"This is my home. I heard that the young master will be staying here for a while. Feel free to visit when you have time. My eldest granddaughter is also in her teens, perhaps she can chat with the young master."
Secretary An really hoped his granddaughter could interact with someone as outstanding as Su Xiaotian.
After all, he had been a village cadre for so many years. How could he not know that associating with excellent people would make one excellent?
But the village was small, and there weren't many outstanding people. Coupled with the young age of his grandchildren, he had never found a suitable role model for the children.
Su Xiaotian's appearance instantly provided Secretary An with such a person.
He estimated that Su Xiaotian's age should be similar to his eldest granddaughter.
Su Xiaotian had spent her years in the city, shielded from the sun and wind, with skin as smooth and tender as a ripe peach. In Secretary An's eyes, she looked no older than a granddaughter of twelve or thirteen.
Su Xiaotian felt obligated to accept Secretary An's enthusiastic invitation.
As they entered, they saw quite a few people in the courtyard.
Four or five people were sitting and chatting under the osmanthus tree.
Su Xiaotian instinctively felt that these people were likely not Secretary An's family.
The reason was their attire, which was quite different. These people were all dressed in cadre uniforms.
In this era, even village cadres rarely spared the money to buy such neat clothes.
Indeed, upon seeing these people, Secretary An was first taken aback, then hurried over and bowed to shake hands with them.
"Secretary An, this young girl looks unfamiliar."
One of them happened to glance at Su Xiaotian and asked Secretary An.
Secretary An quickly introduced, "Town Chief Liang, this is the young master from Beijing, who came with Teacher Shen."
The fact that Secretary An introduced Su Xiaotian as "young master" clearly puzzled everyone present.
A young girl called "young master"?
They knew that people with knowledge were called "master" here, and doctors and feng shui masters were also referred to as "master."
However, this young girl was so young; she couldn't possibly be a feng shui master, nor could she possess great knowledge.
Naturally, she couldn't be a doctor either.
Weren't all doctors grizzled old men?
"Young master, allow me to introduce you. This is Town Chief Liang from Tongliang, this is Secretary Qian, and these two are Director Du and Comrade He Zhou. They are all cadres from our Tongliang Town."
Upon hearing that Su Xiaotian was from Beijing, the group already held her in higher regard.
After all, people from the capital city must have different insights.
What they didn't expect was that Secretary An, a sixty-year-old man, would use a term of respect for Su Xiaotian, which confused them.
"Secretary An, what is this young lady's status?"
He Zhou, a cadre stationed in the village, quickly approached Secretary An to inquire further.
Secretary An was not a person without insight; he wouldn't use such respectful language for just anyone from Beijing.
The only possibility was that this young girl's identity was extraordinary.
Could it be that this young girl was a descendant of a great scholar?
He Zhou began to speculate in his mind.
"Comrade He, Comrade Xiaotian is no ordinary person. She is an incredible doctor, far better than the doctors around here. An Rongxuejia's grandson fell into the water yesterday and was unconscious when rescued. It was the young master who saved him."
As Secretary An spoke, the reverence in his eyes was unconcealed.
He quickly recounted everything that had happened yesterday.
Finally, he added, "The young master not only has excellent medical skills but also a compassionate heart. She is willing to teach her abilities to our people."
This last sentence was the crucial point.
Clearly, including Town Chief Liang, no one had expected a young girl to not only possess excellent medical skills but also to teach them to others.
The medical profession, in fact, also emphasized inheritance; generally, doctors would not easily teach outsiders.
However, how high could the medical skills of a teenage girl be?
Could it be a deception?
"My medical skills are nothing special; they are just simple first-aid methods, nothing significant," Su Xiaotian said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Due to Secretary An's high praise for Su Xiaotian and the fact that she came with Shen Zizhen, the others did not look down on her.
Secretary An busied himself inviting Su Xiaotian to sit and also invited the town comrades to join them for a meal.
"To thank the young master, my wife specifically made several of her best dishes to welcome the young master today," Secretary An's joy was almost palpable.
Why wouldn't he be happy? Today, he had trained seven or eight people who knew first aid, and many others had watched. Even if their skills weren't perfect, they could probably handle a situation if one arose.
"It seems Secretary An is truly happy today; we've never seen you like this before!" He Zhou said teasingly.
"This is true, Comrade He Zhou. You don't know how capable the young master is. She explained very clearly how to rescue someone after drowning and even demonstrated to our villagers for them to learn!"
The more he spoke, the more Secretary An felt Su Xiaotian was a wonderful child.
Hearing Secretary An's high praise, the others also became more curious.
They wondered what kind of method this young girl had described that earned Secretary An such high praise.
Could it truly have practical value?
What if it was just a show, a lot of fuss with no effect when a real situation arose?
Thinking this, Director Du spoke up to ask.
Su Xiaotian had no intention of hiding anything; she had already taught the villagers.
There was no harm in explaining it to these town leaders.
Perhaps these town leaders would further promote it, letting more people know about drowning first-aid methods.
Director Du asked, and Su Xiaotian answered clearly and logically, with sound reasoning.
Eventually, others, including Town Chief Liang, became curious and began to ask detailed questions about all the key points they hadn't understood before.
Su Xiaotian patiently explained each one.
First-aid methods existed in the countryside, but very few people were actually saved.
Tongliang was a water town, and although many people knew how to swim, drownings were not uncommon each year.
This problem had always troubled them.