Chapter 42: Coming to Cause Trouble

Su Ruo refused the job at the county hospital and wanted to open a clinic in the village; the news quickly spread throughout the whole village.

Everyone thought Su Ruo was foolish, and some, envious and resentful, believed that as long as she treated the villagers she could earn ten yuan wages and full work points, and they were jealous to the point of constantly making sarcastic remarks.

Some clever people also got the idea of letting their own children study medicine, thinking that if their children learned medical skills they could later treat people and have a respectable job, instead of spending their lives scratching a living from the fields like they did; clearly, quite a few people had this thought.

Su Ruo didn't know what these people were thinking, because opening the clinic still lacked some medicinal herbs, so these past few days she has been taking An'an up the mountains to gather herbs.

Originally Su Ruo worried that it would be too tiring for An'an to endure, but she also couldn't leave her alone, so she didn't put An'an by herself in the Youth Work Station.

Moreover, this little girl clung to her tightly, refusing to be separated from Su Ruo even for a step, so Su Ruo had no choice and simply brought her along.

Who would have thought, after a whole day An'an didn't feel tired at all; instead, her spirits were even better by a bit.

Su Ruo picked some wild flowers, wove a garland for An'an to wear on her head, and watching An'an run and play in the mountains, she looked as beautiful as a fairy.

After receiving the nourishment of the mountain's spiritual energy, An'an became even more lively and agile, exuding vigorous vitality.

More importantly, Su Ruo discovered that after being with An'an, her luck seemed to improve as well; those herbs that were previously hard to find could now be easily found by her.

Sometimes she would even pick up a few pheasants tangled in wild grass, or rabbits that had fallen into traps; knowing that Su Ruo before had never encountered such things.

Until An'an accidentally discovered a wild ginseng over a hundred years old, Su Ruo finally believed that people's luck truly cannot be compared.

001 proudly told Su Ruo: "Host, I told you earlier, this little girl is blessed by the heavenly and earthly spiritual energy; whoever stays with her can catch some of her good fortune, but her fortune had been snatched away before, which is why those unlucky things happened.

Now that she is with you, your two destinies complement each other; from now on no one will be able to steal your fortune, and your luck will only keep getting better."

Regarding 001's words, Su Ruo originally didn't believe them, but now she actually believes them to some extent.

Originally Su Ruo thought bringing a child would be very tiring, but after being with An'an, her mental state seemed much better than before, her mind especially clear, and her whole body felt refreshed as if basking in a spring breeze.

These changes gradually made Su Ruo believe that An'an could truly bring her blessings.

Su Ruo continuously gathered herbs on the mountain for three days, finally collecting all the medicinal herbs she needed.

At this point, the clinic was also fully tidied up, and Su Ruo was ready to start official operations.

But Su Ruo never imagined that on the first day of opening her clinic, she would be greeted not by patients, but by a group of apprentices.

Su Ruo looked at the dozen or so people before her, and upon learning they all wanted to study medicine under her, her brows immediately furrowed.

Among these people were not only Li Shiro, Wu Qingqing, and even Li Yanhong; all her enemies had come together, and the gathering was truly complete.

The Battalion Commander stood aside awkwardly; he wanted his daughter to learn a skill, so he had Li Yanhong come study medicine with Su Ruo.

But she didn't expect that his uncles would all come to him, insisting that he tell Su Ruo to let several younger family members also study medicine with her, and saying he shouldn't play favorites, only caring for his own daughter while preventing others from learning.

The Battalion Commander had no choice but to put on a thick face and bring everyone along.

He also knew that doing this was improper; if he really tried to teach so many people medicine at once, Su Ruo wouldn't have time to see patients.

But the Battalion Commander also had no alternative; if he didn't do this, someone would surely accuse him of using his position for personal gain.

So, despite feeling guilty in his heart, he could only steel himself and say to Su Ruo: "Educated Youth Su, they all want to study medicine under you, and I don't want to dampen their enthusiasm, you see..."

Li Shiro and her dozen or so girls were all staring at Su Ruo with eager eyes, as if as soon as Su Ruo dared to utter a word of refusal, they would immediately turn against her, making it impossible for her to stand in this village.

After all, aside from Li Shiro and Wu Qingqing, they were all villagers, and every household had intricate relationships.

Facing the crowd's threatening or expectant gazes, Su Ruo merely smiled and said: "You want to follow me to study medicine; that's good, and I naturally won't refuse."

Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief, especially Li Shiro, who feared Su Ruo would not want her.

