Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“We can talk about it when we meet again,” the man said.

“OK,” the other man replied.

…

In the deep winter, it was very cold outside, especially at night. In the village, a man felt like his whole body was extremely hot. He didn’t even feel any chill when he took off all his clothes and stood in the room. There was no heating in the village. Some families installed man-made heating equipment. But, at night, it was just a little more than 10 degrees. So, it was extremely abnormal for the man to feel so hot.

“What’s wrong with you?” His wife thought he was acting strangely.

“Ah, I just feel very hot,” he said.

“What kind of hot do you feel?” she asked.

“It’s dry and hot,” the man said.

“You will feel better if you go out to chill yourself,” his wife angrily said.

The next morning, a sharp crying broke up the peace in the village. A middle-aged man, who had been in the best shape of his life, had died in the village.

It was noon when Wang Yao knew the news. “What disease?”

“I don’t know, ah, how young he is!” Zhang Xiuying sighed. “And, he still had two children.”

“Remember to remind me to send two rolls of paper money,” Wang Fenghua said. The paper was made to resemble money and burned as an offering to the dead. Villagers preferred to join in all village activities, no matter if it was a funeral or a wedding.

In the afternoon, there were two guests from Jing. They directly went to the clinic after arriving in the village.

“It’s you!” One of the visitors knew Wang Yao because they met each other in Jing.

“How are you, Dr. Wang? It’s nice to see you again,” Wu Tongxing said with a smile.

Nice to see you? Wang Yao did not feel happy. The two men had come from the place thousands of miles away, presumably for medical treatment.

“Hello, Mr. Wu, please have a seat.” Wang Yao invited them to sit down and served them tea.

“It’s good,” Wu Tongxing said. He knew it was good just by its smell.

“What are you here for?” Wang Yao asked.

“We want to invite you for a home visit,” Wu Tongxing said.

“Where?” Wang Yao asked.

“Jing,” Wu Tongxing replied.

“Sorry, I had not planned on that,” Wang Yao said.

“We can pay you for it,” Wu Tongxing said.

“Sorry,” Wang Yao said.

“Then, Dr. Wang, what could we do to invite you for a home visit?” asked the middle-aged man, who came along with Wu Tongxing.

“I don’t have plans for that now, so I won’t go,” Wang Yao said.

The situation was as troublesome as they had guessed. Before they came, they had done some research to learn about his family and habits. They did not find a better way. They could only hope to persuade him by giving him a satisfactory offer.

Wang Yao followed his heart to do what he liked and refuse what he disliked. This capriciousness often made people feel troublesome.

Wu’s family had powerful influence, but only in Qi province. So, they could only invite him and not force him.

“Please, have a drink,” Wang Yao said with a smile.

The men agreed. They stayed for a while and had small talk with Wang Yao.

“Sorry to have disturbed you,” Wu Tongxing said.

“No problem,” Wang Yao said. He did not want to go to Jing now, but he would in a few days.

“Then, when you come to Jing, please call me.” Finally, Wu Tongxing left him a telephone number.

Wang Yao accepted it and smiled. He then sent them on their way.

Ah! Wu Tongxing breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s so hard to persuade him!”

“It is hard to invite people like him. Look at him, he has no desire or wish,” the middle-aged man accompanying him said.

“How could the family of Su and that of Guo have invited him?” Wu Tongxing asked.

“I did some inquiry. In fact, he did not go to the Guo family when he went to Jing. Instead, he lived in a small yard owned by the Su family. Duo Zhenghe visited him several times, but it was only symbolic,” the middle-aged man said.

“You mean the relationship between him and the family of Guo was not like what I thought?” Wu Tongxing asked.

“Yes, but his relationship with the Sus was not shallow at all. I also asked Chen Lao about that,” the middle-aged man replied.

“What do you mean?” Wu Tongxing asked.

“We can do some inquiry into the Sus,” the middle-aged man said.

“Good, book today’s airline tickets. Ware are going back to Jing,” Wu Tongxing said.

At noon, when Wang Yao returned home to have lunch, he heard his parents again talking about the dead villager.

“I heard from his wife that his whole body felt hot when he got up at midnight,” Zhang Xiuying said.

