"Wow, Big Shot Peng," someone exclaimed, "What a rare guest, a rare guest."

Qi Yue was also slightly taken aback.

"Just finished surgery, stopping by for a meal, forgive my intrusion," Peng Jiahai said, lowering his head slightly in a bow.

"Your presence brightens this humble abode," Qi Yue laughed, ushering him in. "We have drinks over here, which one would you like? I can warm up some dishes for you."

"No need to fuss, just a little drink and a few snacks will be fine," Peng Jiahai quickly said.

"Don't be shy, don't be shy, Yue-liang! I'm handing my colleague over to you as host," Huang Ying said, busily pulling the person next to her along. "Come on, let's keep playing; I refuse to believe we can't win."

Everyone laughed and dispersed to their activities.

Peng Jiahai hesitated for a moment before standing by the small bar counter.

Qi Yue turned on the stove.

"Any dietary restrictions?" she asked, turning back.

"Ah, no, no," Peng Jiahai replied quickly.

"Grab a glass yourself and pour whatever you like to drink. Don't be formal; everyone acts this way in my home," Qi Yue said with a smile, nodding toward the selection with her chin.

Peng Jiahai responded with a smile, grabbed a glass, looked at the selection, and poured himself some red wine.

Qi Yue noticed this, paused, and then took a steak out of the refrigerator.

"Where did you go to university?" she asked as she did so.

"Columbia," Peng Jiahai replied, swirling the wine glass.

The sound of the steak sizzling as it hit the oil on the stove filled the air.

"Wow, an academic star," Qi Yue laughed.

"I wouldn't dare say that. Every school has its top students and its lower-tier ones," Peng Jiahai responded.

Qi Yue turned to look at him and smiled.

"Thank you for the compliment," she said.

Peng Jiahai smiled.

Suddenly, the phone rang with a series of dings and dong sounds.

"Whose is it?" someone in the living room shouted.

"Yue-liang, your phone!" someone else responded and shouted as well.

Qi Yue kept her eyes on the frying pan.

"I'll get it," Peng Jiahai said, setting down his wine glass.

Qi Yue smiled, handed him the spatula, and quickly walked toward the phone.

When she returned after the call, Peng Jiahai was deftly flipping the food in the pan, wearing an apron.

"Let me do it. How can I let a guest handle the cooking?" Qi Yue said with a smile.

"I insist. Since I showed up uninvited, I should pitch in," Peng Jiahai countered, glancing around. "The oven..."

Qi Yue opened the oven, set the tray inside, then, thinking of something else, went back to the refrigerator.

"Bell peppers or potatoes?" she asked, leaning out from the refrigerator door.

"Bell peppers, please," Peng Jiahai said.

A colleague from the side poked his head in, saw the scene, and let out a couple of exclamations to alert others.

Everyone looked over.

In the kitchen, a tall, slender man in an apron was searing steak, while a woman in light gray loungewear placed cut vegetables into the hot oil, habitually blowing on her fingers.

They said something inaudible, and both broke into smiles.

"Sister Huang, how many successful matches have you made? Enough to build a few layers of a Merit Pagoda by now, right?" a colleague teased.

Huang Ying, who had reapplied a sticker to her face, proudly tilted her chin up.

"That's a given," she replied.

"Hey, how about this sea turtle? He seems quite decent..." another person asked with a hint of apprehension. "Yue-liang can't afford to be plucked by just any pig again..."

"Are you still doubting my capabilities?" Huang Ying asked. "He's certainly better than that bastard Wu Jianfeng. He has pedigree, looks, and education. I’m telling you, there are plenty of ambitious wolves in our department eyeing her."

She raised an eyebrow as she finished speaking.

"But, your older sister strikes first," she chuckled.

Everyone burst into laughter.

"Sister, accept our bowing," they said in unison.

Huang Ying laughed heartily.

"Sister, you lost again," the others chorused.

