After becoming a widow, I became the apple of a rough man's eye.

Lin Dajun was in so much pain that he broke out in a cold sweat. His entire arm felt like it had been ripped off; it was sore and numb, and he couldn't even muster any strength on half of his body.

Gu Qiangying released his grip, took out a clean white handkerchief from his pocket, and carefully wiped the fingers that had just touched Lin Dajun. After wiping, he casually threw the handkerchief into the muddy ground next to him.

"Young man," Gu Qiangying pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and said in a gentle voice, "I see that your forehead is dark and your eyes are bluish-black. This is a sign of kidney deficiency."

Lin Dajun had just caught his breath and hadn't even had a chance to curse when he was stunned by these words.

"You're talking nonsense! I'm perfectly healthy!" Lin Dajun shouted, his neck stiff and his voice weak but lacking in conviction, his eyes darting around.

Gu Qiangying smiled, picked up her medical kit, and paced around Lin Dajun for a couple of steps.

"Are you feeling well?" Gu Qiangying stopped behind him, her gaze sweeping over his trembling thighs. "Have you been experiencing lower back and knee pain lately, and difficulty getting an erection in the morning? Do you also experience night sweats, leaving your bed constantly damp?"

Lin Dajun's face turned pale instantly.

Only he knew about this; he didn't even dare tell his cronies.

Lately, he really felt completely drained. Sometimes he would struggle with that girl for ages but couldn't release his pent-up desire, and instead felt as exhausted as a dead dog.

"Stick out your tongue so I can see it," Gu Qiangying suddenly commanded.

Lin Dajun was stunned by the invisible pressure and subconsciously opened his mouth, sticking out his tongue covered with yellow coating.

Gu Qiangying glanced at it only once before turning her head away in disgust. She took a tongue depressor from the first-aid kit and pointed at it from a distance.

"Your tongue coating is yellow and greasy, and your breath smells fishy; this indicates damp-heat accumulation in the lower body. Add to that your cloudy, bloodshot eyes..."

He paused, put away the tongue depressor, and his tone carried a hint of regret.

"Tsk, what a pity."

That exclamation of "What a pity!" sent half the Lin family members' souls flying.

Li Guihua stopped wailing, wiped her hands haphazardly on her apron, and leaned closer, trembling:

"Doctor... Doctor, what's wrong with my son? Don't scare us country folk!"

Lin Laoshi, who had been squatting on the threshold smoking a pipe, couldn't sit still any longer. He tapped his pipe on the sole of his shoe and stared at Gu Qiangying.

Gu Qiangying said calmly, "Have you been to any shady places lately? Have you been with women you shouldn't have?"

Lin Dajun's body trembled, his calves cramped, and he knelt back down on the ground with a thud.

He had been there.

He frequented that brothel at the west end of town.

"This disease has a scientific name," Gu Qiangying slowly uttered three words, "venereal disease."

With a loud bang.

These three words are as destructive as an atomic bomb.

That's a dirty disease, a disease that rots your crotch. Whoever gets it will be cursed and gossiped about for the rest of their life. It's like a terminal illness that will prevent you from being buried in your ancestors' graves even after you die.

"In the early stages," Gu Qiangying added, "If it's not treated now, within three months, it will start to develop festering sores all over its body, oozing yellow fluid. At that point, forget about having children; even whether that thing can be saved will depend on fate."

"My goodness!" Li Guihua's eyes rolled back, nearly fainting. She collapsed to the ground, slapping her thighs and wailing, "What a tragedy! What tragedy have we committed! The Lin family line is going to end!"

Lin Dajun was so frightened that he clung to Gu Qiangying's trouser leg and wailed, "Big brother! Doctor! Miracle doctor! I haven't even gotten married yet! My thing can't rot!"

Gu Qiangying took a step back in disgust, avoiding his dirty hands.

Lin Qingqing stood to the side, completely dumbfounded.

She knew that Lin Dajun was indeed in poor health and had had this problem for several years. It was caused by his excessive drinking and staying up late. How did it become a venereal disease?

She subconsciously looked at Gu Qiangying.

The man stood in the sunlight, his white shirt spotless, his eyes behind his glasses gleaming with a cold light.

Jiang He leaned close to Lin Qingqing's ear, his warm breath brushing against her earlobe, carrying a mischievous schadenfreude:

"Sister, look at Third Brother, he's wicked beyond belief. That big monkey just has kidney deficiency, at most it's just excessive indulgence, he doesn't have any venereal disease. Third Brother is just scaring the idiots."

Lin Qingqing's face flushed. She wanted to laugh but dared not, so she could only purse her lips. The heavy stone that had been weighing on her heart suddenly shattered.

It turns out that her parents and siblings, who were once insurmountable mountains in her eyes and could control her destiny at will, were so vulnerable at this moment.

"I... I can save him." Gu Qiangying drawled, as if hesitant, "But the medicinal herbs are extremely precious. As you know, this kind of illness is difficult to treat; we need strong medicine and good medicine to keep him alive."

"Treat him! We'll treat him!" Li Guihua rushed over, tears streaming down her face. "Doctor, as long as you can save my son, we'll sell everything we own to treat him!"

"There's no need to sell everything you own," Gu Qiangying smiled.

"It's just the cost of one course of treatment, which is a bit expensive. One hundred yuan."

"How many?!"

Lin Laoshi jumped up from the ground in shock, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. "One hundred yuan?! Are you robbing me?!"

They just forced Lin Qingqing to give them fifty yuan, and now she's asking for a hundred.

