“Lately, I’ve been sleeping very little, and… doctor, could this have something to do with drinking?” Edward Brooks no longer argued with the doctor. When it came to teaching and educating people, this doctor couldn’t compare to him, but when it came to treating illnesses and saving lives, he himself was no match for the doctor.

“That’s right. Young people need to get enough sleep, and also drink less alcohol. One small glass a day can help promote blood circulation, but drinking too much will harm your stomach and liver.” The doctor felt that he had found the cause of Edward Brooks’s illness: excessive drinking, combined with lack of sleep, could indeed cause tinnitus.

“But my ears…”

“It’s nothing serious. Go home and get more rest, eat fresh vegetables, and remember, don’t drink excessively anymore. You’ll recover in a few days.” The doctor advised.

“Don’t I need some medicine?” Edward Brooks asked naively.

“If you want a prescription, I can give you some vitamins and glucose. The vitamins are to supplement your nutrition, and the glucose is to help with sobering up. In the future, if you drink too much, remember to drink a bottle of glucose afterwards, or else your tinnitus will come back.”

Glucose contains a lot of tartaric acid, which can react with the ethanol in alcohol to form esters, lowering the ethanol concentration in the body and helping to sober up.

“Thank you, doctor.”

Taking the slip to pay and collect the medicine, at the pharmacy, Edward Brooks asked the nurse for some medical cotton. After leaving the clinic, he divided the cotton into two balls and stuffed them into his ears, and the chaotic noises immediately lessened. Looking at the vitamins and glucose in his hand, Edward Brooks knew he had found the real “medicine.”

After returning to school, Edward Brooks felt much better. Although he would still occasionally hear some sounds that others couldn’t hear and he didn’t want to hear, it was much better than before, when all sorts of noises would flood into his ears at once. He even did an experiment: quietly taking out the cotton balls, and the sound of recitation from the teaching building almost deafened him. The effect was like standing next to a loudspeaker.

Back in the dormitory, Edward Brooks improved the cotton balls a bit. The ones in his ears were too big and could easily be seen by others. If someone at school discovered that he was stuffing his ears for no reason, he’d be rumored to be crazy even if he wasn’t actually mentally ill. After the improvement, the cotton balls were smaller, and as long as no one stared closely at his ears, no one would notice.

Chapter 5: Distinguishing Things by Sound

After school, Edward Brooks went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy four bottles of Laobaigan liquor and some cooked food, then headed to the temple. Now, Edward Brooks was certain that he was neither mentally ill nor suffering from tinnitus, nor was it due to lack of sleep or excessive drinking. It was simply that his ears were too sensitive—so sensitive that he could hear every sound around him.

Today was not a day for incense offerings at the Sanqing Temple, so after entering the gate, he didn’t see a single person. The whole temple was silent.

Edward Brooks didn’t bother to call for Unknown Elder. He went straight to the room where they drank last night. The room looked exactly the same as it had the night before; even the kraft paper that had held the peanuts was still on the table. It seemed Unknown Elder’s laziness was well-deserved. Edward Brooks didn’t mind, and placed the two jin of braised pig’s head meat, a pack of flatbread, and a pack of peanuts he’d just bought on the table, then opened a bottle of liquor and took a satisfying sip.

Although he still hadn’t brought cups this time, he did bring two pairs of chopsticks. He took a sip of liquor, picked up a piece of pig’s head meat with the chopsticks, and stuffed it into his mouth. A life like this could make anyone forget all their troubles.

He hadn’t even finished the first piece of pig’s head meat when Edward Brooks heard footsteps—hurried and quick, clearly someone was running. Even with the cotton balls in his ears, in this environment, Edward Brooks could hear it clearly. Sure enough, in a moment, a familiar voice appeared at the door: “Laobaigan! Little brother, you’re here again?” As soon as he finished speaking, the bearded and disheveled Unknown Elder walked in, delighted.

“Daoist, please have a seat.” Edward Brooks didn’t get up. There was no point in being polite with such a lazy Daoist—it would be like playing music to a cow, just asking for trouble. He simply opened another bottle of Laobaigan and placed it on the opposite side of the table.

“Mmm, pig’s head meat, my favorite.” Unknown Elder didn’t bother with small talk. The food on the table made his fingers itch. He grabbed the liquor bottle with his left hand, and with his right hand already pinched a piece of pig’s head meat, both hands “attacking” his mouth at the same time. “Delicious, delicious!”

“Daoist, can’t you use chopsticks?” Edward Brooks shook his head and smiled wryly. He had clearly put a pair of chopsticks in front of him, but the Daoist ignored them and just reached for the meat with his hands.

“Wouldn’t using chopsticks take too much time? Besides, eating meat with your hands and eating it with chopsticks are completely different experiences. The former is exhilarating, the latter only satisfies your appetite.” Clearly lazy, yet he could still make it sound reasonable.

While talking, Unknown Elder’s hands were quick, and several more pieces of pig’s head meat went into his mouth. Of course, the left hand holding the liquor bottle never stopped either.

“Looks like from now on, I’ll have to prepare two servings of cooked food.” Edward Brooks realized that not only was it pointless to be polite with Unknown Elder, but reasoning with him was also futile.