The mont the signboard of Health Care Hall was hung over the door fra, it quickly attracted the attention of a group of old neighbors.
The morning sunlight filtered through the gaps in the wutong leaves, casting mottled shadows on the yellow pearwood plaque, which shone with an amber luster.
The three golden characters "Health Care Hall" on the plaque displayed a calligraphy style that was both vigorous and flowing, each stroke seemingly containing the truth of the universe, making those who looked at it feel a sense of peace.
"Oh my!" Grandpa Zhang, leaning on his ebony cane, reached out tremblingly, his age-spotted fingers gently tracing the edges of the plaque's patterns.
The warm texture of the wood made his murky eyes widen slightly, "This luster...these wood grains..."
He smacked his lips, his voice trembling a bit, "I've lived to be eighty-three years old, and this is the first ti I've seen such an antique!"
Aunt Liu, carrying a bamboo basket, approached, the freshly picked green vegetables inside still glistening with morning dew.
She squinted at the calligraphy on the plaque and suddenly exclaid, "Look at this handwriting, the strokes are as sharp as knives, penetrating the wood. It looks like the work of a seasoned hand with decades of practice!"
She then lowered her voice and spoke to Aunt Wang beside her, "I heard the owner of this clinic is a young man in his twenties!"
At noon, with the sun high in the sky.
Sister-in-law Li, who had just returned from grocery shopping, suddenly pointed at the plaque and exclaid, "Look! The words are glowing!"
Everyone looked in the direction she pointed, and indeed saw a faint golden glow shimring on the surface of the three characters "Health Care Hall". The light flowed like water, but vanished in an instant, making people wonder if it was a trick of the eye.
The news spread like wildfire, reaching every corner of the old city before long.
Inside Huichun Hall, Manager Zhao was leisurely stroking his graying goat beard.
Upon hearing his apprentice's report, the blue and white porcelain teacup in his hand clattered heavily onto the table, "Daring to open a clinic at just over twenty?"
He let out a cold laugh, his beard trembling slightly with his breath, "I dare to bet on my thirty years of dical reputation that this young lad probably can't even recite the table of contents of the Inner Canon of Huangdi!"
Next door at Jishi Hall, Doctor Sun was grinding herbs in front of the bluestone dicinal mill.
Upon hearing the news, he didn't even look up but increased the speed of his grinding. The herbs in the mill groaned under the pressure.
"These young folks nowadays," he sneered, "learn a few prescriptions and songs from their masters for three to five years and then dare to open clinics."
The grinding mill's dull noise seed to echo his scorn, "They'll learn their lesson when they end up causing deaths and have to face the consequences!"
Only Doctor Qi from Hundred Herbs Hall had a different reaction when he heard the news. A gleam of unusual color flashed in his murky eyes.
He specifically asked his apprentice for support and slowly made his way to Health Care Hall's front door.
When he clearly saw the plaque, the old man's frail body visibly trembled. On the way back, he remained silent until his apprentice asked repeatedly, and then he sighed profoundly, "That plaque...it's extraordinary."
Two days later, on the morning of Health Care Hall's grand opening.
A thin veil of mist shrouded the old street paved with bluestone slabs, morning dew on the eaves glittering like pearls in the sunlight.
Chen Nan, dressed in an indigo long gown, stood at the doorway. The dark cloud patterns on his cuffs appeared faintly in the morning light, giving him an ethereal presence.
He held a stick of incense and ignited the red firecrackers hanging at the door.
"Crack—crackle—" The explosions of the firecrackers startled the sparrows under the eaves and smoke rose gently, swirling around the plaque.
Strangely, the smoke automatically split in front of the words "Health Care Hall
Reviews
All reviews (0)