Ultimate Village Doctor

"I\'m finally home!"

After cresting over a hill, a young man with a shaved head and a scar on his face, wearing an old T-shirt, stood at the entrance to the village. His eyes shimmered with excitement as he looked down at the small village nestled at the foot of the hills.

He was Long Xiaoshan, who had just made the journey from Lotus Township Bus Station, crossing mountains and ridges to get back home.

Inside the village, nothing much has changed in Longyang Village since three years ago. The narrow mud paths remained and there were hardly any houses built with bricks and tiles.

"Aunt Guimei!"

Xiaoshan noticed a middle-aged woman with dark skin approaching and promptly greeted her.

"Isn\'t this Xiaoshan? You\'re back, ah, it\'s good… good that you\'re back..." The middle-aged woman glanced at Xiaoshan, a flicker of panic in her eyes as she hurriedly walked away.

Xiaoshan continued on his way home.

Longyang Village still suffered from an imbalance between the spirits of yin and yang; the men were even fewer than before. It was said that the village had problems with feng shui, an exhaustion of yang energy. Not only were there significantly fewer boys born than girls, but the male residents also seemed prone to misfortune. As a result, any man with a bit of capability who left the village had no desire to return, leaving behind many women to fend for themselves.

Women made up eighty percent of the village\'s population.

That\'s why it was mockingly referred to by neighboring villages as Widow Village.

In actuality, there weren\'t that many real widows.

The young maidens and married women Xiaoshan encountered along the way all looked at him with wary and frightened eyes before turning their heads and walking away without even a greeting.

Xiaoshan let out a bitter laugh.

Compared to the warm farewell he received from everyone in the village when he left three years ago, today\'s aloofness added an extra sting to his heartache.

Three years ago, he was the first university student to emerge from Longyang Village, admitted to the nationally renowned Shuimu University. Known as the Wenqu Star, he carried the hopes and expectations of his family and fellow villagers. Now, however, he was simply a freshly released prisoner, and to make matters worse, he was convicted of rape.

He didn\'t blame the villagers for their chilly attitude toward him.

In a small village like Longyang, with its simple customs, it was normal for the villagers to be wary and scared of someone who had been in prison.

Xiaoshan\'s family lived at the western edge of the village, at the foot of Back Mountain. Two mud houses were enclosed by a broken fence. As Xiaoshan approached the gate, he saw a brand-new red Honda motorcycle parked at the door. Although motorcycles were hardly a rarity, with almost every middle-class family in the city owning a car, in a remote mountain village like Longyang, a motorcycle was still a luxury item.

Xiaoshan wondered, when could we have afforded a motorcycle? Maybe the family had become wealthy while I was in prison?

He pushed open the gate and walked in.

The door of the central room was open, and Xiaoshan could overhear a woman\'s voice chattering away inside.

"Uncle Dashan, I\'m not trying to criticize you, but you know your family\'s situation as well as I do. The whole village pitched in for Xiaoshan\'s university fees, and after he got into trouble, you\'ve spent a good deal trying to sort things out. With your health as it is, when are you ever going to be able to repay that money? If you marry little Ling off, you\'ll get a dowry of fifty thousand yuan right away. You wouldn\'t have to worry about debts anymore."

"But little Ling is only sixteen years old, and she has been admitted to the county\'s best high school this year." An old and frail voice came from inside.

"What\'s the use in a girl getting so much education? In the end, isn\'t she just going to get married and have children? Look, old brother Dashan, I heard your son is about to be released from prison. With a record as a reformed criminal, what can he possibly do? Let me tell you, one of my relatives has a factory here in the township. Once our families are related through marriage, I guarantee I can get your son a job in my nephew\'s factory." Another male voice followed, sounding arrogant.

Long Xiaoshan was infuriated upon hearing this.

His sister, Long Xiaoling, should only be sixteen years old this year, an age considered still like a budding flower in the city, a time to be pampered and cherished, and yet someone had the audacity to come asking for her hand in marriage, even using him in their argument. How could he tolerate this?

With a thunderous stride, he burst into the house. Several people were sitting in the main hall; the one sitting at the head of the table with a deeply wrinkled face was his father, Long Dashan.

There were two others seated; one was a middle-aged woman in a red silk dress, her face marked by a mole, with a flower tucked into her hair, still retaining a hint of charm. The other was a lean man in his fifties wearing a brand-new Zhongshan suit, squinting his eyes while smoking a cigarette, engulfed in his own cloud of smoke.

Long Xiaoshan recognized the middle-aged woman, known as Long Shuixian, who made a living by playing matchmaker in and around Lotus Township.

As for the man, he looked somewhat unfamiliar and was likely not from their own village.

"Xiaoshan, is that you?" Long Dashan, who was sitting there, suddenly saw his son appear and rubbed his eyes, scarcely believing what he saw.

"Dad, it\'s me." Long Xiaoshan hurriedly walked over and supported him.

"You\'re out, why didn\'t you say anything earlier? I would\'ve gone to pick you up." Long Dashan\'s eyes shimmered with excited tears.

"Dad, it\'s alright, you traveling all that way would\'ve been inconvenient. By the way, where are mom and little Ling?" Long Xiaoshan looked around.

Long Dashan\'s expression changed slightly as he stammered, "Your mom\'s in the back, with your little sister keeping her company."

"Okay, I\'ll go see them right away." Lost in his emotional turmoil, Long Xiaoshan didn\'t notice the odd look on Long Dashan\'s face as he stepped toward the back courtyard.

After taking a few steps, Long Xiaoshan remembered something, turned around with a cold expression, and, staring at Long Shuixian and the unfamiliar man, said, "What are you still doing here? Get out!"

"Xiaoshan, how can you talk like that? Come, let me introduce you. This is He Yingshui, Uncle He from Qinghe Village next door. Get to know him; who knows, he might be your future father-in-law." Long Shuixian spoke.

"Get lost!"

Long Xiaoshan suddenly burst into a rage.

There was a flash of red in Long Xiaoshan\'s eyes, and the temperature in the air seemed to drop several degrees.

Long Shuixian and He Yingshui were startled; in that moment, they felt as if they had become the prey of a wolf from the Back Mountain, their bodies turning cold.

The words they intended to say were stuck in their throats.

Long Dashan stepped forward, took hold of Long Xiaoshan, and said, "Xiaoshan, why are you so angry? Speak nicely to Aunt Shuixian."

"Yeah, I meant well. Why are you blowing up at me?" Long Shuixian, unable to maintain face after being scolded by a younger person, began to feel aggrieved.

"Dad, there\'s nothing to talk about with them!" Long Xiaoshan moved towards the two, "Are you leaving or not? If not, I\'ll throw you out!"

As Long Xiaoshan approached step by step.

Long Shuixian and He Yingshui hastily retreated. Long Shuixian couldn\'t understand; Long Xiaoshan used to be as meek as a bookworm, never raising his voice in the village. Now after spending years in prison, he seemed like a completely different person, his gaze cold as a knife, it sent shivers down their spines.

Disheveled, Long Shuixian and He Yingshui fled Long Xiaoshan\'s house.

Once outside Long Xiaoshan\'s door, Long Shuixian felt her face had been discredited. Never before had she, a matchmaker reputed in the regions around, encountered such humiliation. She turned back, seething with anger, and said, "Being so full of yourself! Do you think you\'re the Wenqu Star come down to earth? A rapist like you, I\'d like to see what future you have, what decent family\'s girl would dare to step through your door, ptooey!"