"What's wrong?" Lin Zhilan asked.
"Dr. Lin," Qin Qing pursed her lips and glanced at Lin Zijun, "what are your criteria for taking on an apprentice?"
"You want to learn traditional Chinese medicine?"
"Yes!" Qin Qing nodded emphatically. "I want to study traditional Chinese medicine under you."
Lin Zhilan and the others probably didn't know it, but despite the traditional Chinese medicine department's low profile, the other departments were actually paying close attention to them, especially after the pharmaceutical factory was built.
Lin Zijun had switched to this path halfway through his career. Before, he could only do some basic massage work, but rumor had it that he could now perform acupuncture under Dr. Lin's guidance.
When Qin Qing took the entrance exam for the nursing school, her parents had made the choice for her. Her current job was actually quite good; in the eyes of outsiders, it was a very respectable profession.
But Qin Qing just wasn't satisfied.
The completion of the pharmaceutical factory had truly opened her eyes.
She wanted to help Zhaodi, but all she could do was occasionally bring her some food.
Dr. Lin, on the other hand, had almost indirectly changed Zhaodi's fate, and perhaps even the fates of many more girls like Zhaodi.
She wanted to become someone like Dr. Lin.
Moreover, if Lin Zijun could do it, why couldn't she?
Seeing the fiery determination burning in her eyes, Lin Zhilan smiled. "Learning traditional Chinese medicine isn't easy. Plus, our department currently only has three positions. Even if you study under me, you might not secure a job."
Lin Zijun pointed to the dark circles under his eyes and chimed in, "Nurse Qin, do you see my dark circles? I got them from staying up late reading. I advise you to just be a good nurse. It's such a stable job."
Lin Zijun only wanted to be his master's senior apprentice; he didn't want anyone competing with him for her favor.
Good and stable...
Qin Qing was sick of hearing those words.
"Dr. Lin, I will work hard. Please give me a chance!"
Lin Zhilan's eyes showed appreciation. She took two books from her office and handed them to her. "Let's put aside the matter of apprenticeship for now. Take these two books back and read them first, then return them to me in two months.
If you still want to learn by then, I'll test you. If you decide to give up, just return the books to me. This is inherently difficult, so there's no shame in quitting."
Qin Qing took the books, having already made up her mind.
She then glanced at the book on Lin Zijun's desk.
Lin Zijun quickly snatched it away, terrified she would ask for it.
Qin Qing: "You..."
"Qin Qing," Lin Zhilan gently reminded her, "don't bite off more than you can chew."
"Okay, Master. I'll head back to work now." Qin Qing's eyes curved into crescent moons as she quickly changed how she addressed her.
"Mm." Lin Zhilan knew what she was playing at but casually accepted it anyway.
Right after Qin Qing left, a mother and daughter arrived at the traditional Chinese medicine department.
The girl looked to be about three or four years old. She was held in her mother's arms and seemed rather listless.
The mother wore a faded, patched shirt and carried a bulging bag, looking somewhat impoverished.
Fortunately, they were clean and tidy, so they didn't appear unkempt.
Lin Zijun enthusiastically greeted them. "Where are you feeling unwell? Is it for the adult or the child?"
Yin Xiuxiu nervously hugged her child tighter, her voice timid and shrinking. "I'm looking for Dr. Lin."
"Master, someone is looking for you."
Before Lin Zijun could even finish his sentence, Lin Zhilan walked out of the pharmacy.
"Dr. Lin..."
Yin Xiuxiu looked a bit uneasy. "I heard that seeing a doctor here only costs ten yuan... Can you treat any illness?"
Lin Zhilan thought she looked familiar. After thinking for a moment, she remembered. "Are you Qiangzi's mother?"
Qiangzi was Jiang Chengzhou's little friend, the boy who had dislocated his arm climbing a tree last time. Lin Zhilan still had some impression of this mother and son.
Yin Xiuxiu lowered her head and said, "Yes."
Lin Zhilan: "If it's something I can treat, the consultation is ten yuan, but the cost of medicine is separate."
"I know, I brought money," Yin Xiuxiu quickly said.
She had asked around beforehand; that was the only reason she dared to bring her child here.
Lin Zhilan washed her hands and asked, "Is there something wrong with the child?"
Yin Xiuxiu hoisted the child higher in her arms and glanced at Ye Congshan and Lin Zijun, her lips pressed so tightly they turned white.
"My daughter is already five and a half years old, but she can't control her bladder. We've had her examined at the military hospital and hospitals in Yangcheng, but they couldn't find the cause."
Lin Zhilan reached out to the girl. "Can Auntie hold you?"
The little girl turned away and hugged Yin Xiuxiu's neck tightly.
"She's a bit shy around strangers."
"That's alright."
Lin Zhilan had her sit down with the child and then checked the girl's pulse.
"What's your name?"
The girl didn't answer, so Yin Xiuxiu quickly said, "She doesn't have a formal name. We usually just call her Nannan."
Nannan had been in poor health ever since she was born.
According to folklore, not giving a child a formal name could help them avoid disasters and stay alive. The King of Hell and his imps used formal names to claim souls; by only using a nickname, ghosts and spirits wouldn't be able to find the child, allowing them to escape misfortune.
Although it was feudal superstition, when human effort couldn't change things, parents could only pin their hopes on these ethereal legends.
"Nannan," Lin Zhilan called out softly. The child immediately looked her way.
"Does she usually speak?"
"Rarely."
"Can she understand what you say?"
"Yes, she can," Yin Xiuxiu hurriedly replied. "She's very sensible and obedient."
Lin Zhilan then asked Yin Xiuxiu to have the child walk around the room a couple of times.
She could walk normally, but she was a bit unsteady and wobbled slightly.
For a five-and-a-half-year-old child, her coordination was quite poor.
As Lin Zhilan took notes in the medical record, she asked, "Is it only her urination that she can't control? Does she have sensation when she needs to pass stool?"
"Yes, she tells adults when she needs to go number two."
"Hmm."
Lin Zijun leaned over and asked, "Master, what illness does she have?"
Yin Xiuxiu also looked over nervously. She had taken her child to many hospitals already.
She had even secretly sought out a spirit medium and made the child drink talisman water.
No one had given her a clear answer. To this day, they still hadn't figured out what the illness was.
Many people advised her to just give up, while others said the child would outgrow it.
But because Nannan wet the bed, other children refused to play with her. How was she supposed to go to school or get a job in the future?
Lin Zhilan said, "In traditional Chinese medicine, it's called Longbi. From a Western medicine perspective, it's an issue with the spinal nerves."
Yin Xiuxiu quickly said, "We had an X-ray taken, and the doctor said her spine was normal."
Lin Zhilan patiently explained, "For now, I suspect a tethered spinal cord. It's an abnormality in the soft tissue structures like the spinal cord and cauda equina, which cannot be detected by an X-ray."
The gold standard for diagnosing this condition was an MRI, with a CT scan as a supplementary check.
Given the current medical conditions, even CT scanners weren't widely available, let alone MRIs.
"What is a tethered spinal cord?" Lin Zijun asked like a curious baby, though Ye Congshan was just as intrigued.
Lin Zhilan remembered that the concept of tethered spinal cord was only introduced from abroad in the early 1980s, but it wasn't really her place to change the established medical name.
"It's a disease similar to spina bifida and a low-lying spinal cord."
Lin Zhilan didn't explain further and asked Yin Xiuxiu to carry the child into the examination room.
"Take off the child's top, and I'll examine her."
"Okay." Yin Xiuxiu immediately did as she was told, as if she had finally seen a glimmer of hope.
