Winnie, who was observing at the side, nodded. “I’ve recorded it in my phone’s memo.”
“Good! Now, you need to pay attention to the time. Usually, the needles will stay on the patient’s body for around twenty-five minutes. You may extend the period according to the patient’s condition. Now that the patient over here isn’t moving, I’ll check the medicine you grabbed earlier.”
“Okay!”
Just as she finished her sentence, she heard Xavier’s voice.
He sounded gloomy, as though he was aggrieved. “Come over here, Dumbo.”
She was stunned for a second before realizing she had been focusing all her attention on studying and had totally forgotten about his existence. “Can I go there and take a look at him myself, Old Mr. Xander?”
The old man waved his hand avoidantly. “Go ahead. Although, remember not to talk too much with the patient.”
Then, he quickly stepped toward the medicine cabinet. Couples nowadays sure do love giving each other weird nicknames. Even though Winnie is such an intelligent woman, her husband calls her Dumbo.
When his train of thought ended there, Sebastian had goosebumps.
Currently, Winnie was standing next to Xavier, who was lying down.
Looking down at him, she pressed her finger to his lips. “Don’t talk. All you need to do right now is to lie down here quietly. Just pretend you’re a dummy.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “You’re abandoning me?”
“You don’t have to worry about me going too far away. In a while, I’ll be heading out to prepare your medicine. You’ll be able to hear me talk even when I’m outside.”
“Why are you learning these things?” Xavier frowned even more intensely. “There’s no need for you to do this. You can let somebody else do it instead.”
“No. There are some things that I wish I can do it myself!”
When Sebastian placed the needles into the acupoints earlier, she saw the old man’s hand trembling. If everything went according to his wishes, his granddaughter, Yolanda, would take over his responsibilities.
While the old man wholeheartedly believed in his granddaughter, Winnie was worried about putting Xavier in Yolanda’s hand.
Xavier’s mouth opened. “But—”
“No buts!” Winnie hated how fussy he was. He’s wasting my precious time arguing about this with me.
Thus, she cut him off. Since no one was around them at the moment, she lowered her head and kissed his lips.
Even though she only gave him a light peck, he felt as though he had tasted ambrosia and wanted more.
Sensing Xavier’s intention, Winnie directly pressed his neck to stop him and warned, “Behave yourself! Otherwise, once I learn acupuncture, I’ll cripple you. Be a good boy, all right?”
“You’re getting bolder, Dumbo!” Despite his furrowed eyebrows, he couldn’t muster any anger as he stared at her.
In fact, he liked it when his Dumbo acted like that.
Winnie couldn’t be bothered to talk nonsense with him any longer, so after she gave him another peck, she went straight to Sebastian.
When she arrived, Sebastian had completed the examination.
“Not bad. Sixty grams of aconite, forty grams of dried ginger, twenty grams of turtle shell, ten grams of cinnamon, twenty-five grams of amomom, and twenty grams of licorice. All six of these ingredients are exactly the right amount, no more, no less. I noticed how fast and accurate you were when you were grabbing the ingredients. I almost can’t tell you’re new to this. You’re quite suitable for this job,” he praised.
Despite his compliments, Winnie still acted very humbly. “As you said, this isn’t anything noteworthy. There is more for me to learn.”
It brought joy to the old man to see a youngster who was neither arrogant nor impatient like her.
“Take your time to learn the art of medicine one step at a time. There’s no way anyone can master it overnight. Oh yeah, why hasn’t your doctor friend returned yet? He seems to have been gone for a long while.”
“Indeed. I’ll give him a call. Maybe he had an emergency.”
“Go ahead. All we’re missing is the well water.”
Winnie immediately called Josiah, but he didn’t pick up even after she called him twice.
“What’s going on with him?” With her eyebrows slightly furrowed, she turned to Sebastian. “I think I need to go and look for him. He’s not answering his phone.”
“Go ahead. I’ll keep an eye here,” the old man replied.
“Okay.” She glanced at Xavier one more time. The two of them just so happened to make eye contact.
Knowing Xavier had overheard her conversation with Sebastian, she walked out of the room.
Upon exiting the room, she saw Louis, who was standing guard outside.
When he saw how hurried she appeared to be, he quickly asked, “What’s wrong, Mrs. Fairchild?”
“Where’s Josiah? Did he come by earlier?” Winnie questioned directly.
“No! Dr. Houghton mentioned he was going to fetch water from the well in the backyard before heading there with a bucket. He hasn’t returned yet. I thought maybe the well is far away.”
“No. The well shouldn’t be that far. I tried calling him, but he didn’t pick it up. I don’t know what’s going on with him.”
Throughout the years Louis had known Josiah, he had never heard about Josiah failing to answer the phone.
Subconsciously, he knew something was wrong. “I’ll look for him with you.”
Soon, the duo arrived in the backyard.
The backyard of the Xander residence had many herbs, to the point that it almost seemed like it was part of nature. However, that didn’t mean wild grasses were growing everywhere, and there was also a green stone path in the backyard.
As Winnie and Louis walked down the stone path, they soon saw someone next to a large honeysuckle bush.
That person was lying down on the ground. Based on his attire, it seemed like he was Josiah.
“It’s Dr. Houghton!” Louis exclaimed in shock before running toward the doctor.
Winnie followed behind.
“Wake up, Dr. Houghton! Can you hear me?” Since Louis had no idea what had happened to Josiah, he didn’t dare to move the latter’s body around carelessly. Instead, he gently slapped the doctor’s cheeks.
As Josiah’s body had no blood, Winnie determined it wasn’t caused by an external injury.
After swiftly examining his body, she realized the entirety of his left leg was swollen.
Upon rolling up his pant leg, she saw two round, deep, and bloody circles on his calf. Clearly, he was bitten by a snake.
Her reaction was fast. She immediately tore his pant leg away, pulled out her foldable knife, and swiftly drew a cross on the wound with the knife to squeeze out the venom.
Then, she bandaged his calf to stop the venom from spreading further into his body. “Quick, carry him back to Old Mr. Xander! He must’ve been bitten by a venomous snake!”
When Louis saw Josiah’s leg as well, he realized the snake that bit the doctor was definitely not an ordinary one.
He hurriedly carried Josiah on his back and ran back to the building.
Initially, Winnie was going to return with him. However, her attention was grabbed by a nearby plant.
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