Unparalleled medical and martial arts skills, saving the CEO's fiancée at the start.

The southern city is older and slower than the river city.

As the car entered the city, the plane trees on both sides of the road were so thick that two people could not wrap their arms around them. Their branches and leaves intertwined, turning the entire street into a green tunnel.

Jiang Ruoxi slowed down the car and followed the doorway in the photo.

The alleys in the old town are narrow and dense, and the house numbers are confusing. After wandering around for a while, I finally saw the wooden door at the end of a lane called Yaopu Alley.

The door looks older than it does in the photo.

Most of the black paint on the door panel had peeled off, revealing the old wood grain underneath.

The plaque above the door is still there, but it's crooked to one side, and the characters have been eroded by wind and rain, leaving only faint outlines.

Ye Chen stood in front of the door for a long time.

The door was ajar, and inside was a small courtyard with several baskets of medicinal herbs drying in it. An elderly man with white hair was sitting in a wicker chair with the old blanket from the photo covering his legs.

He heard footsteps and slowly raised his head.

His face was thin and long, with high brow bones and deep-set eyes, but his eyes were still quite clear.

When he saw Ye Chen, he was taken aback at first, then the corners of his mouth slowly curved up, and his voice was slow and hoarse: "Child, you look like Ye Changfeng. I've met him before. He was young that year and came to Anhetang with his master to deliver medicine."

Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi exchanged a glance, looking at the old man with a puzzled expression.

Jiang Ruoxi gently pushed the door open a little.

Ye Chen walked in, squatted down in front of the old man, and asked in a very soft voice, "Grandpa, may I ask your surname?"

The old man slowly raised his hand and pointed to an old painting hanging in the main room behind him.

The painting depicts a thin, elderly man wearing a long gown from the Republican era, standing in front of a medicine cabinet.

Below the painting is a line of text: Anhetang Shen Family Ancestors.

The old man said, "My surname is Shen, Shen Bo'an. My grandfather was the last resident doctor at Anhetang. Your master, Su Qinghan, should still remember my grandfather's name."

Ye Chen's heart skipped a beat.

Ye Chen held the old man's hand and felt that his palm was cold and withered, like an old bamboo ruler that had been used for too long.

Ye Chen asked with suspicion, "Mr. Shen, did you write to me asking me to come for a medical consultation, or for something else?"

Shen Bo'an did not answer directly.

He asked Jiang Ruoxi to help him move a small wooden box out of the house.

The box was opened, revealing more than a dozen handwritten medicine books and several very old medicine-making tools.

He handed the top-of-the-line medicine book to Ye Chen.

Shen Bo'an said, "After Anhetang closed down, my grandfather put all his belongings into this box. He said that the people from Medicine King Valley would come to collect them sooner or later. I waited for forty years, but I didn't see your master. Instead, I saw you."

Ye Chen gently closed the medicine book.

He asked softly, "Old man, you said in your letter that you are suffering from a terminal illness, is that true?"

Shen Bo'an smiled faintly, like the wind blowing through the top of an old tree.

He lifted the blanket off his legs.

Ye Chen saw that he had almost no feeling below his knees, his ankles were swollen and shiny, and his skin was purple.

Shen Bo'an said, "I have rheumatism. I got it when I saved someone in the river when I was young. It's incurable. I know that. I wrote to you to come because I wanted to find someone to hand over this box of things. Anhetang cannot be lost in my hands. If your master still values ​​this old relationship, he can take the plaque with him and hang it back in Yaowang Valley. My grandfather would be happy if he knew."

Ye Chen didn't speak.

He put the medicine book back in the box, and then took out the needle pouch from his bag.

He had Shen Bo'an straighten his legs, then took three silver needles and slowly inserted them into the acupoints around his knees.

Shen Bo'an initially endured it, but later, some yellow fluid slowly seeped out from the swollen area on his leg.

The old man let out a soft "Huh," looked down at his legs, and his eyes slowly reddened.

While administering acupuncture, Ye Chen said, "Old man, I'm sorry, I don't have the ability to cure your leg right now, but I can make it less painful. You'll have to come back to Medicine King Valley with me for a while. My master is still here, and she's better than me. If she can't cure it, I'll prescribe some medicine for you so you can sleep soundly at night."

Jiang Ruoxi was gathering the herbs drying in the yard into a basket.

She noticed a small patch of angelica growing in the corner of the courtyard wall; it was slender but looked very vibrant.

She squatted down and gently picked a leaf to smell.

Shen Bo'an looked from afar and said, "Those were planted by your mother back then. She scattered the seeds when she came to Nancheng to see my grandfather for treatment. They grow every year, even if no one takes care of them."

Jiang Ruoxi's hand trembled slightly.

She placed the leaf in her palm, and after a while, she stood up and bowed slightly to Shen Bo'an.

That evening, the three of them had dinner in the courtyard of Anhetang.

The meal was prepared by Jiang Ruoxi; it looked very simple, but she clearly put a lot of thought into it.

Shen Bo'an ate half a bowl of porridge and felt better than during the day.

He went on and on about the old stories of Anhetang, about how Su Qinghan came to deliver medicine when she was young, and how Ye Changfeng brought a basket of wild chestnuts from the mountains when he came that time.

As Ye Chen listened, he felt as if those unseen old times were sitting right here in the courtyard, drinking porridge with him.

After the meal, Ye Chen called Su Qinghan.

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

Then Su Qinghan said, "Bring the plaque back, and the person too, I'll treat him."

The next day, Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi carefully removed the plaque from the lintel.

Shen Bo'an stood at the door, looking at the empty lintel, and suddenly said, "When you hang it up, don't nail it too tight. If any descendants want to come back and visit in the future, they can still find the place."

He wrapped the plaque in an old cloth and put it in the trunk.

Then they packed the wooden box back up.

Shen Bo'an sat in the passenger seat, a blanket covering his legs, clutching a angelica leaf in his hand, quietly looking ahead.

As the car drove out of the alleyway of the pharmacy, he glanced back at the empty door.

The sunlight shone on it, making it bare, yet it seemed brighter than before.

The road back to Jiangcheng is long.

Jiang Ruoxi drove, while Ye Chen sat in the back seat with Shen Bo'an.

The old man leaned on his shoulder and slowly fell asleep.

Her breathing was very light, like a leaf falling on the water.

Ye Chen didn't move, he just sat there, watching the southern mountains outside the window gradually turn into northern hills.

He remembered what Su Qinghan had said on the phone.

Master said, "Come back. There's still a vacant plot of land in Medicine King Valley. Hang the plaque up there, and Anhetang will be considered to have returned home."

Ye Chen looked down at Shen Bo'an's gray hair, then at Jiang Ruoxi's hair in the front row, which was being blown by the wind.

He suddenly realized that along the way, he had picked up more than just prescriptions and door plaques.

They are individuals scattered throughout the world.

It is the root of Medicine King Valley that has been severed for decades.

They connect little by little, like a vein.

And he was a segment of that vein.

From Ye Changfeng to Su Qinghan, from Su Youdao to Shen Bo'an, from Anhetang to Baizhigu.

All roads lead to one place.

That's home.