“Dr. Lin is here,” Liao Guizhi greeted. “Sorry to trouble you to make the trip, but Educated Youth Song is really quite ill.”  

“Don’t say that, sister-in-law. Treating patients is my duty.”  

Uncle Lin smiled in response. On the way over, Bai Junwu had already given him a rough idea of the situation.  

“Let me check on Educated Youth Song first.” With that, he walked to the bedside, set his medical kit on the ground, and placed his fingers on Song Jing’an’s wrist to take his pulse.  

As he asked a few questions, they turned out to be nearly identical to the ones Bai Zhizhi had asked earlier.  

Song Jing’an answered again, his gaze drifting toward Bai Zhizhi, only to find her staring intently at Uncle Lin’s movements.  

Bai Junwu couldn’t hold back his impatience. As soon as Uncle Lin finished taking the pulse, he blurted out, “Uncle Lin, what’s wrong with Educated Youth Song? He was fine just yesterday.”  

“It’s nothing serious, not a major illness. He’s just worn out from the journey, his constitution weakened a bit, and caught a cold.” Uncle Lin said lightly. “First, let’s bring his fever down.”  

With that, he opened his medical kit and took out a syringe and medicine.  

Bai Zhizhi had never seen such a thing before. She quietly sidled up to Liao Guizhi, tugged at her sleeve, and whispered, “Mom, what’s that?”  

“It’s fever-reducing medicine. After this injection, Educated Youth Song’s fever will go down,” Liao Guizhi explained patiently.  

Hearing this, Bai Zhizhi studied the slender needle and the liquid medicine, frowning slightly and murmuring, “Does this really work?”  

“It works. Everyone in the village who gets sick with a fever gets this injection.”  

Bai Zhizhi grew even more puzzled. “No herbal medicine?”  

When she had a fever, she was always given herbal decoctions, never this injection.  

“This works faster.”  

Bai Zhizhi fell silent, her eyes fixed on Uncle Lin’s movements. She wanted to see just how fast this so-called fever-reducing injection worked.  

She watched as Uncle Lin sterilized the long, thin needle, drew the medicine into the syringe, then pointed the syringe upward to expel the air, a droplet of medicine trembling at the tip before falling.  

Just as everything was ready and he was about to administer the injection, Liao Guizhi took Bai Zhizhi’s hand and led her out of the room.  

By the time Bai Zhizhi realized what was happening, she was already standing outside. “Mom?”  

Liao Guizhi’s expression was calm. “Go pour a glass of water for Uncle Lin.”  

No young girl should be watching someone get an injection in the backside.  

Though confused, Bai Zhizhi obediently did as she was told. By the time she returned, Uncle Lin had already finished the injection and was preparing the medicine.  

Not the herbal concoction she had imagined, but pills—one after another. She watched as he shook out small tablets from little bottles, then divided them into several portions. Several different pills made up one dose.  

Could just a few pills like this really cure an illness? They didn’t look like herbal medicine pills either.  

Everything she had seen today completely overturned Bai Zhizhi’s understanding. None of the knowledge she had inherited included this kind of medical treatment.  

“Of course they can,” Uncle Lin replied.  

Unbeknownst to her, Bai Zhizhi had actually voiced her doubts aloud.  

“Each of these different pills has a different effect. Like this one,” Uncle Lin pointed to a small white pill, “its purpose is to reduce inflammation.”  

“The other pills each have their own functions, and together, they achieve the effect of treating the illness.”  

Bai Zhizhi suddenly understood. It was actually the same principle as traditional medicine—just replacing herbs with pills, but the effect was the same.  

And it eliminated the need to boil and decoct herbs, making it much more convenient.  

Thinking this, she wanted to ask whether her own diagnosis had been correct, but she wasn’t sure how to bring it up, so she shrank closer to Liao Guizhi.  

Noticing her hesitation, Uncle Lin chuckled. “What do you want to ask, Zhizhi?”  

Liao Guizhi also encouraged her, “Just ask whatever you want, Zhizhi. Uncle Lin isn’t an outsider—he even held you when you were little.”  

Bai Zhizhi was puzzled. Then, suddenly, an image flashed through her mind—a kind old man holding a little Bai Zhizhi, teaching her to recognize herbs, with a young man standing beside them.  

The old man was Grandpa Bai, and the young man was Uncle Lin.  

More images followed—some of Grandpa Bai and Uncle Lin treating patients while little Bai Zhizhi watched, others of Grandpa Bai and Uncle Lin taking little Bai Zhizhi to gather herbs…  

She remembered now.  

A glimmer of warmth flickered in Bai Zhizhi’s eyes. She no longer clung to Liao Guizhi but shifted slightly away, calling out softly, “Uncle Lin.”  

Uncle Lin laughed heartily in response.  

Turning to Liao Guizhi, he said, “When I got back, I heard people outside saying Zhizhi had recovered. Now that I see it for myself, it’s really true. This is truly a joyous thing.”  

