Chapter 12 Practicing Medicine

Since losing her nightlife, Gu Jiao gets up earlier than the chickens every day.

Before dawn, she carried buckets of water and went out the door.

She went to the ancient well at the entrance of the village to fetch water.

The villagers got up early, and several aunties and young wives were already drawing water by the ancient well. Everyone was surprised to see her.

The story of Gu Jiao's outburst at the oxcart spread like wildfire throughout the village; everyone knew she had dragged Gu Dashun off the cart. She really is a fool; when she acts up, even her own cousin gets hurt.

Can……

Why did she come to fetch water so early?

The little fool never does any work and sleeps until the sun is high in the sky every day.

Ignoring the stares of the crowd, Gu Jiao calmly walked to the well, put the bucket down to draw water, and carried it home on a shoulder pole.

It wasn't until she was far away that everyone came to their senses.

Are they seeing things? The little fool didn't look foolish at all just now, and the way she fetched water was really pretty, and the way she walked was beautiful too.

After fetching water, Gu Jiao steamed a basket of large meat buns.

I bought a piece of cured pork yesterday and soaked it in water before going to bed. The excess saltiness was removed, but the flavor of the cured pork was perfectly preserved.

The aroma of the big meat buns wafted out, making even the neighbor's dog drool.

Gu Jiao took two steamed buns with her and went up the mountain.

She had picked almost all the wood ear mushrooms, but there were still many wild mushrooms left.

In fact, villagers can also see these ingredients when they go up the mountain to cut firewood, but most people don't dare to pick them. First, they can't distinguish poisonous mushrooms, and second, they don't know that they can also remove the poison from fresh wood ear mushrooms.

After picking the mushrooms, Gu Jiao went straight to the market.

The eastern part of the town was a relatively wealthy and prosperous area, home to the best clinics and restaurants, as well as the government offices and academies. In contrast, the western part of the town was much more complex, a melting pot of all sorts of places: markets, workshops, gambling dens, brothels... a veritable melting pot of all kinds.

Gu Jiao arrived at the market and casually found an open space to set up her stall.

The aunt next to her remembered her and smiled at her: "You're here! Do you still have those mushrooms you picked last time? My grandson likes them, could you give me some more?"

The aunt sold sweet potatoes, and the price of sweet potatoes was incomparable to that of mushrooms from the mountain, but Gu Jiao didn't mind. She handed the basket to her and let her take it herself.

My aunt grabbed two handfuls and put two big, red sweet potatoes in her food.

A moment later, the old lady on the other side also came over, smiling and saying, "I... can I trade you some radishes? I also want to stew some for my family."

"Hmm." Gu Jiao nodded nonchalantly, gesturing with her eyes for her to do it herself.

The old woman then traded her two large radishes for Gu Jiao's two bunches of mushrooms.

After that, several more vendors came and gradually traded their own vegetables for Gu Jiao's mushrooms.

This scene was witnessed by two men in the teahouse diagonally opposite.

"Manager Wang, is this the woman you're talking about?" The one who asked was a well-dressed man in his early thirties with strong features and a tall stature.

A middle-aged man in his forties standing next to him said, "If we're talking about the second boss, it's her."

The second boss looked at Gu Jiao and frowned: "Such expensive mountain produce, and she let someone trade it for such cheap vegetables. Is she stupid? And someone even put rotten stuff in there, and she didn't say anything. She must be really stupid!"

"This..." Manager Wang was speechless.

He always felt that she wasn't stupid, she just didn't care.

"Are you sure you haven't made a mistake?" the second boss asked.

“I was right there when she was resuscitating the patient. I saw her stitch up such a deep and long incision with my own eyes. I can’t be mistaken,” Manager Wang said, gesturing.

What Manager Wang didn't say was that he had actually seen her twice. The first time was at this market, which is why he knew she would come here to do business.

"How old is she?" The second boss frowned, unable to believe that she was the doctor who brought the dead back to life.

She was too young, too poor, and had a birthmark like that on her face.

But Manager Wang wouldn't lie to him.

