Village Doctor's Women-Chapter 22 Clinic Opens

Wang Jian watched his sister-in-law leave, his heart filled with confusion.

What’s with her?

The day before yesterday, she was the one scolding him for overstepping his bounds, and now she was the one actively flirting with him. A woman’s mind was truly unfathomable. No wonder they said it was like searching for a needle at the bottom of the sea; that was no exaggeration at all.

While Xu Qian took her shower, Wang Jian sat on the sofa, feeling utterly restless. His mind was preoccupied, and though the splashing from the distant bathroom wasn’t loud, it completely drowned out the television in his ears.

An image formed in his mind: a steamy bathroom, a figure barely visible through the mist, her long black hair flowing down with the water...

Wang Jian swallowed hard and adjusted himself. For a moment, he even wished he had awakened some kind of superpower, but that was just wishful thinking.

He rushed to a finish, and soon, the entire living room began to fill with a peculiar scent. Only then did Wang Jian feel much better, and he hurriedly cleaned up the battlefield.

When Xu Qian returned in her pajamas, her nose twitched.

"That’s strange. There’s an odd smell. Do you smell it?" Xu Qian frowned slightly, wiping her hair with a towel. The scent seemed to vanish the moment she tried to focus on it, yet it still tickled her nose, constantly lingering.

"Uh... no, I don’t. Maybe a stink bug got in." Wang Jian looked embarrassed as he pulled out an air freshener and sprayed it a few times. "Is that any better?"

Xu Qian sniffed again. "It seems to be gone, but there was no need for air freshener. It smelled quite nice just now, actually. Fragrant and somehow comforting."

???

Nice? Good heavens, how could that possibly smell nice?

Wang Jian looked at Xu Qian in astonishment, unsure how to respond. "You thought it smelled nice, Sister-in-law? I thought it stank a little."

"Really?" Xu Qian tilted her head, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "That’s strange. I thought it smelled good."

"Hahaha, you should go take your shower," Xu Qian said with a laugh. "I took a long time, so there isn’t much hot water left."

"Ah, okay."

Wang Jian nodded. That was how things were in the village; the water supply wasn’t available all day, so they had to store it in the water heater. Not that he necessarily needed hot water. If the mountain spring water wasn’t so frigid, he wouldn’t use it at all.

After Wang Jian left for his shower, Xu Qian moved to sit where he had been, finding it a more comfortable angle for watching TV.

But as soon as she sat down, she smelled that scent again. This time it was more pronounced; underneath the pleasant aroma was a hint of something pungent.

Xu Qian was a tidy person by nature and couldn’t stand strange smells in her house, so she began searching for the source. She eventually found a large, wadded-up ball of tissue paper in the trash can. The smell was coming from there.

Only then did Xu Qian remember that Wang Jian had been spraying the air freshener directly at the trash can. Her face flushed red. Having seen this, how could she not know what the smell was? She grimaced, quickly changing the trash bag and taking it outside.

Wang Jian, of course, was oblivious to all of this. What he hadn’t anticipated, however, was that he had been a bit messy, leaving a few drops on the coffee table.

Once Xu Qian started cleaning, she couldn’t stop. Naturally, she saw the few drops of a white, milky substance on the table. She wiped them away with her finger, and the familiar scent clung to her fingertip. Xu Qian didn’t know what came over her, but she actually stuck out her tongue and licked it.

Her cheeks instantly turned crimson.

What have I done? Xu Qian, you’ve really lost your mind. Even if it wasn’t... that, you shouldn’t just lick random things off a table! Honestly...

Unsure if it was shame or guilt, Xu Qian began cleaning frantically. She wiped the coffee table several times with a wet wipe before she finally stopped. Then, without waiting for Wang Jian to come out, she scurried to her room and locked the door from the inside.

Xu Qian threw herself onto the bed, buried her face in the pillow, and let out a muffled scream.

Only she could hear the sound. But having just tasted that... thing, she couldn’t possibly face Wang Jian right away.

When Wang Jian emerged from his shower, he was excited to chat with his sister-in-law again. But seeing the empty living room, the turned-off television, and the locked bedroom door, he simply shook his head and started toward his own room. Just as he reached the doorway, however, he paused and walked back to the sofa.

