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

Upon hearing this, Cui Ying turned to her father and said, "Dad, why don't you go get a CT scan?"

"Nonsense!"

"I'm perfectly fine, why would I need a CT scan? You two, stop scaring me!" Cui Ying's father said.

Cui Ying's mother also came over. Seeing that Cui Ying's father looked unwell, she quickly asked, "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

"fine!"

Cui Ying's father waved his hand, "This kid said I have a problem with my lungs and wants me to get a CT scan."

Cui Ying's mother was stunned for a moment, glanced at Chen Ping, and her eyes were full of disbelief: "You're just a doctor at the township health center, how can you see a problem with my lungs? Are you more capable than the experts at the county hospital?"

Chen Ping remained silent.

Cui Ying panicked and grabbed her father's arm: "Dad, Chen Ping's medical skills are excellent, he really can tell. Listen to him, go get a CT scan. It's best if nothing's wrong, but what if something is wrong..."

"What if what, what if?"

Cui Ying's father shook off her hand, "Don't curse me like that! I'm perfectly healthy!"

Cui Ying's eyes reddened, and she turned to look at Chen Ping.

Chen Ping nodded, meaning there was no point in pressuring him further, as saying more would be useless.

He thought for a moment and said to Cui Ying's father, "Uncle, I understand you don't believe me. But listen to me, if everything is fine, get a CT scan to put your mind at ease. If something is wrong, early detection and treatment are always better than nothing."

Cui Ying's father looked at him without saying a word.

Cui Ying's mother stood to the side, her expression changing slightly.

Cui Ying walked up to her mother and took her hand: "Mom, please persuade Dad. Chen Ping is really no ordinary person. He cured the five-step snake venom, stopped the bleeding from a ruptured spleen, and even the director of the county hospital came to find him personally. He said Dad has a problem with his lungs, and he definitely does."

Cui Ying's mother looked into Cui Ying's eyes, then at Chen Ping, hesitated for a long time, and finally turned to Cui Ying's father and said, "Old Cui, how about... we go take a look?"

"You're joining in this nonsense too!" Cui Ying's father glared at his wife.

"I'm not kidding, you really have a bad cough lately, even at night. Do you think I don't know? Go see a doctor, don't worry," Cui Ying's mother said.

Cui Ying's father fell silent, standing there, his expression changing several times.

Finally, he sighed, looking much smaller than before: "Fine, let's go take a look."

Cui Ying breathed a sigh of relief, and tears almost fell.

Cui Ying's father didn't say anything more. He turned and walked towards the car. After a few steps, he stopped, turned back and glanced at Chen Ping: "What's your name again?"

"Chen Ping."

Cui Ying's father nodded and got into the car.

Cui Ying's mother followed behind, walked to the car door, glanced back at Cui Ying, then at Chen Ping, shook her head, and got into the car.

The Mercedes started up, turned around, and drove out of the health center gate.

The sound of the engine grew fainter and fainter until it disappeared at the end of the road.

The courtyard was quiet for a while.

Wang Tao peeked out of the consultation room and asked cautiously, "Gone...gone?"

"Hmm!" Chen Ping nodded.

Cui Ying stood in the courtyard, head down, tears finally streaming down her face.

She bit her lip, trying not to cry out, but her shoulders were trembling and her whole body was shaking.

Chen Ping stood beside her, unsure of what to say or do.

He reached out, hesitated for a moment, and patted her shoulder.

"It's alright, your dad will be fine," Chen Ping reassured him.

Cui Ying nodded, but still didn't look up.

After a while, she stopped crying, raised her head, her eyes were red, her nose was red, and her face was covered in tear stains.

She looked at Chen Ping, her lips trembling slightly.

"Don't take what I said earlier to heart. I only said you were my boyfriend because I had no other choice."

Cui Ying explained.

"I know, it's alright." Chen Ping smiled slightly.

"Chen Ping."

"Um?"

"Thank you."

After Cui Ying finished speaking, she walked quickly toward the accounting office, her ponytail swaying on her shoulders.

Chen Ping stood in the courtyard, watching her figure disappear through the accounting office door, feeling a mix of emotions he couldn't quite describe.

Patients were seen as usual in the afternoon.

But Chen Ping kept thinking about Cui Ying's father's lungs—that shadow, that nodule, those burrs—which might not necessarily be a good thing.

Around 4 o'clock, Cui Ying came out of the accounting office and stood at the door. She didn't come over; she just stood there, looking at Chen Ping's clinic.

Chen Ping looked up, saw her, and nodded.

She nodded and turned back.

The next morning, just after Chen Ping and Cui Ying finished breakfast, the black Mercedes drove into the health center gate again.

The car came to a stop, and Cui Ying's father got out first, holding a film bag in his hand.

The kind from the county hospital, white plastic bags with red lettering printed on them.

His face looked unwell, not from anger, but from the ashen pallor of someone who hadn't slept well all night.

Cui Ying's mother followed behind him, her eyes swollen, clearly having cried all night.

Cui Ying ran out from the backyard and saw her parents' faces. Her heart skipped a beat: "Dad, the scans are out?"

Cui Ying's father didn't say anything, but handed her the film bag.

Cui Ying pulled it out, looked at it against the light, and couldn't understand it, but she saw the following lines on the report: "Space-occupying lesion in the upper lobe of the right lung, further examination recommended."

Cui Ying's hands began to tremble.

"Dad..." Cui Ying's voice trembled.

Cui Ying's father waved his hand without saying a word, walked up to Chen Ping, and stopped.

"Dr. Chen, I've taken the scans. The doctor at the county hospital said this isn't good and told me to go to the city for a contrast-enhanced CT scan, as surgery might be necessary."

"They said...they said it might be...it's that..."

He couldn't say the word, but everyone understood.

Cui Ying's mother stood beside her, tears welling up in her eyes again. She took a tissue and wiped her eyes over and over again.

"Dr. Chen, you could tell just by taking my pulse yesterday."

Cui Ying's father looked at Chen Ping with a completely different expression than yesterday. Yesterday it was a condescending scrutiny, but today it was pleading. "You...can you cure him?"

Cui Ying ran over, stood in front of Chen Ping, tugged at his sleeve, her eyes red: "Chen Ping, you can cure him, right? You can even cure snake venom, you can even stop a ruptured spleen, you can definitely cure my dad, right?"

Chen Ping paused for a moment, his mind churning with thoughts, then stopped at a certain page.

That's a type of acupuncture combined with a prescription, specifically for treating lung diseases.

He had never seen it or learned about it, but it was in his mind, clear as day, as if it were engraved in his bones.

"It can be cured."

Chen Ping nodded, "But he needs to stay at the health center for two days so I can give him acupuncture treatment."

Cui Ying's father paused for a moment, looked at the dilapidated clinic in the health center, then at Chen Ping, his expression complex.

A township health center that doesn't even have a decent piece of equipment—how can he be treated here?

The experts at the county hospital all said that this disease requires surgery in the city.