“Jonni, let's get a divorce.”

Jonni Bowers had just stumbled home, exhaustion written all over his face, barely tasting the air inside the house when he heard his wife, Charles Warren, utter these words without a hint of emotion.

Jonni froze, staring at her, utterly stunned. He couldn’t believe his ears.

It was as if Charles had been waiting for him—waiting for this moment to tell him those exact words. She seemed calm, almost rehearsed, her words calculated.

His thoughts jammed, body stiff as if his mind had just crashed. After what felt like an eternity, he managed to choke out a response, his voice dry: “Why?”

“Jonni, you’re already thirty. Still stuck at some small-town clinic, scraping by. No money, no prospects, no control over your life. I can’t do this anymore,” Charles shot back, her voice sharp, years of pent-up frustration pouring out.

“Honestly, I’ve never met a man as useless as you. We're done.”

Jonni forced a bitter laugh, hollow and coarse, as if it hurt to breathe. “Is that really how you see me?”

“Yes.” Charles replied without hesitation. Not a flicker of hesitation in her gaze.Charles practically screamed in frustration.

"Fine! Let’s get divorced. I’ll take leave tomorrow, and we’ll go take care of it."

Jonni stood there for a few moments, frozen, holding back tears that threatened to spill over. Then, forcing out one last sentence, he turned and dragged his weary body step by step out the door.

*Bang!*

The door slammed shut behind him, vibrating from the force he used.

Jonni moved forward like a hollow shell, mechanically putting one foot in front of the other until he reached the street outside. The autumn wind hit him, and a chill crept up his spine, making him shudder involuntarily.

Finding a spot on the curb, he sat down. He fumbled a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, and inhaled deeply. A bitter smile played on his lips as the smoke lingered in the air.

He thought back to his younger days with Charles. They’d been classmates back in medical school, where they first met. From there, graduation naturally led them to marriage, stepping into what he once thought was their perfect future.

For a while, Jonni genuinely believed he was lucky, blessed even. Marrying a woman he loved felt like an unattainable dream come true for most men.

Their love, though, didn’t come without its share of obstacles. Jonni’s parents, living in the provincial capital, strongly opposed him marrying Charles, a woman from such a small town. The mere mention of her had sparked countless arguments between him and them back in the day. Originally, Jonni Bowers could have worked in the provincial capital, thanks to his family's support. Even if he couldn’t secure a position at a top-tier hospital, getting into a district-level secondary hospital wasn't supposed to be a problem.

But Charles Warren's job was harder to find. Her father, influenced by someone else's suggestion, insisted she come back home to work. He believed being a doctor at the town’s health center was a decent choice.

After all, as far as her family was concerned, Charles Warren, being a woman, didn’t need much beyond having a steady job and marrying a good husband.

She cried over this decision countless times. Maybe it was because she was young, or perhaps because she was blinded by the idea of love back then. For reasons that Jonni couldn’t quite understand anymore, she suddenly chose that path. Fueled with impulsive determination, she convinced herself that her love for Jonni was worth proving. Jonni, in turn, declared he would stay by her side and return to her hometown with her.

“Don’t worry. We’ll do this together. Starting from the town hospital, we’ll learn and grow. Someday, we’ll find our way to bigger hospitals,” he had said with such conviction back then.

Those earnest words replayed in Jonni’s mind as he stood there now, thinking about the days when they were in school together, studying Chinese medicine. He had been so sure that since Chinese medicine wasn’t surgery-based and didn’t depend much on hospital facilities, he could teach himself directly through practice. If he had patients, he believed he could work and study side by side.

Looking back, it all felt like the arrogance of youth.

In this tiny town health center, things played out very differently. The old doctor, Brooks Jennings, was practically slacking off all day, barely putting in an effort. Meanwhile, newcomers had to handle everything, constantly busy to the point of exhaustion.Jonni Bowers's dreams had long since been shattered, his pride ground down to dust. Still, he thought they could make life work as long as they stayed together. What he never expected was Charles Warren dropping that bombshell on him.

After a long, exhausting day, all Jonni wanted was a decent night's sleep, but he was hit with news that knocked the breath out of him. He had been fighting tooth and nail to hold it all together, yet Charles had decided she couldn’t take it anymore.

Lost in thought, Jonni glanced down at the pile of spent cigarette butts—seven or eight of them scattered messily at his feet. Eventually, he hauled his weary body back to the health center. In the duty room, he lay on the cot staring blankly at the ceiling until sleep finally overtook him, though he couldn’t recall when.

“Jonni, wake up already.”

The voice jolted him awake. Standing nearby was Brooks Jennings.

Brooks, one of the health center’s old-timers, was in his fifties but looked like he’d been through an extra decade or two, with deep creases on his face that made him appear closer to sixty. At the center, including Jonni, there were just a handful of doctors, "fourteen or fifteen tops." Before Jonni joined, Brooks had been the sole practitioner of traditional medicine. As for Charles Warren…

She’d only lasted about six months before jumping ship to a sales company in the county, swapping her white coat for the role of a pharmaceutical rep, or “med rep” as people called it.

Sitting at the roadside curb yesterday, Jonni had come to a grim conclusion—Charles had probably lined up her next chapter long ago.Jonni Bowers knew what the life of a pharmaceutical sales rep was like. Back then, he thought it wasn’t a big deal. Charles Warren was a woman, after all—being a little fancy wasn’t a problem. Having a beautiful wife at home was supposed to make him happy too, right?

Turns out, not so much. Maybe someone else got to enjoy what he didn’t.

“Brooks.”

Jonni sat up, wiping the corner of his eye. “I’m gonna wash my face.”

“Go ahead. I’ve got something to do today, so you’ll be holding down the fort in the clinic,” Brooks Jennings said casually, then left without waiting for much of a response.

The town health clinic didn’t pay much, and most of the doctors there were locals. Many of the older ones secretly ran private practices on the side. Some didn’t even bother to be subtle about it, setting up shop right in their homes. And nobody really cared to stop them.

Jonni had thought about it too. But he knew, deep down, his skills weren’t quite there yet.

“Brooks!” Jonni strode out after him.

“What’s up?”

“I’ve got something this afternoon.”

“Alright, I’ll try to come back,” Brooks replied vaguely, clearly brushing him off.

“It’s not ‘try,’ it’s ‘must.’ Or else there won’t be anyone here,” Jonni pressed.

“Alright, alright, got it.”

Brooks chuckled, strolling off without much urgency. Though he often disappeared, he’d at least cover for Jonni when it was important.

After seeing Brooks off, Jonni washed his face, then stepped into the clinic. He tidied up his desk, brewed some tea, and before long, a patient arrived.The patients at the town clinic were usually few and far between. Most of the time, Jonni Bowers had to step in and help out in the vaccination room. It’s a small clinic, and the division of departments wasn’t all that strict—Brooks Jennings could handle both traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine.

“Take a seat,” Jonni said, gesturing for the patient to sit.

As he sat down, he carefully observed the patient’s posture and expression while preparing his questions. But then, Jonni froze.

Without thinking, he waved his hand in front of his eyes.

“Doctor, is something wrong?” The patient looked puzzled.

“No, it’s nothing,” Jonni replied, blinking repeatedly.

What he’d just seen hadn’t gone away.

Floating in the air were several progress bars—not just one, but several—and Jonni stared at them in bewilderment.

Looking closely, he noticed labels in front of each bar: Internal Medicine, Surgery, Acupuncture, Orthopedics, Massage Therapy, Pharmacology...