The carefree life of Yang Shuisheng, the village miracle doctor

The Huichuntang Pharmacy was in complete chaos.

On a long bench against the wall, a young woman of about seventeen or eighteen was half-lying and half-sitting. She was wearing a fashionable pink and white T-shirt and blue cloth pants, but her face was pale and her forehead was covered with large beads of sweat. Her left arm was hanging limply in an unnatural position, obviously dislocated or sprained from a fall.

She gasped in pain, tears welling in her eyes, and groaned incessantly.

A middle-aged man next to them was anxiously rubbing his hands together, pacing back and forth. He was Su Danian, who ran a general store in town, and the girl was his daughter, Su Xiaoyue.

Next to Su Danian stood a young shop assistant wearing a white coat and glasses. He was an apprentice of Feng Jichun, the owner of Huichuntang, and he also looked troubled.

"Miss Su, please bear with it a little longer. Our manager has gone on a house call. I've already sent someone to fetch him, and he should be back soon," the shop assistant kept reassuring her, though he himself wasn't very confident.

After all, Old Feng hadn't been gone long; judging by the time, he had probably only just arrived at their destination.

"Then...when will Old Feng be back?" Su Danian asked anxiously.

"Well... it might take half an hour if things go quickly, but... it could take an hour or so." The shop assistant wiped the sweat from his brow. "The manager is going to the west end of town, which is quite far. Besides, Miss Su's condition is a dislocated shoulder joint, so the manager has to personally set the bone. We only know how to dispense medicine and take a simple pulse; we can't just mess with the bone-setting skills!"

"Half an hour? An hour or two?" Su Danian's heart ached as he watched his daughter bite her lip until it bled from the pain. "No! We can't wait any longer! Xiaoyue, Dad will take you to see another family."

As he spoke, he reached out to help his daughter up.

The time he had to wait was enough for him to go somewhere else.

"ah--"

"Dad! Don't move! It hurts! It hurts so much!"

As soon as Su Xiaoyue's left shoulder was touched, she let out a pig-like scream, trembling all over in pain, tears streaming down her face, and she almost slipped off the stool.

Su Danian was so frightened that he quickly let go and dared not move again.

My daughter is clearly in a condition where she cannot be moved; even the slightest touch will cause her excruciating pain.

But Old Feng won't be back for a while, what should we do?

Su Danian was so anxious that he kept stamping his feet. Seeing his daughter's pained expression, his eyes turned red.

Su Xiaoyue was in so much pain that she couldn't bear it anymore and started crying out again and again. Her cries were so mournful that they made people's hearts clench.

The other patients waiting to get their medicine at the pharmacy were also worried and discussed the matter amongst themselves.

Just then, Yang Shuisheng led Guo Cuihong and Xiaobao into Huichuntang.

Upon entering, I was greeted by this chaotic and distressing scene.

"She can't drag this out any longer."

Yang Shuisheng's gaze swept over Su Xiaoyue's dislocated left shoulder and her face contorted in pain. He frowned and immediately said, "The longer a bone or joint is dislocated, the more the muscles and tendons swell and adhere, making it more difficult to set the bone and more likely to leave sequelae."

"The bones must be set immediately!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it traveled clearly into everyone's ears.

Su Danian, who was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, looked up when he heard the voice. He was taken aback when he saw Yang Shuisheng, but then he recognized him: "It's you?"

He remembered Yang Shuisheng; a few days ago, this young man had brought a large bag of high-quality Solomon's Seal to his family's grocery store to sell to Old Huang.

"Hello, Boss Su." Yang Shuisheng nodded to him as a greeting, then pointed to Su Xiaoyue, who was sweating profusely from the pain, and said, "Her condition can't wait any longer; it needs to be dealt with immediately."

"I...I know, but what's the use of being anxious?" Su Danian was both anxious and helpless. "Old Feng isn't here, and Xiaoyue can't move at all. Even the slightest movement causes her excruciating pain. What else can we do besides wait for Old Feng to come back?"

"If Boss Su trusts me," Yang Shuisheng stepped forward, looking calmly at Su Danian, "I can help her set her bones."

Upon hearing this, the pharmacy fell silent for a moment, and everyone looked at Yang Shuisheng in surprise.

This young man, who looks to be no more than twenty years old, actually claims to know how to set bones?

It can handle joint dislocations that even the shop assistants at Huichuntang dare not touch.

"You?" The bespectacled shop assistant was the first to react, looking Yang Shuisheng up and down with suspicion and disapproval on his face. "Comrade, don't do anything reckless. Bone setting is no joke."

"If the technique is wrong or the force is inaccurate, if it's too light, it won't straighten back; if it's too heavy, it may damage the tendons and nerves, potentially leaving a disability."

"Miss Su, we have to wait for our manager to return. What do you, a young man, know about bone setting?"

"If something unexpected happens, who will take responsibility?"

What he said makes sense and represents the concerns of most people.

Looking at Yang Shuisheng's youthful face, Su Danian felt a sense of unease.

