Translator’s note:
The editor and I met Jiang Yuelou and Chen Yuzhi, two polar opposites who would meet and fall in love during a troubled time in the Republic of China, in the wonderful drama called “Killer and Healer”. Not ready to leave them we started translating the novel that you are about to read. This is our first time translating a novel, so we are still in the process of learning. If there are any mistakes please feel free to let us know.
This is the first part of the novel (Book 1). Book 2 just came out recently and we will also continue to translate it.
I hope you will enjoy this novel and thank you so much for reading it!
P.S.: Killer and Healer is one of the most underrated Chinese dramas and it’s a must-watch. So, if you enjoy the novel, you should definitely give it a try to the drama which can be found on Youtube: https://youtube.com/watch?v=5zFzuEMgqG4&list=PL0PsHrQxhYwSBDiXLJiPQtmGiWT2yy6Fl&index=3
Translator-Lucyferase
Editor-Alysia
Prologue
Jingcheng, 8th day of the 12th lunar month, Laba festival.
This year, Jingcheng was extremely cold. There were several heavy snowfalls during the winter, and on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, it got even colder. At this time, the sky was getting dark. The north wind was blowing snowflakes, which made people’s faces hurt. The icy ground people stepped on was reflecting the pale moonlight – it was like “the wind was blowing snowflakes like flowers, and the moonlight reflects on the ice crystals like a broken mirror.”*
Anchasi Street was probably the most prosperous street in Jingcheng. But at that time, no pedestrians could be seen on the street, and all the shops were closed. Only some laughter came out of the cracked windows, and some smoke was floating out of the chimneys. Every family was celebrating the holiday. The warm light shined from the paper window, which made the street outside seem even more cold and desolate.
A figure came over the corner in a hurry. With the moonlight, one can see he was a teenager. His hair was disheveled, the cotton-padded jacket he wore was torn, and his old cotton trousers were full of patches. On one foot, he was wearing dirty cotton shoes, and on the other, he was wearing straw shoes. He was around 12 or 13 years old, with a dirty face and wounds all over his body. It wasn’t clear whether these wounds were due to the cold or for being beaten.
This beggar-like teenager was holding his arms tightly and was huddling his neck as he walked along the street. He didn’t dare walk slowly as the ragged cotton-padded jacket couldn’t resist the north wind. But he couldn’t run faster because he hasn’t found any food to eat today, so he didn’t have any strength left.
Wealthy people lived on this lane. They hired workers to spread gravel and cinder on the pavement to prevent people from stumbling, as opposed to the back lane, which was icy and difficult to walk due to the snow. But as soon as the teenager ran a few steps, the sole of the straw shoe was punctured by a larger cinder. He hissed, picked up the sole of his foot, and took a look. The sole of the shoe had been worn out, revealing the bare soles of his feet to the cold. The teenager cursed and limped to the side of a street to sit down. He happened to sit outside the largest pawnshop in this street. The shopkeeper inside who set up a banquet was drinking wine with the masters and other people and probably hired a singer to sing some songs.
A gentle female voice was singing with the pipa, “When I love him, I love the first moon, when I like to see the plum tip moon when I think of him, I say a few Xijiangyue, I hope that when I look forward to the moon…”*
The teenager didn’t understand the song but was drawn by the faint aroma of wine and meat. He leaned over and looked in through the cracks of the door, but refused to open his mouth and beg like a beggar. Instead, he just looked at it.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Pcrlvf, abjralcu jcv qijslcu ofralnji ujwfr kfgf ilnfis. Lbk mjc jcsbcf atlcx bo j mtliv bearlvf ktb kjr rajgnlcu jcv ogffhlcu ogbw atf mbiv? Ktf affcjufg ibbxfv ja la obg j ibcu alwf jcv rjlv cbatlcu. Vevvfcis, tf xlmxfv atf vbbg, aegcfv jgbecv, jcv gjc. Lf gjc j ofk rafqr jcv rabqqfv ktfc tf rjk cbybvs kjr mtjrlcu tlw. Ca atlr alwf, atf mbiv klcv ugfk ragbcufg, rcbk mierafglcu bc qfbqif’r cfmxr. Fcjyif ab rajcv atf mbiv, tf geyyfv tlr tjcvr jcv rilqqfv vbkc atf kjii.
