The carefree life of Yang Shuisheng, the village miracle doctor

Wang Kun left the private room to make a phone call, leaving Yang Shuisheng alone in the room.

A few minutes later, the door to the private room was carefully pushed open a crack, and three heads timidly peeked in—it was the three thugs from yesterday.

Seeing that Yang Shuisheng was the only one there, they put on fawning smiles and tiptoed in.

The tall man walked at the front, took out a square paper package wrapped in old newspaper from his pocket, held it with both hands, and respectfully placed it on the table in front of Yang Shuisheng, his waist almost bent at a ninety-degree angle.

"Brother Yang... here is 601.8 mao, please count it."

"Not a single one is missing, it's all here."

His voice trembled, fearing that Yang Shuisheng would be dissatisfied.

"Yes, yes, Brother Yang, we've raised all the money."

The other two men also bowed and scraped repeatedly, their faces bearing injuries, making them look particularly comical.

"Brother Yang, we were blind to your greatness yesterday and offended you."

"Please forgive our past mistakes. In the future, in Daliang Town, if there is anything you need from us three brothers, just let us know, and we will do our best without hesitation."

The three men were so respectful they were almost subservient, their eyes filled with fear of Yang Shuisheng.

They had personally experienced the other party's methods, and now even Brother Kun was treating him with great respect. How could they dare to show the slightest disrespect?

Yang Shuisheng opened the paper package and looked inside. There was a thick stack of banknotes, both small and large denominations. He counted them and found that it was exactly 601.8 yuan.

He nodded and casually stuffed the money into his pocket.

This adds up to over six hundred yuan.

"Alright, I've taken the money, you can go now." Yang Shuisheng waved his hand, not even glancing at them.

The three of them felt as if they had been granted a pardon, and hurriedly bowed and scraped as they withdrew, gently closing the door behind them as if afraid of making the slightest sound.

He silently calculated that, adding the 1,000 yuan red envelope he received from selling medicinal herbs, he now had almost enough cash to pay the 2,000 yuan needed to redeem Liu Yulan from her servitude.

Earning a few hundred more dollars in the remaining time shouldn't be a problem!

After a while, Wang Kun pushed the door open and came back, his face somewhat serious. He walked over and sat down opposite Yang Shuisheng.

"Brother Yang, I just called an acquaintance at the police station." Wang Kun took a sip of his now-cold tea, smacked his lips, and said, "He said he's roughly looked through the case files of your parents' case back then. The on-site investigation, interrogation records, driver's statement, compensation agreement—all the paperwork is complete."

"The conclusion is that it was an accidental traffic accident, and the driver, Ma Dayong, bears full responsibility."

"The traffic police couldn't find anything wrong with it either."

"impossible."

Yang Shuisheng immediately shook his head after hearing this, his voice very calm: "Boss Wang, you know, four or five years ago, the mountain road from Taohua'ao to the county town was rarely seen except for tractors and tricycles, let alone large trucks."

"What a coincidence that at that exact time, a truck went out of control and crashed into the old tricycle my parents were riding in!"

"And the impact was so precise, yet neither of them survived?"

Wang Kun paused for a moment; he certainly knew how remote that road was.

"Brother Yang, your suspicions are indeed valid."

He sighed: "But cases are based on evidence. Now the case file clearly states it was an accident, and the driver has paid compensation and confessed. So this matter is considered closed."

"Unless you can find new evidence, or find Ma Dayong and get some other information out of him."

"Then let's find him." Yang Shuisheng looked at Wang Kun with a determined gaze.

"Yes, that's what I meant too," Wang Kun nodded in agreement. "You can't find out anything just by asking around at the police station."

"In that case, I'll send someone to Majiagou to investigate and find out what happened to Ma Dayong back then, where he is now, and what he's doing."

"As long as we find the person, we'll be able to get some information out of them. Leave this to me, Brother Yang, don't worry."

Yang Shuisheng knew that investigating such a long-standing case couldn't be rushed.

Wang Kun's willingness to mobilize manpower to investigate was already a great help.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Boss Wang."

He picked up his teacup, drank the now-cold tea in one gulp, and then stood up: "I'll wait for your news."

"Hey, Brother Yang, don't be in such a hurry to leave. Stay for a meal, and let's have a good chat." Wang Kun quickly stood up and tried to persuade him to stay.

"No, I have something to do, I need to go buy something." Yang Shuisheng shook his head, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Wang Kun, and said, "Thank you for today."

Seeing that he was determined to leave, Wang Kun did not insist on keeping him, but in his heart he was planning to find another opportunity to properly repay this benefactor.

In his eyes, his father's life was far more valuable than the thousand-yuan red envelope he received yesterday.

He personally escorted Yang Shuisheng to the teahouse entrance, watching his figure disappear around the street corner before turning back to the backyard.

Back in the backyard, he immediately called in the three men he had just been with.

The three of them thought they were about to be scolded again, and their faces turned pale with fright.

"You three," Wang Kun said, sitting in a grand chair with his legs crossed, "do you know the specifics of Brother Yang's family situation?"

The three looked at each other, and the tall one quickly replied, "Brother Kun, we took a look around when we went yesterday."

"Brother Yang's house is in the most dilapidated row of old houses at the west end of the village. The roof leaks and the walls are cracked. There is nothing in the house except a broken kang and a table. They are dirt poor."