The laughter and chatter from that side made Qi Yue and Peng Jiahai turn their heads.

"You have quite a few friends," Peng Jiahai commented.

"Yes, I am quite wonderful," Qi Yue replied cheerfully.

Peng Jiahai smiled.

"Do you always like praising yourself?" he asked.

Qi Yue paused slightly, then nodded with a gentle smile.

"I'm afraid others might feel too awkward to say it, so I say it for them," she replied, taking the steak out of the oven where it was being kept warm.

Peng Jiahai smiled as he arranged the sautéed peppers on a plate.

"Come on, who wants to try some authentic Columbian steak?" Qi Yue called out, carrying the two plates over.

Both sides raised their hands. Qi Yue placed the two plates along with cutlery in front of them. Everyone else retrieved the drinks they wanted and offered their thanks to Peng Jiahai.

"Director Peng, you must visit often in the future."

"Then we'll have another great chef among us."

Everyone laughed.

"Truthfully, this is about the only thing I know how to cook," he replied, sipping his red wine. After a while of pleasant conversation, he excused himself to refill his drink, returning to the small bar counter.

Qi Yue was reaching for a beer.

"Red wine?" she asked, handing him the bottle.

Peng Jiahai thanked her and poured himself half a glass.

"That patient didn't make it," he suddenly stated.

Qi Yue made a soft sound and looked at him in confusion.

"It really was a cranial issue," Peng Jiahai continued. "The ophthalmology patient you sent over this afternoon."

She actually... guessed correctly?

Qi Yue was momentarily stunned.

The techniques she learned while following those ancient physicians in her dreams—methods so rudimentary they were barely worth mentioning in their eyes—could actually be... useful...

"What a shame," she said after a moment of silence.

Peng Jiahai nodded.

"Honestly, it was just half a day off. If we had ordered an MRI right then, she could have been admitted immediately, instead of us failing to revive her," he explained.

"I don't think it was my fault..." Qi Yue said, swirling her beer.

"No, no, that's not what I meant," Peng Jiahai quickly clarified. "I was just wondering, did you really determine that through that... pulse diagnosis thing?"

Qi Yue remained silent.

"I asked the doctors in the TCM department," Peng Jiahai went on. "They said it was plausible, but generally, a regular TCM doctor wouldn't dare claim to have reached that level."

Regular TCM doctors...

Qi Yue was stunned.

Those people... they weren't regular TCM practitioners...

Were those people... her predecessors?

The images of their faces and demeanor flashed before her eyes: smiling, speaking, bowing respectfully, rushing back and forth, sitting in wheelchairs, diligently examining patients, gathering to deliberate on prescriptions, the white-haired elders, the vibrant youth...

Those people...

"Doctor Qi?"

"Qi... Yue-liang?"

Qi Yue snapped back to reality, seeing Peng Jiahai looking at her with concern, his hand gently patting her shoulder.

"Oh, I zoned out," she apologized immediately, rubbing her eyes to dispel the lingering dull ache.

Peng Jiahai withdrew his hand and gestured for her to sit down.

Qi Yue took a seat beside him without ceremony, turning the beer can in her hands.

"It's not that; I just know a little bit," she said, smiling. "I think I've seen this patient's condition before, perhaps in a book, I can't recall clearly, and I wasn't certain. I didn't expect it to actually be right."

She gave a wry smile as she said this.

"Of course, I would rather have been wrong," she admitted.

Peng Jiahai nodded.

"Emotionally, I understand, but rationally, this is genuinely good news," he said, holding his wine glass with both hands. "It sounds quite miraculous."

Qi Yue laughed.

"There's nothing miraculous. There are no miracles in this world," she stated. "Miracles stem from effort."

Peng Jiahai smiled and nodded.

Qi Yue looked down and popped open another can of beer with a crisp snap.

The next day, when Qi Yue walked into the office, she was greeted by a large crowd of visitors.

