Village Chief Niu brought her good news on the second afternoon, telling Su Mi to prepare well for the barefoot doctor qualification exam in ten days.
Su Mi reciprocated by giving the village chief medicine packets to eliminate lice and fleas—a full eight pounds. Of course, there was more than enough, but in this rural area, who didn’t have relatives? So the extra was naturally meant for him to use as favors.
The effect was, of course, outstandingly good. Su Mi knew medicine, and she knew it well.
The news that among the educated youth sent down to the countryside, there was a young person skilled in medicine—and a female comrade at that—spread throughout the entire village in less than three days. Even those who returned home to visit relatives carried the news back to their own villages.
When some people tentatively came to see her for colds or headaches, they took the medicine back, decocted it themselves, and drank it—the effects were immediate.
Thus, the entire village gained a certain understanding of Su Mi’s medical skills.
Every day, Su Mi either gathered medicinal herbs herself or used candy to mobilize the village children to go up the mountain and collect medicinal materials for her.
Of course, the children all carried samples with them, so they never made mistakes in identification.
Su Mi’s courtyard had visitors every day—some out of curiosity, and others genuinely seeking medical treatment.
Naturally, Su Mi didn’t turn anyone away. Those who came for treatment received it, and those who came out of curiosity could sit on the stools in the courtyard if they wished! As long as they didn’t enter her room or kitchen, they were free to do as they pleased.
These visitors even helped her sort through the piles of medicinal herbs—why not let them?
Busy days always passed quickly. At first, Su Mi kept an eye on the female lead, Bai Qianqian, and her three admirers.
But every time she heard about the bizarre antics of those four from Wang Yaxuan and the others who came to visit, Su Mi felt her worldview had been thoroughly refreshed—it seriously didn’t match the novel’s original setting.
Sometimes, Su Mi wondered if it was her own butterfly effect? But what did it have to do with her?
Since that meeting, the two sides had not seen each other again. Even if there was a butterfly effect, it would only affect each other after meeting or doing something, right?
Su Mi couldn’t figure it out and didn’t want to dwell on it too much.
Tomorrow was the day of the exam. Su Mi closed the courtyard gate early and entered her Dimensional Space.
During this period, her Plant-type Supernatural Ability and Psychic-type Ability had already reached an advanced stage.
At Plant-type level seven, she could now sprout 15 vines, with the longest reaching up to 50 meters. She could even adjust the toxins on the thorns according to her ability.
The main roots were no longer afraid of ordinary flames, and the main vines were impervious to ordinary knives, stabs, cuts, or slashes.
Moreover, she had already gained Healing-type abilities, which greatly enhanced her ability to treat injuries and illnesses.
Her Psychic-type Ability could now cover an area within a 500-meter radius, allowing her to detect the breathing rhythms of any living beings in this area and even vaguely sense their actions and movements.
Even objects within this range could be quietly collected into her Dimensional Space by Su Mi.
Her Psychic-type Ability was currently at level seven, but Su Mi felt she would soon break through to level eight.
Although she couldn’t yet perform feats as powerful as mind-reading or entering others’ dreams to transmit information, she was capable of simple hypnosis, mental control, or even destroying someone’s mental willpower.
The strength of these two abilities gave Su Mi a strong sense of security.
Unfortunately, the higher the ability level, the more energy it required. The piles and boxes of Zombie Crystal Cores in her Dimensional Space were being consumed at a visibly rapid rate.
Su Mi had seriously miscalculated her expectations. However, even if the two supernatural abilities couldn’t reach the divine level, maintaining them at the peak of the ninth level shouldn’t be a problem.
After all, this wasn’t the apocalypse where zombies and ability users roamed the streets—the safety factor was already at its highest.
With an exam scheduled for the next day, Su Mi unusually refrained from enhancing her abilities and instead reviewed all the medical knowledge she had previously learned.
Earlier, she had asked someone to help purchase books published during this period, such as The Barefoot Doctor’s Manual and Practical Chinese Herbal Medicine. She had already flipped through these books no less than three times.
After all, she needed to align with the current medical standards to better adapt to living in this era—she could stand out but must never surpass reality.
No matter how advanced her knowledge was, she still had to build a solid foundation based on local practices.
Medical knowledge was interconnected and easily mastered once the fundamentals were understood.
Most of it was similar, with the main differences lying in terminology and undiscovered treatment methods.
The next day, Village Chief Niu personally arranged for an ox cart, with Niu Dali driving, to take Su Mi into the city.
Since Su Mi wanted to explore after the exam and it wouldn’t be completed in a single day, she didn’t ask Niu Dali to wait. After getting off the cart, she exchanged a few polite words and entered the examination venue.
The so-called examination venue was actually just a room in the county hospital with a few tables set up.
Most of the people inside were middle-aged men, with a few younger ones but not many. Surprisingly, Su Mi was the only woman taking the barefoot doctor exam.
Su Mi didn’t know any of these people. She took out her book, opened The Barefoot Doctor’s Manual, and read to pass the time.
The others chatted with acquaintances, mostly discussing various methods for treating illnesses.
As for the only woman present, they glanced at her curiously but didn’t pay much attention, nor did they approach her to strike up a conversation.
Soon, a person who looked like a leader entered with two staff members.
Su Mi immediately packed away her belongings. To avoid unnecessary trouble, she deliberately placed her backpack on the front table.
On her own table, she kept only a pen, eliminating any possibility of being accused of cheating.
Some people understood her approach and followed suit, while others paid no heed.
After checking everyone’s recommendation letters, the invigilators handed out five test papers to each candidate.
Su Mi had initially thought the exam content would be quite difficult.
To her surprise, the written test mainly assessed memory—specifically, knowledge of various medicines and Chinese herbal remedies.
The questions were diverse and extensive, covering a wide range of topics.
Su Mi wrote down the answers, including punctuation, as if she were transcribing from memory.
The exam lasted two hours in total, but Su Mi finished writing her answers in less than half an hour.
After quietly asking the invigilator, Su Mi had no choice but to submit her paper and return to her seat to wait.
Bored, she pretended to sleep with her head on the table while channeling her mental power into her dimensional space.
The supplies in the dimensional space had been left in disarray and never organized. Whenever Su Mi found herself bored, she would split her mental power to enter the space and tidy everything up.
After the written exam, there was still the clinical skills test to take.
This was the largest hospital in the town, but of course, whether in terms of medical equipment or anything else, it couldn’t compare to city hospitals. In Su Mi’s eyes, it was still too rudimentary.
Nevertheless, as the only official and regular medical facility in the town, it naturally had no shortage of patients.
There are no specialized departments like in large hospitals, such as respiratory or urology departments.
Patients here are essentially handled comprehensively—if treatable, they’re treated; if not, they’re stabilized first, and then family members are advised to transfer the patient to a major hospital in the city.