After finishing her morning wash, Ouyang Yanan saw Ouyang Fan still sleeping on the sofa. She quietly sat down on a nearby stool and started playing with her phone. It was Thursday, exactly 07:00.
"Ring, ring..." It was her mother's alarm clock. After a rustling sound, Madam Wan Feng got up and came out.
"Oh? Yanan? You're up so early today, no sleeping in?" Wan Feng asked with a smile.
"Mom, you're awake! Today I'm taking you all out shopping, we're going to spend the whole day out!"
"You've already prepared everything for the new place, we don't really need to buy anything."
"Mom, your daughter just wants to buy you and Dad a few decent outfits and shoes! Look at you both, you could never bear to buy a single nice piece of clothing for yourselves because you were busy funding the education of us three kids. It always made my heart ache so much. Now that we have a place to live and we're not that short on money anymore, it's time to actually use it!" Ouyang Yanan looped her arm through Wan Feng's wrist and rested her head on her mother's shoulder.
"Sigh! They always say you raise sons to provide for your old age, but I say having a daughter is the truly heartwarming and blessed thing! I'm truly blessed, your mother!" Wan Feng said with reddening eyes.
"Mom..."
"What are you two talking about?" Dad Ouyang Fan was woken up by their conversation.
"Dad, you're awake! I was just telling Mom that we're going shopping later!"
"Mm!"
"Shopping? I'm going!" Ouyang Can was thrilled! In a whirlwind minute, she finished washing up and stood at attention in the living room.
Ouyang Yanan: "..."
"Sis, I give up!" Ouyang Yanan rolled her eyes in helpless resignation.
Right after that, Ye Lingtian came out as well: "Uncle, Auntie!"
"Oh, Xiaotian! You're up!"
"Mm!" With that, his gaze locked onto Ouyang Yanan.
Ouyang Yanan's face turned slightly red and she looked away. The corners of Ye Lingtian's lips curved upward.
Once Ye Lingtian finished washing up, Ouyang Yanan stood up and said, "Let's go!"
As they walked out onto the street, Ouyang Can asked, "Where are we heading?"
Ouyang Yanan gave her eldest sister a look of disdain and said, "Breakfast first. How can we shop without any energy? There's a 'Breakfast Come' spot up ahead with great food, let's go fill our stomachs first!"
"That sounds great, what a thoughtful, good younger sister!" With that, she dashed toward the breakfast shop first!
Wan Feng shook her head helplessly and said, "Your eldest sister, ever since her rhinitis was cured by Xiaotian, her personality has changed so much!"
"Hehe, I guess so. Sis is a lot more fun than before. She used to refuse to play with me, and I always had to coax her or pull pranks on her just to get her to play with me!"
"Ah..."
Ouyang Yanan instantly snapped her head up, her brow furrowing as she looked toward the "Breakfast Come" shop: "It's Sis, something's wrong!" Before she even finished speaking, she bolted toward the breakfast shop like a gust of wind. Wan Feng could only catch a blur of motion; the speed was simply too fast.
"Xiaotian, Yanan... how is she moving so fast..." Wan Feng felt suspicious, as such speed did not belong to a normal person.
Ye Lingtian had already used his spiritual sense to see what had happened: a middle-aged man had gone into shock at "Breakfast Come" and even vomited blood! Yanan's cultivation realm wasn't as high as his, so she didn't know the full situation and thought something had happened to Ouyang Can. In her momentary panic, she failed to conceal her abilities, and her speed was undoubtedly boosted by spiritual energy.
Ye Lingtian turned to Wan Feng and said, "Auntie, it's nothing. Yanan was just worried her sister was in trouble, she must have tapped into her latent potential to run so fast!"
"Oh! Is that so? Quick, let's go too!"
"Mm!"
As they got closer, they saw a crowd pointing and murmuring around a pale, square-faced middle-aged man who had collapsed and was already unconscious on the ground. Meanwhile, Ouyang Can stood to the side looking pale, while Ouyang Yanan held her arm and tried to comfort her. However, when Ye Lingtian released his spiritual energy to scan Ouyang Can, he found she wasn't hurt at all!
Wan Feng hurriedly walked over and asked, "Cancan, what's going on?"