The last medical dispute had a significant impact, not only offending Dr. Zhang but also greatly displeasing the head of the Beijing branch. The position of the second-in-command was in jeopardy, and he urgently needed a capable doctor to stabilize the situation.

The second landlord said, "Go and ask her where she learned her skills. I'm willing to pay a hefty sum to invite her master to come and practice medicine."

This girl's medical skills couldn't have come from nowhere; asking her master would definitely be more reliable than asking her directly.

Shopkeeper Wang thought this method was feasible and turned around to ask, but as soon as he took a step, he saw a young man fall down, right in front of a chicken stall, scaring all the chickens in the cage away.

"Oh no! My chicken! My chicken!" The old man selling chickens hurriedly went to catch the chickens.

The scene was chaotic.

Manager Wang and the second boss both froze when their eyes fell on the young man.

The young man developed symptoms of chest tightness, cyanosis, and shortness of breath, almost identical to those of the patient who died at their clinic. However, the symptoms were more severe and urgent. While the patient managed to make it home, this young man was on the verge of suffocating.

This is an incurable disease; even if the doctors from their clinic came, they couldn't cure him!

At the critical moment, a slender figure swept through the crowd, knelt down on one knee in front of the young man, ripped open his clothes, and stabbed him in the chest with something in his hand!

Everyone gasped in shock!

Is this an attempt to kill someone?

The next second, Gu Jiao pulled out the needle core, and a small stream of air leaked out.

Everyone saw the young man, who was almost suffocating, deflate his chest and instantly resume normal breathing.

Shopkeeper Wang was dumbfounded: "Do...do we still need to ask her master?"

"What the hell are you asking!" If their clinic had a doctor like that, they wouldn't have killed someone that day.

The second boss decisively pushed aside Manager Wang, stood up, and walked towards Gu Jiao himself.

"You mean, you want me to be a doctor at your clinic?" Gu Jiao glanced at the young man after hearing what the second boss said.

The other person suffered a rib fracture that caused a lung tear, which eventually led to pneumothorax. Although the air in the chest cavity was drained, further treatment was still needed. Unfortunately, he passed away alone after regaining his breathing.

Gu Jiao withdrew her gaze and asked the second-in-command, "Which clinic do you belong to?"

The second landlord laughed and said, "In Qingquan Town, the only clinic that can be called a medical institution is our Huichuntang!"

"Hmm." She touched her chin.

The second boss thought the other party wouldn't agree easily, and he was prepared for them to be difficult. But to his surprise, Gu Jiao said, "You've come at the right time. I was just about to look for you. I can cooperate with Huichuntang, but let me make it clear first, I will only see patients once a month."

"Once? Once?" The second landlord was stunned. No, you're agreeing? Not going to be a little demanding? Raise the price? No, once? She only sees patients once a month!

"I'm very busy," Gu Jiao said earnestly.

Busy...selling vegetables?

The second landlord looked at her basket, his lips twitching slightly.

To be honest, he wasn't satisfied after just one visit, but when it comes to business, it's all about taking things one step at a time. He first got into Huichuntang, and then they could slowly negotiate the price once they became more familiar with each other.

The second landlord said, "Alright... just once!"

Gu Jiao stared intently at him, as if what followed was the important part: "Also, I have another condition."

After class, Feng Lin went straight to the clinic.

After the incident of violence against medical staff, the clinic's business has been a bit slow, and the staff are listlessly arranging medicinal herbs in the lobby.

"Is Dr. Zhang here?" Feng Lin called out to a waiter.

The waiter said, "Dr. Zhang has returned to the capital."

"When will he come again?" Feng Lin asked politely.

"I don't know," the waiter said.

"Could you ask around for me? My friend's leg has been injured for six months, and only Dr. Zhang can cure him," Feng Lin persisted.

The waiter glanced at him with a hint of impatience: "To be honest, Dr. Zhang won't be coming anymore. If you really want him to treat your illness, you can go to Huichuntang in the capital to find him, but his consultation fee is very expensive."

"How much?" Feng Lin asked.

"Ten taels."

"What? Ten taels?"

Feng Lin was stunned. Even if he and Xiao Liulang combined their money, they wouldn't be able to come up with that much silver.

(End of this chapter)