Chapter 40

At the guesthouse, Xiang Yiyang and Shi Zhonghua were about to visit Pei’s father before lunch when they learned Pei Hejun had woken up and Pei’s father was insisting on going home from the hospital.

“That’s great! The fruit was not wasted!” Xiang Yiyang said with a bright expression. He decided to visit Pei Hejun and might see him in the army soon.

Shi Zhonghua reminded him, “Don’t forget we have further study to handle!”

Xiang Yiyang recalled, “Right, we need to sort this out before leaving.”

They had a quick lunch, bought gifts, and went to the county health department.

The next day, three people from the Sixth Brigade arrived, asking villagers about local doctors. They wanted to know which doctor was better among a 22-year-old man who studied with a barefoot doctor for three months and a 17 or 18-year-old woman who studied with an experienced doctor for several months.

The villagers in Zhoujia Village said, “The doctor is fine. It’s just a headache.”

Xia Ping was not surprised as barefoot doctors mainly offer basic medical services in rural areas.

In Peijia Village, the villagers were more enthusiastic, praising Doctor Jiang for her excellent skills and genuine care. They advised against going to the doctor in Zhoujia Village, who was known for not being as good and possibly cheating.

Xia Ping was surprised by the mention of cheating and found the praise for Doctor Jiang notable.

She felt a bit embarrassed for a moment.

She initially thought Li Quan was better suited for further study, but She was wrong. How could someone with such a bad character be allowed to study?!

Nearby, someone was suspicious and asked, “Why is everyone saying it’s so good? Were we tricked?”

Xia Ping hesitated, then said, “Let’s see if anyone feels unwell.”

The two people quickly shook their heads: “No, we are fine.”

Xia Ping looked at himself. Being a premature baby, he had poor health since childhood, so his family used connections to get him an office job. He disliked going out.

In his condition, sweating a lot in summer is normal.

If you were a patient, you should act like one, right?

_

Pei Family

After the excitement of yesterday,

The next day, the Pei family returned to peace.

The rice was harvested. It rained yesterday afternoon and evening, but the sun was out again this morning. The wet areas were dry by noon. The villagers were busy threshing the rice.

There weren’t many patients at Jiangxi Health Center, except for one person who came for whitening ointment.

No, it was scar removal ointment.

The materials are expensive, costing two yuan a box.

Mu Wan bought a box without hesitation. Jiang Xi thought she wouldn’t need more for a while, so she used it on her two younger sisters.

Jiang Yu looked up obediently, not moving, and let her sister apply the ointment.

Jiang Mi felt uncomfortable. There was a layer of ointment on her face, and she felt something sticking to her. She kept twisting: “Are you sure? Big sister, this feels awful.”

“Don’t talk, don’t touch anything, and stay in the room.” After applying the ointment, Jiang Xi noticed Jiang Mi still wanted to touch her face and quickly slapped her hands away.

Jiang Mi pouted.

Jiang Xi gave her a candy.

The little girl smiled and behaved well.

Jiang Xi was happy and gave two more candies to Jiang Yu.

This quiet little girl made her love her more.

When she went to wash her hands, she heard someone calling from behind the clinic. She hurried into the room and saw a thin, fair-skinned young man waiting.

Xia Ping, with his arms folded, looked up and turned red. He awkwardly put his hands down, took a few steps forward, and reached out to shake her hand: “Hello, I’m here to see a doctor.”

He secretly glanced at Jiang Xi.

Unlike the simple country girl he expected, Doctor Jiang was surprisingly pretty, with curved eyebrows, bright eyes, a delicate nose, pink lips, and fair skin. Despite wearing simple clothes, her appearance made the whole room look different.

Jiang Xi was surprised. She had never seen such a person here before. Usually, people who looked fair and wore white shirts came from wealthier families and wouldn’t come to a village doctor.

But since the customer was here, she accepted the order. She politely shook hands and pointed to the consultation table: “Sit down first. I’ll take your pulse.”

