Chapter 46: Li Ziqi Takes Herbal Medicine

Not a single patient for acupuncture and tuina visited the Mingde Hall the entire morning. However, Wang Sen managed to seize the opportunity and, with Zhang Jing's assistance, spent nearly three hours completely moving the contents of the small medicine storage room into the empty second-floor room.

The acupuncture room originally came equipped with a set of desk and chairs, though it lacked a computer. A blood pressure monitor, pulse pillow, and medical flashlight were already fully provided. Since Zhang Jing now had his own consulting room on the ground floor, everything could simply be moved straight down, eliminating the need for any additional purchases.

The only thing missing was a plaque for the consulting room. As for the original medicine storage sign, it had naturally been transferred together to the empty room upstairs. Still, there was clearly no need to rush this; Gui Cui immediately printed the four large characters for "Internal Medicine Clinic" on an A4 sheet of paper and taped it to the door.

In addition, Gui Cui voluntarily took on the task of cleaning the floor, desk, and chairs, stubbornly refusing to let Zhang Jing lift a finger. Her reasoning was that cleaning was a young woman's forte, and he was forbidden to compete with her.

Unable to win against her stubbornness, Zhang Jing suggested during the lunch break that they go out for a casual meal together, inviting Wang Sen, who had done all the heavy lifting, to join them as well.

Both readily accepted, yet unanimously proposed getting fast food.

Zhang Jing knew very well that they were doing this to keep him from spending too much money. However, feeling that it was rare for him to play the host, he did not want the meal to be too shabby.

He therefore said earnestly, "You both worked so hard today helping to tidy up my consulting room, so let's skip the fast food. Xiao Cui, didn't you mention yesterday noon that there's a restaurant nearby with pretty good flavors? Why don't you lead the way, and we'll go there."

"There's really no need, Dr. Wang. Your monthly salary isn't that high anyway," Wang Sen blurted out before Gui Cui could speak.

Gui Cui shot him a gentle glare, clearly blaming Wang Sen for being too blunt and risking damage to Zhang Jing's self-esteem.

"Ahem!" Gui Cui cleared her throat and said, "The main thing is we had hot pot just last night, so we really don't have much appetite for heavy food."

Catching on immediately, Wang Sen chimed in, "Right, right, that's what I meant too. We should just have something light to cleanse our systems. Dr. Zhang, you wouldn't want me to keep piling on the pounds, would you?"

Since the conversation had reached this point, Zhang Jing found it awkward to insist further. Besides, the truth was that he was not particularly skilled in the social arts of hosting dinner guests.

Before long, the three of them arrived at a familiar place: the Shijiaxiang Fast Food Restaurant.

Gui Cui and Zhang Jing ordered the exact same dishes as before. Zhang Jing practically chose the same few items every time he ate fast food, which was nothing out of the ordinary. Because the restaurant offered far too many choices, he simply didn't want to waste mental energy and time making a selection. Anyway, he had few demands regarding food, as long as it was healthy and hygienic.

However, Gui Cui's decision to stick with her usual choices was a premeditated plan. She figured that if she deliberately chose the cheapest dishes, Zhang Jing might think she was looking down on him.

On the other hand, if she ordered more expensive dishes, she truly couldn't bear to put him through that expense. After weighing her options, sticking to yesterday's choices was simply the most prudent path.

As for Wang Sen, he had originally intended to order only two vegetarian dishes. It was only under Zhang Jing's insistence that he reluctantly upgraded to one meat dish, one vegetarian dish, and a complimentary bowl of soup.

The three of them chose an empty table near the corner and sat down.

"First of all, I'd like to use soup in place of wine to congratulate Dr. Zhang on finally having his own consulting room," Wang Sen said excitedly.

"Yes, absolutely. This can be considered a housewarming of sorts, and I wish Dr. Zhang boundless success in the future," Gui Cui echoed, chiming in.

Glancing down to realize she hadn't taken the complimentary soup after all, she lifted her rice bowl with a hint of embarrassment and said, "Since I don't have soup, I'll use rice in place of wine instead."

Not wanting to dampen everyone's spirits, Zhang Jing had no choice but to raise his soup bowl as well, saying with a smile, "Thank you both."

Even though the complimentary soup was little more than warm water with a hint of flavor, Zhang Jing still drank it with great relish, as he was never a picky eater.

Meanwhile, far away over ten thousand meters, Li Ziqi's palate was vastly more demanding.

