What use is this half-baked medical skill anyway?

Qin Fang didn't return until the educated youths were getting up. It had to be said that Qin Fang was in a truly miserable state.

Although she hadn't cried all the way back, she was limping heavily. Her ankles were swollen as big as steamed buns, but since she lacked work points, Qin Fang couldn't bear to spend any on medical treatment. She simply had to endure the agonizing pain and make her way down the mountain.

Catching sight of Xu Lin standing by the doorway with a beaming, cheerful smile, Qin Fang nearly coughed up a mouthful of old blood. Damn it all, she had let Xu Lin make a laughingstock of her yet again. Ahhh, Qin Fang felt like she was going crazy.

Faced with that pair of all-seeing eyes, Qin Fang felt inexplicably guilty.

This time, she didn't snap with a "What are you looking at?", but instead limped back to her room, quickly tidied up, and grabbed a walking stick to go find Su Liang.

Forget about everything else; she needed to hurry to the clinic and get her leg treated. At that moment, Qin Fang felt profoundly grateful that she had demanded a substantial sum of money from her handler. Without that cash, even getting medical treatment at the clinic would have been an uphill battle.

Surprisingly, seeing Qin Fang's pitiful appearance actually stirred a bit of heartache in Su Liang. He hurriedly helped her onto his bicycle and pedaled off to secure her leave of absence.

Qian Li sidled up to Xu Lin and asked with burning curiosity, "What on earth happened to her?"

"Who knows? Probably walked the night path too much, ran into a ghost, and sprained her ankle," Xu Lin replied with undisguised schadenfreude.

That answer delighted Qian Li to no end. She didn't harbor an ounce of sympathy for Qin Fang, considering her misfortune to be entirely deserved.

Noticing Wu Qi emerging from his room, Xu Lin blinked and asked, "Didn't Team Leader Wu accompany Du Yong to the county hospital?"

"Go with him, my foot! Du Yong didn't transfer to the county hospital at all; he couldn't bear to spend the money," Qian Li said, curling her lip.

"Du Yong is stingy to the core. If he transferred to the county hospital, wouldn't lodging and meals cost him a fortune out of pocket? It's not like he could expect someone else to wait on him hand and foot while using his own money for their expenses. Staying at the commune clinic is a different story altogether. It's close to the production brigade, so he can come back here for meals and only needs to go back to tend to him at night."

"Well, he certainly knows how to calculate," Xu Lin remarked flatly, feeling a twinge of sympathy for whoever drew the short straw to look after Du Yong.

That person had to provide both physical labor and their own food and drink, without a single penny of advantage to be gained from Du Yong. Moreover, since nobody knew how many days this caretaking would last, think of all the work points that poor soul would lose. Surely Du Yong wouldn't leave them empty-handed without any token of appreciation?

"Who's looking after Du Yong these days anyway?" Xu Lin asked.

"Right now, only Fang Lu and Wu Qi are taking turns looking after him. None of the other male educated youths are willing to go near him."

Qian Li let out a disapproving click of her tongue, thinking Wu Qi was utterly useless and held zero authority as team leader. When it came to administrative capability, he wasn't even a match for Hu Changming.

Fang Lu? Xu Lin searched her memory banks carefully before finally recalling who Fang Lu was—yet another utterly unremarkable background character.

"Du Yong can't possibly rely on them to take care of him indefinitely, can he?" Xu Lin asked.

"Hard to say. If he never fully recovers, he might end up applying for a medical retirement and heading back to the city." Qian Li rolled her eyes. "Du Yong has always wanted to return to the city. He could easily use this opportunity to do so, and I doubt the brigade leader would make things difficult for him."

"But didn't his family abandon him? Will he even have a place to live once he gets back to the city?" Xu Lin thought of Du Yong's wretched luck; if he returned home, he would likely be thrown right back out onto the street. He might as well stay at the educated youth compound, where at least there was a roof over his head to shield him from the wind and rain.

Qian Li fell silent, realizing that Du Yong's life wouldn't be easy even if he did manage to return to the city. Oh well, that was Du Yong's own cross to bear; it was useless for them to rack their brains over it here.

Qian Li hugged Xu Lin's arm and asked, "Are you going out to work today?"

