After finally seeing off the grateful Wang family, the neighbors and onlookers swarmed around the Xu family, offering their congratulations.
“I’ve watched A’Ze grow up. I always knew he’d achieve great things. Look at him now! He’s still studying, but he’s already this skilled. Who knows what he’ll become in the future—maybe a professor!” Old Man Tang, a neighbor, boasted as if he had personally mentored Xu Ze.
“That’s right, A’Ze is no ordinary child. He’s destined for greatness!” others chimed in. The praises grew more extravagant, with some even predicting Xu Ze’s future: “In ten years, he’ll be a professor. In twenty, he’ll be famous nationwide. In thirty, he’ll win a Nobel Prize—no doubt about it!”
As the crowd’s praises grew more and more exaggerated, Xu Ze’s parents began to sweat nervously, while Xu Ze himself felt overwhelmed and retreated upstairs.
Even though the main subject of the conversation had left, the neighbors continued to sing his praises for a while before finally dispersing.
However, as the neighbors spread the word, the entire town soon learned of the miraculous feat performed by the young doctor from the Xu Family Clinic—how he had revived a child who had stopped breathing.
The stories about Xu Ze grew more elaborate as they spread. By mid-morning, even the tale of Xu Ze working part-time as an apprentice in the provincial capital had made the rounds. But as the story traveled, it became more fantastical. It was said that when Xu Ze first went to the provincial capital to study, he had been spotted by a reclusive medical master who recognized his extraordinary talent. This master had supposedly insisted on taking Xu Ze as his disciple, training him rigorously for two years, which was why Xu Ze now possessed such remarkable skills. This added yet another layer of legend to Xu Ze’s reputation.
While some dismissed these tales as exaggerations, and other local doctors scoffed, claiming that Xu Ze had simply been lucky, fate had other plans. The stories continued to spread, and soon, even former patients who had been treated by Xu Ze for minor ailments like colds, coughs, or fevers began to boast about their experiences.
One thin old man, squatting under a large tree at the town entrance, became the center of attention as he recounted his story to a group of curious onlookers. “Young Doctor Xu saved my life too! Back then, I had a fever and diarrhea. I went to Doctor Tao, but after a few days of medicine, I wasn’t getting better. I was so weak I couldn’t even get out of bed. I was on the verge of death! But then, I wisely sought out Young Doctor Xu, and with just one injection, he cured me. He’s truly a miracle doctor!”
The crowd nodded in agreement. “Indeed, he’s a little miracle doctor!”
Meanwhile, Doctor Tao, hiding behind the tree, wiped away his tears and lamented, “Old man, you just had enteritis! Of course, you were weak from dehydration. A simple IV would have fixed you right up. But you refused to pay the 100 yuan for the treatment. Only a rookie like Xu Ze would be foolish enough to give you an IV at cost, losing money on the injection fee, house call fee, and even the IV equipment. He only charged you 35 yuan! If I had known, I would’ve just taken the loss and treated you myself.”
Similar stories began to circulate, each one more exaggerated than the last. Before long, Xu Ze’s reputation had spread far and wide, and it seemed he was on the verge of surpassing his father and other local doctors to become the number one miracle doctor of Chentang Town.