Sent to the countryside, I turned the health center into a top-tier hospital.

"Alright, alright, stop standing there."

Zhao Guosheng clapped his hands. "Go do what you're supposed to do. What will it look like when the patients come and see you all gathered around a blood basin?"

The group then dispersed.

Wang Jianguo returned to his clinic, Liu Wei and Wang Tao went to organize the medical records, Li Fang washed the basin and put it back in the pharmacy, and Cui Ying took the folder back to the accounting office.

Chen Ping returned to his consultation room and sat down in a chair.

The consultation room was small, the table was old, and the chair creaked when you sat on it.

But the sunlight streaming in through the window shone on the old lamp and the white towel on the washbasin stand, making it quite bright.

Chen Ping closed his eyes and tried to "search" through the things in his mind.

An ancient book, several sets of acupuncture techniques, dozens of prescriptions, and some other miscellaneous items.

It's incomplete, like a corner of a huge treasure trove, but even this corner is enough for him to digest for a long time.

Seven stars chasing the moon.

He silently recited the name, and immediately all the details of that acupuncture technique appeared in his mind: twelve acupoints, nine techniques, the depth, angle, force, and speed of needle insertion, and even the breathing rhythm during needle manipulation.

This skill isn't something you can master in a day or two.

But he succeeded on his first try.

Chen Ping opened his eyes and looked down at his hands.

Are these hands any different from yesterday?

They look the same.

But he knew things were different now.

From the moment I touched that book, things were different.

As he was thinking, a head peeked in through the door; it was Wang Tao.

"Dr. Chen, are you busy?"

"No, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Wang Tao walked in with a smile, holding a glass of water. "I poured you a glass of water. You just arrived, and I didn't know if you drink tea, so I just poured you plain water."

"Thank you." Chen Ping took it and drank a sip.

Wang Tao didn't leave; he stood to the side, rubbing his hands together, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Speak your mind," Chen Ping said with a smile.

"Um... Dr. Chen, can you really teach me the Seven Stars Chasing the Moon technique?"

Wang Tao's eyes sparkled. "I'm not a TCM student; I'm a clinical medicine intern, but I've always been particularly interested in acupuncture. I took an acupuncture course in school, and I recognize the basic acupoints, but..."

"What is it?"

"Nobody teaches us anything real."

Wang Tao scratched his head. "You know what the school teaches—lots of theory, little practice. I bought that pack of needles and tried to prick myself a few times according to the book, but I couldn't get it right and even pricked myself until I bled."

Chen Ping looked at him and remembered that he had the same drive when he was studying medicine.

"Okay, I'll teach you when I have the chance." Chen Ping smiled slightly. "First, lay a solid foundation. Acupoints, meridians, and the five elements—these things can't be taken lightly."

"Really?" Wang Tao almost jumped up. "Thank you, Dr. Chen! I'll go back and study!"

He dashed off, then peeked back at the door and said, "Dr. Chen, I won't bother you anymore, you can rest!"

Chen Ping smiled and shook his head.

Sure enough, there weren't many patients all morning.

From 8:30 to 10:00, not a single person came.

At 10:15 a.m., a young woman came in and said her child had been coughing for several days. Li Fang gave her a box of children's cough syrup and charged her eight yuan.

An old man came in at 10:40, saying his blood pressure was high. Wang Jianguo measured it and found it to be 160 mmHg. He told the old man to eat less salt and walk more, but didn't prescribe any medication.

After 11 o'clock, the courtyard became quiet.

The old hens under the locust tree were all asleep, huddled against the wall, motionless.

Chen Ping couldn't sit still in the consultation room, so he came out for a walk.

Passing by Wang Jianguo's clinic, I saw him wearing reading glasses and reading a newspaper that was three days old.

As they passed the pharmacy, Li Fang lay down on the table and dozed off.

Passing by the injection room, the door was closed, and there was no one inside.

The door to the accounting office was open, and Cui Ying sat in front of the computer, her brows furrowed as she calculated some accounts.

"Busy?" Chen Ping stopped at the door.

Cui Ying looked up and took off her glasses. Only then did Chen Ping notice that she was wearing glasses; he hadn't noticed before.

"I'm busy settling accounts." She sighed. "Last month's accounts haven't been balanced yet. There's a difference of more than two hundred yuan, and I just can't figure it out."

"Two hundred yuan or so, is that a big difference?"

"That's right." Cui Ying rubbed her temples. "The income and expenses of the health center shouldn't be hard to calculate, but there's a difference of more than two hundred. Director Zhao even asked me about it yesterday, and I was too embarrassed to tell him."

Chen Ping didn't ask too many questions and left after standing there for a while.

At 11:30, Zhao Guosheng came out of his office, carrying an enamel mug, and walked to the door of Chen Ping's clinic: "Dr. Chen, let's go eat."

Just as Chen Ping stood up, Cui Ying poked her head out from the accounting office across the street: "Dean Zhao, are you treating us to dinner?"

"What's this about inviting guests? It's just a casual meal." Zhao Guosheng's face turned slightly red.

"A simple meal?" Cui Ying laughed. "Dean Zhao, please don't treat people to noodles again."

"What are you saying, child!" Zhao Guosheng glared at her. "Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

Wang Tao, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, leaned over and said with a grin, "Director, Dr. Chen is such a skilled doctor, you should at least treat him to a good meal when he comes to our health center, right? He's eaten everything in the city, how can you treat him to noodles when he comes to this poor, remote place?"

"Go away!" Zhao Guosheng waved him away. "What do you know, you little brat? I'm inviting Dr. Chen to dinner, what are you getting involved for?"

"I didn't say you had to treat me," Wang Tao said, shrinking back, but his mouth still running. "I just think, Dean, you can't be so stingy."

Li Fang laughed so hard she almost fell over at the pharmacy window: "Wang Tao, stop teasing the dean. His money is all in your wife's hands. He's lucky if he can even afford to treat Dr. Chen to a bowl of noodles."

"Li Fang! Say that again!" Zhao Guosheng's face turned even redder, and he held the jar as if to smash it against her.

Li Fang smiled and shrank back.

"Ignore them, they all have no guts." Zhao Guosheng pulled Chen Ping outside. "Come on, let's go eat. Don't listen to their nonsense."

The two people left the health center, turned left, and walked for a few minutes until they arrived at a small noodle shop.

The noodle shop didn't have a sign; there was just a plastic sheet hanging at the entrance with the words "noodle shop" painted in red on it.

There were four tables inside, which were wiped quite clean, but the paint on the tabletops had been worn away, revealing the natural color of the wood.

"Old Zhou, two bowls of noodles, please." Zhao Guosheng found a seat towards the back and sat down.

"Okay!" came a reply from the kitchen.

The noodles were served in a large bowl with plenty of soup, and a few pieces of green vegetables and a little bit of minced meat floating on top.

Chen Ping took a bite; the noodles were chewy and the broth was flavorful, but there wasn't enough meat.

"Dr. Chen, please don't think it's too simple."

Zhao Guosheng slurped up a mouthful of noodles and said somewhat embarrassedly, "You've seen the situation at the health center; it's been losing money. I'm three months behind on my salary. As for family, your sister-in-law is very strict with money, and this is all I have..."

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a few crumpled bills, and placed them on the table.

"Today's meal, two bowls of noodles cost sixteen yuan, which is enough for me. But if I were to go to a restaurant and order food, I really couldn't afford it."