Chapter 8 Born on the same day, same year, same month

family……

Coming to this strange world alone, Chen Ji could only touch this world cautiously and sense its mystery and danger.

Every step is like walking on the edge of a cliff, and you may fall into the abyss at any time.

The word "family" has a special appeal to him.

Chen Ji was very clearly aware that the so-called family members were only the family members of this body, and he was a stowaway who broke into this world after the other party died.

But a hint of curiosity arose in my heart... What if he came into this world after his parents passed away?
After the morning class, Chen Ji and his two brothers squatted beside the large water tank in the southeast corner of the yard to wash.

He took a willow branch, pressed the willow wood inside into a brush shape, and imitated his other fellow disciples, and began to scrape his teeth roughly.

The tall and strong senior brother who had slept soundly last night squatted on the ground with a grin on his face: "Master is in a bad mood today, don't mess with him, it hurts so much, even my father has never beaten me so hard!"

Chen Ji spat out the salt water in his mouth and asked tentatively: "Maybe practicing this will be useful?"

Liu Quxing curled his lips: "What's the use? I've been practicing for more than a year and I don't feel anything. Do you feel anything?"

"No," Chen Ji shook his head. He confirmed that only he could feel the warm current.

The tall and strong senior brother asked while brushing his teeth: "Liu Quxing, when your mother comes later, will she bring the delicious fried cakes like last time?"

The thin Liu Quxing rolled his eyes and spit out his mouthwash: "She Dengke, stop thinking about the food my mother sent you."

She Dengke was unhappy: "We are all fellow disciples, what's wrong with eating your food?"

Chen Ji laughed cheerfully and said, "Yeah, what's wrong with eating some of your food?"

At this time, Old Man Yao came out of the main room carrying a bamboo stick and said, "You still feel like joking? When I test your academic performance tomorrow, I'll see if you can still laugh. Go back to the main hall and recite your lessons."

After washing up, the three brothers didn't even have breakfast, but sat in a row on the threshold of the clinic, each holding a medical book and flipping through it.

In fact, everyone's mind was no longer on the books. They were just waiting anxiously for their families to send money and food. Only Chen Ji was flipping through the books silently, because he had too many gaps to fill.

She Dengke said, "Master will test our knowledge tomorrow. Brothers, we share the joys and sorrows together. No one is allowed to review secretly. Do you hear me?"

Liu Quxing rolled his eyes and said, "I haven't read the book recently, and I have forgotten everything my master taught me."

She Dengke sneered and clenched his fists: "You better tell the truth, kid!"

Liu Quxing shrank his neck and said, "Why don't you talk about Chen Ji? He got the least amount of bamboo sticks this morning, and he's still reading a book now!"

She Dengke closed the book in Chen Ji's hand and said, "Don't read it. We will be beaten together tomorrow. My father asked someone to calculate for me and he said I can live to be over 70 years old. Master can't beat me to death!"

Chen Ji: "...Is the horoscope so hard?"

Time seems to have returned to the harsh yet beautiful high school days, when we went to class and went home shoulder to shoulder, sweated together on the playground, and got scolded by the teacher together.

Chen Ji thought, if life would be like this after coming to this world, would he be able to accept it? It seemed possible.

After a while, Liu Quxing jumped out and met a middle-aged woman in a green skirt.

The woman wore a silver hairpin on her head and a pair of embroidered shoes. She looked elegant and gentle, and a maid followed behind her.

When she saw Liu Quxing, she smiled, her smile was particularly gentle: "Xing'er, have you made Master angry recently?"

"No, no, Master likes me very much, how could I make him angry?" Liu Quxing happily handed a bundle to the other party: "Mom, this is my change of clothes, go back and wash them for me."

She Dengke sat on the doorstep and sneered: "You are such a loser. You are so old and still keep your clothes for your mother to wash!"

The woman took the clothes and handed a wooden box and a cloth package from the maid to Liu Quxing: "The cloth package contains this month's tuition money and some clothes for replacement. The box contains some snacks that I made for you. You can share them with your fellow apprentices."

At this moment, Chen Ji clearly heard She Dengke swallowing his saliva.

However, Liu Quxing did not give them the snacks. He opened the box on the spot and stuffed the fried cakes and mung bean cakes into his mouth one by one.

Liu Quxing spent two quarters of an hour stuffing the snacks into his throat, and then he returned the box to the woman: "Mom, you can take the box back."

Chen Ji: Ah?

She Dengke murmured: "You fucking ..."

The mother and son talked for a while, and then Liu Quxing came back happily carrying the cloth package, and even burped when he stepped over the threshold.

Gradually, more and more people walked on the street. Children were chasing and playing in the alleys between the scattered buildings, and women were carrying basins to wash clothes by the Luo River.

Someone was driving a bullock cart eastward, and the cows would swing their tails and drop feces, and the whole street was filled with the smell of grass mixed with mud.

Chen Ji was immersed in it.

She Dengke and Chen Ji waited anxiously until noon, when a capable man came with a bundle.

The dark-skinned man was wearing a short jacket and gray cloth pants. He rolled up his sleeves to reveal his twisted tattoos: "Youngest!"

"Third brother!" She Dengke's eyes suddenly lit up.

The man laughed heartily and said, "I got up early to go to the East Market to help someone, so I wasted time. Here, these are two pieces of bacon that mother prepared for you. One piece is for your master, and the other piece is for you to keep."

"Where did the meat come from?!" She Dengke asked in surprise.

"My eldest brother and I went into the mountains a few days ago and encountered a wild boar. Unfortunately, it was a male and had a fishy smell," the third brother responded with a smile.

She Dengke smiled happily: "It's good enough to have meat to eat, why should I care about the fishy smell!"