"Of course I am. I didn't ask for leave today, after all." Just as Xu Lin's voice trailed off, the booming shout of Brigade Leader Wang Fachai rang out from outside.

"Educated Youth Xu! Educated Youth Xu, are you in there?" Wang Fachai charged breathlessly into the compound, his eyes lighting up the moment he caught sight of Xu Lin.

"Educated Youth Xu, hurry, come quickly and save a life!" With that, he lunged forward, attempting to grab Xu Lin and drag her along, only for her to nimbly sidestep out of reach.

"Brigade Leader, what on earth has happened?" Xu Lin asked, while Qian Li chimed in with an equally inquiring gaze.

"Oh dear, it's an emergency! Granny has suddenly collapsed at home, you need to go take a look right now."

Wang Fachai tried to reach out and pull her again, only to be dodged once more, making him stamp his feet in frantic frustration.

Hearing that Granny was in trouble, Xu Lin searched her memory and instantly recalled who that was.

Granny was a truly legendary figure—a decorated hero who had walked through the battlefields and earned medals. Not only had she fought on the frontline, but her husband and sons had all gone to war as well; unlike her, however, they hadn't been blessed with such fortune and had all given their lives.

After retiring with full honors and returning to the brigade to spend her twilight years, Granny had never once thrown her weight around or bullied anyone because of her status. Whenever she crossed paths with people, she always wore a warm smile and would tell stories to the children, praising them for their good fortune to be born in such a wonderful era where they would enjoy blessings in the future.

One could truly say that Granny was a person worthy of universal respect and admiration.

Once she pinned down Granny's identity, Xu Lin didn't hesitate for a second. She dashed back into her room, grabbed her medicine kit, and bolted. Nobody was going to stop her from saving a true hero.

It wasn't until Xu Lin had already sprinted out of the educated youth compound that Wang Fachai snapped back to his senses, scarcely believing how blindingly fast she moved. Surely that pace surpassed even a world champion runner!

By the time Wang Fachai rushed out of the compound, he saw that Xu Lin had already rounded the corner and vanished from sight.

Qian Li, who had followed Wang Fachai out, was equally filled with awe. That speed was simply legendary—who could possibly compete with it?

Xu Lin ran at full tilt until she reached the courtyard where Granny lived. The compound had been renovated back when Granny first returned to the village, and it still looked quite dignified and imposing.

The courtyard was packed to bursting with villagers, every single one of them wearing an expression of intense anxiety. Seeing Xu Lin rush in, they immediately parted the way, showering her with words of encouragement and goodwill.

Everyone fervently hoped that Xu Lin would be able to pull Granny back from the brink.

Of course, there were also a few who frowned, harboring doubts about whether Xu Lin's medical skills were up to par, muttering that the priority should have been sending the patient straight to the hospital.

Regardless of what the villagers were saying, Xu Lin turned a blind eye to all of it, following the cleared path straight into the room.

The barefoot village doctor stood beside the bed, scratching his head in sheer desperation, while his wife stood right next to him, furiously slapping his arm a half-dozen times until he winced and grimaced in pain.

Miao Lingzhi kept berating her husband for being utterly useless, demanding to know how a village doctor like him couldn't even treat Granny, making his existence utterly pointless.

At that moment, Miao Lingzhi wished she could turn back time. If she had known this day would come, she would have traveled back through the ages and forced her husband to study medicine much harder.

What good was this half-baked medical knowledge anyway? If this delayed Granny's treatment and cost her life, their entire family wouldn't be able to pay off the debt with their lives.

Just as Miao Lingzhi was working herself into a frenzy, her eyes caught sight of Xu Lin entering. Without a second thought, she shoved the village doctor aside and pleaded urgently,

"Educated Youth Xu, please take a look at Granny! I'm begging you, you must save her! As long as you can cure Granny, this village clinic will be yours from now on!"

"Do you really mean that?" Xu Lin glanced at Miao Lingzhi's expression and, seeing that the woman was genuinely frantic, nodded. "I'll do my best to save her."

"Yes, yes! Please, you must do your absolute best! Just name whatever you need, and we'll figure out a way to provide it."

As Miao Lingzhi spoke, she gave her husband another swat, feeling that her man was truly an idiot for not even knowing how to say a few polite words of his own.