Chapter 18 Female Doctor

Xue Qingdai had a wide range of reading, so naturally, she hadn’t only read stories about “one birth, eight babies” but also plenty of “one birth, three treasures” tales. She had drawn a golden rule from all of them: in hospitals, the male lead always had a rotten peach blossom—usually a proud, disdainful female doctor or nurse.

The woman in front of her, in a red dress barely covering her backside, had already surpassed the era’s standards of openness. She also wore a complicated headpiece and vibrant makeup… Even the women on movie posters weren’t this over-the-top.

Xue Qingdai tried to pull off Xie Yan’s hand from her waist, but no matter how she tugged, it wouldn’t budge.

Xie Yan leaned down and whispered into her ear, breath warm:
“Daidai, don’t go near her.”

To him, Hu Lili was a walking jinx. Every time she showed up, something bad happened—like a ghost that refused to leave. He kept his distance, afraid she’d throw herself at him again. That would be hard to explain to Daidai, especially since Hu Lili was a notorious drama queen.

Hu Lili snapped, “It was clearly you who pushed me down, and now you’re saying I bullied her?”

She stared at Xie Yan’s hand still wrapped tightly around Xue Qingdai’s waist, her eyes practically spitting fire. Since her rebirth, everything had gone smoothly for her—she even had three mysterious boyfriends. But she still loved Xie Yan.

Men like him, cold and aloof like a flower high on a cliff, were her white moonlight—far better than those young men clinging to her uncle’s power.

Only someone like her, the heaven-favored daughter, could save Xie Yan from his infertility. She was even willing to sacrifice herself, bear children not of his bloodline, just to fill the Xie family lineage—after all, they had money, just no heirs. With her privileged family background and stellar education, she was the perfect fit to be Madam Xie.

“Xie Yan, this little girl is something else! She made me fall and then turned it around, blaming me!” Hu Lili was still trying to stand up when—

Riiiip.

The sound of tearing fabric was followed by her chin smacking the floor again.

Xue Qingdai, a seasoned village tyrant and a master of false injury tactics, wasn’t about to let someone mess with her.

She didn’t care what image she had in Xie Yan’s eyes.

Not wanting to dirty her hands, she raised her foot and kicked Hu Lili. The first time was too light, so the second time landed squarely on her face.

Thud!

Hu Lili clutched her now dirt-stamped face, completely stunned. She’d never met anyone who attacked before speaking.

Xue Qingdai calmly explained:
“I was afraid you’d dirty my hands, so I used my foot.”
“As you wish, I’m bullying you. What are you gonna do about it?”

“You just wait! Xie Yan, look at her!” Hu Lili cried, clutching her face, playing the poor victim. But the moment she turned around, she saw Xie Yan crouching down—wiping Xue Qingdai’s shoes!

“???”

Was Xie Yan blind? Couldn’t he see the true beauty lying on the floor?!

Fine. She would endure. One day, Xie Yan would come to his senses. After all, Xue Qingdai was just his ex-wife.

In this new life, Xue Qingdai was still aggressive and unreasonable. Divorce was only a matter of time.

She just had to wait for her own happiness. She’d play the long game.

Xie Yan gently took Xue Qingdai’s hand and washed it for her, even massaging her fingertips and making sure to clean every corner.

Xue Qingdai’s fingers curled slightly from the comfort.

“Daidai, it was my fault. I reacted too slowly and not only let your hands get dirty, but your shoes too.”
“I’ll make it up to you.”

Before Xue Qingdai could say anything, Xie Yan hurriedly led her out of the hospital, using it as an excuse to go shopping—with her.

When she returned, she was wearing brand-new leather shoes and carrying two more pairs. Still lost in the joy of shopping, she suddenly realized:
Oh no! She forgot to ask about Xie Yan’s medical report!

And something felt off about Xie Yan…

He didn’t scold her at all for her bullying behavior. Instead, he doted on her, bought her tons of things, and paid faster than she could talk.

That’s not a good sign.

It meant she wasn’t outrageous enough—not annoying enough for him to hate her.

But then, her eyes sparkled. She had an idea:
If she wanted to make Xie Yan break off the engagement, all she had to do was recreate the chaos from the original novel—before they got married.

In the book, after their wedding, she caused havoc in the army compound, fought every military wife who looked down on her, and argued with Xie Yan countless times.

But now, while they were still engaged, she could raise a ruckus before the wedding. Test his patience until he snapped and called off the marriage himself.

With a dreamless sleep and a light mood, Xue Qingdai hummed,
“Good luck come, bring me good luck~”

She planned to sneak out and buy rare Chinese medicinal herbs.

In the future, many valuable herbs would become scarce and expensive due to climate change, deforestation, and pollution—like cordyceps sinensis.

Or they would become endangered and strictly protected, like pangolins.

Most traditional Chinese herbs had to be hand-picked, whereas Western medicine, once successfully developed in a lab, could be mass-produced by the millions in factories and then distributed by businessmen at inflated prices to the public.