He had heard that Yang Shuisheng knew some medical skills and had even saved Wang Kun's father, who was on the verge of death, but bone setting... that was something that only experienced traditional Chinese medicine doctors with years of experience and a good feel for the body dared to do.

Yang Shuisheng is so young, can he handle it?

What if I mess things up and cripple my daughter?

Her daughter is only eighteen years old; she has a long road ahead of her.

"ah--"

"Dad! It hurts!"

Just as Su Danian was hesitating, Su Xiaoyue screamed even more piercingly from a sudden wave of pain: "It hurts so much! Help me!"

The cry pierced Su Danian's heart like a knife.

Looking at his daughter's pained face, then at Yang Shuisheng's calm and composed eyes, and considering the rumors about him saving Kun Ge's father, he gritted his teeth and made a sudden decision.

"Okay, but how confident are you?" Su Danian asked, his voice trembling.

"If we take action now, we'll have at least a 90% chance of success. It's better than just waiting around," Yang Shuisheng replied honestly.

"Alright! I'll trust you this once." Su Danian nodded heavily, then turned to the shop assistant who was still trying to stop him. "Don't worry, I, Su Danian, will take full responsibility. It has nothing to do with your Huichuntang."

"If anything goes wrong, we won't hold you responsible. Just let this young man give it a try."

"Boss Su! This...this is no joke!" The shop assistant panicked, pointing at Yang Shuisheng, "How could you entrust Miss Su to a mere youth like him? What if..."

"I believe him!"

Suddenly, a soft but firm female voice rang out, interrupting the shop assistant.

Everyone looked and saw Guo Cuihong, who had come in with Yang Shuisheng.

Holding Xiao Bao's hand, she looked at Su Danian with a determined gaze and said, "Boss Su, Brother Shuisheng really knows how to set bones."

"My arm was also dislocated before, and it hurt for two months. It was Brother Shuisheng who helped me put it back in place, and now it's perfectly fine. Why don't you let him give it a try?"

Guo Cuihong's personal testimony was like a shot in the arm, dispelling Su Danian's last hesitation.

He simply waved his hand at the shop assistant: "It's settled then, move aside!"

"Okay! Boss Su."

Seeing that Su Danian was determined, and with Guo Cuihong as a witness, the shop assistant knew he couldn't stop him. He could only retreat to the side angrily, but still muttered, "You said it yourself. If something goes wrong, don't blame it on Huichuntang."

Yang Shuisheng didn't delay any longer and walked up to Su Xiaoyue, who was in so much pain that she was almost exhausted.

Although Su Xiaoyue was in great pain, she was still relatively conscious. When she saw Yang Shuisheng approaching, and especially after hearing what he had said about bone setting, a glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes, but more of a hint of doubt.

Because Yang Shuisheng looks too young, he's just like any other person his age.

"Your misalignment is a bit complicated, and your tendons are also twisted."

Yang Shuisheng carefully examined her dislocated left shoulder and gently pressed the swollen area around it through her clothes, and he already had a good idea of ​​what was going on.

He straightened up and said to Su Xiaoyue, "I need to figure out the exact location and angle of the misalignment of the bones in order to make accurate bone setting easier."

"You need to take off the clothes on your left shoulder and arm area, otherwise it's easy to make mistakes through the clothes."

"Take...take off your clothes?" Su Xiaoyue's pale face instantly flushed with an unnatural red. She was both ashamed and anxious, and disregarded the pain, shaking her head repeatedly. "No...no, how can I take off my clothes!"

Her father, Su Danian, standing next to her, also paused for a moment, his expression somewhat embarrassed.

Although it's true that one shouldn't shy away from seeking medical help, what about a young woman taking off her clothes and exposing her shoulders in front of a strange young man? If word gets out, what will become of her reputation?

Looking at Su Xiaoyue's ashamed and indignant expression and the rejection in her eyes, Yang Shuisheng remained calm and simply asked, "Miss Su, would you prefer a 50% success rate or a 90% success rate?"

Su Xiaoyue was taken aback by his question, and subconsciously replied, "Of course it's 90%!"

"Then take off your clothes." Yang Shuisheng's tone was completely calm. "With clothes on, I'm only 50% sure I can succeed. And because of the material of the clothes, if I slip, it might cause you more trouble."

"Once you take off your clothes, I can get a feel for the situation and I'm at least 90% confident I can succeed on the first try, so you'll feel less pain and I can avoid slipping and reduce the risk. It's your choice."

His words were perfectly reasonable and based entirely on the medical outcome, without any ulterior motives.

But to onlookers, especially the shop assistant who was already dissatisfied with Yang Shuisheng, it sounded different.

"What...what do you mean by that?" The shop assistant, as if he had caught something red-handed, immediately jumped out and pointed at Yang Shuisheng. "I think you're just trying to take advantage of Miss Su."

"What bone-reading? That's clearly just an excuse!"

"Miss Su, Mr. Su, don't believe him. Old Master Feng has been practicing bone setting for decades and has never said that patients must take off their clothes. He's just being a pervert."