The hospital was still in that old, dilapidated ward.

"What's wrong with him?" Zhao Yiheng stood by the hospital bed, looking at Qi Yanjue on the bed, but asked Song Yueying who was standing next to him.

"Why did you go out for a bit and come back so badly injured?"

Before bringing Qi Yanjue to the hospital, Song Yueying went into the space experimental vehicle to change her soaked clothes. She was now wearing the dress she had worn before.

Before she could answer Zhao Yiheng's question, Luo Mingxian said with a worried look, "Captain, it looks like you're more seriously injured than I am!"

“It looks like his injury is even more serious than yours.” Zhou Feng agreed with Luo Ming’s words, and then urged Zhao Yiheng, “Zhao Yiheng, you should hurry up and treat the captain’s injury, don’t just stand by and watch.”

“That’s right, that’s right. If you keep staring like that, our captain is going to be in trouble,” Chen Guangyao chimed in.

All three looked anxious and worried about their captain, except for Zhao Yiheng and Song Yueying, who remained calm.

"He won't get sick," Zhao Yiheng said. "Don't worry, your captain is fine."

He was absolutely telling the truth; he had just examined Yan Jue. Yan Jue did have many injuries, but there wasn't much bleeding, and the wounds were healing quickly.

It's no exaggeration to say that if it had been brought in any later, the wound would have already healed.

"How could someone so badly injured be alright?" Zhou Feng was somewhat skeptical of Zhao Yiheng's words.

But looking at the captain, who was only wrapped in a thin layer of gauze, there was no blood seeping through it. This was abnormal; everyone here had been injured before, and they all knew what serious injuries should look like.

If Zhou Feng could notice something, how could Luo Ming and Chen Guangyao not? Luo Ming even reached out to touch the gauze wrapped around Qi Yanjue's body.

However, Chen Guangyao stopped him.

"If the captain is alright, then why hasn't he woken up yet?" Chen Guangyao's question hit the nail on the head.

This was also what puzzled Zhao Yiheng. He turned his head to look at Song Yueying, intuitively feeling that only Song Yueying could give him an answer.

"Alright, alright, all of you go outside and keep watch. Stop bothering your captain here," Zhao Yiheng said, shooing them away.

Zhou Feng, Chen Guangyao, and Luo Ming exchanged incredulous glances at Zhao Yiheng. Zhao Yiheng's attitude towards dismissing them was forceful, not even giving the three a chance to protest.

After their protests proved ineffective, the three had no choice but to give Zhao Yiheng a few instructions. They then said goodbye to Song Yueying before leaving, glancing back several times as they went.

After the ward door closed, Zhao Yiheng said to Song Yueying, "Don't mind them. They were a bit noisy, but their intentions were good. They were all concerned about Qi Yanjue's injury."

Song Yueying nodded to indicate that she understood.

"What's going on here?" Zhao Yiheng asked again.

"I was attacked." Song Yueying's tone was very calm, as if she were talking about a life-or-death assassination attempt, or rather, about the bad weather today.

It's raining.

"You ran into..." Zhao Yiheng stopped her complaining in time and comforted her, "Well, don't worry, I checked him, and his injury is healing quickly."

"I know." Song Yueying nodded again. She knew the extent of Qi Yanjue's injuries.

Seeing her calm and composed demeanor, Zhao Yiheng coughed awkwardly a few times, "Isn't what I'm saying obvious? If you had such powerful pills, you would have given them to him long ago."

"Hmm." Song Yueying gave a noncommittal "hmm."

Zhao Yiheng rubbed his hands together, looking at Song Yueying expectantly, "Comrade Song, um, could I... could I..."

Seeing his ingratiating manner and his stammering speech, Song Yueying knew what he was going to say and asked directly, "You want the pills I have?"

Zhao Yiheng nodded vigorously, "I want it."

“No problem, just pay up.” Song Yueying said decisively.

After a moment of stunned silence, Zhao Yiheng's expression changed several times, his tone filled with excitement, "Good, good, good, it's good that you're willing to sell us the pills, I'll definitely try my best to raise the money."

Seeing Zhao Yiheng's ecstatic expression, Song Yueying pursed her lips. A memory flashed through her mind of Will, who had also been ecstatic when she handed him the pills.

It seems she can get rich just by selling these pills, without having to do anything else.

Thinking of money, and then of the meals she had paid for and rationed at the state-run restaurant, Song Yueying turned and walked towards the door of the ward.

"Hey, where are you going?" Zhao Yiheng asked hurriedly.

"I have to go out for a bit," Song Yueying replied without turning her head.

Zhao Yiheng reminded her, "If you leave the hospital, remember to have Chen Guangyao drive you. It's too dangerous outside, so don't go out alone!"

