Chapter 38
Gang Gye's eyes filled with tears as he whispered,
"Mother... my head is spinning. It hurts..."
The rest of the family also came to the room after hearing that Gang Gye was sick.
Old Madam Gang said,
"It must be because the weather turned cold last night. He slept by the window and caught a chill right away."
During summer, the weather had been hot, so the children's bed had been moved closer to the window to help them sleep more comfortably.
But windows in this era were only covered with paper.
They provided almost no insulation at all.
And Gang Gye had always been weak by nature.
With all those factors combined, it was no surprise that he had fallen ill.
Gang Gye had often become sick whenever the seasons changed in the past.
Gang Jo-hang stroked his son's head.
"Sleep a little more. Father will go into town and bring a physician."
There was no physician in their village.
There were some in other villages, but their medical skill generally wasn't as good as that of the physicians in town.
And since the distance to town wasn't much greater than traveling to another village, people usually preferred to summon a physician from town.
Worried that the children's room might still be too cold, Gang Jo-hang carried Gang Gye into his parents' room.
Then he covered him with a thick quilt so he could sweat.
Jang Un-chu cooked ginger soup and helped him drink it.
For the entire day, Gang Gye remained half-conscious.
Whenever it was time to eat or take medicine, Gang Jo-hang and Jang Un-chu woke him.
Afterward, he would fall asleep again.
His entire body ached so badly that it was almost unbearable.
Yet even after taking medicine, there was no sign of improvement.
Gang Gye even began to wonder whether he might actually die like this.
It's just a cold... How can it be this bad...?
Several days passed, but Gang Gye still didn't improve.
He remained unconscious most of the time.
Occasionally, quiet sobbing could be heard inside the house.
Even Liu Yunhe came to see him and brought a physician.
In this era, something as simple as a cold could take a person's life.
That was true even for healthy children.
For Gang Gye, who had been weak since birth, it was even more dangerous.
Old Madam Gang said hoarsely,
"Our Little Six has already grown this much... Why is he still not getting better?"
When he was very young, everyone had said the child probably wouldn't live long.
But every time, Gang Gye had somehow endured.
The last time he had a fever, his symptoms had even become milder than before.
The family had thought that as he grew older, his health was gradually improving.
Yet here they were again.
Only a short while ago, they had been discussing sending Little Six to study.
Everything had seemed to be finally moving in the right direction.
Gang Jo-hang said,
"I'll bring another physician."
No matter what happened, he couldn't give up on his child.
Gang Gye had no idea how much time had passed.
At some point, during a brief moment when his consciousness returned, he performed another check-in.
He vaguely remembered checking in a few times before that too.
But he couldn't even be sure whether he had managed to do it every day.
Ever since falling ill, he had spent most of his time unconscious.
Still, Gang Gye understood one thing very clearly.
Considering the medical level of this era, the Attendance System might be his only real chance of surviving.
Half asleep and half awake, Gang Gye thought he saw a reward appear inside the system.
It gave off a faint glow.
It looked like a thick book.
Two characters seemed to be written on the cover.
Yangsheng.
Health Preservation.
But his vision was too blurry to make them out clearly.
Without thinking, Gang Gye pressed the book.
Something seemed to flow out of it and enter his body.
When Gang Gye finally opened his eyes with a clear mind again, it was already the middle of the night.
His head was no longer spinning.
It didn't hurt either.
His body no longer felt weak and limp.
Other than feeling sticky and uncomfortable from all the sweat, it seemed that the illness had finally passed.
Gang Gye tried twisting his small body.
He couldn't move.
His mother was holding him tightly in her arms.
Turning his head from side to side, he saw both of his parents asleep beside him.
They were covered by thick quilts.
The inside was so warm that he was practically sweating again.
But Jang Un-chu still held Gang Gye tightly, afraid he might kick off the blanket in his sleep.
People in the village often said that sweating heavily helped an illness pass faster.
Gang Gye kicked his legs slightly.
At the same time, he remembered the worried voices of his parents and grandparents that he had heard from time to time over the past several days.
Warmth filled his heart.
It was pitch-black outside.
Gang Gye didn't want to wake his parents.
They probably hadn't slept properly for several days.
He wanted to let them rest a little longer.
After thinking for a while, Gang Gye opened the system and checked what had happened.
What rewards had he received while sick?
The thing he was most curious about was naturally the reward from last night.
And when Gang Gye saw what was stored inside the system, he froze in shock.
This was really...
The system had been extremely generous this time.
Until now, most rewards had been ordinary things like food, vegetables, and other simple items.
But this time, it had given him an entire Health Preservation Heart Method.
It seemed even the system had decided it couldn't allow Gang Gye to die from a single cold.
With such a weak body, even if nothing serious had happened this time, something else would definitely have happened in the future.
And if he wanted to take the Imperial Examinations, he would eventually have to endure several days inside the examination grounds.
Even healthy people sometimes collapsed before finishing.
How could Gang Gye's current body possibly withstand it?
Gang Gye carefully examined the Health Preservation Heart Method.
Put another way, this book was a lifeline that could keep him alive.
His weak constitution had begun inside his mother's womb.
That meant it couldn't be cured completely in a short period of time.
He would have to slowly build up his body.
This heart method contained a mild healing effect.
From now on, Gang Gye no longer had to worry about suddenly losing his life.
Even if he became sick, it shouldn't develop to the point where his life was in danger.
And over the years, his physical strength would gradually improve.
