Qin Qinxi took the little girl’s hand and walked into a small shop by the roadside.

Inside, there was only a local man sitting behind the counter, head down, scrolling through his phone.

Summoning her courage, Qin Qinxi stepped forward and asked in English if she could borrow the phone to make a call.

The man looked up and sized her up from head to toe.

His gaze slid from her dirty clothes to the pair of slippers on her feet—clearly not hers—and paused for a moment before handing over the phone without asking further.

Qin Qinxi thanked him and began dialing the numbers the little girl had recited, one by one.

The call connected quickly. She handed the phone to the little girl.

As soon as the little girl took it, she heard a voice on the other end and burst into tears again, crying even harder.

She passed the phone back to Qin Qinxi and said plaintively, “My mom wants to talk to you.”

Qin Qinxi crouched down, wiped the girl’s face with her thumb, and held the phone to her ear.

On the other end was a woman’s voice—urgent, agitated, speaking in a language Qin Qinxi couldn’t understand.

“Sorry,” she said in English, “Do you speak English?”

There was a pause, then the voice switched to English, trembling with sobs and urgency: “I’m sorry… I’m sick. My daughter must have wanted to go out and find a doctor for me… She’s so young, she doesn’t know the way… Could you tell me where you are?”

Qin Qinxi glanced at the little girl.

The child was still sobbing. Big, glistening tears rolled one after another from her bright, big eyes, streaming down her cheeks and dripping onto her floral dress.

Qin Qinxi’s heart ached. After all, she was a doctor.

The little girl was so pitiful, and her mother was crying too. She couldn’t help but want to help them—and while she was at it, maybe get a bite to eat and a sip of water.

She stood up, looked around, and spotted a few landmarks: the sign of a supermarket, a bus stop sign, and the coffee shop on the corner. Qin Qinxi told the other party the location.

“Thank you… thank you…” The voice on the other end choked with emotion. “I think I roughly know where we are now. Could you… could you bring her back? My leg… it’s not convenient…”

No sooner had she finished speaking than the little girl beside her suddenly lifted her head.

Her tiny face instantly scrunched up, her lips pouted, and she let out a loud wail, bursting into tears.

She cried with heartbreaking intensity, big tears streaming down her face.

Qin Qinxi looked down at her, momentarily at a loss. She really didn’t know how to comfort a child.

She guessed what had happened: the child’s mother had injured her leg and couldn’t move.

“Could you tell me where you live?” she asked. “I’ll take your daughter over there. I’m a doctor; I can examine her for you.”

The woman sniffed and her voice trembled. “Thank you… thank you for your kindness.”

She gave the address, along with detailed directions on how to get there.

Qin Qinxi understood the gist and borrowed paper and a pen from the shop owner to jot down the route.

“Thank you.”

Just as she turned to leave, the shop owner hurried after her and stopped her, holding out his hand and asking for money.

Qin Qinxi froze. She didn’t have a single cent on her.

Not knowing what to do, the little girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a bill, handing it to the shop owner.

The shop owner took the money, tapped it with his finger, tilted his head to listen to the sound, and then held it up to the light, examining it from every angle before finally confirming it was genuine.

He no longer tried to stop her and went back to sit in his chair.

Qin Qinxi looked down at the little girl.

The little girl tilted her face upward, her eyes still red. “This… this is the money I was going to use to find a doctor for my mom. Sister, you’re a doctor—could you please accept it from my mom when we get back?”

Qin Qinxi felt a lump in her throat and grew even more sympathetic toward the little girl.

She slowly crouched down and gently wiped away her tears.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “Of course.”

Qin Qinxi held the little girl’s hand and walked along, glancing at the map she’d drawn on the paper.

She was already parched, her lips cracked, and her head was spinning.

End of Chapter 7: Chapter 7