Xia Ping’s face turned even redder as he felt her cold hands on his wrist.

He could feel his heart racing and thought, she wouldn’t notice, right?

Until she spoke: “Your health isn’t good. It seems you have been born with congenital deficiency, and your qi and blood are deficient. Do your hands sweat a lot? Do you wake up often at night?”

Xia Ping: “?”

He calmed down and was surprised by how accurate her diagnosis was. He nodded: “Yes.”

Jiang Xi asked for more details and then said, “I’ll give you two injections first.”

She opened the acupuncture kit.

Xia Ping: “!”

He was horrified. He rarely had acupuncture and preferred medicinal supplements because he thought acupuncture was too long and scary.

This woman actually uses acupuncture?!

Seeing his reaction, Jiang Xi comforted him, “It looks scary, but it will be fine and won’t hurt. Take off your shirt, and I will disinfect you first.”

Xia Ping wanted to run but felt embarrassed as she spoke gently. He took off his shirt, letting her give him the injections.

One needle, two needles…

There were fewer needles in the kit.

Xia Ping wondered if he had become a hedgehog.

His heart grew colder. It didn’t hurt much, but his scalp tingled.

Thirty minutes later, after paying and leaving the clinic, Xia Ping’s hands and feet were still cold. Two colleagues hiding in the shade asked, “How was it? Is this doctor okay?”

Xia Ping nodded: “It’s pretty good, probably better than Li Quan.”

Colleague: “Why do you look like that?”

Xia Ping sighed and shook his head.

He had fallen for a girl, and now he had a psychological trauma. Can’t he feel bad for a while?

_

That afternoon, the phone at the brigade headquarters rang.

Pei Shengcai answered: “Hello, this is the Sixth Brigade.”

The caller said: “I am the secretary of the Ministry of Health. After discussion, we have decided to give the quota for further study at the county hospital in September to Comrade Jiang Xi. Please notify the brigade and send her on time.”

Pei Shengcai was confused: “Ah? Our team has a spot for further study?”

Isn’t it true that the doctor has only been in office for a few months? She hasn’t even seen many patients yet and can go for further study?

“Yes, there is. Didn’t your deputy captain recommend Comrade Li Quan before? But Comrade Li Quan’s situation is special, so he was screened out and replaced by Comrade Jiang Xi.”

After hearing this, Pei Shengcai realized it must be that Zhou Xin who caused this issue. His relatives were in the commune, so they always had better information than him!

He was furious but, in front of the Ministry of Health, he agreed happily and asked about the details of the further studies and how Jiang Xi was chosen.

After hanging up, Zhou Xin entered with Lin Tao.

Noticing Pei Shengcai’s displeasure, Zhou Xin smiled and said, “Brother Pei, what’s wrong? Are you in a bad mood?”

Pei Shengcai wanted to be angry, but thinking about the phone call, he laughed again: “No, haha, I’m in a very good mood. Someone from the Ministry of Health just called and said that Comrade Jiang Xi from our village is so outstanding that she’s allowed to participate in the training in September. Li Quan was rejected!”

Zhou Xin: “?”

Lin Tao: “!”

The two were shocked and confused.

Wasn’t this spot for further studies supposed to be Li Quan’s? How did it become Jiang Xi’s?!

Before they could ask, Pei Shengcai cheerfully said, “You guys are busy, I’m going to inform Comrade Jiang Xi of the good news.”

He then used the loudspeaker to announce to the team.

Not long after, Zhou Xin and Lin Tao heard Pei Shengcai shouting through the loudspeaker at the brigade office: “Congratulations to our brigade comrade Jiang Xi for her outstanding performance and being selected for training at the county hospital!”

“Congratulations to our team leader Jiang Xi for her outstanding performance and being selected to study at the county hospital!”

“…”

After a moment of silence, Zhou Xin jumped up in anger: “… Damn it! What does Pei Shengcai mean!”

Lin Tao awkwardly tried to calm him: “Brother Zhou, calm down, let’s calm down!”

***

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