Chapter 054: Trouble with Medicine

Chapter 054: Trouble with Medicine

Afternoon.

Wen Jiajia felt sleepy and took a nap on the bed.

Wei Dai was tinkering with his crib again, putting the finishing touches on it, which was to apply a layer of tung oil.

Tung oil has an odor, and the sooner you apply it, the sooner the odor will dissipate.

His wife also said that some people would be allergic to tung oil, and it would be better to use wood wax. Although Wei Dai didn't understand how someone could be allergic to tung oil, he took her advice and went to look for wood wax. However, many carpenters had never seen wood wax, so he had to give up and prepare to make another crib as a backup.

After applying the tung oil, he put the fruit wood charcoal that Wen Jiajia brought back into the utility room.

His wife didn't know where she brought it back from, and she just threw it into the corner of the living room after bringing it home. Yesterday, Wen Xuan accidentally stepped on a piece of charcoal and crushed it.

The charcoal was good. He threw a few pieces into the stove, and after lighting it, there was not much smoke.

The fire was burning brightly.

Wei Dai put the clay pot on top, poured in the melted brown sugar water, and then put the red dates in to simmer. He asked, drink more brown sugar and red dates soup to replenish qi and blood.

Wen Jiajia woke up not long after sleeping. When she opened the door, the strong smell of brown sugar and brown dates hit her face.

"Why are you stewing sweet soup out of the blue?" She rubbed her eyes, her head still in a daze, but the cold wind that blew in from the gap in the door made her perk up.

Wen Jiajia pulled her collar and closed the door tightly.

"I'm stewing it for you to drink." Wei Dai said, and opened the door again. "Leave a gap for ventilation. I'm burning charcoal."

Wen Jiajia came to the kitchen with a rag on her hand and opened the lid of the casserole. The brown sugar water inside was boiling, and the sweet taste was particularly tempting in the winter.

She chuckled: "Another egg?"

Wei Dai was helpless: "You're not going to eat dinner?"

Wen Jiajia closed the lid and touched her stomach: "I really don't have much appetite for dinner."

After lunch, I didn't do any exercise and just lay in bed for a nap. The lunch was still accumulating in my stomach.

She sat on the sofa, propped up her head and watched Wei Dai sawing wood, preparing to make another crib.

Wen Jiajia said, "It would be better to build a cabinet. The cabinets at home are not enough."

For example, the closet in the room is just big enough to hold her and Wei Dai's clothes. If she makes a few more clothes in the future, there won't be enough space.

Wei Dai measured the lengths attentively and said, "Do it. Do it all. After the wardrobe is finished, I will make a stroller."

“…”

"Okay, as long as you're happy." Wen Jiajia was completely speechless, and she was still rushing to find a job for herself.

Wei Dai smiled and said, "Who was looking for you outside before you went to bed? It sounded like Chen Da's mother."

Wen Jiajia raised her thumb and said, "You are amazing. You can even hear that. But I don't know whose mother it is. I do know whose grandmother it is. It's the fat kid."

"The one with the huge ears?" Wei Dai lowered his head, measured the size, drew a line on the wood with a pen, and picked up a saw.

Wen Jiajia recalled and nodded: "It seems so. His name is Zude. He was the one who went fishing in the deep river in August. The logistics staff caught him and made him stand as punishment."

She remembered it very carefully because that day was Army Day.

At that time, Wei Dai was busy from day to night. Others were also busy. Teacher Shen next door said that he hadn't seen Xie Yang for three days. It's not that Xie Yang didn't come back, but he came back late at night and left in the early morning. Living in the same room, but not seeing each other for three days, you can see how busy they were.

It happened that those days were extremely hot, and Wen Chun and Wen Xuan couldn't stand the heat, so they had to run to the Qianhe District to play after dinner every day.

The two sisters knew their limits, so Wen Jiajia did not stop them.

But that day she heard someone shouting that a child had climbed over the railing and swam into the deep river. She was so scared that she dropped the clothes in her hands and hurried to the river.

That child was Xiaopang. Wen Jiajia watched as the slightly fat child was grabbed by the collar and dragged down by the logistics personnel. After reaching the shore, he was slapped twice on the buttocks and finally was punished to stand. After standing for half an hour, his legs were covered with mosquito bites, which looked like corns.

There were mosquito bites on her legs and ears, making them look like the ears of Big Ear Tutu in the cartoon decades later. Wen Jiajia was deeply impressed by this.