"I understand." Song Yueying knew that Zhao Yiheng meant well, so she did not refuse his kindness.

Before Song Yueying could even speak after leaving the ward, Chen Guangyao, who was waiting at the door, overheard her conversation with Zhao Yiheng and offered to see her off.

Song Yueying did not refuse.

"Dr. Zhao, Dr. Zhao, many seriously injured patients have been brought to the hospital, you need to go and see them quickly!" A nurse rushed into the ward, shouting.

"Many seriously injured patients?" Zhao Yiheng asked with a puzzled look as he quickly walked outside.

"Yes, a lot." The nurse followed behind him.

Meanwhile, Song Yueying asked Chen Guangyao to take her to the state-run restaurant to pick up her packed meal. She didn't return to the ward, but instead asked Chen Guangyao to take her back to her village.

She was worried about Song's mother being home alone.

The car was parked by the main road, and Chen Guangyao escorted Song Yueying to the village entrance before turning back. Fortunately, despite the heavy rain in the county, the village remained dry.

But the weather was gloomy, like it was about to rain.

When Song Yueying returned home, her mother was pleased to see the food she had packed. Seeing that she had come back alone, she asked why Qi Yanjue hadn't returned.

Song Yueying said he would come back after he finished his business.

Hearing from her daughter that Qi Yanjue would be back, Song's mother didn't ask any more questions and went to the kitchen to heat up the food.

Song Yueying went into the space experiment vehicle, took out her wet clothes, and went to the yard to wash them. "Wash" is a bit of a stretch, because she simply put the wet clothes in a basin to rinse them.

Then they were hung up to dry.

After hanging up the clothes, she had just returned to her room when she heard Song's mother calling from outside, "Little Shadow, come out for dinner."

Song Yueying walked out of the house and came to the square table in the main room. A strange smell wafted into her nose.

"What does it taste like?" Song Yueying asked, puzzled.

Song's mother wrinkled her nose, sniffed, and shook her head, saying, "It has no smell."

How could there be no smell? Song Yueying sniffed carefully, refusing to believe it, and the strange smell was indeed gone. Just as she was wondering about it, the strange smell came back.

Looking at the sweet potato handed to her, the strange smell grew even stronger. Song Yueying finally realized that the strange smell was coming from the sweet potato.

In hot weather, cooked food spoils easily, and once spoiled, it emits a pungent odor.

It is commonly known as a sour smell.

"This sweet potato has gone bad and can't be eaten." Song Yueying took the sweet potato and placed it directly on the table.

"Why can't we eat it?" Song's mother asked疑惑地, and then her anxious expression returned. It was because she remembered that her daughter didn't like her asking why.

Song Yueying already knew why her mother looked so uneasy. She explained, "Because the sweet potatoes have gone bad, and eating them will damage her stomach."

“Change…deteriorate…damage…” Song’s mother didn’t understand at all.

Helplessly closing her eyes briefly, Song Yueying opened them and looked at her mother. She said bluntly, "The sweet potatoes were spoiled. Eating spoiled sweet potatoes will make you sick; at best, you'll get diarrhea, and at worst, your stomach and intestines will be damaged."

Eating spoiled sweet potatoes will make you sick, and this time Song's mother understood. She quickly picked up the sweet potatoes that Song Yueying had placed on the table and put them back in the bowl.

"I don't want Xiaoying to get sick. Xiaoying doesn't want to eat sweet potatoes, she wants to eat this food instead." Song's mother held the basin in both hands, as if afraid that Song Yueying would snatch it from her.

"Okay." Song Yueying nodded, then remembered something and added, "The sweet potatoes have gone bad, so you can't eat them."

"I..." Song's mother's eyes darted away, not daring to look at Song Yueying. She had just been thinking of secretly eating the bad sweet potato herself and having Xiao Ying bring back the leftovers.

Anyway, she's not afraid of getting sick or having diarrhea.

But now Little Shadow won't let her eat either. What should she do? Although there is a lot of food at home, it will eventually run out. If she and Little Shadow both eat, the food will be gone very quickly.

Little Shadow won't be able to eat tomorrow.

Seeing that Song's mother was distracted, Song Yueying walked up to her and took the bowl containing the spoiled sweet potatoes directly from her hands.

"Hey, hey, little shadow, what are you doing with my basin?" Song's mother snapped out of her daze and hurriedly tried to grab the basin containing the sweet potatoes.

Easily dodging Song's mother's outstretched hand that tried to snatch the basin, Song Yueying replied matter-of-factly, "Of course, I'm going to throw away the bad sweet potatoes inside."

Seeing the shifty look in Song's eyes, she guessed that Song's mother wanted to secretly eat the spoiled sweet potato. The sweet potato was already rotten; how could she possibly let her eat it?