Suddenly, he smelled a fragrance of medicine. The teenager raised his head slightly and surprisingly found himself sitting outside of a hospital. He could read the three gold characters “Cun Ren Tang”* on the blackboard; the sign looked a little faded. Even though the shop was closed, the light was on, and a warm orange light passed through the thin paper window and reflected on the snow. Someone was talking inside.
“Yuzhi, Mrs. Yu has a high fever, and her pulse is fast and strong, so to treat her condition we should use Chengqi soup*. So why did you use Wu Ju and Chuan Lian** treatment instead?” This was said by an old man with a calm voice.
“Master, Mrs. Yu can’t drink the soup, as she was vomiting a lot. We should then try something dry and sour to stop her from vomiting. So that is why I used Wu Ju and Chuan Lian to reduce the vomiting.”
The answer came from a little boy, his voice was still childish, but his tone was firm.
The man hummed in approval and said, “She took two pills of your medicine, and she stopped vomiting already and can ready eat some porridge today. You can now change the treatment and match it with the Chengqi soup.”
“Okay.”
At this time, the wind gradually weakened, and the teenager outside the window was bored listening, so he snuggled and wanted to close his eyes for a moment.
The boy spoke again, “Master, today three more opium dens are opening on Jiumu land, near Liangyuan Road. I saw it when I went to deliver medicine at noon.”
The teenager opened his eyes wide after hearing this.
The old man took a long pause before nodding in acknowledgment.
The boy said, “There was one shop called Wu Zhong Qu*. It had three courtyards and more than 20 couches, but there was still not enough space. There were long queues of crowds to the street. Some people were lying on the mat in the middle of the courtyard smoking opium.
“You went in?”
“I…”
The teenager eavesdropped on the conversation outside the window and forgot the cold. His face surged with resentment as if he remembered something unbearable from the past…
After a moment, the man sighed, “What’s the point of all of this when they are still so young? Once they start smoking opium, they can’t stop themselves anymore. People who smoke a lot: not only will forget to eat but will go into despair so they can smoke again. They will sell their house or go to the extent to sell their wives and daughters.”
The teenager clenched his fist, wanting to punch the wall. But he resisted again and only clenched his teeth as if to suppress his anger.
“Master, although one person’s strength is small, it is still better than nothing. If our generation of young people realizes the evil effect of opium poisoning, it will be eradicated one day. The boy continued, “I heard that there are books on drugs in Western medicine. When I go to Japan, I must learn the method to treat drug addiction.”
The man was silent for a long time, then said, “Yu Zhi, you are still young. You don’t understand the reality of this world. Something can’t be done even with good medical skills…”
Then a girl’s voice came in, “Dad, brother, mother said it’s time to eat, hurry or else the food will get cold.”
The man hummed again, and the boy replied, “Master, you and sister can go first; I will pack up everything and join you after.”
The teenager outside returned to his senses and found that his face was full of tears. He wiped his face furiously with his sleeves and slowly stood up against the wall.
Just then, the door of the hospital opened, and a boy slightly smaller than him came out in front of him. The two of them looked at each other and were stunned for a while.
The boy was bundled in a clean cotton-padded shirt. His black hair was swirling in the breeze, exposing a pair of wide, round black eyes on his white face.
The teenage boy glanced down at his own tattered clothing and dirty toes, which were exposed by the holes in his shoes. He sniffed, rubbed his face, stood up, and turned to leave.
Surprisingly, after a long period of squatting in the freezing weather, his legs and feet had already frozen and were completely numbed. The teenager fell face-first onto the ground. His face and elbows were so excruciatingly painful that he gritted his teeth to prevent himself from shouting in pain.