"Come, Doctor Qi, feel my pulse."

"Hurry, let me see..."

Younger people, those her age, colleagues from her department and others—quite a few acquaintances showed up.

The incident with the ophthalmology patient from yesterday had clearly spread.

Qi Yue was caught between laughter and tears.

"Alright, alright," she said, sitting down and striking a posture. "Next."

A colleague quickly sat down.

"Good. Starting today, our Cardiothoracic Surgery department is going to take the TCM department's lunch money," he declared, waving to the people behind him. "Come on, take a picture! Capture this epoch-making moment."

The laughter in the room grew louder.

"Senior Brother Wang," Qi Yue suddenly said, looking at the doctor. "Your liver pain needs a proper look, doesn't it?"

Doctor Wang's smile froze.

"How did you know my liver hurt?" he asked. "Did my wife call you?"

He had indeed suffered liver pain for half the night yesterday and only managed to sleep after taking a painkiller. He had been meaning to get tests done today. This was a new ailment for him; besides him and his wife, no one else knew about it.

"Did she really diagnose it through pulse reading?" the surrounding crowd also asked in surprise.

"Wait, she hasn't even taken his pulse yet!"

Everyone chimed in again.

Observation, listening, questioning, feeling the pulse—observation is the primary approach...

Physician Qi, observe closely...

Illness arises from within, it must manifest outwardly...

Do not rush, observe slowly...

Qi Yue looked at the astonished doctor before her, but in her mind, the image of a kind, venerable elder appeared.

In her dreams, she often focused on healing in her own way, but following these people, from south to north, from north to east, she had subtly absorbed some knowledge. Yet, what she learned felt like the level of a novice apprentice compared to theirs...

Could it not be a dream?

If it wasn't a dream, then what was it?

She raised her hand.

"Next, next," she said.

The Cardiothoracic Outpatient area became so lively that those waiting with assigned numbers were startled.

"This is wrong! I was first in line, why are there so many people ahead of me?"

The department head soon found out and stormed over, his face dark.

"...Yes, yes, yes, it's my lungs, I really choked on water as a child!" a young female doctor shouted excitedly, holding up her phone. "My mom told me; my mom almost forgot! Sister Qi, how did you know?"

"Know what?" the department head roared.

Only then did the people in the room notice the leader's arrival and quickly quieted down.

But the female doctor didn't quiet down.

"She knows I choked on bathwater as a child!" she shouted.

The department head's face grew even darker.

"And so what? Does that mean you can skip work today and take sick leave?" he asked.

The female doctor finally noticed the head's presence, stuck out her tongue, and stood up.

Qi Yue also stood up.

"Director, Sister Qi's pulse diagnosis is uncanny," the female doctor couldn't help but say.

"Well, can she diagnose whether your bonus this month will be high or low?" the director asked.

The female doctor quickly stuck out her tongue with a smile and hurried out of the room.

The crowd in the room also dispersed rapidly.

"Listen here, Xiao Qi..." the director said with a stern face, about to lecture her.

Qi Yue also took a step toward the exit.

"Director, I'm feeling a bit unwell; I'm going to find someone to check on me," she said. Without waiting for the director's reply, she hurried out.

The director called out a couple of times, but Qi Yue was already far away.

This is simply unacceptable!

These young people have no discipline and are becoming harder and harder to manage!

Qi Yue paid no mind to the director's frustration. She rushed to the elevators, but it was peak time for patient flow, so there was no chance of getting a ride. She turned, entered the stairwell, and bounded up the stairs.

Not a dream! Not a dream! She truly experienced it! Otherwise, how could she have learned all this!

How is this possible!

How is this possible!

Who can give her an explanation! A scientific, rational explanation!

That man's heartbreaking cries throughout the night in the dream—was that not real? Was it not real?!

Yue Niang...

Come back...

Yue Niang...

Come back...

There will be another update this afternoon. RS