Chapter 282: I Am Professional

Chapter 282: Settling Matters

Ye Changning and Jiangnan stayed in the area for a week, getting to the bottom of everything Ye Xiaoxiao had mentioned in her letter.

If they set up regular fur purchases here, they could indeed gain some profit, but shipping expenses were steep.

Ye Changning set up a temporary buying arrangement, with plans to open a local factory for processing once operations stabilized.

The local residents never imagined anyone would come knocking to buy these items and were naturally happy to sell them at low prices.

After leaving Nalan Town, Ye Changning and Jiangnan headed north toward the vast grasslands.

Before departing, Ye Changning told Xiao Xiao to look after herself, bidding farewell to Ye Xiaoxiao and the others.

Ye Xiaoxiao nodded obediently, "Third Brother, please stop sending me more clothes. I’ll have way too much to haul when I leave."

Ye Changning: "Then toss 'em."

If Ye Jianguo and Miao Cuifang heard this, they would surely call him out for wasting money.

Even if they had money, they couldn’t just throw it around.

Only because their parents weren’t around did Ye Changning dare to run his mouth like that.

Ye Xiaoxiao was dead set against waste—if she left, she would donate the clothes rather than discard them carelessly.

After seeing Ye Changning off, Ye Xiaoxiao returned to the clinic and noticed Yang Juan had sunk deeper into gloom.

Before, even during his suspension, he at least read books daily, but lately, he just zoned out all the time.

Ye Xiaoxiao didn’t know what was going on with him, but it spelled trouble.

Seeing Yang Juan’s state, Zhao Chunhua finally bit the bullet and decided to have a heart-to-heart with him.

After all, Ye Xiaoxiao was just an intern who would leave once her term ended, while Yang Juan was the clinic’s mainstay—assuming he flunked the postgraduate exam.

"Lately, why have you been so absent-minded? Do you want to get suspended again?"

Yang Juan immediately replied, "No, no."

Zhao Chunhua: "Then do you think I punished you unfairly and are half-assing things out of spite?"

Yang Juan flailed his hands. "Head, I absolutely don’t think that way. It’s my own problem—I don’t blame anyone."

Zhao Chunhua: "Then what’s wrong with you? If you want to leave this place, you need to find a way forward. But now you’re not even studying—how can you expect to achieve anything?"

Yang Juan knew where his problem lay—he had been gutted after learning Jiang Leyin was with someone else, leaving him unable to muster interest in anything.

Zhao Chunhua took one look at his moping and sighed. "I understand how you feel, but there are plenty of good girls in our base and our town. There’s no need to cling to one girl. Why not consider Li Zhen?"

Li Zhen had been sweeping outside, not trying to eavesdrop, but upon hearing her name, she immediately shouted:

"Come on, Head, I’m not interested in someone like him."

Zhao Chunhua: "Scram, scram—this doesn’t concern you."

Li Zhen: "Then why drag me into it?"

Ye Xiaoxiao was outside sorting through traditional Chinese medicine herbs. Many of the shipped herbs weren't properly preserved, so she had to carefully sift through them.

"Head Zhao actually wants to set me up with Yang Juan. He must be losing his marbles," she thought.

Ye Xiaoxiao looked up, "So what's your type then?"

Li Zhen was already twenty-five this year, a few years older than Ye Xiaoxiao, but she showed no interest in getting married.

"Me? I'm good as long as I can take care of myself. Why would I rush into marriage?" Li Zhen said casually.

Ye Xiaoxiao respected her opinion.

Li Zhen seemed quite independent and had big dreams.

After their talk, Yang Juan's work ethic improved a bit, but it was only back to how it had been when Ye Xiaoxiao first arrived.

...

As New Year's Day approached, Lu Hanchuan became increasingly busy.

Ye Xiaoxiao hadn't seen him for several days. When they finally met again, she was setting up an IV for a patient.

In winter, more and more people caught colds.

"Xiao Xiao, I need to take you on a trip," Lu Hanchuan said, looking a bit worried.

Ye Xiaoxiao put down what she was holding, "What's wrong?"

"Political Commissar Xu from the army has been running a high fever with chills for a month now, with no signs of improvement. I want you to check him out."

Although the facilities here were basic, the army was equipped with medics and medical equipment.

Moreover, the patient was an important figure.

"Let me inform Head Zhao, then I'll go with you," Ye Xiaoxiao said.

Zhao Chunhua immediately agreed when he heard Ye Xiaoxiao was going to treat Political Commissar Xu.

Ye Xiaoxiao packed her doctor's bag, carefully selecting some herbs to bring based on the symptoms Lu Hanchuan had described.

She was fairly certain the army wouldn't have the specific herbs she needed.

The place Lu Hanchuan was taking her to was some distance from Nalan Base, closer to another town.

There were way more troops stationed here than at Nalan Base.

When they arrived, Ye Xiaoxiao entered Political Commissar Xu's hospital room.

"Is this your army medic? Why didn't Comrade Jiang Le come?" the commander asked, curious.

"She's a resident from our medical office," Lu Hanchuan replied.

The commander looked at Lu Hanchuan with a skeptical look.

"It's not that I underestimate young women, but is a resident really up for this?"

Lu Hanchuan said confidently, "Xiao Xiao is a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. Since Political Commissar Xu's condition hasn't improved and he doesn't want to transfer to a larger hospital, why not let Xiao Xiao give it a try?"

The chief could only agree.

Ye Xiaoxiao first inquired about Xu Zilin's health condition.

She learned that he had been in good health before, rarely falling ill. A month ago, because he was feeling down, he drank a little alcohol while off-duty and kept this up for several days.

At first, he didn't notice anything wrong, but gradually he began to feel chills all over his body and ran a constant high fever at night.

The medicine didn't work, and after hospitalization, he underwent a period of Western medical treatment.

An X-ray revealed an inflammatory area in the left lobe of his liver, leading to a diagnosis of liver abscess.

After more than ten days in the hospital, his blood count remained high, and doctors suspected his liver had developed pus, requiring puncture treatment.

Xu Zilin wasn't comfortable with this treatment plan, which was why Lu Hanchuan called Ye Xiaoxiao.

After reviewing the X-rays and conducting a pulse diagnosis, Ye Xiaoxiao thoughtfully prescribed a herbal formula.

"Political Commissar, your condition is due to yang deficiency and qi stagnation, damp-heat accumulation, and stomach collateral stasis. We'll prepare one dose of the medicine I prescribed and see if your temperature drops by evening."

As Ye Xiaoxiao had suspected, she prepared the medicine herself and handed it to the medical staff for decoction.

However, the staff were all trained in Western medicine and almost botched the first batch due to inexperience in controlling the heat.

Ye Xiaoxiao had to take over preparing the medicine herself, though someone else had to start the fire for her.

She remained there through the day, and by the afternoon, Xu Zilin's temperature had dropped from 39°C to 37.5°C.

The chief scratched his head in amazement, "Young lady, you know your stuff!"

Ye Xiaoxiao adjusted the prescription based on his condition. By the next day, Xu Zilin's temperature had further dropped to 36.3°C, and his sweating had significantly reduced.