Chapter 77: Not On the Same Wavelength

Director Qi thought Jiang Nian wouldn’t refuse. After all, in his eyes, this was a golden opportunity.

But to his surprise, Jiang Nian didn’t even hesitate. She said directly, “Thank you for your kindness, Director Qi, but I think Yanjiazhuang Commune needs me more than the city hospital, where talented doctors abound. The countryside lacks medicine and doctors. If I leave, they’ll go back to the days of difficulty seeing a doctor. I hope you can understand.”

“That’s not a problem. We can organize a medical outreach program to solve the problem of people having difficulty seeing a doctor. Besides, the city hospital has better medical qualifications. With your skills, it’s a waste to stay in this small place, treating headaches and fevers. It’s a waste of your talent.”

Director Qi thought Jiang Nian was worried about leaving this place, but he didn’t know that she simply didn’t want to work under someone else’s control.

In such a large hospital, even the director might not be able to do as he pleased, let alone her, a quack doctor with no qualifications or background, a woman in the eyes of others.

Here, she could be self-sufficient. There was no need to work like a horse and look at other people’s faces.

After repeated refusals, Director Qi finally understood Jiang Nian’s meaning.

But he couldn’t understand why so many people in Jianglin City who knew medicine were desperate to get into the city hospital. Why was this young woman completely untempted?

Of course, people who pursue fame and fortune and those who pursue freedom are not on the same wavelength.

Since he couldn’t persuade her, Director Qi was still worried about the man in the house and tried to persuade her to send him to the city hospital.

Jiang Nian was annoyed. She simply said, “Director Qi makes a good point. If that’s the case, you can pay his medical expenses first, and then you can take him away.”

Director Qi was stunned. “Is the young lady upset?”

“No, even without the trouble of taking care of him, the medicine I used on him is good medicine. It’s not fair to treat and save people and then make me lose money. I was planning to wait for him to wake up and ask him to pay the medical expenses. After all, my little courtyard isn’t big enough to accommodate outsiders. Since Director Qi is taking him away now, that’s a relief for me. It’s just the medical expenses…” Jiang Nian smiled. “You should have inquired before you came. We’re self-sufficient here. The medical expenses are cheap. It’s not expensive.”

“How much?”

“Five hundred.”

“Five hundred?” Director Qi was shocked. “This… this isn’t cheap?”

“The medicine I used to keep him alive contains 500-year-old wild ginseng. You know how valuable 500-year-old ginseng is, Director Qi.” I wouldn’t be able to justify this old man’s trip without getting something out of him.

Besides, he was so eager to make things difficult for himself. Who could blame him?

“It’s normal for Director Qi to be reluctant. After all, it’s not a small amount. Then I’ll wait for the man in the house to wake up and ask him for it myself.”

She could tell that Director Qi seemed to have something special about that man, although she didn’t know what it was yet.

Director Qi was suspicious. “Do you have 500-year-old ginseng?”

This kind of ginseng was always in high demand and short supply. He didn’t believe she had it. Even if she did, anyone who knew anything about it would know to keep it for themselves in case of an emergency. He didn’t believe she would be willing to use it so easily for someone else.

Jiang Nian didn’t answer his question. She just smiled enigmatically and went inside.

Ye Zhiqiu and Zhang Er were dealing with the aftermath. When they saw her come in, they didn’t stop.

Jiang Nian wrote a prescription and asked Ye Zhiqiu to boil the medicine.

As soon as she went out, Director Qi snatched the prescription.

Ye Zhiqiu was furious. “You old man, you’re a director, how can you be so rude?”

Director Qi didn’t care. He looked at the prescription and smiled. “Little girl, you’re lucky. Learn well from your teacher.”

Such good medical skills, it was a waste to stay here.

Director Qi went back inside and checked the man’s condition before leaving.

Ye Zhiqiu was still indignant. “This old man talks a big game. I thought he was so righteous, but when it comes to money, he just leaves the man here and walks away.”

“You talk too much. Reflect on yourself.” Jiang Nian only said that.

Ye Zhiqiu’s face turned pale, but she didn’t dare to delay. She quickly went to boil the medicine.

Jiang Nian wasn’t completely drained, but she was still tired from all the commotion.

When she had rested enough and came out of the house, she saw Ye Zhiqiu standing by the door, facing the wall.

“Master…”

She whispered when she saw Jiang Nian come out.

In Ye Zhiqiu’s eyes, Jiang Nian was like a second parent to her. Although she was strict and demanding, she had never scolded her like this before.

Those simple words made her heart tremble.

“Do you know where you went wrong?”

“I shouldn’t have been talking nonsense.”

Jiang Nian said, “There’s nothing wrong with talking. I’ve never restricted you from speaking. But you need to remember this: too much talk leads to mistakes. In the face of ability, complaining is just the weakness of the powerless. In the face of the strong, powerless complaints will put you in danger.”

She was still a young girl. Jiang Nian had also been impulsive when she was young.

She was fifteen or sixteen when she first entered the world and became famous.

How could a young person who had achieved fame be humble? She had a little skill and flaunted it, so much so that she realized her mistake too late.

Ye Zhiqiu didn’t have the same skills as she did back then, so she was more receptive to advice.

A person’s courage is linked to their ability. If you lack ability, your courage will naturally be weak.

Instead of saying those meaningless things, it’s better to spend more time enriching yourself.

When you have enough ability, you won’t need to complain or be resentful. There will be plenty of people vying to flatter you.

“I understand, Master.” Ye Zhiqiu listened attentively.

Jiang Nian nodded and went to the clinic.

It didn’t matter if she didn’t understand some things. As long as she thought about them carefully, she would eventually understand.

But Jiang Nian still didn’t want her first apprentice to learn about the world through her own experiences, like she had.

It was like parents always telling their children not to repeat their mistakes, but the child hadn’t walked down that tempting path. How would they know that the path only looked prosperous but was actually full of thorns?

When they discovered the thorns and wanted to turn back, they found that their young children and aging parents were already behind them, with no way back. They could only carry the heavy burden and grit their teeth and move forward.

Generation after generation, it repeated itself.

There was no such thing as being sensible or not sensible. There was only having experienced something and not having experienced it.

On the road to growth, people always use their mistakes as nourishment. Occasionally, a few branches will grow strong and lush, but most of them will struggle in the dirt, unable to emerge.

As for where Ye Zhiqiu would go in the future, for better or worse, no one could say.

The clinic had been cleaned up. The bloodstains on the bed had been changed.

It was just that Zhang Er’s bed was occupied, so he could only sit on a stool.

Jiang Nian checked the patient’s condition. Although he was still unconscious, his life was saved.

She told Zhang Er about the bedding. After buying cotton last time, she had planted some of the leftover cotton seeds in her space. Now, she had a large field of cotton. She also had bedsheets. The filling was mostly homespun cloth woven by farmers themselves. She could get more cotton and ask Zhang Er’s family to make him a new quilt.

The situation had been urgent, and his bedding had been stained with blood. It was no longer worth keeping.

Of course, that was just how Jiang Nian felt.

Farmers were simple. They would take apart the quilt, tear off the bloodstained cotton, and reorganize it into a new quilt. As for the bloodstains on the bedsheet, they would just wash them away. So, Zhang Er temporarily put it in the corner and refused Jiang Nian’s compensation.