Outside the "surgery room".

"Mr. Xu, who is that young man? Can he really save my daughter?" Ruan Fu asked anxiously to Xu An.

"Mr. Ruan, if he can’t save your daughter, then I doubt anyone in Dongshan could."

"Ah?"

"Mr. Ruan, you’ve been in Dongshan for a while now, you should know the name of Lin, the renowned young doctor of Xiuyue Square. His medical skills are unparalleled in Dongshan Prefecture, far superior to ours," Xu An expressed his admiration for Lin Miao.

In Lin Miao’s four diagnostic methods, there’s the word "observation", which coincidentally aligns with the Xu Family’s "Qi Observation Skill". After integrating it, Xu An found that his diagnosis became faster and much more accurate in daily practice.

Such a person, regardless of their young age, is worthy of admiration.

"I have heard of Lin," Ruan Fu recalled. He had indeed heard people mention him, his wife Zhenniang, also Ruan Qingsi’s mother, had heart palpitations, and he had been thinking about finding an opportunity for a consultation, but he hadn’t expected his daughter to get into trouble first.

"Mr. Xu, how much longer..."

"In surgery, the time isn’t fixed; it depends on the difficulty. However, from what I understand, this abdominal surgery might not be quick. Please sit and wait, when it’s done, you’ll be notified," said Xu An.

The physicians and apprentices of Baoan Hall heard Lin Miao was inside performing surgery on a patient with an infected intestinal abscess.

One by one, they gathered around to watch.

"Got nothing to do? Go away, go!" The patriarch of the Xu Family, Xu Zheng, came over upon hearing the news and, seeing so many people gathered at the door and peeking through the window, hurriedly shooed them away.

He drove some people away, but had to show respect to others.

"Mr. An, how’s it going?" Xu Zheng asked nervously; Ruan Qingsi was a trending celebrity in Dongshan City.

If she isn’t cured and dies at Baoan Hall, it would surely damage Baoan Hall’s reputation, especially now when business is so tough.

Fortunately, Xu An promptly sent Xu Qixi to bring Lin Miao over.

Otherwise, Baoan Hall would have trouble from all angles.

Such unforeseen circumstances are unavoidable and unpredictable; when they happen, it’s just a stroke of bad luck.

L Lin Miao’s presence here has already reduced Baoan Hall’s pressure significantly.

Xu Zheng felt deeply grateful internally; he also realized it was due to his own daughter’s efforts.

Without Xu Qixi, people wouldn’t involve themselves in the chaos if it wasn’t their patient; it’s a big taboo in the medical field unless there’s strong ties.

Xu Zheng thought about supporting his daughter, such situation isn’t ideal, and there’s quite a bit of talk within the family.

Qixi is already sixteen and should look for a husband; what’s all this running around helping others?

Is she desperate to become someone else’s concubine?

The Xu Family wouldn’t lose face like this...

If Lin Miao were not engaged, I’d have gone over to discuss marriage long ago, but the problem is, he has a fiancée which was postponed only due to a mourning period, otherwise they’d already be married.

Thus, he wasn’t willing for his daughter to marry as a concubine, but what could be done? Lin Miao had nothing before, marrying as a concubine surely wouldn’t do.

Now it’s different; he has official status, and a commoner’s wife isn’t the same as an official’s concubine, is it?

The Xu Family has no backing in officialdom, Lin Miao has limitless prospects, and this is surely not his peak; marrying the daughter as a concubine could be the Xu Family’s best investment.

Moreover, the daughter wouldn’t resist.

It’s a win-win situation.

The more Xu Zheng thought, the more he felt he should finalize the matter quickly; although no one’s competing now, you never know what the future holds.

Isn’t Xu Qixi anxious at all?

Inside the room.

Lin Miao used a syringe to extract pus and blood, quickly found the ruptured appendix, and directly excised it as it was beyond use.

The appendix definitely has a purpose, otherwise, it wouldn’t exist in the body, but to save a life, it had to be sacrificed, there was no other choice.

He washed with saline three times to ensure no pus remained, then closed the wound and sutured.

The entire process took nearly an hour, which was already speedy given the limited surgical conditions; the wound couldn’t be exposed to air for too long, and he needed to control the bleeding as there were no means for transfusions.

Under current conditions, only minor surgeries could be performed, excising the appendix was already the limit, helped by Lin Miao’s use of internal energy to pinpoint the lesion, allowing a single incision to find the spot, saving much trouble.

Additionally, without hemostatic clamps for internal bleeding, he could maintain control using internal energy for a period...

So the fact is, not just anyone can perform this surgery.

"Alright, senior sister, you do the suturing; Qixi, you assist. I’ll go tidy up," Lin Miao instructed, leaving the task of suturing, which naturally didn’t require him. Furthermore, girls tend to be more meticulous with suturing.

This surgery actually carried great risks because the patient not only suffered from the spread of internal abscesses but also had other complications. If things went wrong, she could have died before the surgery was completed.

If it weren’t for him using internal breath to protect her heart meridian,

none could have saved her life.

