The Wormwood Collection

The title Chongcao, literally "insect grass," draws on the meaning of cordyceps. Its first layer of meaning is medicine; its second is "you can't explain things to an insect." I was still in school when I wrote "Twin Hairpins," and many of my views changed after I started working, so I've been revising it ever since. The revisions have been so extensive, especially with the addition of a great deal of traditional Chinese medicine, that the plot no longer flows smoothly. So I'm posting some of the revised storylines in "The Chongcao Collection." This is not a standalone work, but a supplement to "Twin Hairpins," with updates and bonus chapters. When I have time, I'll merge the two works into one.

Major changes:

1. Jiang Rouxi has been renamed Wu Rouxi, and later on, Wu Xiangqi.

2. Rouxi's official love interest is now Yi Qianhuan. In "Twin Hairpins," Yi Qianhuan was written as a spoiled playboy, but in the revision he will have nothing to do with that sort of thing.

3. The protagonist has changed from Qingyi to Rouxi, with a focus on Rouxi's growth.

4. Rouxi's father gets a resurrection token. Instead of dying at the hands of his wife and children, he runs away from home, and the family reunites ten years later.

5. In the original, traditional Chinese medicine was barely mentioned. In the revision, the entire story will revolve around it. However, I didn't study traditional Chinese medicine, so I've decided to invent some theories, incorporating fate studies and some modern genetic research into ancient Chinese medicine.

6. Many readers felt that "Twin Hairpins" had no satisfying moments and was hard to read. After the revision, I'll further reduce those moments, making it even harder to read, and do my best to portray the hardships and struggles of ordinary people at the bottom of society.

7. Readers said that everyone in "Twin Hairpins" was a bad person. After the revision, the characters will be even more thoroughly "bad."

Theme: Try