Chapter 14: Go and See Zhennan

The next day, Wang Guiying prepared breakfast. The three of them ate first, and Guo Xiang brought food to Ji Changlin.

Guo'er had nothing better to do, so she also clamored to go. Wai Guiying had no reason to say no, so she allowed her to go.

Guo Xiang and Guo'er arrived at Ji Changlin's door. The door was already open, and Ji Changlin was sitting in a wheelchair, tidying up his things at the counter.

Guo Xiang was very surprised. Where did Doctor Ji get a wheelchair in one night?

Things were different now compared to the modern days. Wheelchairs were still very rare. Only big hospitals would have them. 

"Doctor Ji, where did you get this wheelchair?" Guo Xiang couldn't help but ask.

Guo'er also looked at him curiously, "Grandpa Ji, this chair of yours is really interesting. It even has wheels."

"That's why it's called a wheelchair. You can push it around. My leg is injured, so it's much more convenient for me to move around with a wheelchair," Ji Changlin said with a smile. He gave Guo Xiang a meaningful look. As expected, she knew that a wheelchair was. She must have stayed been in a hospital in the past. Villagers didn't tend to know things like this. 

She didn't look like she had amnesia. He didn't know whether she had forgotten about the past or deliberately kept it a secret.

Ji Changlin pushed the wheelchair's axle, and the wheelchair moved.

"It's amazing. It can move on its own!" Guo'er clicked her tongue in wonder and asked curiously, "where did this wheelchair come from?"

"A friend from the hospital borrowed it for me," Ji Changlin said calmly. "I sent someone to the village chief's house to make a call last night. He sent it over the wheelchair early this morning."

Guo Xiang raised her eyebrows. This Doctor Ji was indeed not simple. He was not an ordinary barefoot doctor. Otherwise, how did he manage to get his hands on a wheelchair? 

However, she refrained from asking questions. She placed Ji Changlin's breakfast on the dining table. Ji Changlin made his way to the dining table.

"Doctor Ji, if there's nothing else, I'll go in and read," Guo Xiang said.

"Go," Ji Changlin nodded. Guo Xiang was still at the stage where she needed to learn the basics. After she mastered the basics, he could then teach her other things. 

"Grandpa Ji, can I go in and take a look too?" Guo'er smiled.

"Go, make yourself comfortable!" Ji Changlin smiled. The kid wanted to learn about Chinese medicine, and there was no reason for him to stop her. Nowadays, fewer and fewer people were learning Chinese medicine and everyone preferred Western medicine. He was happy to see more people learning Chinese medicine.

At noon, Wang Guiying sent food over. After lunch, Guo'er went home with her to rest. Guo Xiang stayed at Ji Changlin's place and continued reading. 

A few days had passed. One day, after lunch, Ji Changlin asked Guo Xiang, "Have you finished reading the first book on the basics of Chinese Medicine?"

"I have," Guo Xiang nodded. It wasn't just the first book. She had finished reading the entire first row.

She had a photographic memory. In her previous life, she had learned some methods to strengthen her memory. She stored all the information in her brain and divided it into mind palaces. It was very convenient to extract the information when she needed it.

Of course, she only remembered the words. She did not fully grasp the knowledge inside. After all, mastering Chinese medicine relied on more than just self-study. 

With the theoretical foundation, coupled with her master's teachings, and through countless practice, she could truly grasp it. She was a doctor in her previous life, and she knew this very well.

"Have you memorized it?" Ji Changlin asked again.

Guo Xiang nodded, "I've memorized it!"

Ji Changlin randomly picked a few questions, and Guo Xiang answered them smoothly.

Ji Changlin was very surprised. The little girl had studied very diligently, and she had actually memorized everything. However, he also knew that those were relatively simple basics, and the difficult part was still to come.

"Now, I want you to memorize 'Tang Tou Ge' and 'Yao Xing Fu'. You need to know both of them off by heart," Ji Changlin emphasized. "Also, you have to completely understand 'Huangdi Neijing'. If you don't get anything, you can ask me."

"Okay," Guo Xiang nodded. Truth was, she had memorized both 'Tang Tou Ge' and 'Yao Xing Fu'. However, she also knew that they were only theories. In reality, she still needed to recognize the medicinal properties of the herbs in order to know how to apply Chinese medicine. It was not enough to just memorize them.

Ji Changlin's legs were inconvenient now. When he recovered, he would definitely teach her practical things. As long as she maintained her good attitude towards learning, he would definitely teach her in the future.

In her previous life, she had not come into contact with Chinese medicine. For the past few days, she learned a lot of knowledge that she did not know before. She had developed a strong interest in Chinese medicine. Now that she had learned Chinese medicine, she must excel in it. 

Just like that, a month passed.

During this month, Gu Zhennan sent money back. Life was not so difficult, so Guo Xiang was not in a hurry to earn money. Moreover, Wang Guiying would not let her. After all, studying medicine was more important.

