Chapter 141: Chapter 141 Ignorant of Kindness
However, Liu Zheng did not hear Liu Baishun’s command to shut up; instead, his back pain seemed to increase.
Seeing Liu Baishun in such agony, Liu Zheng hurried over to ask about his condition.
After all, their dispute over the land had only led to a quarrel; it hadn’t escalated to a life-or-death situation.
As a doctor, Liu Zheng felt the need to step in when he saw Liu Baishun’s condition, which had become quite serious. Liu Baishun’s eye bags were dark, but now Liu Zheng wondered if he possibly had a kidney stone and questioned his own judgment.
He quickly reached Liu Baishun’s side and attempted to touch his waist, only to have Liu Baishun dodge away, exclaiming, "What are you trying to do? You’re not planning to rob and kill me, are you?"
"Rob and kill, are you joking? Why would I harm you? I’ve earned quite a bit of money for myself, why would I bother with you? These days, we abide by the law. If I really did harm you, the whole village would probably throw me into a pig cage," Liu Zheng replied.
Liu Zheng pressed his two fingers firmly against Liu Baishun’s lower back and gently pressed down, immediately hearing him cry out in pain.
The shout was loud enough for the nearby residents to hear.
A crowd had gathered at the door, and Zhang Baorui also came running out, thinking Liu Zheng and Liu Baishun were fighting. But to everyone’s surprise, Liu Zheng began to massage Liu Baishun.
Liu Baishun didn’t look comfortable at all; his face was twisted in pain, and he glared at Liu Zheng, saying, "What... what are you doing?"
"What am I doing? Can’t you tell? You seem to be in a lot of pain, so I’m helping you with a massage. You probably overmedicated yesterday, which caused your back pain. But it’s nothing serious, just a standard muscle strain. It’s also possible you’ve damaged your kidney, which is why the pain is so severe that you can’t straighten up," Liu Zheng explained.
His words made Liu Baishun feel utterly humiliated.
After all, Liu Baishun did not engage in much farm work at home, and with only a beautiful daughter-in-law at home, everyone probably knew what was going on. However, Liu Zheng’s massage did provide him with considerable relief, and he was now able to stand up straight.
The other villagers chuckled behind their hands as they watched, and some even started whispering. Liu Baishun couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he felt insulted by Liu Zheng nonetheless. Liu Baishun slapped Liu Zheng’s hand away.
"That’s enough. Stop massaging me, okay?"
But Liu Zheng’s hand did not leave Liu Baishun’s waist; instead, he continued pressing as Liu Baishun sweated profusely.
The villagers looked on with admiration.
Someone from the crowd said, "Look at Liu Zheng’s name; it matches his actions perfectly. With a name like Liu Zheng, he surely must be righteous."
Despite the villagers’ praise, Liu Zheng did not show any sign of pleasure; instead, he grew worried for Liu Baishun. Considering Liu Baishun’s advanced age, continuing to overexert his back like this would certainly not do.
While massaging, Liu Zheng said to Liu Baishun quietly, "Uncle Liu, if you persist with this excessive medication, your medicine might heal you temporarily, but my hands are only providing temporary relief through massage. Rest at home for a few days, and you will probably recover. But if you keep this up, I doubt I’ll be able to save you."
"You brat, what are you talking about? I’m fine. I just strained my back moving things at home yesterday.
That’s enough; stop massaging me," Liu Baishun insisted.
After saying this, Liu Baishun suddenly stood up, feeling much better.
He twisted his head and then turned his waist, saying, "Look, I said I was fine. You insisted on giving me a massage."
Liu Zheng felt insulted, Liu Baishun really had no shame; it was obviously Liu Zheng who had taken the initiative to massage him. Otherwise, the guy couldn’t have gotten up. Yet here was Liu Baishun shamelessly claiming that Liu Zheng was meddling unnecessarily.
At this point, Liu Zheng didn’t want to bother with him and simply said, "Just pay more attention to it when you go back."
The villagers, of course, saw it all and took it to heart. They knew Liu Baishun was definitely the most shameless one among them.
It was then that Liu Baishun suddenly thought of his revenge plan—the matter of his daughter-in-law still lying at home. Now seemed the perfect opportunity to make a suggestion to Liu Zheng, to send his daughter-in-law over to him.
But Liu Baishun just put his right arm over Liu Zheng’s, leaned in close, and whispered, "Ah, right, Liu Zheng, I do have something to tell you. Since you’re from the city, your traditional Chinese medicine skills are quite good, I just didn’t want to thank you in front of the villagers... couldn’t lose face, you know. Now that it’s all settled, I’ve got an even better job to offer you."
Liu Zheng glanced at Liu Baishun with suspicion, thinking what kind of good deal he could actually offer, joking aside, it would be a surprise if he didn’t put him in harm’s way.
Yet Liu Zheng didn’t want to offend him, so he quietly asked, "What kind of job is it?"
"You know, my daughter-in-law, she’s been having some trouble, complaining about stomach pains these past few days. We went to the doctor in the city, took some medicine, but it didn’t help. I’m thinking, maybe she could try visiting you for a treatment? See if some folk remedy might do the trick?"
As soon as he heard it was about his daughter-in-law, Liu Zheng immediately thought of her flirtatious demeanor.
But at that moment, he didn’t really believe she wanted to come to him for treatment. Instead, he was wary, knowing this guy was at odds with him.
However, he had heard before that his daughter-in-law seemed to have some issues, often complaining of stomach pain.
It seemed like what Liu Baishun had said might be true.
Liu Zheng nodded, agreeing to the proposal, "Alright then, have her come over later."
"Great, I’ll have her go over later. I’ve got something else to do today, so I’ll tell her to go to your place by herself soon."
After speaking, Liu Baishun patted Liu Zheng’s shoulder, then gave him an unusually ingratiating smile.
At this moment, Liu Zheng shook his head, thinking, "This guy really knows how to put me in a tight spot." But as Liu Zheng and Liu Baishun went their separate ways, after a while, Liu Baishun came running back.
He stuffed 100 yuan into Liu Zheng’s pocket, then ran off. Liu Zheng felt there was something off, so he called out to Liu Baishun, "Hey, what about your money?"
Liu Baishun waved his hand while running.
"That’s the consultation fee for today, just consider it Uncle Liu’s money for buying smokes."
Liu Zheng stared after Liu Baishun, then looked at the money in his hand, thinking, "Damn it, I’m treating your daughter-in-law. If she’s cured, it will be worth far more than this 100 yuan."
