“You can take the child back.” Liu Yusheng said to the man and woman who had been waiting nearby after feeding the child medicine, treating two more patients, and finally checking the child’s temperature.
“Little Divine Doctor, is my child well?” The woman hesitated.
“It’s okay, but the baby’s temperature will recur in the next two days, so pay more attention to it.” At the same time, she handed out two packs of medicine to her: “Let the baby take this medicine once a day. The consultation fee is 80 Wen.”
The woman was dumbfounded and her face turned red: “I-I didn’t bring any money with me. I’ll go back and get it now, and then pay it right away!”
She turned around and rushed outside.
Liu Yusheng was helpless. She handed the medicine to the still frozen man and said, “Take the child back, and send the consultation fee later. With many patients here lately, it is to prevent the child from being infected again.”
“Oh, got it. I’ll take the child away!”
When the group of people in the hall saw the man holding the child out, they all stood up in a whoosh and followed to check the child’s face.
He was still a little flushed, but obviously alive. However, the child was too young. After such a torment, he fell asleep.
Everyone finally put their minds at ease.
They looked back at the several men who were warming themselves in the room. Although the atmosphere between them was still awkward, they just nodded inward and went out altogether.
Before they could get out of the threshold, the woman who ran out earlier unexpectedly came back, followed by a man.
Village Chief, An Cai!
The Xiapo villagers paled in unison.
The prestige of a village chief in the village was equivalent to the weight of an official in the hearts of the villagers.
An Cai was even more prestigious to them than a government official.
In Xiapo Village, the village chief had always stood by his word and was also their backbone.
An Cai’s face was gloomy, and he stood in front of the door for a while before taking a deep breath and entering.
The villagers in front immediately parted to make way.
Liu Jinfu and the Liu family men in the hall then looked at An Cai.
“Hey, this old bastard, why did he come here? Is he here to look for trouble?” Liu Jinfu immediately got up and walked out.
An Cai was a village chief, and he was too. If An Cai dared to start something, then there was no need for him to give him face.
There was no friendship between their two villages.
Liu Jinfu stood by, ready to meet the enemy. Grandpa Liu and the three major men in the family also stepped out and stood in a row with Liu Jinfu.
An Cai lifted his drooping eyelids, glanced at them, turned slightly, and walked forward with his hands behind his back.
“…” Liu Jinfu was instantly dumbfounded.
What did he mean?
An Cai saw the surprise on Liu Jinfu’s old face clearly. He snorted coldly, hooked the corners of his mouth, and walked into the small consulting room.
The room was quite spacious. There were rows of chairs against the wall, and a really long wooden couch inside, with mattress padding.
At the other end was a long L-shaped table with one end against the wall, enclosing the little girl who was giving a consultation.
Behind the little girl was a large row of cabinets, just like the medicine cabinets in pharmacies. The small drawers were marked with a pen with the names of various herbs.
When she saw him coming in, the young girl only raised her eyes and focused on the patient in her hand.
An Cai also did not bother her and directly found a chair to sit down.
He waited, and the Xiapo villagers also waited around the entrance outside. Nobody dared to enter or to persuade him to leave.
The elders of the Liu family, Grandma Liu, the two female in-laws and Liu Jinfu, also squeezed in, and sat in front of An Cai, staring at him.
Grandma Liu was holding a cooking pot and ladle in her hand, giving off a stance that if the old man across from her dared to do anything to their granddaughter, she would rush up and smack him.
An Cai looked down, exposing his whole triangular eye shape. He looked very fierce, and his face and eyes were always gloomy. His eyes alone could tell that he was a ruthless character.
When Liu Yusheng finished diagnosing the patient in her hand, An Cai stood up.
The Liu family immediately jumped up and blocked Liu Yusheng’s consultation table, “An Cai, what do you want?”
Had they been allowed to make noise in Nannan’s small consultation room, they would have directly laid their hands on An Cai and dragged him out. How could they have tolerated him for a long time?
The Xiapo villagers also couldn’t ignore this battle.
Although the Liu family’s granddaughter just saved a child from their village, that was a separate matter entirely. They certainly couldn’t agree if their village chief was dealt with.
They were all here. They’d be wimps if they’d stand by, watching their village chief being bullied!
The Xiapo villagers also crowded in.
“Everybody out!” An Cai shot his narrowed eyes and looked warningly at the villagers rushing in.
The Xiapo villagers fell silent and retreated at snail’s pace.
The patients in the room, who had not been able to leave, were blocked inside and looked at the scene, baffled.
They looked left and right, wondering what these people were up to.
Everyone was set for a showdown.
After driving the villagers into retreat, An Cai took out a purse from his sleeves, counted 120 Wen, took two steps closer, bypassed the Liu family in the way, and placed the copper coins on the table.
“Here’s the fee for the child’s consultation and medicine, 80 Wen. The extra 40 Wen is payment for the packet of herbs.” The large packet of herbs, of course, cost more than 40 Wen, but he could no longer pay more.
This was just a show that they didn’t owe each other.
Liu Jinfu was so angry that he gritted his teeth: “Hey, you old bastard, if you really want to pay, you should pay enough. You’re buying an amount of medicine for the whole village for only 40 Wen? You really to the cheek! Do you think we, Xinghua villagers, are so easy to bully? Why are you still so thick-skinned after all these years?”
“There’s no more money, but I still have one life left. If you want it, take it.”
Liu Jinfu and the Liu family froze and choked on such shameless remarks, rendering them speechless.
An Cai slowly looked around the room and said in a deep voice, “I, An Cai, have been self-willed all my life. I’ve never served anyone, not before nor in the future.”
After a pause, his eyes passed through the Liu family to the young girl who had already stood up. “But I do owe you an apology.”
After saying that, he bent his straight back and bowed: “I’m sorry.”
The Liu family was stunned. They had waited for this apology for more than ten years, and it was only today that they heard it for themselves. They never thought they would ever hear it.
The Xiapo villagers at the entrance were even more shocked beyond words.
When did their Village Chief ever bend over to someone? But today, he bent, bowed his head, to a little girl, and apologized.
All of them knew what this apology was about.
For a spell, the entire consultation room went unusually silent and still.
“Your apology, I accept it.” Standing behind her family, Liu Yusheng’s voice reverberated clear and calm.
Her family had been waiting for this apology for more than ten years. Every time they recalled what happened before, they were still angry.
This apology, she could accept.
That bow, her family could accept.
But that didn’t mean she could forgive. Because of her, her family suffered more psychological torture and suffered more harm. When it came to forgiveness, her family was the most qualified to decide.
An Cai straightened up, looked deeply at Liu Yusheng, and turned around: “Let’s go!”
Peek-Aboo 
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