After arguing with the worm that fancied itself a dragon, Yi You paid it no further attention, hurrying instead to pack the few belongings she had in preparation to move in with Grandfather Three.

    The morning after, Grandfather Three came early to wake her up and escorted her to his house. His home wasn't large, but it was significantly better than Yi You's. However, that didn’t matter to her; just being there without being threatened with eviction was more than enough.

    "Grandfather Three, here are the sweets," she didn't forget to bring the sweet potato treats she had prepared for the old man.

    At the Chen hour, Yi You walked to the Study Hall, although she didn’t understand why since all that happened there was getting mocked by her siblings.

    Despite that, she sat quietly in a corner of the room, following a rule that all children had to attend.

    After leaving the Study Hall post-lunch and finishing her chores, she went to the library. She didn't realize how hard it was to be a child until she had to haul a water bucket to mop the floor. The young girl hurriedly mopped the library's floor, then sat down to read. Knowing her time was limited, she managed to read only about ten books before moving to the Medicinal Hall to clean.

    The library was deserted, but the Medicinal Hall was a bustling hub where people continuously came in and out to fetch or sell medicines. When one young girl clumsily lugged a water bucket around, she naturally drew attention.

    "Little Seventeen, why are you mopping here?" a middle-aged man asked.

    "I volunteered, sir. I like to be useful," she replied.

    "You're still young."

    "It’s alright, sir. I can handle it," she smiled at the man, who was her Uncle Second.

    "That's good. Learn to be useful rather than being a burden up until you’re grown, then get kicked out by the family," another middle-aged man commented sarcastically.

    "Elder, she's just five years old. If you can't be compassionate, just leave her be. Are you really criticizing a child?"

    "Second, what right do you have to lecture me?" With that, the man stormed off angrily.

    "It's okay, Seventeen. If you want to do it, just do it. I will leave you to it."

    "Thank you, sir."

    After finishing her tasks, Yi You stopped by Grandfather Five’s room where he lay in a deep sleep. She wiped him down and scanned his body for any changes, a routine she followed daily for a month. Yi You read every book about Qi point healing in the library and finally found a way to help her grandfather.

    However, what she lacked were resources.

    Now, she was nearly broke because of that greedy worm; it demanded food daily. How could she afford to feed it when all she could manage was to gather leaves from the garden for it to eat?

    The demanding worm ate and complained. The young girl dared not feed it any good herbs from Grandfather Three’s garden, fearing it might get accustomed to them, and she wouldn’t be able to afford more. Thus, she kept the greedy worm locked up in the room.

    "Grandfather Three may I have some Ai Ye [1]leaves?" Ai Ye leaves were an herb known to help activate Qi points.

    "What are you doing with them? Don't tell me you're thinking of unleashing your Qi points."

    "No, grandfather. I’m going to use them for Grandfather Five," the young girl replied honestly.

    "You plan to heal Grandfather Five?" the elder asked with raised eyebrows, surprised.

    "Grandfather Three," Yi You whispered softly, cupping her hands, "I secretly read some books in the library. I found that combining Ai Ye leaves with dew grass and Shi Liu [2]fruits could help."

    "I've never heard of such a thing; many doctors have come, and none mentioned it," the elder looked at her skeptically.

    "The method you're talking about is a general way to activate Qi points. Your life force is dwindling; it's not a matter of the Qi points, is it?"

    The young girl scratched her head awkwardly, not sure how to explain, her face showing her troubled thoughts. However, this expression only made the elder feel more sympathetic towards her.

    "Just a few herbs. If you want to try, then go ahead," hearing this, the young girl beamed.

    "Thank you so much, Grandfather Three," she said, then turned and ran off quickly.

    The elder stood watching the little figure run away, his eyes filled with complex emotions. A child unable to activate her own Qi points had cleverly found a way to do so.

    But this attempt was not for herself, but for her grandfather.

    Yi You wasted no time gathering the herbs, hoping to brew them for Grandfather Five. Unable to concoct medicines herself, she resorted to basic preparations. However, distracted by her task, she placed the herbs on the table and ran to fetch a pot. When she returned, she found the greedy worm devouring the last of her herbs.

    "You stinky worm!" she yelled furiously, shaking the worm vigorously.

    "Give back my herbs, you greedy worm."

    "Hmpt! Are you trying to kill me, stinky face? You’ve never brought me any good herbs but when I only had a couple of bites, you’re complaining. Fine, I can give them back."

    SPIT!

    A pellet of medicine was spat onto the table. The little girl paused, looking from the worm to the pellet.

    "Wh..what did you just spit out?"

    "It's the herbs I just ate, duh. I ate them and spat them out." The worm voice sound annoyed.

    "You can concoct medicine?"

    "Yes, but you never let me have good herbs."

    The grey worm wriggled out of the young girl's hand and crawled to a corner of the chair where she slumped down in shock.

    "I... I'm sorry. You never told me," the young girl realized her mistake.

    But in truth, the worm didn't know it could process herbs either; it was just pretending it did,

    for attention.

    This must be a Qi point-activating medicine, she thought, recalling from her readings that such medicines shouldn't be used in large quantities as they could harm the body by forcing it to activate Qi points. If used too often, the body could become so damaged it wouldn't be able to activate points on its own.

    But Grandfather Five's case was different; he couldn't activate any points at all, and without this medicine, he would just be waiting to die.

    She looked at the medicine pellet in her hand with hesitation.

    He’s sleeping; how am I supposed to give it to him?

[1] ‘Ai Ye’ Artemisia argyi leaves, known as Chinese mugwort.

[2] ‘Shi Liu’ Chinese word for pomegranate.