Li Shiro now harbored a determination in her heart; no matter what, she would study medicine under Su Ruo and then surpass her.

Li Shiro believed that with her own talent, as long as Su Ruo was willing to teach her, she would one day completely trample Su Ruo underfoot.

But before everyone could finish celebrating, Su Ruo spoke again: "But there are some things I still need to make clear up front; the path of studying medicine is destined to be arduous and tedious, and without three or five years, one simply cannot learn it.

Even if among you there is someone with outstanding talent who could finish training in three to five years, they still need to accumulate a large number of cases before achieving anything.

If one studies but does not excel and then rushes into practice, not only will they delay patients' conditions, but in serious cases they could even cause death."

Su Ruo can master medicine so quickly because she has system support; these people do not, so some things must be clarified beforehand.

But these people obviously didn't take it in; they thought Su Ruo was just saying these words on purpose to scare them because she didn't want to teach them.

These people felt in their hearts: why can Su Ruo learn it, but we can't?

Everyone exclaimed: "Doctor Su, rest assured, we will definitely study seriously with you and absolutely not slack off."

Su Ruo also knew they were dead set on learning, having taken the weight and resolved to do so, so she stopped advising: "Since you've already made up your mind, I won't say more, but if you want to study medicine under me, you must pass my assessment; furthermore, each of you must pay two yuan tuition per month."

As soon as she said that, the scene instantly erupted into chaos, with everyone chattering away.

Li Shiro was the first to stand up and say: "Su Ruo, is a monthly tuition of two yuan too expensive?

Now everyone's life is not easy; wanting to learn medicine from you is just to learn a skill to improve our lives; you're merely giving us some guidance, is it really necessary to charge so much money?"

Li Yanhong also immediately said: "Two yuan a month—why don't you just go rob!"

This remark immediately drew agreement from everyone; they all nodded, looking at Su Ruo with a united front against her, thinking she was too greedy.

The Battalion Commander fiercely glared at Li Yanhong, warning her not to speak again; if she could learn medicine well, she would have a foundation to stand on, and he usually hadn't shortchanged his daughter's expenses, so why was her outlook so shallow?

Li Yanhong, however, was not intimidated; she kept her head high, looking at Su Ruo as if she were some kind of justice's envoy.

Su Ruo also wasn't angry; she continued smiling and said: "From ancient times to now, which apprentice learning a skill from a master doesn't need to pay something?

The saying goes, three years of study yields ten years of service; if you want to learn a skill, you must either pay money or devote time and effort.

You now aren't even willing to pay two yuan; are you trying to learn for free, to freeload? Or do you think that anyone who wants to study medicine with me I must teach?

They indeed planned to learn for free, to freeload; now Su Ruo publicly exposed their thoughts, and they all blushed with shame.

After all, they are just teenage girls with thin skin, not yet trained to be shameless.

Li Shiro saw this group of people being silenced by Su Ruo's words, and immediately cursed in her heart: useless things.

Then she spoke up: "But is a monthly fee of two yuan really too expensive? Nowadays no family is well-off; it's hard to come up with that much money."

Su Ruo no longer bothered with pleasantries, speaking firmly: "If you think it's expensive you can opt out, but if you decide to study with me, the monthly two yuan must be paid in full, not a cent less."

Li Shiro also realized that Su Ruo simply didn't want to teach them and was using the two-yuan tuition to scare them off; Li Shiro made up her mind, absolutely not letting Su Ruo succeed.

So, although she felt reluctant, she still gritted her teeth and agreed.

Seeing Su Ruo's firm attitude, everyone knew the tuition was non-negotiable; a few girls stepped back to the side, clearly not intending to continue studying.

They originally weren't very determined to study medicine; they came today just with a "better to learn nothing than not learn at all" attitude to give it a try. So, upon hearing that they actually had to pay two silver coins per month in tuition, they immediately backed out.

Su Ruo also didn't mind, looking at the remaining people she said: "Since you've made up your minds to study medicine with me, then take the test!"

After Su Ruo finished speaking, she lifted a wooden box and placed it on the stone table in the courtyard.

When Su Ruo lifted the cloth on top, the crowd saw that the box was actually filled with countless mice, and they immediately screamed in terror.

Su Ruo looked at them with contempt, thinking that with such little courage they still wanted to study medicine.

Su Ruo calmly put on gloves, took out a mouse from the box, and began dissecting it in front of them.

The girls watched Su Ruo dissect the mouse, all turning pale with fright; as they saw the mouse's entrails spill out with her movements, the more timid ones vomited outright.