Han Jiaojiao tucked away her thirty yuan of private savings and, after parting ways with Sister Juan, decided to head to Wanshi for a stroll first.
Although some things weren’t sold on the streets, there were still plenty of small stalls lining both sides, and many people weaving through the crowd looking for buyers and sellers.
She suddenly spotted a pair of sneakers—the soles felt soft when she touched them, and the style was a simple nurse’s shoe, but it was a men’s design in size thirty-eight, which happened to be Han Fang’s size.
Just as Han Jiaojiao was hesitating over whether to buy them, a dainty figure swayed up beside her, staring at her with big, watery eyes and a beaming smile.
“Hehe, pretty sister!”
The girl wobbled as she reached out a hand toward her, then rolled her eyes dramatically, and with a bang, suddenly collapsed at Han Jiaojiao’s feet.
The crowd initially gathered around to gawk, but when they saw the girl’s ashen face and deathly pallor, afraid the police might get involved, they hurriedly grabbed their things and scattered.
Leaving Han Jiaojiao alone, standing in the wind, utterly bewildered…
She was used to unexpected situations, but she’d never seen people clear out that fast—their speed would’ve set records in any athletic competition…
Noticing foam at the girl’s mouth, Han Jiaojiao crouched down to check her pulse first. After rifling through the small bag in her hand, Han Jiaojiao frowned deeply.
Bright red mushroom caps, each one looking perky, with one taking a small bite out of it—that must have been what she ate.
Red caps, white stems, eat one and you’re in a box—even kids knew that saying, yet a girl of sixteen or seventeen didn’t!
“You’re lucky you ran into me today.”
Han Jiaojiao laid her flat on the yellow earth, fed her two pills, and then began needling her.
The girl felt her body convulse as if electrified, her body heaving uncontrollably as nausea hit.
Han Jiaojiao quickly pulled her up and helped her along.
“Ugh!”
“That’s right, throw it up—hurry, before it digests and the poison sets in deeper. Get it all out.”
The girl was dazed and too weak to sit up on her own.
She leaned against Han Jiaojiao, swaying left and right, then suddenly, as if losing her center of gravity, her head dropped straight down, and a lump immediately swelled on her forehead.
“You’re something else!”
A fresh injury on top of an old one.
Han Jiaojiao’s tone carried a hint of helplessness.
Once the girl’s stomach was completely emptied and her consciousness began to return, Han Jiaojiao gave her two needles to the head to disperse the bruising.
Then she dragged her over to the wall and propped her up against it.
She took out paper and a pen, crouching beside her to write something.
The girl blinked and asked softly, “Who are you?”
Han Jiaojiao knew her consciousness had returned and answered without hesitation, “Your savior.”
“Huh?” She saw the red mushroom caps on the ground, remembered what had happened, and her face flushed with embarrassment: “Thank you. What are you writing now?”
“A prescription. There’s bound to be a trace of residual toxin in your system—three days of medicine and you should be just about fine.”
“Shegu? Tengwang? These are Chinese herbs? Are you a practitioner of Chinese medicine?”
Han Jiaojiao didn’t answer her question. After finishing the prescription, she folded it up and tucked it into the girl’s shirt pocket.
“Twice a day, three days’ worth, and you’ll be good.”
Han Jiaojiao’s gaze fell on her ankle. She picked it up directly, fixed it in place with a special grip, and with a crack and a firm push, the girl let out an “mmph” as her foot was set back into place.
“Probably dislocated when you fell. I’ve set it for you, but try not to move it around for the next couple of days. If it leaves lasting problems, don’t blame me.”
The girl was completely won over by her skillful maneuvers, her eyes sparkling with admiration.
“My name is Li Ziqi, I’m seventeen, and I just moved to the county town yesterday. What’s your name, big sister?”
“I’m about the same age as you. Just call me Jiaojiao.”
Han Jiaojiao didn’t want to reveal her real name—what if the kid had a big mouth and accidentally let Shen Junshan know something he shouldn’t?
After speaking, she administered two more needles to Li Ziqi’s ankle.
She had originally wanted to get some water for her to rinse her mouth, but with people watching her now, Han Jiaojiao couldn’t easily pull anything out of her Kongjian.
Just as she was feeling a bit stuck, a large enamel cup was handed over from beside her, filled with warm water, still steaming.
“Heh heh, boss, if you don’t mind, use mine. Just poured from the thermos, mixed with cold water—temperature’s just right.”
“Qiangzi?”
“Dongzi, did you hear that? The boss remembers us!”
Dongzi and Qiangzi broke into simple, foolish grins.
They had heard from Sister Juan that there was an impressive guest today, someone with real connections, who could get tetanus shots as easily as grabbing cabbages.
They hadn’t believed it, and they were cautious about taking in medicine, so they’d come out to find the seller and clarify the source of the goods.
After all, these were medicines for human use, not food or drink supplies—if something went wrong, it wouldn’t end well just by having her take responsibility.
Who knew that when they came out, it turned out to be Han Jiaojiao! They were overjoyed!
“Boss, why didn’t you tell us you were coming here? It’s dangerous for a girl to be in a place like this alone. What if you ran into bad people?”
Dongzi wholeheartedly agreed with Qiangzi’s words and nodded eagerly.
Han Jiaojiao smiled faintly. “I’m lucky. Bad people take a detour when they see me.”
“Bro, this is Hongmotou. You ate Hongmotou and you’re still alive?”
“Nope, Jiaojiao saved me!”
Li Ziqi smiled proudly, and the two brothers looked at Han Jiaojiao with even more admiration.
This thing was rare in the county, but in the neighboring villages, there were always kids who died from eating it. Everyone called it Hongmotou and would take a detour whenever they saw it.
So many people had met their end because of it, yet Han Jiaojiao had actually cured someone who ate it.
She must be a reincarnated immortal!
Any illness she treated was sure to be cured!
At this moment, Han Jiaojiao looked at the three of them, her ears tinged with red, inwardly so embarrassed she could dig out an acre of land with her toes.
Dongzi nudged Qiangzi in the ribs with his elbow.
Qiangzi snapped back to reality and suddenly shouted excitedly, “Boss, do you want to make money? With your skill level, if you’d just take on patients, you’d definitely make a fortune!”
“No, too much trouble.”
Selling medicine already made money—why waste time seeing patients?
Besides, she didn’t want Shen Junshan to find out she could heal people just yet.
“I see… what a shame. I thought we’d found a treasure for the family clinic.”
“Family clinic? Your family runs a clinic?”
“Not sure if it counts. My family had six generations of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners here, and they were pretty famous. By my grandfather’s generation, he’d studied abroad and learned Western medicine too. He used to work as an orthopedic doctor at the Third Team Hospital. Later, the family stopped practicing, and the clinic was donated and became state-run.”
Dongzi and Qiangzi both had strange expressions on their faces.
Especially Qiangzi—he had been through more in life, and thinking back on past experiences, he felt it more deeply than his younger brother Dongzi.
Han Jiaojiao thought about how she was a doctor, yet had transmigrated into the body of a foolish girl in 1979. She couldn’t reveal her identity or do the things she loved. She had nothing except Shen Junshan—and even he was someone she had to guard against.
This feeling of helplessness was probably the same as what Qiangzi felt when he was young.
Han Jiaojiao said, “It was taken away before, and now it’s been given back to you?”
“Not exactly.”
Qiangzi gave a bitter smile.