“Master, it seems that Mr. Smith’s body has some problems.” ．
As for William’s punishment, Alice dared not have any objections. As for today’s incident, it wasn’t entirely her fault. However, the penalty of copying both volumes of “De Medicina” would benefit her and cause no harm, so she naturally accepted it, feigning grievance but actually readily agreeing.
William nodded and casually asked, “What do you think is the best treatment?”
“Hmm?” Alice frowned, “I could only tell that something was wrong with his body, but I don’t know the specifics!”
After a moment of silence, William organized his thoughts and said, “According to your current terminology, it seems to be advanced liver cancer.”
Alice thought for a while and responded, “For advanced liver cancer, the only options are to slowly adjust his condition or undergo chemotherapy, and perhaps he could live a few more years.”
“What if you were asked to completely cure him?” William initially intended to give Nathaniel a glass of wine to cure his illness entirely, but since Alice brought it up, things were different.
“Cure his disease? That… isn’t really possible, is it?” Alice said hesitantly, “Unless a miracle occurs…”
William looked down at his phone, searching for information about chemotherapy. He murmured, “Your first assignment is to cure Nathaniel’s disease within a month.”
“A month? Cure? You’re not joking with me, are you?” Alice nearly fainted. If it were really advanced liver cancer, curing it in a month wasn’t a joke but pure madness.
William raised his eyelids and coldly asked, “Do I look like I’m joking with you?”
Alice clenched her hands, struggling to find words. She really wanted to say, ‘If you can do it, why don’t you?’
“After a month, if you can’t cure him, you’ll memorize everything I wrote for you today one hundred times. If you miss a word, memorize it one hundred times more,” William frowned. “It’s just a liver problem. Isn’t a month enough time for treatment?”
“I…” Alice really didn’t have this confidence, but William spoke as if it were a given, as if Nathaniel’s problem wasn’t liver cancer but just a common cold.
“No more discussions,” William cut her off. “If you have nothing else, go take care of the shop’s business, copy what needs to be copied, and I’ll come by later tonight.” He then got up and dragged his chair under a plane tree and lay down.
“Oh!” Alice really didn’t know how she felt at the moment. She even suspected that William had seduced her with his charm.
Even though William was younger than her, she felt incompetent in front of him. She complied with everything he said. Her once-prided medical skills seemed worthless in front of William.
In William’s presence, she felt clumsy.
As she walked to the yard entrance, she suddenly heard a voice from behind, “Wait!”
Alice turned around and saw William lazily lying under the tree, casually saying, “Bring me the copy of ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ from the desk.”
Alice took a deep breath, forced a smile, and said, “Yes, sir!” She then went inside, picked up “The Grapes of Wrath,” and handed it to him. She softly asked, “Is there anything else you need?”
William took the book, waved his hand, and said, “No, that’s all. Go on.”
Alice took two steps backward, like a servant from ancient times, smiled, and said, “I shall take my leave then.”
William didn’t pay any attention to her and started reading the book.
Alice turned around and couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She was disgusted by her own behavior, and yet William seemed completely unfazed.
In all her life, she had never encountered anyone as arrogant as William!
It was one thing for the esteemed heiress of the Turner family to become his apprentice, but now he was treating her like a servant.
What made it even worse was that William was younger than her!
How could a twenty-year-old…
How could he behave like such a stubborn old man?
From what she observed at the dinner table, if William hadn’t explicitly told her that Evelyn was likely to be his future wife, Alice would never have guessed that William liked Evelyn.
When you like someone, shouldn’t your eyes shine with affection, and shouldn’t your every word and action be filled with the saccharine scent of love?
In the presence of someone they liked, anyone who could act this calmly was a first for Alice.
After Alice left, William lay under the tree shade, engrossed in his book, not concerned about anything. It wasn’t until Nathaniel and the others called him over to help move the table and start a game of poker that he resumed his relaxed, old-man-like lifestyle.
That afternoon, William made a considerable effort to lose only twenty-four dollars in the poker game. Nathaniel scoffed at William’s poor card skills and suggested a rematch next time they had a chance.
“Master, I’ve taken care of the shop. It’s in the small alley south of Hudson University. It’s called Cozy Book Haven.”
“Good! I’ll be right there.”
William left the yard and went next door to find Evelyn.
“Do you have time now? Let’s go check out my cousin’s bookstore.”
Introducing Evelyn to the job was part of their prior agreement, so she didn’t refuse.
As they left the yard, William said, “Let’s ride our bikes there.”
“Sure!” Evelyn readily agreed.
“Meet me at my house’s front door in a moment, and we’ll go together.”
At the entrance of William’s house, they met up as scheduled. They chose a quiet path where the setting sun bathed the road in a golden glow, leaves fluttering from the trees lining the path as if the whole world had paused for them.
As they rode their bicycles, Evelyn suddenly asked, “William, do you believe in reincarnation?”
Taken aback by the question, William slowed down, pondered, and said, “I believe that every life has its meaning, whatever that may be. Reincarnation, perhaps, is a way for us to continue searching and experiencing.”
Evelyn smiled softly. “What kind of person do you hope to be in your next life?”
William fell silent for a moment, then replied, “If there really is a next life, I hope to remember all the beautiful moments of this life. Even if I become an entirely different person, I want to keep those memories and those feelings.”
Over the years, William sometimes couldn’t help but ask himself, if a person loses their past memories and reincarnates thousands of times, are they still the same person they once were?