114: Chapter 114 First Use of Medical Skills

Yellow Hair had a guilty conscience.

If it were just one or two students, he wouldn't be afraid, of course. But now, dozens of people were marching over majestically under Teacher Ma's lead. He was truly afraid that if he were present, some student might let something slip in a moment of carelessness.

He quickly backed away. "Brother Zhao, I've already eaten, so I won't join you. You guys go ahead and eat."

Zhao Yang's gaze turned cold. "You're not giving me Face?"

"Brother Zhao, I really have eaten. Uh, I... I still have some things to do."

Zhao Yang snorted coldly and raised his leg for a kick. "You shameless piece of trash! Get lost!"

"Ow, my mom!" Yellow Hair was kicked several meters away, tumbling several times. He scrambled up, glared at Zhao Yang with resentment, and ran away with his head down.

This scene was witnessed by Teacher Ma and the students. Seeing Yellow Hair scrambling away, the oppressive fear among the students instantly vanished. Teacher Ma had been worried that Zhao Yang and Yellow Hair were together or that Zhao Yang had been won over by him, but now he saw that wasn't the case at all. He immediately shouted, "Well hit!" and led the applause.

"Great! Haha!" The students followed suit, shouting in a disorganized but bright chorus. The oppressive atmosphere brought by Yellow Hair was kicked away cleanly by Zhao Yang's strike.

Zhao Yang waved his hand. "Don't thank me. I'm starving. Let's eat, let's eat."

Lunch was eaten on the playground. A few broken desks were pushed together to form a long table. Everyone had a bowl of fish soup and a few pieces of fish meat, paired with the dry rations they had brought. The students ate until they were sweating, and a few younger children even licked their bowls clean.

Zhao Yang and Teacher Ma sat in the shade of the adobe house, each holding a bowl of fish soup. Zhao Yang took two sips, set the bowl down, and studied Teacher Ma's complexion.

"Teacher Ma, is your stomach not very good?"

Teacher Ma was startled. "How do you know?"

"I see your Face is yellowish, your lips are a bit dry, and you were rubbing your stomach for a while before eating," Zhao Yang said casually. "It should be chronic gastritis. You get acid reflux when your stomach is empty in the morning, and it hurts when you eat cold things, right?"

Teacher Ma almost dropped his chopsticks. "Comrade Zhao, you know how to practice medicine?"

"I've studied it a bit." Zhao Yang picked up his bowl and took another sip. "Yours isn't serious. Drink less cold water, don't eat things that are too hard, and drink some mutton soup to warm up. It'll get better on its own after a while."

"That's more than just a bit!" Teacher Ma looked impressed. "I've had this stomach problem for years. I've been to the County Hospital twice, and the doctor said exactly what you did!"

Zhao Yang smiled and put down his bowl. "Since I'm here, have the children come over after lunch, and I'll check them one by one. This place is remote; I suspect many of these children have never had a physical exam."

Teacher Ma was overjoyed and nodded repeatedly. "That's wonderful! I'll go arrange it right away!"

After the meal, Zhao Yang had Teacher Ma move a desk under the shade of a tree. The students lined up, coming over one by one to have their pulses taken. Zhao Yang checked them quickly, one per minute. After checking, he would say a few words, and Teacher Ma would take notes in a notebook.

He casually placed the DV on the nearby windowsill, the lens pointed this way, with the indicator light flashing.

"This child is slightly malnourished. Eat more eggs; fish is also fine, you're not short of fish here."

"This little girl is fine, just a bit thin. She needs to eat more meat."

"This chubby boy is healthy, but he needs to lose some weight. Eat less fatty meat!"

The tubby elementary student chuckled. The students nearby jeered, "Did you hear that? The leader said you're fat! He told you to eat less fatty meat!"

The little fat boy scratched his hair. "Fatty meat is delicious. Lean meat is too tough! It even gets stuck in your teeth!"

"You're just greedy, hahaha!"

...

After seven or eight students, Zhao Yang reached a little girl with a ponytail. His hand rested on her wrist, staying there for a few seconds longer than usual. He looked up at the girl, then looked back down without saying anything.

"It's nothing, just a bit of a cold. Drink more hot water."

The little girl breathed a sigh of relief and ran off.

Zhao Yang continued taking pulses and encountered two more similar cases. He remained calm on the surface, only saying things like "keep warm" after finishing.

After they dispersed, Zhao Yang pulled Teacher Ma closer and lowered his voice.

"Teacher Ma, there were a few girls just now whose situations weren't quite right."

Teacher Ma's expression changed.

"So young," Zhao Yang looked at him, "and they've contracted gynecological diseases."

"What?" Teacher Ma looked pained. "How many?"

"Three."

Teacher Ma was silent for a long time, his lips trembling as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed it back.

Zhao Yang looked at him and asked in a low voice, "This is related to what you mentioned before the meal, isn't it?"

"It's Yellow Hair," Teacher Ma's voice was very low. "And the people behind him."

"Tell me specifically what happened during the time Teacher Hou was here."

Teacher Ma took a deep breath. "Last year, there was a girl named Weng Meixiang who was taken away by Yellow Hair. After she came back... she drank pesticide. There was also one named Ge Li who got pregnant and had a child. Now she's gone, no one knows where she is, and her family won't say."

Zhao Yang nodded. He had known about these plot points long ago, but hearing Teacher Ma say them in person still made his heart sink.

"Teacher Ma, today's matters, don't say a single word about them to anyone." Zhao Yang's voice wasn't loud, but it was steady. "Just remember what I told you. Someone from the Imperial Capital will come to handle it. You don't need to do anything, just wait."

Teacher Ma nodded vigorously, then turned around and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

Zhao Yang patted his shoulder. "Alright, I'm leaving now. Don't let anyone know we've talked about these things."

He walked to the windowsill and inconspicuously tucked the DV into his pocket.

The van started and drove out of the school gate. Teacher Ma stood on the playground, watching the rear of the car disappear at the end of the dirt road, not moving for a long time.

Zhao Yang parked the van at the village entrance. He looked into the fish basket and found that the largest fish was still there, making him reflect on the high character of the people of the Dragon Kingdom.

He turned off the engine, went back into the village, and entered through the school's back door.

The door to Teacher Ma's adobe office was closed, and Yellow Hair's voice could be faintly heard from inside: "What did you say to that guy named Zhao today?"

Zhao Yang gently pushed the door open a crack without making a sound. However, the door was bolted from the inside, so it could only open that much, but the voices were clear.

"I didn't say anything!" Teacher Ma's voice was shaking. "He just came to deliver fish and looked at the students while he was at it. He left after eating."

"Looked at the students? Looked at what?"

"Just... just gave the students a physical exam. He knows medicine and took their pulses."

"Just that?"

"Just that. He didn't say anything. Really, he didn't!"

Yellow Hair was silent for a moment, then suddenly kicked Teacher Ma to the ground. "Ma, you're fucking lying to me. He's a Public Security officer; what does he know about medicine? Speak! What did he actually say?"

"Why are you hitting me! He really does know how to treat illnesses!"

"Not telling the truth! I'll give you a lesson!" Yellow Hair rushed forward with another kick.

Teacher Ma wanted to get up and fight back, but having been caught off guard and kicked again, he could only curl up and protect his vital areas while Yellow Hair continued the beating.

Zhao Yang stopped watching and kicked the door.