NOVPUBChapter 179 -179: The Neighbor Who Speaks for the First Time (Sixth Update)
Chapter 179 -179: The Neighbor Who Speaks for the First Time (Sixth Update)
“Bai Xiao… uh… Doctor Bai, your acupuncture is so incredible!” Xiaoli said enviously.
Bai Xiao looked to be just eighteen years old and indeed he was only eighteen. The question was, how could someone so young possess such advanced medical skills? How did he train?
Though it’s said that in Traditional Chinese Medicine, studying for three years is no different than studying for thirty.
However, acupuncture definitely requires practice. A single incorrect placement of the needle could either damage someone or end up twisted into three segments, turning and bending—which patient would dare let you treat them then?
Of course, Xiaoli didn’t just stand by idly a moment ago.
Bai Xiao swiftly inserted just two needles, not more, which she saw. Many veteran doctors need to insert several needles into each acupuncture point. There are techniques involving 24 or 36 needles and so on, yet with just those two needles from him, a person could stand up and walk.
No one missed how the team leader was wailing in pain just earlier!
Two needles in, and in less than ten minutes, the person was up and actively moving again.
“I’m not incredible, I only know acupuncture. I can’t do anything else, neither pulse reading nor prescribing,” said Bai Xiao, focusing intently on the food in front of him. His previous experience was still reliable; eating the beef had slowly started warming his stomach, and the giant ice block in his chest felt like it was melting.
“But that is incredible. Ever heard of ‘A single brilliant move conquers all’? If I had your skills, just mastering acupuncture would be enough. Bouncing patients back to health, no need for prescriptions or pulse reading,” Xiaoli was visibly excited.
It was mainly because he was too thrilled. Seeing someone he considered his equal suddenly excel, who could suppress such excitement?
“Calm down, calm down. Eat up quickly. Didn’t you say you had to go back to do laundry today? Be careful, or there’ll be no hot water left in the laundry room,” Bai Xiao quickly reminded her, as she looked at him as if seeing a gold ingot.
“Oh dear, I forgot!” Xiaoli suddenly remembered she had yet to complete that important task of washing a week’s worth of clothes and bedding.
She wolfed down her meal and said to Bai Xiao, “Doctor Bai, I have to leave now, see you tomorrow!” and she hurried off to her dormitory.
Bai Xiao finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Xiaoli’s curiosity was understandable.
However, what made him happiest was finally opening his practice, even though it was borne out of someone else’s desperate need. Having the first client made it easier to expect a second. 𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝒎
Returning to the dormitory, he bumped into a neighbor on the stairs, a woman in her forties. Bai Xiao described her so because that age shouldn’t look too old, but this lady had managed to make herself appear decades older with her short hair, bangs, pair of black glasses, and a suspicious gaze directed at everyone. Bai Xiao had only met this neighbor a couple of times with each encounter involving no communication at all, not even basic greetings since after his initial greeting went ignored, he gave up on adapting to others’ behavior.
This encounter might have been their third. Bai Xiao nodded in acknowledgement, his years of etiquette training preventing him from not acknowledging her at all. He couldn’t let others’ lack of manners bring down his own.
He opened the door.
“Hello, may I come in and sit for a while?”
Bai Xiao turned around abruptly. Who was this?
To her surprise, her neighbor was speaking to her. The voice was actually pleasant, but it was also quite startling. The two of them, who usually had no interaction, unexpectedly wanted to come over and sit at her place.
Could it be something urgent?
Bai Xiao looked around, and upon closer inspection, she indeed noticed something amiss.
There were clearly visible marks on the neighbor’s door where someone had kicked it.
There was obviously trouble.
“I’m sorry, but I’ve run into some trouble. My ex-husband came to cause problems. Earlier, when he came to make a scene, I didn’t open the door, but he said he’d return later. I’m a bit scared. Could I stay at your place for a while and leave once he’s gone? I won’t bother you for long!” Fully aware of their lack of prior interaction, her expression looked rather stiff.
She opened the door, nodded, and said, “Come in and sit down!”
She was in a good mood today; otherwise, she wouldn’t have bothered with this matter.
The two of them entered one after the other and closed the door.
The woman sat on the sofa with Bai Xiao, who went to pour her a glass of hot water.
“My name is Bai Xiao, and I am an acupuncturist in Traditional Chinese Medicine.” It was probably time to introduce themselves.
The woman, accustomed to wearing an expressionless face, said, “My name is Chui Li, I am a surgeon.” After she said this, there was a cold silence. Bai Xiao wasn’t a person who was good at warming up to others. Unable to lighten the mood, she was usually passive in social interactions. It was Xiaoli who was lively and good at starting conversations and enlivening the atmosphere.
However, it wasn’t long before loud kicking sounds and curses could be heard from outside.
“Chui Li, open the door! Don’t think I don’t know you’re inside just because you won’t open the door. I’m telling you, I know you’re off work today and you’re inside. Come out and open the door. We agreed that you owe me money, and hiding is useless. If you keep hiding, I’ll come to your department tomorrow and make a scene, and we’ll see who loses face!” the man outside yelled.
Bai Xiao glanced at Chui Li.
Chui Li appeared uneasy. “I’m sorry, my ex-husband and I are divorced. Originally, our daughter lived with him, and I agreed to give him twenty dollars a month for living expenses. Last month, he took this month’s living expenses as well, using our daughter’s illness as an excuse. He’s done this several times, always using Xiaofen’s situation as an excuse to take more money. Then he acts as if he forgot about it and continues to demand living expenses. If I don’t give, he causes trouble. Xiaofen doesn’t feel close to me either, influenced a lot by her grandmother and his father’s instigations. They make me out to be an enemy. I don’t want to give in this time; I’m tired.” She suddenly became visibly upset—over the years, she had pretended to be strong, but a woman without her family, constantly giving money to her ex-husband for their daughter, confronted by Zhao Xi as if she were their family’s servant meant to take care of their issues, and her daughter treating her coldly during every visit—her heart had cooled, unable to warm even herself anymore.
Bai Xiao now understood Chui Li’s situation a bit better. Her ex-husband was a scumbag, leeching off her like a vampire under the pretense of child support, feeling utterly entitled to it, and their daughter was heartless, spurred by her step-mother, grandmother, and father, treating her own mother as if she were an enemy, confidently spending her mother’s money as if it weren’t enough. Especially that man—truly shameless.
But she had no right to meddle in other people’s family affairs—it really wasn’t her place.
