Chapter 615 — The Chu Family Patriarch
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"There is indeed a small matter." Wei Zhao said, "Old man, that nerve-stimulating medicinal solution I used when I trained in the past — do you still have any?"
"I believe there's some left. Why, you have a use for it?" Old Man Wei asked.
"Yes, I have a use for it. Two friends of mine have some nerve problems," Wei Zhao said. "Or you could give me the formula and I'll brew up a batch myself."
Wei Zhao had never studied this nerve-stimulating solution before; it was of no use to him, and rather difficult to prepare.
"If you brew it yourself, I expect a few of the ingredients won't be easy to come by — I grow those myself," Old Man Wei said. "I have some finished solution here. If you need it, come and fetch it."
"I'll have Ergoudan bring it over," Wei Zhao said. "I'll give him a call in a bit."
"That works too." Old Man Wei was hardly stingy about such things — they were, after all, trifles of no consequence. Back when he'd been training Wei Zhao, he'd mixed the stuff up a whole vat at a time.
Wei Zhao had first thought of mailing the medicinal liquid by courier, but the matter was too important; he feared something might go wrong along the way. Better to have Ergoudan deliver it in person — and besides, Wei Zhao missed his childhood friend.
All these years Wei Zhao had never had a fixed abode: it was mission after mission, with no place to call home. And every time he went back, Ergoudan would listen wide-eyed as Wei Zhao described the dazzling world outside, longing to go out and see it for himself — but Wei Zhao had never had the chance to bring him along.
Ergoudan's family was very poor. In truth, the whole village where Wei Zhao had lived was far from wealthy. The only ones who could be called well-off were the village chief's family, who owned a fishpond, and the widow Wang's at the head of the village, who ran a snack stall and a general store — and then there was Wei Zhao's family.
Of course, Wei Zhao's family lived off the money he earned weaving straw hats and straw sandals. Wei Zhao was deft with his hands and quick at his work; though many in the village did the same trade, his daily output was four or five times theirs. How could they not be well-off?
And in fact, that "well-off" amounted to being able to afford a laptop and to treat oneself now and then at Widow Wang's snack stall.
Wei Zhao had no idea where the money from all those years of missions had gone, but the old man never mentioned it, and Wei Zhao never asked. Their bond was closer than father and son — he wasn't about to quibble over such things.
By comparison, Ergoudan's family was truly poor: they lived off the land, and couldn't even afford a telephone. Ergoudan had always wanted to leave the mountains and see the world beyond, and Wei Zhao had promised him that when the chance came, he would show him what lay outside.
Now that Wei Zhao had settled in Songshan City and had a respectable, stable identity to his name, he naturally remembered that old promise. RO