"Fuck!" Wang Jian cursed silently. The trash can liner had been replaced with a brand new, empty one.

She probably didn’t find out, right?

***

Early the next morning, before the sky had fully brightened, Wang Jian climbed out of bed. After quickly tidying up, he began practicing Tai Chi in the yard. Today was the first day his clinic was open, and he wanted to be in peak condition. His master had instilled this habit of practicing martial arts in him.

When he arrived at the village clinic, the committee members hadn’t shown up yet, so Wang Jian used his key to open the door. Stepping inside, he put on a white lab coat for the first time in many days. As he slipped it on, a familiar feeling washed over him, giving him a deep sense of belonging. The symbolism of the coat brought him an indescribable spiritual satisfaction.

Sitting in the clinic and inhaling the scent of medicinal herbs, Wang Jian didn’t stay idle. He took the opportunity to clean while there were no patients.

His village clinic didn’t have a proper sign, only a small note at the entrance of the village committee office: "Clinic Inside."

Word about Wang Jian’s clinic had already spread, but people were reluctant to trust a doctor without a reputation or positive word-of-mouth, especially a practitioner of Chinese medicine.

Having a village doctor and a clinic should have been good news, but when everyone learned it was run by a young doctor—a student, no less—they lost all interest. Even those with minor ailments who had considered visiting decided to go to the town hospital instead.

So, Wang Jian sat in his clinic all morning with nothing to do. By the time Xu Qian arrived with his lunch, not a single person had come by.

"Xiao Jian, do you have to sit here all day even if no one comes?" Xu Qian asked. Seeing the clinic was empty, she sat down to wait for him to finish eating so she could take the dishes back. After nearly half an hour without a single visitor, she couldn’t help but ask.

Wang Jian didn’t seem to mind in the slightest. "This is a clinic," he said with a smile. "It’s a good thing if no one comes. Why should I be in a hurry?"

Taking a sip of his tomato and egg soup, he continued, "Besides, I have a pretty good idea why no one has come. I’m just a fresh graduate opening a clinic in the village, so no one wants to be the first to try. Things will get better after I’ve treated a couple of people. You don’t need to worry, Sister-in-law."

Xu Qian chuckled. "Of course. I have complete faith in your skills, Xiao Jian."

"By the way, Sister-in-law, you don’t need to bring me dinner. I’ll just head home to eat."

"Okay. Are you finished?" Xu Qian asked, seeing he was almost done. "If you are, I’ll clean up. It wouldn’t look good if a patient came in and saw these dirty dishes."

Wang Jian waved his hand. "No need. I’m not busy anyway. I’ll disinfect and clean up in a little while."

After seeing Xu Qian off, Wang Jian finished cleaning and took out a medical book his teacher had given him to study. He knew that every time he read it, new insights could emerge; his current perspective allowed him to see things he hadn’t before.

As luck would have it, he hadn’t been reading for long when an elderly man walked in, supported by a middle-aged man.

As soon as they entered, both men paused, taken aback. It wasn’t because of Wang Jian—they already knew he was a young doctor. What they hadn’t expected was how different the clinic was from what they had imagined. It was surprisingly luxurious.

"Doctor Wang?"

"Please, have a seat." Seeing the old man’s difficulty moving, Wang Jian quickly went to help. He grasped the man’s wrist with one hand and supported his arm with the other, working with the middle-aged man to help the elder onto a stool.

The moment he grasped the man’s wrist, Wang Jian was already checking his pulse. By observing the old man’s reactions, he had also pinpointed the likely source of the problem.

So, as soon as the man was seated, Wang Jian spoke. "You have an injury on your right leg, don’t you?"

"Yes, it’s an old ailment from a battle long ago," the old man said, his face etched with the marks of time but his eyes sharp. As he sat, he continuously rubbed his right knee. "It always hurts when the air gets damp, and it’s been especially bad recently."

The middle-aged man who had come with him added, "My father only agreed to go to a hospital because he couldn’t stand the pain anymore. I was planning to take him to the town or even the city, but then I heard Doctor Wang had opened a clinic here, so we came straight over. Please, take a look."

Their attire was neither flashy nor expensive. They wore old-fashioned clothes, the cuffs of which were heavily frayed.