There was no superiority between Chinese and Western medicine—it was only sad when Western medicine, despite its massive investment, failed to truly relieve people’s suffering.

Xue Qingdai had always kept her prices low out of compassion for her patients, but her strength alone was too small. In the end, she was killed by counterfeit drug dealers she had offended.

She later realized how many people’s interests she had challenged. That’s why she died under such a heavy burden. But she held no regrets.

Blessings and misfortunes came together—
In this life, she had many loving family members.

Traditional Chinese medicine, like Peking opera and traditional painting, was part of the “Three Treasures” of Chinese national heritage.

A thousand years had endowed Traditional Chinese Medicine with ever-growing charm and depth. The knowledge of TCM continuously enriched Xue Qingdai’s inner world. She loved it passionately and pursued it at all costs—obsessed for half her life without a single regret. To her, cruelty had always stemmed from human nature, never from medicine itself.

Wandering through alleyways, she didn’t find the specific medicinal herbs she was looking for.
“As expected, it’ll take another ten-plus years before the herbal medicine market here truly develops,” she murmured.

Realizing there were no clear leads, she didn’t force the issue. Instead, she wandered from street to street, hoping to get a sense of the abilities of her peers.

The cost of medical herbs could vary wildly—some were just common weeds that most people didn’t recognize but had strong medicinal value. Others could be extravagantly expensive, like thousand-year-old ginseng or Tianshan snow lotus.

With just one sweep of her eyes across the rows of cabinets in these TCM pharmacies, she could instantly tell how deep these old doctors’ resources went.

The fresh herbal scent lingering in the alleys stirred her long-lost passion for medicine, and Xue Qingdai smiled with satisfaction. Her past life hadn’t been in vain—her medical knowledge was deeply and firmly rooted in her mind.

At the very end of the alley was a clinic called Tongjitang, and it had a visibly longer queue than the others.

An old acquaintance, Li Zhonghao, was groaning as he was being treated with acupuncture. Xue Qingdai’s gaze drifted over him. This doctor’s acupoint placements were relatively accurate, but their strength and needle-withdrawing technique were lacking.

Checking her pocket and finding only 2.5 yuan left, she decided to give this clinic a try.

Li Zhonghao, carrying a hefty bag of herbs, was preparing to catch a train to his next meeting location. He noticed that mysterious young girl again—she was waiting in line.

He still remembered the sensation of the eight needles she had placed in him last time—warm and energizing—but even now, it didn’t match the instant clarity he’d felt when she treated him after stepping off that train.

She was definitely not as innocent as she looked.

Li Zhonghao had always trusted his instincts—after all, it was his keen judgment that had helped him rise from poverty to success.

Xue Qingdai discussed treatment with the clinic’s old doctor for a bit, but she wasn’t very satisfied. She paid the consultation fee and left.

“Young lady, may I have a word?”

Li Zhonghao, dressed in a clearly expensive suit with an equally costly cigarette tucked into the lapel, stepped forward.

Xue Qingdai rolled her eyes without regard for manners. She was certain this fat lamb had just been royally scammed. She had no intention of talking to a fool—let alone one who brought nothing but trouble. She immediately retreated.

Li Zhonghao quickly pulled out a business card:
“My name is Li Zhonghao. I’m a businessman from Hong Kong. I care only about profit, nothing else—you can rest easy.”

He had been in business for years and knew when to bend, when to strike, and how to make others feel reassured. His words flowed with flattery.

“Young lady, I just wanted to ask out of kindness. I promise I won’t tell anyone how you treated me last time.”

“I also happen to know Xie Yan well. If you like him, I can introduce you to him.”

He remembered Liu Zhihong once said that Xie Yan had harshly scolded the young lady on the train. If he could help her take back some face, wouldn’t that score him a favor?

Xue Qingdai asked calmly, “How much did you pay for those herbs?”
“Twenty-five yuan, no ration tickets needed. Way cheaper than in Hong Kong.”

“…”

That amount of money meant nothing to him.

He might be good at business, but when it came to the value of herbs, he clearly wasn’t in her league.

“Well, then you got a deal! You should definitely buy more!”

“And I don’t need your help. I don’t want to see Xie Yan,” she said with an airy, arrogant tone, full of sass, like she didn’t care at all about her so-called fiancé.

Li Zhonghao had completely failed to get a read on her. His many years of social maneuvering were useless in front of Xue Qingdai.

Just then, at the mouth of the alley, Xie Yan came rushing over, looking clearly anxious.

Li Zhonghao’s big mole near his mouth twitched smugly.

“Xie Yan, long time no see! Are you here to see me?” he called out. “My health’s been great lately—no need for your concern!”

He said it loudly on purpose, flaunting the attention he had gotten from Xue Qingdai, hoping to make her realize how valuable he was in Xie Yan’s eyes—and maybe finally get her to stop ignoring him.