"I think, he wasted his time with so many girlfriends before," Pei Yining muttered.
On July 20th, all the candidates were quietly waiting for their acceptance letters.
Getting the letter meant being admitted to university.
After Xu Nian’an had turned all the Fruit Jelly into Mung Bean Jelly and sold it, he focused on learning from Du Chang.
That day, after hanging around Xu Nianhua enough, Pei Yining went to the clinic to find Grandpa, but Du Chang was not there; only Xu Nian’an was seen bustling about in the clinic.
"Master has gone out to see a patient," Xu Nian’an, busy packaging herbs, said upon seeing Pei Yining, "It might be a while before he comes back. Is there something you need?"
"Nothing, I just came to see Grandpa."
Pei Yining put the tasty treats she had bought aside and observed the clinic. Grandpa had always been reluctant to move to Ningbei, firstly because he didn’t want to abandon his hometown, and secondly, because he couldn’t bear to leave the clinic he had run all his life.
Seeing Pei Yining wandering around the clinic on her own, Xu Nian’an didn’t say much, just continued with his work.
Suddenly, the entrance of the clinic became noisy.
"Doctor Du, please save my son."
"Please save my son."
The woman’s crying and the man’s panicked voice filled the air as a man carried in a child under ten, whose hands and legs were injured, bleeding in many places. It looked serious.
"What happened?" Seeing this, Xu Nian’an felt flustered for a moment, but then calmly asked, "First, put the child here."
Xu Nian’an led them to the examination bed in the treatment room and inspected the young child, who, despite his young age, was injured all over and crying incessantly, drawing on what he had learned.
The abrasions on the boy’s arm were severe, and his leg seemed to be broken.
"He fell down the slope while playing, please check on my son, doctor," the woman said amidst sobs.
The man, looking around frantically, then asked, "Where is Doctor Du?"
"I am Doctor Du’s apprentice; he’s out on a house call and should be back soon," Xu Nian’an replied while grabbing materials to clean the wound, also procuring wooden boards to stop the bleeding. As he worked to stop the flow, he said reassuringly, "Little buddy, don’t be scared. Your leg will heal after some time."
"If it hurts, then..." Xu Nian’an wanted to suggest giving the boy some candy or a treat, but he didn’t have anything on hand.
Pei Yining took out candy from her pocket, waved it in front of the little boy, and said, "Be good, and once your leg is bandaged, sister will give you candy, okay?"
The little boy, amidst his tears, paused when he saw the beautiful candy.
"Look, sister has lots of candy."
Pei Yining coaxed the little boy, handing him a handful of candy, and said, "Once this big brother finishes bandaging your leg, all these will be yours."
"A reward for the bravest little buddy."
Pei Yining was thankful for her habit of loving snacks, as she often carried tasty things around. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have known how to comfort the child. As she spoke to the little boy, diverting his attention, she watched Xu Nian’an who was adeptly stopping the bleeding and securing the boy’s leg with a splint.
Throughout the ordeal, Xu Nian’an didn’t panic at all, not resembling an apprentice in the slightest. From the moment he had started treating the patient, he had been organizing the process well, instilling trust in both the patient and the family members.