Passing through streets, winding around buildings, and slipping into alleys, he left the hustle and bustle of the marketplace behind.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.
"Is Mr. Liu Xuan in?"
Li Ang knocked on the courtyard door, which was opened by a refined-looking middle-aged man.
Pu Liuxuan, a Professor at Yizhou State School, was a good friend of Li Ang's father, Li Hanquan, in the realms of literature and tea ceremonies.
"Risheng, come in and have a seat."
Pu Liuxuan managed a slight smile, if somewhat reluctantly, and pulled open the courtyard door, guiding Li Ang inside to sit.
Li Ang set down two cans of Qujiang thin slices and briefly explained with a smile that they were gifts from Song Shaoyuan and himself.
"Shao Yuan..."
Mentioning Song Shaoyuan, a trace of a smile crossed Pu Liuxuan's face as he said warmly, "He's always been diligent and sincere. As long as he doesn't get too nervous this time, I see no issue with him passing the provincial exam and becoming a scholar."
"Yes."
Li Ang nodded. He felt entirely calm. Song Shaoyuan was generally good, but too honest and simple-hearted. Additionally, with some savings at home, he often treated people to meals and helped out classmates at the State School who were less fortunate. Whether one called it public-spiritedness or being a pushover, Song Shaoyuan always had a few literary friends around. The group often roamed the mountains and rivers, holding wine and poetry events known as "qu shui liu shang." With such a crowd flattering him, Song Shaoyuan must have been under great pressure. If he failed to become a scholar, it would be quite embarrassing.
"By the way, how is Auntie?"
Li Ang took out a hexagonal rouge box. "This is rouge cream from Feixia. Auntie often buys their peach blossom powder. That stuff is made with vermillion which, though finer and shows color better than rouge, is harmful to the body like white lead powder and is best not applied frequently. Normal rouge and rice powder are fine, though."
Vermillion is actually a mercury sulfide mineral, and prolonged skin contact can pose allergy risks. Lead powder, purely a heavy metal, can cause skin discoloration and even lead to metal poisoning with long-term use.
"Isn't vermillion supposed to calm the spirit?"
Pu Liuxuan frowned slightly, rubbing his forehead. "Never mind. Your auntie is in the backyard soothing the child. Ju'er nearly fell off the bed a few days ago and has been crying a lot recently. By the way, how's your State School exam preparation going?"
"Not too bad… I suppose."
Li Ang coughed lightly. The content of the Yu Country imperial civil service exam included planning, poetry and essays, an understanding of the Confucian classics with their official commentaries, calligraphy, mathematics, and Yu Country's laws. Li Ang had no issues with planning, calligraphy, and math, but his knowledge in poetry and the Confucian classics was quite average. On average, he estimated he would rank slightly above the pass mark for the provincial exam.
"Not too bad won't cut it."
Pu Liuxuan furrowed his brow. "The dove is in the mulberry; its young are in the bramble. The virtuous man and the gentleman, their conducts do not err. When their conducts do not err, they bring order to the states."
Li Ang straightened his back and corrected his posture, honestly saying, "'Cao Wind: The Doves' from Mao's Poems."
"Mm."
Pu Liuxuan nodded in satisfaction and continued to question Li Ang. He randomly selected phrases from classical texts such as Zuo's Spring and Autumn Annals, Ritual Records, and the Analects, asking Li Ang to provide the context, the official commentaries, and his own understanding.
Li Ang struggled but managed to respond. Scriptures were a required subject for the Yu Country imperial examinations, involving the study of nine key works (the required readings). These included Zuo's Spring and Autumn Annals, Ritual Records, Mao's Poems, Rituals of Zhou, Yili, Zhou Yi, Chief of Staff, Gongyang Spring and Autumn Annals, and Guliang Spring and Autumn Annals. Candidates were expected not only to be familiar with these nine scriptures but also to have read each one's official commentaries, to have their own interpretations, and to spend their spare time studying other potentially examinable scriptures like the Classic of Filial Piety, the Analects, and Laozi. The scriptures were vast and difficult to penetrate; finishing a single reading was not easy, let alone remembering them all. Li Ang recalled those scriptures with effort. Even though he had managed to devour medical texts taller than a man, he still found it quite a challenge.