At this very moment, a bowl of soup was placed before her as well. Only, it was a bowl of traditional Chinese herbal medicine.

"Mom, can you please add a bit more rock sugar for me?" Li Ziqi asked with a distressed expression as she looked at the elderly woman washing dishes.

"No more sugar can be added, otherwise it will just turn straight into rock sugar water. Xiaoqi, if you really can't stomach it, then simply stop drinking it. Anyway, I don't see it doing any good."

"Why do you always refuse to trust Zhang Jing? His medical skills are truly remarkable. Sister Bing experienced it firsthand—her stiff neck was completely cured after a single acupuncture session. I saw it with my own eyes when we were dining together, how could that be fake?"

"Besides, when he examined me, his analysis was logical and well-reasoned. One could tell at a glance that he is very capable," Li Ziqi argued, pouting.

"Oh, Xiaoqi, while Mom also thinks Zhang Jing is a nice young man, we must be realistic. After all, he's just a young traditional Chinese medicine doctor who graduated less than two years ago. How could he possibly possess any decent medical skills?"

"Furthermore, if his medical skills were truly formidable, he wouldn't even have his own independent clinic and would be cooped up in a tiny acupuncture room."

"Besides, even if your close friend Bai Bing's stiff neck was indeed cured by his acupuncture, there's nothing rare about that. A stiff neck isn't a serious illness to begin with; there are plenty of doctors at the county hospital of traditional Chinese medicine who can treat it and cure it in a single session."

"What's more, even if his acupuncture skills are indeed somewhat impressive, did Bai Bing ever say she saw him prescribe traditional Chinese medicine?"

Not wishing to deceive her mother, Li Ziqi had no choice but to reply truthfully, "Well, no." After all, Bai Bing had only been guessing at the time.

"There you have it then! And what about the message you brought back yesterday? He actually had the nerve to say I am at risk of a stroke. Look at me, busy running around all day long. Not a single abnormal index appears on my annual physical examination report. Do I look like someone on the verge of a major illness?"

"This..." Li Ziqi was left completely speechless by the retort.

However, her stubborn streak flared up immediately after. "Mom, you may not trust Zhang Jing, but I trust him implicitly. Hmph! It's just drinking some herbal medicine, right? I'll just treat it as live-streaming myself eating dark cuisine!"

Right after saying this, she picked up the medicine bowl with her right hand, furrowed her brow, pinched her nose with her left hand, and poured the greater part of the herbal decoction down her throat in one go.

This time, Li Ziqi was astonished to find that the medicine didn't seem quite as agonizingly bitter as it had been yesterday during her first dose.

The elderly woman hurriedly brought over a cup of warm water and said, "My darling, even if you have to drink it, there's no need to rush like that. What would you do if you choked? Quick, rinse your mouth with water."

Rolling her eyes, Li Ziqi retorted petulantly, "You don't need to worry about me. You'd better focus on preparing a few of your signature dishes to welcome your big darling back tonight!"

With that, she spun around and bolted back to her own bedroom.

Hearing a loud "bang" as the door slammed shut, the elderly woman shook her head helplessly.

She muttered to herself that this little pampered princess had truly been spoiled rotten by her—completely lacking in respect and manners.

Immediately afterward, another thought struck her: her daughter had indeed reminded her of something important.

Tomorrow was the weekend, and her eldest daughter, Xiaomeng, who usually lived in the company dormitory, was supposed to come home after finishing work today to spend a couple of days.

Although Xiaomeng always claimed that the food in the foreign-enterprise cafeteria was exceptionally good, a cafeteria was still just a cafeteria. No matter how good it supposedly was, could it possibly compare to the loving delicacies prepared personally by a mother?

Moreover, the elderly woman possessed immense self-confidence in her culinary skills. After all, Li Ziqi's success in becoming a well-known food blogger in Lu County was partly due to her contributions. Often during live streams, Li Ziqi would stand by "directing traffic" using Xiaohongshu while the elderly woman played the role of the puppet chef.

Over time, not only did Li Ziqi's live-streaming career flourish, but the elderly woman's cooking skills also advanced at a staggering pace.

At this realization, the elderly woman thought to herself, *No, I need to make a quick trip to Metro.* She needed to pick up some fresh beef, as that was Xiaomeng's absolute favorite. Oh, right, she should buy some seafood too; Xiaoqi loved that. Otherwise, that jealous little princess would find even more reasons to pick a fight!