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

Half a month after Anhetang opened, the neighbors in the southern part of the city gradually recognized the old wooden door in the alley of the medicine shop.

Shen Bo'an sees patients every morning and teaches Shen Jingqiu how to identify medicinal herbs in the courtyard in the afternoon.

He's getting old and his energy isn't what it used to be, but as soon as he sits behind that consultation table, he seems to have a completely different spirit.

Shen Jingqiu was faster than him, but she lacked experience and sometimes couldn't get the dosage right, so Shen Bo'an would tap the back of her hand with a bamboo ruler.

Shen Jingqiu wasn't annoyed. She rubbed her hands and started over.

Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi stayed in Nancheng for almost half a month. Only after seeing that the pharmacy was running smoothly did they set off to return to Jiangcheng.

On the day of his departure, Shen Bo'an, leaning on his cane, saw Ye Chen off to the alley entrance. He held Ye Chen's hand for a long time before saying, "This autumn, have Su Qinghan come too. She didn't come when Anhetang opened, and I remember that."

Ye Chen agreed, saying he would tell his master when he got back.

Shen Bo'an nodded, then looked at Jiang Ruoxi and said, "Girl, don't bring me those tonics next time. I can't finish them, and they'll just go bad."

Jiang Ruoxi smiled and agreed, thinking to herself that she would bring them again next time.

Shen Jingqiu stood behind her grandfather and waved to them.

As the car drove away, Ye Chen saw Shen Bo'an still standing at the alley entrance in the rearview mirror. The shadow of his cane and the shadow of the old locust tree overlapped, forming a long shadow.

After returning to Jiangcheng, life went back to its old rhythm.

Ye Chen spends his days touring the Jiang Group buildings, drinking tea, and bickering with He Jianping. After work, he goes to Baizhi Valley to check on the medicinal herb fields.

Jiang Ruoxi's company launched its new season's products and is busy establishing distribution channels and negotiating agency agreements.

They were both busy with their own things, but every night when they returned home, there was always a light on, and there was always one of them waiting.

This year's autumn harvest at Baizhi Valley is 30% higher than last year's.

Seventh Uncle was so happy that he sang folk songs on the ridge of the field all afternoon. Su Qinghan scolded him twice, saying, "Don't sing while working, you're wasting the medicinal herbs."

Seventh Uncle wouldn't listen, saying, "Singing folk songs makes you good-looking."

Su Qinghan was too lazy to pay attention to him anymore, and turned around to go to the medicine shop to look through the copy left by Shen Bo'an.

She now flips through a few pages every afternoon and takes notes after she finishes.

Ye Chen once asked her, "Master, how much have you memorized?"

Su Qinghan didn't even look up: "It's still early. What your grandmaster's generation left behind can't be made up for in a few months."

Ye Chen then stopped asking.

Before winter arrived, Aygul received her cousin's second letter.

This time, a photo was included in the letter; it was of the fence gate of "Baizhi Garden".

The door was made of woven rattan and was crooked. Next to it was a row of angelica plants, the leaves of which had grown to knee height.

The back of the photo had a few lines written on it: "We harvested the first batch of seeds this year, and we will expand the planting next spring. Local medicinal herb farmers came to see it, said the herbs were good, and even asked if they could buy seedlings."

After looking at the photo, Aygul put it under her pillow.

That night, she unusually spoke a few more words to Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi, saying that her cousin used to take her to the river to pick wild mint when she was little, and then they would dry it and make tea to drink.

She said that the first herb her adoptive father, Su Youdao, taught her to recognize was also Angelica dahurica.

Jiang Ruoxi listened and handed her a cup of hot tea.

Aygul took it, held it in her hands, and didn't drink it, just held it there.

On the day the first snow fell after the start of winter, Ye Chen received a call from Su Qinghan.

The master's voice came through the receiver, softer than usual.

She said, "I have left a space next to your father's memorial tablet. Next spring, I will place a copy of Shen Bo'an's manuscript in Medicine King Valley so that the Shen family can also enter our ancestral hall."

Ye Chen held his phone, standing by the window watching the snow. Snowflakes pattered against the glass.

He said okay, his voice a little hoarse.

Su Qinghan added, "Let's sort things out at Anhetang in the spring, and then go to the south of the city for a few days. Didn't Shen Bo'an ask me to go? I'll go take a look and wipe that plaque clean again while I'm at it."

Ye Chen smiled and said, "Okay, I'll drive, you can sit in the passenger seat."

Su Qinghan snorted: "I don't trust you to drive."

Ye Chen said, "Then let Ruoxi drive; she's steady."

Su Qinghan didn't say anything more, but Ye Chen heard a very soft laugh from the other end of the phone.

