A doctor who travels through two eras

Andu County is located on the banks of the Chengjiang River. The county town is built along the river and is very small, the kind of place where you can walk from south to north with just a cigarette.

The county center has only one street paved with stone slabs, with traditional wooden shops on both sides, just like in the Qing Dynasty.

Only occasionally do you see a few low-rise cement houses, reminding you that this is a modern society.

At least the county town now has electricity.

We also have to thank Lin Sanqi. After his generator set was delivered, there is no shortage of electricity in the whole country now, but it is the coal miners who suffer.

Lin Sanqi and his group found the county guesthouse without any trouble and showed their identification.

The receptionist glanced at the letter of introduction, which stated Bao'an County Pharmaceutical Factory, and then looked up at the dozen or so large men in front of her, becoming somewhat wary.

"Comrade, what business do you have in our Andu County, where your Bao'an County pharmaceutical factory is? Our county doesn't have any pharmaceutical factories or any precious Chinese herbal medicines."

Lin Sanqi had done her homework beforehand and replied with a smile:

"Why aren't there any Chinese medicinal herbs? I've heard that honeysuckle, artemisia annua, coptis chinensis, and chicken blood vine are quite famous in Andu County. We're purchasing agents for a pharmaceutical factory, we're not searching the world for medicinal herbs."

The staff member nodded in confusion, but the wariness in their eyes did not diminish at all.

In the past, purchasing agents have come to Andu County, but they usually come alone or in pairs, since Andu County is not a traditional medicinal herb planting base.

Where would a poor county, where people can't even get enough to eat, with very little arable land and mountains everywhere, find land to grow medicinal herbs?

The front desk staff were all seasoned veterans. They could tell from the group's expensive clothes that the young man in the lead looked relaxed, but the rest of the group surrounded him, subtly showing their protectiveness.

Other pharmaceutical purchasing agents all looked disheveled and haggard, unlike the dozen or so people in front of them who were all radiant.

There's definitely something wrong with it.

Lin Sanqi's next words deepened the staff's suspicions:
"Comrade, please give us the best rooms in your guesthouse. All single and double rooms are fine, but we don't need the dormitory-style rooms."

The staff thought to themselves that there were standards for accommodations for purchasing agents on business trips, and ordinary staff could only get reimbursed for dormitory-style rooms; single rooms and double rooms would violate financial regulations.

As a result, these dozen or so people immediately asked to "go up to the house," and their suitcases were full of money. The more they looked at them, the more they seemed to be enemy agents.

The front desk staff helped Lin Sanqi and his group with the check-in procedures, and then immediately reported it to their superiors.

Lin Sanqi walked into the best room in the county guesthouse and looked around with a sense of helplessness.

The guesthouse room was dilapidated, but the white quilt was even a bit blackened, clearly indicating that the hygiene conditions were not up to standard.

Luckily, he had his own bedding in his room, otherwise he would have been covered in lice after sleeping there all night.

"Is everyone ready?"

Wang Jin and the others came out of the room one after another: "We're ready."

"Ready to go? Let's find a restaurant to eat."

A staff member at a guesthouse passed by and laughed:

"Comrade, you don't know this, but there are no big restaurants in our Andu County. There are only a few noodle shops in the county. If you want to eat, you can only go to our guesthouse canteen."

Lin Sanqi didn't mind at all and waved his hand, "Come on, lunch is on me today."

A dozen or so people walked into the cafeteria chatting and laughing, and sat down at two tables. Lin Sanqi called out:
"Comrade, shall we eat?"

They were speaking in Mandarin, but the waiter couldn't understand a word, so Wang Jin had to act as the translator.

"We want two black goats, roasted or boiled, it's fine."

The waiter said speechlessly, "No, you need to make a reservation in advance if you want to eat goat meat."

Wang Jin, feeling helpless, pleaded with Lin Sanqi and then said:

"You must have sour fish soup, right?"

The staff member shook his head: "We don't even have sour fish soup. Don't you even know what time it is?"

Everyone looked at their watches, which showed 2 p.m.

The other staff members who were secretly observing all gasped in surprise. These 16 people all had watches? What kind of foreign tycoons were they?
Wait, the person who just ordered the food clearly spoke with a local Andu County accent, so why is he hanging out with outsiders?
Lin Sanqi understood; he had come at the wrong time, long past lunchtime, so the cafeteria staff were naturally impatient.

