Chapter 56: Once Again, Like a Beaten Drum

“Good! Proprietress, I like the sound of that. But you do have the final say in this clinic, don’t you?” the man in the baseball cap asked.

The implication—the unspoken meaning behind his words—was obvious: he doubted whether she could speak for the male owner of the clinic.

Guicui hurried to answer. “Big brother, don’t overthink it. This clinic was opened by our elder sister. She’s the owner, and she’s single.”

“Oh, oh, oh! Then I’m relieved. Honey, drink your medicine.”

With that, the man in the baseball cap brought the cup to his wife’s lips and slowly helped her drink it.

Once she had finished, everyone waited expectantly for the medicine to take effect.

The patient and her family were especially anxious. Huang Biao, the person involved, and Ma Hui, the owner of Bright Virtue Hall, were both hopeful and nervous.

Guicui was worried too, but having witnessed miracles with her own eyes, she had considerable faith in her idol.

Only Zhang Jing looked completely confident, as though victory were already assured.

Suddenly, he thought of something and instructed, “Cuicui, go to the supermarket next door and buy an insulated thermos. Put the remaining dose of herbal medicine in it later so this gentleman can take it home.”

Guicui gave an obedient cry and was just about to turn around when Huang Biao called out to her.

“Cuicui, I’ll go.”

Before she could respond, he walked out of the consultation room on his own.

Once outside the clinic, Huang Biao drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Only then did his overwhelming nervousness ease slightly.

He knew perfectly well that everything depended on this one attempt.

If the patient showed no obvious improvement after drinking the medicine, every perfect ending he had imagined would vanish like a bubble.

He went to Jiesheng Chain Convenience Store, right beside Bright Virtue Hall. After hesitating for a moment, he asked the shopkeeper for the most expensive insulated cup, marked at ninety-eight yuan.

Even so, when he pulled out a hundred-yuan note to pay, he could not help wincing at the expense.

Still, he knew exactly what mattered: the money was absolutely worth spending.

After leaving the convenience store, he looked up and saw the large characters spelling out Bright Virtue Hall. A sudden surge of fear welled up inside him, and he hesitated, unable to move forward.

Just then, several startled cries suddenly rang out from inside the clinic.

Huang Biao’s heart leaped into his throat.

Oh no, oh no! Something really had happened! The bleeding must have gotten worse again!

Instinctively, he was about to turn and flee. But his conscience and reason told him that he absolutely could not run away at a time like this.

After a moment of hesitation, he could only force himself back into Bright Virtue Hall, his steps heavy and his heart filled with dread.

Yet what he saw upon entering was entirely beyond his expectations: everyone in the consultation room was cheering.

He took a closer look. There was no mistake—they really were cheering. Every face was lit with an extraordinarily bright smile.

“What’s going on?”

“Director Huang, what took you so long to buy a cup? This lady drank the medicine and got better. If you’d taken any longer, she wouldn’t have needed it anymore,” Guicui teased with a laugh.

“She was completely cured after one dose? That can’t be right. This… this…?” Huang Biao’s mind simply could not process it. He stammered, unable to find the right words.

Zhang Jing smiled faintly and said modestly, “Director Huang, don’t listen to Cuicui’s nonsense. I’m not some miracle physician. How could I be that remarkable? It’s just that after this lady drank one dose, the bleeding below stopped.”

“But that isn’t all,” the woman in the headscarf suddenly said as she rose to her feet.

With renewed vigor, she continued, “Look, speaking doesn’t tire me out at all anymore, and I feel much better all over. Doctor Zhang, this medicine of yours really is miraculous!”

The man in the baseball cap fell silent this time. He merely gave an embarrassed smile.

The facts were right before his eyes, and all his earlier doubts had clearly been disproved.

Ma Hui was witnessing Zhang Jing’s astonishing results for the first time, so her surprise was inevitable.

Still, she was plainly not as astonished as the other three employees of Bright Virtue Hall.

She merely inclined her head, pressed her palms together, and murmured, “Thank the Bodhisattva. As expected, I truly have a karmic connection with Buddhism.”

Everyone at Bright Virtue Hall knew that Ma Hui was a Buddhist.

The meaning behind her words was self-evident.

They also explained why, when Zhang Jing had first come to interview at the clinic, Ma Hui had chosen him at a glance.

Zhang Jing did not follow up on her remark. Instead, he said to Huang Biao, “Director Huang, please go to the decoction room and pour the remaining dose into the thermos.”

Then he turned to Guicui. “Cuicui, there’s a prescription in the dispensary. Prepare three more doses according to it and give them to this lady to take home.”

The two of them happily accepted their instructions and hurried off.

Zhang Jing then turned back to the woman in the headscarf and said, “Madam, you’ve lost quite a lot of blood this time, so you’ll need to take three doses in succession. Director Huang should already have explained how to prepare the medicine. Just decoct it the same way as before.”

“There is one ingredient, however, that must be dissolved before taking it: donkey-hide gelatin. Once the herbal medicine has finished decocting, pour the gelatin into the hot liquid and stir it thoroughly. To make it easier to dissolve, we’ve already ground ours into powder.”

“All right, all right. I remember everything. Thank you, Doctor Zhang,” the woman replied hurriedly.

“After you finish these three doses, take the remaining doses previously prescribed by Director Huang. Your menstruation should then return to normal. From now on, however, you must be careful not to expose yourself to cold. In particular, avoid extremely cold foods such as hairy crab, chilled watermelon, and iced drinks.”

“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I promise I’ll never touch those things again for the rest of my life.” The woman nodded repeatedly.

Then she immediately asked in confusion, “Can I still take the herbal medicine Director Huang prescribed earlier? It won’t cause any more problems, will it?”

“Of course not. I’ve examined the prescription. Finish the medicine I prescribed first, then use Director Huang’s formula afterward for recovery; there’s no problem with that. Besides, you took the first two doses without experiencing any discomfort, didn’t you?”

The woman nodded thoughtfully. Then she suddenly pinched her husband hard and said through clenched teeth, “This is all your fault!”

The man in the baseball cap cried out in pain.

In a low voice, he muttered, “I only thought the herbal medicine was too bitter for you, and that you were in a bad mood because you were on your period. I wanted to get you something tasty to cheer you up. How was I supposed to know you couldn’t eat that stuff?”

Ma Hui could not help laughing at the sight. She joined in to smooth things over.

“Exactly. This gentleman meant well. You can’t blame him entirely. We ordinary people aren’t doctors. How would we know that eating hairy crab could involve so many precautions?”

Then she changed tack.

“If anyone is to blame, it’s mainly Director Huang for failing to explain everything clearly. The responsibility lies with our clinic.”

“How about this? We’ll refund the herbal medicine and registration fees you paid earlier, and we won’t charge you for today’s medicine either. If there’s anything else you need, please feel free to tell us.”

The woman immediately shook her head like a rattle. “No, no, no. How could we let you lose money? When all is said and done, this happened because we ate the wrong things ourselves. And now Doctor Zhang has cured me. We’re already so grateful that we don’t know how to thank him.”

The man in the baseball cap, however, stood up.

“The medicine worked wonderfully this time, and we’re willing to pay for it. But one matter is separate from another. The medicine prescribed last time really didn’t seem to have any effect. There were also the hospital fees for the intravenous treatment. Don’t you think you should share some of those costs? After all, your senior doctor didn’t explain things clearly, so your clinic does bear some responsibility, doesn’t it?”