Chapter 413 – He’s Not Usually Like This

“Shen Laosan, stop bothering Dr. Li. She still has to examine the rest of us. You can’t just hog her time all to yourself,” one of the villagers behind him quickly called out.

“How am I bothering her? I’m just asking her a few questions. And don’t tell me you’re not scared—having those long worms inside us—are you really not afraid?” Shen Laosan shot back.

Li Yiyi quickly stepped in to interrupt the argument. “Alright, enough. Don’t argue. Comrade, you do have worms in your body, but there’s no need to worry. Take this note and head over to the educated youth point. They’ll prepare the medicine for you over there—just drink it when it’s ready.”

“But I saw that some people had ‘two bowls’ written on theirs. Why do I only have one? Are you not trying to cure me properly?” Shen Laosan asked indignantly.

Li Yiyi couldn’t help but chuckle at that and explained, “You’ve misunderstood. Those who need two bowls are in more serious condition. Since you only need one bowl, it means your case isn’t that bad—it’s actually a good thing. You should be happy.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is. You scared me! I thought you didn’t want to cure me properly. I’m sorry, Dr. Li, I misunderstood you. You’re a good person,” Shen Laosan said, grinning as he turned and happily walked off toward the educated youth point.

Dazhu came over, looking a little embarrassed, and explained to Li Yiyi, “Dr. Li, don’t mind Shen Laosan. He’s got a few screws loose and tends to get on people’s nerves. But he’s kind of like our village’s watchman.”

Li Yiyi smiled. “I understand, I’m not that petty.”

“Good, good, I knew you were the kind of person who can hold a whole ship in your heart.”

Li Yiyi let out a helpless laugh at his strange metaphor, then quickly got serious again. “Comrade Dazhu, let’s stop chatting. There are still villagers waiting to be seen.”

“Right, right—back to seeing patients.” Dazhu smiled and hurried off to help keep order in the line.

Another half an hour passed before all the remaining young villagers had been examined.

In the end, the results were shocking—almost no one in the village had been spared. Every single person had some amount of threadworms in their body.

By the time they were done, Li Yiyi realized it was already well past noon, and she hadn’t even had lunch yet.

“Dr. Li, we’ve already prepared food at the educated youth point. If you head over now, it’ll still be warm. We’ll take care of cleaning up here,” Dazhu said gratefully as he approached her.

Then he quickly added, “Don’t worry, Dr. Li, we didn’t cook the food ourselves—we sent someone by bike to buy it from a restaurant in town. There definitely won’t be any worms in it.”

Li Yiyi smiled and sincerely thanked him. “Thanks. In that case, we won’t stand on ceremony. Once you’ve tidied up, make sure you all eat too. After lunch, I’ll go to the village head’s house and discuss a plan to get rid of those worms.”

“Dr. Li, you already have a plan?” Dazhu’s eyes lit up with excitement.

Li Yiyi nodded. “I’ve discovered that those worms are afraid of another kind of insect that I carry. Luckily, the medicine I made contains this insect. I’ll prepare some for you all, and then you can scatter it into the village’s water sources to kill off the worms.”

“Great, great,” Dazhu said eagerly, nodding as he spoke.

“Dr. Li, do you know what the worm is called?” Dazhu scratched his head sheepishly as he asked.

Li Yiyi shook her head. “No, but we’re planning to take a few samples back with us for some professors who specialize in parasitic organisms to examine. They might be able to identify them.”

“That’s the benefit of being educated—knowing stuff like this. I’ve already made up my mind: when my two daughters grow up, I’m going to make sure they get a proper education. Hopefully all the way to college. That way, they can be just as capable as you,” Dazhu said, grinning like his daughters were already college graduates.

Li Yiyi smiled and agreed. “That’s a great mindset, Brother Dazhu. In this day and age, having an education gives you an advantage. Educated people are less likely to be cheated, no matter where they go.”

“Exactly! With your words of encouragement, Dr. Li, I swear—even if I have to sell the pots and pans—I’m going to send both my daughters to college!” Dazhu said with a hearty laugh.

With their conversation over, Li Yiyi finally returned to the educated youth point.

Just as she reached the entrance, the delicious aroma of food wafted out toward her.

Inside, laughter and the sound of people heartily enjoying their meal could be heard.

“Hey everyone, look who’s back—it’s our hero!” Hong Shuo shouted from the courtyard as soon as she stepped in.

“Everyone, if it weren’t for Comrade Li’s free medical checkups for the villagers today, we wouldn’t be enjoying this feast. So let’s give a warm round of applause to welcome Comrade Li back!” Hong Shuo said excitedly, clapping as he spoke.

“Thank you, Comrade Li! Without you, we wouldn’t be having this delicious lunch.”

“That’s right! Comrade Li, we really owe you. When we’re out of here, you and the vanguard squad brothers must come visit our city—we’ll treat you to something great!”

“And me too! My hometown has loads of amazing food. The best is beggar’s chicken. If you’re ever free, come visit—I’ll make sure you eat and drink well.”

Listening to all their enthusiastic invitations, Li Yiyi happily agreed.

Just as they were about to start eating, Dazhu came in again, holding a bottle of wine covered in dirt.

“Perfect timing—you haven’t started eating yet. This bottle was a gift from our village head. He buried it decades ago and wanted it saved for his funeral. But since Dr. Li saved our whole village today, he said this bottle must be brought out to show our gratitude,” Dazhu said cheerfully as he raised the wine.

As soon as the others heard it had been buried for decades, the men’s eyes lit up with excitement.

Li Yiyi laughed and accepted the bottle from Dazhu. “Alright, then I’ll accept it on everyone’s behalf. Please help us thank the village head.”