Chapter 41

“Of course, at first, you’ll only be working as a temporary employee in our department. Once you get your certificates, I’ll apply for you to become a full-time staff member.”

Lù Bái Wēi was surprised; she didn’t know that Director Shěn had this plan in mind.

He was just an old acquaintance of her grandfather’s, and to consider her future to this extent made Lù Bái Wēi feel very touched.

However, she still had to decline Director Shěn’s kind offer.

Because Hè Tíng’s nephew and niece would soon be sent to live in Xiángyáng Village, she needed to help Hè Tíng take care of the two children. It would be very inconvenient for her to commute back and forth to the county for work.

Also, her goal wasn’t to work as a temporary employee at a hospital. She longed for a bigger stage.

It was now the summer of 1975, and the national college entrance examination would be restored in September of the next year.

In her previous life, she had suffered due to not having a diploma. After being reborn, she was determined to seize the opportunity created by the restoration of the college entrance exam.

Working as a barefoot doctor in the village would give her more time to focus on studying high school subjects and prepare for the college entrance exam in two years.

“Grandpa Shěn, thank you for your kindness.”

Lù Bái Wēi regretfully declined: “I’m married now, and I want to stay in the village and work as a barefoot doctor.”

Director Shěn felt that the girl was being ungrateful and was letting such a good opportunity slip by.

He snorted coldly: “You think marrying a handsome man is enough? People still have to rely on themselves.”

“Little girl, you’ll regret this one day.”

Director Shěn didn’t want to talk to her anymore.

What a stubborn old man!

No wonder he needed to be constantly pampered by Shěn Dà Gē.

Lù Bái Wēi saw the resemblance to her grandfather in him, so she didn’t mind pampering him a little.

“Grandpa Shěn, next time my brother and his partner go hunting in the mountains, I’ll ask them to bring you a rabbit.”

Thinking of the spicy rabbit head, Old Shěn felt somewhat comforted.

He asked Lù Bái Wēi: “Can you cook rabbit?”

“Yes, I can—spicy, fragrant, and even in a savory sauce. My grandfather used to love the spicy rabbit heads I made.”

“What flavor do you like?”

“You little girl still have some conscience.”

Director Shěn said proudly: “Spicy rabbit heads are the best. I won’t just take your food for nothing, though. I’ll teach you some of my best tricks in return.”

Director Shěn’s most impressive skill was pulse diagnosis—his ability was truly extraordinary.

Director Shěn’s greatest skill was pulse diagnosis—his mastery of it was extraordinary.

With the techniques of observing, listening, questioning, and palpating, he could detect even the most subtle, undiagnosed symptoms. Coincidentally, Lù Bái Wēi wasn’t very good at taking pulses, since her grandfather, Táng Zhòngjǐng, specialized in bone-setting.

Was Director Shěn planning to mentor her and teach her pulse diagnosis?

A good skill is never a burden.

Such a great opportunity—anyone who passes it up would be a fool.

Lù Bái Wēi eagerly responded, “Alright, Master, next time I come to the county, I’ll make some spicy rabbit heads to show my respect.”

“You have the opportunity to stay at the county hospital, but you want to go back to the village to be a barefoot doctor. I don’t have such a useless apprentice.”

Director Shěn tossed her the barefoot doctor certificate and a book on pulse diagnosis: “Go on, go home and figure it out for yourself. Don’t expect me to teach you step by step…”

A man with a wife is a treasure, but a man without one is like a weed.

Without Lù Bái Wēi at home, Hè Tíng found the days quite difficult to endure.

Luckily, the long fifteen days finally passed.

On the day Lù Bái Wēi’s internship was over, Hè Tíng set off early to the county to pick her up.

Knowing that Lù Bái Wēi would be taking medical equipment and supplies back to the village, Hè Tíng had two baskets on the back of his bicycle.

Bored waiting at the hospital entrance, with time still left before their meeting, Hè Tíng wandered over to a nearby scrapyard.

Back in the Beijing compound, he had learned the art of finding old things from Grandpa Zhōu Yánfēng. At the scrapyard, he spotted a chipped bowl, a dirty bottle, and an old jar for pickled vegetables. Hè Tíng bought them all for fifty cents and put them in his backpack.