"I'll throw it away, I'll throw it away," Song's mother said hurriedly, seeing that her daughter still refused to give her the bowl. She then promised, "I won't eat it either, I promise I won't eat it."

Only after receiving assurances from Song's mother did Song Yueying hand over the basin to her.

Song's mother hurriedly went out with the basin, her hurried steps as if something was chasing after her.

Song Yueying sighed.

Song's mother's thoughts are understandable. In this era where everyone is struggling to get enough to eat, nobody has time to pay attention to their health, and eating spoiled food is quite normal.

In short, it's all because of poverty.

"Dr. Song, help! Dr. Song, Dr. Song, please come and save my wife's life!" The sound of banging and anxious cries came from the courtyard gate.

Song's mother happened to be in the yard. She walked over and opened the yard gate, and saw that it was the man who had come before. She opened her mouth to say something, but the man spoke first.

"Auntie, where's Dr. Song? Has Dr. Song returned? My wife really can't hold on much longer." The man grabbed Song's mother's hand anxiously.

"Auntie, do you know where Dr. Song went? I'm going to find her. My wife really, really can't hold on much longer."

As he spoke, tears streamed down the man's face.

Song's mother stared blankly at the man, without pulling her hand away.

"Who's calling for help again!" Song Yueying came out of the main room and saw the man grabbing her mother's hand. She thought she was seeing things and blinked.

You read that right, the man really was holding Song's mother's hand, and Song's mother didn't go crazy and scream.

As Song Yueying was puzzled, the man released Song's mother and rushed in front of Song Yueying. He reached out to grab Song Yueying's arm, but then, remembering something, he withdrew his hand.

"Dr. Song, please save my wife! She's dying!" the man said quickly.

"What's wrong with your wife?" Song Yueying asked.

Before the man could answer, Song's mother ran over and shouted, "His wife is giving birth! Little Shadow, go save her!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Song's mother grabbed her daughter's hand and ran outside.

The man ran behind the mother and daughter.

Inside the dilapidated mud-brick house.

A woman lay on a simple bed, her forehead covered in sweat, her hair soaked with sweat, looking as if she had just been pulled out of the water.

She gripped the sheet covering her body tightly with both hands, as if enduring immense pain.

"Oh dear! Wang, the educated youth, went to fetch Doctor Song, but he hasn't returned yet! Little Wang is about to collapse." Aunt Xu stood at the door, looking outside.

"Don't talk nonsense." The short-haired auntie who was guarding the bed rolled her eyes at Aunt Xu, took the cloth in her hand and wiped the sweat from the woman's forehead, comforting her.

"Young Wang, don't worry, you'll be alright."

The young woman, surnamed Wang, was a sent-down youth named Wang Qianqian, and her husband was named Wang Aimin. They shared the same surname, Wang, and were both sent-down youth who came to the countryside to support the nation's development.

To distinguish between the two, the members of the brigade called Wang Aimin "Wang Zhiqing" and Wang Qianqian "Little Wang Zhiqing".

The woman on the bed was focused on resisting the pain and didn't hear what the two women were saying.

"It's no use comforting her now. All she knows is that she's in pain, and her attention is all on her stomach. She has no idea what we're talking about," Aunt Xu said dismissively.

The short-haired auntie sighed and said, "Didn't Wang, the educated youth, say when he came back that Dr. Song wasn't home? He's just trying his luck by going there now."

"It's good that Dr. Song is back. If he hadn't..."

The rest was left unsaid; both of them understood each other perfectly.

Aunt Xu looked outside again, but there was still no one there, so she had no choice but to walk back to the bedside.

The short-haired auntie cried out in alarm, "Oh no! Oh no! Little Wang, the educated youth, has fainted from the pain! Little Wang, wake up, wake up, Little Wang..."

"If a woman faints at this time, it could be fatal." Aunt Xu panicked and rushed over to join in, shouting, "Little Wang, wake up quickly!"

"Xiao Xu, don't panic. Let's wake up Xiao Wang quickly. You call her name, and I'll pinch her philtrum." The short-haired aunt reached out and pinched the philtrum under the new mother's nose.

"We can't wake him up!" The short-haired aunt was also very anxious. She suggested, "Giving birth is a big deal and can't be delayed. Let's take Xiao Wang, the educated youth, to the commune's clinic."

Aunt Xu looked at the sky outside and said worriedly, "It looks like it's going to rain heavily outside. What if it rains on the way to the commune clinic?"

She is now in a dilemma. Wang Zhiqing, who is in charge, went to Song Yueying for help, but Song Yueying is not at home.

I went twice and missed them both times, so I'm going again now...

Most likely, it will be a fruitless trip.