Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 166: Collecting Pot Bottom Soot

On the way, Li Xu rested with his eyes closed.

From the back seat, Song Sisi peeked at his side profile. Sunlight streamed through the car window, casting a soft, hazy glow on his face.

It made her heart race all over again.

...

The taxi stopped at the entrance to Dasong Villa, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Song Sisi eagerly jumped out of the car and took a deep breath of the familiar air of her hometown—a mix of straw and earth that instantly put her at ease.

Li Xu followed behind, carrying bags of all sizes filled with gifts.

"My house is just around the corner ahead." Song Sisi pointed to a nearby courtyard, her voice unconsciously brightening. "My mom should be home."

Just as they reached the courtyard gate, a spotted mutt rushed out and started circling Song Sisi’s feet.

She bent down and petted the dog’s head. "Spot, did you miss me?"

The commotion in the yard alerted the person inside.

A middle-aged woman in an apron walked out quickly, still holding a handful of unfinished chives.

When she saw Li Xu behind her daughter, she clearly froze for a moment before her eyes lit up.

"Mom!" Song Sisi jogged over. "This is Dr. Li, my boss."

"Hello, ma’am." Li Xu nodded politely and handed over the gift bags. "Sorry to impose."

Mrs. Song took the gifts, but her eyes remained fixed on Li Xu, sizing him up from head to toe. The more she looked, the wider her smile grew. "Oh, you shouldn’t have! Just coming is enough. Quick, come inside and sit down!"

The main room was tidy. The coffee table was covered with a brand-new plastic tablecloth, and on a large cabinet in the corner sat several family photos.

Li Xu noticed one of them was Song Sisi’s graduation photo. The young woman, her hair in a ponytail, had a bright, sunny smile.

"Have some tea! Have some tea!" Mrs. Song brought over two cups of hot tea and deftly piled a handful of sunflower seeds and peanuts on the table. "Dr. Li, how old are you? Where’s your family from? What do your parents do?"

"Mom!" Song Sisi stomped her foot in frustration. "Are you interrogating him?"

Li Xu, however, remained calm and answered each question. "I’m 25. I live in the city, and my parents have passed away."

"Oh, you poor thing."

Mrs. Song said comfortingly, "You should just treat this place as your own home. You’re always welcome here."

After a bit more conversation,

Mrs. Song suddenly stood up and grabbed her daughter’s wrist. "Sisi, come help Mom prepare the vegetables!"

Before Song Sisi could react, she was pulled into the back room.

The moment the cloth curtain fell, Mrs. Song lowered her voice. "This young man is quite a catch! He’s handsome, has a good job, and even though his parents passed away, you won’t have to deal with any mother-in-law issues! How long have you two been dating?"

"Mom!" Song Sisi’s face turned beet red. "He really is just my boss! We’re just ordinary friends!"

Mrs. Song pouted, an ’I know what’s really going on’ expression on her face. "An ordinary friend would come all the way back to your hometown with you? Your mother isn’t senile yet!"

She squeezed her daughter’s hand. "Don’t worry, Mom doesn’t object. You two just get along."

Song Sisi tried to explain further, but her mother shoved her out the door.

She stumbled a few steps and nearly fell into Li Xu’s arms.

Looking up to meet Li Xu’s quizzical gaze, her face instantly flushed red all the way to her neck.

"Um... let’s go see Grandma!" Song Sisi practically fled the scene.

Li Xu politely said goodbye to Mrs. Song and followed Song Sisi out the door.

Out on the street, the atmosphere between them was a little awkward.

Song Sisi kept her head down, her pace hurried;

Li Xu followed at a leisurely pace. By now, he had also figured things out.

’This time, I was only thinking about getting the soot from the bottom of the wok.’

’I overlooked how coming back to a girl’s home with her could easily lead to misunderstandings.’

He saw several women on the street looking their way.

Song Sisi lowered her head even further, wishing she could just disappear into a crack in the ground.

"This way..."

Song Sisi pulled Li Xu off the main street and into an alley, avoiding their gazes.

Li Xu just shook his head with a smile, not wanting to tease Song Sisi.

He watched her as she walked away... ’Hmm, not a bad figure...’

After a few turns, they arrived at an old courtyard in the center of the village.

Unlike the other renovated houses in the village, this was a typical traditional farmhouse: the lower half built of smooth-laid stones, the upper half made of rammed earth, with a roof of gray-blue tiles.

The courtyard wall wasn’t high and was covered in loofah vines, dotted here and there with small yellow flowers.

"Grandma!" Song Sisi pushed open the CREAKING wooden door. "I’m here to see you!"

In the yard, a small, thin old woman was sitting on a low stool, shelling beans.

Hearing the voice, she looked up, squinting to get a better look at the visitors.

In the sunlight, the wrinkles on her face were as deep as tree bark, but her eyes were exceptionally clear.

"Well now, isn’t that Doctor Li?" the grandmother suddenly said, her voice resonant. "You even came to see me in the hospital!"

"You have a great memory, Grandma." Li Xu smiled and stepped forward, offering her some soft pastries he had prepared specially. "How has your health been?"

"All better now! Eating and working are no problem at all!" The grandmother patted her knees, stood up, and turned toward the kitchen. "I just steamed some buns. You two have a taste!"

In the kitchen, a large iron wok sat on an earthen stove. The firewood in the stove chamber was still smoldering, emitting the distinct fragrance of pine.

The grandmother lifted the lid, and a cloud of white steam billowed out, revealing plump, white steamed buns inside.

"These pots nowadays, they just don’t work as well," the grandmother complained as she took out the buns. "It takes forever to heat up and wastes so much firewood!"

Li Xu’s gaze fell on the large iron wok on the stove.

He then bent down to look into the stove chamber.

The bottom of the wok was caked with a thick layer of black soot, baked by the firewood in the stove.

’This was the top-grade pot soot mentioned in the intel.’

He took the opportunity to say, "Grandma, let me help you clean the bottom of the wok in a bit. Too much soot will affect the heat conduction."

The grandmother chuckled and agreed. "Oh, that’d be wonderful! You young people have the strength. These old bones of mine can’t even lift the iron wok anymore."

Once Grandma had taken out the buns and the wok had cooled,

Li Xu found a spatula and a basin and carefully began to scrape the bottom of the wok.

The years of accumulated black soot were as smooth as silk. A light scrape was all it took for whole pieces to flake off, releasing a peculiar, herbaceous fragrance.

Song Sisi crouched nearby, watching, and couldn’t help but ask, "Boss, what do you need all this pot soot for?"

"This is good stuff." Li Xu carefully collected the scraped soot. "In the *Compendium of Materia Medica*, it’s called Hundred Herbs Frost. It can stop bleeding, detoxify, and when used externally, it treats canker sores, eczema..."

Hearing this, the grandmother chimed in with agreement. "That’s right! Back in the day, when kids in the village got canker sores, we’d just dab a bit of pot soot on them, and they’d get better! I didn’t expect Doctor Li to know about these old remedies."

Li Xu smiled. "Grandma, it’s all recorded in books."

He continued to focus on collecting the precious black soot.

After he was done,

he also scraped some from the chimney.

However, the Hundred Herbs Frost from the chimney was of much lower quality compared to the soot from the bottom of the wok.

Li Xu took out some bags he had prepared in advance and packed the two types of soot separately.

After all that work,

his face and clothes were smudged with black ash.

"Hurry and go wash your hands."

Song Sisi brought over a basin of water.