Lin Li went into a breakfast stall.

"A bowl of douzhi, and freshly fried jiaoquan!" Her voice mingled with the calls of vendors, landing on the greasy wooden tabletop.

Wearing blue cloth sleeves, the owner flicked his wrist, and the dark brown soy milk slid steadily down the rim of the rough porcelain bowl to the bottom. The sour and fermented aroma mixed with the crispy fragrance of freshly fried dough rings instantly exploded in the morning air.

She broke the fried dough rings into small pieces and soaked them slowly in soy milk until they softened.

At the next table, several elderly men in work clothes were slurping noodles with pickled vegetable strips, while a few tea leaves floated in the jasmine tea in the enamel mug.

The yellowed slogan "Realize the Four Modernizations" was pasted on the wall, contrasting with the faded poster of "Popular Cinema".

Lin Li looked at the dark brown soy milk, took a deep breath, picked up a small piece of fried dough ring, closed her eyes and opened her mouth.

Take a bite...

'Uh~~~'

A wave of nausea washed over me, and I spat out the fried dough ring in my mouth!

"Haha, young lady, you're new to Beijing, aren't you?"

An old man eating noodles looked at Lin Li and laughed, "Everyone's like this the first time they drink douzhi (fermented mung bean juice), they don't like it. But once you drink it for a while, you'll miss the taste!"

Lin Li suppressed her nausea and forced a smile. "Um, I can't take it anymore! Boss, please make me another bowl of noodles!"

"Coming right up!"

A short while later, the noodles were served.

With a slurp, I finally felt alive again!

She had heard in her past life that Beijing's douzhi (fermented mung bean juice) was extraordinary, and today she had seen it for herself, but she was certain she would never try it again!

After finishing breakfast, Lin Li wiped the soy milk stains from her lips and quickly walked towards the bus stop.

The No. 103 trolleybus came along with its long "pigtail" trailing behind it, and the red-painted slogan "Serve the People" was faintly visible under the mottled green paint on its body.

As soon as the doors opened, the crowded people surged out like a tide, while passengers waiting to board tiptoed to squeeze in.

Lin Li gripped her backpack strap tightly as she was swept along by the crowd and squeezed onto the bus, her back pressed firmly against the metal door.

The carriage was filled with the smell of sweat, cheap face cream, and ink.

Some people had briefcases tucked under their arms, some carried net bags full of vegetables, and a few students in sailor shirts were standing on tiptoe, clinging to the handrails on the roof of the vehicle.

The ticket seller stood in the middle of the carriage and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Wangfujing has arrived. Passengers who are getting off, please prepare in advance!"

Lin Li gazed at the gray walls and tiles flashing past the car window, occasionally catching glimpses of the large signs of state-owned stores, with the words "Dongfeng Department Store" and "Hongxing Grocery Store" glowing red in the sunlight.

As the tram passed Xisi Archway, Lin Li felt a tightness in her chest.

The older woman next to her was wiping her sweat with a blue handkerchief, muttering, "I wish this bus could make more trips."

Lin Li was squeezed so tightly she was barely recognizable as a human, and she thought to herself.

Tomorrow! Oh! No… she’ll go buy a bicycle in a little while, and she’ll ride it to and from school from now on!

Finally, the station announcement sounded, and Lin Li was practically pushed off the train by the people behind her.

Lin Li finally breathed a long sigh of relief when she stood at the entrance of Peking University School of Medicine.

In front of the red brick and gray tile teaching building, several old locust trees are shedding their locust blossoms.

Students in white coats hurried by, carrying books, while Flying Pigeon and Forever brand bicycles were neatly arranged in the bicycle shed.

He took out the note written by Professor Li from his bag, walked towards the reception room, and gave a polite smile.

"Hello comrade! I'm here to see Professor Li. Could you please tell me how to get here?"

Lin Li handed the note to the old man in the gatehouse. He took it, read it carefully for a while, and then smiled.

"Professor Li's office is on the third floor, room 302, after you enter through the main door and go up the stairs on the right!"

"Thank you!"

After taking back the note, Lin Li followed the old man's directions and walked towards the building.

As soon as I got to the third floor, I could hear a noisy argument.

"This Lancet paper clearly points out that the combined use of antibiotics can significantly improve the cure rate of sepsis!"

The young Professor Wang patted the English journal in his hand, his metal-framed glasses gleaming coldly in the sunlight. "Are we still clinging to traditional therapies? Are we going to make patients continue to suffer through herbal remedies?"

"Young man, medicine is more than just the data at hand."

Professor Zhang, with his white hair and jujube wood cane, tapped the windowsill with his age-spotted fingers. "Last winter, I treated a pneumonia patient who had a persistent high fever despite trying all the Western medicines. In the end, it was Baihu Tang plus Yinqiao San that saved his life."

Lin Li peered through the slightly ajar door and saw that room 302 was filled with smoke.

Several professors sat around a long, peeling table. The tea in the enamel mugs had long since gone cold, and the ashtrays were piled high with cigarette butts from "Daqianmen" cigarettes.

The yellowed diagrams of the human body's meridians are pasted on the wall, forming a stark contrast with the latest clippings from "International Medical News".

Professor Li remained silent, twirling his pen between his fingers, his gaze fixed on the "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases" spread out on the corner of the table.

"But clinical data doesn't lie!" Professor Wang said, his face flushed, as he flipped through the densely packed experimental records in his notebook. "Those cases you mentioned are just isolated incidents; they can't be replicated at all!"

'Knock knock knock!'

"Please come in!"

Lin Li pushed open the door and went inside.

"Dear teachers, perhaps we can approach this from the perspective of yin and yang balance..." All eyes instantly focused on her.

Professor Wang frowned: "Traditional Chinese medicine theory is so mysterious and profound, how can it explain problems in modern medicine?"

Professor Zhang, however, beckoned with great interest: "Young lady, tell me about it."

Lin Li took a deep breath and walked to the blackboard.

Amidst the scratching sound of chalk across the blackboard, she drew a yin-yang symbol: "Antibiotics are cold in nature. Although they can inhibit bacteria, overuse can damage the body's yang energy. It's like watering a tree with cold water in winter; it may kill pests, but it also damages the roots."

She pointed to the yin and yang parts of the Tai Chi diagram, saying, "In cases of sepsis with persistent high fever, the surface appearance is one of excessive yang, but in reality, the internal yin fluids are already deficient. At this point, using antibiotics alone is like adding fuel to the fire."

"Armchair strategist!" Professor Wang sneered. "What evidence do you have?"

Lin Li calmly took out several Chinese medicinal herbs wrapped in oil paper from her canvas bag, or actually from her spatial storage.

"This is gypsum, anemarrhena, and japonica rice. The formula of Baihu Tang (White Tiger Decoction) seems simple, but it actually contains the principles of nature. Gypsum clears excess heat in the Yangming Qi level, anemarrhena nourishes Yin and moistens dryness, and japonica rice protects the stomach Qi..."

She suddenly caught a glint of light in Professor Li's eyes.

"Wait a minute!" Professor Zhang stood up shakily. "You said that japonica rice protects the stomach qi, which coincides with the theory in the 'Synopsis of Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber' that 'where there is stomach qi, there is life'!"

The old man's cloudy eyes suddenly lit up. "Young lady, could you demonstrate it for me?"

Lin Li nodded.