During this period, Guo Xiang would take Guo'er on morning runs every morning and teach her kung fu. The rest of the time, she would spend in the clinic.

Apart from reading medical books, she would watch Ji Changlin diagnose diseases in the clinic. When he was free, Ji Changlin would ask her to take down the drawers of Chinese medicine in the medicine cabinet one by one and teach her to identify the Chinese medicine inside.

These were all dried Chinese herbs. Ji Changlin said that when his legs were better, he would take her to the mountains to pick fresh herbs.

After fresh herbs were made into dry herbs, their shape, properties, and taste would change. Only by understanding fresh herbs could one use them better. Moreover, the wild herbs that she picked herself would be more effective than the ones she could buy at the drugstore.

After another half a month, Ji Changlin's leg had healed. Guo Xiang was very surprised that he could already stand up.

As the saying went, injured tendons and bones would take many days to heal. Ji Changlin's leg was healed after a month and a half. It was quite a miracle. Usually, he would just apply the ointment he made himself and boil some herbal soup to drink. Guo Xiang did not expect the effect to be so good. She had really underestimated Chinese medicine.

In the blink of an eye, it was July. The school went on break. Guo'er would hang out with Guo Xiang at Doctor Ji's house in the morning and accompany Wang Guiying at home in the afternoon.

After Ji Changlin's leg recovered, Wang Guiying no longer had to go over to deliver food. Guo Xiang would go home to eat after studying medicine in the afternoon.

When she reached the gate of the courtyard, she heard laughter inside. She couldn't help but be surprised. Was there a guest?

When she pushed the door open and entered the house, she saw Wang Guiying and Guo'er sitting under a peach tree in the courtyard with a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy. When he saw Guo Xiang enter, he looked at her curiously.

"Xiang Xiang, come over quickly," Wang Guiying smiled and waved at Guo Xiang. "This is your second brother. He has been studying in the county all this back. He came back for summer vacation."

"Hello, Guo Xiang. I'm Zhendong," Gu Zhendong stood up and smiled shyly.

Guo Xiang smiled and nodded at him, "I'm glad you're back. Mom and Guo'er missed you very much."

It was the first time Gu Zhendong really looked at Guo Xiang. He did not expect his sister-in-law to be so beautiful. Plus, she wasn't stupid at all. 

He had heard about his eldest brother's marriage, but he knew that the Guo family was the one who had forced him. They even demanded a large sum of money and the bride was a fool. He was so angry that he did not even come back to attend the wedding.

He had originally thought that he would have to persuade his brother to divorce her when he returned home during the summer vacation. However, he did not expect to hear his mother and sister talking about how good his sister-in-law was the moment he returned home. He did not believe them at all. He thought that they were afraid that he would stir up trouble. He was surprised that his sister-in-law was so beautiful and elegant. She was even more elegant than his classmates in the county.

"Mom, since Second Brother is back, shall we eat rice tonight?" Guo'er took the opportunity to ask.

Although Gu Zhennan had sent money back, Wang Guiying was still very frugal because they were still in debt. Usually, they would eat sweet potato rice.

This time, Wang Guiying was straightforward with her decision, "okay, let's cook rice and have two eggs tonight."

"Yay, we've got eggs tonight!" Guo'er cheered.

In the evening, Wang Guiying made stir-fried eggs with green pepper and two vegetables. Guo'er squealed with joy. It had been a long time since she had such a sumptuous meal.

After dinner, Wang Guiying went to Guo Xiang's room and held her hand, "Xiangxiang, I had been thinking about this. Tomorrow, you should go and look for Zhennan! You mentioned this before, but you never went. I know you worry about Guo'er and me, but now that Zhendong is back, you can relax. I hope you can consummate your marriage with Zhennan as soon as possible. That way, I will be at ease."

Guo Xiang was speechless for a few seconds. She had been studying medicine and got along well with Wang Guiying and Guo'er. She had almost forgotten about this matter.

Her original intention was to find Gu Zhennan and talk about the divorce. Wang Guiying had misunderstood her.

However, if she divorced Gu Zhennan, she would have to leave this family. She didn't want to say goodbye to them just yet. 

"Mom, it's almost time to harvest the crops. I should wait until we bring in the crops!" Guo Xiang tried to reject Wang Guiying subtly. 

"You don't have to worry about that. Zhendong will be home with us. We don't have many acres of land to harvest anyway. Besides, you..." You wouldn't know how to do it anyway... Wang Guiying didn't say it out loud. "It's better for you to go as soon as possible!"

Guo Xiang pursed her lips. Yes, this matter had to be resolved sooner or later. Perhaps it was better to leave now so that she wouldn't have a hard time leaving in the future.

However, she had to pay back the money she owed to the Gu family. Otherwise, it would forever be on her mind. 

"Okay," Guo Xiang nodded without batting an eyelid. "Then I will go and see Zhennan tomorrow. Mom, what is his address?"