Medicine Grandpa seemed lost in thought. Seeing her come out, she said, "Come, I’ll walk with you. But you still have to buy the groceries." she absolutely refused to admit she was just happy because her little apprentice had arrived.
Zhu Yanyi nodded. "I’ll put the books away first." They were gifts from the elders, so she couldn’t just leave them lying around.
Medicine Grandpa nodded and put away the acupuncture books Zhu Yanyi had given her. After both master and apprentice had stored their books, Zhu Yanyi took a basket and went out with Medicine Grandpa.
"Ani, there’s a doctor’s license exam at the end of July. You should take it too." Medicine Grandpa had thought about this for a long time. She had wanted to wait, but now she saw she couldn’t delay. Zhu Yanyi’s medical talent had already attracted attention. Without a certificate, there might be trouble later.
Zhu Yanyi raised an eyebrow slightly. She had originally planned to stay in the capital for only half a month, but it looked like she would stay for about a month. She thought for a moment and said, "Okay. Dad and Mom can go back first. When I’m alone, I’ll move in with you."
"Why? Are you unhappy living with Yan Aohan?" Medicine Grandpa didn’t believe Yan Aohan would treat Zhu Yanyi poorly.
Zhu Yanyi shook her head. "How could that be? I just miss you all. I want to stay with you longer."
"I do have a room for you here, but this time, you should still stay with Yan Aohan. First, we old folks are busy and can’t keep you company all day. Second, I am a judge for the exam. If you live with me, people might gossip. We need to show our real skills to silence them. So, you can’t stay with me for now."
Medicine Grandpa explained the recent situation to Zhu Yanyi. She truly wanted to spend time with the elders, but since Medicine Grandpa said so, she had no other opinion. "Then I’ll stay with Brother Yan. She isn’t home often anyway. The courtyard house is really nice."
"Like the courtyard house?" Hearing this, Medicine Grandpa knew what she was thinking.
Zhu Yanyi nodded. "I do like it. The courtyard house holds the heart and soul of many generations of our people. It has deep culture. How could I not like it?" She sighed slightly. "It’s a pity our family doesn’t have much money. But even if we did, we couldn’t buy one now."
Since 1982, courtyard houses had gotten more expensive every year. People who owned them wouldn’t sell. Everyone could see that, no matter what happened to the housing market, courtyard houses were valuable assets with great potential to rise in price. No one would be foolish enough to sell.
Medicine Grandpa chuckled. "You, just study medicine well. Maybe one day you’ll save an important person, and they’ll give you a courtyard house."
Zhu Yanyi glanced at Medicine Grandpa. "Grandpa Medicine, are you silly? I am a healer. A healer has a kind heart. As long as the person is upright, I will treat them, whether they give me a courtyard house or not. On the other hand, if the person is not good, it’s not that I’m pretending to be noble. No matter if they give me a courtyard house or not, I won’t treat them. I have my own bottom line."
Everyone has their own bottom line, and Zhu Yanyi had hers. Her bottom line was that her patients could not be great evil-doers. Small evils could be taught, but great evils could not be changed. Such people did not need saving. Even the Buddha couldn’t save them. Saving one such person would harm many others. She would rather bear the blame for not treating them.