Xu Ruyan craned her neck to look over.
In the seat surrounded by a crowd, there was a middle-aged woman dressed in dark blue coarse cloth with a white headscarf.
She was holding a boy of about five or six years old who was convulsing continuously and foaming at the mouth. Her face was flushed red with panic as she cried out for a doctor.
Xu Ruyan had studied Traditional Chinese Medicine and could tell at a glance that the little boy was suffering from childhood epilepsy.
Her eyes flickered. The situation was urgent. She looked around quickly, then pushed through the crowd and hurried toward a corner.
The middle-aged woman was still crying out: “Is there a doctor? Is there a doctor here? Someone save my Erwa! My Erwa is dying! Help!”
A train attendant rushed over with a megaphone in hand, also calling out: “Is there a doctor in this carriage? If so, please come and help!”
“Everyone else, don’t crowd around. Spread out and give the child some air!”
When Xu Ruyan hurried back over, clutching a small medicine bottle, she heard the attendant calling for a doctor.
She stood on her tiptoes and shouted: “I’m a doctor! I have medicine in my hand! Let me through!”
Hearing this, the people around her parted to make way, and some enthusiastic passengers helped call out as well.
“There’s a doctor here! Let the doctor through!”
“Hurry, hurry, everyone move aside! There’s a doctor here with medicine—let her save the child!”
Xu Ruyan quickly made her way to the middle-aged woman’s side.
She crouched down, opening the medicine bottle as she comforted her: “Comrade, don’t panic. This is childhood epilepsy. I have Chinese medicine here. Let him hold it in his mouth, and I’ll give him acupuncture!”
The middle-aged woman was already beside herself with panic. She nodded hurriedly and sobbed while holding the child: “Doctor, thank you…”
“Help me hold the child still!”
Xu Ruyan’s expression was serious. She placed a slice of ginseng into the boy’s mouth, letting him hold it there.
The ginseng slice was something she had just taken from her Spatial Dimension in the corner when no one was looking, soaked in Spirit Spring Water. It would take effect quickly once held in the mouth.
But to avoid arousing suspicion, Xu Ruyan still needed to perform acupuncture to make it look convincing.
Childhood epilepsy was no easy condition to treat—even in this era, it counted as one of those complex and miscellaneous diseases.
Xu Ruyan pulled her portable acupuncture kit from her pocket. Given the urgency, she had no conditions for sterilization, so she could only take out the needles and insert them directly into the acupoints.
From the top of the head down to the cheeks, chest, arms, fingers… she inserted more than twenty needles in total, targeting acupoints that harmonize yin and yang, replenish qi and blood, detoxify, and restore consciousness.
Xu Ruyan’s fair little face was taut with concentration. After finishing the needling, she let out a long breath and smiled: “Alright, the child should be fine now.”
The middle-aged woman hurriedly looked down through her tears.
Sure enough, the child who had been convulsing and foaming at the mouth in her arms had gradually calmed down. He lay in her embrace, exhausted, with his eyes closed, having fallen asleep.
The boy’s breathing gradually returned to normal. He was still biting on the ginseng slice, his young face scrunched up from the bitter medicinal taste.
The middle-aged woman was startled: “Erwa! Erwa is better!”
She looked up, gazing at Xu Ruyan with deep gratitude, and said tearfully: “Divine Physician! You truly are a Divine Physician! Thank you for saving my boy’s life! If it weren’t for you, what would I have done with my Erwa!”
Xu Ruyan smiled modestly: “I’m a doctor. Saving lives is what doctors are supposed to do. No need to thank me.”
“The acupuncture needs half an hour. After that, I’ll come back and remove the needles for you.”
The surrounding passengers had all witnessed this “miraculous” acupuncture treatment with their own eyes.
The young woman had simply given the child some medicine and stuck a few needles in—and just like that, the boy was saved!
The onlooking passengers couldn’t help but give Xu Ruyan a thumbs up, praising her: “She really is a Divine Physician! Auntie, you’re so lucky—you met a TCM doctor with this kind of skill on the train.”
“You said it. I was scared watching that child convulse like that just now. Thank goodness there was a doctor in the carriage who knew how to treat this.”
“Comrade, what’s your name? This is a great deed. Shouldn’t you at least send her a banner afterward?”
Xu Ruyan remained low-key and modest. She waved her hand and stood up with a smile: “I saved someone in passing without expecting anything in return. It’s just what a doctor should do—no banner needed.”
“Auntie, you watch the child for now. I’ll go grab something to eat and come back in a bit.”
Xu Ruyan tried to leave, but the middle-aged woman, afraid she might slip away without accepting her gratitude, quickly called out: “Quick, quick, stop her! I haven’t thanked the doctor yet!”
Some enthusiastic passengers helped block her way and urged: “Comrade, you saved her child. If you don’t accept her thanks, she’ll never be at peace for the rest of her life.”
That did make sense.
Xu Ruyan rubbed her chin and said simply: “Alright then. I’ll stay here with you. After half an hour, once I’ve removed the needles from the child, I’ll leave. Does that put your mind at ease?”
The middle-aged woman felt bad about it and asked someone nearby to fetch her luggage: “Doctor, if you’re hungry, I have some food here. It’s just some coarse grains from the countryside. Please don’t think less of it.”
“I won’t.”
Xu Ruyan smiled: “Working people are the most honorable. Farmers work hard to grow grain—every single grain should be cherished.”
The older brother sitting nearby was also a straightforward man. Seeing this, he quickly stood up and said with a hearty smile, “Doctor, take my seat and eat. Don’t stand.”
Xu Ruyan didn’t stand on ceremony either and sat down gracefully.
As soon as she sat down, people began enthusiastically offering her food.
