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Wei Wuxian is an immortal and has been one since... Ages ago. Yes, ages. He doesn't even know how much time has passed. He kinda lost count after 500 years or so. He is so busy that he doesn't have time to count his age, nor to check on the date.
You see, Wei Wuxian is an immortal with some side jobs as the cherry on the top. He has a planned out schedule of all his side jobs for a period of time. The entire cycle consists of nine years.
In the first spring, he has farms to tend to, and in the summer he will go catch some fish. In autumn he will be a tailor, do embroidery, and will be busy for the entire season to finish the orders. Then in winter, he will do some trading with other merchants, selling some trinkets here and there while opening stores for some limited items. This is also the season where he mostly indulged his passion for collecting items, which end up in more spending than earning money from said trading.
When the next spring comes, he will start on another job as a florist. He mostly buys flowers from other people. other times if a forest is near, he will go gather some. Some people like wildflowers so he needs to have some in stock. Then in summer, he will row a boat and take visitors for sightseeing and touring, or if they need water transport he can do that too. Autumn arrives and he will be making furniture or even building houses, depends on the request. More people asking him to fix their houses though, as it’s one season away from winter. Then in winter, he will be opening a clinic and treat the sick. It is usually the busiest season in the whole year that he can work 12 hours straight without any break.
Season changes again, and he will head to the forest and gather some herbs to be sold in his pharmacy. He also has an entire field full of medicinal herbs in the backyard that he take care of regardless of whatever his current job is. He only opens pharmacy in the third spring of the circle though, so if they don’t get any other rare herbs that bloom outside this season, then it’s not his fault.
Summer came and he will head to Yunmeng. There is this lake full of the lotus that he likes to take care of now and then. When autumn arrives, he will be busy making wine. Emperor Smile is such a great wine that he needs to restock once every few years. Winter came again and he will hole up in his smithy, busy creating things that have been sitting in his mind. There are lots of blueprints that he has drafted, sitting on his shelves and getting dust. It took up the entire row of that shelve. the next year will be spent to experiment that creation and to perfecting them. He will use the entire year to experiment.
The fifth spring is when he spends the time to fill up his self-made library. He will travel to find books of any kind, romance story or cultivation books, medical books, or even simple porn. Sometimes he writes one. Sometimes he makes blueprint for the next forging season. Either way, the whole season will be dedicated to his library.
By the time summer came, he will be opening a summer school for young kids to apply. He will teach them general knowledge including writing and reading. Anyone kids can apply, from rich to poor to street kids. Sometimes he will give them free course, sometimes he will take a banter, sometimes he will ask for money. But all is within their capabilities. Knowledge should be accessible by all people.
Another autumn comes and he will be opening a restaurant and be busy cooking in the kitchen. He can, of course, hire a cook or two, but he likes to cook and see the joy of those that eat his food. The feeling of satisfaction is so priceless.
When winter comes, he would open a tea-house with a hot bath attached. He prefers to be warm instead of cold, and he has no doubt others also feel the same. People sometimes called this bathhouse, but he still likes the name tea-house. He earned a lot but he is losing so much wine as well. It doesn't matter, he guesses, as the next spring will be the time for him to restock his wine cellar. Although his tea-house has courtesans, spending the night there is off limit, no shady transactions, no having sex. It's a clean normal tea-house that you come to chat, have tea, or wine while listening to music or songs. He would hate to clean up the after sex smells. He refused to waste time cleaning it. So, no sex. Period.
Spring comes and he will spend the whole season to restock his wine cellar. It's huge and holds almost all kinds of wine from around China. He will need to restock it now if he wants it to age up well till the next time he opens a tea-house or restaurant again. He will need some too for his inn in the winter later. Some he buys, some he orders, some he make it himself. Not a lot obviously, he can't fill the cellar up on his own.
When summer comes, he will go to Gusu and sell handmade instruments, in Caiyi Town to be exact. Lans are one of the reasons why good musical instruments are highly sought. They are so picky with their instrument, but the payment is great, so he can’t complain much. And when autumn comes, he will still stay in Gusu and become a sort of an artisan. He crafts, he draws and he paints. And when Winter comes, he will open his inn in the outskirt of Gusu. A perfect area as those cultivators will need a place to rest in their journey. Not to mention, it’s too cold to camp outside.
Come spring and he will go mining, finding some crystals, gold, silver, iron, any kind of minerals and metals that he could get. He will need them for smithing, to restock his inventory. If he is lucky and finishes restocking before summer ends, then he will spend the time lazing around. He hasn’t got much chance on it though. Then in the Autumn, he will be spending time cutting and shape those minerals into jewels. This too will take him till the next spring to finish, more often than not.
