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Chapter 32: New Skills and Christmas
Chapter 32: New Skills and Christmas
De Fu was startled by Liam's sudden outburst.
Before De Fu could react, Liam pulled out a large bottle of Sunlight Crystals from behind his back.
"These are Sun Essence Crystals. Drop one into water, and your Earthen Hut will be as warm as a summer day for half an hour. This bottle has 300 crystals, enough to see you through the entire winter."
Then, Liam reluctantly pulled out a small gold ingot the size of a chestnut: "This is one pound of gold. When spring comes, you can use it to reopen your Clinic."
"But", Liam said, "I have a rule of equal exchange. What will you offer in return?"
De Fu replied, "If you're willing to help me, I'll give you my entire body."
Liam shook his head, laughing and crying at the same time: "I don't want a living person."
"Then, I don't have anything else", De Fu said dejectedly, squatting down.
"Do you have any Medical Skills to offer? Your master was a Divine Doctor, so your Medical Skills must be decent", Liam asked.
"Of course, I'm willing, but how can I give them to you?" De Fu looked puzzled.
"Your willingness is enough." With that, Liam waved his hand, and a white mist emerged from De Fu's temple, floating to the shelf and transforming into a blue-bound book.
"Alright, we're even." Liam handed the Sunlight Crystals and the gold ingot to De Fu, who left the room in a daze.
Back in the courtyard, De Fu thought he must have been dreaming, but when he looked down, he saw the bottle of Sunlight Crystals and the gold in his hand. He immediately ran into the hut, excited: "Master, I met an Immortal! We can survive this winter!"
Meanwhile, Liam heard the System's notification in the emporium:
—Slightly altering the fate of a Chosen One, gained 1 Deviation Point.
Well, even a small gain is still a gain.
After consoling himself, Liam looked at the new book. The blue cover read "Beginner's Manual of Traditional Chinese Medicine (De Fu Edition)." According to the System Notification, it would cost 2 Deviation Points to learn this skill.
Although De Fu's Medical Skills were only average, they were still on par with a chief physician's level. Considering that Liam might visit worlds with ancient Chinese settings in the future, knowledge of Acupoints and Meridians would be essential, or he might not even understand ancient medical texts.
So, Liam decided to learn this Traditional Chinese Medicine manual, and after spending 2 Deviation Points, a flood of information poured into his mind.
Fifteen minutes later, the knowledge infusion was complete. Liam felt he had acquired a vast amount of Traditional Chinese Medicine knowledge, but he knew he would still need practice to become a true practitioner.
Practicing this skill in the real world would be difficult, especially for an 11-year-old child whom no one would trust to diagnose illnesses.
Having traded so much for a skill that might not be useful immediately, Liam sighed to himself, feeling a bit cheated. He then returned to the real world.
...
Christmas Eve arrived quickly. For the British, it was an important time for shopping, with significant discounts in various stores. Liam's adoptive parents, as usual, went to Regent Street to do their shopping.
Liam, on the other hand, went to Diagon Alley to prepare some gifts for his friends. Diagon Alley was filled with a festive atmosphere. Each shop was decorated with Christmas ornaments, and Christmas carols played on the street.
After buying all the gifts and mailing them to his friends at the Owl Post Office, Liam dove into a secondhand shop to hunt for treasures among the old books.
It took him over an hour, but Liam managed to find two books. One was 100 Common Potion Recipes, a book published in 1893. It contained many potions Liam had never seen in his textbooks, such as quick hair dye, age-increasing and age-decreasing potions (with simpler methods and cheaper ingredients, but only lasting 15 minutes).
The other book was clearly a top student's notes from a Defense Against the Dark Arts class. At least, Liam thought that with these notes, he could try to learn the Stunning Spell on his own.
On Christmas Eve, Liam went to bed early. The best part was Christmas Day, when he would receive gifts and enjoy a grand lunch.
The next morning, Liam found a pile of gifts. His parents had sent him a new set of clothes, and his grandfather had mailed a sandalwood bracelet from the East. His classmates also gave him some gifts, like a new set of quills from Hermione (was this a hint that he didn't write enough?), a box of assorted candies from Harry, and a box of calming herbal tea from Neville (this was probably prepared by his grandmother).
What surprised him the most was that Professor Sprout had given him a copy of her Herbology notes from her student days, hoping he would excel in the subject.
Fortunately, Liam had sent a box of chocolates to each professor as a gesture of respect, or it would have been quite awkward.
At noon, Liam enjoyed a Christmas feast of Roast Goose (Mr. Lambert, being of Chinese descent, found turkey too coarse and unpalatable, so Mrs. Sally opted for the more traditional Roast Goose), pudding, and a variety of dishes. Meanwhile, he wondered what Christmas at Hogwarts would be like.
...
Unlike the small, warm family gathering at Liam's home, Christmas at Hogwarts was grand and impressive. Harry, who had spent his best Christmases at the school, knew this well.
The Great Hall was beautifully decorated. Holly and mistletoe garlands hung from the walls, and twelve towering Christmas trees were set up around the room, some adorned with sparkling icicles and others with hundreds of candles.
On Christmas morning, Harry woke up to see a small pile of gifts at the foot of his bed. He was shocked, as he hadn't expected to receive any gifts.
After exchanging holiday greetings with Ron, he started to unwrap his gifts. Ron let out a gasp, "Wow, Ptolemy's Card! Liam must have had incredible luck; I've rarely seen him eat Chocolate Frogs."
Harry found Liam's gift as well, a set of elegant flying broom pruning shears. "Yeah, Liam always thinks ahead. Sometimes he seems as considerate as an uncle."
Finally, when Harry opened the last package, a silvery, liquid-like substance slipped out and pooled on the floor, shimmering. Ron drew in a sharp breath.
Ron, amazed, told Harry that it was a very valuable Invisibility Cloak. When Harry tried it on, he found a note inside, written in an unfamiliar hand:
Your father left this with me before he died.
It is now yours.
Use it well.
Merry Christmas.
After that, at the Weasley twins' invitation, Harry, wearing the sweater Mrs. Weasley had knitted for him, attended the Christmas feast, which featured at least a hundred roast turkeys and a mountain of roast potatoes.
(End of Chapter)
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