A divine healer, a general, a young marquis! Who can rival them!

Since Yang's clinic opened, the number of people seeking medical treatment has been increasing day by day.

Early in the morning, a line formed in front of the door. Yang Hu worked from morning till night, taking pulses, asking questions, and prescribing medicine, without even having time to drink a sip of water.

Lu Yan oversaw the pharmacy, responsible for dispensing prescriptions. Lu Rou handled the accounts, and two assistants ran errands. But there were just too many people; they'd only finished checking things before noon when another wave arrived.

"Young Master," Lu Rou handed him the bowl, "this won't do. Even your iron body can't withstand this."

Yang Hu rubbed his temples.

She's telling the truth. The clinic can't survive long-term on his own; he can't do it all.

We need to find a helper.

He saw one in the last few days as well.

There was always a boy of about thirteen or fourteen squatting outside the clinic. He wore a patched and tattered short jacket, and his face was so thin that his bones protruded, but his eyes were very bright.

He didn't see a doctor or get medicine; he just squatted there, watching what happened in the clinic. He watched Yang Hu take his pulse and prescribe medicine. He squatted like that for the entire afternoon.

Yang Hu recognized this person.

Not long ago, this kid's mother fell ill, and the family was so poor that they couldn't afford to eat. Yang Hu cured her on the spot and didn't charge her for the medicine.

This kid's name is Aji.

"That child, he's here again." Lu Rou followed his gaze towards the door. "He's been squatting here for several days now."

Yang Hu didn't say anything, but his heart skipped a beat.

Suddenly, chaos erupted at the entrance.

"Excuse me! Excuse me!"

Several people awkwardly lifted a person and squeezed into the clinic.

The man carried in was a sturdy porter. His face was flushed, his eyes were closed, and he was muttering incoherent words. He was burning with a high fever.

"Dr. Yang! Save my brother!" The leader's voice trembled. "The doctors in town all say there's nothing they can do, and they've told us to prepare for our funerals..."

Yang Hu had someone put him on the examination bed.

He first touched his head.

It's too hot to handle.

Then I looked over the porter's right arm.

There was a boil on my arm, just a small bump the size of a grain of rice. It wasn't a big deal. But now, the boil has burst, started to rot and turn black, and is even starting to gleam around its edges.

The worst part is that a little above the boil, there is a thin, dark red line that runs up the arm and all the way to the elbow.

Yang Hu frowned.

"He squeezed through himself, didn't he?" he asked.

The man nodded quickly: "Yes! I had some free time a couple of days ago, and he said his arm was itchy. He thought the boil was in the way, so he squeezed it once... As a result, he started to have a fever the next day, a red line appeared on his arm, and he became delirious."

Yang Hu was confident.

A boil isn't a serious illness, but this porter insisted on squeezing it. Once squeezed, the toxin travels upwards through the bloodstream, eventually reaching the boil. This upward-pointing red line is actually the pathway for the toxin to enter the body. If it travels any higher, it will attack the heart, and the person will die.

The city doctor was right. The words "hopeless" were indeed accurate. Because if a boil turns yellow, it's truly dangerous.

"There's definitely no other way!"

"This disease is called 'furuncle spreading to the jaundice'!"

"The poison is circulating in the blood. Medication alone won't suppress it; surgery is needed!"

"Use...use a knife?" The man's face turned pale instantly.

With so many people gathered around, they all gasped in surprise.

"You're going this way to operate on that yellow boil?" someone couldn't contain himself and shouted, "Isn't that killing us?! The old town doctor said that boils are the worst thing you can do; if you do, they'll get even worse!"

Yang Hu ignored him; he wanted too many things and couldn't spare the time.

The shop assistant ran around fetching medicine, while Lu Yan prepared it in the back; she couldn't be separated from him.

"Strong liquor, clean cloth."

He spoke rapidly.

Before he could finish speaking, a skinny boy had already squeezed in.

It's Aji.

Before Yang Hu finished speaking, he had already picked up the liquor jar and handed it over with a clean cloth, and then slurped it down.

Yang Hu glanced at it but didn't say anything.

He took out his knife, lit a candle, scorched it, and poured strong liquor on it.

"Hold him down."

The porters were so frightened that they slid back, none of them daring to approach. But Aji, without saying a word, stretched out his two thin arms and forcefully pressed down on the porters' shoulders.

The porter, delirious with fever, struggled violently the moment the knife touched him.

Aji's face turned red as he gritted his teeth and held the boy down.

Yang Hu was skilled and opened the wound with a single cut.

Foul-smelling pus and blood gushed out.

The onlookers gasped in surprise again, and several women covered their eyes, unable to watch.

