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

"Old Song, I promised to go fishing with you. If you don't bring the miracle doctor today, I'm not finished with you."

Old Zhou said with a smile.

"How could we not invite him? This is the legendary doctor Chen Ping." Old Song pointed to Chen Ping.

Old Zhou turned to look at Chen Ping, sizing him up. "This is the miracle doctor you were talking about? He's so young!"

Old Song put down his teacup. "So what if you're young? My third aunt couldn't find the root of her illness for decades, but he diagnosed it just by taking her pulse. If you don't want to treat your back pain, I won't force you. Anyway, you're the one suffering."

Hearing this, Old Zhou put his fishing rod on the stand, turned around, and said, "Okay, let him take a look. I've had back pain for over ten years. I've taken X-rays but they can't find anything wrong. They just say it's some kind of strain. The medicine they prescribed doesn't work."

Chen Ping took the needle case out of his pocket and placed it on the small table next to him. He squatted down and asked Lao Zhou to turn to the side, then reached out and pressed on his lower back.

The pressure was applied from the lumbar spine down to the sacrum. When the pressure reached the area next to the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae, Old Zhou's body visibly tensed up, and he hissed, but he did not flinch.

Chen Ping pressed a few more spots next to him and got a sense of what was going on.

There is a slight misalignment in the joint between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae. It is not serious, but it is compressing the nerve root. In addition, there is an old injury from when I was young. It hurts a lot when the weather gets cold or when I sit for a long time.

"Mr. Zhou, your lower back is due to lumbar facet joint disorder. You may have injured your lower back when you were young or suffered from long-term strain, which has caused the joints to become misaligned and press on the nerve roots."

"It's not a serious bone problem, but the position is a bit off, so the X-ray doesn't show any major issues."

"I'll give you a few acupuncture needles to loosen the spasms in your muscles and adjust any misaligned joints. You'll be able to sit and fish without complaining of pain today."

Old Zhou looked at Chen Ping with some skepticism, then at Old Song, who nodded while holding a teacup beside him.

Old Zhou then took off his coat and draped it over the back of the chair, lifting up his shirt to reveal his lower back.

Chen Ping took out three of the finest silver needles from his needle case, first disinfected the areas to be needled with iodine-soaked cotton balls, then inserted the first needle into the Shenshu acupoint, the second into the Yaoyangguan acupoint, and the third into the Dachangshu acupoint.

The fingers twist the needle with a small range but a steady frequency. After each insertion, the needle handle is gently flicked to allow the sensation to travel deeper along the meridian.

Old Zhou first took a breath, then slowly exhaled, his brows gradually relaxing from being tightly furrowed.

Chen Ping had Lao Zhou lie face down on the chair and leave the needles in for fifteen minutes. Then he went to the side to check the water in the pool.

Li Jizhong was pouring tea for another veteran cadre, his movements both practiced and natural.

Fifteen minutes later, Chen Ping removed the needle and had Lao Zhou slowly sit up to try.

Old Zhou first carefully stretched his waist, turning left and right, then slowly stood up and took a couple of steps, his expression changing from doubt to genuine surprise.

He turned around and twisted his waist a couple more times, his voice filled with barely concealed surprise: "Hey? It really doesn't hurt anymore! What's going on? My back hasn't felt this relaxed in over ten years!"

Old Song, holding a teacup, smiled and said to the retired cadres beside him, "How about it? I didn't lie to you, did I?"

Several old men who had been focused on fishing put down their rods and came over to ask questions. Some said their legs hurt, some said their shoulders were uncomfortable, and one said his knees made a cracking sound when he walked.

"Alright, one at a time. We have plenty of time today. I called you all here fishing so that Dr. Chen could take a look at you."

Old Song smiled and said to the retired cadres.

An old man in a gray cloth shirt approached and said that his knees had been hurting for several years, making it difficult to go up and down stairs. He could walk on flat ground, but his knees would make a sound when he turned a corner.

Chen Ping asked him to sit down in a chair, rolled up his trouser legs, and looked at his knees.

After pressing on the inner and outer knee joints and moving the joints around, the doctor said it was osteoarthritis, not a serious problem, and that a few acupuncture treatments combined with moxibustion could alleviate the symptoms.

Upon hearing that it could be cured, the old man quickly stretched out his other leg as well.

For the next hour or so, all the fishing rods by the pond remained motionless, the fish floating steadily on the surface as if nailed to the ground. Meanwhile, the area around Chen Ping was bustling like a clinic.

Old Song stopped fishing and sat on the side, slowly sipping a cup of tea. He watched Chen Ping finish acupuncture and massage, a smile always on his lips, as if he had expected this scene.

Old Zhou stopped fishing and watched Chen Ping treat another old man's shoulder.

While looking around and asking questions, he didn't even notice that his own fishing rod had been blown by the wind and the fishing line had gotten tangled in the lotus stem.

By the time the sun had risen directly overhead from the east, no one was tending to their fishing rods by the pond.

Chen Ping removed the needles from the last veteran cadre's shoulder. The man moved his arm a couple of times, his face full of excitement, "This shoulder hasn't felt this light in a long time."

When Chen Ping put away his needle case and stood up, he realized that there was a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, and the sunlight by the pool made his back feel warm.

The buckets of the elderly cadres next to them were all empty; they hadn't even caught a single crucian carp fry, but they all had smiles on their faces.

"Dr. Chen, you've worked so hard all this time, we can't let you do it for nothing. How much would you like to know?"

Old Zhou waited until Chen Ping finished his work before asking questions.

"Old Zhou, it is my honor to treat the illnesses of you national heroes and seniors. How could I possibly ask for money?"

"You made so many contributions and sacrifices when the country was in trouble, didn't you ever think about asking for money or anything in return?"

Chen Ping said with a smile.

Old Zhou was slightly taken aback by Chen Ping's words, clearly not expecting Chen Ping to say such a thing.

The other veteran cadres were also looking at Chen Ping with a hint of excitement in their eyes.

Li Jizhong also looked at Chen Ping in shock, realizing that Chen Ping's flattery skills were in no way inferior to his own.

"Dr. Chen, which hospital do you work at?" Old Zhou didn't bring up the matter of giving money again.

"I work at a township health center in Siping Township, which is under the jurisdiction of Tianhai City," Chen Ping said with a smile.

"A health center?" Old Zhou was taken aback. "With your medical skills, how come you're working at a health center?"

"I have a son-in-law who works at the Provincial Health Commission. Which hospital do you want to go to? I'll tell him. A medical talent like yours is wasted in a health center."

"Old Zhou, no need. I'm doing fine at the health center. Siping Township is in a remote area, surrounded by mountains, so it's not easy for the people to see a doctor. I can also contribute to the Siping Township Health Center."

"No matter where you are, isn't it all the same—providing medical care to ordinary people and helping them alleviate their suffering from illness?"

Chen Ping started to put value into his words, and these few sentences impressed several veteran cadres.