Chapter 229 Siblings (Second Update)
Gu Jiao wanted to properly admire someone's stunning good looks, but when his palm was placed on her lower abdomen, she couldn't feel any pain at all, and she quickly fell asleep.
She was breathing evenly through her nose.
Xiao Liulang gently withdrew his hand, tucked the blanket around her, extinguished the oil lamp, and tiptoed out of the room.
The warmth and fragrance of her lingering on his fingertips. He stared blankly at his hands, suddenly realizing that he had compromised too much. He closed his eyes.
Xiao Liulang, what are you doing?
Gu Jiao slept so well that she woke up later than usual. Xiao Jingkong had already finished his practice and breakfast and went to the Imperial Academy for his morning lessons with Xiao Liulang.
Gu Jiao went out together with Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun.
"Did you take your medicine?" Gu Jiao asked Gu Yan.
"I've already eaten," Gu Yan said.
Yao's antidepressants can be discontinued, but Gu Yan's anti-heart failure medication must be taken for life. As he grows older, the medication will gradually lose its effectiveness, and surgery will be necessary for a full recovery.
"Sister!" Gu Yan was waiting for Gu Jiao at the door.
"I'm here." Gu Jiao slung her small basket over her shoulder and went out the door.
Gu Yan was very happy.
His older sister took him to school today!
Gu Yan carried his book bag and looked no different from a normal person. His occasional running and jumping did not affect him. His condition was well controlled.
Looking at Gu Yan's innocent face, Gu Jiao suddenly realized that the bond between her and him was already unbreakable. She could perceive the world through him. When he was happy, she was happy; when he was sad, she was sad.
She can't lose him.
She wants to cure him.
They arrived at Qinghe Academy. Gu Jiao straightened Gu Yan's clothes and then pulled Gu Xiaoshun's crooked collar back: "Let's go in."
The two bid farewell to Gu Jiao and entered Qinghe Academy with their book bags in their arms.
Gu Jiao then went to the clinic.
There was a little incident at the clinic today; someone came to cause trouble, claiming that the clinic had treated his wife to death.
The man carried the bodies over!
This was a rare occurrence, and many people were drawn to it, crowding the area around the clinic.
Xiao Sanzi was evacuating the crowd on the perimeter when Gu Jiao walked over and asked him, "What happened?"
Xiao Sanzi exclaimed anxiously, "Ah, Miss Gu, you've finally arrived! There's someone inside saying we killed his wife, a double tragedy, and they want us to pay for her life! It's been causing such a ruckus since early this morning that all the patients at the clinic have been scared away! Even those who wanted to come for treatment are too frightened to show up!"
As he spoke, he used his hands to push through the crowd, saying, "Make way! Make way! Don't block the way here!"
Unfortunately, there were too many onlookers, and no one paid any attention to the mistress.
Gu Jiao entered the clinic through the back door.
The door to the lobby was blocked by several employees, preventing the onlookers from rushing in. The second boss was not here today; Manager Wang was handling the medical dispute.
In the lobby, there was a door panel, on which lay a corpse covered with a white sheet. The corpse's belly was swollen high, which should be the patient Xiao Sanzi had mentioned who had died along with his unborn child.
Beside the body knelt an emotionally distraught middle-aged woman, clutching the woman's hand and sobbing uncontrollably: "My flower... how could you be gone at such a young age..."
Besides the two women, several commoners also arrived, one of whom was the deceased woman's husband. He was fat and strong, with a fierce look on his face. He was accompanied by several people who were either friends or henchmen, but they all looked menacing.
"A life for a life! If your Miaoshoutang doesn't give me an explanation today, I'm not leaving!"
The one speaking is the deceased woman's husband.
"That's right! A life for a life!"
"Your Miaoshoutang clinic deserves an explanation! Otherwise, we'll smash up your clinic today! Let's see who dares to come to your Miaoshoutang clinic for treatment in the future!"
The people around the man echoed him loudly, making quite a show of it.
Manager Wang is an experienced manager. He had handled many medical disputes back in the county town, one of which resulted in a death.
