In the following days, Mingxi never had another moment of leisure.
Writing prescriptions left her hands numb, but fortunately, they hadn’t encountered any villagers with serious illnesses—only minor ailments.
At one point, some troublemakers showed up—a few bachelors who kept feigning illness to visit Mingxi and Chen Xi for consultations.
Chen Xi was utterly fed up with them.
“Doctor Ming, the way those men look at me makes me so uncomfortable. They even took the chance to touch my hand while I was examining them,” Chen Xi couldn’t help shuddering; it was truly disgusting.
When Mingxi checked their pulses, they tried to touch her too. She responded by swiftly inserting an acupuncture needle.
“Don’t worry, they won’t come harass us tomorrow.”
While prescribing their medicine today, she added a few extra herbs. For the next few days, they’d either be sleeping soundly or dealing with diarrhea.
Those bachelors didn’t have any major illnesses—just a bad case of laziness. This was a good opportunity to purge some of the excess from their systems.
The hectic week passed quickly, and Mingxi had visibly slimmed down. All the weight Yue Kai had painstakingly helped her gain was now gone.
“Home, home—we can finally go home,” Chen Xi murmured dazedly, mechanically packing her belongings.
The male doctors were holding up slightly better than them.
Gazing at the mountain ahead, the group couldn’t suppress a collective groan.
Just as they prepared to start climbing, the village chief arrived, hauling two large bags.
“Wait, wait! Take these with you. We don’t have much else here, just some dried goods we foraged from the mountains and sun-dried ourselves.”
“These are considered delicacies out there—take them back for your own meals.”
The chief tossed the bags at them and dashed off. Lin Jianguo, standing at the front, took the full impact and nearly toppled over backward.
Mingxi and Chen Xi: Pfft!
The mountain was challenging enough to climb already, and now they had to carry two heavy bags of mountain provisions.
“Let’s go. We’ll push through and climb it in one go.”
Though they called it “one go,” they had to stop and rest multiple times along the way. Mingxi was completely drained.
Meanwhile, back at the compound, the patients waiting for her were counting the days, eagerly anticipating her return.
“It’s been a week already—Doctor Ming should be back by now.”
“She should return soon. Maybe she’s already on her way. My legs have been bothering me lately, and I’m counting on her for some acupuncture.”
“Mobile clinics have tough conditions. I wonder if Doctor Ming is holding up alright.”
The patients visited the Traditional Chinese Medicine Pharmacy daily, completely ignoring Doctors Liao and Xu.
Doctor Liao stroked his chin and remarked, “We could perform acupuncture for them too, you know. We could help ease their muscles and joints.”
Doctor Xu retorted, “Give it up. With your half-baked skills, you’d better keep studying a while longer.”
After much hardship, Mingxi and the others finally returned that evening.
Mingxi’s appearance gave Doctors Liao and Xu quite a shock.
“Heavens! How did you get so thin? Quick, quick, sit down! I’ll go fetch you some food right away.”
Mingxi weakly waved her hand in gratitude.
Her physical foundation was still too weak. It seemed she would need more nourishment and exercise in the future—otherwise, with this constitution, she’d suffer in her old age.
After eating the cafeteria food, Mingxi was nearly moved to tears.
She never used to think the cafeteria food was particularly delicious, but now she genuinely felt it was a gourmet feast—with both vegetables and meat, how wonderful.
Doctors Liao and Xu watched her wolfing down the food with expressions mixing pity and discomfort.
So pitiful, truly so pitiful. Look how starved this child is—she probably hasn’t had a proper meal in quite some time.
“Doctor Ming, take a good rest tomorrow. There’s no rush to come to work—we can handle things here.”
“The hospital will assign two new doctors to our department soon. With more patients coming to our clinic lately, we’re already overwhelmed. Having extra hands will be helpful.”
Mingxi nodded numbly. Let them come, anyone would do. She was practically dead on her feet.
Unable to suppress a yawn, Mingxi stood up and said, “I’m going back to rest now. You should head home early too. I’ll take tomorrow off and return to work normally the day after.”
Watching Mingxi’s unsteady retreating figure, Doctors Liao and Xu worried she might stumble into a ditch.
That night, Mingxi slept like the dead, only waking in the afternoon of the following day. After such solid rest, she finally felt alive again.
Patients who came looking for her the next day left disappointed, though everyone understood.
Tu Xiaoli’s face had improved significantly, and she was eager to share the changes with Mingxi.
When Mingxi returned to work on the third day, she found Tu Xiaoli waiting for her.
“Xiaoli, you’re here so early. Is something uncomfortable?” Mingxi had her sit down and checked her pulse.
Tu Xiaoli exclaimed excitedly, “Doctor Ming, look! The scars on my face have faded a lot, haven’t they? You can barely see them from a distance now. Will my face completely heal soon?”
Mingxi: “They have indeed faded considerably. As for complete recovery, that depends on the healing process—there might remain some slight traces.”
Mingxi asked Tu Xiaoli to switch hands for another pulse reading. This pulse felt somewhat unusual.
Hearing that full recovery wasn’t guaranteed didn’t upset Tu Xiaoli—she was already satisfied with this degree of improvement. Once the scars faded a bit more, she could cover them with powder.
Setting down her hand, Mingxi suddenly smiled. “Congratulations, you’re pregnant.”
Tu Xiaoli froze, not processing the words: “Wh-what did you say?”
Mingxi: “I said you’re pregnant, about a month along.”
Tu Xiaoli covered her face with her hands, taking a moment to compose herself before sobbing, “This is such wonderful news. I always thought there was something wrong with my body.”
Mingxi patted her shoulder comfortingly. “Pregnancy can’t be rushed—your emotional state affects your physical condition. Previously, you were probably both anxious about conceiving and worried about your face, which impacted your health.”
“Now that you’ve relaxed, pregnancy came naturally.”
“Don’t worry, the medication you’re applying won’t affect the baby. You can continue using it normally. You might want to get checked at the hospital later for peace of mind.”
Mingxi strongly recommended a hospital examination. While she trusted her own medical judgment, having patients get tested helped reassure them.
Tu Xiaoli nodded excitedly, leaving with careful, measured steps, afraid to take large strides.
After seeing her last patient of the day, Mingxi began reading when suddenly a hand came to rest upon her book.
She looked up to see Yue Kai’s handsome face.
“I’m back. How have you grown so thin since I last saw you? Has someone been mistreating you?”