A young boy from the 1970s, separated from his family, fled famine and led his younger brother into

Su Nianci did not sleep that night.

By the time she put the magnifying glass down, the first rooster crowed outside the window.

On the desk lay a chart, her father's handwritten prescriptions, and her own transcribed notebooks—three things that filled the entire surface.

She sat in the chair and looked at the "Su Family Hall" seal again until her eyes were sore. Then she stood up and neatly arranged the things on the table.

The first thing she did after daybreak was to retrieve the iron box left by her father from the bottom of the closet in her bedroom.

The tin box wasn't big, about the width of a palm and three fingers thick, covered in rust, and the paint on the lid had long since worn away.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and opened the metal box.

She had looked through the contents countless times—three letters, two old photos, and a military medal.

The letter was yellowed and cracked at the creases. She dared not unfold it again, for each unfolding would cause further wear and tear.

The photo is older, black and white, with curled corners, and the date and location are written in pencil on the back.

Su Nianci placed the two photos side by side on her lap.

The first picture shows the father, Su Weiguo, standing at the gate of the sentry post in military uniform. He is young, thin, and smiling broadly.

The second photo is a family portrait of her when she was a child. Her father is holding her, her mother is standing next to her, and there is an earthen wall in the background.

She flipped the two photos over; one was captioned "Autumn 1971, at the post," and the other "Spring 1973, at home."

There is no information about their ancestors.

She closed the metal box, went to the study, and dialed Zhang Chengzhi's number.

The phone rang six times before it was answered.

"Nianci? Calling so early in the morning, what happened?"

Zhang Chengzhi's voice was still muffled, as if he had just woken up.

Su Nianci sat at her desk, opened the last page of the diagram, and placed it in front of her.

"Grandpa Zhang, I have a question for you."

"you say."

Did my father ever mention to you what the Su family's ancestors did before he passed away?

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Su Nianci could hear Zhang Chengzhi's breathing slow down, as if he was recalling something from a long time ago.

About half a minute later, Zhang Chengzhi's voice came through again.

Why are you suddenly asking this?

"An'an brought back an old herbal medicine manual from outside. On the last page, there was a seal with the three characters 'Su Family Hall' written on it."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

This time it will take even longer.

Su Nianci held the microphone without urging him.

Zhang Chengzhi finally spoke, but his speech was much slower than usual.

"Once, the winter before he left, the two of us were drinking in the barracks."

"He doesn't usually drink much, but that day, I don't know what happened, he just chug down almost half a bottle by himself."

"As they drank more, they started talking more and said things they wouldn't normally say."

"What did he say?"

Zhang Chengzhi's voice had a faint hue.

He said, "My great-grandfather was a barefoot doctor who traveled from street to street, carrying a medicine box and crossing mountains to treat patients. Later, the war broke out and his line of doctors was cut off."

Su Nianci tapped her finger on the table and then stopped.

Did he say anything else?

"He said something, and I remember it very clearly."

Zhang Chengzhi's breathing became heavy.

He said, "It's a pity I didn't learn it. If I had, I could have saved more people on the battlefield."

Su Nianci moved the microphone an inch away from her ear and stared at the atlas on the table for several seconds.

She put the microphone back on.

"Grandpa Zhang, thank you."

"Nianci".

"Um?"

"What did you discover?"

Su Nianci's gaze fell on her father's handwritten prescription next to the illustration.

The two documents are separated by several generations, and the paper is half a century old, but the format of the prescription is consistent from beginning to end—first draw the shape of the plant, then indicate the place of origin and processing method, and finally add a mnemonic for using the medicine.

"I discovered that the prescriptions my father left me weren't just copied down randomly."

Her voice trailed off.

"It's a family heirloom."

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.

When Zhang Chengzhi's voice came through again, it was damp.

"If Wei Guo knew you had taken this path, he would be happier than anyone else."

Su Nianci hung up the phone and put the receiver back on the landline.

She turned around and saw Lu Xingzhou standing at the door of the study at some point.

He was wearing an old T-shirt, his hair was unkempt, and he was leaning against the door frame watching her, holding a glass of warm water in his hand.

"How long have you been listening?"

"From the moment you dial."

Su Nianci took the water glass, took a sip, and placed it on the corner of the table.

Lu Xingzhou walked in and sat down in the chair opposite her.

"What do you want to do?"

Su Nianci pushed the diagram and her father's prescription side by side to the middle of the table.

"This illustrated book contains seven lost prescriptions that the academic community has been searching for for decades without finding them all."

"The handwritten prescriptions my father left behind are recorded in the exact same format as the illustrated prescriptions, and even the annotation habits haven't changed."

"The Su family ancestors were barefoot doctors who ran a pharmacy, but the lineage was broken due to war."

She pressed her finger on the cover of the book.

"These prescriptions were lost on the way, but they didn't die. They came from my great-grandfather's medicine chest, and after decades of war and displacement, they took an unexpected turn and were brought back by my brother in exchange for two cans of luncheon meat from under an old hunter's table."

She raised her head and looked into Lu Xingzhou's eyes.

"These prescriptions can't be left to rot in my hands."

Lu Xingzhou looked at her, his gaze darkening.

He didn't ask her what she planned to do specifically, nor how long it would take.

He only said two words.

"I am here."

Su Nianci's lips curved slightly, a very faint smile.

She lowered her head again, opened the notebook she had been copying, picked up her pen, and continued proofreading the parts she hadn't finished the night before.

Lu Xingzhou sat opposite her, quietly watching her write. He didn't even stand up after finishing his glass of water; he just stayed there with her.

The sunlight outside the window moved from the east to the south, and then from the south to the west.

Su Nianci sat at her desk all day.

The notebook was more than half full, covered with dense red pen annotations. Every questionable dosage and preparation method was marked with a number, awaiting further verification.

In the evening, she finally put down her pen and rubbed her aching wrists.

The piece of paper lying on the table had five words written at the top.

Collection of Su's Effective Prescriptions

The next morning, Banxia carried a bowl of porridge into the study. Her short legs almost tripped her when she stepped over the threshold, but the porridge wobbled a couple of times without spilling.

She walked to the desk and saw her mother asleep, slumped over it.

Su Nianci's left cheek was pressed against the table, a piece of paper with writing on it was under her hand, and she was breathing evenly, sleeping soundly.

Banxia placed the bowl of porridge in the small empty space at the corner of the table, and tiptoed over to look at the piece of paper under her mother's hand.

Most of the paper was sticking out, with several large characters written on it. The ink wasn't completely dry yet, and it left a reversed mark on Su Nianci's cheek.

Banxia tilted her head, opened her mouth, and read out each word one by one.

"Collection of Su's Prescriptions"

After she finished reading it, she looked at it again to make sure she hadn't misread it, and then tugged at Su Nianci's sleeve.

"Mom, what's this?"

Su Nianci was awakened by her voice. She groggily lifted her head from the table, her eyelids not yet fully open.

Banxia stared at her face and suddenly giggled.

"Mom, there are words on your face!"

Su Nianci reached out and touched her cheek, her fingertips brushing against a damp ink stain.

She glanced down at the black marks on her fingers, then looked up at Banxia's smiling face, revealing her gap-toothed grin.

"How big are the characters?"

Banxia made a circle with both hands.

"So big! There's a 'square' character imprinted on your nose!"