"You think it's too expensive?" Gu Qiangying didn't insist. "Then save the money for a coffin. Anyway, it's not my lifeline that's rotting. Oh, by the way, this disease is contagious. You'll be living in the same courtyard as him, sharing the same pot for meals and the same ladle for water. When the whole family rots together, you'll at least have company on the road to the underworld."

"No! Don't go!" Lin Dajun grabbed Gu Qiangying's trouser leg desperately, turned around and yelled at Lin Laoshi, "Dad! Give me the money! Give me the money now! Do you want to watch me die? Do you want to watch the Lin family line end?"

Old Lin's face was contorted in a grimace, his heart bleeding.

One hundred yuan! That was the family's savings for several years, meant for Dajun's wedding.

Looking at his son's pale face, and thinking about the terrifying "venereal disease," Lin Laoshi gritted his teeth, turned around, and went into the dark inner room.

A short while later, he came out carrying a small cloth bag wrapped in red cloth.

Unfolding the layers, you find a stack of crumpled bills, including ten-yuan notes, five-yuan notes, and quite a few small bills.

"Doctor...it's all here." Lin Laoshi's hands were trembling, as if he were being ripped out of his flesh. "It's only a little over eighty yuan in total..."

Gu Qiangying glanced at the pile of money but didn't reach out to take it.

"Eighty?" He raised an eyebrow. "Then I can only prescribe half a course of treatment. The remaining medicine won't be enough; whether it can stop the festering sores depends on luck."

"No!" Lin Dajun cried out anxiously, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the dozen or so yuan he had hidden earlier, along with the few coins he had left, stuffing them all into the red cloth bag. "There's more! There's more! Is that enough?"

Gu Qiangying reluctantly nodded.

"Alright, I'll make an exception for Qingqing's sake."

He emphasized the words "Qingqing".

Li Guihua and Lin Laoshi then realized that the skilled doctor had come with that brat.

The expressions on their faces were quite varied. They wanted to please Lin Qingqing, but they couldn't bring themselves to do it, so they could only awkwardly force a smile.

Gu Qiangying opened the medicine box, took out paper and pen, and quickly wrote down a prescription.

"Get the medicine according to this prescription. Coptis chinensis 3 qian, Sophora flavescens 5 qian, Gentiana scabra 4 qian..."

They are all cheap herbs that clear heat and dry dampness, and are extremely bitter.

After taking this medicine, let alone curing the illness, it would make you vomit up your bile.

"This medicine must be drunk while it's hot, the more bitter the better. Only bitterness can reduce internal heat and kill the toxins." Gu Qiangying handed the prescription to Lin Laoshi, and then took out two packets of powder wrapped in kraft paper from the box. "This is a special medicine that I made myself. Let him mix it with water and drink it first."

It's actually just two packets of ground vitamins and Coptis chinensis powder.

Lin Laoshi accepted it with profuse thanks, as if it were a life-saving elixir.

Gu Qiangying then picked up the red cloth bag and casually handed it to Jiang He.

"Take it."

Jiang He took it with a grin, and in front of the Lin family, he stuffed the money into his pocket, deliberately patting it to make that heartbreaking sound.

"From now on," Gu Qiangying straightened her cuffs, her gaze sweeping coldly over the family of three, "don't even think about messing with Qingqing. She's part of our family now. If this illness relapses, you'll have to come to me. And if I find out Qingqing has suffered any injustice..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but instead gave Lin Dajun a meaningful glance at his crotch.

Lin Dajun felt a chill in his crotch and a tightening in his buttocks. He nodded frantically, "I wouldn't dare! Absolutely not! My sister is my own sister; I'll treat her like royalty from now on!"

Li Guihua nodded vigorously in agreement: "Yes, yes, yes, Qingqing is so lucky, she found herself a good family..."

Lin Qingqing felt a mix of emotions as she watched this scene.

She had lived in this family for twenty years and had never seen her parents and brothers so humble. And all of this was because Gu Qiangying simply moved her lips.

"Let's go." After dealing with the trouble, Gu Qiangying didn't want to stay in this moldy courtyard for even a second longer.

He turned around and took Lin Qingqing's wrist very naturally. "The air in this place is bad. You'll easily get sick if you stay here for too long."

Lin Qingqing obediently let him lead her.

Just as I reached the door, an unexpected event occurred.

The courtyard gate was suddenly kicked open with a loud bang.

A middle-aged man in a gray Zhongshan suit, sweating profusely, rushed in. He was running so fast that he almost tripped over the threshold, and his hat was askew.

"Dr. Gu! Dr. Gu, where are you!"

The man shouted at the top of his lungs as soon as he entered the room, his voice filled with an urgent panic.

Gu Qiangying paused, her brows furrowing slightly.

The man looked up and saw Gu Qiangying. His eyes lit up instantly, as if he had seen a living bodhisattva who could save him from suffering. He rushed over and grabbed Gu Qiangying's arm.

"Oh, my dear Dr. Gu! I've finally found you! I've turned the whole town upside down!"

"Someone saw you arrive early this morning! Why are you here first?"

The man was panting heavily, sweat dripping down his chin. "Quick! Come with me! My old man... my old man just fainted!"

Gu Qiangying was jolted by the man's tug, but she calmly pulled her arm away.

"Don't rush, tell me slowly. What are the old man's symptoms?"

The official was so anxious he was stamping his feet. "The car is right at the alley entrance! Dr. Gu, saving a life is a great act of merit! Let's walk and talk!"

……

I'm asking for a bookshelf, urging for more updates, and comments!

Doing too many times at once might cause the opponent to be lifted up.

I hope everyone will be more active; the author would be extremely grateful!