"Mom, I... I was running too fast just now and bumped into this uncle, but I didn't even use any force! Who would have thought... who would have thought... he... he just fainted and even threw up blood..."
"Young lady, I saw you knock him down. You better hurry up and rush him to the hospital!" a woman said with absolute conviction.
"I saw it too, but how much strength could a young girl possibly have? She looks so skinny and didn't even fall herself, so why did a middle-aged man weighing 140 pounds fall backward?" analyzed a young man of around twenty.
"This handsome young guy makes sense. I bet this man is trying to pull off a scam! There are so many people like that these days!" a young woman agreed.
"..."
"Sister, what should we do? Should we take him to the hospital first?" Ouyang Can asked anxiously.
"Don't panic, let Lingtian take a look first!"
Ye Lingtian hadn't been idle either; the moment he arrived, he used his spiritual energy to inspect the unconscious middle-aged man internally.
Reclaiming his spiritual power, Ye Lingtian gave Ouyang Yanan a reassuring look. Just as he was about to speak, he was interrupted by the sound of a car horn.
"Beep, beep, beep..."
It was a black official car. A driver rushed out, anxiously pushing through the crowded people. When he saw the man lying on the ground, his face instantly turned pale and his hands trembled. He hurried to the side of the unconscious middle-aged man and dropped to his knees. Panicking, he cried out: "County Magistrate! County Magistrate Hou... County Magistrate Hou!"
"My god! This person is our county magistrate!"
"Ah!"
The surrounding people were startled and quickly stepped back a full three paces.
The driver hurriedly made a call: "Director, please immediately arrange for someone to come to XX Street, the County Magistrate has gone into shock! Hurry!"
Then he made another call: "Deputy Secretary Chen, the County Magistrate has gone into shock on XX Street, come quickly!"
At this moment, Ye Lingtian stepped forward calmly and said, "Hello, I'm a doctor, I..."
"A doctor? Quick, take a look at County Magistrate Hou!"
Without wasting words, Ye Lingtian extended his right hand to check the pulse. A moment later, he nodded, finding it consistent with what he had observed using his spiritual energy.
Withdrawing his hand, Ye Lingtian said with absolute confidence: "This gentleman has an underlying condition, compounded by chronic fatigue... Furthermore, the regular medication he takes conflicts with a spice in his breakfast this morning! That is what caused him to vomit blood and go into shock!" Why did he call him a gentleman instead of County Magistrate Hou? Ye Lingtian did it on purpose.
"What? Is it food poisoning?" said Passerby A.
"Are you an idiot? The doctor just said it's a conflict between his medicine and food!" said Passerby B.
"..."
Ye Lingtian produced the Taiyi Divine Needles. Reaching into the pouch, he drew out three golden needles and inserted them respectively into County Magistrate Hou's Renzhong, Neiguan, and Shuxue acupoints.
Twisting the golden needle at the Shuxue acupoint with his right hand, he channeled a slow stream of spiritual energy deep inside to locate the conflicting galangal. He wrapped it in spiritual power and shattered it into gas, driving it out from the stomach along the intestinal tract and out through the anus.
A wave of foul odor drifted into the air. Ye Lingtian held his breath.
The driver had no idea what was happening and stared intently at Ye Lingtian's treatment, when suddenly a stench emanated from County Magistrate Hou's body. The driver covered his nose with one hand and wanted to step away, but seeing Ye Lingtian looking at him with a half-smile, the driver had no choice but to endure it.
The surrounding crowd either covered their noses with their left hands or their right hands, and retreated another large step.
"Who farted?"
"Seriously! So stinking!"
"Damn it!"
"..."
After the galangal was expelled from the body, County Magistrate Hou's complexion gradually regained its rosy tint, his eyelids fluttered, and in about half a minute, he opened his eyes.
"He's awake, he's awake!"
"This young man is a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine!"
"Amazing!"
The driver was beaming with joy: "County Magistrate, County Magistrate Hou, you're awake!"
County Magistrate Hou opened his dignified eyes and stood up with the driver's support. Standing 170 centimeters tall and slightly plump, his aura as a person in authority immediately returned.
He glanced around and asked perplexedly, "What happened to me?"