Wei Dai: "That's it. This old lady is actually quite reasonable, but she has a bad temper and is not very popular in her family area."

Wen Jiajia also thought so. The couple was just chatting about the old lady's gossip when someone knocked on the door again.

The one who came was Sister Bao.

"You two are living such a good life. The house is warm and there's brown sugar water boiling." Bao Jie came in eating peanuts and took a handful from her pocket and gave them to her: "I just fried them yesterday. Try them and see if they are fragrant."

With a "crack" sound, Wen Jiajia squeezed open the peanut shell and threw two peanuts into her mouth. They were indeed crispy and fragrant.

She complimented, "Sister, your peanuts are fried well. Every time I fry them, I always overcook them."

After saying this, Wei Dai glanced at her.

I thought to myself: What the hell, you’ve only made boiled peanuts.

The peanuts at home are always dried and then boiled in water. They are never fried.

Sister Bao smiled and said, "It's okay. When you need to do it, call me and I'll teach you."

Before Wen Jiajia could say thank you, she asked again, "Did Chen Da's mother come to see you just now?"

Wen Jiajia nodded: "Xiao Pang vomited, I came to ask."

Bao Jie curled her lips and said, "This person is so unreasonable. What does his own child's vomiting have to do with the children he plays with?"

"But..." she added, "I took a look and saw that Fatty was vomiting violently. He was sent to the infirmary."

The army has a hospital and an infirmary. People usually go to the infirmary for minor illnesses and pains. After all, hospital resources are tight, and there is usually no one in the infirmary unless it is late at night.

Wen Jiajia was surprised: "Did they say why? I asked Wen Chun and Wen Xuan, and they said it's not because of sprouted potatoes."

"Who knows? This child has been in a bad mood today. He fell and vomited, and he said he still has a headache."

Wen Jiajia suddenly had a guess: "Did he apply red medicine?"

"Who knows this?" Sister Bao didn't care.

Wen Jiajia affirmed: "It is definitely painted."

Wen Chun also said at that time that Gao Fei went home to get him some medicine. He was injured, so he must have been applied with red medicine, but I don't know if it has anything to do with the red medicine.

After all, mercury poisoning is a very unlikely event.

However, Wen Jiajia did not rush to tell others. If she could think of the red medicine, how could the doctors not think of it?

Sure enough, after examining the wound on Xiaopang's knee, the doctor in the infirmary concluded that he suspected mercury poisoning. As to whether it was true or not, further examination was needed.

The doctor in the infirmary said, "Go to the hospital. We can confirm it by checking it out."

Aunt Chen's face turned pale. "How did she get poisoned? Why did she get poisoned for no reason? Please explain it clearly. What is this? Mercury or not? What the hell is this?"

The doctor patiently explained, "It's Mercurochrome. There's mercury in Mercurochrome. Very few people would get poisoned if they used it. But Comrade Chen Zude was probably unlucky. He got poisoned after using it. But I've already cleaned the wound for him. For safety, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible."

"By the way, you are not allowed to carry the person in your arms or on your back. You have to carry him on a stretcher, and carry him steadily," the doctor added.

After hearing this, Aunt Chen was even more shocked. In her opinion, it was not good to have to be carried on a stretcher.

She grabbed her grandson's hand and nodded quickly, tears streaming down her face: "Okay, okay, I'll go right away."

The doctor sighed, and simply looked for a strong and sturdy female comrade among the crowd watching the excitement and asked them to help carry it.

Soon, Xiaopang was transferred to the hospital.

The news of his mercury poisoning spread as people watched the fun.

The family members never imagined that this thing could be poisonous, so Sister Hong's family was the first to suffer.

"Sister Hong, you didn't tell us that this thing can cause poisoning. How can we dare to use something that can cause poisoning?" Someone came to Sister Hong's house with red medicine bought from her and stood at her door shouting.

"Yes, Xiaopang was vomiting so much that the doctor said it was mercury poisoning. The wound is still swollen. He is being taken to the hospital now, and we don't know if he can be saved."

This was a rather immoral statement, and the people around him couldn't help but roll their eyes.

It's not Sister Hong who is right, but the person who said this. You shouldn't curse other people's children like that.

In fact, the doctor in the infirmary was in a relatively stable mood. He did not accompany the child to the hospital, nor did he ask anyone to call the child's parents, which shows that the problem was not serious. It would be fine if Aunt Chen was just concerned, but among the onlookers, anyone with a little bit of common sense could have thought of this, but there was really someone who was so stupid as to do this.

