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nTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

nNo! In that case, their son’s life would be ruined. Sun Honglin’s mother didn’t look at her husband’s face.

n“I’ll talk to him again.” As she was about to go inside the clinic, her husband stopped her.

n“Don’t! Wait here,” he said.

n“Wait here?” Sun Honglin’s mother asked.

n“Yes, wait here. Gao, you and Honglin wait inside the car,” Sun Honglin’s father said.

nThe young man who came along with them took Sun Honglin back to the car.

nSun Honglin’s parents had been waiting outside the clinic. It was cold and windy. Since they left their apartment in a hurry, they weren’t wearing thick clothes. They came to the clinic by car and didn’t expect to stay outside for this long.

nIt started to get dark. Actually, it had been pretty dark the whole day.

nWang Yao checked the time and was about to go home for dinner. He saw the couple standing outside his clinic. They were shivering from the cold.

n“Dr… Dr. Wang, we are so sorry!” Sun Honglin’s mother’s face had become pale after standing outside for over an hour. She was shivering with cold.

n“Come in.” Wang Yao sighed as he looked at the miserable couple.

n“Thank you,” Sun Honglin’s mother said.

nShe had to give in for her son. The couple trembled into the clinic, followed by the young man and Sun Honglin.

n“I’ve brewed the decoction for your son. The dose is the same. Double the interval between two doses. Come back here in two weeks,” Wang Yao said.

n“I see. Thank you.” Sun Honglin’s mother gave her son a small cup of decoction to take right away. They were now completely compliant.

n“Let’s go home,” Sun Honglin’s father said.

nThe four of them got into the car and headed home in the dark, snowy evening.

n“That doctor is so rude,” the driver said.

n“Let’s not to talk about it anymore,” Sun Honglin’s father said as he shook his hand.

nThey were all upset, but what else they could do? Sun Honglin had to go to the rehabilitation center if he didn’t receive treatment from Wang Yao. It would be a disaster for him.

nWang Yao closed the clinic and went home.

n“Did you have any patients today?” Zhang Xiuying asked.

n“Yes, I had a patient today,” Wang Yao said.

n“He must be really sick coming to see you on a snowy day,” Zhang Xiuying replied.

n“Yeah, he is extremely sick,” Wang Yao said.

n“He’s so sick that he has to be tied up?” Zhang Xiuying asked.

n“How do you know?” Wang Yao was surprised.

n“Someone in the village saw him and came to tell me about it. I thought they were doing human trafficking,” Zhang Xiuying said.

nWhen she was told that a person was tied up and taken to her son’s clinic, she was terrified. She had no idea what condition the person was in. She just hoped that nothing bad would happen in her son’s clinic.

n“Ha-ha. No, that kid is a drug addict,” Wang Yao said.

n“Drug addict?” Zhang Xiuying was shocked. “What turned a normal kid into a drug addict?”

nShe had only seen drug addicts on TV. She had never heard or known anyone taking drugs. She never expected to see a drug addict in her village. Taking drugs was a very unusual thing in her village. However, it could happen anywhere.

n“They didn’t want to and regret it,” Wang Yao said.

n“Can you come with me to your grandparent’s house tomorrow?” Zhang Xiuying asked.

n“Did something happen?” Wang Yao asked.

n“You grandma caught the flu. She’s been sick for many days. I want you to take a look at her,” Zhang Xiuying said.

n“Shall we go now?” Wang Yao asked.

n“No, it’s too late and not an easy drive,” Zhang Xiuying said. “Let’s go tomorrow.”

nWang Yao agreed. He returned to Nanshan Hill after dinner.

n…

nIn Zhu, He Xiaofeng’s parents were concerned about their daughter.

n“How are you, Xiaofeng,” her mother asked

n“I’m fine. Sorry, Mom, I shouldn’t have made you and Dad worry.” He Xiaofeng was actually a thoughtful girl. She knew her parents had been worried about her.

n“Don’t go out. Stay home for two weeks. I don’t want anything unexpected to happen,” her father said.

n“OK, Dad. Did you say Honglin went to see the doctor, too?” He Xiaofeng asked.

n“Yes, he went with his parents. I don’t want you to hang out with him and Du Baozhan anymore,” her father said.

n“Honglin and Baozhan are not bad people.” He Xiaofeng tried to explain to her father.

