87 - Payment

Rouxi laughed when Li Yun retold the story about spying on Wu Ling.

"I don't think Wu Ling ever had a boyfriend in college," Rouxi said, trying to recall if there were any rumors. "We weren't friends during the first year, but she treated all the guys as either friends or strangers. Never saw any guy who was particularly close to her."

"I figured she didn't, but we were just teasing Wu Bin," Li Yun said.

"I think she has a crush on someone."

"Who?"

"Secret."

"It's not me?"

"It's not you darling, don't be so egotistical."

Li Yun had a feeling he knew who it was, but he was also sure Wu Bin had warn Wu Ling not to get involved.

"Wait, how come I never see you in college?" Li Yun asked.

"I stayed out of sight my freshmen year and the archaeology department is on the opposite side of campus." If she could dress up to stand out, it was easy for her to dress down to blend in.

After breakfast, they headed toward the front.

Rouxi had been coming in to assist Li Yun every weekend as the store clerk. Li Yun had posted an employment notice, but it was tough finding someone to work for just the weekend.

Li Yun hugged Rouxi from behind, with both arms around her waist. "I feel like I should be paying you for your service Ms. Song," Li Yun whispered into her ears.

Rouxi blushed, she wasn't particularly sure about what service he was talking about, but she ribbed him in the stomach. "I'm only volunteering until you find someone. The door is open Doctor Li, your first patient is about to come in."

Li Yun backed away and greeted the first few patients. The first patients were the Guduo couple who owned a candle shop along the street. As Li Yun led the Guduo to the back, Rouxi entertained the patients who waited at the front of the shop, often explaining the different products available for sale.

The majority of Li Yun's first customers were people near his shop who heard that he was a western doctor. After leading them to the back room, Li Yun checked their pulses, wrote down their ailments and possible treatments. A lot of the patients were amused by the hand crafted diagnosis written with a brush.

"Do you think they will frame it?" Rouxi had asked.

Li Yun was just practicing his calligraphy.

The Guduo looked around the room as Li Yun wrote down his diagnosis and treatment plan. They were curious to see what had happened to the room where the illegal organ harvesting had taken place, but it looked nothing like they had imagined. The room was cleaned, warmly lit with lanterns, decorated with ancient style furniture, and accented by a blue vase and ink paintings.

The main area had a round table in the middle, with a seating area near the doorway. On the side of the folded floor panel was a bed for sick patients. Li Yun finished writing the sheet of paper and handed the paper over to the Guduo.

"Uncle, your health is fine, but you shouldn't smoke and drink too much at your age," said Li Yun. "If you ever go out, the trick is to line the inner lining of your pocket with a plastic bag and a sponge. Just dump the alcohol in there."

"Ah! That's a good idea," Mr. Guduo nodded his head.

His other old friends were always drinking together, and they would never let one leave without drinking more than one drink.

"What do we owe you Doctor Li?" Asked Ms. Guduo.

"It's fine, we are neighbors."

For the neighbors on Caoben, he would only charge them for the cost of the medicinal if they needed it. He was, in a way, studying them, so giving them free health consultation was a good tradeoff. The Guduo gave him some candles they made from their shop before departing.

After lunch, Li Yun studied the different medicinal as Rouxi filmed him. As usual, there were less than a dozen people who stopped by to watch the broadcast.

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday, except there were Bizi and Zuiba. Pao Lie had told him about the two biggest gossipers in Caoben street. They usually only appear on the weekdays, but they made a special appearance just to see the new doctor.

"Ah!!! You must be the new doctor!" Bizi cried out with extreme enthusiasm.

The two ladies gathered around Li Yun as though he was a fat baby waiting to be pinched.

"Oh my, they say you are handsome, but we didn't believe it," Zuiba said with a flirty laugh.

"Ah, you must be Ms. Bizi and Ms. Zuiba," Li Yun greeted the two women with a bow. "Would you like to go to the back for consultation?"

"Ah, no, no, we are fine here," said Zuiba. She then looked at Rouxi and her eyes opened up. "Ah! Meimei! Is that you?"

Rouxi responded with a curt little nod. "I'm at work, so please call me Ms. Song."

"Oh wow! You look so different!" Zuiba exclaimed.

Rouxi toned down a bit to look more like a sales clerk.

"I didn't know you work on the weekend! It must be tough being a student and working at the same time?"

"It's a great learning experience," Rouxi responded.

"Zuiba, you know this miss?" Bizi asked.

"Remember I told you about a local streamer who's very knowledgeable about history, food and makeup? This is her."

"Oh wow, I've never met a celebrity, no wonder you look so beautiful. But why are you a clerk?"

"This is my friend's relative," Rouxi responded. "I'm just volunteering. You should have your consultation, or we'll lose some time."

Li Yun was actually relieved that Rouxi took away their attention. He could tell immediately the two women were meddling matchmakers type people.

Li Yun checked Bizi's first. The woman had a bit of clotting in her arteries. If she didn't change her eating habits, she would suffer from chest pain. There were remedies he could prescribe, but maybe more fruits and vegetables would suffice. Li Yun thought that was a good idea, and wrote down his diagnosis.

"Ms. Bizi, this is for you," Li Yun handed her the sheet. "You should add more greens to your diet. I am sure other doctors have told you that. Your diabetes isn't serious, but try to take your medicine daily."

"Ah, I see doctor," Bizi nodded her head. She was always forgetting to take her medicine.

After Bizi, Li Yun checked Zuiba. Upon feeling her pulse, he sensed that something was off. He thought it could be cancer. He zoomed in further to look at the cellular level. There were a lot of macrophages in the breast area. Macrophages were white blood cells that had been transformed to support tumors rather than to destroy them.

Li Yun wrote down his diagnosis quickly and then gave Zuiba the sheet. "Ms. Zuiba, you should find an oncologist as soon as possible," Li Yun suggested.

"What's an oncologist?" Zuiba asked. She looked at the neatly written paper. "Stage 1b breast cancer?"

"It's still very small and very treatable, you don't have to be concerned," Li Yun consoled her.

"Are you sure doc?" Zuiba felt like crying. She wasn't very knowledgeable on a lot of things, but the word cancer scared her.

"Like I have said, don't worry about it. 99% of the time, it's treatable, just go to the doctor and have it checked, okay?"

Zuiba nodded. Zuiba and Bizi left quickly after the disheartening diagnosis. For the rest of the day, no one else had any serious ailment.