Jiangdu Xue's eyes flickered. Since she was thirteen, her family had almost scoured the entire country to cure her illness.
She had seen countless Chinese and Western doctors, yet every month, it was still like passing through the gates of hell.
Especially this time, the pain was more unbearable than ever, almost costing her her life.
This indescribable agony, like a knife twisting, coursed through her body.
For this, she had even contemplated ending her own life.
If it weren't for the pair of innocent eyes in the school, the children who thirsted for knowledge, she might have already died.
"My great-great-great-grandfather was a very famous barefoot doctor. By my generation, it can be said that the student has surpassed the master."
Lin Fan boasted, completely omitting that this was all thanks to the writings on cold ailments in the Tai Su Nine Needles.
"Just now, I used a special ancestral method to expel a portion of the cold energy from your body. I believe you are no longer in pain."
Lin Fan looked at Jiangdu Xue's beautiful face and said with full confidence.
Jiangdu Xue felt her body had returned to normal and couldn't help but widen her beautiful eyes.
Indeed, the pain was gone!
The torment that had plagued her for over a decade, pushing her to the brink of suicide, had completely vanished!
"Teacher Jiangdu, a doctor's heart is like a parent's."
Lin Fan's face showed guilt as he explained, "Under duress, I used a medical method without your consent, which might have been inappropriate. I have indeed offended you."
"But my conscience is clear!"
Lin Fan removed his hand from Jiangdu Xue's mouth and continued, "You can call me whatever you wish; I am willing to bear all consequences."
As he spoke, Lin Fan lowered his head, appearing ready to surrender, and added, "In fact, something can prove my innocence: the cold energy you expelled was distinctly different."
Upon hearing this, Jiangdu Xue's pretty face instantly flushed.
She took a breath and shouted towards the door, "Principal, I'm alright now."
Hearing this, Lin Fan immediately ran to the door, opened it, and let the old principal enter.
As the old principal stepped into the room, the first thing he saw was Jiangdu Xue lying on the bed, looking somewhat weak but otherwise normal.
Only then did he set down the heart that had been hanging in the air and softly asked, "Teacher Jiangdu, are you really alright?"
"Yes, thank you for your concern, Principal."
Jiangdu Xue said, propping herself up to sit.
"Don't get up, don't get up."
Seeing this, the old principal immediately stepped forward to stop her. "Xiao Xue, you really scared me to death. If anything happened to you, I would be cursed by the villagers for the rest of my life."
Jiangdu Xue gave a helpless bitter smile. "It's an old ailment. I didn't expect it to act up so severely this time."
Seeing her smile, looking completely unlike a patient, the old principal's heart finally settled completely.
"Xiao Fan!"
The old principal turned, patted Lin Fan on the shoulder, and said with a kind smile, "Your medical skills are truly miraculous!"
"They say Chinese medicine is slow to take effect, but you're not slow at all!"
The old principal pointed at Jiangdu Xue and then smiled at Lin Fan, "Look, Teacher Jiangdu's complexion was pale just now, but now it's so rosy."
"This is... Yin reaching its extreme and giving rise to Yang, a state of emptiness turning into fullness. It's a normal phenomenon."
Lin Fan, seeing Jiangdu Xue's pretty face like a red apple, blurted out a phrase from a medical book in his haste.
He coughed lightly, feeling a bit awkward staying there, and said to Jiangdu Xue, "Teacher Jiangdu, if you're feeling better, I'll be going."
Jiangdu Xue was about to nod when she heard the old principal say, "Xiao Fan, don't rush off. Give Teacher Jiangdu a thorough check-up."
Hearing this, Jiangdu Xue subconsciously covered her eyes with the blanket, her body growing hot.
What other check-ups were needed?
She had no privacy left at all!
"No need."
Lin Fan glanced at Jiangdu Xue and said to the old principal, "Teacher Jiangdu's condition is complex. What I did this time only treated the symptoms, not the root cause."
"In a while, have her come to Xiao Fan's Clinic in Luofeng Village to find me. It's near the village entrance."
The old principal fumbled in his pocket and nodded. "How much? Name your price, I can't let you be uncompensated."
Lin Fan waved his hands repeatedly. "Teacher Jiangdu is a great benefactor to our village and surrounding areas. How can I charge her?"
"Alright, I need to get back."
Lin Fan said, picked up his medical bag, and walked out.
"Xiao Fan, why are you like this?"
The old principal chased after him, calling back to Jiangdu Xue without turning, "Xiao Xue, you take a rest today. I'll arrange for another teacher to cover your class."
"Okay."
Jiangdu Xue nodded from under the blanket.
Clang!
Hearing the door close, Jiangdu Xue suddenly clasped her hands over her head and, covering her head, shouted, "Ah!!!"
She rolled on the bed, hugging the blanket, consumed by shame.
"How am I supposed to face anyone?"
Especially thinking that Lin Fan said he hadn't cured the root cause and she would need further treatment later, Jiangdu Xue was even more embarrassed, wishing she could disappear into a crack in the ground.
"What sins did I commit in my past life?"
Jiangdu Xue buried her face in the pillow, burying her head in it with all her might.
...
After this incident, Xiao Fan's Clinic finally made a breakthrough.
With the embellishments of some villagers, Lin Fan quickly became a well-known miracle doctor, and more and more people came to seek his treatment.
"Xiao Fan, time for dinner."
Xia Xue had prepared a meal at home and brought it to Lin Fan.
Neither of them chose to live at the clinic, mainly because Xia Xue disliked Han Xiangxiang, and Lin Fan didn't want to owe Han Xiangxiang too much.
Seeing his sister-in-law bringing food, Lin Fan, like a gibbon, sprang up to greet her. "Sister-in-law, you're here! I'm starving."
"Look at you, so uncivilized."
Xia Xue handed him the lunchbox and gave him a flirtatious glare. "No patients today?"
"Of course there are."
Lin Fan took the lunchbox, took out a steaming bun, and took a bite.
"Oh~"
The hot meat filling made him have to blow on it repeatedly.
"Slow down, no one's going to snatch it from you."
Xia Xue nudged him and walked into the house with him.
"This morning, a few people came from neighboring villages. One had rheumatism and arthritis, another seemed to have liver cancer, I told him to go to a big hospital, and then..."
Lin Fan, wolfing down the bun, talked to his sister-in-law about the patients he had seen that morning.
"Cancer!"
Xia Xue exclaimed, "How could someone get such a disease?"
Lin Fan sighed. "They're all poor families. They usually don't spare money for full body check-ups. If they have a minor ailment, they buy some medicine and muddle through."
"By the time it's discovered, it's already late-stage, and there's nothing that can be done to save them."
Lin Fan had encountered two terminally ill people that morning, but unfortunately, his cultivation level was too low. The purity of the purple qi in his body was insufficient to purify the cancer cells that had already infiltrated every corner of the human body.
Xia Xue empathized and sighed, "Xiao Fan, you must take good care of yourself, stay safe and healthy!"
Lin Fan chuckled, "You too, Sister-in-law!"