The days when I was an obstetrician and gynecologist in Chang'an

Chapter 997 My World
(Thanks to Flying Middle-Aged Pig for the 100 points.)
Summer in Lingnan Road is humid and hot, with cicadas chirping incessantly.

However, inside the newly built "Maternity and Child Health Hall" in Guangzhou Prefecture, there was a scene of orderly and busy activity.

The air was filled with the mixed smell of herbs and disinfectant. The female doctors and apprentices, dressed in plain white coats, walked briskly but with focused expressions.

Li San Niang had just guided a young female doctor to successfully perform an external cephalic version on a Li woman with severe breech presentation, ensuring the safety of both mother and child.

The heartfelt, tearful thanks from the new mother's family, spoken with heavy accents, still echoed in my ears;

Li San Niang raised her hand and rubbed her temples wearily but contentedly. She was still standing in the courtyard when she was about to go back to her room to rest.
The system that had been dormant in her mind for so long, almost forgotten by her;

Suddenly, without warning, it rang.

The host has successfully contained the epidemic and saved millions of lives!

Progress: 1,000,001/1,000,000
mission completed!

You will receive the system's reward—the ultimate gift pack!

Li San Niang suddenly stopped in her tracks, her heart seemingly stopping for a moment.

She was stunned.

five years.

Since the Lantern Festival in Chang'an, she resolved to head south. She led Lu Zhu'er, some outstanding students from Ping An Women's Medical College, and ample supplies on her journey south.

From the misty pavilions of Jiangnan to the wild and pestilential lands of Lingnan, she established and supported more than 30 maternity wards and teaching sites for female doctors.

She went deep into the Li villages and Tanka people, spreading the concepts of prenatal checkups, disinfection, and new methods of childbirth like seeds throughout this land that was once regarded as "all barbarians".

She has treated far more than just women in difficult childbirth and sick infants.

The plagues that were averted because of her public health initiatives, and the lives that were saved because of the local female doctors she trained.
Little by little, they converged into a river, and before we knew it, they had reached a number that once seemed unattainable—a million.

Five years, no, it's been a full twenty-five years.

From her inexplicable arrival in this Tang Dynasty world, through the pain of childbirth, and through arduous progress, to her current fame and official rank of third grade.

She had almost grown accustomed to everything in this world, to the warmth of her family, to Dewdrop's dependence, to the weight of the scalpel and the fragrance of herbs, and to being addressed as "Dr. Li," "Director Li," and "Director Li."
But her own soul, which came from the modern world, seemed to have long been buried deep in her memory.

So much so that when the system notification sounded again, she felt a strong sense of unfamiliarity and disorientation.

Did she really save a million people?

The number was so large that it left her somewhat bewildered.

That's not just numbers; it's the countless lives she saved from the brink of death, directly or indirectly, through the knowledge and skills she shared.

It represents countless families that have been able to achieve fulfillment;
It was filled with the joyful laughter of every household in every prefecture and state of the Tang Dynasty!

The system's voice in Li San Niang's mind remained calm and unwavering.

The host has completed all system tasks.

According to the initial agreement, the host receives the ultimate gift package!

The ultimate gift package?
what is that?
[The ultimate gift pack needs to be opened by the host.]

Standing in the courtyard, Li Sanniang remained motionless, her mind completely absorbed by the unexpected "gift package" from the system.

Could it be that we can go back to Earth?
Is it possible to travel back in time?

Come back home!

These two words were like a bolt of lightning, splitting Li San Niang's twenty-five years of memories of the Tang Dynasty and striking the soul from the modern era deep within her soul!

Is she able to go back?
Go back to that world with air conditioning, internet, flush toilets, familiar friends, and the work and life she loves?
A tremendous, almost dizzying ecstasy and anticipation instantly seized her!
That was a homesickness she had never dared to delve into in the quiet of her dreams for decades!
However, just as her emotions were about to erupt, a series of images swept through Li San Niang's mind with even greater ferocity.
It was the soft touch of a dewdrop stumbling into her arms as she took her first steps;

It was her first successful cesarean section, and she was moved to tears when she heard the baby cry.
It was during the Yumen Pass epidemic that the people were deeply grateful and expressed their thanks after being rescued;
It was the heavy expectation that Emperor Wu had when he promoted her in the Xuande Hall;
It was during those five years in the south that the eyes of countless women and children she saved were rekindled.
It was the warm light that was always on for her in her home in Changshoufang, Chang'an.
Her roots, without her even realizing it, had taken deep root in this land called Tang Dynasty. Here, she had close relatives, a career, inescapable responsibilities, and countless attachments she could not sever.

Come back home?

Back to that home on Earth?
Can she still go back?
What does the modern world of 25 years ago look like now?
Are her friends alright?
What happened to her original body?
For Li San Niang, the immense contradictions and pain instantly overwhelmed her initial ecstasy.

She stood there, her expression shifting, her fingers gripping the cuffs of her robe tightly, trembling slightly.

The system seemed to sense her intense inner struggle, and its mechanical voice unusually took on a human tone.

The system detected abnormally intense emotional fluctuations in the host.

Please confirm: Host, do you wish to open the ultimate gift pack?

Li San Niang opened her mouth, but found that her throat was too dry to make a sound.

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and struggled to respond in her mind: "I want to know, if I could go back, what would happen to this world?"
What will happen to my family, Dewdrop and the others?

Will you forget me?
Or will I simply 'disappear'?

Li San Niang couldn't imagine the pain Lu Zhu'er felt when she vanished into thin air.

She couldn't imagine what would happen to the obstetrics and gynecology system she had built on the land of the Tang Dynasty after losing her.

She couldn't bear to part with her disciples, whom she regarded as her own children;
There are also people like Qiu Xiang, who have been by her side for decades, serving as both close friends and family.

The system remained silent for a moment before replying: "[Host, would you like to open the ultimate gift pack?]"

These words were cold and cruel, and did not directly answer Li San Niang's question.

Li San Niang's heart sank little by little. The impulse to "go home" quickly cooled down after realizing that "leaving" meant a certain degree of "annihilation".

But that modern world, the place where she was born and raised, remains her deepest obsession.

Even if it's just to go back and see her once, to know that everything is alright, perhaps she could truly feel at ease staying in this era.

She hesitated, but finally mustered her courage and mentally activated the "ultimate gift pack."

With a flick of her finger, the gift package transformed into starlight and merged into Li San Niang's consciousness.

There was no earth-shattering treasure as I had imagined, only a stream of information flowing in: [Ultimate Reward: Time Travel (One-time use)].

With this permission, the host can briefly return to their original spacetime anchor point in soul form and stay for the duration of an incense stick burning.

Note: This is a one-way observation; it cannot be interfered with or paused.

Looking back through time and space?

Li San Niang's heart skipped a beat.

That memory, buried deep in her heart and belonging to another world, burst forth like a sealed tide.

Skyscrapers, bustling traffic, the disinfectant in hospitals, the lights in laboratories—those images, both clear and blurry, rush in.

She was almost trembling as she asked the system the question that had been buried in her heart for more than twenty years: "System...can I...go home?"

After a brief silence, the system's mechanical voice sounded again: [According to the initial rules and the law of conservation of energy, the physical body cannot return.]

But the soul can use this reward to "look back."

"I choose to look back."

Li San Niang said softly, with a resolute air, "I want to take one more look. Just one more look at my world."

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