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

The woman panicked upon hearing this, "What should we do? Should we take him to the county hospital?"

Chen Ping shook his head. "Stop the pain first, flush out the stones first. He can't take the bumpy ride to the county hospital, which will take several hours."

After saying that, Chen Ping turned to Zhou Jie and Sun Xiaoyan, who had followed him, and said, "Zhou Jie, prepare acupuncture needles, 0.25 x 40 mm, five of them."

"Xiao Yan, go to the pharmacy and get the following medicine: 10 grams of Bupleurum, 10 grams of Scutellaria baicalensis, 15 grams of Paeonia lactiflora, 10 grams of Citrus aurantium, 10 grams of Curcuma longa, 30 grams of Lysimachia christinae, 15 grams of Lygodium japonicum, 10 grams of chicken gizzard lining, and 6 grams of Glycyrrhiza uralensis. Go quickly."

Zhou Jie quickly walked to the instrument cabinet, took out her needle pack, unfolded it, and placed it on the treatment tray.

Sun Xiaoyan turned and ran towards the pharmacy, the sound of her opening cabinets and rummaging through medicine boxes echoing down the corridor.

Cui Ying stood at the door of the consultation room without coming in, leaning against the door frame, watching Chen Ping bend down to locate acupoints on the patient's abdomen.

Chen Ping selected five acupoints: Yanglingquan, Dannangxue, Riyue, Qimen, and Taichong.

Yanglingquan is located on the outer side of the lower leg. It is the He-Sea point of the Gallbladder Meridian and is specifically used to treat diseases and pains of the gallbladder.

The gallbladder point is an extra point located two inches below Yanglingquan (GB34), and it is particularly effective for gallbladder inflammation and colic.

The Riyue and Qimen acupoints are located below the right rib and are the Mu points of the Liver and Gallbladder meridians, which can unblock the local Qi flow.

Taichong is located on the dorsum of the foot. It is the original acupoint of the Liver Meridian, which can soothe the liver, regulate Qi, and relieve spasms.

He inserted the needles quickly, one after another, into the acupoints. His fingers twisted the needles with a small range but a fast frequency, using the purging method to push the stagnant qi blocking the gallbladder duct downwards.

When the third needle was inserted, the man's breathing became noticeably calmer, and the muffled groan in his throat subsided.

After the fifth injection, his body gradually relaxed from its tense state, and his fingers, which had been gripping the bed sheet tightly, loosened.

"Does it still hurt?" Chen Ping asked while turning the handle of the Yanglingquan acupuncture point.

The man took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. His voice was still weak, but his tone was no longer as strained. "Much better...it doesn't hurt as much as before...it's still a little swollen..."

"That's normal. The bile hasn't completely drained yet, but things will be easier once the spasm subsides."

Chen Ping asked Zhou Jie to bring a trash can and place it by the bedside. He then helped the patient into a side-lying position and applied several more strong stimulations and rotations to the Riyue and Qimen acupuncture points.

About five minutes later, the man suddenly burped, followed by a sour and bitter liquid rising from his stomach. He turned his head and leaned over the edge of the bed, dry heaving a few times before spitting out a mouthful of yellowish-green bitter liquid.

The woman quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe his mouth. Chen Ping glanced at it and nodded. "The bile has come down, and that thing blocking the bile duct should have been cleared. How are you feeling now?"

The man leaned against the headboard, wiped his mouth with his hand, and let out a long sigh, as if a stone had finally been removed from his chest. "It doesn't hurt anymore... it really doesn't hurt anymore... I'm just still a little weak."

Chen Ping removed the needle and asked Zhou Jie to pour the patient a glass of warm water.

Sun Xiaoyan had already brought in the prepared Chinese medicine. The medicine hadn't been decocted yet, but the herbs had already been separated according to the prescription.

"Xiao Yan, remember to prepare the medicine first thing tomorrow morning and send it to the ward," Chen Ping instructed Sun Xiao Yan.

"Okay, I understand!" Sun Xiaoyan nodded.

"Fatty..." Chen Ping called out towards the outside of the consultation room.

Fatty Zhang had been standing outside the consultation room for a while. When he heard Chen Ping call him, he immediately ran in.

"Help the patient and find an empty ward to stay in. Remember to bring a thick blanket," Chen Ping said.

"Okay..."

Fatty Zhang quickly stepped forward to help the man, and they carefully walked out of the consultation room.

The woman followed behind and walked towards the ward, but after taking only two steps, she suddenly stopped.