The boy behind him put down his belongings and went straight into the house. The teenager felt angry and humiliated. He struggled to turn over and sit on the ground, rubbing his two frozen numb legs desperately.
“Don’t move.” A soft voice said.
The teenager looked up and saw that the boy came back to him. He was holding a can of ointment in his hand, crouched down in front of him, and stretched out his two clean hands to apply medicine.
“What are you doing?” The teenager wanted to push his hands away.
“This ointment can increase blood circulation, avoid blood stasis and unblock the meridians.”
The young boy ignored his refusal and started to massage him solemnly. As the boy was touching his face, it seemed that he didn’t care at all about the dirt on his body.
“The frostbite on your hands also needs to be treated. I will apply it for you after washing your face later.”
The teenager didn’t know what to say.
The boy raised his deer-like eyes and looked at him: “How long have you been staying here? Why didn’t you knock on the door?”
“I…” The teenager suddenly said, “I’m not a beggar.”
The boy bowed his head and continued to massage him, “Today is Laba. You can celebrate the holiday with us. My master and mother are kind-hearted people, and they won’t mind.”
The teenager suddenly pushed him away, staggered up, and roared at the boy, “I said, I’m not a beggar! You don’t need to pity me!”
He suddenly thought of his home, of his mother who cooked sweet porridge for him during Laba Festival. He thought of his father, and how he also sat together at the table to ask about his homework. If it weren’t for the opium, if it weren’t for the smokehouse, he could sit around a table happily for the festival like the boy in front of him.
“Get out of my way! I don’t need your fake pity!” He screamed again and was unable to stop his tears anymore.
The boy was almost knocked down by him, but the round deer-like eyes didn’t have a single trace of anger in them.
“Please stay here, I’ll call my Master.” He said, then turned around and ran into the hospital.
When he saw his reaction, the young man’s anger suddenly disappeared. He felt ashamed and started to feel an indescribable grievance. He stood up and turned around and quickly ran away.
By the time the boy led the middle-aged man outside, the street was empty. The man stood for a moment and shook his head before getting back to the house. The boy stayed outside and looked around longer, hoping to find the trace of the teenager.
Snowflakes were still floating. The pawnshop not far away was still lively. The woman sang “I hate this person that I cannot have. When I forget the camp, and the wind is quiet at night. From then on, the boat passed away, and the river and sea sent the rest of his life…”
Footnotes
*a poem by Lu Wen.
*it’s a Yuan Dynasty song.
*Wu Zhong Qu- Tibetan elephant terminology. Refers to the emotional activities generated by the five internal organs so here I am assuming they meant that if they take opium all the five internal organs will give the user a sense of delight and joy.
* Cun Ren Tang- a large room with the purpose of saving people.
*Chengqi soup- is a type of cure.
**Wu Ju and Chuan Lian types of plants/herbs used in Chinese medicine.
We’re off to a good start.
Thanks for the chapter! ♡
Hope you will enjoy this novel! This a very plot-driven novel but when sweet interactions happen between the two leads you will love them!
OMG!!!! I didn’t see this encounter happening. As expected the novel mentions some differences, but they are so good. The drama was also filmed beautifully, with all the little gestures and mimic, especially their feelings<3
I am so happy to have found this novel and you translating it. ❤😍
Thank you, hope you gonna like it!😀
Yes the drama was amazing and the chemistry between the two male leads was terrific! And the author in the novel made their interactions even better! ❤
so i have already watched the drama while it was airing. I as a person who doesn’t really read novels after i watch LA adaptations but these two really left me wanting more of them. And now I finally got the time & mood to read the novel. Thank you for picking up this work 🥰 K&H is indeed very underrated 😓 criminally underrated. I feel it might blow up some time with the audience in near future when the waters are calm. (i really hope so)
Where do I find the the rest of the chapter after chapter27