CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 27: TRUST ME, I ALWAYS WIN WHEN I GAMBLE, GUARANTEED VICTORY!

Harano followed the villagers digging wild vegetables for two days. After experiencing the folk customs and clearing up some doubts, he quickly lost interest in this "survival activity of Japan’s laboring masses in the Middle Ages." After all, he didn’t even eat wild vegetables, unlike the villagers of Hibi Village, who needed to rely on wild vegetables as their staple food until mid-February on the lunar calendar, in order to save precious grain for the strong laborers during spring plowing.

So he went back to Yayoi’s house to continue running his Black Clinic, except the patients were getting scarcer and scarcer—sometimes not even one showed up in a whole day. When forced to choose between pain and hunger, people in this era were obviously more afraid of going hungry. Lately everyone had been digging wild greens as a priority, so if they got sick, they just toughed it out.

But Harano is the type who can’t sit still. The minute he has free time, he starts worrying about future dangers, fretting about things that haven’t happened yet, getting suspicious for no reason, and wondering if there’s some trap waiting for him to stumble into—maybe this survival anxiety is just etched in every Chinese person’s bones.

He took stock of the current situation: as a "Divine Doctor," the villagers of Hibi Village probably wouldn’t want to jab him with their manure forks anymore. He’d also struck up a relationship with Maeda Toshie, and once Maeda came to visit again during his next break, they could get even closer. On the "official" level, things seemed more or less sorted. So what else could he do to prepare for unexpected trouble?

He weighed things over for a bit, and figured that hiding in the village was probably safe enough for now, but if anything happened that forced him to leave, his personal safety would take a serious nosedive—especially since it had been over a month since he’d crossed over, and his electric stick was about to run out of juice, on its last legs.

Maybe he really should make himself a decent weapon, just in case he had to go out suddenly.

But what kind of weapon would be best?

Blade, spear, sword, halberd? Iron Cannon?

He didn’t know how to use any of those—and learning from scratch... Harano figured he probably wouldn’t have the time.

He’d been a science and math whiz in elementary school, majored in chemical mechanical engineering in college, and for physical training the most he’d done was things like "Young Eagle Spreading Its Wings" and "The Era Is Calling." Now he was twenty, trying to start serious martial arts training at his age seemed hard—probably more effort than it was worth, and he didn’t expect to amount to much in the end.

As for the Iron Cannon, yeah, that would be ideal, since firearms are the trend of history—he knew that much. But he didn’t have the means to make one, and buying one was way too expensive. All the money he had would only get him the gunstock.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he circled the spot dozens of times, dug through the stuff he’d brought over during the transmigration (most of which he’d secretly buried), and decisively triggered the green-skinned "let me think" skill. Once he had an idea, he immediately got to work, intending to sketch up a blueprint first.

"What are you doing?"

He was all over the dirt floor, whittling wood, making charcoal, looking for a measuring stick, spreading out paper—all this noise woke Ah Man, who’d been dozing off. But Harano had something to focus on, and that always settled his nerves, so he absentmindedly waved her off: "Just making a little something, nothing to do with you. Go back to sleep and enjoy your nap!"

"Making what?" Ah Man’s curiosity was piqued. She found Harano really knew how to keep himself busy. Even though he had a bit of spare cash and could have coasted along enjoying the good life for a few years, he flat-out refused to take it easy and always had to find something to tinker with!

"Planning to make a bow." Harano didn’t hide it from her. With the electric stick dying soon and the Iron Cannon unaffordable, he figured a bow was the safest bet.

"You know how to make a bow?" Ah Man was a bit surprised. As an "Original Ninja," she hadn’t been idle recently either, and she’d already figured out most of Harano’s background. He was basically a softhearted guy with a few screws loose who got kicked out by his family, plus he had solid medical skills and a strong body, but that was about it—yet now he’d suddenly pulled out a brand new skill.

This was a bit unexpected—almost an insult to her professional pride.

"Learned a bit before," Harano admitted honestly, a faint smile appearing as some old memories surfaced.

Meng Ziqi’s old man was an amateur backpacker, and liked to mess with things like martial arts and bow and arrow too.

Of course, it was all just a hobby—he wasn’t an expert at any of it. Even with hiking, he usually only got halfway up the mountain, just doing it for fun and relaxation. But he and Harano’s uncle both worked in a machine factory, and in their spare time they’d take Harano and Meng Ziqi along to "liberate" scraps from the workshop to make composite bows, hoping to go hunting for wild chickens and rabbits in the hills. Unfortunately, the moment they finished, security confiscated their work before they could even try it out.

That episode left a deep impression on Harano. At the time, he’d just bashed his drunkard dad over the head, was being scorned and rejected by various relatives, and had only just been taken back by his uncle. He was a moody, sullen kid, pretty much given up on himself, grumbling at the world, and always getting into fights with other children at the slightest provocation.

Even outnumbered, he’d still fight; if he lost, he’d just go feral and bite the others. He was a real wild kid. But Meng Ziqi’s old man was exceptionally cheerful and sunny—he not only didn’t mind his son befriending Harano, but even took Harano along with them, never bothered by his lack of manners, his harsh words, or even outright rudeness, just laughed it off and let it go. He was extremely tolerant and generous.

Er... Meng Ziqi’s old man actually had a slight disability in his legs, and back then Harano wasn’t a great kid. If a conversation didn’t go his way, he’d get suspicious that Meng Ziqi’s old man looked down on him, mocking him behind his back. He’d even blurted out and cursed him a cripple to his face, and later went back home to sink into depression—he just couldn’t control his emotions at the time...

All of this was Harano’s black history, better left unmentioned. But to be fair, if he was able to emerge from his childhood traumas, reinvent himself, become a calm and resilient, mature and open-minded adult, able to see things in perspective—it was mostly due to Meng Ziqi’s old man’s influence. Back then, Harano was just a kid, maybe a little older than Ah Man is now. It was the first time he realized people could actually live like that—even if the environment sucked and your body wasn’t perfect, you could still be disciplined, optimistic, and achieve something with your life.