was in good spirits. They were soon back on the road.

It was close to noon when they arrived in Shangjun. Gong Aiguo’s home was still some distance away.

They went back on the road after lunch. After driving on the asphalt road for a while, they entered an uneven, muddy road. The road was grinded by passing vehicles all the time. Fortunately, Wang Yao’s vehicle was relatively easy to drive on uneven roads.

The last part of the route was made of soil. They arrived Gong Aiguo’s village when it was close to evening. It was located at the foot of a hill. When they were approaching the village, they could hear roosters singing and dogs barking.

Most of the houses in the village were small and old. Wang Yao didn’t find many new houses. The roads were muddy. The villagers all wore shabby clothes. This was indeed a poor village.

“Here we are,” Wang Mingbao said excitedly.

Wang Yao didn’t know why Wang Mingbao sounded excited. He didn’t think there was anything exciting about this village. Wang Mingbao’s facial expression was not accidental.

“Mr. Wang, and Dr. Wang, would you like to have dinner in my home tonight?” Gong Aiguo asked.

“Yes. Thanks,” Wang Mingbao replied.

Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao didn’t come to the village empty handed. They had brought quite a few things, the majority of which was food. They could have a nice dinner with the food they brought.

“Shall we go to see the kids first?” Wang Yao wanted to see the kids who might also have been poisoned.

“I’m afraid the kids had already gone home by now,” Gong Aiguo said.

“Let’s go and have a look at the school,” Wang Mingbao said.

The school was built on the most even land in the village. It had a big yard with a flagpole in the middle. The five-star red flag was on the top of the pole. Next to the flagpole was a two-story building, where the classrooms were located. This was the tallest building in the village. It looked outstanding comparing to the small houses.

Gong Aiguo was right. All the students had gone home.

“Well, I need to go and see a person here,” Wang Mingbao said as he went into the building.

“See a person here?” Wang Yao was surprised.

“He must have gone to see Miss Han,” Gong Aiguo said.

“Miss Han?” Wang Yao asked.

“Yes, our literature teacher. She’s really nice,” Gong Ziqiang replied.

“She?” Wang Yao said almost subconsciously.

“Yes, she’s nice and pretty,” Gong Ziqiang said.

“I see!” Wang Yao suddenly got it. “But how did they know each other?”

Soon, Wang Mingbao came out of the building with a young woman. Miss Han was very elegant. She was not very pretty at first sight but still very attractive. She had bright eyes and wore simple clothes. She was slim and looked around 25 years old.

“Let’s me introduce. This is my best friend Wang Yao. This is Miss Han, Han Jia,” Wang Mingbao said.

“Hello, nice to meet you,” Wang Yao said.

“Hello,” Han Jia responded.

They all had dinner at Gong Aiguo’s home. Since Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao had brought enough food, Gong Aiguo made some simple dishes. Gong Aiguo’s mother was also skinny. Almost everyone in the village was skinny.

The infrastructure around the village was bad. Without adequate income, the villagers couldn’t afford to by many items, including food.

There was no hotel or motel in the village. The closest motel was in town. It was about a 20-minute drive from the village. Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao stayed overnight in one of the villager’s houses.

To welcome Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao, Gong Aiguo took out the new quilt he had saved for years.

“Thank you, but you really don’t need to do this for us.”

After dinner, Wang Mingbao told Wang Yao how he met Han Jia: on the internet. Han Jia had come to the village to teach. She was also a member of an organization that supported children’s education in poor areas. During an online donation campaign, she met Wang Mingbao. The two of them started to talk. Then, Wang Mingbao came to the village to see Han Jia.

“The first time I met her, she made me feel that she’s the woman I’ve been looking for.” Wang Mingbao honestly described how he felt when he met Han Jia the first time.

“Where is she from?” Wang Yao asked.

“Bingzhou. She’s been here three years. The kids here really like her, so do the villagers here. Of course I like her, too,” Wang Mingbao said.

Wang Yao laughed.

“Well, what do you think of her?” Wang Mingbao asked.

“The first impression is good.” Wang Yao was telling the truth. She was elegant and seemed to be well-educated. Giving up the comfortable lifestyle in a big city and coming to teach in such a poor place was admirable.

“But, she has a boyfriend,” Wang Mingbao said.

“Boyfriend?” Wang Yao asked.

“Yes, but he has gone to Beijing. He rarely comes here. I think this is a really good opportunity for me to win her heart,” Wang Mingbao said.

“Has she broken up with her boyfriend?” Wang Yao asked.

“Not yet,” Wang Mingbao said without any disappointment. “She will.”

“Hey, take it easy. This is Qinzhou, not Lianshan,” Wang Yao said.

“What are you talking about? I’m here to chase a girl, not make trouble,” Wang Mingbao replied.

Both of them had a good night’s sleep. They got up very early in the morning and found Gong Aiguo was about to kill the hen laying eggs.

“Good morning, Mr. Gong. Please don’t kill the hen.” Wang Yao stopped him in time.

Gong Aiguo had minimal income and only a few farm animals. He needed those animals for income and should keep them as long as he could.

“No, I don’t have anything at home to welcome you guys,” Gong Aiguo said.

“That’s fine. Don’t worry about us,” Wang Yao said.

He and Wang Mingbao had homemade noodles and pan fried eggs for breakfast. They then went to the school after breakfast.

The school had one headmaster and five teachers. There were 45 students from year one to year six. Children from the other villagers nearby also came to the school.

“Dr. Wang is going to examine the students for free?” The headmaster, who was in his 50s was really happy to meet Wang Yao. He had been concerned about his students’ health. More than 10 students in the school had complained about pain in their bodies. The local doctors couldn’t find the cause of the pain. In fact, some students hadn’t been to the hospital at all.

The headmaster seemed to have gained more white hair in the last few days.

“Yes,” Wang Yao replied.

“Great! Thank you very much,” the headmaster said.

Wang Yao showed the headmaster his medical certificate to remove any doubts.

The way Wang Yao examined the students surprised the headmaster and teachers. He checked each student’s pulse. He was a Traditional Chinese Medical Practitioner, so he used the four ancient methods of diagnosis.

He examined the students as fast as he could. It took him the whole morning to finish examining all of them. He found 12 students were poisoned.

“They have toxins inside their bodies. I need to remove the toxins,” Wang Yao said.

Initially, the headmaster didn’t completely trust Wang Yao, but he changed his mind after Wang Yao had identified the students who were ill. They were exactly the 12 students who had been complaining about pain. They also had symptoms of diarrhea.

“How are you going to treat them?” the headmaster asked.

“Give me a pot. I’ll brew some herbal decoctions for them,” Wang Yao said.