“His body felt hot?” Wang Yao stopped his chopsticks.

“Yeah, he took off his clothes and wandered in the room,” Zhang Xiuying said. “How weird was that?”

There must have been a problem if he felt hot. It had to be a disease.

After finishing his meal, Wang Yao did not go to the clinic. Instead, he went around the villager’s home who had died. He wandered around the house and went to some alleys nearby. He walked carefully while looking around.

No, maybe I think too much.

When he heard from his parents about the symptoms of the dead villager, his first thought was that the man might have been poisoned by the venomous insects. Therefore, he had to specially look.

He thought, It would be better if I could go into his home. But, they were having a funeral. It was not proper to go at this time.

“Xiao Yao, what’s up?” A senior in the village saw him and asked while smiling.

“Ah, no matter, uncle,” Wang Yao said.

“Would you like to have a seat in my home?” the man asked.

“No, thanks. I have other things to do,” Wang Yao replied.

“OK, you can come when you are free,” the man said.

Many villagers were now really kind to Wang Yao. Many of their families had seen him for treatment, and the effect was really good. Plus, he did not charge them much money. In fact, many of their visits were free. Most villagers were sensible and reasonable. They felt grateful for him. Many would raise a thumb up when talking about the young man.

“Why did you go there?” He was confronted with his father when going to the clinic.

“I just wanted to have a look,” Wang Yao said.

“There was someone waiting for you outside the clinic,” his father said.

“OK, I will go at once,” Wang Yao said.

The person coming for treatment was from the downtown village. His disease was simple. He had twisted his ankle. The swelling was serious.

“Come on, have a seat and I will have a check,” Wang Yao said.

Wang Yao checked him carefully. First, he needed to ensure he did not hurt the bone or it would be troublesome.

“Why didn’t you go to the hospital when your swelling was so serious?” Wang Yao asked him.

Normally, in such a situation, especially when the swelling was serious, the first thing a person did was to go to the hospital to have a formal check as soon as possible. Getting an ultrasound could determine whether the bone was injured. Then, the hospital would provide corresponding treatment.

“Ah, I thought it did no matter since twisting ankle was a normal matter. But, this morning, I felt it more and more serious. So, I came to see you,” the man said. “Plus, I live nearby.”

“Are you from the downtown village?” Wang Yao asked.

“Yes,” the man replied.

“It is not too bad. You did not hurt your bone,” Wang Yao said. “You just hurt your soft tissue. You will have to endure the pain. I will massage it.”

Ah! He frowned when Wang Yao started. It hurt very bad.

“You have to put up with that,” Wang Yao said.

The strength at first was light. Wang Yao applied more strength gradually. He gave priority to massaging and rubbing not only his hurt ankle but also his shank and the sole of his foot.

While giving the massage, Pan Jun came in. “What’s up?”

“Hi. Help yourself if you want to drink some tea,” Wang Yao said.

Pan Jun did not drink tea. Instead, he sat to the side and carefully watched how was Wang Yao treating the patient. He was watching and learning.

After massaging awhile, the serious swelling became a little better.

“How are you feeling now?” Wang Yao asked.

“It hurts and is hot,” the man said.

“Ah, have a rest for now and raise your leg higher a little.” Wang Yao raised his leg, washed his hands, and made a cup of tea for Pan Jun. “What’s the matter?”

“I heard the news that they will hold a selection for famous doctors in the county,” Pan Jun said.

“Famous doctors?” Wang Yao asked.

“Yeah, that is what you asked about last time,” Pan Jun said.

“Yes, and what about the conditions?” Wang Yao asked. This was one of the missions issued by the system.

“Here they are.” Pan Jun took out two pieces of paper and gave them to Wang Yao.

“Alas!” Wang Yao frowned a little. He was excluded by one of them. The candidates selected by all medical departments in the county and town would be assessed, which was to say the candidates in selection must be confirmed as civil servants. All self-employed doctors, like Wang Yao, were not qualified.

“I am not qualified!” Wang Yao was disappointed.

“I made some inquiries about that. The main hospitals in the county will be given priority of the main quota. There were 10 in all, which they will struggle to grab,” Pan Jun said.