The carefree life of Yang Shuisheng, the village miracle doctor

After leaving the toy store, Yang Shuisheng, holding the hand of the excited Dong Xiaoqiang, continued to stroll along the street.

Dong Xiaoqiang hugged his beloved rifle case, his little face beaming with unprecedented joy, chattering incessantly, finding everything fascinating.

Yang Shuisheng originally planned to buy toys for Dong Xiaoqiang and then go back early, since there were still a lot of things to do in the village, and he was eager to go back to try to break through with the Ganoderma lucidum.

But looking at the little guy beside him who was so happy over a few snacks and toys, as if he had the whole world, his heart couldn't help but soften.

Since he's already out, I figured I might as well let him have his fun and we could go back at noon.

He genuinely liked this sensible little guy.

So the two walked slowly, completely unaware that not far behind them, Li Guihua was following them furtively with Erpang, her eyes scanning them like searchlights, looking for an opportunity to bump into them.

As they strolled around, they came to the entrance of a stationery store.

The glass display cases in the store were sparkling clean, and inside were neatly arranged all kinds of pencils, erasers, pencil cases, pencil sharpeners, as well as colorful watercolor pens and sketchbooks.

Several children, about the same age as Dong Xiaoqiang, were being led by their parents to choose from the items inside. One of the girls was holding a tin pencil sharpener with a pretty little house on it, looking at it with great interest.

Dong Xiaoqiang stopped involuntarily. He pressed his face against the glass window, staring intently at the colorful stationery in the store, especially the pencil sharpener in the girl's hand. His eyes were filled with undisguised envy and longing.

But he was very sensible and didn't ask for it; he just watched silently.

Yang Shuisheng noticed his gaze and saw the longing in his eyes.

He remembered Xu Xiuxia saying that Dong Xiaoqiang was in preschool, which was the time when he was using stationery.

He patted Dong Xiaoqiang's head and took his hand: "Come on, let's go inside and take a look. I'll buy you some stationery too."

"Really, Godfather?" Dong Xiaoqiang looked up in surprise, his eyes sparkling.

"Of course." Yang Shuisheng smiled and led him into the stationery store.

Li Guihua, who was not far away, saw this and her eyes lit up. She knew that her opportunity had come.

She immediately pulled along Erpang, who was still somewhat reluctant, and quickened her pace, pretending to be nonchalant, as they headed towards the stationery store.

"Comrade, buying stationery for your child?"

In the stationery store, the owner, a tall, thin man wearing glasses, greeted customers warmly as they entered: "Pencils or notebooks?"

Yang Shuisheng glanced at the counter and said to the shopkeeper, "Sir, please get a complete set of stationery for the child."

"Alright!" The shopkeeper deftly took out a pencil, an eraser, and a plastic ruler from the counter, wrapped them in an old newspaper, and handed them to Yang Shuisheng. "The most basic three-piece set, two yuan, enough for a semester."

Yang Shuisheng took the simple "three-piece set," frowned, and then looked at the pretty pencil cases and watercolor pens in the hands of the other children, as well as the pencil sharpener that Dong Xiaoqiang kept secretly glancing at. He shook his head: "Boss, I'm not talking about this kind of basic thing."

"I want something better, something more complete."

"Like that pencil sharpener," he pointed to the one in the little girl's hand, "get me one exactly the same."

The shop owner was taken aback, then his smile widened as he realized this might be a big customer.

"Comrade, you should have said so earlier!"

He quickly put away the shabby three-piece bedding set and turned to take things out from the shelf: "If you want something better, we have it! This tin pencil case, made in the provincial capital, comes with a multiplication table, it's beautiful and sturdy."

"These watercolor pens come in twelve colors, and the colors are so vibrant."

"And this pencil sharpener, the one with the little house on it, is the most fashionable right now."

"Oh, and also a thick sketchbook for the child to draw in."

……

As he spoke, he laid out the items on the counter, a colorful and impressive pile.

"Let me calculate the total for you... Pencil case eight yuan, watercolor pens five yuan, pencil sharpener three yuan, sketchbook two yuan, pencils, erasers, and rulers one yuan each... That's nineteen yuan in total."

"I'll give you two more pencils."

Yang Shuisheng glanced at them and thought they were alright. He was about to nod when he suddenly remembered something and pointed to several backpacks with cartoon patterns on the wall, asking, "Are there any new ones of those backpacks? I'd like one too."

Yes, yes, yes!

The boss's eyes lit up even more, and he said repeatedly, "We have brand new, unopened ones in the warehouse. Comrade, please let your child pick one out and I'll go in and get it right away."

Dong Xiaoqiang was already spoiled for choice, and when he heard that he could also choose a schoolbag, he excitedly pointed to a schoolbag on the wall with a blue car pattern: "Godfather, I like that one!"

