Chapter 67: Special Circumstances Require Special Measures

Sun Huaisheng rubbed his hands together, an embarrassed look on his face as he made a quiet request, “Girl, have a little pity for an old man worried about his grandson. Sell me some of those hemostatic, healing, and anti-inflammatory medicines. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”

He made a gesture of counting money. As a renowned physician, he certainly wasn’t short of funds.

Xu Lin raised her eyebrows as she watched him. Selling some medicine to Old Sun wasn’t out of the question.

“Old Sun, if you want to buy medicine from me, you’ll need to help me purchase some medicinal herbs, and while you’re at it, get me some seeds too. I want to plant them myself in the mountains.”

Xu Lin took the opportunity to set her terms. The medicines she had were all from her stockpile—once used, they’d be gone. If she wanted to rely on her special space for growing more, she needed to get her hands on the seeds first. Not all medicinal herbs in her space came with seeds.

Sun Huaisheng thought for a moment and then agreed. “No problem. Make a list of the herbs you need and give it to me. I’ll do my best to gather them. But as you know, there’s a shortage of medicine everywhere in the country, so I can’t guarantee I’ll find everything.”

Seeing Xu Lin nod her agreement, Sun Huaisheng continued, “As for the seeds, you can make a list of those too. I’ll see if I can pull some strings and find a few.”

“There’s no need for a list of seeds. Just bring me as many as you can—doesn’t matter if they’re not suitable for growing in the north. If you have the connections, get them for me anyway.”

Xu Lin’s words left Sun Huaisheng looking puzzled. “If they’re not suitable for the north, what’s the point?”

“Not suitable doesn’t mean impossible. I want to try growing them in the mountains. Who knows, maybe it’ll work. Besides, I can afford to waste a little money on seeds. If I succeed, it’ll benefit a lot of people.”

Sun Huaisheng neither said he believed her nor that he didn’t. Considering Xu Lin’s medical skills, maybe she had some special techniques for cultivation. Such skills were usually family secrets, so he didn’t ask further and simply promised to do his best.

With so many people and prying eyes in the hospital, Sun Huaisheng didn’t go into details with Xu Lin. After a brief conversation, he checked on Granny Zheng again and, at her urging, signed the discharge papers.

Back at the Zheng family home, Yu Tong went to prepare lunch, leaving Xu Lin to keep Granny Zheng company.

In their idle chat, Xu Lin learned a great deal about Granny Zheng’s past. Her early years had been anything but easy.

Her mother died young, and her stepmother was a heartless woman who always planned to sell Granny Zheng to a wealthy household. To make her more “suitable” for such families, she bound her feet at a very young age. In conversations with others, her stepmother often mentioned the idea of selling her to a rich family and made detailed inquiries about those households—just waiting for Granny Zheng to come of age and fetch a good price.

In such circumstances, Granny Zheng had no choice but to find a way to save herself. With bound feet, the first thing she needed to do if she wanted to escape was to learn to run. She fell countless times while practicing, but she wasn’t afraid of pain—she was only afraid of being sold into the back courtyard of a wealthy house.

As a poor, unprotected girl, survival in the back courtyard of a rich family would have been nearly impossible. Even if she survived, she’d be subject to endless torment from the lady of the house—a life Granny Zheng could not accept.

Heaven helps those who help themselves. Eventually, Granny Zheng found her chance to escape from that cold, loveless home.

Later, she met Sister Ru, a kind-hearted woman who led her to join the Party. With Sister Ru’s help, Granny Zheng made rapid progress, not only becoming an outstanding intelligence agent but also earning numerous meritorious distinctions.

The only regret was that when the Dragon Nation was liberated, kind Sister Ru fell on the road to progress.

Granny Zheng patted Xu Lin’s hand, her eyes red as she spoke, “Girl, I know this request might be too much, but I still hope that, as long as it’s not too difficult, you could take a look at my sister’s only child.”

“What illness does he have?” Xu Lin asked.

“He was poisoned by enemy agents and has been in a coma for over two years. The hospital can only maintain his basic life functions—waking him up is close to impossible.”

Granny Zheng sighed deeply. It wasn’t just difficult—there was almost no hope at all. That was Sister Ru’s only son. If he died, Granny Zheng would never be able to accept it. If possible, she would willingly trade her own life for his, but she knew she couldn’t—she could only worry in vain.

Poisoning, was it? Xu Lin stroked her chin. “Which hospital is he in? I’d like to give it a try.”

“He’s in the military district hospital. If you’re willing, I can arrange everything right now.”

As Granny Zheng spoke, she ignored her own injuries and tried to get out of bed to get things done, moving so quickly that Xu Lin was left speechless. The old lady seemed to have forgotten she had fifteen surgical incisions, fractures in her arms and legs, and even a cracked tailbone.

To endure so much pain and still have such spirit—Xu Lin could only feel admiration.

“Granny Zheng, no rush, no rush. Please stay in bed. When the county magistrate comes back, let him make the arrangements,” Xu Lin said, stroking her chin. “It’s just that I don’t have a medical license yet. I’m not sure if it would be illegal.”

“That’s a problem. How about this: I’ll ask Old Sun to arrange for a special assessment just for you. We won’t wait for the others,” Granny Zheng said, trying to get out of bed again. Xu Lin quickly pressed her back down. “Old Sun will be here for lunch. You can make arrangements then.”

After much persuasion, Xu Lin finally got her to stay in bed. But being bedridden didn’t stop Granny Zheng from contacting Sun Huaisheng.

Soon, Sun Huaisheng received a call from Yu Tong at the hospital. Upon hearing the reason, he was speechless—was it really that urgent? Xu Lin hadn’t seemed in any rush at the hospital. Why the sudden need for an early examination? Clearly, there was more to this than he knew.

Well, he would just swallow his pride and ask his old friends to make time to supervise the assessment.

Sun Huaisheng held great influence in the traditional medicine community of Qingshan County. With one round of calls, he quickly set a time: the exam would be held at three this afternoon.

The other veteran physicians were also curious—just who was this person for whom Sun Huaisheng was pulling strings and arranging such a special exam? Driven by curiosity, when Xu Lin arrived for the assessment that afternoon, she was met by three expectant faces and was completely baffled.

Wasn’t it just an exam? Why were they staring at her like that?

With a puzzled look, Xu Lin took the exam paper Sun Huaisheng handed her, only to see Sun Huaisheng and the other two old men pull up stools and sit right in front of her desk.

The three of them, six eyes in total, stared at her every move, leaving Xu Lin quite speechless and a little regretful about taking the exam ahead of schedule.

Fortunately, Xu Lin was no stranger to stressful situations. She quickly composed herself and began to write.

The exam was comprehensive, covering not only the properties and pharmacology of medicinal herbs but also symptom descriptions, how to prescribe remedies, and how to assess the appropriateness of prescriptions.