Sister Hong was stunned and didn't react at first. It was not until someone explained it to her that she realized what had happened today.

But she was not a pushover, and she immediately retorted: "What does this have to do with me? Go to the hospital, don't you think there is no red medicine in the hospital? Are the two holes under the eyebrows for you to spray? Have you never used red medicine before you took it from me?"

That's true. The medicine used in the hospital is also mercurochrome.

However, some people still had doubts and thought: Maybe Sister Hong sold them inferior red medicine.

Otherwise, why didn't this happen before when using the hospital's red medicine, but Xiaopang got poisoned when using her red medicine.

Someone made this guess.

Sister Hong spat at her: "That's a human problem. Could it be that you guys are also poisoned like Xiaopang?"

She dared to say that all the red medicine in the city came from the city's pharmaceutical factory. They all came from the same workshop, so why were they divided into three grades, poisonous or not?

Sister Hong is right. Most people already know about it, and it really has nothing to do with them.

But there are also those who understand the law and know that if there is any real need to pursue the matter, Sister Hong will be 100% responsible.

After all, if nothing goes wrong, selling some drugs privately is fine. But once something goes wrong, it becomes illegal drug sales, and a fine is a light punishment.

There was a smart person who stayed after the crowd dispersed and gave Sister Hong a heads up.

"You should be careful. Although the private exchange in our family is not a big deal, yours is medicine. If anything goes wrong, it will definitely be a big deal. Now it depends on whether the Chen family will pursue it. If they don't pursue it, then this matter will be over. If they are determined to hold on to it, then this matter will probably be reported to the leaders."

After saying that, the man left, leaving Sister Liu Hong sitting there in a daze.

Gao Fei listened to the whole process and dared not move. The little person hid behind the door, with fear in his eyes and tears flowing uncontrollably, but he bit his lips tightly to keep silent.

She seemed to have harmed her mother.

But Sister Hong didn't blame her. She pulled her daughter to her side and patted her head: "Stay at home and take good care of your sister. Mom is going out for a while."

Gao Fei's eyes turned red and he nodded quickly.

Sister Hong left home and walked towards Beishan.

Wen Jiajia was cracking an egg at the moment. She cracked the egg into the brown sugar water without stirring it. She watched the egg slowly solidify and estimated the time in her mind... She wanted to eat a slightly tender egg with a slightly runny egg.

It was snowing again outside, but the snow was much lighter than yesterday and melted directly into my palms.

"You used my fruit charcoal?"

After the eggs were cooked, Wen Jiajia picked up the casserole and realized that something was wrong with the charcoal. The charcoal was too neat, unlike the charcoal at home.

The charcoal we usually use at home is the charcoal left after burning firewood.

They come in different sizes, and they break and burn easily. It’s fine for steaming rice, but when you want to make soup, you have to add charcoal halfway through, and sometimes you have to add it two or three times.

Wei Dai finally finished his work. He collected all the sawed parts, tied them tightly with ropes and put them in the utility room. He went to the kitchen to wash his hands. He heard what Wen Jiajia said and said, "Yes, I have to try your new charcoal to see if it works."

Wen Jiajia: "I bought this for grilling and cooking hot pot. Don't use it in the future."

"Cooking hot pot?"

"Yes, I'm also thinking of buying a copper pot. I told you last time that one of my colleagues' father works in a big hotel. Do you remember that? Her father has a way to buy a copper pot. Oh, the copper pot used for mutton hotpot in the capital, and it can also be used for cooking in a goose-shaped pot."

She had actually tried to synthesize it, but iron was easy to obtain, but copper was difficult to get.

Wen Jiajia tried a few copper coins, but synthesis also requires some basic rules. Do you expect the system to give you a big copper pot with just a few tricks?

So I couldn't figure it out, and after thinking about it, I decided to just buy it, since it was available anyway.

Wei Dai said: "It's just a side job."

There is also this name. Wen Jiajia asked him puzzledly: "Have you never eaten it?"

I have definitely eaten it before, but it is definitely not boiled as you eat it. Instead, it is cooked in a pot and then eaten directly from the pot.

Wen Jiajia curled her lips and said, "That's not a hot pot at all." It's clearly just a random stew.