He didn't panic immediately; he knew that if he panicked, the doctors and apprentices at the clinic would all be thrown into chaos.
He composed himself and said to the group of men, "Hey burly man, let's talk this out..."
"What are you saying!" the man interrupted Manager Wang rudely. "I'm warning you, you've killed my wife! This isn't over!"
"You say it was our Miaoshoutang clinic that killed him, but do you have any evidence?"
Gu Jiao walked over calmly.
Her voice wasn't loud, but for some reason, everyone present paused slightly and involuntarily looked at her.
Shopkeeper Wang seemed to have suddenly found his pillar of support, and breathed a sigh of relief: "Miss Gu, you've finally arrived!"
Gu Jiao was young, but she was more composed than Manager Wang in the face of a group of fierce-looking men, which made the men take another look at her.
After all, she was just a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl. After a brief moment of astonishment, the man no longer took Gu Jiao seriously.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"This is the owner of our Miaoshoutang!" Manager Wang said, straightening his back.
The boss? A little brat?
The man certainly didn't believe that Gu Jiao became the owner of the clinic through her own abilities; she was probably just the daughter of the big boss who inherited her father's business.
Thinking of this, the man completely disregarded Gu Jiao.
"Evidence," Gu Jiao repeated.
The man sneered and pulled a prescription from his pocket: "You want evidence, huh? Fine! My wife came here for treatment seven days ago, and this is the prescription you gave her! It's in black and white, and it even has your Miaoshoutang seal on it! If you don't believe me, let everyone see it!"
As he spoke, he showed the prescription to the onlookers outside the clinic.
The common people couldn't understand what was written on the prescription, but they could recognize that it was indeed stamped with an official seal.
The man finally approached Gu Jiao and Manager Wang: "You people from Miaoshoutang surely recognize the prescriptions you've written, right?"
Manager Wang brought over the prescription.
The man wasn't afraid of him tearing up the evidence; with so many people watching, tearing it up would be a guilty conscience admitting it!
After reading it, Manager Wang's expression changed slightly. He whispered, "Miss Gu, it is indeed a prescription issued by our clinic."
"Who opened it?" Gu Jiao asked.
Shopkeeper Wang glanced at the signature under the seal and said, "Doctor Song."
Gu Jiao took the prescription: one mace of Angelica sinensis in wine, half a mace of black mustard spikes, one mace of Ligusticum chuanxiong, one mace of sphagnum moschata in wine, and three slices of old ginger. This was the prescription of the Thirteen Protectors, specially for pregnant women to protect their pregnancy.
Other clinics can also prescribe this formula, but this one does indeed resemble Dr. Song's handwriting and has the clinic's seal, so it should not be a forgery.
"Call Doctor Song here," Gu Jiao said.
Doctor Song was changing Jiang Shi's dressing in the backyard ward when he heard Manager Wang calling him. He asked, "Is it urgent?"
"It's a bit urgent, is it urgent for you?" Manager Wang asked.
Jiang Shi was already able to speak. He said to Doctor Song, "You go ahead and do your work. Come back later to change my dressing."
"Alright, I'll wrap the gauze around first. Don't move around." After taking care of Jiang Shi, Doctor Song went to the main hall with Manager Wang.
Dr. Song was a little confused by the setup in the lobby and at the entrance.
"It's a medical dispute," Manager Wang explained.
Dr. Song had never experienced medical disputes, but he was quite calm and composed. He approached Gu Jiao and said, "Miss Gu."
Gu Jiao handed him the prescription: "Do you remember this prescription?"
Doctor Song took the prescription and looked at it carefully: "This is the prescription I wrote. I don't remember it very well. I need to go back and check the records."
Gu Jiao has high standards for practicing medicine, which are reflected not only in medical skills and ethics, but also in a series of procedures that are more thorough and standardized than those of other clinics.
Each doctor keeps detailed records of how many patients they see each day and what illnesses they treat.
Gu Jiao hummed in agreement.