"Oh dear! My County Magistrate, you just went into shock, and no matter how I called you, you wouldn't wake up! My heart went ice-cold! Thanks to this young brother for stepping in—he's a doctor, otherwise it would have been truly dangerous!" He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, thinking to himself: That scared me to death! The County Magistrate was rushing off to a meeting and I was late by 2 minutes; if anything had happened to the County Magistrate, I'd be finished!
County Magistrate Hou turned his gaze to Ye Lingtian and stared at him for five seconds. Ye Lingtian met his gaze calmly, showing not a shred of fear!
Nodding, he said, "Heh, young brother, thank you just now! If you hadn't stepped in, this old life of mine would have been done for right here!"
"Mister, it was just a matter of lifting a finger! I am a doctor, and saving the dying and healing the injured is the duty bounden to a medical practitioner," Ye Lingtian said indifferently, emphasizing the word "mister".
County Magistrate Hou caught the nuance as well. Ye Lingtian's meaning was that he hadn't saved him to cozy up to a county magistrate; if anyone else had been lying here, he, Ye Lingtian, would have saved them all the same. Understanding this, County Magistrate Hou nodded, holding Ye Lingtian in higher regard—this was no ordinary person!
And that was precisely the effect Ye Lingtian wanted.
"Ting-ling... ting-ling..." It was the sound of an ambulance. A group of medical personnel in white coats got out of the vehicle, led by a middle-aged man who walked briskly toward County Magistrate Hou, quickly scanning him up and down before asking, "Old Hou, how are you holding up?"
County Magistrate Hou straightened his posture, dropped his face, and scoffed, "Humph! If I waited for you lot to arrive, I'd have already kicked the bucket and gone on ahead!"
"Oh dear! Old brother, the moment I got Xiao Chen's call, I rushed right over. The whole trip only took 3 minutes!" This middle-aged man was none other than Hua Youwei, the director of the county hospital.
"I'm already better, it was this Dr. Ye who saved me!" County Magistrate Hou said gratefully, looking toward Ye Lingtian.
Only then did Hua Youwei look toward the side at Ye Lingtian, his eyes widening: "Divine Doctor Ye!" He walked up to Ye Lingtian and extended his right hand.
"Director Hua!" Ye Lingtian nodded, extending his left hand, and the two exchanged a polite handshake.
"You know each other?" County Magistrate Hou asked.
"We do. Divine Doctor Ye is a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine with exquisite medical skills and noble medical ethics—a true role model in the medical field!" Director Hua was quite adept at laying on the flattery.
The corners of Ye Lingtian's mouth twitched, and he was left speechless. "It's not that exaggerated!"
"I didn't expect to run into you again!" Hua Youwei thought to himself: It's only been two days, and he's already saved a county magistrate again. A person like this...
"Mm!"
"Divine Doctor Ye, um... I wonder about the matter I mentioned last time..." Hua Youwei said hesitantly.
"I haven't thought it through yet! We'll talk another day!"
"Uh... fine, fine, then you must give it careful consideration! Haha!"
Ye Lingtian nodded, walked over to County Magistrate Hou, and said quietly, "Mister, your underlying condition is a bit troublesome."
Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Hou's authoritative demeanor instantly gave way to sheer astonishment. He grabbed Ye Lingtian's arm with both hands and asked nervously, "You mean... there's hope?!" What Ye Lingtian called "a bit troublesome" carried the subtext that it could be treated! And he knew his own condition well. Occupying a high position, who wouldn't want to live a few more years, whether for personal reasons or public duty?
"Mm!"
A single syllable, confirming County Magistrate Hou's thought!
「Then... Divine Doctor Ye...」
"We'll talk about this another time when there's an opportunity!" Cutting off County Magistrate Hou's words, Ye Lingtian spoke directly!
"But..."
"County Magistrate Hou!"
"County Magistrate Hou, how are you doing?"
"County Magistrate Hou, the moment we heard Xiao Chen say you collapsed, we rushed right over!"
"County Magistrate Hou, how do you feel right now?"
"..."
It was County Magistrate Hou's subordinates who had crowded around.
Taking advantage of the moment, Ye Lingtian quietly left with Ouyang Yanan and her family!