New Year’s Day is coming soon.
Lu Zheng returned home to update his parents on his experiences in Haicheng.
Well, of course, they were fabricated experiences.
It was nothing more than selling a program, living comfortably, and achieving the milestone of buying a house.
He also mentioned exercising and achieving the fitness goal of six-pack abs.
After some thought, he didn’t mention Lin Wan, deciding to hold off to avoid his parents pressuring him about marriage.
Lu Zheng wanted to send some money home, but his dad, Lu Hui, waved it off.
“Everything’s fine at home, your mum and I aren’t short of money. Keep your money, you’ll need it for marriage and raising kids later.”
“You little rascal, you actually bought a house in Haicheng? Are you really planning to settle there?” his mum, Gu Ling, said with a resentful look. “I was hoping you’d come back to get married so I could play with my grandkids whenever I wanted.”
Lu Zheng, “…”
Next, his mum, ever the gossip, said, “Tell me, have you met any girls? If not, shall I introduce you to a few? Since you don’t have a proper job, stay a few more days, and I’ll set you up with some nice girls for you to meet.”
“No way, I’m not going!” Lu Zheng refused firmly. “I know what you’re thinking, you just want me to get married here and stay put.”
“What’s wrong with that?”
Lu Zheng shook his head. “No good! The world’s so big, I want to see it!”
Gu Ling narrowed her eyes. “That’s what people my age say!”
Lu Zheng blinked, feigning innocence. “Is it?”
“Poor me, getting old with no one to keep me company…”
Lu Hui looked exasperated at his wife and son bickering, then got jealous. “Can’t I keep you company? And you’re only forty-five, how’s that old?”
His mum slapped his dad’s arm. “I’m just trying to keep our son at home.”
Lu Hui shook his head. “A good man aims for the world, not to cling to his hometown…”
Gu Ling squinted, and Lu Hui quickly changed tack. “Besides, it’d disturb our little world for two!”
Lu Zheng was speechless, so he came home just to be fed a mouthful of their lovey-dovey nonsense?
…
He stayed home for three days, popping back to ancient times briefly in his spare moments, with no issues or slip-ups.
He also told his parents he brought medicinal wine worth hundreds of thousands, instructing them to drink a cup weekly.
After one cup, seeing its effects, his parents hid the wine, adamant that only they would drink it and no one else should see it.
Lu Zheng was deeply relieved.
On the last day of the holiday, he gave his parents a massage, then took the evening train back to Haicheng.
…
After New Year’s, Lin Wan started work, but Li Jinglin, looking out for her, had her stay in the office for now, with field tasks to come later.
Though helpless, Lin Wan couldn’t exactly say she was healthier and stronger than before, so she went along with it for now.
This had its perks, less overtime meant she had enough time to continue practising the “Eighteen Forms of Mountain Carrying.”
…
“Follow this prescription, take it daily, it should show results in three days and cure you in half a month.”
“Thank you, doctor!”
Liu Qingyan put down her brush as the elderly woman thanked her profusely, taking the prescription to the pharmacy counter.
Lu Zheng looked helplessly at another patient sitting in front of Liu Qingyan. “Your reputation’s really spreading, huh? People from Lijia Town are coming to you for treatment?”
Liu Qingyan gave a gentle smile, placing three fingers lightly on the patient’s wrist.
The patient, an old man, overheard Lu Zheng’s teasing and hurriedly said, “There’s someone in the village with chronic leg pain for over ten years. It flared up in town, but Dr Liu gave him a few acupuncture sessions and a prescription. He hasn’t had a flare-up in a month! I heard about it and rushed over.”
Lu Zheng gave Liu Qingyan a thumbs-up. She smiled faintly, switched to the patient’s other hand, then explained the cause and prescribed medicine.
Recently, Liu Qingyan had been working at Benevolence Hall, her medical skills improving rapidly. Her treatments, whether acupuncture or medicine, were highly effective.
Word of mouth spread, and Dr Liu of Benevolence Hall gained a small reputation, attracting many patients.
The ailments weren’t hard to treat, but this made Liu Qingyan busier. Lu Zheng had to step up as the supportive guy, helping with patients, prescribing, or preparing medicine when he had time.
Also…
Lu Zheng glanced at the queue of patients waiting at the door and frowned.
It wasn’t the number of patients that bothered him, but Hu Zhou had mentioned during their evening martial arts sessions that as Benevolence Hall grew more popular, troublemakers had started showing up occasionally.
With Hu Zhou around, those trying to scam money didn’t get the better of Liu Qingyan or her father.
The county yamen officers, knowing the Liu family were Lu Zheng’s neighbours and that Liu Qingyan had a close relationship with him, also kept an eye out. They knew Lu Zheng’s influence; even their boss, Captain Liu, was no match for him.
So, with their deliberate care, all issues were resolved.
However…
In Lu Zheng’s view, Benevolence Hall’s real threat wasn’t idle scammers but another group with vested interests.
He’d considered suggesting Liu Qingyan reduce her time at Benevolence Hall.
But seeing her genuine joy after curing patients, he decided against it.
Heh, the Liu family had him as their backing, and his own backing included Baiyun Temple, a brotherly bond with the Tonglin County City God, connections with the state’s anomaly suppression bureau, and a Peach Blossom Fairy recognised by the court as a close confidante.
No matter how he looked at it, Lu Zheng saw no need to fear other clinics in the county.
And those clinics surely weren’t foolish. Once they knew the Liu family’s background, they wouldn’t dare cause trouble recklessly.
The only way they might try to disrupt Benevolence Hall was…
“Doctor! Doctor! Please take a look at me!”
“Ugh, what kind of ghoul is that?”
“So gross…”
Lu Zheng’s gaze fell on a man staggering in, his face and head covered in festering sores, oozing pus, looking like a ghost.
“Bloody hell! That’s a ruthless move!” Lu Zheng was already forming conspiracy theories.
But…
Liu Qingyan didn’t mind. Seeing others retreat as the man approached, she gestured for him to sit in front of her.
“Doctor, can my illness be cured?”
Liu Qingyan smiled gently, placing her hand on his wrist. “Sores on the body are due to an imbalance of the five elements. Once the cause is found, it’s not hard to treat.”
Lu Zheng shook his head. Skin diseases were notoriously hard to cure because finding the cause was the trickiest part.