Dr. Song went to the clinic to get this month's booklet, turned to the page from seven days ago, and found the record about the pregnancy-preserving medicine: "She came to see a doctor because she had a miscarriage due to overexertion. I saw that it wasn't too serious, so I prescribed a pregnancy-preserving medicine."
Gu Jiao: "Was the medicine obtained here?"
Doctor Song nodded: "Yes, there is also the handprint of the apprentice on the prescription."
After listening, Gu Jiao went to the body lying in the center of the hall.
"What are you going to do?" the man asked, stopping Gu Jiao.
"Examine the body," Gu Jiao said.
The man's pupils contracted: "Are you crazy! You're not allowed to touch my wife's corpse!"
Gu Jiao ignored him, squatted down, and yanked off the white cloth.
She was a woman around thirty years old.
Gu Jiao stood up and looked at the man calmly: "Report to the authorities."
These words were spoken to Manager Wang.
The man was taken aback, then said fiercely, "W-what did you say?"
Gu Jiao met his furious gaze fearlessly: "I said, I'll report it to the authorities."
"Yes!" Manager Wang trusted Gu Jiao, and he walked out without saying a word.
"Stop him!" the man ordered. Several of his companions rushed over and blocked Manager Wang's path. The man pointed at Gu Jiao's nose and said, "What right do you have to report to the authorities? Are you colluding with the officials to try and turn the tables on us? I've seen through your black-hearted clinic's tricks! Ordinary people's lives are worthless! You officials and bandits are in cahoots! You're trying to kill us!"
The man broke down in tears as he finished speaking.
The people pointed and whispered, clearly siding with the man.
Gu Jiao remained calm. She said, "Okay, you say she's a patient at our clinic. Then tell me, who is she? How old is she? Who accompanied her?"
The man roared, "She's my wife! Can't you tell how old she is?"
Gu Jiao asked calmly, "What's your wife's surname and given name?"
The man seemed increasingly impatient with Gu Jiao's questions and roared, "Her surname is Wu, and her name is Wu Jinhua!"
Gu Jiao raised the booklet in her hand: "But it's written very clearly here that the patient who came for treatment was a 21-year-old pregnant woman surnamed Yang. And this deceased person... must have been at least 30 years old."
The man choked on the spot.
The onlookers were taken aback by this unexpected turn of events, and their gazes toward the man became more suspicious.
The man's eyes flashed, and he shouted, "You just grabbed a booklet and said it's the record from that day. Who knows if you wrote it down on the spot?"
Doctor Song hurriedly said, "The medical records are all recorded by date. The next page is only moved on when one page is full. Even if I wanted to write something on the spot, there would be no place to write it. Besides, I was only inside for a short while. How could I possibly write such a long passage?"
Doctor Song showed his medical book to the onlookers.
The entire page contained detailed records of the patient's identity, age, symptoms, consultation time, diagnosis, and prescription, totaling no less than three hundred words. It was not something that could be written in the blink of an eye.
Besides, if it was just written, the ink wouldn't be dry.
The man stubbornly insisted, "Well, maybe you wrote it wrong!"
Gu Jiao nodded: "That makes perfect sense. That's why I suggested reporting it to the authorities so they can find the patient based on the records. That should clear Miaoshoutang's name."
Upon hearing that Gu Jiao was going to ask for witnesses, it became obvious who was lying.
The onlookers were a little disappointed. They had waited for so long, thinking they would get some big news about Miaoshoutang, but there was nothing to be found!
When the man realized he had been exposed, he turned and ran!
Gu Jiao didn't give him a chance to escape, beating him to the ground in a few moves, and successfully capturing the rest.
Finally, Gu Jiao looked at the corpse lying on the ground: "If you don't get up, are you waiting to be buried alive?"
The corpse jumped up with a thud!
Wow!
Everyone was so shocked they nearly fell over!
Even the corpse was fake?!
While everyone was terrified, an inconspicuous figure quietly left the crowd, turned into the alley, and headed towards Chang'an Avenue, which was not far away.
"What did you say? Such a big medical dispute was resolved so easily by them?"
