Li Jiang said, "Sister-in-law, find a piece of cloth to cover his wound. I'll take him to the police."
"Okay," Liu Chunhua replied. She dug out a pair of her youngest son's worn-out, hole-ridden shorts and handed them to him.
"What police!" Old Lady Ma blocked her son. "My son didn't do anything, why should he be sent to the police!"
Hearing that he was going to be sent to the police, Ma Sanniu also panicked. Pretending to slowly wake up, he climbed up from the ground.
"Mother, what happened to me?"
Liu Chunhua spat and said, "Ma Sanniu, stop pretending. Why aren't you sleeping in the middle of the night, and what were you trying to do at my door?"
Ma Sanniu covered his head, his eyes flickering. "I don't remember anything. I thought I was dreaming."
Anyway, he hadn't succeeded yet, so he just had to deny it to the death.
"Could it be sleepwalking?"
"I heard you can't wake up a sleepwalker, otherwise they'll die!"
"I also heard someone committed murder while sleepwalking!"
"Really?"
"It's true! There was a guy in our village..."
"..."
Everyone originally came to catch a thief, but now they had completely gone off-topic and were all discussing sleepwalking.
Ma Sanniu seized the word "sleepwalking" and immediately said, "Yes, yes, yes, I was sleepwalking. I used to do this back in our hometown too, right, Mother?"
"Ah? Oh, oh, oh..." Old Lady Ma was pinched by her son and said, "He has had this problem since he was a child, that's right."
Liu Chunhua knew perfectly well that the mother and son were lying, but she couldn't refute it, turning pale with anger.
Someone saw Lin Zhilan standing at the door and asked, "Doctor Lin, can sleepwalking be cured?"
Lin Zhilan covered her mouth and yawned. "It can be cured."
"Why don't you take a look at him then? It's so scary. Fortunately, he only hurt himself today, but what if he hurts someone else someday?"
Someone just mentioned that some people even run around chopping people with knives while sleepwalking.
The people who came today were all neighbors living nearby. With Ma Sanniu living here, how could they not be worried?
Lin Zhilan said, "I can treat him, but the consultation fee is ten yuan."
Old Lady Ma gasped. "Ten yuan?! Why don't you just rob us?"
"How can you speak like that, old lady? This is Doctor Lin's rule, and we all know it. She's not trying to scam you on purpose."
Actually, everyone thought ten yuan was quite expensive. Although they heard Doctor Lin had good medical skills, they generally wouldn't go to her for treatment.
But right now, Doctor Lin was the only one who could treat it, and they didn't have to spend their own money while getting to watch a good show, so why not?
The crowd jeered and urged Old Lady Ma to pay up quickly, otherwise they would have to pack up and return to their hometown first thing tomorrow morning and could no longer live in the family courtyard.
Old Lady Ma and Ma Sanniu both regretted using sleepwalking as an excuse. Now they were riding a tiger and couldn't get off. They hadn't gotten any money from Liu Chunhua yet, and they were unwilling to just go back like this.
Old Lady Ma muttered, "I don't have money. Chunhua, you pay for your brother."
"I don't have money either," Liu Chunhua said with a cold face. "I advise you to take him back early and not stay here to harm people."
"Yes, yes, go back if you have no money," the crowd echoed.
Someone even offered an idea to Old Lady Ma, "You have to keep a close eye on this son of yours when you go back. It's best to tie him up with a rope when he sleeps at night."
Old Lady Ma still hadn't squeezed any money out of Liu Chunhua, nor had she made her agree to continue sending the same amount of money home as before, so of course she was not ready to give up.
But she was a bully who feared the strong, and she didn't dare to fight with these military folks.
She could only grit her teeth and pull out a ten-yuan bill from her cloth bag, feeling so distressed that she almost spat blood.
Someone took the money and handed it to Lin Zhilan. "Doctor Lin, please take a look at him quickly."
Lin Zhilan stepped a little closer and shone a flashlight on the wound on Ma Sanniu's forehead.
Unfortunately, the cut wasn't big, and the blood had already clotted and stopped flowing.
Since he wasn't going to die...
"Commander Li, I don't have much strength. I'm afraid I'll need your help to treat this."
Li Jiang nodded. "Doctor Lin, just tell me what to do, and I'll do it."
"Lift his forearm and press hard for one minute above the radial styloid process, 1.5 inches above the transverse wrist crease."
Li Jiang was a soldier and more or less understood these anatomical terms, so he quickly found the right spot.
"Doctor Lin, is it here?"
"Yes, press hard, otherwise it won't work."
Before Ma Sanniu could react, Li Jiang pressed down hard.
"Ahhhhhhh!!"
Ma Sanniu's scream pierced the sky. Liu Chunhua hurriedly stuffed the torn cloth from earlier into his mouth to prevent him from disturbing the neighbors.
The crowd gasped. Ma Sanniu looked absolutely miserable.
The veins on his neck bulged, his arm desperately tried to pull back, and his entire body twisted in pain.
Old Lady Ma said anxiously, "We won't treat it, we won't treat it anymore!"
"How can we do that? The money is already paid, so he must be treated." Liu Chunhua helped Li Jiang hold down Ma Sanniu's legs, laughing her head off internally.
Ma Sanniu wasn't sleepwalking at all!
He needed Doctor Lin to teach him a good lesson!
She said one minute, and it was exactly one minute, not a second less.
By the time the minute was up, Ma Sanniu was already covered in sweat.
The sweat mixed with blood, making him a ghastly sight.
But it wasn't over yet. Since she had taken their ten yuan, Lin Zhilan naturally couldn't just brush it off casually.
She continued to have Li Jiang press Ma Sanniu's Luozhen, Neiting, Chengshan, and Qiuxu acupoints...
After all these acupoints were pressed, Ma Sanniu was paralyzed on the ground, limp as a puddle of mud.
"Doctor Lin... what happened to him?"
Lin Zhilan said lightly, "It's normal. He is cured."
"Cured? Really?"
Lin Zhilan replied, "Really. If he isn't cured, I'll treat him for free next time, no charge."
"He's cured, he's cured, no need to treat him anymore." Old Lady Ma was sweating profusely with anxiety. Li Jiang was too strong, and she couldn't stop him at all. Seeing her son in such pain, she was completely helpless.
Liu Chunhua smiled and said, "Thank you, Doctor Lin. The next time I catch him sleepwalking, I'll come find you."
"Alright."
Li Jiang stood up, walked into the courtyard to wash his hands, and then told everyone to go home.
Lin Zhilan and Liu Chunhua exchanged a look, and she walked out as well.
Once everyone left, Liu Chunhua closed the courtyard door. Ignoring the two on the ground, she pulled Ma Xiaodong straight into the room.
Ma Xiaodong's small eyes were wide open, without a hint of sleepiness.
Doctor Lin was too awesome!
He also wanted Doctor Lin to be his grandmother!
Seeing that Liu Chunhua was ignoring them, Old Lady Ma muttered curses, "You heartless wretch, why doesn't God just take you away!"
Liu Chunhua walked out of her son's room and said coldly, "Mother, are you sleep-talking too? Should I have Doctor Lin take a look at you tomorrow as well?"
Old Lady Ma didn't dare to make a sound.
She finally realized that with Ma Daniu not around, all the neighbors here were on Liu Chunhua's side, and the tantrums she threw back in the village were completely useless here.
"Your brother's head is still bleeding! Aren't you going to do something about it?"
"Just go to the stove, grab a handful of plant ash, and rub it on. I have to work tomorrow, I'm dead tired." Liu Chunhua yawned, walked into her room, and slammed the door shut.
