The carefree life of Yang Shuisheng, the village miracle doctor

"Boss lady, what do you think?"

Yang Shuisheng didn't answer Brother Leopard immediately. Instead, he looked at the dazed proprietress holding five hundred yuan and asked gently, "Is this a good solution?"

"Y-yes! That's perfect!"

Startled by Yang Shuisheng's question, the proprietress jolted awake as if from a dream and hurriedly nodded, "Young man... no, Comrade Yang, thank you."

Her eyes were filled with gratitude as she looked at Yang Shuisheng.

Everything that happened today felt like a dream to her, so unreal.

"Alright, since the proprietress says it's okay, let's leave it at that."

Yang Shuisheng nodded to Leopard Brother, who was bent over and barely daring to breathe, and said in a calm tone, "Don't block their shop anymore. Take your men and go do what you need to do."

"Oh! Thank you, Brother Yang, thank you for your magnanimity."

Brother Leopard felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and quickly straightened up, bowing to Yang Shuisheng again.

Then he turned to the group of dumbfounded thugs at the door and yelled, "What the hell are you all standing there for? Didn't you hear what Brother Yang said? Get out! All of you, get out!"

The twenty-odd thugs snapped out of their daze, quickly put away their weapons, and slunk away with their heads down, each one running faster than the last.

Leopard hurriedly left the small restaurant, afraid that if he was too slow, Yang Shuisheng would change his mind.

"Ah Leopard."

But just as Brother Leopard stepped out of the door, Yang Shuisheng's calm voice came again.

"Brother Yang, is there anything else you need?"

Leopard froze, then quickly turned back, still wearing a respectful smile.

"If any of your people, or any other foolish individuals, come to this shop to cause trouble, or try to force the owner to close down..."

Yang Shuisheng looked at him with calm eyes and a low voice, but it made Brother Leopard break out in a cold sweat again.

He paused, then said, word by word, "I've come to cause you trouble. Do you understand?"

"clear!"

Leopard's heart pounded as he listened. He quickly patted his chest and swore, "Brother Yang, don't worry. From now on, this Shili Xiang is under my protection. If anyone dares to cause trouble here, you won't even need to lift a finger; I'll be the first to cripple them."

"I guarantee that the proprietress's shop will be safe and sound, and everything will go smoothly!"

"Remember what you said, go." Yang Shuisheng waved his hand.

"Yes, yes, yes! Brother Yang, please enjoy your meal. We'll be leaving now." Brother Leopard bowed again before leading his men away from the street as if fleeing, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The restaurant was finally quiet again.

But outside the door, the neighbors who had come to watch the spectacle had not yet dispersed, and they all craned their necks to curiously examine Yang Shuisheng.

"My God, was that Brother Leopard just now? I'm not seeing things, am I?"

"Who's that young man? Even Brother Leopard is this afraid of him?"

"Didn't you hear Brother Leopard call him 'Brother Yang'? He must be someone even more powerful than Brother Leopard!"

"The proprietress of Shili Xiang has actually turned misfortune into blessing. With someone like her protecting her, who would dare to cause trouble in the future?"

……

Feeling uncomfortable under the stares from outside and fearing further trouble, the proprietress quickly went over, closed the shop door, and bolted it shut to temporarily block the view from outside.

The small restaurant fell silent again, leaving only her and Yang Shuisheng.

"Comrade Yang, we really owe you a lot today."

The proprietress turned around, walked up to Yang Shuisheng, and her eyes reddened again.

This time, her tears were filled with lingering fear and gratitude. She bowed deeply to Yang Shuisheng, her voice choked with emotion, "If it weren't for you, I really don't know what I would have done. Thank you so much!"

"Boss lady, please don't be like this, get up quickly." Yang Shuisheng helped her up slightly. "They've been bullying us too much."

"I just happened to come here. Besides, the food here is so delicious. I don't want this restaurant to be closed when I come to Daliang Town next time, and I won't be able to eat such delicious food again."

His words were sincere, yet tinged with a hint of humor, which eased the landlady's tense nerves slightly.

"If you'd like some, come anytime!"

She wiped away her tears and smiled through them: "I'll make you the best food, no charge."

As she spoke, she seemed to remember something and quickly placed the five hundred yuan that Brother Leopard had forcibly stuffed into her hands neatly on the table in front of Yang Shuisheng.

"Comrade Yang, I can't accept this money, you keep it." The proprietress's attitude was very firm.

Yang Shuisheng glanced at the stack of money and shook his head: "Boss lady, this money is the medical expenses Brother Leopard paid for you. It's what you deserve. What's the point of me taking it?"

"No! I really can't take this money!" the proprietress exclaimed anxiously. "If it weren't for you today, I probably wouldn't even be able to keep my shop, let alone this five hundred yuan."

"You must take this money; I'll feel bad if you don't."

