On the way home, Cheng Baozhu was practically glowing with excitement.
Xu Chuan watched her cling to his hand, watched her nearly skip with joy, and for some reason he found it hard not to laugh.
“So happy?” he asked curiously. “Didn’t you say the system would simulate all kinds of patients for you to practice on later?”
“How is that the same?” Cheng Baozhu’s lips curved upward. “The patients simulated by the system are completely different from real ones. The human body is complicated, everything is interconnected. When you treat one illness, you have to consider all the other conditions the patient might have.”
Xu Chuan thought for a moment. “So the system only gives you the most basic patients?”
Cheng Baozhu wasn’t entirely sure either. After thinking, she said, “Probably. I’ve only practiced on two system patients so far.”
[…Two patients. Host, please refrain from slandering the system unnecessarily.] The system, which had been pretending to be dead for a long time, finally spoke up.
[If you require advanced patients, you must enter the second stage of learning and exchange points. Special reminder: one advanced patient costs five points.]
The system spoke tactfully, but its meaning was clear. First, Cheng Baozhu hadn’t reached that level yet. Second, even if she had, she couldn’t afford it.
Cheng Baozhu fell silent. Fine! Don’t bully the poor.
So what if she had no points now? Once she learned properly, she would earn plenty.
The intelligent tutor really was intelligent. Whenever she had nothing to do, Cheng Baozhu would chat with it, and over time she had managed to extract some useful information.
The thing she looked forward to most was that once she began making medicinal meals, producing a qualified dish would earn ten points, while an excellent one would earn twenty.
Twenty! Twice as much as Xu Chuan!
Before even finishing her studies, Cheng Baozhu was already showing off in her mind, even fantasizing about how she would spend those future points.
After returning home, she began preparing what she would bring for her “internship” the next day.
Yes, she had defined it as an internship.
Her grandmother had once taught students, and after carefully recalling her grandmother’s favorite pupils, Cheng Baozhu concluded they all shared one trait: diligence and eagerness to learn.
That was something she intended to emulate.
Seeing her packing notebooks and pens, Xu Chuan couldn’t help saying, “You probably won’t even have time to write anything down.”
“How could I not?” Cheng Baozhu disagreed.
She turned and said seriously, “Someone once said that opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared.”
Then she went back to packing.
Xu Chuan fell silent.
She suddenly sounded so proper that he wasn’t used to it. He had only brought up the idea with Old Zhang on a whim, originally just wanting her to get out more instead of staying cooped up at home all day.
But now it seemed she was truly taking it seriously.
Xu Chuan began to wonder if he should give Old Zhang a gift. If the old man got annoyed and kicked Baozhu out, she would probably cry her heart out.
While one was delighted and the other worried, news suddenly spread through Laokeng Village.
Xu Chuan had paid off his old debt to the production team.
The whole village was shocked, even the educated youths in the youth dormitory.
Since Laokeng Village had relatively good conditions, it had received several educated youths over the years. At that moment, the older ones were explaining in detail to the newcomers about the so-called “lazy man.”
“He earns fewer work points than us?” one newcomer asked in surprise.
An older youth replied with a complicated expression, “He doesn’t even go to the fields, where would his work points come from?”
Even so, he had good parents and siblings who supported him, and now even helped him repay his debt.
Almost everyone in the village assumed the money came from his family.
The story even spread to neighboring villages.
Li Cuifen’s maternal home was in Shanggang Village. When her mother heard the news, she immediately dropped everything and rushed over.
“Is your mother-in-law home?” she asked as soon as she entered.
Li Cuifen poured her water. “No, she went to the village end to find Xu Chuan to help write a letter for Hutou’s aunt.”
“Good,” her mother sighed in relief, then hurriedly asked, “What’s going on with your brother-in-law’s debt? Did Xu He help him? You still have Xiao Gu to think about, don’t be foolish.”
Li Cuifen patted her pocket. “All his money is with me. What would he use to help Xu Chuan?”
“And your in-laws?”
“I don’t know about them, but if they could easily take out fifty yuan, they would have done it before Xu Chuan got married.”
That was why she remained calm about the whole matter.
