Everyday Life at a Clinic in an Eighties Town

I've started a new story, Marital Bliss. If you like it, please add it to your favorites.

Liang Yinqiu is a doctor. After working through twenty-four hours of back-to-back surgeries, she suddenly and unexpectedly "kicked the bucket."

When she opened her eyes again, she'd transmigrated to the 1980s.

The original owner was an idiot. Her father didn't care for her, her mother had run away, and she made ends meet with her grandfather, who ran a clinic. Her uncle and aunt came around every few days demanding money, and if they didn't get it, they resorted to violence.

This time, her grandfather had been beaten so badly by her uncle that he couldn't get out of bed, and her aunt had killed her with a club.

Liang Yinqiu looked at the dilapidated house, then at the old man lying helpless in bed. She thought, I've taken over your body, so I'll avenge you.

Dealing with scum is just a side job. Getting the clinic back on its feet is what matters.

But nobody believes her!

An idiot suddenly claims she can treat illnesses? Isn't that just sending people to their deaths? The clinic grew completely deserted, and no one even bothered knocking on the door.

Then one night, amid a torrential downpour, the village chief's young granddaughter developed such a high fever that her eyes rolled back. The county hospital was too far away, and even if they got there, the child might not make it.

Her family was frantic. With nowhere else to turn, they carried the child into the clinic.

They had no hope, but Liang Yinqiu dragged the girl back from death's door.

Overnight, the name "Doctor Liang" spread throughout the surrounding villages.

-

Seeing how skilled and beautiful she was, the villagers eagerly tried to set her up with men. One day, they brought her a young man from the supply and marketing cooperative; the next, a photo of an elementary school teacher. Every one of them was a "promising young talent."

When the pharmaceutical factory director heard about it, he couldn't sit still. He grabbed his son, brought the betrothal gifts, and headed straight for the clinic.

-

Everyone in the village knew the factory director's son was a college graduate and handsome as could be, a star in the sky beyond anyone's reach.

Yet that very star had landed in Doctor Liang's courtyard.

When the two stood side by side, nobody thought she was punching above her weight. They just looked like a perfect match.

Marital Bliss

Chen Tingyu had always known her own mind. Her goals in life were simple: money and pleasure.

After several years of making her way in the big city, she'd saved up a decent sum.

At twenty-eight, she returned to her hometown to open a dance studio. Just as her business was getting started, her family began pressuring her to get married.

At her wits' end, she blurted out, "I want a man with no parents, who's handsome, tall, strong, never comes home, and has money."

Her family just shook their heads and said she was being difficult and dreaming the impossible.

Chen Tingyu was enjoying this rare peace and quiet when, a few days later, her family actually brought a man home.

Xie Cenhe, a coal mine owner, had a rugged bone structure, a straight nose, and a muscular build. He was exactly the rough-and-tumble type she liked, standing right there in front of her.

At 175 centimeters tall, she still looked petite and delicate standing beside him.

Best of all, he met every condition she'd named. Without a second thought, she went straight to register their marriage.

Married life was comfortable. Her husband was rarely home, and she got to live the carefree life of a rich man's wife.

But good times never last.

After a long enough stretch of happiness, something always has to go wrong.

For some reason, that coal mine owner who "was rarely home" had recently started coming back all the time, leaving her too exhausted to get out of bed in the morning.

One day, Chen Tingyu finally snapped. "Xie Cenhe, if you don't show some restraint, I'll kick you straight into a coal mine."

Xie Cenhe hurried over to coax her. "Honey, I'm already holding back. At first, it was eight times a day. Now it's only twice."

Chen Tingyu: "..."

Hugging the quilt and staring at his utterly serious, rugged face, she realized for the first time that she might have been a little rash when she put "strong and muscular" on her list.

Xie Cenhe leaned closer, grinning smugly. "Regretting it? Too late. We've already registered our marriage."

Actually, Xie Cenhe had first seen her through the window of her dance studio.

She had been wearing her practice clothes, sunlight falling across her profile. He still remembered the way she smiled.

Unfortunately, of all the conditions she'd listed, "never comes home" was the only one he couldn't meet.

He thought it over carefully and made a decision: he'd live in the apartment complex across the street from Monday to Saturday, and come home on Sundays.

He'd meant to take things slowly, but once he'd gotten a taste of the good life...

He couldn't stand even a single day of a bland, passionless life.

Theme: Hard work always pays off.