Despite her best efforts to persuade her, her attitude remained unusually firm.

Seeing her stubborn expression, Yang Shuisheng knew that if he didn't accept the money, she wouldn't be able to get rid of this thorn in her heart, and she would probably feel uncomfortable seeing him in the future.

"How about this?" Yang Shuisheng thought for a moment, then counted out one hundred yuan from the stack of money. "I'll take this one hundred as your way of thanking me."

"You can keep the remaining four hundred."

"No, you take four hundred, I'll take one hundred!"

The proprietress immediately wanted to exchange the money in her hand with Yang Shuisheng.

"Then I'll take another hundred, is that alright?"

"No, four hundred it is!"

Seeing the proprietress's stubbornness, Yang Shuisheng had no choice but to draw another card.

"Three hundred, I don't want a single cent more."

Seeing that he was adamant about accepting the three hundred, the proprietress didn't say anything more. With tears in her eyes, she carefully put away the remaining two hundred, her gratitude towards Yang Shuisheng deepening.

After chatting for a while, Yang Shuisheng felt that calling him "Comrade Yang" sounded awkward, so he told her to just call him "Brother Yang" or "Shuisheng".

Yang Shuisheng also learned that the proprietress's name was Xu Xiuxia, so he simply called her Sister Xia.

The crisis was over, and we had almost finished eating.

"Sister Xia, I'll be going now. If you need anything, you can send someone to find me in Peach Blossom Valley."

"Alright, Shui Sheng." Xu Xiuxia quickly saw him to the door. "I'll invite you to my house for dinner another day."

Xu Xiuxia watched Yang Shuisheng's tall figure disappear around the street corner, her heart filled with mixed emotions, unable to calm down for a long time.

Since the man left, how long has it been since she felt protected?

Leaving Shili Xiang and walking on the quiet streets in the afternoon, Yang Shuisheng began to take stock of his current assets.

I got the stolen money back from Ma San last time, and I still have a little over 1,200 yuan left.

The 100 yuan was given to Grandma Liu Yulan for medical expenses, 100 yuan was given as a gift for Yu Qianwei's graduation banquet, and 100 yuan was given to Ma San as a reward. That's 300 yuan gone, leaving 900 yuan.

They dug up a thousand yuan that Wang Youfu had tried to frame them for. Later, Wang Youfu lost a bet and paid them a thousand yuan in compensation, so that's two thousand. Adding that to the previous nine hundred, the total is two thousand nine.

Later, he gave Bai Qinglian another 500 yuan to keep her safe as she was about to go to the county town, leaving her with 2,400 yuan.

Today I went to the city. I spent 100 yuan on two sets of clothes for myself, 100 yuan on a skirt and stockings for Liu Yulan, and 350 yuan on camera deposit and rental fee at the photo studio. I also paid off 300 yuan of high-interest loan to Ma San.

All of these added up to about 850.

So, subtracting 850 from 2400 leaves about 1550.

I just received another 300 yuan from the landlady for medical expenses, so I now have about 1,850 yuan in hand, plus some change, which I haven't calculated in detail.

A little over 1,900... It was just a little short of the 2,000 yuan needed to redeem Liu Yulan from her servitude.

If he wanted, he could raise enough money right now to go to Granny Sun and buy Liu Yulan.

But Yang Shuisheng quickly dismissed the impulse.

Once he took out those two thousand yuan, he was almost penniless.

Farming requires capital, and living expenses are necessary. If an emergency occurs, there won't even be any emergency funds available.

Moreover, his promise to redeem Liu Yulan was not only to buy her from Granny Sun, but also to give her a relatively stable future where she would no longer be bullied.

He had no money of his own, so what could he offer her for the future?

"I can't rush this," Yang Shuisheng told himself. "I need to use the money wisely and find ways to make it work for me, so I can at least have some money in hand."

"Growing bok choy is a good approach; it has a short cycle and yields quick results."

"Once the first batch of bok choy is sold and we have some income, we can raise enough money to redeem ourselves. It will take about a month."

"At that time, we still had some capital left, so we could move forward or retreat with ease."

Having made up his mind, Yang Shuisheng felt his thoughts became much clearer.

He quickened his pace and headed towards the supply and marketing cooperative in the town center.

The goods that we entrusted to the supply and marketing cooperative last time were embezzled by the Yu family. Now, apart from the new furniture that Wang Kun gave us, we have almost nothing to eat or use. So today we need to buy some more rice, flour, cooking oil, and daily necessities to take back home.

Before I knew it, the familiar facade of the supply and marketing cooperative had appeared before me.

Just as he was about to step inside, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a slender figure at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative.

It was Guo Cuihong, whom I had just met last night.

She was looking down at the list in her hand, her brow furrowed, surrounded by a crowd, completely unaware of Yang Shuisheng not far away.