Samuel Bennett arrived at the market early. He first visited the resident doctor, Dr. Cooper, at the Santang Pharmacy. Dr. Cooper, upon learning that he was the apprentice of Franklin—who used to set up a stall here to treat patients—was very polite. When he heard that this young man also wanted to set up a stall here, he was quite surprised. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe him—others might not know, but he was well aware of Franklin’s skills. He was just amazed at his age—only in his teens!

After learning his intentions, Dr. Cooper found two chairs and a table for him from the back of the pharmacy and lent them to him.

After thanking Dr. Cooper, Samuel Bennett carried the table and chairs to a spot not far from the Santang Pharmacy and set up his very first stall. Why so close to the pharmacy? He had his reasons. People coming to Santang Pharmacy were all there to see a doctor or get medicine. By being nearby, his stall would be seen by those people, and he could, in a way, benefit from the pharmacy’s reputation. Truly, it’s good to rest in the shade of a big tree.

He then picked up a small wooden board nearby, pasted a sheet of white paper on it, and used a brush to write the words “Medical Consultation and Prescription” on it, placing it on the table. Why didn’t he write phrases like “Hua Tuo Reborn,” “Bian Que Returned,” or “Specialist in Difficult and Complicated Diseases”? He had his reasons. He was too young; no matter how impressive the words, they wouldn’t be as convincing as his actual prescriptions. If he wrote such things and people didn’t believe him, that was fine, but if they thought he was a fraud, he’d have to pack up and leave for the day.

Time passed slowly, and the crowd at the market began to grow. When people passed by his stall, their eyes would light up at his “sign,” but as soon as they turned and saw how young he was, they’d turn away and keep walking. Even if someone wanted to come over and ask, others nearby would pull them away, and they’d all head straight to the Santang Pharmacy.

Seeing this, Samuel Bennett grew anxious. Being young wasn’t his fault—did being young mean he couldn’t treat people? Looking at the throngs inside the nearby pharmacy, where there wasn’t even room to stand, he could only sigh inwardly.

At that moment, a middle-aged woman squeezed out of the Santang Pharmacy, holding several packets of medicine in one hand and leading a boy of about ten with the other. She was an ordinary farm woman from the area. Because she’d been caught in the rain a lot when she was young, she now suffered from rheumatism. Whenever it was damp or rainy, her knees felt as if thousands of tiny needles were stabbing them—painful and unbearable. She’d gotten medicine from the pharmacy several times, but it hadn’t helped. Seeing a young man with a stall not far away, she thought she might as well check out another option for comparison.

When Samuel Bennett saw someone approaching, he knew it was a patient and felt happy—finally, his first customer.

The middle-aged woman walked up to the stall and asked:

“Young man, are you treating patients by yourself, or are you just watching the stall for your master?” She thought there must be a master somewhere—there were no such young practitioners of Chinese medicine.

“Auntie, I’m treating patients by myself. Don’t worry, I do have some skills—otherwise, how would I dare set up a stall?”

The middle-aged woman didn’t really believe him, but since she was already there, she figured she might as well give it a try.

“How much do you charge for a prescription here?” In the countryside, people are thrifty with every penny—they ask about the price before seeing the doctor.

At the Santang Pharmacy, a prescription cost three yuan. Samuel Bennett had originally planned to charge two, but seeing that no one had come for so long and that this was his first patient, he said, “One yuan.”

Hearing the low price, the middle-aged woman finally sat down on the chair by the table, stretched out her hand, and placed it on the table without saying a word, wanting to test his skills.

Samuel Bennett saw her extend her hand and, without thinking much, placed three fingers on her pulse. With one feel, he knew it was cold invading her legs—rheumatism. To be sure, he sent a trace of true qi into her body to check, and indeed, it was rheumatism. This illness is common but very hard to cure completely. Of course, for Samuel Bennett, if he used his true qi, it would be a piece of cake, but that would immediately reveal that he possessed inner strength, which he didn’t want. So, acupuncture would have to do.

He released her wrist and said to the woman, “Auntie, this is due to cold invading your body when you were young. You didn’t feel it then, but now it’s become rheumatism.”

The woman, hearing that Samuel Bennett was right, quickly asked, “Do you have a good prescription? Can it be cured completely?”

“You don’t need any extra medicine for this prescription—just use the medicine you already have. I’ll give you acupuncture, and after a few sessions, you should be completely cured.” Samuel Bennett had already noticed the medicine packets in her hand, smelled the medicine, and sensed that it was a standard remedy for rheumatism. With his acupuncture, there should be no problem curing her.

Hearing the young man speak so confidently, the woman’s faith increased at once. “Alright, can you give me acupuncture now?”

“Yes.” With that, he took out a set of needles his master had used in practice, asked the woman to stretch out her legs, and, without asking her to roll up her pants, used his sensing ability to insert several needles through the tiny gaps in her pants directly into the acupuncture points around her knees.

The woman saw how quick his movements were—just a flash, and several needles were already in her legs. She felt a slight numbness and finally began to believe that this young man had some real skill.