"Okay, that's the one." Yang Shuisheng said to the boss.

"Good taste! This is a new model this year, the quality is good, and the straps are wide and don't dig into your shoulders."

"It's just a little pricey, it costs thirty yuan."

The boss spoke while carefully observing Yang Shuisheng's expression.

A schoolbag costing thirty yuan is definitely a luxury item in town; most families wouldn't be able to afford it.

Several students and parents nearby who were also picking out stationery couldn't help but gasp when they heard the price, casting envious and surprised glances at them.

That backpack cost thirty yuan!

That's equivalent to a month's living expenses for an average family.

"Okay, let's wrap them up together." Yang Shuisheng agreed without even frowning.

"Okay! Please wait a moment, I'll go to the warehouse and get it right away."

The shop owner was overjoyed and immediately turned around and ran to the small warehouse at the back, afraid that the customer would change his mind.

"Hey! Isn't this Xiaoqiang?"

Just then, Li Guihua, pulling Erpang along, walked into the stationery store.

As soon as she entered, her gaze locked onto Yang Shuisheng and Dong Xiaoqiang, and an exaggeratedly enthusiastic smile immediately spread across her face: "What a coincidence, you're here to buy stationery too?"

When Dong Xiaoqiang saw Erpang and his mother, he moved closer to Yang Shuisheng somewhat awkwardly and whispered, "Aunt Li."

Li Guihua then looked at Yang Shuisheng, pretending she had just seen him, and sized him up before asking with a smile, "Are you Xiaoqiang's?"

"I'm Xiaoqiang's godfather, my surname is Yang." Yang Shuisheng nodded lightly, which was considered a greeting.

He could tell that the woman had deliberately come up to him; the scrutinizing and comparing look in her eyes made him dislike her.

"Oh, it's Comrade Yang. It's a pleasure to meet you." Li Guihua's smile widened, her tone carrying a deliberate familiarity and a hint of barely perceptible boasting. "I'm Erpang's mother. My Erpang and Xiaoqiang are classmates."

"Originally, my son Erpang's stationery was all bought for him by his uncle in the county town. The styles there are new and the quality is good."

"But his uncle has been too busy to come back lately, so I had to bring him to the shops in town to buy something myself."

As she spoke, she ran her fingers through her hair, as if having an uncle in a small town was some kind of powerful backer, and that her son was using only high-end goods from the city.

"oh."

Yang Shuisheng simply responded with an "oh" and didn't react much, continuing to look towards the warehouse while waiting for the boss to get his backpack.

"Comrade Yang, are you buying stationery for Xiaoqiang?"

Seeing his lukewarm reaction, Li Guihua felt a little annoyed, but her smile remained unchanged as she continued to chat: "What did you buy? Let me take a look and buy some for my Erpang too."

"It's nothing, just buying a little something." Yang Shuisheng's tone was indifferent, even somewhat perfunctory.

He had absolutely no interest in talking to this woman whose face practically screamed "I want to compete."

His attitude made Li Guihua feel like she had been given the cold shoulder, and her anger flared up instantly.

You pretty boy, you're quite the actor!

Why buy a little more when you already buy so much?

Just wait and see how I make you lose face.

"Comrade, here's the backpack you requested. It's brand new; please check it."

Just then, the shop owner came running out of the warehouse, panting, carrying a blue car-patterned backpack still in its plastic packaging, his face beaming with joy.

The backpack was brand new and beautiful, gleaming under the light; it was clearly a high-end product.

People around them cast envious glances.

When Li Guihua saw the schoolbag and heard the shopkeeper mention thirty yuan, she was first startled, then even more certain that the other party was trying to please Xu Xiuxia and was deliberately putting on a show in front of her son, Dong Xiaoqiang.

Her eyes lit up and she immediately had an idea.

"Boss, you've come at the perfect time."

A smile returned to her face, and she said to the shop owner with an air of "I want to buy some too," "This Comrade Yang just bought some stationery for his godson—pencil cases, watercolors, pencil sharpeners, sketchbooks, and stuff like that, right?"

"Please make one exactly the same as the one for my Erpang."

"I want a schoolbag too, the red one."

She pointed to another backpack on the wall with a red Transformers pattern printed on it, and the price tag also said thirty yuan.

She quickly calculated in her mind that the stationery she had just received must have cost at least twenty or thirty yuan, plus the thirty yuan for the schoolbag, making a total of fifty or sixty yuan.

This pretty boy has already spent over thirty yuan on toys, and now he's spending another fifty or sixty yuan on stationery. Even if he has money, how much does he have left?

They must be out of money by now.

As for my own family, although it hurts, we can still grit our teeth and come up with a hundred or two hundred yuan.

Today, she's determined to use money to utterly humiliate this pretty boy.

Let him know who's really rich!