Aji didn't dodge; he just held on, his eyes fixed on Yang Hu's hands, watching how he picked and arranged things.

After Yang Hu emptied the pus and blood, he stabbed along the upward-pointing red line, forcing out streaks of black blood.

Finally, apply a heat-clearing and detoxifying medicine and wrap it with a cloth.

"Prepare the medicine!" He wrote a prescription and handed it over. "One bowl every hour, watch him until he sweats and his fever goes down!"

Then, it's just a matter of waiting.

The porter's fever hadn't subsided, and he was talking nonsense.

A group of people were filled with anxiety and fear.

It will take about two hours.

A fine layer of sweat began to appear on the porter's forehead, his fever gradually subsided, and the terrible red lines on his arms began to fade.

After a while, he slowly woke up and opened his eyes.

"He...he's alive?" The leader was about to kneel down and thank him.

Yang Hu sidestepped him, saying calmly, "You've only escaped with your life. Never squeeze boils or carbuncles again. This time, you were squeezed out."

The porters thanked him profusely, left some medical fees, and left with him.

The onlookers dispersed, and Yang Hu turned around to see the child who had stayed by his side the whole time.

Aji stood there restlessly, rubbing his hands on his clothes.

"Just now, strong liquor, cloth, and a knife," Yang Hu said, looking at him. "How did you know I would need them?"

"I...I've been watching from the doorway for days." Aji blushed. "Dr. Yang drains pus from wounds, and that's when he does it. I've got it!"

Yang Hu was startled.

"How many of the items in the pharmacy in the back do you recognize?"

Aji looked up, his eyes shining: "So many! Honeysuckle, forsythia, dandelion, all of them are detoxifying. The ones I packed for your uncle just now included dandelion... My mother said they're for treating illnesses."

Yang Hu sized him up.

The young man has very clear eyes, steady hands, and is not afraid of blood. He is also very quick-witted. I just performed acupressure on him and handed him the instruments without making a single mistake. He can also clearly explain the properties of the medicine.

He's a great candidate for medical school!

"Do you want to study medicine?" Yang Hu asked him.

Aji immediately stood up straight, opened his mouth for a few seconds, but in the end he stammered and couldn't say anything coherent, his voice trembling:

"Yes! I want to!" He knelt down again with a thud. "Dr. Yang, please take me in! I can do anything—cleaning, dispensing medicine, delivering messages—I don't need a salary... My mother says you're a living Bodhisattva, and if I follow you, I can learn to save lives..."

Yang Hu pulled him up.

"Studying medicine is no joke," he said. "It's incredibly tough. You have to sleep at midnight and get up before dawn, learn about medicines, memorize texts, and see patients with festering sores and pus. You can't slack off even a little bit. Can you handle the hardship?"

"I can endure hardship!" Aji patted his chest. "No matter how hard it is, I can endure it!"

Yang Hu smiled.

The clinic needs someone like this. This young man is smart, willing to learn, and upright—he's excellent.

"Okay," he said. "You'll start working at the clinic tomorrow, beginning with recognizing and preparing the herbs. Whether it's easy to learn or not depends on you."

Aji's eyes immediately reddened, and he tried to kneel down again, but Yang Hu held him down.

Lu Rou smiled and said, "Young Master, you finally have someone to help you this time."

After closing the door at night, the whole family sat down together for dinner.

Lu Yan served him soup and said softly, "Once you've dealt with that guy, things will be much easier for you, young master."

Liu Ye had just returned from outside and tossed two pheasants onto the table: "I've got my eye on that kid; he's got potential."

Qin Ying didn't say much. Sitting to the side, she listened to them talk about taking on apprentices without moving the knife on her lap. She simply said, "Have more hands and more eyes. This place is dangerous, so it's always good to have more people around."

Yang Hu glanced at her.

This sounds like he's taking on a disciple, but it's actually about helping him think of other things.

He nodded.

I enjoyed this meal more than usual.

Because it was Aji's first time at the dinner table, he was very nervous and didn't even dare to pour his food out. Liu Ye put a piece of wild game into his bowl, and he thanked her shyly, which made Lu Rou laugh.

Yang Hu felt very comfortable watching this.

His clinic will no longer be run by him alone. This young man is upright, steady, and eager to learn. Once trained, he will become his own strong support.

After dinner, Aji, under the lamplight, grabbed the medicine he didn't understand, touching and smelling it, completely absorbed in it.

Looking at him like that, Yang Hu's eyes twitched slightly.

With an extra helper, he finally had some free time to touch the phone that had been lying aside.

He didn't expect that as the line was pulled down, the first thing to give him a hard time was that dog kennel and rocky hill to the north!