While driving, she said to Du Heng, "Uncle, we will only follow Mr. Ma for another two weeks. Then, we have to return to school, or we’ll run out of time."

Seeing that the girl was driving steadily, Du Heng relaxed a little, adjusted the passenger seat, and found a more comfortable position for himself.

"Indeed, time flies. A summer vacation just passed in the blink of an eye." Du Heng smiled and looked at the two. "How do you feel? Did you learn anything worthwhile?" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Du Xuejing’s best friend was a bit shy and hesitated about how to answer Du Heng’s question, but Du Xuejing straightforwardly said, "Uncle, I don’t want to lie to you, but honestly, I feel like I didn’t learn much."

Not surprised at all, Du Heng continued to smile and asked, "Why do you say that?"

Keeping her eyes on the road ahead, Du Xuejing spoke softly, "We listened a lot and wrote countless prescriptions every day. It seemed like we understood, but upon thinking more about it, besides some prescriptions, there isn’t much I remember. When we chat every night, our minds feel like a muddle; everything is jumbled."

Du Heng chuckled. "You need to remember, as a TCM student, learning prescriptions is an essential course. I told you at the beginning not to aim to understand everything, but to listen and memorize. Once you understand them, or encounter similar situations, then the learning you’ve done over this past month or so will become an invaluable asset to you. This asset is what we often call ’experience.’ It’s something you can use for comparison when you diagnose and treat patients in the future. This will not only improve your diagnostic accuracy but also help you avoid many pitfalls."

Du Xuejing pouted, looking straight ahead, and grumbled, "Fine, you’re the expert now. We’ll just listen to whatever you say."

Hearing his niece’s dissatisfied grumbling, Du Heng could only shake his head helplessly. No matter how profoundly or eloquently others explain things, if you haven’t experienced it yourself, it’s all just hot air. Only when they’ve encountered and gone through it themselves will they understand what truly valuable advice is.

"Here’s what we’ll do," Du Heng said after a pause, making the decision for the two girls. "After this week, you don’t need to come in next week."

This decision delighted Du Xuejing. "Uncle, are you serious?"

"Just focus on driving," Du Heng quickly replied. After Du Xuejing calmed down, he continued, "You must have been exhausted during this past month or so. Take a week off to rest and relax. Once you’re back at school, you’ll have to start your intensive studies again."

"Uncle, you’re the best!"

"Heh," Du Heng responded with a forced smile. "However, when your internship ends, you should invite Doctor Ma to dinner and properly thank him. He truly put his heart and soul into helping you this past month."

Du Xuejing’s face was full of joy as she said in a clear voice, "Don’t worry, Uncle. Xiaoya and I have already agreed that we must treat Mr. Ma to a good meal. We even bought him a gift to give him when we finish."

This time, Du Heng finally smiled with satisfaction. "That’s more like it."

However, Du Xuejing suddenly looked embarrassed. "But Uncle, there’s something we need to ask your help with."

Du Heng grinned. "Are you too shy to invite Doctor Ma? Don’t worry, if you are, I can ask him for you."

"No, that’s not it." Du Xuejing blushed slightly. "The thing is, after Xiaoya and I bought the gift, we don’t have much money left. So, we can’t just treat Mr. Ma to noodles, can we?"

Du Heng raised an eyebrow. "What are you implying?"

"How about a little sponsorship?"

Du Heng glanced at his niece with mock annoyance but soon chuckled, then took out his mobile phone and started using it.

Both girls’ phones went DING almost simultaneously. Xiaoya, from the back seat, exclaimed anxiously, "Uncle Du, why did you transfer money to me?"

Du Xuejing excitedly asked, "Really? Xiaoya, how much did he transfer?"

"Two thousand yuan." Xiaoya fiddled with her phone nervously. "I’m sorry, Uncle Du, I thought it would just be a red envelope with one or two hundred yuan. I didn’t expect it to be this much. I’ll transfer it back to you right now."

Du Heng chuckled. "This isn’t from me; it’s your salary from the hospital. After all, you’ve both helped Doctor Ma and the other medical staff a lot for more than a month. It’s not much—only two thousand yuan. I should have given it to you last week, but I held onto it. Now, I’m just giving it back to you, so please keep it."

Xiaoya was about to decline again, but Du Xuejing said nonchalantly, "Xiaoya, just accept it. If you don’t, how can I? If we don’t have money, how can we treat Mr. Ma and the others to a meal?"

Xiaoya said shyly, "My Dad is coming to Jinzhou next week. He said he wants to invite Uncle Du and Mr. Ma to dinner. He intended to come earlier, but he had trouble getting time off from his workplace, so it was delayed until now. Uncle Du, my father also asked me to apologize to you, but I’ve been too embarrassed to say it."