OngoingOtherXianxiaHistorical

Daily Nonsense of a 1970 Dao Doctor

七零道医摆烂日常

Translated by Lys

The Zhu family's last heir returns to YunTai Mountain, running a clinic with supernatural flair amidst a changing world.

38 Chapters

Ongoing Status

Start reading

Synopsis

Daily Nonsense of a 1970 Dao Doctor

by Xiliang Miao

The Zhu Family on the foot of YunTai Mountain has long been known for its inherited Daoist medical arts, but by the time it reaches Zhu Shian’s generation, the lineage is on the verge of extinction.

The Zhu Family goes to great lengths to protect this sole heir, sending her away to the mountains to avoid misfortune.

Ten years later.

Zhu Shian, the family’s only successor, returns alone to the foot of YunTai Mountain and hangs up the sign of the Gu Family Clinic.

Daoist medicine: observing, listening, asking, and diagnosing.

Observing—seeing the vital energy of living beings.

Listening—hearing the whispers of spirits and demons.

Asking—uncovering karmic causes and consequences.

Diagnosing—determining the fate decreed by heaven.

While the world outside is changing rapidly, within the Gu Family Clinic at the foot of YunTai Mountain, the fearsome reputation of Miss Zhu lingers, though she spends her days idly managing the clinic.

Year after year, she waits for the destined ones to come knocking.

—Text revised and saved on December 1, 2025.

Content Tags:

Comedy · Era Drama · Supernatural

Chapters

38chapters

01The Heir of the Zhu Clan Has Returned 02Soul-Calming Bell Ringing 03Collecting Debts from the Underworld 04Zhu Shian: I Bask in My Own Glory 05The House Guardian Spirit is here — come pay your respects!06Water Ghost: Master, I Don't Want to Try Anymore 07The Zhu Family Lacks No Good Things 08Coming to Ask 09Who Calls the Shots?10Saving a Life on a Rainy Night 11Find the Source 12Miss Zhu Shi'an Talks Big 13Huh, Where Did This New Xuan Sect Rising Star Come From?14Delivering Oneself to Be Slapped in the Face 15Changing Times, the Zhu Family Should Look Outward 16The Zhu Family Is Not Conservative 17This Place Is Cursed!18Good News from Afar 19Another Attempt at Sponsorship 20A Poor Ghost's Envious Tears 21The House is Going to Get Busy Again 22All Good Days 23Whose Connections Are Whose 24The Much-Anticipated Exam 25Ancestors, Protect Us!26Master of the Ancient Tomb 27A Famous Physician from Elsewhere?28Traditional Chinese Medicine Has a Successor 29Chapter 29 30Who said the Zhu Family is an ordinary family?31A Bright Future for the Zhu Family 32Yin Soldiers Crossing 33The Ghost General's Battle 34Reincarnation Is More Than Just Luck 35The Medical Hall Opens 36A Daoist Physician's True Skill 37Not a Single One is Worry-Free 38The Eastern Wind Arrives

Main characters

8characters · tap to expand

Chen Si

陈思

Supporting Female

Worrisome and straightforward, talkative, strict yet caring toward her son; opinionated, values family ties, takes pride in her Shanghai dialect, occasionally humorous.

Appearance: Medium build, often in casual home wear, giving a warm and approachable impression.
Personality: Worrisome and straightforward, talkative, strict yet caring toward her son; opinionated, values family ties, takes pride in her Shanghai dialect, occasionally humorous.
Motivation: Concerned about her son's future, wanting him to settle down and build a career; maintains ties with the Zhu family main branch.
Story arc: Evidence is limited; based on her situation, shifts from daily worries about her son to actively cultivating relations with the Zhu main branch, recognizing the importance of family networks.
Background: Mother of Zhu Liang, wife of Zhu Xing, native of Shanghai, homemaker; distant from the Zhu main branch but works to maintain ties.
Voice: Speaks bluntly, often in Shanghai dialect, with a teasing or disdainful tone; occasionally stern or humorous.

Wang Dajie

王大姐

Supporting Female

Warm-hearted and straightforward, prone to believing in supernatural explanations, but able to accept reality and sincerely apologize; not afraid of conflict, optimistic and cheerful.

Appearance: Dark-skinned from years of rowing on the river, with a sturdy build, giving a simple and robust impression.
Personality: Warm-hearted and straightforward, prone to believing in supernatural explanations, but able to accept reality and sincerely apologize; not afraid of conflict, optimistic and cheerful.
Motivation: Makes a living by rowing a boat, while caring for neighbors and being willing to help others.
Story arc: From initially believing a ghost was out to harm her, to accepting Dr. Zhu's diagnosis and treatment, realizing her leg issue was an illness rather than the supernatural, showing a shift from superstition to trust in medicine.
Background: A boat rower in Zhenshan County, regularly ferrying passengers between Nanjiang and Zhenshan counties, familiar with local customs and well-acquainted with the villagers.
Voice: Speaks plainly with dialect and colloquial expressions, emotionally expressive, sometimes lowering her voice mysteriously, at other times singing loudly.

Cai Popo

蔡婆婆

Supporting Female

Proud and concerned about face; sometimes speaks with sarcasm or a sharp tongue, but inwardly resilient, dotes on grandchildren, and has a strong sense of how to live.

