Pretending to Cultivate in Kindergarten-Chapter 227: The Hidden Library

“It’s nothing. I just thought you looked really nice today,” Lin Zhengran said casually.

But those offhand words made Fang Meng’s heart skip a beat.

Lin Zhengran continued, “Shall we go now?”

“Sure…”

They didn’t waste a single moment.

Fang Meng drove, taking Lin Zhengran toward her rural hometown.

While holding the steering wheel, Fang Meng would occasionally glance over at Lin Zhengran, who sat staring out the window deep in thought.

When they hit a red light, she stepped on the brake, shifted into neutral, and reached over to feel his pulse.

Lin Zhengran noticed her hand on his wrist and turned to look at her.

To her surprise, his pulse was completely normal—no, better than normal. From her experience, there was nothing wrong with his health. In fact, his meridians and pulse were far stronger and more balanced than most people’s.

In the modern world, no matter how well someone takes care of themselves, most people end up in a sub-healthy state because of the environment and lifestyle.

But not him. She had no idea how he maintained that level of health.

Out of concern, she asked,

“You’re not sick, are you? If you’re not feeling well, I can take you to a private hospital. That’s where the Eldest Miss and Qianqian go when they’re sick—the doctors there are the best.”

Lin Zhengran looked at her and smiled.

“Do I look sick? You can tell from my pulse I’m perfectly fine. I just got curious about something, and once I’m curious, I have to figure it out.”

Fang Meng withdrew her hand, finally relieved.

The light turned green, and she focused back on the road. “Can’t figure you out, but as long as you’re not sick, that’s good.”

“You off today?” Lin Zhengran asked. “Ever since you and Jiang Qian patched things up, you two have been glued at the hip again. Haven’t seen you around my house much.”

It was just a casual remark, but to Fang Meng, it almost sounded like—he missed her a little?

Of course, she also knew the old saying: There are three great illusions in life…

Still, when it’s someone you like, even the simplest words can make your mind wander.

“I asked for leave last night. My mom was on the phone with Auntie Lin, and I overheard her say you’d been holed up reading medical books for the past few days.

So I took the day off to come check on you,” she explained.

Fang Meng paused, then added, “Now that I see you’re okay, I feel better.”

After quite a bit of driving, they finally arrived at a village on the outskirts of Wisteria City.

Because Wisteria City is located on a plain, even these rural backroads were fairly easy to drive through. Once they left the city and passed a narrow road lined with trees, Fang Meng’s hometown came into view.

The village was called Fangzhuang.

Most people there had the surname Fang.

On the way, Fang Meng explained the story behind the library:

“My grandpa used to be the village accountant, and he was really close with a lot of the old men here. Even though he wasn’t a doctor himself, he had a deep interest in the medical field.

When he found out I was passionate about it too, he’d take me to visit those old doctors during the holidays, hoping I’d learn a thing or two.

Okay, maybe this sounds like I’m bragging, but those old doctors all thought I had talent. They said I was a natural—picked things up really quickly.

So they were all willing to teach me everything they knew. I couldn’t learn it all, of course, but over the years, I did absorb a lot.

Most of them were Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctors, which is why my TCM skills are way better than my Western medicine—by a long shot.”

She parked the car in front of what looked like an ancestral hall.

“After a few of the elders passed away, the remaining ones called me over a few years back and handed me the key to an old book library. It’s in here.”

“There were a lot of doctors in your village?” Lin Zhengran was curious.

In rural areas, it’s rare to have multiple doctors in one village. Usually it’s just one or two, otherwise they’d all be fighting over patients.

Fang Meng replied,

“According to my grandpa, hundreds of years ago, our village used to be called ‘Holy Medicine Village’.

Everyone here studied medicine. But after a few generations and some wars, the whole thing fell apart.

Now there are barely any people left who know TCM.

Younger folks aren’t interested in medicine anymore. It was just a dozen or so elderly doctors still hanging on—otherwise they wouldn’t have passed it on to me.”

The two of them got out of the car.

Looking at the old, solemn ancestral hall, Lin Zhengran asked,

“A hall like this—can outsiders even go in?”

Fang Meng replied,

“We’re not going into the hall. The library’s no problem. I asked the old doctors before—they said these books were once priceless secrets that shouldn’t be shared.

But now that their generation is gone, nobody even bothers reading them anymore.

As long as the knowledge can be passed on, they’d be happy.”

She pointed to a small path nearby. “This way.”

She led Lin Zhengran down a narrow trail, just wide enough for two people side by side.

They walked through until they reached a locked old house, just to the left of the ancestral hall.

Fang Meng pulled a key from her pocket and unlocked the door.

The wooden door creaked open, revealing a room filled with shelves and books.

Lin Zhengran was stunned.

The place had a unique, almost mystical vibe.

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Fang Meng continued,

“These are all pretty standard books. The older texts you’re looking for should be in here.”

She walked over to a shelf on the right and pulled out another key from inside her shirt.

Feeling around in a corner, she eventually found a hidden keyhole. A soft click echoed as the mechanism unlocked.

Fang Meng smiled and tried to push the bookshelf aside. Lin Zhengran came over to help.

Once the bookshelf was moved, a hidden door was revealed behind it.

Fang Meng pushed it open, and inside the old house, a smaller, secret library—about one-third the size of the main room—was revealed.

All the books inside were ancient and worn.

Lin Zhengran stepped in carefully and began inspecting them.

Fang Meng explained,

“I’ve browsed through these before. Honestly, it’s no surprise they were lost over time.

A lot of what’s written in here doesn’t match the modern world anymore. Some of it’s not even in its original form—

many of the methods are written in such cryptic or exaggerated language, and some of them don’t apply at all to modern illnesses.

But there are a lot of strange, rare case studies.”

Flipping through a few, Lin Zhengran nodded. “Yeah, it’s written in a really convoluted way. And you can tell a lot of it was recopied by later generations.”

Still, there was something strange…

With his Level 2 Master of All Things, Lin Zhengran could actually understand most of it.

While a lot of these ancient texts might not have much use now,

if one day they could be integrated and cross-referenced with modern theory,

they could be incredibly valuable.

He carefully searched for the cardiovascular-related books he needed, then sat down and began reading.

Fang Meng watched him focus so intently and pointed off to the side.

“There are chairs over there. You can sit and read. I’ll stay with you.”

“No need—I’m good like this. Thanks, Fang Meng. You’ve really helped me a lot this time.”

Hearing that made Fang Meng smile. “It’s nothing.”