The eight-year is the year where he spends time studying, to catch up with the new knowledge, discoveries. He researches, he make talismans, he read books. Sometimes he also meditates. From Spring to Autumn, he is dedicating his time to himself. And when winter comes, he will be spending his time cleaning and fixing his house. It's been long, and he won't be cleaning for the next nine years, so he will need to clean it now.
And when the ninth spring comes, he will have packed and will be ready to start traveling again. He will be a cultivator for the whole year, going to night hunts, solving problems, and just stay on road. The ninth year is the year that he dedicated to other people.
By the time another spring comes, the cycle will start again.
So you see, Wei Wuxian doesn’t exactly have time to spare for other things, and he hasn’t had time to care for whatever happens in the cultivator world.
Imagine his surprise when a group of cultivators, bloody and injured, came knocking on his door one day in his sixth spring, asking for his help in treating the wounds.
He blinked. He looked around his door. No, there was no Medic sign, neither is Pharmacy sign. He didn't understand why they come to him, out of all people, for help. He counted the head. Three Lans, one Nie, two Jiangs, a total of six people. One of the Lans and one of the Jiangs is unconscious.
But he couldn't just reject them when they need help, so he invited them in and brought them to one of his spare rooms.
He looked around his room and let out a heavy sigh.
He was on his schedule for wine trading at the moment, so obviously he didn't prepare any healing equipment, and no ready cleaning items nearby. His herbs were also being store in his herb room way at the back of the house. There were only two beds that he took out in case there is a guest.
He got a headache just thinking of it.
He could feel for sure that some of the cultivators are wearing a doubtful expression, though he could care less about it. It’s not his fault that they came in the wrong time of the cycle. He told them to take a sit on the floor for those with light injuries, and to let the most wounded one on the bed. He then left them for a while to find his supply and equipment.
On his way back to the room, he heard some talk coming out.
“-sure that he is a doctor? It doesn’t look like a clinic no matter how I look at it.”
“...”
“Wangji said he is. I trust Wangji.”
Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow. So there was someone that know him when he is a doctor.
‘Wangji, huh… Who is that?’ He cocked his head and blinked. Still, he didn't recognize the name.
He shrugged. No matter, he could ask them later, whoever it is.
He entered the room and put the things on a table. He quickly tended to the one on the bed. Cleaning the wounds, checking for poisons, bandaging the wounds. After that, he moved to the next patient and repeat the proses. Everyone stayed silent as he worked, and he was also too focused on his work to start a talk.
After making sure everyone has been tended to, he started over again with checking their meridians, scanning for their golden cores, examining over their qi stability. He could feel their bewilderment, but he would rather do a thorough checking on his patients than to give a wrong treatment for them. Gods know it’s easier to do something from scratch rather than correcting a mistake.
He noted that the Jiang on the bed was lacking golden core while the Lan’s golden core was broken even if he wasn’t sure how bad it is. Then he found out that the Nie’s qi was unstable, the young Jiang kid was practically zoning throughout the entire session.
When he came back to the last two Lans, he needed to blink a few times. They must have been the most gorgeous human that ever walk on this earth. Even battered and bruised, they still radiated grace and elegance. How could there be such a handsome creature in this world? Damn Lans and their genes.
Both of them looked so similar to each other in appearance but couldn’t be more different from each other in expression. One is wearing a gentle expression while the other kept his face blank. As he examined the gentle-face one, Wei Wuxian couldn't resist asking. “Are you twins?”
The said man let a chuckle out. “No, sir, we are not. We are siblings. This one is named Lan Huan, courtesy Xichen. The one beside me is my brother Lan Zhan, courtesy Wangji.” Lan Xichen gave him a sheepish smile. “We apologized for not introducing ourselves sooner, Sir.” He started to give a bow, which Wei Wuxian quickly stopped him.
“No exerting your body, your injuries are more important. Doctor’s order.” Wei Wuxian chided. Lan Xichen smiled helplessly as he nodded. That was when Wei Wuxian remembered that he also has yet to introduce himself. He cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly. “Forgive my rudeness for not introducing myself as well, this one is called Wuxian.”
Lan Xichen shook his head. “It’s alright, Master Wuxian. It was us that rudely come to your place this early of the day.” If he felt strange about not getting a family name, then he did a good job of hiding that well.
Lan Wangji was the last one to be examined. He was silently watching Wei Wuxian with such an unreadable expression that leaves Wei Wuxian amused. ‘So quiet, Lan Wangji.’ he thought, before stopping himself. He blinked rapidly before turning to Lan Wangji.