Inside Huichuntang, a man was so startled that he stood up from his chair.
This man was none other than Manager He, who had once visited the hot spring resort in an attempt to diagnose Gu Yan's illness.
Manager He is the confidant of the second boss's half-brother and has always devoted himself to Huichuntang.
"Yes, I was also surprised. When those people showed up, I knew this was no ordinary matter. Usually, these kinds of people come to extort money, and the clinic can't explain themselves. To protect their reputation, they usually choose to downplay the incident. But they presented the evidence clearly..."
The servant recounted in detail how Gu Jiao turned the situation around to Manager He.
Manager He was dumbfounded after hearing this: "How did they come up with the idea of writing a medical record for each patient?"
In ordinary clinics, doctors just see patients and let them go; who cares about your health? Isn't that too much trouble?
However, it was precisely because of the trouble that they were able to present compelling evidence.
In fact, as early as the rescue site of the explosion, Manager He noticed that Miaoshoutang's behavior was unusual, and afterwards he sent people to keep an eye on Miaoshoutang.
Although he was unwilling to admit that the old man from the Hu family, who had been kicked out of his home, could one day achieve something great, the old man's newly opened Miaoshoutang (a traditional Chinese medicine clinic) did have many aspects that they could learn from.
After some thought, Manager He decided that starting tomorrow, he would begin to emulate the medical practices of Miaoshoutang.
The truth behind the medical dispute came to light, and Miaoshoutang's reputation was not damaged at all. On the contrary, its serious approach to medical practice made it a benchmark in the industry, and Miaoshoutang's reputation in Beijing improved even more.
Gu Jiao ignored the aftermath of those thugs and left everything to Manager Wang.
"Don't worry, Miss Gu, I will handle it properly." Manager Wang was chosen by the second boss and invited from the county to the capital, so he must have some ability.
Gu Jiao trusted him to get things done.
In the afternoon, Gu Jiao had some personal matters to attend to, so she changed into men's clothing and went out.
Xiao Sanzi was taken aback when he saw her outfit: "Miss Gu... Miss Gu? Why are you dressed like this?"
Gu Jiao got into the carriage and stretched her wrists: "Nothing, let's go to Chaoyang Street."
“Chaoyang Street? That place is so far away! And… it’s not a good place…” Xiao Sanzi’s voice gradually weakened as Gu Jiao stared at him coldly, making his scalp tingle.
"Alright, let's go then." Xiao Sanzi jumped onto the carriage and picked up the whip.
Gu Jiao lowered the curtains.
Just as the carriage was about to leave, another carriage drove up and stopped outside the back door of the clinic.
A fair-skinned young eunuch stepped down from the carriage: "Excuse me, is Miss Gu at the clinic?"
"Who's looking for me?" Gu Jiao asked from inside the carriage.
The young eunuch could not see the person, but he could hear the voice. He cupped his hands towards the carriage and said, "Princess Rui left the zither in the young lady's courtyard and ordered me to retrieve it."
Gu Jiao said, "Go find Xiao Jiangli and have her take you to get it. It's on the desk to the right of my study."
"Yes!" the young eunuch replied and entered the clinic through the back door.
Xiao Jiangli was playing in Gu Jiao's yard when she heard that someone had come to pick up the zither: "Hmm... the table on the right... um, this one!"
Xiao Jiangli carried the violin case out and handed it to her grandfather.
"Thank you, young lady." The young prince left happily, clutching the violin case.
Xiao Jiangli continued watering the grass in the yard, but as she watered, she frowned: "I don't think I put it in the wrong place, do I..."
Gu Jiao allowed Xiao Jiangli to play the piano. When Xiao Jiangli entered the room, she found two pianos and took them out.
One of the instruments looks like it's been burned.
She put the violin back after she had played with it enough, but she doesn't remember if she put it back in its original box.
"Never mind, they're all Sister Gu's zithers, so it doesn't matter which case they're in!"
I forgot to set the update time again, so here's a long chapter for everyone. Hugs to all!
(End of this chapter)
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