The old man froze.
He glanced at the pot of pig’s trotters, then at Su Ci’s determined eyes. His face flickered with conflicting emotions—fear, desire, struggle…
“You don’t know what kind of background I have, girl,” the old man said, lowering his voice, trembling slightly. “I was denounced and sent down, one of the Black Five Categories. If you get too close to me, you’ll be in big trouble.”
“I don’t care,” Su Ci said bluntly. “All I know is that you’re a doctor, someone who can save people. In this world, only skill cannot lie. If you can help him stand again, I’ll honor you like a god, even if you were the king of the world.”
She handed the lunchbox back, softening her tone. “Dr. Chen, a healer’s heart is noble. When you held that notebook in your hands, your eyes betrayed you—you don’t want all your skill to rot in the dirt, do you?”
Her words struck the old man like a hammer.
Chen Qinghe fell silent for a long while.
Finally, he let out a long sigh, snatched the lunchbox, squatted on the ground, and began devouring the food.
He ate with ferocity, as if chewing through years of grievance and frustration, swallowing them down with each bite.
After a pig’s trotter disappeared into his mouth, he wiped the grease from his lips, and a glimmer of sharpness finally returned to his cloudy eyes.
“All right, I’ll take this job. But let’s be clear: it can only be done at night, secretly. No one can know. Also, treating the legs is delicate work. We’ll need a lot of medicinal materials, some rare. You’ll have to get those yourself.”
“Deal!” Su Ci snapped her fingers, grinning like a mischievous fox. “Don’t worry about the herbs. As long as you prescribe them, I’ll get even the dragon meat from the heavens for you.”
Chen Qinghe snorted, picking up another pig’s trotter. “Don’t brag. Tomorrow night, at midnight, you push that kid to the small grove behind the cattle shed. Remember, no one must see.”
Su Ci happily put away the empty lunchbox.
“Dr. Chen, eat slowly, don’t choke. Tomorrow night, I’ll bring braised pork belly—fat and lean layered beautifully!”
Watching Su Ci leave, Chen Qinghe licked his lips, a complex expression in his eyes.
This girl… she was interesting.
Bold and meticulous, and knew exactly how to play on people’s weaknesses.
Perhaps… this was the last chance heaven had given him?
Back at the compound, Lu Si was sitting in the yard, holding the book upside down and not even noticing.
When he saw Su Ci return, he quickly turned the wheelchair. Though he tried to hide it, his nervousness betrayed him: “So… how… how did it go?”
Su Ci placed the empty lunchbox on the table, chin raised in triumph. “When I handle things, they’re always a done deal! Sorted!”
Lu Si gripped the armrests, knuckles whitening.
“He… agreed?”
“Yes, he agreed,” Su Ci said, walking over to pour him a glass of water. “But the old man is tricky—he said it must be done at night, in secret. Tomorrow night, we have to go to the little grove.”
“Little grove?” Lu Si nearly spat out his water.
The phrase sounded… inappropriate.
“Think what you want!” Su Ci tapped his forehead. “It’s to treat your leg! But before that, we need to prepare a few things.”
“What things?”
Su Ci smiled mysteriously and pulled out a scrap of paper that the old man had torn earlier. On it were scrawled several herbs: safflower, bone-breaking grass, tendon-stretching grass, scorpion, centipede…
“These are all powerful blood-moving, meridian-unblocking herbs,” Su Ci said, though she didn’t know much medicine, she could tell the gist. “Looks like the old man is going to hit hard. Old Lu, you have to be ready to endure some pain.”
Lu Si looked at the prescription, determination shining in his eyes.
“As long as I can stand again, it doesn’t matter. Even if it means eating pain, or having my legs chopped and reattached, I accept it.”
Su Ci’s chest tightened at his determined expression.
She reached out and ruffled his stiff hair. “Don’t worry, I’m here. No one’s chopping your legs. At most… when the pain makes you cry, you can lean on my shoulder.”
Lu Si turned his face, ears red. “Who’s going to cry?”
…
During the day, Su Ci wasn’t idle.
She took the prescription to the military district hospital’s pharmacy.
But even here, medicinal materials were tightly controlled, especially toxic ones like scorpion or centipede.
The young nurse saw the prescription and shook her head like a rattle drum. “No way. These are tiger-and-wolf medicines. Without the chief physician’s signature, I can’t give them to you.”
Su Ci pleaded, even using Lu Si’s name, but the nurse didn’t budge.
“What do we do now?” Su Ci scratched her head.
If the official channels fail, the only way is through informal paths.
She thought of the scrap-collection station.
If she could find the medical book there, maybe there were other opportunities too.
Or… the black market?
As she pondered, she spotted Aunt Fat sneaking past the compound gate, carrying a basket covered with a blue cloth.
This aunt, usually just nosy and gluttonous, loved trading small things from the western area for cash.
Su Ci’s eyes lit up; she followed her.
“Aunt Fat! Going grocery shopping?”
The woman jumped, quickly hiding the basket. “Ah… yes, Su Ci. You’re out too?”
Su Ci leaned close, lowering her voice. “Aunt Fat, I hear you have connections. I want to ask you something.”
Flattered, the aunt straightened immediately. “Of course! Nothing happens around here that I don’t know. What do you want to know?”
“I want to get some herbs for Old Lu’s foot bath,” Su Ci didn’t hide it. “Some are hard to get in hospitals. Do you know where I could find them?”
The aunt’s eyes darted around, sizing Su Ci up. “Ah, treating Lu Tuan’s legs? That’s serious. But those herbs… they’re not cheap.”
“Money’s not a problem,” Su Ci pulled out two twenty-yuan bills and handed them over. “This is a deposit. If you succeed, there’s more reward waiting.”
The aunt’s eyes gleamed. This Su family daughter-in-law is really extravagant!
“All right! Leave it to me!” she said mysteriously, pocketing the money. “There’s an old doctor in the south of the city, used to run a pharmacy. He has plenty of good stock. I’ll take you there!”
Su Ci had indeed found the right person.
Aunt Fat led her through winding alleys to the old doctor.
Although it cost a high price, the herbs were finally secured.
Back home, Su Ci began decocting the medicine.
Even though the broken wooden cabinet from the scrap station had fallen apart, some of the boards were still solid.
She enlisted the help of Mr. Li, the carpenter next door, and used the good boards to construct a deep tub, just enough to fully immerse Lu Si’s lower legs.