“You know me.” He said while cocking his head. Their conversation before playing again in his head.
He could feel Lan Wangji got tensed. A flicker of emotions flashed on his eyes, too fast for Wei Wuxian to name it. A moment later Lan Wangji nodded.
“How?” Wei Wuxian asked again. Surely he would remember meeting such a beautiful angel, but why didn’t he have any recollection of doing that?
He saw Lan Wangji pursed his lips. “You saved me when I was in a night hunt.” He looked uncertain before opening his mouth again. “You said you were a doctor. You tell me to come here if I need a treatment,” he added hesitatingly.
He rolled up his left sleeve a little and showed Wei Wuxian a red ribbon that he is so damn well familiar with, tied tightly on Lan Wangji’s wrist. That’s Wei Wuxian’s hair ribbon that he was so sure has been lost. Now memories rushed back to him, and he remembered giving it to a Lan kid that looks like a fallen angel a couple of years ago. Said kid is now a grown-up teenager, sitting in front of him.
Now that he meet with the angel again, he couldn't help smiling widely. “You are that Lan kid? You sure have grown up!”
Lan Wangji huffed, his ears turned red, as red as the red ribbon. Besides him, Lan Xichen let out a laugh.
“So you really are a doctor, Master Wuxian?”
Wei Wuxian turned to the look at the speaker, which was the Nie kid. The Jiang kid also turned to him, as if waiting for his answer. He smiled a little. “No, I’m not. I’m a wine trader.”
“Ah?” He can see Lan Xichen’s surprised face, and Lan Wangji frowning face. “You change profession again, Master Wuxian?” He asked.
Which greatly surprised Wei Wuxian. The others looked at Lan Wangji in confusion.
“What do you mean again? I don’t change profession, you are just coming when I’m not on my doctor profession!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed. “Come again in five years and a half, then I’ll be doing my doctor's job.”
“Pardon?” Lan Xichen asked in surprise.
Lan Wangji’s eyebrow twitched. “...you were a florist before then…”
It’s Wei Wuxian turn to be in confusion. “When?”
“Thirteen years ago.”
Wei Wuxian counted it in his head. His brain gave a loud DING. “Oh. Yeah. I was supposed to be a florist that year.”
“Ha?!” Both the Jiang kid and the Nie kid let out a loud exclamation.
But Wei Wuxian didn't give them his attention. Instead, he focused on Lan Wangji, surprised that he had even met him before this. Heck, Lan Wangji even remembered him from thirteen years ago!
“Wait, we met thirteen years ago?!”
Lan Wangji just huffed and looked away.
Wei Wuxian was going to pester for more when someone called his name. It is a merchant that he has been doing business with. He suddenly remembered that today he was supposed to pick up for his wine orders this morning! It’s a good thing that he had finished examined them and even if some other things needed to be treated, it wouldn’t kill them in the next 72 hours.
So he took out some spare bedding from the storage room and tell them to rest first. Then he left to take care of his wine. It wasn't until dusk come that he finished organizing the wine that he bought in the cellar. On the way back to the main house, he passed his winery and feel another headache. He was supposed to be making some wine today as well.
He sighed again. No matter, life is more important. With that, he went to the garden and harvest some vegetables before making his way to the kitchen. He forgot all about his guests and didn’t even remember to feed them on lunch. Thankfully he still had leftover of cooking oil and spices from when the last season when he opened a tea-house and restaurant. Although there was no meat left as he doesn’t need to eat apart from giving a “normal human” impression outside. But his guest were all humans that still need food so He’d need to buy some meat tomorrow. They couldn't just eat vegetables like a rabbit does if they wanted to heal quickly.
Later, he found out that the Nie kid is named Nie Mingjue, and apparently he is the current sect leader. The Lan with the broken core is called Qingheng Jun, Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji’s father. The Jiang kid is the Jiang Sect heir, name Jiang Cheng, courtesy Jiang Wanyin. And the coreless Jiang is his father, Jiang Fengmian.
And then he found out that they each had been attacked by the Wen Sect and had been fleeing when they found each other. It was then Lan Wangji suggested visiting “a healer that he comes to know in Yiling”. They make their way here in hopes that the said healer will at least be neutral.
After dinner, he brought them to the medical wing of his house and let them rest there. Good thing that he always prepares 10 beds in case of emergency.
“Have a good night, Lan Wangji.” He said when the said man looked at him.
Lan Wangji gave a nod, and turned his head down.
“Good night… Ying-Ge.” he whispered before going back into his room, leaving Wei Wuxian dumbstruck outside.
Did Lan Wangji just call him Ying-Ge?! When did he tell Lan Wangji his birth name?!