"Yeah, Brother Kun, that house isn't much better than the livestock shed in our town," the man with the broken wrist added in a low voice.

After listening, Wang Kun frowned, feeling even more sympathy for Yang Shuisheng's situation.

This is his father's savior, how can he live in a place like that?

"Hmm." Wang Kun nodded, looking at the three of them with a ruthless glint in his eyes. "I'll give you three a chance to redeem yourselves."

"Go to town right away and pick out a new set of wooden furniture for me—a table, chairs, cabinets, and a bed, get it all ready."

"I'm personally delivering it to Brother Yang first thing tomorrow morning, understand?"

Upon hearing that it wasn't a punishment but rather a task, the three immediately breathed a sigh of relief and patted their chests to assure everyone, "Understood, Brother Kun, don't worry! We'll handle it perfectly!"

"Get lost, hurry up and go." Wang Kun waved his hand.

The three of them quickly slipped out, secretly marveling at how much Kun really cared about Yang Shuisheng.

Looks like we'll have to treat this guy like an ancestor from now on.

On the other side, Yang Shuisheng left Yuelai Teahouse, wandered around the streets, and found the town's famous "Old Chen's Tailor Shop".

The shop wasn't big, and the storefront was a bit old, but the inside was clean and tidy, with many finished garment patterns hanging on the walls.

An elderly man with gray hair and wearing reading glasses was busy at a sewing machine. Hearing someone come in, he looked up.

"Boss, make some clothes." Yang Shuisheng strode in.

"Making clothes? For whom? What style do you want?" Boss Chen put down his work, pushed up his reading glasses, and asked kindly.

"Make it for...make it for a friend of mine." Yang Shuisheng paused, unsure how to introduce Liu Yulan.

"Oh, my friend."

Old Master Chen glanced at Yang Shuisheng's slightly flustered expression and roughly understood what was going on. His smile became even more amiable: "Is this for a young lady?"

Yang Shuisheng nodded.

"How old are you? What's your build like? Are you tall or short, fat or thin?" Boss Chen asked as he flipped through a thick book of fabric samples.

She was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, and a little shorter than me, about up to my ear.

Yang Shuisheng gestured with his hand to indicate the approximate height of Liu Yulan.

As for weight, the image of Liu Yulan's voluptuous figure flashed through his mind, and his face flushed slightly.

"Neither fat nor thin, just quite well-proportioned."

Boss Chen was an experienced man. Seeing Yang Shuisheng's hesitant manner, he guessed pretty much what was going on. He figured it was probably for his sweetheart.

He smiled, not pointing out the obvious, and pointed to several brightly colored, soft fabrics on the sample: "These are trendy patterns for young women, and the fabrics are comfortable too. Which one do you like?"

Yang Shuisheng looked at them carefully and chose two floral fabrics that he thought would look good on Liu Yulan: one light pink with small yellow flowers and the other sky blue with white dots.

"One of each of these two."

"Okay, but there's not much fabric left in these two bolts. It'll be enough for one outfit, but it might be a bit tight for two. I'll keep it for you." Boss Chen noted it down and then asked, "What about the measurements? Shoulder width, chest circumference, waist circumference, sleeve length—I need to know these, otherwise it won't fit properly."

Yang Shuisheng was stumped by the question.

How could he know the exact size of the magnolia?

I could feel it when I held her that night.

"I...I don't know."

Mr. Chen was both amused and exasperated: "Young man, how can I make it if I don't know the dimensions?"

"We can't just guess, can we?"

"Okay, you pay a deposit first, and I'll reserve these two pieces of material for you."

"Go back and find an opportunity to secretly take a ruler and measure your friend's face, then come back."

"I have a measuring tape here, take one."

As he spoke, Boss Chen took out a roll of tape measure from the drawer and handed it to Yang Shuisheng.

Yang Shuisheng took the measuring tape, thanked him, and paid a deposit of one hundred yuan.

Having solved the problem of Liu Yulan's clothes, he then thought that his own clothes were also worn out and needed to be made a couple of new ones.

"Boss, could you also make me a couple of outfits while you're at it?"

"I need a sturdy and durable material that's easy to work with."

"Okay, let me measure your dimensions first." Boss Chen picked up the measuring tape and skillfully measured Yang Shuisheng's shoulder width, arm length, height, and other data, recording them one by one in a small notebook.

"You can choose the fabric yourself. There are several kinds of workwear and khaki over there, all of which are quite sturdy."

Yang Shuisheng walked to the fabric rack on the other side and carefully selected a dark and sturdy fabric suitable for his farm work.

He was touching a piece of dark blue work cloth, feeling its thickness, and thinking about making a long-sleeved and a short-sleeved outfit.

"Oh, darling, come look! I love this pattern!"

"It's the exact same color as the dress I saw at the department store in the county last time."

A sweet, slightly coquettish female voice came from the doorway.

One male and one female.

The woman was wearing a fashionable dress, had curly hair, and wore makeup.

The man next to her was wearing a floral shirt and his hair was slicked back and shiny.

As soon as the woman entered the room, her eyes were fixed on the two pieces of floral fabric that Yang Shuisheng had just selected for Liu Yulan, especially the light pink one with small yellow flowers, and she reached out to take it.

"Boss, I want this fabric! Make me a dress!" the woman shouted at Boss Chen, pointing at the light pink floral fabric, her tone slightly spoiled.