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

He loosened his fingers, letting Wu Xiulian stick out her tongue for him to see.

The tongue has changed from its previous purplish-dark color to light red. The teeth marks are still there but much lighter. The tongue coating is thin, white and moist, and the previous ecchymosis is almost invisible.

These are all good signs that blood stasis is gradually dissipating and qi and blood are gradually replenishing.

"The recovery is going well."

Chen Ping removed his hand from the pulse pillow and wrote a few lines in the medical record book: "The pulse is much stronger than before, and most of the stagnation has dissipated."

"The tongue has also turned around. The lower abdomen feels heavy and the vaginal discharge has increased in the past few days, which are all good signs. It means that the blood and qi are flowing downwards, and menstruation should be coming soon."

"Keep taking the medication, not even for a single day. You can only stop taking it once your period returns and the flow becomes normal. Before that, please don't stop just because you think you're almost fully recovered, understand?"

Wu Xiulian listened attentively, nodded, hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Chen Ping: "Dr. Chen, don't you need to perform a palpation? I want to know if that thing is still there."

Chen Ping paused for a moment.

He glanced down the corridor; Zhou Jie and Sun Xiaoyan had gone to the cafeteria, leaving only him and Wu Xiulian in the consultation room.

He put down his pen and coughed slightly, sounding a little embarrassed: "The nurses have all gone to eat, and I'm all alone here. It's not very convenient to do a palpation."

After hearing this, Wu Xiulian smiled, moved the plastic bag on the table to the side, stood up and walked straight to the examination bed. "It's okay. I've been treated so many times. I trust Dr. Chen's character."

"I've seen everything I needed to see and touched everything I needed to touch, so what's there to be embarrassed about?"

She walked to the examination bed, reached out and pulled the curtain halfway closed, then looked back at Chen Ping. "Dr. Chen, don't worry, my boyfriend isn't here."

After being seen a few times, Wu Xiulian became more poised and confident, losing her initial awkwardness and embarrassment.

Chen Ping, on the contrary, felt a little embarrassed.

While Chen Ping was still standing there in a daze, Wu Xiulian had already sat down on the examination bed and started to unbuckle her belt, her movements as natural as if she were going to her own kang (heated brick bed).

Chen Ping recalled the first time this girl came. She sat in the chair and didn't even dare to lift her eyelids. When talking about the gynecological examination, her face turned so red that it could bleed. When she was asked to take off her pants for palpation, she was so embarrassed that she almost cried.

At that time, her boyfriend was outside and almost beat her up.

Now, without him having to urge her, she just lay down on her own.

This change may not seem like a big deal, but it's not insignificant either; it represents a patient's greatest trust in their doctor.

Helpless, Chen Ping took out a pair of disposable gloves from the drawer, put them on, walked over and closed the curtain tightly, then stood by the examination bed waiting for Wu Xiulian to take off her pants and lie down.

The warm light of the operating lamp shone on her abdomen, and the tense, stiff posture she had been in before was gone, replaced by a calm and relaxed demeanor.

Chen Ping had her legs spread slightly apart, and wearing gloves, he reached inside to perform a bimanual examination.

The fingers trace along the posterior fornix of the birth canal to reach the cervix, and then probe upwards to examine the fundus of the uterus.

The hard lump that was the size of an egg has shrunk significantly. I can only feel a slight bulge on the right side of the fundus. The texture has also softened considerably, and the borders are not as clear as before.

The good news is that Wu Xiulian did not show any obvious pain response when the pressure was applied, which indicates that the inflammation is also subsiding.

Just as he probed his finger a little deeper, Wu Xiulian suddenly let out an extremely faint sound, as light as a cat yawning.

Chen Ping paused for a moment.

The consultation room was already quiet, and after the curtains were drawn, it became an even more enclosed space, making that faint sound all the more clear.

Chen Ping felt his ears getting hot, but luckily he was wearing a mask, which covered his slightly red cheeks.

He steadied his breathing, forced himself to focus on the sensation in his fingertips, and continued to complete the remaining examination.

No obvious masses were palpable in either adnexal region, the cervix was smooth, and the discharge was normal.

He straightened up, took off his gloves and threw them into the trash can. He turned around and made a few notes in the patient's medical record, trying to make his voice sound normal: "The hard nodule at the fundus has shrunk significantly. The one that was the size of an egg has now shrunk to the size of a soybean, and the borders are blurred. Don't stop taking the medication. Keep taking it until your period comes and the flow is normal."

When Wu Xiulian got off the examination bed after putting on her pants, she glanced at Chen Ping. It was unclear whether she had noticed something or not. She simply fastened her belt, her face showing a hint of joy and relief.

"Dr. Chen, thank you so much. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have sought treatment for this illness, and it would probably be much worse now."

Wu Xiulian smiled and said it from the bottom of her heart.

Chen Ping drew back the curtains, and sunlight streamed in through the window.

"Treating the sick and saving lives is our duty as doctors, no need to thank me."

"Remember what I told you: come see me again after your period starts for one last check-up."

Chen Ping gave a few more instructions.

"Okay, I understand..." Wu Xiulian nodded, and as she was about to leave the consultation room, she turned back to Chen Ping and said, "Dr. Chen, those free-range eggs are still warm, don't forget to eat them."

"Okay!" Chen Ping nodded.

After Wu Xiulian left, Chen Ping closed the door of the clinic, picked up the bag of free-range eggs, and headed towards the cafeteria.

Upon entering the canteen, Chen Ping saw that the large round table was already laden with dishes.

Aunt Li made a big pot of sauerkraut stew with glass noodles today. The sauerkraut was homemade, and the glass noodles were leftover from Zhao Laosan's family in the next village. She also added a few slices of pork belly, and the stew filled the house with a sour and fragrant aroma.

There was also a plate of eggplant with minced garlic, a dish of cold shredded radish, and a large bowl of steaming white rice on the side.

Wang Tao was squatting next to the dining table peeling garlic for Zhou Jie when he heard footsteps. He looked up, saw the plastic bag in Chen Ping's hand, and immediately stood up and rushed over.

Without saying a word, he took the plastic bag and put it on the table. Then he turned around and went to the kitchen to get a large bowl. The bowl was full of rice, topped with a few slices of meat and a large chopstick of pickled cabbage and vermicelli. It was still steaming hot.

"Master, you've finally arrived! I've prepared it for you and kept it warm in the steamer, otherwise it would have been completely cold by now."

Wang Tao placed the large bowl in front of Chen Ping, then turned back and shouted to the kitchen, "Aunt Li! My master is here! Can you reheat that plate of scrambled eggs?"

Aunt Li peeked out of the kitchen window, still holding a spatula, and said with a smile, "It's still hot, still hot. You all eat so fast. Dr. Chen arrived late, so I specially saved a plate for him that wasn't out of the pot yet. I'll bring it over now."

Chen Ping sat down in the empty seat next to Cui Ying. Cui Ying moved her bowl to the side to make room for him, and pushed his bowl of rice a little closer to him, placing her chopsticks on the rim of the bowl.