Chapter 36

“Keep your voice down!” Lin Tao lowered his voice and scolded, “Behave yourself these few days. Someone from the public society will come to check. If you do well when they come, then the spot should be yours. This is all thanks to Brother Zhou’s efforts. You mustn’t let me down this time; otherwise, I won’t be able to help you.”

Li Quan didn’t seem concerned: “Don’t worry, cousin, who else would go to study besides me?”

Seeing his attitude, Lin Tao angrily slapped him on the head and said, “Isn’t there that female doctor from Peijia Village next door? What if the captain finds out and makes a scene? What if something goes wrong?”

“…I know.” Li Quan thought of Jiang Xi and felt a little scared, but he was also a bit unwilling to be so secretive, muttering, “Isn’t this because of Brother Zhou?”

Lin Tao laughed, “How could that be possible? If Brother Zhou really had that kind of power, how could he still be the deputy captain? His family has some connections, but not that much. It was the commune that fought for this. We haven’t had many doctors in recent years, so we wanted to send someone over to study for a few months and come back as the team doctor. We got three spots in total, two of which were given to the neighboring team. Brother Zhou asked for the last one, saying that our team already has a team doctor, so we could just send him over for further study.”

Li Quan hadn’t expected this. He covered his mouth in frustration and went to open the door quietly. Only when he saw that no one was outside did he relax.

So the spot was given by the commune.

Then he can’t waste it.

Once he goes for further studies, his position as team doctor will be secure.

Before that, it must be kept secret, and no one should hear about it.

Lin Tao laughed, “If there really was someone, he would have been heard a long time ago, idiot.”

He shook his head and walked away.

Li Quan smiled awkwardly, trying to explain that he was relying on his backers, but his cousin had already left. He let out a deep breath. He had come back because it was not time to finish work yet, so he came to take a break. Now that he was going to study further, he had to be serious.

He took out the notebook he had kept when he was an apprentice with his master and began to read it again.

There wasn’t much in it, just simple treatment methods and prescriptions. He hadn’t yet learned acupuncture. In fact, when he first started working as a doctor, the villagers who came to see him didn’t trust him.

They felt like, if he couldn’t even do acupuncture, how could he be a doctor?

However, he imitated his master’s stern face and acted a little cold, and no one dared to continue talking. But Li Quan himself knew that he didn’t have enough confidence, especially with Jiang Xi, who seemed to have some skill, watching him closely. The captain was determined to get rid of him, so further study was a must for him.

Li Quan watched with a restless heart and didn’t read much, only thinking about whether he could secure the quota as soon as possible.

_

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

He frowned habitually. “Come in.”

“Doctor Li!” Zhou Baoquan came in with a smile and closed the door behind him.

Li Quan’s eyelids twitched, and he asked with annoyance, “What are you here for?”

Zhou Baoquan coughed twice, feeling awkward. “Well, it’s like this. I was constipated before, and I ended up bleeding a lot today. I asked my wife to find you, but she couldn’t, so she went to the next village…”

Seeing Li Quan’s face darken, Zhou Baoquan quickly added, “If we could have found you, we wouldn’t have had to go so far. The medicine she prescribed is really expensive…”

Hearing the last two sentences, Li Quan’s eyes flickered.

Although he had never met Jiang Xi, he had already clashed with her indirectly. If it weren’t for Zhou Baoquan spreading stories, how could his reputation have been ruined just after becoming the team doctor?

He had been waiting for an opportunity to get back at her, to show that being a doctor wasn’t so simple. How could a woman be fit to treat a man?

He hadn’t expected Zhou Baoquan to take action on his own.

It’s embarrassing to have a problem in that area, and she actually had the nerve to examine him and prescribe expensive medication?

Li Quan asked slowly, “What medicine did she prescribe?”

Zhou Baoquan quickly handed over the prescription and explained, “We’re from Zhoujia Village, and we don’t know if the medicine she gave is good or not. Please take a look. She said I might have a polyp in my intestine that needs treatment, or else it could turn into cancer. I need to take the medicine for three months. Even though each prescription costs 80 cents, if I have to take it for three months, it will cost dozens of yuan, right?”