These days, state-run restaurants are all like this; it's nothing unusual. But he believes the claim that there's no goat meat; after all, meat was a precious commodity in those days, something most people couldn't afford, so it's normal for the canteen not to prepare it.

But the fact that they don't even have local specialty like sour fish soup is simply unacceptable.

"Alright, alright, Wang Jin, just let them serve whatever they have. If they want to try the specialties you mentioned, we can find another opportunity later."

Wang Jin blushed, feeling ashamed of the indifference of his fellow villagers. His own boss, so rich and holding a high-ranking position, was actually being harassed by a mere waiter.
A short while later, several bowls of thin rice noodles were served.

Each person started eating from a bowl; when you're hungry, everything tastes good.

Just then, several policemen in white shirts and blue pants walked in. Seeing a group of people slurping noodles, they came over to ask them questions.

"Excuse me, comrades."

The police were seasoned veterans; just by looking at the group's clothes, the chopsticks they were holding, the watches on their wrists, and their upright demeanor, they knew they weren't ordinary people.

So they were quite polite from the start.

If it were someone dressed sloppily, they would have been pinned down on the table and searched long ago.

Lin Sanqi didn't look up and continued slurping his noodles, while Wang Jin and Li Yujie stood up.

Li Yujie took out several documents from his briefcase:

"Hello, officer. This is our letter of introduction. We are purchasing agents from Bao'an County Pharmaceutical Factory in Fushan Special District."

The police knew perfectly well what was going on, just as the staff had thought. How could a purchasing agent be dressed so smartly and in such high-end fabrics?

"The letter of introduction is fine, but please show your work IDs, all sixteen of you."

Wang Jin was dumbfounded. After all, all 10 of their bodyguards worked in Hong Kong and did not have work permits from the mainland. He had originally thought that a letter of introduction would suffice.

Upon realizing that the other party could not produce a work ID, the police officers became alert and were about to reprimand them.

At this moment, Liu Zhanqi, who was slurping noodles, stood up and took out his red booklet.

"Officer, this is my work ID."

When the police officers took a look, they broke out in a cold sweat. This badge was incredibly powerful; even a mere lieutenant like him was someone not to be trifled with.

"So? Are you going to check the work permits of the rest of us now?"

Several policemen saluted: "Comrade, no need for inspection, please enjoy your meal..."

After the police officers left the canteen, they all wiped the sweat from their brows, and the staff of the guesthouse gathered around them:
"Old Sun, how was it? Who are these people inside? I saw them pull out their work IDs and you guys chickened out."

Officer Sun waved his hand:
"Don't ask questions or disturb the people inside. Just provide them with whatever they want to eat. Remember, you can't afford to offend the people inside. I'll report to the county immediately."

The staff at the guesthouse were completely dumbfounded when they heard this.

The guesthouse manager got anxious as soon as he heard this: "You guys, hurry up and prepare sour fish soup. I'll go to the county government canteen and get some black goat meat."

Soon after, several canteen staff members brought over bowls of food, and the entire canteen was instantly filled with delicious aromas.

Wang Jin asked, somewhat puzzled, "Didn't you just say you didn't have mutton or fish? What's this?"

The cafeteria manager said ingratiatingly:
"Gentlemen, our waiter was irresponsible just now, and I have already given him a stern reprimand. These dishes are all freshly made by us, please have a taste. Please forgive us for the poor hospitality, haha."

Lin Sanqi burst out laughing:
"Alright, sit down and eat. Just now, when Xiao Liu showed his work ID, they would have been satisfied even if we wanted to eat dragon meat from the sky."

Everyone chuckled and, without further ado, reached for the various steaming local dishes with their chopsticks.

Sure enough, half an hour later, several county leaders dressed in Zhongshan suits rushed over.

A man in his fifties, with graying hair, led the way and rushed up to Lin Sanqi, asking with a smile:

"Hello, comrade. I am Jin Guozhong, the county magistrate of Andu County. May I ask how you gentlemen are addressed?"

Lin Sanqi had almost finished eating, so he stood up and shook hands with County Magistrate Jin:

"County Chief Jin, hello, my name is Lin Sanqi. This is my work ID. Oh, there are several, I'll just pick the two most important ones."

Lin Sanqi's current positions are quite diverse, encompassing the Party, government, and military—a complete cross-disciplinary effort. (End of Chapter)