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

The food arrived very quickly.

The cafeteria staff brought over four dishes in a food box: braised pork knuckle, stewed chicken, stir-fried seasonal vegetables, cold black fungus salad, and a large bowl of pork rib soup.

"Dr. Chen, I've been storing this wine for many years. I stored it back when I was in the army. You can't buy it on the market. It tastes very good."

As he spoke, Old Zhou unscrewed the bottle, and the aroma of the liquor immediately wafted out. It was mellow and lingering, definitely not the kind of blended liquor commonly found on the market.

Old Zhou poured a glass and served it to Old Song first, then poured one for Chen Ping, and finally poured one for himself.

He stood up, holding his glass: "This glass is for Lao Song, you brought a good doctor. This glass is also for Dr. Chen, my back has been hurting for over ten years, and this is the first time I've felt so good."

"If Dr. Chen needs anything in the future, please feel free to ask. Although I'm retired, my words still carry some weight."

After he finished speaking, he tilted his head back and drank the wine. Chen Ping also picked up his glass and took a sip. The wine was smooth and had a long aftertaste; it was indeed a good product.

The group had just picked up their chopsticks and taken a couple of bites when the doorbell rang.

Old Zhou put down his cup, got up, and went to open the door. A young man in his twenties walked in.

He was wearing a dark suit, had short hair, and was carrying a bulging white plastic bag, from which you could vaguely see several boxes of medicine.

"Grandpa, I bought you some medicine, I brought it over."

The young man saw Old Zhou and immediately called him "Grandpa".

When he walked in, he saw someone sitting in the living room and paused for a moment before recognizing Old Song.

"Grandpa Song, I didn't expect to see you here."

The young man smiled at Old Song, clearly recognizing him.

Old Song looked him over and then smiled, saying, "Old Zhou, is this Zhiyuan? You've grown into a handsome young man in just a few years."

"You've grown into a young man, you're married now, you're all adults," Old Zhou said with a smile.

Zhou Zhiyuan smiled, put the bag of medicine in his hand on the coffee table, bent down to open the bag, and took out the medicine boxes one by one.

The boxes were covered with foreign language labels, some with English letters printed on them, and others with colorful patterns.

As he took out the medicine, he said to Old Zhou, "Grandpa, these medicines are brought back from abroad by a friend. They are specially for joint and muscle pain in the elderly and are more effective than those in China."

"Take one pill when your back hurts, it works really well, even my grandma can take it."

As he spoke, he looked up at the already opened bottle of special-supply liquor on the table, appearing somewhat surprised.

Because he knew that this was wine that his grandfather had stored for many years, and even when he wanted to drink a bottle at his own wedding, his grandfather hadn't taken it out.

But today, Grandpa actually brought out this wine.

Zhou Zhiyuan shifted his gaze from the wine to Chen Ping, his eyes lingering on Chen Ping's face as if trying to figure out who this unfamiliar face was.

Seeing his grandson staring intently at Chen Ping, Old Zhou tugged at Zhou Zhiyuan's arm. "Xiaoyuan, this is Dr. Chen Ping from Siping Township Health Center. He came with your Grandpa Song."

"Dr. Chen just gave me a few acupuncture needles and healed my back. Look how flexible I am now."

As he spoke, he actually twisted his waist a couple of times to show his grandson.

Zhou Zhiyuan didn't speak at first, but his gaze swept over Chen Ping's face again, and then he turned his head to look at Old Song. Old Song was holding a wine glass and took a sip, so he didn't notice the expression on Zhou Zhiyuan's face.

Zhou Zhiyuan pushed the medicine boxes back onto the coffee table, his voice tinged with displeasure: "Grandpa, your back has been hurting for so many years. You've tried X-rays and medicine, even gone to big hospitals, but it hasn't completely gotten better. How come other people get better after just a few acupuncture needles?"

"I've heard that there are a lot of people out there who are scamming people under the guise of acupuncture, especially targeting the elderly. They claim to have ancestral secret recipes or medical skills passed down through generations, but they don't even have proper qualifications."

Old Zhou's expression changed. "Xiao Yuan, how dare you talk like that? Dr. Chen was invited by your Grandpa Song. Do you think your Grandpa Song would lie to me?"

Zhou Zhiyuan ignored his grandfather's words and looked directly at Chen Ping, his tone extremely unfriendly and questioning: "Dr. Chen, right? It's not that I don't believe in traditional Chinese medicine, but acupuncture is indeed hard to say."

"I've heard of cases where people felt no pain immediately after acupuncture, only to have it worsen a couple of days later, and there have even been cases of people being paralyzed by it." "You're so young, where did you learn acupuncture? Do you have proper professional qualifications?"

"Zhiyuan, what nonsense are you talking about? Shut up!"

Old Zhou got impatient and gave Zhou Zhiyuan a scolding.

Old Song glanced at Chen Ping, then at Zhou Zhiyuan, his lips twitched but he didn't say anything. He also wanted to see how Chen Ping would handle the situation.

Chen Ping looked at Zhou Zhiyuan and said in a very calm tone: "I studied at medical school for eight years, completing my bachelor's and master's degrees in clinical medicine, specializing in acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine internal medicine."

"The medical practitioner's license is obtained through a national unified examination. If you want to see it, I can show you my certificate anytime." "Acupuncture has strict indications; it can't be used for all diseases, and it's not guaranteed to be effective."

"Your grandfather's back problem is lumbar facet joint disorder, which is a clear indication. I gave him a standard treatment plan, not just a couple of needles to get rid of it."

After hearing these words, Zhou Zhiyuan's expression was full of disdain. "Then how can you prove what you're saying is true? How do I know that those few injections you just received weren't a coincidence?"

"Since you want to prove it, then I'll prove it to you!"

Chen Ping stood up and walked to Zhou Zhiyuan. He stretched out both hands, supporting Zhou Zhiyuan's right elbow with his left hand and placing his right hand on Zhou Zhiyuan's wrist. The movement was quick but precise, with three fingers landing exactly on the cun-guan-chi position.

Zhou Zhiyuan was taken aback by his sudden action and subconsciously tried to pull his hand back, but Chen Ping had already let go and took a half step back to sit back in the chair.

"You have an old injury on the front of your right shoulder, which you strained about three years ago. It didn't heal properly, and now it aches and feels sore before cloudy or rainy days."

"You haven't been sleeping well for the past month, sleeping less than six hours a day. When you wake up, your mouth tastes bitter, your tongue coating is yellowish, and you occasionally experience acid reflux."

"You have teeth marks on the sides of your tongue, which indicates spleen deficiency and dampness. In addition, staying up late depletes your yin and disrupts your stomach qi, causing acid reflux."

Chen Ping's tone was very calm, as if he were reading a lab report he had just finished reading, "The painkillers you brought back from abroad are indeed effective for acute joint and muscle pain."

"But it won't work for your grandfather's lumbar facet joint disorder. It only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. The pain may subside after taking the medicine, but the joint position will still be incorrect, and it will recur in a couple of days."

Zhou Zhiyuan stood still, the disdainful expression on his face slowly fading away.

He glanced down at his right shoulder, and it was clear Chen Ping was right: "You could tell I'd injured my shoulder just by taking my pulse?"