The man coughed violently, as if he were about to cough up his lungs. Yet his pair of eyes were fixed firmly on Ye Wanmian, the blood - red whites of his eyes looking extremely terrifying.
Qi Wen, seeing this, was quite dissatisfied. He stepped forward to block the man's line of sight, hands on his hips, and said, "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a female doctor?"
During the days they had spent together, although Qi Wen often quarreled with Ye Wanmian, he still protected her in front of outsiders. Especially after "sharing hardships" with her and learning about her background, he regarded her more and more as one of his own.
The man coughed for quite a while before finally calming down. He leaned weakly against the bed and said in a hoarse and vicissitudinous voice, "Indeed, I rarely see women practicing medicine."
Qi Wen snorted. "Well, you've seen one now. It's just that Dr. Jiang of our Huichuntang is kind - hearted. Otherwise, you'd be a corpse by now. I advise you to be respectful to her!"
"Alright, Qi Wen." Ye Wanmian gently patted Qi Wen and walked up to the man, sitting on the chair opposite him.
"Judging from your accent, you're not from Dongli Town. You're from Luozhou, aren't you?" Ye Wanmian said.
After being lectured by Qi Wen, the man no longer stared fixedly at Ye Wanmian. He coughed twice and said, "Oh, so Dr. Jiang can recognize the Luozhou accent?"
Ye Wanmian replied, "I was lucky enough to pass by Luozhou and stayed there for two days, so I remember it."
"Dr. Jiang is really well - traveled," the man said, opening his lips.
Ye Wanmian asked, "May I know your name, sir? How should I address you? Are you here in Dongli Town to visit relatives or friends, or just passing through for a tour?"
The man stared at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought, and didn't answer Ye Wanmian's question. Ye Wanmian continued, "I've felt your pulse, sir. You've not only caught a cold, but also have other ailments in your body. If you want a complete cure, it may take some time. If you have relatives or friends in Dongli Town, we can inform them on your behalf."
Only then did the man reply, "Li Zhao."
Li Zhao? Was this his name?
Ye Wanmian paused for a moment. The man's hoarse voice rang in her ear: "I have no relatives left in this world. I came here to look for someone, the only person I've been longing for in my heart."
Remembering the name he murmured in his coma, Ye Wanmian tentatively asked, "Is it your wife?"
Li Zhao seemed absent - minded and murmured, "I've never married, but I've long regarded her as my wife."
Ye Wanmian scoffed silently in her heart. Since he regarded her as the one he cared about, why didn't he marry her back then? It was only now that he came to regret and search. He was indeed a heartless man.
Ye Wanmian had no interest in asking further and got straight to the point. "In that case, stay in our medical clinic until you're fully recovered. However, the medical fee..."
The man rummaged in his pocket, then threw a dirty money bag in front of Ye Wanmian. Gasping for breath, he said, "There should still be some silver in here. It's enough to cover my medical fee and meals for these days. For the rest, please buy a pot of wine for me every day."
Qi Wen couldn't help but say, "You're so sick and still want to drink. Are you trying to kill yourself?"
But Li Zhao had already closed his eyes and turned his back to them.
"You!" Qi Wen was fuming. He looked at Ye Wanmian, who gave him a look. Then they both left the room.
"What a strange man!" Qi Wen muttered. "Drinking when he's so sick. Don't let him blame you if his illness doesn't get cured and ruin the reputation of our medical clinic."
"Why do you care? If he wants to drink, just let him. If he doesn't get better, he'll have to stay here all the time. Isn't this exactly what we want?" Ye Wanmian winked towards the back.
Remembering her plan, Ye Wanmian weighed the dirty money bag and said, "I'll go out to buy the wine. You stay in the medical clinic and watch. If someone comes to seek medical treatment and it's not an emergency, tell them to go to another clinic. If it's an emergency, wait for me to come back."
"Da Huang, let's go."
Watching Ye Wanmian run out with the wagging - tailed yellow dog, Qi Wen sighed deeply, returned to the table, picked up his small notebook, and continued writing his story.
In the Dongli Town market.
The market in Dongli Town had a major fair every six days and a minor fair every three days. Today was the day of the major fair. People from nearby villages had come to the town to sell the good produce from their fields. The market was bustling with people, and the cries of peddlers and the bargaining voices rose and fell one after another. It was extremely lively.
Precisely because there were so many people, when a Taoist priest with patched clothes was kicked out of a door, it didn't attract much attention.
"You stinking Taoist priest, spouting nonsense here. If you keep causing trouble, I'll report you to the officials!" A somewhat plump man pointed at the Taoist priest's nose and cursed.
"Alas, sir, I'm really not wrong. Your young son is really not yours..."
"You dare to say it again! Say it again!" The man flew into a rage and raised the stick in his hand to swing at the Taoist priest. The Taoist priest's face changed in fright and he didn't dare to say more. He turned around and ran.
"Pah!" The man spat hard at the Taoist priest's back. "How could he not be my son? He looks exactly like me when I was a kid!"
The woman protected behind him also scolded, "That's right. This evil Taoist priest must be a swindler!" But a trace of uneasiness flashed across her face, which the man didn't notice because his back was turned to her.
After running for two li, Taoist Priest Yuanzheng saw that there was no one chasing him behind, so he finally let out a sigh of relief. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and murmured, "Of course the child looks like you. He's your brother. Alas, people in this world always can't stand the truth..."
"Woof..."
There was a strange sound behind him. Taoist Priest Yuanzheng turned around and found that there were several ferocious dogs hiding behind. The dogs bared their teeth and walked towards him menacingly.
"Oh no!"
The calf of the leg that had been bitten by a dog before began to throb faintly again. Yuanzheng immediately took off running forward. "Help! Please save me. Drive the dogs away for me!"
The stray dogs in the town were used to running wild. Usually, almost no one dared to provoke them. When people saw them, they would stay far away. Moreover, since Yuanzheng had just been kicked out, the villagers naturally thought that someone had deliberately set the dogs on him, so they all stood around with their hands in their sleeves, watching the fun.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
The barking of the dogs behind was intense and getting closer. Fearing that the dogs would catch up with him, Yuanzheng waved his legs desperately, running so fast that his hat was askew.
He ran out of the market all the way and was forced into an alley by the stray dogs wandering the streets. Seeing that there was no way out behind him except for a big tree, Yuanzheng gritted his teeth, jumped onto the tree, hugged the branches tightly, and climbed up, gasping for breath.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
The dogs barked crazily under the tree, jumping up and down. They almost bit Yuanzheng's buttocks. He was so scared that he was almost crying. "Heaven! Who can come and save me!"
To think that he, the disciple of the great Taoist Priest Shenji, who could understand the past and present and predict good and bad luck, with all his skills, was being chased by dogs on the street. It was simply a disgrace to his master's sect!
"Hey, isn't this the Taoist priest who did fortune - telling for me in the market before? What a coincidence you and I have. I just wonder why the Taoist priest is here?" Suddenly, a sweet female voice rang in his ear. Yuanzheng was stunned and turned his head. Under the tree, Ye Wanmian had her arms folded across her chest, smiling slyly.