Just as he was laboriously answering his teacher's questions, a loud cry of a child came from the backyard.
Pu Liuxuan interrupted his questioning and walked towards the backyard, his lips pressed tightly together. Li Ang, quietly relieved, followed him.
In the back courtyard, Pu Liuxuan's wife, Guan Lishu, cradled her three-year-old son, who kept crying incessantly, as she tried to console him with an anxious expression on her face.
"What's the matter here?" Pu Liuxuan took his son from his wife's arms. "Why is he crying again?"
"I don't know. As soon as I touch Ju'er's hand, he just won't stop crying, no matter what I do to soothe him." Guan Lishu looked exhausted, likely having not slept well for a long time. She saw Li Ang approaching and managed to squeeze out a faint smile. "Risheng is here. Have you had breakfast? There's still some porridge at home."
"No need, Aunt, I just ate at home."
Li Ang looked at the child crying and struggling in Pu Liuxuan's arms. He frowned slightly. "Teacher, may I have a look at Ju'er?"
"Hm? What's wrong?"
"If his arm hurts, it might be dislocated."
Li Ang asked Pu Liuxuan to sit on a chair and hold the child steady. Then he leaned forward and gently manipulated the child's arm.
The left arm was held at a 135-degree angle, a typical deformity; the elbow was partially bent, the forearm moderately pronated. When he pressed on the elbow, the cries became louder... Radial head subluxation.
A passage of text flashed in Li Ang's mind. He comforted the child with soft words, "Don't cry, don't cry," skillfully pinched the child's arm, and while flexing the elbow joint, he supinated the forearm.
CLICK.
A barely perceptible pop came from the child's arm. Li Ang breathed a sigh of relief and lowered the child's arm.
"There. All better."
He shook his hands and stepped back.
A few seconds later, the child, who had been crying loudly just moments ago, suddenly quieted his cries to sobs, looking somewhat bewildered at his own arm.
"Eh?"
Pu Liuxuan and his wife were stunned for a moment. They had been worried for days about their son's inexplicable crying, and Guan Lishu had almost started copying Buddha Sutras at home.
Pu Liuxuan promptly asked, "What happened?"
"A dislocated arm."
Li Ang raised his hand and patted his own elbow, speaking to his teacher in a relaxed tone, "A child's elbow joint—the elbow, that is—is not as firm as an adult's.
"There is a small head on the bone here at the elbow that is attached to the surrounding bones, fitting around them like a half-circle.
"If it's not secured well enough, or if it comes into contact with an external force, it's very easy to pull the bone out of the half-circle, causing a dislocation.
"When young children roll around on the bed, their body can press their upper limb underneath them, easily causing hyperextension of the elbow joint and leading to dislocation. Moreover, when adults lead young children by the hand while walking, they also need to be careful to prevent falls, as that can also easily cause a dislocation.
"By around the age of five, the bones in the child's elbow will have grown larger, and they won't dislocate as easily."
"So that's what it was."
Guan Lishu breathed a deep sigh of relief, looking gratefully at Li Ang. The couple had their child in their middle age, and she truly feared that some carelessness on her part had caused her son's pain. "Ju'er, hurry and thank Brother Risheng."
"Thank you, Brother Risheng."
The small child, tears still on his face, spoke in a sweet, childish voice as he bowed to Li Ang. Li Ang waved his hand. He felt a bit smug deep down. Though modern doctors rely on modern industry, and without the proper equipment, many of their skills are hard to display, bone-setting and massage that don't depend on equipment are still no problem.
Wait a minute.
Li Ang's expression froze. He suddenly realized that in the Memory Palace of his brain, a large amount of massage-related knowledge had emerged, from Thai stretching massages to Japanese shiatsu, all in meticulous detail. What does this mean? Why would I have all this in my head? Who exactly was I in my past life?