Shen Xu made a three-pointer, and the basketball smoothly dropped through the hoop.
“After we left yesterday, did anyone go to Doctor Xu for treatment?”
Fang Zhiyang froze in the middle of jumping for the ball, nearly twisting his ankle.
“You still say you’re not thinking about Doctor Xu!”
Shen Xu’s expression remained indifferent. “Someone asked me to check. I was just asking casually.”
Fang Zhiyang knew Shen Xu would never lie to him, so he guessed he must have been acting on behalf of Comrade Song Jiang.
“Although Comrade Song Jiang clarified everything, nobody still dares to go to Doctor Xu for treatment. After all, the whole ‘opening someone’s skull and killing them on the operating table to improve her medical skills’ story is just too outrageous.”
Shen Xu said nothing.
“Take an hour off for me this afternoon. I’m going to see a doctor.”
The moment Fang Zhiyang heard that, he knew exactly what Shen Xu was planning.
“My dear brother, do you still want your career or not?! Fine, you win! Don’t go. I’ll go. Is that good enough?”
“Fine.”
Shen Xu had never intended to go in the first place. He had to report to the old commander that afternoon about the train-station theft gang. He had deliberately tricked Fang Zhiyang into going.
He knew very well that getting too close to Xu You wasn’t appropriate.
As for exactly why it wasn’t appropriate, he hadn’t figured that out yet.
That afternoon, as soon as Xu You arrived for her shift and sat down, a familiar face walked in.
It was Fang Zhiyang.
“Name, age, and where does it hurt?”
“Fang Zhiyang, twenty-six. I’ve been training pretty hard these past few days, and I feel like I can’t really lift this leg anymore.”
Xu You checked the name against the medical record and, after confirming it was correct, asked, “What do you mean you can’t lift it? Show me.”
Fang Zhiyang raised his leg, but even lifting it slightly caused a sharp pulling pain.
“Doctor Xu, do you think I might have twisted a bone or tendon? That’s why it hurts whenever I lift my leg.”
Xu You had him perform several more movements.
“Lie down on the examination bed. I’ll check whether you’ve injured the bone.”
“The bone is fine. Most likely you’ve strained something from overexercising. And after every workout, you should spend some time stretching and relaxing your muscles.”
Xu You took a small rounded stick from her drawer.
“I’ll loosen the muscles for you a little. When you get home, massage it with some medicinal ointment. Keep doing that for two or three days and you’ll be fine.”
“Bear with it. It’ll hurt quite a bit. The tendon inside is twisted up. Once I loosen it, you’ll be fine.”
And then—
The examination room erupted with bloodcurdling screams.
The other patients and their families hurriedly moved farther away.
“Is treatment by Doctor Xu really that painful?”
“She couldn’t possibly really be using patients to improve her medical skills, could she?”
The young nurses couldn’t help stopping when they heard the screams.
“These minor aches and pains are child’s play for Doctor Xu. She had already mastered them before she even finished her training! If Doctor Xu hadn’t insisted on her diagnosis, Battalion Commander’s wife would have died long ago.”
The patients and their families had heard more than enough rumors lately. Upon hearing that, they immediately pressed the nurses for more information.
“So she really didn’t curse Battalion Commander’s wife into having a miscarriage?”
“You all argue with people and curse people all the time. Have you ever actually cursed someone to death? Please, use your brains. Doctor Xu is still working at the hospital, while Doctor Jin from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology was fired the day after the incident!”
The patients and their families seemed to remember something after being reminded.
“I just saw the hospital’s staff board. There’s an empty space where the Obstetrics and Gynecology doctor’s photo used to be.”
“And there’s more! The person who specifically asked for Doctor Xu and registered with her just now was Political Commissar Fang from the First Regiment!”
With the nurses deliberately spreading the word, more and more people began gathering outside Xu You’s examination room.
After using a pressure technique to loosen the strained tendon, Xu You was sweating profusely.
“Get up and try it. Is it any better?”
Fang Zhiyang was also drenched in cold sweat from the pain. He limped as he got off the bed.
He had already cursed Shen Xu eight hundred times in his heart. If it weren’t for Shen Xu, he wouldn’t have had to suffer this today.
