"Oh crap, you sure are cocky, kid! We're talking to you, why aren't you responding?" Huang Mao, standing nearby, said as he reached out to grab Han Qiwu.
Han Qiwu had already anticipated this. He stepped back to dodge and replied with a smile, "Oh, someone was talking to me? My bad, my bad, I really didn't notice."
Huang Mao felt something was off in those words, but he couldn't figure it out at the moment—after all, his brain hadn't been used in a while.
"Kid, you're pretty handsome, huh? Bet there's something wrong with your health. That's how it usually goes in novels," Red Hair chimed in from the side.
"I'm flattered, flattered. Sorry to disappoint you," Han Qiwu said courteously.
"Cut the nonsense. You trying to chase Hu Qi, huh?" Huang Mao kicked a small stool to the side, thinking he looked imposing.
"Does your foot hurt?" Han Qiwu asked with genuine concern. That was an iron stool, after all.
Huang Mao cursed internally, "Of course it hurts, damn it. This stool isn't like the ones at my house." Out loud, though, he kept up his tough act. "Don't change the subject with me! Drop that idea early, or we'll make sure you've got nowhere to turn!"
"Are you planning to steal my shoes?"
Han Qiwu suddenly found it a bit funny but held back from laughing out loud.
Why ruin the atmosphere?
Dealing with these kinds of people isn't about being tough; it's about being smart.
"The medicine is ready. That'll be 26.8." Hu Qi handed the prepared medicine to Han Qiwu.
Han Qiwu turned around to pay. Just after he completed the transaction, a system notification popped up in front of him.
[You spent 50 Gold Coins at the village clinic to treat a cold]
"????" Han Qiwu was a little annoyed. I already spent my real money, and now the system charges me additional Gold Coins?
Is this game designed by mobile network programmers? Double charging?
But a few seconds later, Han Qiwu felt his cold symptoms vanish—his nose was clear, his head no longer ached, he could jog, and even make big jumps.
"Worth it! Just 50 Gold Coins!" Han Qiwu cheered internally.
A cure this effective is just too satisfying!
Feeling revitalized, Han Qiwu waved at Huang Mao, then waved at Red Hair.
Huang Mao looked left and right before begrudgingly stepping closer. Red Hair, on the other hand, boldly came forward right away.
"You both want Hu Qi to treat you, but there's only one Hu Qi. Mental illnesses and infertility are chronic conditions that require a lot of time and effort. She can't treat you both at the same time. Since she can't decide, you two could settle on an order. Either the more serious illness gets treated first, or you compete—whoever wins gets treated first. Don't you think that makes sense?" Han Qiwu's tone was dripping with temptation.
Yes, the kind of tone an adult would use to coax children with candy to do their homework.
"You kinda make sense, kid," Red Hair said, raising his hand to sneak attack Huang Mao. "No wonder Hu Qi hasn't treated me—turns out you're the one stirring up trouble here!"
"Damn it! Is your illness worse than mine? I'm infertile! I can't even produce a sperm cell!" Huang Mao shouted proudly.
"I've got mental issues! Do you even know what mental illness is? My brain doesn't work properly!" Red Hair smacked his own forehead forcefully.
"As if anyone's brain works great! Well, now I've got mental illness too!" Huang Mao declared, combining the two ailments into one.
"Gentlemen, this won't do. Do you have a diagnosis report from a big hospital? If not, then you might want to try another method," Han Qiwu suggested helpfully.
"Nope," Red Hair answered directly.
"Well, I was hoping to get looked at here by Hu Qi first," Huang Mao scratched his head.
The two of them knew their own situations well. They weren't actually sick—going to a big hospital would expose them immediately.
Besides, their intentions lay elsewhere; they weren't really planning to get treated.
"If you can't determine whose condition is worse, let's go with the second method—you two should compete," Han Qiwu suggested quickly, not giving them time to think.
"Remember old textbooks? They'd talk about heroes fighting battles while sick. You guys can learn from that. Set up a scoring system for tasks. For example, say Brother Huang Mao tills half an acre of land today—that contributes to national grain reserves, so that's worth at least 3 points, right?" Han Qiwu pulled out some paper and started scribbling.
"If you put it that way, 3 points aren't enough. Old Huang hates farm work the most, so it should be 5 points," Red Hair said, thoughtfully.
"Hahaha, this idiot is scoring points for me and even speaking on my behalf," Huang Mao snickered quietly to himself.
"Alright, 5 points it is. Now, if Brother Red catches five fish, that helps maintain Earth's ecological balance. That should be worth 7 points, right?" Han Qiwu continued calculating.
"Why does he get 7 points?" Huang Mao protested immediately.
"Your task helps the nation; mine helps the planet. An extra 2 points is totally justified! Frankly, I think it should be 10 points," Red Hair said with conviction.
"Fine, then I won't farm. I'll go fishing too!" Huang Mao said as he ran outside.
"I'll fish too! Let's see who catches more! No cheating when the time comes!" Red Hair grabbed the paper and pen from Han Qiwu and chased after him.
"Good luck! First to 1,000 points gets to see the doctor!" Han Qiwu smiled and waved at them from the door.
Ah, such straightforward villagers.
Hu Qi, standing behind the counter, was utterly stunned.
People actually do this?
What the heck is going on?
"Han Qiwu, right? Are you a stand-up comedian?" Hu Qi asked in astonishment.
"That's a profession? I'm an agricultural science major," Han Qiwu replied with a grin, walking toward the counter to see where he could trigger the system interface.
Sure enough, as he approached the counter, a system menu popped up in front of him.
[Village Clinic]
[Medical Treatment: Use basic medicine to cure physical abnormalities]
Cost: 50 Gold Coins
[Full-Body Therapy: Revitalize the spirit and relieve fatigue]
Cost: 100 Gold Coins
[Job Change Function: Not unlocked]
[More features available with investment]
Han Qiwu's eyes immediately locked onto the words "Job Change Function." Could he really change into a doctor?
Even if it's not unlocked yet, it doesn't matter—upgrading would unlock it eventually!
"More features available with investment? Isn't that just spending money? What an indirect way to put it," Han Qiwu muttered, pouting slightly.
Pay-to-win, huh.
He kept reading the system interface.
"Full-Body Therapy? Revitalize the spirit?" Han Qiwu's eyes lit up. Could this be a solution for overeating stamina recovery items?
In simple terms, if stamina recovery items restore health, maybe Full-Body Therapy would restore mana!
And right now, Han Qiwu was feeling a bit exhausted. Over the past two days, the influx of game-related information had been overwhelming. Adding on the cold he caught while fishing yesterday, he felt lousy all over.
In short, he desperately needed a Full-Body Therapy session!
A mere 100 Gold Coins! "To do a good job, one must first sharpen their tools!"
It's just a small yellow fish coin; I'll fish up another later this afternoon!