It was fortunate she encountered him; a moment later, and not even a deity could have helped.

After taking off the surgical gown, his back was already soaked through. Thankfully, being trained in martial arts, a slight circulation of internal breath could evaporate the moisture from his clothing.

The door opened, and he walked out.

"Lin, how is it?" Xu An, Ruan Fu, and others immediately gathered around, their eyes filled with intense hope.

"The surgery is complete, but the patient is still in a critical phase. If she gets through the next twelve hours, she would have narrowly escaped death," Lin Miao took a deep breath and spoke.

"Another twelve hours?" Upon hearing this, Ruan Fu’s face changed slightly.

"You’re Ruan Qingsi’s father, right? Does the patient have a congenital heart condition?" Lin Miao directly questioned.

Ruan Fu’s face instantly turned extremely unpleasant, realizing with so many eyes on him, continuing to lie was impossible.

"Qingsi does indeed have heart palpitations, but it’s inherited from her mother. Usually, it’s just occasional heart flutters that go away with a bit of rest," Ruan Fu explained.

"What! Ruan Fu, why didn’t you mention such a critical condition when you brought her in?" Xu An exclaimed urgently upon hearing this.

Doctors aren’t gods; often, they need information from the patient or family to assess and diagnose the condition comprehensively.

Not every doctor can immediately see the patient’s condition, or else they’d be deities. Considering that some doctors have limited capabilities, experience must compensate.

Concealing an illness can easily lead to misdiagnosis, resulting in incorrect medication and intervention, leading to severe consequences.

Lin Miao understood Mr. Xu’s anger.

If it were intestinal abscess, using Rhubarb and Peony Decoction for a healthy person wouldn’t be an issue, but for someone with heart palpitations and anxiety, it can’t be used. Rhubarb is a cold medicine with laxative effects, and Rhubarb and Peony Decoction is a purgative that clears heat and resolves swelling. If used at the onset of intestinal abscess, it’s highly effective, but once the abscess bursts, it shouldn’t be used. Moreover, it can have side effects on the heart, worsening the patient’s palpitations and anxiety. For a normal person, some side effects from one dose might be tolerable; but for someone with an existing condition, it becomes a major issue.

This one dose of medicine could have easily taken her life.

"We thought since Qingsi hadn’t shown symptoms, we didn’t mention it..." Ruan Fu replied hesitantly.

"Do you realize, by not mentioning her condition, I prescribed Rhubarb, and at a significant dosage—this medicine could have triggered her heart condition?" Xu An shouted angrily.

"Mr. Ruan, Rhubarb can cause strong reactions even in a healthy person, let alone a critically ill one. Mr. Xu only used such a strong medicine because of the severity, intending to save your daughter. Instead, you nearly led her to her death!" Lin Miao added, "Fortunately, the patient couldn’t consume the decoction at all. What she drank, she vomited up; otherwise, the consequences would’ve been unknown."

"I’m sorry, Mr. Xu. We truly didn’t know..." Upon hearing Lin Miao’s explanation, Ruan Fu and his wife realized their grave mistake and quickly apologized to Xu An.

Xu An was genuinely angry, but he also understood that there were medical details unknown to ordinary people, and it was unreasonable to expect them to cover all bases.

This scenario has occurred frequently in the past during medical consultations. If it weren’t a matter of life and death, he wouldn’t have been so furious this time.

It also concerned the reputation of Baoan Hall.

The heart condition is not apparent during a period without episodes. Of course, pulse diagnosis can reveal it.

But Xu An wasn’t Lin Miao; his pulse diagnosis skills were merely average.

"The patient needs to rest. After the anesthetic wears off, she should awaken quickly. During the next twelve hours, she mustn’t eat anything, nor drink water. If she becomes thirsty, moisten her lips with water-soaked gauze. After twelve hours, when ventilation is possible, she can consume a small amount of rice broth—about half a bowl is enough, without any seasoning. During the twelve hours, if she develops a fever, use physical methods to reduce it. Little Seven knows about this; if you’re unsure, just ask her," Lin Miao instructed.

"Thank you, Mr. Lin. How should we calculate the medical fee?"

"You can pay Baoan Hall. I was invited by them, so it’s not appropriate for me to ask you directly for payment," Lin Miao politely declined.

"Mr. Xu?" Ruan Fu then turned to inquire Xu An.

Xu An was momentarily taken aback. Indeed, Lin Miao was invited by the Xu Family, and according to the tradition of the medical community, in such a scenario, if the person is saved, Baoan Hall should collect the fee. If Lin Miao collected it directly, it would break the tradition.

His work here was akin to performing a "remote" surgery; once completed, he wouldn’t handle subsequent matters nor bear responsibility. If he collected payment directly, the responsibility would fall upon him.

The problem was, such a procedure was unprecedented in Dongshan City, so there’s no standard at Baoan Hall for how much to charge.

Yet saving a life warrants whatever fee is given.

"Mr. Ruan, let’s not rush about the fee. Let’s wait until Miss Ruan awakens and is out of danger," Xu Zheng interjected.

"Agreed."