“Yes,” Liao Guizhi said, looking at Bai Zhizhi with tender affection. “Now I can rest easy.”

Seeing the conversation veering off track, Bai Zhizhi quickly asked, “Uncle Lin, can Educated Youth Song’s illness be treated with traditional Chinese medicine?”  

“Of course,” Uncle Lin answered seriously. “From a Chinese medicine perspective, his condition is caused by external cold invasion leading to Taiyang cold damage. It’s easy to treat—just one dose of herbal decoction will do.”  

Bai Zhizhi’s eyes lit up. “Is it Ephedra Decoction?”  

Uncle Lin paused while packing his medical kit and looked at Bai Zhizhi with interest. “Yes. How did you know that, Zhizhi?”  

“I heard Grandpa mention it,” Bai Zhizhi replied without hesitation, invoking Grandpa Bai’s name.  

At the mention of Grandpa Bai, a hint of nostalgia flashed in Uncle Lin’s eyes. He had originally trained in Western medicine but later developed an interest in Chinese medicine, much of which he learned from Grandpa Bai.  

Grandpa Bai was like half a mentor to him.  

“Zhizhi is sharp. It seems you still remember what your grandpa taught you back then.”  

Uncle Lin didn’t doubt Bai Zhizhi’s words. When Grandpa Bai was alive, he had adored his little granddaughter, often holding her while reciting prescriptions and never shooing her away when treating patients.  

Bai Zhizhi nodded. “I remember some things, but I don’t know how to apply them.”  

A thought crossed Uncle Lin’s mind. He knew none of the Bai family’s current generation had shown any talent for medicine—something Grandpa Bai had always regretted.  

But what if Bai Zhizhi could inherit her grandfather’s legacy?  

He glanced at her but decided to keep the idea to himself for now. He’d discuss it with the rest of the Bai family first.  

After packing his kit, Uncle Lin turned to Song Jing’an, who was still lying weakly in bed, and gave his final instructions: “Rest well these next few days, Educated Youth Song, and take your medicine on time.”  

Song Jing’an nodded. “Thank you, Uncle. How much do I owe you?”  

“Five cents. You can also pay with work points if you prefer.”  

This was the production team’s policy. Many villagers from less well-off families chose to repay with work points.  

Song Jing’an had just arrived in the countryside and hadn’t started working yet, so he had no work points to his name. As he tried to get up to fetch the money, Liao Guizhi stopped him.  

“Don’t worry about that now. Focus on recovering first,” she said firmly. “My second son will bring you breakfast later.”  

Turning to Uncle Lin, she added, “Dr. Lin, you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? Stay and have a simple meal with us.”  

Uncle Lin didn’t refuse and followed her out.  

After breakfast, instead of leaving immediately, Uncle Lin sought out Liao Guizhi. “Sister-in-law, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”  

“What is it? Go ahead.”  

“Now that Zhizhi has recovered so well, and I’ve noticed she has a talent for medicine, I was thinking—perhaps she could study medicine under me. It would give her a skill to rely on and also carry on Uncle Bai’s legacy.”  

Liao Guizhi slapped her thigh excitedly. “Oh! You’ve read my mind! I was just about to bring this up with you!”  

Uncle Lin was surprised. “You’ve been thinking the same thing?”  

Liao Guizhi nodded and pointed to her ankle, which was wrapped in herbs. “Look, I sprained my foot yesterday, and it was Zhizhi who treated it with herbs. It worked quite well.”  

“But she’s been worried, so I thought I’d have you take a look too.”  

She then called Bai Zhizhi over.  

“Zhizhi, weren’t you worried about my foot? Since Uncle Lin is here, let him check it. You can listen in and put your mind at ease.”  

Bai Zhizhi nodded earnestly. She had indeed been concerned that she hadn’t treated it properly.  

Her expression was so serious that one might think she was the injured one, not Liao Guizhi. Uncle Lin smiled reassuringly. “Don’t be nervous.”  

He carefully unwrapped the herbal poultice, gently pressed the injured area, then reapplied the herbs.  

Turning to Bai Zhizhi, he said, “No bone damage—it’s not serious. You handled it very well, and the herbs you used were perfectly suited. It’ll heal completely in a couple of days.”  

Only then did Bai Zhizhi let out a relieved sigh.  

Liao Guizhi chuckled. “See? I told you it was fine.”  

“Zhizhi, Uncle Lin says you have a talent for medicine, so we’ve discussed it and think you should study under him. What do you think?”  

Though Liao Guizhi very much wanted Bai Zhizhi to learn medicine, she wouldn’t force her if she refused.  

Bai Zhizhi, of course, agreed immediately. She had dreamed of having a mentor, and she was particularly fascinated by Uncle Lin’s injection technique. She was about to perform a formal bow to acknowledge him as her teacher when—  

Uncle Lin’s eyebrow twitched, and he quickly stopped her. “We don’t stand on ceremony like that.”  

Bai Zhizhi nodded blankly. And just like that, her medical training was settled.