The Silly Alchemist

Zhen Xiaoyan shook her head. “Don’t ask me, I just followed Ye Lang’s instructions. I eat what he gives and do what he says. Also, mom, I have to stay at Ye Lang’s house for a couple of days. He a couple days’ break to accompany you all.”

“You’re going to his house? Sweetie, don’t you like Moya?” exclaimed Xiaoyan’s mother.

“Who do you actually like?” she questioned, “Moya has an amazing personality, and he is very capable too. The thirteenth prince of the Ye Family, however, is a no-no. But he is the thirteenth prince of the Ye Family, enough to make up for his shortcomings, so you could choose him…” Her mother went on and on without a pause to catch her breath.

“...Mom! I’m going to Ye Lang’s because my condition still needs monitoring... In case there are side effects from the medications so I can be treated as soon as possible,” Zhen Xiaoyan interrupted her mother when she found an opportunity to.

“If that was the case, why are you waiting a few days to go? Wouldn’t it better to go now?” asked her mother worriedly.

“Um… I’m going on a date… with Moya…” said a now red Zhen Xiaoyan softly.

“Ah… no wonder…” said her mother, smiling.

“Hmph! I’ve put in so much and suffered a lot for this, can’t I go on a date?” Zhen Xiaoyan stomped her foot lightly and ran inside.

“Xiaoyan, don’t run. I didn’t say you couldn’t go on a date. I’m just saying it’s your first date, don’t you want some advice from your mother?”

“No, thank you…”

Zhen Xiaoyan stared at her chest and asked her mother hesitantly:

“Mom, does the birthmark on my chest look like a phoenix?”

“Yeah, it does. It was difficult to tell when you were overweight, but it's very visible now and it even looks like it’s flying!”

“I agree, but that idiot Ye Lang said it looked like a big, fat chicken and that it was ugly…” muttered Zhen Xiaoyan under her breath.

“Well, that’s because he’s stupid- wait. How does he know about it? Did you… you know?”

“Ah, what? I don’t know, don’t ask me…”

During Zhen Xiaoyan’s stay at Ye Lang’s house, she had to soak her bare body in a tank filled with the medication. She got scared by something once and stood up, exposing her figure to Ye Lang.

Ye Lang, oblivious to what had happened, just examined her body carefully and told her that she was progressing well, and her body and skin were better than expected.

To this day, that idiot still had no clue as to what happened!

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Anyways, no one doubted Zhen Xiaoyan’s identity after reconfirming what had actually happened. They would’ve believed it anyway because Ye Lang said so. Most of the folk said that if he was very sure of it, it was definitely not fake news. The trust people have in him was astounding.

As for Ye Lang himself, he once again disappeared from the crowd after creating a miracle. Everyone was already used to his disappearing act, so they would put him at the back of their minds until he made another appearance.

It wasn’t the fact that no one would go and look for Ye Lang. It was just him taking a month of sick leave and to sleep for a few days, saying that it was to heal his body. So it was only normal that no one could get ahold of him.

In a month, everyone figured out how Ye Lang worked and there wasn’t a need to ask about the situation again. There were some small matters that required Ye Lang’s assistance, but even then only a handful of people required his help. 

During this month, Zhen Xiaoyan did more than just accompany Ye Lang. She made a lot of food in the morning, eating most of it and leaving a small portion for Ye Lang. 

Ye Lang would wake up to check her pulse and body. After the examination, he would then decide if he needed to administer the medication and give a treatment of acupuncture.

After her routine checkup, she would go for class and return to Ye Lang’s after school. She would let Ye Lang examine her body and then make something to eat. Though, she would need to delay this process if she were to go on a date!

It would be easy to describe the relationship between Ye Lang and Zhen Xiaoyan. They were, of course, friends. Next, they had a strictly professional relationship, between a doctor and a patient. Other than that, there was nothing shady with their relationship, at least for now.

Of course, this didn’t look as simple as it was in the eyes of the people. Many were even suspicious of the two!

For one, Ye Lang was not someone who cared about people’s opinions. To him, he was just doing what he was supposed to do, which was observing the condition of Zhen Xiaoyan and determining how to move forward with her treatment.

“Hey, fatty. After a month of observation and some analysis, I have come to the conclusion that there is still ...”

Zhen Xiaoyan just stared blankly at Ye Lang while he was talking about the results. While she didn’t understand a single thing he said, he dared not interrupt him, fearing that she would say something wrong and throw him off his thought.

After going on about the many preludes and procedures on how it was proven, Ye Lang finally said in a serious tone:

“I’m very sure you’re going to suffer a serious consequence from what we did!”

Zhen Xiaoyan wasn’t scared. Instead, she said to Ye Lang with a smile, “Just say it. I’ve prepared myself mentally for this. This one month living here with you was already more than I expected…”

Yes, she had lived longer than she expected. She honestly thought that she’d be very lucky to live for at least an hour and go on a date with Moya once. But it had already been a month, she was still very much alive and well and had even gone on eight dates with Moya.

But, would this next date really make her happy?

It probably would. At least, it was how she seemed on the outside. She wasn’t sure about it herself. Was she happy because she is with someone she loves or was it because she had finally done something she had always dreamt of?

Perhaps it was the latter, as she wasn’t afraid nor felt that it was a pity. Even if she turned back to the girl she once was, she’d already done what she wanted to!

“I’ll just say it, the side effect is…  indigestion. Since your digestive system was sealed for so long, it left irreversible damage. That means your digestive ability will be a fraction of a normal person,” said Ye Lang, frowning slightly.

Zhen Xiaoyan zoned out for a moment. She still hasn’t figured out the consequences of her sequela, so she asked Ye Lang, “Will I return become fat again? Will my skin turn black and ugly?”

“No, what I mean is that it’ll be difficult for you to get fat in the future!” Ye Lang said to Zhen Xiaoyan while shaking his head.

“Yeah! That’s great, I won’t be how I was before!”

At that moment, Zhen Xiaoyan beamed when she heard this.

But then, she thought of something else...