It snowed for three days.

Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi sat in the living room watching the snow, occasionally talking about Nancheng.

They said Shen Jingqiu's copper seal was crooked, that Shen Bo'an's leg was a little better than last month, and that Ayiguli's cousin's angelica garden would be able to harvest its first batch of herbs next spring.

Jiang Ruoxi pushed a plate of roasted chestnuts in front of Ye Chen and said, "Do you think we should go to Nancheng first next spring, or to Baizhi Valley first?"

Ye Chen peeled chestnuts and said, "Let's go to Baizhi Valley first to check on the seedling cultivation at your base, then go to Nancheng. We'll pass through Yaowang Valley on the way, so we can pick up Master there. She can sit in the back; it's fine."

Jiang Ruoxi said, "Your master will sit in the back, you will sit in the passenger seat, and I will drive."

Ye Chen popped a peeled chestnut into her mouth and said, "Okay, whatever you say."

Jiang Ruoxi chewed on a chestnut, a smile curving her lips.

Outside the window, the snow is still falling.

The medicinal fields in Baizhi Valley were all covered by snow, leaving only a vast expanse of white.

Su Qinghan lit a fire in the hut in the valley, and her seventh uncle roasted sweet potatoes around the fire, while Shen Bo'an wrote a prescription for the last patient in the pharmacy in the southern city.

Aygul was practicing her knife skills in the courtyard when snow fell on her blade and turned into water droplets.

In the distance, in front of a pharmacy in a small town in Central Asia, a row of angelica seedlings were being irrigated by rain and snow, their roots slowly sinking deeper into the soil.

Ye Chen stood by the window and drew a line on the glass with his hand.

The snow is still falling, turning the world into a blanket of white.

He suddenly realized that although he had been busy from spring to winter this year, and had done a lot of things, every single one of them had been good.

It wasn't a wasted effort.

He turned around and saw that Jiang Ruoxi had fallen asleep on the sofa, still clutching half a chestnut that hadn't been peeled.

Ye Chen walked over, gently took the chestnut off, and then covered her with a blanket.

Then he sat down next to her and closed his eyes as well. The snow fell silently, and the room was warm.

Like many ordinary days, nothing earth-shattering happened, but it just made me feel at ease.

As expected, Ye Chen and Jiang Ruoxi set off after the start of spring.

Upon arriving at Baizhi Valley, Su Qinghan had already packed two small bundles, one for clothes and the other for medicinal herbs.

She stood at the mouth of the valley, wearing that faded blue cloth shirt, waiting for them, like an old tree ready to be moved elsewhere at any moment.

Ye Chen took the bundle, weighed it in his hand, and asked, "Master, are you moving house or visiting relatives?"

Su Qinghan said, "I'm just visiting relatives. I'll be back in a few days."

The three got into the car and headed south.

It's already warm in the south of the city.

The locust trees in Yaopu Lane have sprouted new buds, and a newly made herbal tea stall has been set up in front of Anhetang.

Shen Jingqiu, wearing an apron, was weighing goji berries for an elderly woman.

When they arrived, he was so happy he almost dropped the scale he was holding.

Shen Bo'an was sitting in the courtyard basking in the sun when he saw Su Qinghan get out of the car. He was stunned for a while, then slowly stood up and cupped his hands in greeting to her.

Su Qinghan also cupped her hands in greeting and said, "Grandpa Shen, I wasn't there for the opening, so I've come today to make up for it."

Shen Bo'an repeatedly said no need, and then asked Shen Jingqiu to make tea.

That afternoon, Anhetang was packed with people.

Shen Bo'an, Su Qinghan, Ye Chen, Jiang Ruoxi, and several old neighbors from the alley sat around in the courtyard drinking tea and chatting.

The pharmacy was filled with the fresh fragrance of freshly picked herbs, mixed with the sweet scent of locust blossoms, as if the whole of spring had been brought into this alley.

Shen Jingqiu carried the teapot and poured a cup for everyone.

She suddenly said, "Grandpa, I want to plant some medicinal herbs on the plot of land behind the pharmacy, like angelica and mint, so we can make herbal tea in the summer."

Shen Bo'an nodded: "Okay, that land was originally a medicinal herb garden. Your great-grandfather used to cultivate it, but it was abandoned later. You can cultivate it."

Shen Jingqiu blushed with joy and turned to fetch a hoe.

Su Qinghan stopped her: "Don't rush, I'll help you check the land tomorrow. You can't just plant herbs randomly, you have to look at the soil."

Shen Jingqiu responded and sat back down, but her feet were still lightly stomping under the table, as if she couldn't wait for tomorrow.