Appearance: Short in stature, often carries a bamboo basket filled with fried sunflower seeds, dressed plainly, giving an impression of hard work and resilience.
Personality: Proud and concerned about face; sometimes speaks with sarcasm or a sharp tongue, but inwardly resilient, dotes on grandchildren, and has a strong sense of how to live.
Motivation: To improve the family's life, raise her grandchildren, and better their financial situation by selling fried sunflower seeds.
Story arc: From a comfortable early married life and two sons, through the grief of losing her eldest son, to eking out a living selling sunflower seeds; eventually, through hard work and shrewdness, the family's circumstances improve, and she teaches her grandchildren to be self-reliant.
Background: A resident of Zhenshan County, originally named Cai Fen. She married well in her youth and had two sons, but later her eldest son passed away. Her younger son works at a grain station, supporting a family of six on a single salary. To supplement the household income, Cai Fen sells fried sunflower seeds on the street with her grandchildren, enduring hardship but never yielding.
Voice: Direct and blunt, often laced with sarcasm or a mocking tone; when caring for others, she is straightforward and to the point, occasionally using rhetorical questions or exclamations to express emotion.

Chen Anbei

陈安北

Supporting Male

Principled, intolerant of corruption, uncooperative with the system, often offending superiors by breaking unwritten rules; yet caring towards others and calm in the face of danger.

Appearance: Medium build, often in plain clothes or uniform; ordinary appearance but projects an upright and capable image.
Personality: Principled, intolerant of corruption, uncooperative with the system, often offending superiors by breaking unwritten rules; yet caring towards others and calm in the face of danger.
Motivation: As a police officer, he wants to uphold justice and refuses to collude with corruption, but is constrained by systemic graft, striving to persist within the cracks.
Story arc: Evidence is limited; based on his situation, he shifts from enduring a corrupt environment and enduring scoldings to facing an assassination threat, which may force him to change or leave.
Background: A Hong Kong police officer who joined the force in 1972, during the peak of corrupt police activity; grew up in Hong Kong; family background is not mentioned.
Voice: Direct in speech, occasionally irritable, uses rhetorical questions or self-deprecation; plain vocabulary, sometimes with Hong Kong colloquialisms.

Lin Zhi

林植

Supporting Male

Cautious and diligent, good at reading the room, loyal to his boss, prone to sighing under pressure but strives to complete tasks.

Appearance: Young, often in a suit, of average build, giving a capable and polite impression.
Personality: Cautious and diligent, good at reading the room, loyal to his boss, prone to sighing under pressure but strives to complete tasks.
Motivation: Keep his secretary position, earn his boss's approval, and accomplish assigned tasks.
Story arc: Evidence is limited; based on his role as a secretary, gradually learns to handle complex situations after repeated setbacks, maturing in mindset.
Background: Secretary to Tan Pingzhang, studied in the UK, from a well-off family (family runs a seafood business), selected by the boss right after graduation, the youngest in the secretarial team.
Voice: Polite and sincere in speech, uses honorifics, occasionally sighs to express helplessness, formal wording.

Liu Dasao

刘大嫂

Supporting Female

Polite and cautious, feeling nervous in front of Zhu Shian but willing to set aside pride for her child; thoughtful and grateful.

Appearance: Dressed as an ordinary rural woman in simple clothes, carrying her child with a blue cloth to shield from wind, giving an impression of being down-to-earth and hardworking.
Personality: Polite and cautious, feeling nervous in front of Zhu Shian but willing to set aside pride for her child; thoughtful and grateful.
Motivation: Cure her child's illness and relieve the child's suffering.
Story arc: Evidence is limited; based on her medical-seeking process, she shifts from initial anxiety and uncertainty to gradual relief and trust in Zhu Shian.
Background: Elder sister-in-law of Liu Xin, an ordinary rural woman living in the countryside with modest means; has been seeking medical help for her sick child.
Voice: Speaks politely and hurriedly, often using 'hastily said'; tone is respectful, addressing Zhu Shian as 'Eldest Miss' or 'Doctor Zhu'.

Sun Dajie

孙大姐

Supporting

Warm-hearted and helpful, but also cautious; avoids sensitive topics when necessary.

Appearance: Middle-aged woman, simply dressed, often holding a teacup, giving a warm and down-to-earth impression.
Personality: Warm-hearted and helpful, but also cautious; avoids sensitive topics when necessary.
Motivation: Resolve her grandson's health issues and maintain a good relationship with the Zhu family.
Story arc: Evidence is limited; based on her role, transitions from initial anxiety over her grandson's illness to gratitude and caution after receiving help from the Zhu family.
Background: Colleague in He Zaiming's office, a local resident; her grandson was treated by a doctor from the Zhu family; enthusiastic about offering help.
Voice: Speaks bluntly with a local accent, often using exclamations and rhetorical questions to express emotions.

Niu Wang

牛望

Supporting Male

Attentive and cautious, cares for comrades, has a sense of justice, speaks directly, occasionally with banter or sternness.

Appearance: Medium build, plain clothes, often blends into the streets, unremarkable.
Personality: Attentive and cautious, cares for comrades, has a sense of justice, speaks directly, occasionally with banter or sternness.
Motivation: Complete the tasks of the national security investigation team, protect the safety of comrades, and uphold the interests of the organization.
Story arc: Evolved from a smuggler into a key member of the national security team, guiding Chen Anbei into the organization, deepening his commitment to the mission through long-term undercover work in Hong Kong.
Background: Originally from Guangzhou, smuggled into Hong Kong in early years, mingled with all walks of life, later joined the national security investigation team, responsible for operational support and intelligence gathering.
Voice: Colloquial with a streetwise tone, often uses rhetorical questions or banter, direct when serious.

Reader responses

Loading likes and comments…

Translated by

Lys

A former poet who found rhythm in the silence between Chinese characters. Now I translate the unsaid.

View profile

Original title: 七零道医摆烂日常
Status: Ongoing
Translator: Lys
Language: Chinese → English

Also on

Read the original