Chapter 25

In the end, Old Zhao was carried away by his two sons amid the scolding of his wife.Dr. Chen gave him an acupuncture treatment and prescribed some medicine. By the time Old Zhao returned home, his complexion had already improved significantly.

Once Old Zhao's family left, the villagers, having lost their source of excitement, were hesitant to disturb Dr. Chen further and began to disperse.

“Lu Qing, are you leaving?” Wang Da'an asked Lu Qing.

“Huh, Lu Qing, why are you here? Xiao Yan is here too?”

It was only then that the other villagers noticed Lu Qing and Xiao Yan standing in the corner.

“I've been here the whole time, but everyone was concerned about Uncle Zhao's condition and didn't see me,” Lu Qing said with a smile. “Brother Da'an, you can head back first. I have some questions to ask Grandpa Chen.”

“Questions?” Wang Da'an finally noticed the book in Lu Qing's hand and realized, “Are you learning from Dr. Chen?” sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴøvᴇl_Firᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“Yes, I'm learning some herbal knowledge from Grandpa Chen,” Lu Qing admitted without hesitation.

The villagers were astonished.

Lu Qing was actually valued by the elder doctor to this extent?

After their initial surprise, envy followed.

The elder doctor's medical skills were well-known; he could bring the dying back to life.

Many had seen how sick Lu Qing was before, but he was cured with just one prescription from the elder doctor.

Earlier, when Old Zhao fell into the water, they heard his face was ashen and he wasn't breathing.

Yet, the elder doctor revived him with a few manipulations.

This level of medical skill was practically miraculous.

Now that Lu Qing had the privilege of learning medicine from the elder doctor, how could they not be envious?

However, despite their envy, the villagers understood that such opportunities were not attainable through mere desire.

Learning medicine was clearly not easy. One had to be extremely smart to even get a foot in the door.

They saw that Lu Qing was holding a book, and they knew that among everyone in the village, their collective literacy wouldn't fill a basket.

Only Lu Qing, who had been taught by his grandfather from a young age, could recognize some characters.

Perhaps this was also why Dr. Chen valued Lu Qing.

Realizing this, many villagers felt their jealousy diminish somewhat.

They knew that even if such good fortune befell them, they wouldn't have the ability to seize it.

An elderly villager stepped forward and patted Lu Qing on the shoulder.

“Well done, Lu Qing. You must learn well from the elder doctor and strive to master all his skills!”

The sudden encouragement left Lu Qing somewhat bewildered.

He wanted to say that he was really just learning a bit of herbal knowledge from Dr. Chen for now.

But seeing the earnest look in the old man's eyes, he could only nod. “I'll do my best.”

Even after the villagers had left, Lu Qing still felt a bit dazed.

He had thought that when people saw him learning medicine from the elder doctor, they would be envious and jealous.

But he had seen it just now.

There was envy and jealousy among the villagers, but not as much as he had imagined.

Instead, besides their envy and jealousy, they also seemed genuinely hopeful that he could truly learn the elder doctor's medical skills.

Lu Qing didn't like to think ill of others.

But he also knew that people's hearts were unpredictable, and jealousy could sometimes arise without any reason.

“Are you feeling confused?” Dr. Chen approached Lu Qing.

“What?” Lu Qing didn't understand.

“Wondering why the villagers are so eager for you to learn my medical skills?” Dr. Chen smiled.

Lu Qing nodded. He indeed didn't quite understand.

Could the elder doctor know the reason?

“Lu Qing, do you know how many doctors were in the nearby villages when I settled here?” Dr. Chen asked, instead of directly answering Lu Qing's question.

Lu Qing shook his head.

When the elder doctor came to the village, he was still very young and had little memory of such things.

“Not a single one,” Dr. Chen said, giving an answer that surprised Lu Qing. “Before I came to the village, there wasn't a single doctor in the nearby villages.”

“When villagers got sick, for minor illnesses, they would pick some herbs they recognized and brew them, or get some medicine from midwives or shamans. For the rest, they would just endure it. If they couldn't endure, they would go to the city for treatment.”

“But many major illnesses develop from minor ones. By the time they couldn't endure and went to the city, it was often already a serious illness.”

“Serious illnesses are hard to treat. Even city doctors can't guarantee a cure for every illness.”

“Moreover, living in the city is not easy, let alone seeking medical treatment.”

“Even if city doctors were confident in their treatments, the high medical fees were unaffordable for ordinary villagers.”

“So for ordinary villagers, serious illnesses often meant the end of their lives.”

“Before I came to the village, many people in the surrounding villages died from illnesses each year.”

Lu Qing recalled and realized that before the elder doctor came, there indeed seemed to be funerals in the village every year.

“Back then, when I was traveling and came to this place, I saw many people in the surrounding villages suffering from illnesses with no access to medical treatment. Feeling compassion, I decided to stay and give these villagers a chance.”

“Unexpectedly, I stayed for ten years.”

“Over these ten years, I can't say I've saved countless lives, but at least I've given the villagers a place to seek medical help when they're sick, preventing minor illnesses from turning into major ones.”

Lu Qing felt a deep shock in his heart.

According to Dr. Chen, over the past ten years, he had indeed brought peace to the area and was a living Buddha for the people here.

“So that's why everyone hopes I can learn your medical skills and treat people in the future?” Lu Qing asked.

“Yes, they probably fear returning to the days of having no access to medical care,” Dr. Chen nodded.

“But isn't Grandpa Chen still here?”

“But I'm very old now,” Dr. Chen said.

“Although I rarely go out in the village, I occasionally hear people whispering, wondering what they would do if I suddenly died. Where would they go for treatment?”

Lu Qing was speechless.

He thought of the elder doctor's identity as a cultivator.

Those villagers who gossiped certainly wouldn't have thought that an old man could have such keen hearing.

Now Lu Qing fully understood why, despite their envy and jealousy, the villagers still urged him to learn well from the elder doctor.

It turned out they were afraid of returning to the days without a doctor.

Afraid that if one day the elder doctor was no longer there, they would be back to how it was before.

“Grandpa Chen, are you angry about this?” Lu Qing asked.

“Why would I be angry?” Dr. Chen laughed. “This is just human nature, and besides, I am indeed very old, with one foot almost in the grave.”

But you look perfectly healthy to me, Lu Qing thought.

He recalled seeing the red glow emanating from the elder doctor.

“Lu Qing, you are a bright child. Now you understand the villagers' thoughts, don't you?”

“I understand a little,” Lu Qing nodded.

“Then, would you be willing to learn medicine from me?” Dr. Chen suddenly asked.