Her mother finally relaxed after hearing this, then grew curious. “Then where did Xu Chuan get the money?”
At that very moment, Xu Chuan was also facing Jiang Yulan’s relentless questioning.
“Don’t tell me your sister gave it to you,” Jiang Yulan snapped. “I’m not that easy to fool!”
Xu Chuan sighed. He hadn’t intended to lie this time.
Just as he was about to speak, he caught sight of half a head peeking from the doorway, ears perked up.
Cheng Baozhu, sensing Jiang Yulan’s bad mood, had quietly slipped outside, lowering her presence as much as possible.
Xu Chuan almost laughed.
“What are you laughing at!” Jiang Yulan slammed the table.
He quickly straightened his expression.
Outside, Cheng Baozhu nearly fell off her stool, clutching her sewing and not daring to move. Only after the tension inside eased did she sneak closer again to listen.
Jiang Yulan was truly angry, the table banging echoed like thunder, making Cheng Baozhu’s heart tremble in sync.
Fortunately, her instincts had told her to escape in time.
Otherwise, she would be stuck inside like Xu Chuan, unable to fight back or talk back.
“Mom, calm down. I really didn’t plan to hide this from you,” Xu Chuan said, rubbing his head.
Jiang Yulan snorted. Since she couldn’t be fooled, Xu Chuan had no choice but to reveal his trump card.
He opened a box and showed her an account book and a stack of money.
“Do you know how much I’ve earned this past month?”
“Nine… eight?” Jiang Yulan’s voice faltered.
“Ninety-eight,” Xu Chuan said.
Silence fell instantly. After a long pause, Jiang Yulan asked faintly, “What?”
Xu Chuan explained patiently, showing her the records.
He even added, “With the new egg cakes this month, I might earn even more. Maybe I can even buy a bicycle and fix up the kitchen.”
Jiang Yulan stared in disbelief.
Doing business… Was this profitable?
Xu Chuan nodded firmly. After a long internal struggle, Jiang Yulan finally left, still shaken.
Watching her go, Xu Chuan let out a deep breath. He turned and saw Cheng Baozhu sitting outside, quietly sewing.
“Stop pretending,” he said bluntly.
“I’m mending your clothes,” she replied, humming.
He picked up the shirt… and froze.
“Cheng Baozhu!”
“What?”
“You used red thread… to sew my white shirt?”
She blinked. “So what? It’s just a sleep shirt.”
Xu Chuan was speechless. That night, he still obediently wore the shirt she had mended.
Looking down at the messy red stitches, he sighed.
Well… at least she tried.
The next morning, Cheng Baozhu woke early, but the moment she reached into the cold air, she immediately shrank back under the covers.
Xu Chuan came in rubbing his hands. “It’s freezing today. There’s frost outside. It might snow soon.”
She struggled mentally before finally getting up. After washing, she used ten points to buy a hundred heat patches.
She happily stuck one on herself and another on Xu Chuan. When she suddenly lifted his clothes to stick it on, Xu Chuan froze.
“Th-this… isn’t appropriate in the kitchen during the day…”
Her face darkened. “I’m giving you something warm. Focus on cooking!”
After breakfast, Xu Chuan rode her to the Jiangmen Commune.
Along the way, he kept talking nonstop, like a parent sending a child to school.
Cheng Baozhu felt both amused and helpless.
When they arrived at the clinic, Xu Chuan handed her over to Old Zhang.
After a brief exchange, Old Zhang allowed her to stay.
Inside, Cheng Baozhu began learning to identify herbs.
Her speed shocked Old Zhang. She could recognize most medicines at a glance.
“Alright, you can organize the records,” he finally said.
This was exactly what she wanted.
Throughout the day, she sorted patient records, studied cases, and asked questions whenever she didn’t understand something.
Though no patients came, she still felt she had learned a lot.
By evening, she was exhausted. When Xu Chuan came to pick her up, she jumped onto the back seat.
“Hurry home, I’m so tired.”
As she leaned against him, he stiffened slightly, then began pedaling.
The setting sun stretched long shadows behind them. In the cold winter air, their closeness felt quietly warm.