Then she turned to look at Chen Ping, her lips trembling several times before she managed to squeeze out, "Dr. Chen, thank you so much. If you hadn't gotten up in the middle of the night to open the door for us, I don't know how much pain my man would have been in tonight."

Chen Ping waved his hand, "The nurse will prepare the medicine tomorrow morning. Remember to drink it. Eat a light diet these two days and avoid oily foods."

"I'll have another ultrasound tomorrow when I go to work to check the size of the stone. If it's too big, I'll have to go to the county or city for surgery."

"Okay, I understand. Thank you so much, Dr. Chen."

The woman nodded and then quickly followed.

Chen Ping stretched his stiff neck in the consultation room and yawned.

In the corridor, Cui Ying was still leaning against the door frame, not having left.

Zhou Jie and Sun Xiaoyan had finished packing up their equipment and returned to the backyard, while Fatty Zhang also went back to his guardhouse.

"You're really dedicated to being a doctor, getting up at 2 a.m. to see patients."

Cui Ying's voice was still slightly nasal from just waking up, and her eyes were full of appreciation and admiration for Chen Ping.

Chen Ping took off his white coat and draped it over the back of the chair, smiled and said, "Can we just push a patient out when they come in the middle of the night? Our health center doesn't have an emergency room. Pushing them out would just mean letting them continue to suffer."

"Alright, go back to sleep. You have to go to work tomorrow."

After Chen Ping finished speaking, he walked towards the dormitory in the backyard.

Cui Ying followed behind Chen Ping, their shadows stretched long by the moonlight.

Chen Ping walked to the dormitory door, but did not push the door open and go in. Instead, he paused for a moment.

Cui Ying walked past Chen Ping, intending to return to her dormitory.

Who called you before you went to bed last night?

Chen Ping mustered his courage and looked at Cui Ying, asking her a question.

Cui Ying's body stiffened, her expression clearly momentarily stunned, before she forced a smile, "A friend..."

After saying that, Cui Ying pushed open the door and went into the dormitory, not giving Chen Ping a chance to ask any more questions.

Seeing this, Chen Ping also pushed open his dormitory door and went in, lay down on the bed, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

He was so tired, really tired...

The next morning, Chen Ping was awakened by the chirping of birds in the poplar tree outside his window.

The birds were chirping urgently and loudly, as if they had something important to tell everyone in the yard.

He opened his eyes and was dazed for a couple of seconds before realizing he was lying on his bed in the dormitory.

The sky outside the window was already bright, and sunlight shone in through the gaps in the curtains.

Chen Ping quickly grabbed his phone, turned it on, and glanced at it. It was a quarter past eight.

"Damn it, I'm late..."

Chen Ping jolted awake and sat up abruptly.

My head was still a little dizzy when I sat up. I slept really soundly last night and didn't even have a dream.

I quickly put on my clothes and pants, didn't even have time to wash up, scooped up a handful of cold water and splashed my face a couple of times before heading outside.

As I walked through the yard, I saw two new roses blooming by the flower bed, bright red and glistening with dew in the morning light.

When they arrived at the front yard, Wang Tao was squatting at the door of the clinic, mopping the floor. Seeing Chen Ping's anxious and flustered appearance, he leaned the mop against the wall and said, "Master, don't worry, the dean said you can come to work a little later today."

"The cafeteria still has food for you. I asked Aunt Li to keep it warm in the steamer for you. It's millet porridge and meat buns. Go and have some."

"I'm not eating anymore, it's too late!"

Chen Ping shook his head and planned to go into the consultation room to change into a white coat.

At this moment, Zhao Guosheng came out of the office carrying a jar, stood at the door and called out, "Dr. Chen, don't rush to do it."

"Cui Ying told me about what happened last night this morning. You got up at 2 a.m. to see patients, so it's understandable that you came a little late this morning."

"Go to the cafeteria and get something to eat. There's no rush. When the patient arrives, I'll have Liu Wei and Dr. Wang cover for him."

After hearing Zhao Guosheng's words, Chen Ping stopped refusing.

"Thank you, Dean..."

Chen Ping thanked him and turned to walk towards the cafeteria.

Aunt Li was still busy by the stove when she saw him come in. She lifted the lid of the steamer, and steam billowed out. Inside, there was a bowl of millet porridge and two large steamed buns, with a dish of pickled vegetables on the side.

Chen Ping sat down and ate. The porridge was thick and sticky, and the buns were filled with shredded radish. They were still hot when he took a bite. After eating, he felt warm all over and was finally fully awake.