n“I don’t care. You are a girl. It’s not appropriate to hang out with two young men all the time,” her mother said.

nShe had mentioned it to her daughter before but didn’t reinforce it. After all, she and her husband had known the other two families for over a decade. However, she was now terrified, so she brought it up again to her daughter. She didn’t want anything worse to happen.

n“I see,” He Xiaofeng said compliantly. “I’m going back to my room.”

nHe Xiaofeng was still worried about her friends. After she had returned into her own bedroom, she called them.

n“I’m fine, how about you?” Du Baozhan was still at home. He tried his best to survive a withdrawal with his parent’s support. He planned to see Wang Yao the next day.

n“I just came back from Dr. Wang’s clinic. He gave me another dose of decoction. Honglin also went,” He Xiaofeng said.

nThey chatted for a short while. He Xiaofeng hung up and called Sun Honglin, who was still upset.

n“That doctor is so bloody rude! He doesn’t deserve my respect,” Sun Honglin said.

n“What happened?” He Xiaofeng frowned. She appreciated Wang Yao very much due to the effectiveness of the decoctions. Wang Yao gave her hope and confidence. If she hadn’t gone to see him, she would probably end up in a rehabilitation center. Then, she would be on a different path of life. Therefore, she didn’t like what Sun Honglin say about Wang Yao.

n“My mom just complained a bit. He let my parents wait outside for over an hour in cold weather! He is so pretentious. He just did it for money,” Sun Honglin said.

n“I don’t think Dr. Wang cares about money,” He Xiaofeng said.

nIf Wang Yao cared about money, he would have taken the chance to ask them for money during their first encounter. Instead, Wang Yao insisted that he would only treat them with their parents’ presence. Looking back, He Xiaofeng thought Wang Yao did it for their own good.

n“Xiaofeng, why do you speak for him?” Sun Honglin sounded unhappy at the other end of the phone. “He charged us $10,000 for one bottle of decoction. When I’m recovered, I’ll get him to pay it back.”

n“Well, you sound alright now,” He Xiaofeng said. She thought her friend had gone too far, so she was not keen to continue to chat with him.

n“I have to go now,” she said.

n“OK. By the way, Xiaofeng, when can we catch up?” Sun Honglin asked.

n“I’m not sure. I’ll let you know. I’m so tired now. Speak to you later,” she said as she hung up the phone.

nWhat’s wrong with Honglin? Her friend didn’t used to be this way.

n…

nThe next morning, Wang Yao left Nanshan Hill early. He accompanied his mother to his grandparents’ house. His grandma didn’t look well. Wang Yao took a good look at her.

n“It’s nothing serious. You just caught a cold, which made you weak.” After all, his grandma was an elderly woman who could easily get sick due to small issues.

nWang Yao had prepared some herbs on Nanshan Hill.

n“Grandma, do you still have the China pot?” he asked.

n“Yes,” his grandma said.

n“I’ll brew you two decoctions,” Wang Yao said.

nHe had purchased the pot for his grandparents. Although it was not as good as his multifunctional pot for herbs, it was a high-quality pot.

nThere were some firewood available in the backyard. Wang Yao started to brew the decoctions in the kitchen.

nAll the herbs were from Wang Yao’s herbal field, so they were absolutely natural. With the nurturing of the aura on Nanshan Hill, the quality of his herbs was much better than common wild herbs.

nWang Yao brewed two decoctions. One was to expel the coldness from his grandma’s body. The other was to consolidate his grandma’s corporeity.

nAfter he had finished brewing the decoction, he gave some to his grandma to take right away. He left the rest of the decoction at his grandparents’ house and told them how to take it.

n“I was going to visit your uncle today,” his grandma said.

n“Tell me when you want to go. I can drive you there,” Wang Yao said.

nHe then gave his grandma a massage to facilitate the absorption of the decoction and improve her blood circulation.

n“Phew!” Wang Yao’s grandma took a big breath.

nAfter she had taken the two decoctions from Wang Yao and received massage therapy, she felt much more comfortable. She had a warm feeling and was no longer that tired and weak.

n“How do you feel, grandma?” Wang Yao asked.

n“Good, I feel much better,” his grandma replied.

n“Don’t get up too soon. Stay in bed to rest for a while,” Wang Yao said.

nHe lit the firewood underneath the sleeping platform, which soon became nice and warm.

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