According to their little plan, he couldn’t leave limping. He had to smile and praise Xu You’s medical skills to everyone he met.
Fang Zhiyang stubbornly forced a natural smile onto his face, stepped into his shoes, and casually lifted his leg.
“Huh?!”
Xu You was washing her hands. Hearing his exclamation, she turned around.
“Is there still somewhere that hurts?”
Fang Zhiyang incredulously raised his leg again. He even demonstrated a kick right there.
“I can lift my leg higher now?!”
“This is a hospital. I charged you for treatment. Surely I couldn’t just mess around a few times and send you home still limping, could I?”
Fang Zhiyang grinned.
“Doctor Xu, your medical skills are incredible. When should I come back?”
“I got a jar of medicinal ointment from the Old Commander last time, and there’s still half a jar left. If you don’t mind, take it home and use it before bed. As long as you remember to stretch properly after training, you won’t need to come back.”
“Sure. Thank you, Doctor Xu. Then I won’t be polite.”
Fang Zhiyang took the half jar of ointment, and his expression froze.
If he remembered correctly, he had seen this exact jar at Shen Xu’s place just last month.
Fang Zhiyang walked out of the examination room with a big smile.
“Doctor Xu, you don’t need to see me out. I’ll definitely introduce some of the soldiers from our First Regiment to you next time. Your skills really are impressive.”
If Xu You still couldn’t tell that Fang Zhiyang was a plant, she’d have been an idiot.
Remembering that Chen Qingsong had called Fang Zhiyang a leader before, Xu You guessed that he had come on Chen Qingsong’s behalf to support her.
Still, Xu You refused.
“Don’t. Seriously, don’t introduce anyone else. If a few more people like you come along, I’ll never be able to use my hands again.”
Fang Zhiyang chuckled. Then he lowered his voice.
“Doctor Xu, when we have the military competition later, would you be willing to participate as the military doctor for our First Regiment?”
Xu You didn’t agree immediately.
“What does the military doctor have to do?”
“Basically, provide medical treatment. It’s mostly surgery.”
Xu You thought about it.
That was her old specialty.
“Sure. Let me know in advance. I can switch shifts with another doctor.”
Fang Zhiyang happily left.
Hehe! He had recruited a reliable military doctor for the First Regiment!
He had done a great service!
But then he thought of that troublesome bastard Shen Xu.
How dare he use the Old Commander’s name to give gifts and favors to a young woman who already had a boyfriend?
That bastard really had some nerve!
Fang Zhiyang bounced back to the barracks and, during training the next day, absolutely tortured a bunch of soldiers.
He even arrogantly declared,
“You people are ridiculously weak. You can’t even beat me, and I’m a desk officer!”
Shen Xu said calmly, “Political Commissar Fang has a point. Everyone, add two hours of extra training.”
The soldiers wailed, but none dared disobey Colonel Shen.
They were afraid that if Colonel Shen personally came to discipline them, there wouldn’t be a single part of their bodies left without bruises.
The soldiers couldn’t understand it.
“Political Commissar Fang could barely lift his leg yesterday. How is he suddenly full of energy today?”
After asking around, they finally learned the truth.
“Apparently Political Commissar Fang went to the hospital to get his leg treated!”
“Which doctor is that amazing? They can even cure a lame leg?”
“Should we go and try?”
“Let’s go! Tomorrow we’ll get our revenge on Political Commissar Fang!”
Xu You was on night duty when five, six, seven, or eight young soldiers suddenly stormed into her examination room.
They hadn’t expected that the doctor Political Commissar Fang had recommended would be a woman.
The moment Xu You saw them, she understood.
“You’re here because Fang Zhiyang recommended me?”
The soldiers nodded, although strictly speaking, they had been beaten into coming by Political Commissar Fang.
Xu You had them line up.
“Come on. Give me your medical records and tell me where it hurts.”
Five minutes later, the examination room erupted with bloodcurdling screams.
And they continued for two whole hours.
Xu You finally began playing the victim.
“Go home! And keep your mouths shut. Stop sending people my way. Have some sympathy—my hands can’t take much more of this.”
The soldiers left with endless gratitude.