CHAPTER 116: CHAPTER 116: CONSULTING AT RENXIN HALL

New Year’s Day came quickly.

Lu Zheng went back home once to report his experiences in Hai City to his parents.

Well, it was all made-up experiences, of course.

Nothing more than selling a program, living worry-free, and achieving the milestone of homeownership.

In addition, there was also exercising and achieving the fitness milestone of six-pack abs.

After some thought, he decided not to mention Lin Wan, as this matter needed to be delayed to avoid his parents urging him to marry.

Lu Zheng wanted to send some money back home, but was waved off by his father, Lu Hui.

"Everything’s fine at home, your mom and I don’t lack money. Keep your money for future wedding and child-rearing; there’ll be plenty of places to spend it."

"You rascal, you actually bought a house in Hai City? Do you plan to settle down there permanently?" his mother, Gu Ling, said mournfully. "I was hoping you’d come back and get married so I could play with my grandchild when I have nothing better to do."

Lu Zheng, "..."

Then his mother, with a gossiping face, asked, "So, have you met any nice girls? If not, should I introduce a few? Since you don’t have a formal job, stay a few days longer, and I’ll introduce you to some with good conditions. You should meet them."

"No, I won’t!" Lu Zheng firmly refused, "I know what you’re thinking. You want me to get married back home and never leave."

"Is that so bad?"

Lu Zheng shook his head, "Not good! The world is so big, I want to see it!"

Gu Ling squinted her eyes, "That’s something people of my age say!"

Lu Zheng blinked innocently, "Is it?"

"Poor mom, getting older, with no one to keep her company..."

Lu Hui looked speechlessly at his wife and son bickering playfully, then decisively got jealous, "Can’t I accompany you? Plus, you’re only forty-five, right? You’re saying you’re old?"

His mom slapped his dad lightly, "I’m just trying to keep our son at home."

Lu Hui shook his head, "A true man aspires for the four directions, how can he be attached to his hometown..."

Gu Ling squinted at him, and Lu Hui decisively changed course, "Besides, it might disturb our world of two!"

Lu Zheng felt speechless, was his trip home just to get showered with "dog food" (display of affection)?

...

He stayed at home for three days, used sporadic time to time travel back to ancient times for appearances, and everything went smoothly without any problems.

Additionally, he told his parents he brought some medicinal wine worth tens of thousands, instructing them to drink just a cup each week.

After drinking one cup and seeing the effects, his parents swiftly stored the medicinal wine away, declaring it was solely for their consumption and vowed not to let others see it.

Lu Zheng felt deeply gratified.

On the last day of his vacation, Lu Zheng gave his parents another round of massages, then took the night train back to Hai City.

...

After New Year’s Day, Lin Wan started working, but Li Jinglin looked after her by letting her first stay in the office, saying they would discuss field assignments later.

Although Lin Wan felt helpless, she couldn’t say she was even healthier and stronger than before, so she reluctantly agreed to this arrangement, planning to address it later.

However, there was one advantage: less overtime, giving her plenty of time to continue practicing the "Eighteen Mountain-Carrying Techniques."

...

"Follow this prescription daily, and you’ll see results in three days, fully recovering in half a month."

"Thank you, doctor!"

Liu Qingyan put down her brush, and the old woman before her thanked her profusely before getting up and taking the prescription to the pharmacy.

Lu Zheng watched helplessly as another patient sat down in front of Liu Qingyan, "I feel like you’ve really made a name for yourself, the people from Li Family Town are all coming to you for treatment?"

Liu Qingyan smiled gently, raised three fingers, and lightly placed them on the patient’s wrist.

The patient was an old man, who hurriedly said upon hearing Lu Zheng’s teasing, "In our village, there’s someone with chronic arthritis, been hurting for over a decade. Last time it flared up in the city, they got some needles from Doctor Liu and a prescription, and it hasn’t recurred for a month! Once I heard about it, I rushed over!"

Lu Zheng gave Liu Qingyan a thumbs-up. Liu Qingyan smiled softly, switched to the patient’s other hand, then diagnosed the illness and wrote a prescription.

Recently, Liu Qingyan had been working at Renxin Hall and had advanced her medical skills rapidly, providing excellent treatment with her needles and medicine.

Through word of mouth, Doctor Liu at Renxin Hall had gained some local fame, attracting many patients.

The illnesses weren’t hard to treat, but as a result, Liu Qingyan got busier, and Lu Zheng had to step in as a warm-hearted assistant, helping consult patients, write prescriptions, or brew medicine whenever he had time.

Additionally...

Lu Zheng noticed a lot of patients still waiting in line outside and frowned slightly.

He wasn’t annoyed by the number of patients, but Hu Zhou had mentioned to him while learning martial arts at his house in the evenings that as Renxin Hall’s reputation grew, some troublemakers occasionally appeared besides the patients.

Of course, with Hu Zhou in the shop, those trying to extort money couldn’t take advantage of Liu Qingyan and Elder Liu.

Moreover, the governmental officials at the County Government Office were aware that the Liu Family were Lu Zheng’s neighbors, Liu Qingyan had an ambiguous relationship with Lu Zheng, and they knew of Lu Zheng’s prowess—their boss, Chief Liu, was like a little brother in front of Lu Zheng.

So under their conscious protection, everything was smoothed out.

However...

To Lu Zheng, the real hidden danger to Renxin Hall wasn’t those idle troublemakers trying to extort money, but another interest group.

Initially, Lu Zheng had thought of discussing with Liu Qingyan to reduce her time at Renxin Hall.

But later, seeing the genuine smile on Liu Qingyan’s face when curing patients, he decided not to mention it.

Haha, Liu Family’s backing is me, and my backing is White Cloud Temple. Besides, I’m on friendly terms with the Tonglin County City God, I know the official from the State Capital Anomaly Suppression Bureau, and I have a court-recognized Peach Blossom Fairy as my confidante.

No matter how Lu Zheng thought, there was no need to be wary of other medical halls in the county city.

And the medical halls weren’t fools; once they found out about Liu Family’s background, they wouldn’t act recklessly.

The only possible way to cause trouble for Renxin Hall would be...

"Doctor! Doctor! Please, take a look at me!"

"Whoa! Where did the evil ghost come from?"

"Ugh... so disgusting..."

As far as the eye could see, an unsteady person walked in through the door, but his head and face were covered with rotten sores, oozing pus, looking ghostly.

"Damn! The methods are indeed vicious!" Lu Zheng was already deep into his conspiracy theories.

However...

Liu Qingyan wasn’t bothered but saw that as soon as the person arrived, others shied away, so she gestured for him to sit down.

"Doctor, can my illness be cured?"

Liu Qingyan smiled faintly and placed her fingers on the person’s pulse, "The sores on your body are nothing more than an internal imbalance of the five elements. Once the cause is found, this illness isn’t hard to treat."

Lu Zheng shook his head, thinking skin diseases are one of the most notoriously difficult to cure because the hardest part is identifying the cause.