The heavy snow had been falling for days. On the vast and boundless mountain, the unmelting snow was covered with a new layer. The snow piled up so thickly that it blocked the path halfway up the mountain.
The Wu's Pharmacy was located halfway up the mountain, facing south. Its geographical location was quite favorable, making it convenient both for going up the mountain to dig herbs and for going down the mountain to deliver herbs to nearby pharmacies.
Sitting in the main hall, Wu Luoluo was grinding herbs with a medicine grinder. A hint of worry welled up in her heart.
Early that morning, her master - wife and senior brother had set off down the mountain with a cartload of herbs for delivery. However, the weather was rather bad that day. If the snow blocked the path up the mountain, they might not be able to return that night.
It had just been the Minor New Year. There was not much food left in the pharmacy. If her master - wife and senior brother couldn't come back due to the blocked path, Wu Luoluo might have to spend the New Year alone on the mountain.
Although she wouldn't mind spending the New Year alone and could freely rummage through the medical books left by her master in the attic, the jars of rice and flour were running low. She wondered if she could survive until the snow on the mountain melted after the New Year and her master - wife and senior brother returned.
Well, it didn't matter. She could tighten her belt and eat one less bun every day. After all, her appetite was small, so she shouldn't starve to death in the mountains!
Just as Wu Luoluo was silently calculating in her mind, suddenly, there came a rustling sound from the kitchen.
Wu Luoluo was stunned. In this cold winter month, with no extra food in the house and the family on the verge of running out of provisions, surely there weren't any mice looking for food and eyeing the little bit of rice and flour in the jars?
The noise over there grew louder. Wu Luoluo's face turned pale with fright. She casually picked up the copper medicine grinder and tiptoed towards the kitchen. She had been afraid of mice since childhood, but at this moment, it was a matter of life and death. She had to protect the little bit of food left and not let the mice ruin it.
The closer she got to the kitchen door, the more something seemed amiss. How could a mouse make such a loud noise? And there was also the sound of big mouthfuls of chewing. Moreover, the sound didn't seem to be coming from the kitchen but from the wood - storage shed behind it! That was where she slept at night!
Wu Luoluo secretly groaned in her heart. It must be her crazy great - uncle again, sneaking in to ransack her hidden treasures!
Whenever she found some rare medicinal herbs while digging on the mountain, she would carefully hide them and bring them back. She would wrap them in oiled paper and hide them under a brick beneath her mattress in the wood - storage shed. Over the years, no one else had ever discovered them, but that crazy and stupid great - uncle could always find her well - hidden rare herbs by following the smell and eat them all on the spot!
Hearing the chewing sound getting louder and louder, Wu Luoluo was so anxious that she was almost in tears. She threw down the medicine grinder and rushed into the wood - storage shed. Sure enough, there was a gaunt and disheveled beggar lying beside her bed, holding the oiled paper in his hand and stuffing ice silkworms into his mouth with his dirty fingers.
"Great - uncle! Stop right now!" Wu Luoluo stamped her feet in anxiety. She grabbed the old beggar's ear and tugged with all her might. She had spent so long digging for ice silkworms, and finally, she had almost a handful. But her great - uncle had swallowed them all in one mouthful!
Not only that, although his ear was being pulled long by her, the great - uncle had no intention of letting go. He casually stuffed the seven or eight dried snow lotuses she had processed into his mouth and swallowed them like a bull chewing on a peony.
Wu Luoluo let out a howl on the spot. She snatched the oiled paper and looked down. There was only a little bit of medicinal residue left in the paper package! Wu Luoluo was so angry that she sat on the ground and wailed.
This neurotic great - uncle of hers rarely came after her master's death. But every time he came, he would clean out all the precious medicinal herbs she had hidden, just like today.
The great - uncle never cared whether the herbs could be eaten raw or whether the medicinal properties would conflict. At first, Wu Luoluo was a bit worried that the great - uncle might die after eating them. But later, she found that all her worries were unnecessary! That beggar could stuff all kinds of things into his stomach like a hodgepodge and yet be perfectly fine!
She wasn't reluctant to change the hiding place for the herbs. It was just that her great - uncle had an extremely sharp nose! No matter where she hid them, he could always find and clean them all up.
The old beggar didn't care that Wu Luoluo was sitting on the ground, crying with snot and tears. While looking around the small, shabby, and drafty wood - storage shed, he patted his belly and asked her, "Do you have any more?"
Hearing this, Wu Luoluo cried even louder.
The old beggar stood up unsteadily and walked into the kitchen. He rummaged through the jars and pots everywhere. Then he said dejectedly, "Since your short - lived master died, this place has become so poor! What should I have for lunch? Well, make a few pancakes for your great - uncle with this little bit of rice and flour! I don't know if it'll even be enough to fill my teeth."
Wu Luoluo jumped up from the ground and rushed over to snatch the jar. With a sobbing voice, she said, "I need this little bit of rice and flour to last until after the New Year! If you eat it all in one go, what will I do?"
The old beggar waved his hand and said, "Hey, don't think so much! Go make the pancakes first! I'm hungry!"
Wu Luoluo's eyes were blood - red as she guarded the jar and glared angrily at the old beggar. She firmly refused to go.
The old beggar said unhappily, "I'm your great - uncle! I'm the sixth - generation master of the Dao Medical Hall! Originally, I thought you had a good foundation and wanted to pass on the position to you, making you the seventh - generation master of the Dao Medical Hall! But you're so stingy. Just because I ate a little bit of your lousy herbs, you're wailing like this! I came all the way here to see you, and you're not even willing to make a pancake for me! Bah! I was even going to arrange a good match for you! I'll go back and cut your red thread right away!"
Hearing her great - uncle's endless grumbling, Wu Luoluo felt so frustrated that she said, "You want pancakes, right? Wait! I'll draw them for you!" Then she went back to the wood - storage shed to fetch firewood.
The old beggar snorted and said, "That's more like it!"
Wu Luoluo thought of her ice silkworms and snow lotuses. She was so angry that she wished she could pick up a piece of wood and beat this great - uncle out with a stick. But then she suddenly remembered what her master had told her before he died: "Your great - uncle has the well - being of all living beings in his heart. He's a man with real skills! You should act like a proper junior and never go against him!"
Wu Luoluo silently sighed in her heart. She rolled up her sleeves, washed her hands, and started kneading the dough to make pancakes for the old beggar.
When she was a child, she unfortunately contracted smallpox, and her biological parents abandoned her. She wandered around until she was luckily taken in and treated by the owner of the Wu's Pharmacy. After lying in bed for several months, she miraculously recovered! From then on, she stayed in the pharmacy, following her master up the mountain to dig herbs and learning how to treat the sick and save the dying.
The iron pan was getting slightly hot. Wu Luoluo skillfully kneaded the dough, divided it into several pieces, rolled them into pancakes, and stuck them one by one into the pan. Then she went to the stove and added some firewood. Before long, the delicious smell wafted out of the pan, making the hungry old beggar drool.