"Let's go. A wealthy family in the East Market is holding a party tonight. I'll go and help set up the stage, and I may even be able to watch a show," the third brother said decisively, turned around and left without any hesitation.

She Dengke strode back to the clinic. Liu Quxing leaned against the door frame and said sourly, "I heard that the meat of male mountain pigs smells like urine..." Chen Ji exclaimed, "Senior Brother Liu, you are simply the moral low point of our clinic."

She Dengke glared at Liu Quxing fiercely: "Do you believe that I can break your front teeth?"

Liu Quxing immediately shrank his neck, and turned to look at Chen Ji again: "Your family hasn't come yet at this time, so your family probably won't come, right?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "I don't know."

Liu Quxing gloated, "Maybe they are unwilling to pay your tuition. Two hundred coins a month is indeed not a small amount for an average family. Or you can go and ask the master to give you some leniency."

As soon as he finished speaking, Old Man Yao stood behind the counter, counting the bills, and said slowly: "The law is not passed on lightly, the way is not sold cheaply, the teacher is not on the way, and the doctor does not knock on the door. I only teach those who are sincere. If your family thinks that even two hundred coins are too much, then you don't need to learn."

"I understand, Master," Chen Ji responded.

She Dengke scratched his head and said, "Master, we will take care of you in your old age and see you to the end of your life. We have some feelings for you."

Old man Yao stroked his beard and said, "Sons may not be truly filial to their biological fathers, how can I count on you? When you are old, you will see everything clearly. Money is the most important thing. Feelings will change. The longer you live, the more humiliation you will suffer. Only with money can you have dignity. Your family will give you money for schooling, and I will teach you skills. There is no need for too much master-disciple relationship between us."

Chen Ji sat silently on the doorstep, from early morning to noon, and from noon to evening.

Chen Ji returned to the clinic at three o'clock last night and was tortured by the ice flow until five o'clock. He could not bear it anymore, so he leaned against the door frame and fell asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, someone patted Chen Ji's shoulder and he opened his eyes tiredly.

She Dengke was holding a bowl of rice, picking at the bacon while mumbling, "Chen Ji, why don't you go eat something first? I'll watch here, and I'll call you when your family comes."

Chen Ji did not answer.

Opposite the clinic, employees from the restaurant, pawnshop, and grain and oil shop came out and put up the doors one by one in preparation for closing.

A waiter saw Chen Ji and greeted him with a smile: "Little Doctor Chen, are you waiting for someone?"

He smiled and responded, "Yeah."

However, Chen Ji's family never came, and his biological parents could not forget such an agreement.

As the sun's afterglow gradually sank to the west, the number of people returning home gradually decreased, and the light and shadow faded from his face little by little until night fell.

Someone once said, never wake up at dusk.

At that moment, the distant bells fell silent along with the world, and the sun passed the horizon. You looked at the gray sky and it seemed particularly distant, as if it was going away alone.

He suddenly remembered that before the gears of fate turned, someone had asked him:
“Can you stand being alone?”

Chen Ji replied at the time: “Yes.”

……

……

The evening glow fell and finally disappeared behind the scattered buildings.

Chen Ji sat on the doorstep and watched the last shop opposite close its door and the last pedestrian go home. Then he stood up and brushed off the dust on his body.

Life has to go on. Back to reality, he has to think seriously about his situation:

At this time, Old Man Yao was standing behind the counter counting the bills. He said disdainfully without even looking up, "Why, your family doesn't want you anymore?"

Chen Ji thought that his master's words were like poison. He smiled and responded, "Master, maybe they were delayed by something. They will send the money tomorrow."

Old man Yao sneered, "You've been with me for two years. The other two families at least knew to bring me some gifts during the holidays, but your family has never given me anything. Even if you can pay the tuition on time, I don't want you as my apprentice anymore."

"Give me a month, and then maybe I can pay for my studies without relying on my family," Chen Ji said sincerely.

Old Man Yao shook his head: "Who wouldn't make an empty promise?"

Chen Ji thought for a moment and said, "The monthly tuition fee is 200 coins. Please give me a month's grace. I will pay 240 coins every month from now on."

Old Man Yao pondered for a moment, took out a copper coin from his sleeve and tossed it six times. After interpreting the hexagram, he said calmly: "This is quite sincere... But how can you make money from an apprentice who is not even qualified to pay a consultation fee?"

"I'll find a way."

"Oh, you are so arrogant. You are just an apprentice now and you can't even take a pulse. How can you make money?" Old man Yao sneered while fiddling with the beads on the abacus.

Liu Quxing, who was watching the fun, was happy: "Chen Ji, how about I give you a hand?"

"How do you plan to help, Brother Liu?" Chen Ji asked.

"The three of us take turns to work. Tomorrow it's my turn to fetch water, sweep the yard, and mop the main hall floor. If you can help mop the floor, I'll give you two cents; if you can sweep the yard, I'll give you one cent; if you can fill the water jar, I'll give you two cents. It's not much, but at least I can earn fifty cents a month."

The classes among the apprentices became clear immediately.

Chen Ji: "Okay, I'll help Brother Liu with the work."

She Dengke looked at Old Man Yao: "Master, is this appropriate?"

"As long as you can make up the tuition for me, it will be fine," said old man Yao calmly.

She Dengke looked at Chen Ji and said, "Aren't you angry? Liu Quxing treats you like a chore."

Chen Ji smiled and said, "Senior Brother Liu is also helping me."

"What a crap Senior Brother Liu. You and I were born on the same day, month and year, even the time of birth is the same. Why does he have the right to be my senior brother?" She Dengke said disdainfully.

Chen Ji was stunned for a moment. Why did the imperial physician choose three people with the same horoscope as his apprentices?
(End of this chapter)