Chapter Twelve: Avant-Garde Ideas

"Xiao Juan."
"Brother Da Cheng."
"Are you here to see me?"

From about ten meters away, Li Yancheng took the initiative to greet them, casually glancing at the girl standing beside Duan Fengjuan.

Her complexion was a bit pale, and she looked somewhat weak. It seemed she had come for medical treatment. Well, coming for treatment was fine; after all, there were other doctors available, so why wait specifically for him?

"Brother Da Cheng, she’s a friend of mine from the youth team. She’s feeling unwell and wants you to take a look," Xiao Juan explained.

Li Yancheng smiled bitterly inside.

It wasn’t that he underestimated himself, but before receiving that inheritance of traditional Chinese medicine, his medical skills were quite ordinary. People specially seeking him out for treatment was really flattering him too much.

But things were different now. Although he hadn’t fully grasped the inheritance and could only recall treatment methods gradually upon encountering specific illnesses, it was still far better than being completely in the dark before.

"Alright, come with me to my clinic. It’s so cold outside."

Both girls seemed reluctant to go in. Xiao Juan looked back at her friend, bit her lip, and stepped forward to grab the sleeve of Li Yancheng’s coat, pulling him aside a few steps while whispering:

"Brother Da Cheng, it’s like this, my friend... she’s not actually sick. It’s not good... not good for others to know, so we were waiting outside for you."

"Not sick?"

Hearing this, Li Yancheng quickly glanced at the girl standing still nearby.

"Are you trying to say... she’s pregnant?"

Having been through it himself, he immediately grasped the core issue.

"Ah?" Xiao Juan looked up at her neighbor with a shocked expression.

"Brother Da Cheng, how... how did you know?"

"Of course, I guessed. How else could I know?" Li Yancheng pulled out a cigarette from his coat pocket and lit it.

Although surprised at the girl’s boldness, he continued with a nonchalant tone, "You came to see me because you want to secretly get rid of it, right?"

"Xiao Juan, let me speak," the girl said as she stepped forward.

Indeed, it was better for her to speak for herself.

She must have overheard their conversation. Approaching, she said directly, "Doctor Li, I... I want to keep this child."

Good heavens!

Her words made Li Yancheng’s hand tremble, almost dropping the cigarette between his fingers.

He stared incredulously at the girl, who couldn’t be more than twenty, doubting if he had heard wrong. "What did you say?"

"Doctor Li, I said I want to keep this child."

Well, now Li Yancheng didn’t quite know what to say.

Although the law stipulated that men could marry at twenty and women at eighteen, meaning that pregnancy and childbirth at eighteen or nineteen were not illegal, this all depended on being married first.

Having a child out of wedlock... this wasn’t fifty or sixty years ago. Nowadays, such a thing would be harshly condemned.

"Have you thought this through? Do you understand what you’ll face when your pregnancy shows?"

Li Yancheng made a half-circle gesture around his belly.

"I know," the girl nodded. "I’m mentally prepared."

Mentally prepared my foot! She had no idea what awaited her.

Seeing the resolute look on her face, he couldn’t help but scoff silently.

Did she think it was like raising a kitten or puppy? Even if abandoned, luck might help it survive.

But since she had made her decision, he wouldn’t say more. After all, you can’t reason with a determined fool.

Still, if you’ve decided to have the child, why come to me?

"Then why did you come to see me today?"

"Doctor Li, I asked Xiao Juan to bring me here to see if you could help ease my symptoms. I’ve been vomiting every time I eat, and I’m afraid it’s bad for the baby."

Ah, that explains it. Li Yancheng nodded in understanding.

"Alright, come with me. Let’s go inside. I’ll see if I can prescribe some medicine to help regulate your body."

"Thank you, Doctor Li!"

"No need to thank me."

With that, Li Yancheng walked into the clinic.

As he turned, he noticed the anxious expression on Xiao Juan’s face. She was probably hoping he could persuade her friend to terminate the pregnancy.

But he wouldn’t say such a thing. They were adults responsible for their own choices, and he was just a doctor.

Inside the consultation room, Doctor Zhou was sitting by the stove warming himself while reading. Hearing the noise at the door, he looked up and saw Li Yancheng enter.

"Yancheng, just now there was—"

Before he finished, he noticed the two girls following behind and changed his words: "Oh, you’ve met them."

"They were waiting for me at the gate. They’re children from my neighbor’s family," Li Yancheng explained.

He gestured to the two chairs by his desk for them to sit. He took off his coat and hung it on a hook on the wall before putting on his white coat and sitting down. He then took a pulse cushion from the drawer and placed it on the desk.

"Come, put your hand here."

Just as he placed his hand on the girl’s wrist, Li Yancheng frowned slightly.

This... this wasn’t a pregnancy pulse.

Although he had never felt a pregnancy pulse himself, the inherited memories included what it should be like. The girl’s pulse did not match at all.

He quickly withdrew his hand and asked curiously, "Comrade, who told you you were pregnant?"

"Ah?"

His question drew the attention of all three inside the room.

Doctor Zhou was even more astonished.

The girl’s face showed a flash of surprise as she hesitated before replying, "I... I haven’t had my period for two months. These past few days, I’ve been vomiting every time I eat. I remember my sister’s pregnancy was like this. Could it be... could it be that I’m not pregnant?"

"Anyway, I didn’t find any signs of pregnancy from your pulse. Your vomiting after eating is due to spleen and stomach coldness. As for missing your period for two months, that’s caused by internal coldness.

Cold causes blood to congeal, heat causes it to flow. When qi and blood are harmonious, everything works normally. This isn’t a big problem. I’ll give you two acupuncture treatments, and your period should return by tomorrow at the latest.

Of course, if you’re worried about my judgment, you can also go to the county hospital for a test to be sure."

Hearing that her friend wasn’t actually pregnant, Xiao Juan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She did not support her friend’s desire to keep the child at all.

Now that there was no pregnancy, all problems were solved.