While he was still happily rummaging through the junk, he regretted not having visited this scrapyard earlier when he was in the county, as he had been too focused on trading his hunting catch for money.

Realizing the time was drawing near for his meeting with Lù Bái Wēi, he reluctantly stopped and hurried his bicycle back to the hospital.

Lù Bái Wēi had collected the supplies and was standing in front of the hospital, lost in thought while holding a sack of things.

“Wēi Wēi, what are you looking at?”

Lù Bái Wēi had been staring at the hospital entrance, but when she heard Hè Tíng call her name, she turned around.

Hè Tíng thought he had kept her waiting too long.

He stopped the bicycle, lifted himself onto the pedals to slow down, and explained apologetically, “I saw it was still early, so I took a quick walk around the nearby scrapyard.”

“Did I make you wait long?”

The reason Lù Bái Wēi had been staring at the hospital entrance was because she was lost in thought.

Just a moment ago, she had seen someone hurriedly rush into the hospital carrying a child, and that person looked very much like Táng Jǐngchuān.

For a moment, she almost thought it was her second uncle, Táng Jǐngchuān, coming back from the army.

He almost thought it was her second uncle, Táng Jǐngchuān, coming back from the army.

However, her second uncle had married late and had one son and one daughter. Her cousins, both older than her, hadn’t gotten married yet.

If it were her second uncle, Táng Jǐngchuān, why would he be carrying a child over three years old to the hospital? He couldn’t possibly have such an old granddaughter.

Since her grandfather’s passing, Lù Bái Wēi hadn’t seen her second uncle, Táng Jǐngchuān, for two years.

Although the person’s face resembled her second uncle’s, Lù Bái Wēi figured it couldn’t be Táng Jǐngchuān, who was far away in another part of the country. It must have been someone who looked very similar to him.

After talking to Hè Tíng, Lù Bái Wēi mentally analyzed the situation and firmly concluded, “It can’t be my second uncle. Why would he suddenly return from the army?”

“The world is full of surprises. There are many people who look alike.”

Hè Tíng helped her carry the medical equipment and supplies from the hospital, placing the items into the basket. While doing so, Lù Bái Wēi noticed the things he had found at the scrapyard.

“This jar is something you found at the scrapyard? Are you planning to use it to pickle vegetables?”

“It’s not just for pickling vegetables. I saw the jar looked old, and I want to take it home and have Zhōu Yánfēng take a look at it.”

Hè Tíng explained to Lù Bái Wēi that the reason he and Zhōu Yánfēng became close was because Zhōu Yánfēng’s grandfather worked at the Liúlí Chǎng (Glassware Market), where he was in charge of receiving goods.

At one point, Hè Tíng became obsessed with old objects and frequently bothered Zhōu Yánfēng’s grandfather. That’s when Zhōu Yánfēng began following him around, and he couldn’t shake him off ever since.

Lù Bái Wēi quickly pushed aside the thought of the person who resembled her second uncle, focusing on the fact that Zhōu Yánfēng’s grandfather worked at Liúlí Chǎng. Her eyes lit up with excitement.

Due to policy changes, antiques and old items were not worth much at the moment.

However, in a couple of years, as the economy warmed up, these items would only increase in value.

Being in charge of collecting items at Liúlí Chǎng meant that Zhōu Yánfēng’s grandfather was a valuable person.

She had no idea she was so close to such an influential figure.

Since Hè Tíng had found something valuable at the scrapyard, Lù Bái Wēi also became interested.

“Do you think the scrapyard has any high school textbooks?”

Lù Bái Wēi suggested, “It wouldn’t take too long, so why don’t we go and see if they have any high school textbooks? I realized how important it is to learn more knowledge during my internship at the county hospital.”

Only having completed middle school was a regret in Lù Bái Wēi’s mind since her rebirth.

From Zhōu Yánfēng, she learned that Hè Tíng had done very well in school and had a teacher available, so he might as well take advantage of it.

Time was tight; there were only two years left, and she had to quickly catch up on high school knowledge.