Li Quan took the prescription and examined it.

The handwriting was neat and clear, unlike his master’s messy scrawl, which he could barely decipher.

He recognized all the words, and the herbs were familiar—mainly for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. He wasn’t sure how effective this prescription was, but it seemed the person who wrote it was quite skilled.

His cousin’s caution was justified.

Just polyps?

And requiring treatment?

Li Quan checked Zhou Baoquan’s condition and found it wasn’t that severe. At most, it was excessive internal heat causing constipation. Now, Jiang Xi claimed it was serious, but she wasn’t like the hospital doctors who had Western medical instruments to understand the human body. Could she diagnose intestinal polyps just by looking, smelling, asking, and feeling?

A 17 or 18-year-old girl thinks she’s some kind of medical prodigy?!

Looking at the prescription again, it could promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, which wouldn’t harm men.

Based on his own experience, Li Quan instinctively felt that Jiang Xi was just trying to make a quick buck!

She probably knew Zhou Baoquan had long-standing constipation issues and used this as an opportunity.

Li Quan sneered.

Zhou Baoquan had been watching him intently. When he saw Li Quan smile, his heart sank. “Is there something wrong?”

“No problem,” Li Quan said nonchalantly.

Zhou Baoquan was about to sigh in relief when Li Quan continued, “It’s just useless. She’s only 17 or 18 and hasn’t studied for decades like an old doctor. How could she tell you have a polyp in your stomach just by looking? The medicine she prescribed is for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. It might have some effect on women, but for men, it’s just like eating. It doesn’t harm or help.”

Zhou Baoquan: “!”

He knew it!

Zhou Baoquan was furious.

He didn’t know how much money his family had wasted on his illness. Not only did they not cure him, but they also cheated him out of his money?

His initial distrust made him believe 80% of what Li Quan said.

But he still asked cautiously, “Doctor Li, is everything you said true?”

Li Quan replied earnestly, “Of course it’s true! You said it yourself, she just learned a bit from an old doctor. Even if she’s smart, she can’t be that capable, right? Even my master can’t tell what’s growing in a person’s stomach just by looking!”

Zhou Baoquan felt this made more sense and believed it completely.

He gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, “Thank you, Doctor Li. I have something else to do. I’ll take my leave now.”

Seeing his demeanor, Li Quan knew what he was going to do. This man had been hot-headed from the start. He had originally worried that if the medicine he prescribed didn’t work the second time, he’d suggest going to the county hospital to avoid being implicated.

Now, Jiang Xi had to take the blame.

With all this trouble, especially at this crucial time, she would certainly not qualify for further studies.

Perhaps the girl would be so scared she wouldn’t even dare to be a village doctor anymore.

That’s just right!

And she was willing to examine such private matters for a man. Good thing her husband was as good as dead; otherwise, they’d probably be quarreling every day.

_

Pei Family

As the end of the workday approached, a lot of people suddenly entered the yard.

Pei Shengcai came in with Zhang San and Li Si, the two who had caused the fight. Pei Deming also arrived with his wife and son, showing concern for his father’s injuries.

With so many people around, Jiang Xi found it overwhelming.

The kitchen needed someone to watch over it, so she took her two younger sisters and replaced Mother Pei, hiding in the kitchen.

The two men in the yard began apologizing, and Jiang Xi understood the situation, leaving her completely baffled.

What is this all about?

The reason turned out to be that she had cured one of the men’s father’s stubborn kidney stones, so he no longer needed to go to town for intravenous drips whenever he was in pain. Because of this, the other party highly praised her medical skills and kept lauding her while belittling Li Quan everywhere.

But Li Quan was someone Zhou Xin insisted on keeping, and Zhou Xin’s cousin also trusted him a lot.

It just so happened that the two men had liked the same girl before and had fought several times in school, so they didn’t get along well. Now, they ran into each other and began arguing.

Unable to win the argument, Zhou Xin’s cousin, Zhou Chungeng, started pushing and shouting.

***

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