Most of the people in the carriage were kind and simple. Since Xu Ruyan had just saved someone, her treatment naturally improved by leaps and bounds.
She smiled and accepted, not wanting to refuse, but she also took out a bag of egg cakes from her military-green canvas bag to share with everyone.
Half an hour later.
Although Xu Ruyan hadn’t gone to the dining car, after being fed by everyone, her belly was round and full. She’d had her fill of all sorts of snacks and treats.
She washed her hands, then with a serious expression removed the needles from the child, and only then did she finally relax completely.
“Alright, that should do it now.”
Xu Ruyan touched the child’s forehead, confirmed there was no fever, put the silver needles back into her acupuncture kit, and smiled.
The middle-aged woman looked at her gratefully. “Doctor, if you don’t mind, could you leave your name? When I get back to my village, I’ll have the village chief send you a banner of honor.”
“I… I really don’t know how to thank you enough. Here, let me kneel and kowtow to you!”
The middle-aged woman started to cry again as she spoke, and holding her child, she moved to get up and kneel down.
Xu Ruyan was startled and quickly stopped her. “No, no, no! It was just a small favor. Please don’t do this. You’re too kind!”
Xu Ruyan helped the middle-aged woman up, thought for a moment, and said, “How about this—why don’t you just send me that banner after all?”
A banner symbolized honor, and the more you had, the more respect others showed you.
Xu Ruyan gave her name and was about to mention where she was being sent to the countryside when the child in the middle-aged woman’s arms slowly woke up.
“Mother…”
“Oh! Erwa!”
The middle-aged woman was startled and quickly looked down. Crying, she cupped the child’s face and asked anxiously, “Erwa, how are you? Are you still feeling unwell? Does anything hurt?”
“Oh my, you scared your mother half to death! Thank goodness there was a doctor in the carriage who could treat you, or else… or else I wouldn’t have known what to do!”
Erwa was still dazed. Having just recovered from his illness, his little head hadn’t quite processed what had happened.
He obediently wrapped his arms around the middle-aged woman’s neck, and with his warm little hand, he tried his best to wipe away her tears, comforting her in his young, milky voice.
“Mother, please don’t cry. I’m fine, cough, cough… I really am fine.”
Erwa coughed a few times, his little face turning slightly pale.
The middle-aged woman was alarmed and hurriedly hugged him tighter, asking with concern, “Erwa, if anything hurts, don’t hide it from me. We mother and son are lucky—there’s a doctor here who can treat you. Tell the doctor quickly.”
“Mother, I really am fine. It’s just that my mouth tastes a bit bitter…”
Erwa’s little face scrunched up.
Xu Ruyan couldn’t help but laugh. “The bitterness is normal. You just had a medicine tablet.”
She then went to comfort the middle-aged woman. “Auntie, don’t worry either. Erwa is fine. Just give him some nourishing food when you get home, and he’ll be okay.”
Hearing this, the middle-aged woman finally let out a huge sigh of relief.
However, she soon blushed with embarrassment and asked nervously, “D-Doctor… how much do I owe you for the medicine tablet you gave Erwa?”
Xu Ruyan quickly understood.
The middle-aged woman’s clothes were patched, and her skin was tanned dark—she probably worked in the fields often and wasn’t well-off.
Xu Ruyan smiled. “It’s fine, it wasn’t expensive. No charge.”
“Or, if you really feel you must give something, two mao will do.”
“I have two mao! I have two mao!”
The middle-aged woman nodded hurriedly.
She pulled out some money from her pocket and, full of gratitude, chatted with Xu Ruyan for a long time.
It was only then that Xu Ruyan learned the middle-aged woman’s name was Wang Guihua, and that she had led a rather hard life.
Wang Guihua had married far from home. Her family had no money, so it was essentially like her parents had sold her off for a bride price to save up money for her younger brother to get married.
Wang Guihua’s in-laws treated her well enough, but there was her husband’s older brother and his wife, who were constantly at odds with her. They gave her cold, contemptuous looks, ordered her around, and made her do all the dirty and heavy work. If she didn’t do it well, they’d beat and scold her.
Wang Guihua’s husband was in poor health and couldn’t work the fields, so the older brother was essentially the only able-bodied young man in the family. Naturally, no one in the family spoke up for her.
The reason she’d taken the train back to her parents’ home this time was that she simply couldn’t stand it at home anymore and wanted to go back to catch her breath.
But when she returned to her parents’ home, they angrily kicked her out instead, saying she was a disgrace for not being filial to her in-laws and told her to hurry back to her husband’s family to serve them.
The more Wang Guihua talked, the sadder she became. Wiping her tears, she said, “Sigh, my bitter fate is one thing, but I feel sorry for my child, having to endure a hard life with me.”
Xu Ruyan felt sympathetic and couldn’t help asking, “Sister Wang, where is your husband’s family from?”
“Baijia Village.” Wang Guihua choked up a little.
Xu Ruyan was surprised. “Baijia Village in the Northwest?”
Wang Guihua was taken aback. “Dr. Xu, how do you know?”
“That’s exactly where I’m being sent to the countryside.” Xu Ruyan smiled and said, “What a coincidence!”
“Sister Wang, if you’re willing, maybe I could help cure your husband. That way, you’ll have someone to support you at home, and you won’t have to live such a hard life!”
Wang Guihua hadn’t expected such a coincidence—the place where Xu Ruyan was being sent to the countryside was the very village she had married into.
She wiped her tears, her face full of gratitude: “Dr. Xu, I’m truly so grateful to you. This is a lifesaving kindness, and I don’t know how I can ever repay you!”
“Here’s what—my father-in-law is the village chief of Baijia Village. Once you come to the countryside, I’ll have him give you a banner of honor and commend you in front of the whole village!”