Chapter 411: Chapter 407: Is She Just Making Up the Numbers?

Every year, during almsgiving, it is inevitable that the charitable food is snatched away. Just like what happened before her eyes, someone snatched the food a wife had queued for, an occurrence the crowd had grown accustomed to. Qin Liuxi understood this was human nature, yet she couldn’t hold back when it happened right under her nose and intervened.

The man was suddenly thrown to the ground, his hand still in pain, not knowing what had happened. When he saw clearly who had thrown him down, he tried to rise from the ground, but his eyes rolled and he grabbed his waist, crying out in pain.

“You, what kind of person are you, why hit someone for no reason, my waist, it’s broken, I can’t get up, you’re going to pay for my medicine!” the man feigned intense pain.

Qin Liuxi couldn’t help but laugh.

Think you can scam me?

“Who hit you? I saw a snake on your hand and I was just helping you get rid of it. Don’t believe me? Look.” She smiled with a sly undertone, pointing at his waist.

A snake, what snake?

It’s the dead of winter, snakes should be hibernating instead of joining the crowd. Who’s he trying to fool?

The man, skeptical, looked down to find, to his horror, a snake really pressed against his waist, hissing at him.

“Ah, a snake, there’s a snake!” The man jumped up, scared out of his wits, and his movements were so swift and agile, where was the broken waist?

But the man, who initially intended to fake an injury for compensation, was no longer concerned with that. While screaming, he stomped and ran away, as the snake was entangled around his foot.

Qin Liuxi watched him flee with a cold sneer and then turned her gaze to a dirt-smudged, disheveled woman. To Teng Zhao, she ordered, “Go fetch two steamed buns.”

Teng Zhao nodded and quickly ran towards the porridge distributing area. Wang Chuan, on the other hand, approached the woman and tried to help her up, even patting the dust off her clothes, saying, “Auntie, please get up, we will give you buns too.”

As if snapping back to reality, the woman saw the clean Wang Chuan and tears gushed out immediately.

Teng Zhao quickly returned with three steamed buns in hand and offered them.

The woman, overjoyed, reached to take them, but Teng Zhao retracted his hand and gave her just one, “Eat this one yourself first.”

The woman was stunned but, seeing Teng Zhao’s insistence, took it and devoured it hungrily. She then opened her mouth wide to show that she had finished it.

Only then did Teng Zhao hand over the remaining two buns and said, “Find a bowl or something, take some ginger soup home to drink. It can dispel the cold and you can bring your child to queue up for the free clinic tomorrow.”

Not far away, another woman holding a child came over, placed her broken clay pot, and then walked away.

The woman gratefully bowed to her, picked up the pot, and was about to leave, but then stopped. Turning to look at them, she knelt down and bowed, “Thank you, thank you all.”

She staggered towards the ginger soup station and disappeared into the bustling crowd.

Qin Liuxi smiled with satisfaction as she watched her two young disciples, “Well done.” Especially Teng Zhao, he didn’t even mind the woman’s dirtiness.

An excited Wang Chuan asked, “Master, how did that man see the snake, when there clearly wasn’t one?”

“It was just a little Illusion Technique.”

Wang Chuan, indignant, said, “He got off too easy. He even snatched food meant for his own child. How can there be such a person, and he’s a father too?”

Qin Liuxi and Teng Zhao looked at her. Confused, Wang Chuan touched her face and asked cautiously, “Master, did I say something wrong?”

“Not at all. Just remember this day. Some people in this world neither deserve to be called human nor to be called fathers,” Qin Liuxi said, ruffling her hair.

Wang Chuan looked puzzled.

Teng Zhao turned away, lowering his gaze to his hands, silently took out a handkerchief, looked at it, then put it back into his sleeve.

“Let’s go back, we still have to refine medicine.” Qin Liuxi turned around and led them away.

…

On the next day of the free clinic, the resident doctors of Changsheng Hall arrived early, and apart from them, two doctors from the neighboring city also came. Originally visiting the doctors of Changsheng Hall, they heard about the free clinic and joined in.

Qin Liuxi greeted the elderly doctors, who could have been her father or grandfather, and then went to the temporarily erected straw shed to start the free clinic.

Typically at a free clinic, those who come are the impoverished who can’t afford regular doctors. Those with status and identity wouldn’t demean themselves to visit such a place, considering it beneath them.

The doctors at the free clinic were well aware of this, hence the prescriptions they offered always contained the cheapest medicinal ingredients, some of which could even be found in the mountains, because anything more expensive would be unaffordable for the patients.

But since the doctors from Changsheng Hall were providing the free clinic, if one went to their pharmacy to fill a prescription, the price for the same ingredients elsewhere would only be half.

This was also considered an act of charity.

Qin Liuxi’s diagnosis and prescriptions were swift. While others saw one patient, she had already seen several, her youthful appearance made it seem as though she was playing around.

After all, the old doctors had years of experience and were meticulous, whereas Qin Liuxi would diagnose within a few breaths, with just a look, a sniff, a question, and a pulse check, which truly seemed too frivolous.

Gradually, the queue for Qin Liuxi dwindled down to just a handful of people.

Everyone thought she was just making up the numbers!

Qin Liuxi was in no hurry, taking a sip of tea handed to her by Wang Chuan. Eventually, her patients would come.

“Master Buqiu, is Master Buqiu here for the free clinic?” a voice cried out with a sob.

Here it comes.

Qin Liuxi stood up and waved: “Master Buqiu is right here.”

Teng Zhao lifted his eyelids, glanced over, and thought how childish, then lowered his eyes to recall the prescriptions he had seen his master write a moment ago.

“Make way, let us through first, the child is choking.”

Someone came rushing over, carrying a child in their arms.

Hearing this, Qin Liuxi quickly stepped forward, took the child, and saw the chubby boy’s eyes rolling back, face purple from suffocation, and his breathing faint.

“Master, my boy was eating jujubes and choked. I tried to get it out of his throat with my fingers but couldn’t. Please, save him,” cried the woman. “I originally came to fulfill my vow and offer incense oil. I never thought that at the foot of the mountain, the child’s greed for a jujube would cause him to choke. Ah, this child is going to be the death of me…”

Without another word, Qin Liuxi placed the child in her arms, put her fists together, and pressed right above the center of the child’s belly, three fingers up, channeling her Inner Strength and deftly pressing down.

Puh.

The jujube stuck in the child’s throat was expelled with a retch.

The jujube, along with some mucus, fell to the ground, and the child’s breathing immediately smoothed out; he gasped for air and couldn’t help but start crying again.

The onlookers, who were initially just there for the spectacle, were somewhat astounded. That was too quick; the woman hadn’t even finished speaking.

The woman’s complaints were stuck in her throat.

“It’s okay now.” Qin Liuxi glanced at the child and then told the woman, “This child is the one who had been frightened in the Wanhuai Forest before, right?”

“Yes, yes, you saved him then too.”

“A difficult year full of misfortunes, but it’s almost over. Go offer incense to the Grandmaster and then seek a peace talisman for him to wear,” Qin Liuxi said with a smile.

“Alright, alright, we’ll do just that. Thank you, Master. You truly are a Divine Doctor.”

Qin Liuxi smiled, heard the rustling footsteps, and turned around to see that the previously sparse line was now full again. The other doctors watched her side with a mix of crying and laughter.

The villagers sure switched sides quickly!