She patted his shoulder and said, "It's okay. I'll make you an authentic dish once I've bought all the ingredients."

Wei Dai thought to himself, I'm still thinking about eating.

...I let it slip again.

Have you ever eaten hot pot before?

Wen Jiajiasi was unaware of this and was still thinking about whether to buy some sesame paste. She had seen sesame paste in department stores, but it was a bit expensive.

The snow got heavier and the wind got stronger.

The living room door was blown open by a strong wind, and cold air mixed with snowflakes poured into the living room, giving people a chill.

Wei Dai hurried over and closed the door, leaving a small gap. However, due to strong wind, he propped it up with a wine altar.

The charcoal fire in the stove is still hot, so it's useful for now. I'll roast the pig's trotters on it later, remove the hair, and stew them in a casserole tomorrow.

We can’t eat it today because it’s too late. Even if we stew it now, we can’t eat it until after seven o’clock at the earliest.

Wen Jiajia sat on a chair, eating brown sugar and red date soup mouthful by mouthful.

"Come and eat something too." Wen Jiajia called Wei Dai.

Wei Dai: "Sweet things..."

"Sweet things are best eaten in winter, you think they're too greasy." He normally eats sweet food, so why doesn't he eat sweet soup?

Wen Jiajia frowned: "Come on, I'll crack four eggs, and I'll leave two bowls for Wen Chun and Wen Xuan later."

Wei Dai: "Okay. Wait until I finish roasting the pig's trotters."

But before the pig's trotters were finished roasting, there was another knock on the door.

Wen Jiajia was really confused: "It's strange, why are there so many people coming to our house today?"

Wei Dai glanced through the window and said, "It's Sister Bao."

The gate was not closed, so Sister Bao knocked twice and went in.

The living room door was ajar, and before she was about to knock on it again, Wen Jiajia actually opened it.

"Sister Bao, why are you here? Come in and warm yourself by the fire." Wen Jiajia held Sister Bao's hand and turned to Wei Dai and said, "Move the stove out."

Sister Bao said quickly, "No need. It's warm enough in your room. Why do you need a fire?"

Wen Jiajia brought another bowl: "Then drink some sweet soup, it's freshly cooked, it will warm your body."

Sister Bao waved her hands and said, "No need. I just have something to ask you."

Seeing that Sister Bao was really in no mood to toast her hands or drink sweet soup, Wen Jiajia simply pulled her to sit down and asked, "What's the matter? Sister Bao, just ask."

Sister Bao then told her what had just happened.

Of course, she didn't come to Wen Jiajia to ask for advice, but she wanted to know if this matter would affect her niece if it got out of hand.

"I'm not afraid, but I'm afraid that Sihua's job will go wrong. It wasn't easy for her to get this job... When I gave birth to Gaofei, she was only 15 or 16 years old, and she came all the way from our hometown to take care of me. You don't know, it takes three trains to get here from our hometown, and it takes five or six days. She was so young, but she dared to take the train alone..."

Her mother-in-law always said that she took care of her family when she had good things to do, but she always remembered that during her first confinement, only her niece came to help her.

"She took care of me for two years and lived in our family compound for two years. She started working as a replacement in the pharmaceutical factory and eventually got a permanent job. She was very hardworking and worried over the years. I was afraid that I would affect her work."

Wen Jiajia was shocked. She actually guessed it right.

She thought for a moment and suddenly asked, "Isn't this red potion what Feifei gave Xiao Pang when he was injured?"

"Yes... yes." Sister Hong paused, as if thinking about something.

Yes, she didn’t sell the red potion to Xiaopang’s family.

This red medicine was for her own use. A neighbor's child fell and was injured, and her son Gao Fei was kind-hearted enough to give the child medicine as a gift. How big of a problem could this be?

Wen Jiajia thought, logically speaking, there is still a problem, and Sister Hong's family must be responsible. It's just that it changed from selling to giving out of kindness.

But it doesn't change the fact that she was selling drugs, it just separates the two things.

Wen Jiajia didn't quite understand the laws at that time, but if it happened a few decades later, the fines would be light.

As for Sihua, he also had to be fired.

Wen Jiajia said: "The factory does not strictly monitor finished drugs such as Mercurochrome," because they are not controlled drugs.

He added: “But if someone goes to the factory because of this, the factory will definitely take a stand.”

"What attitude?"

"It will probably be a demotion, a salary deduction, and a disciplinary action. As for resignation... it probably won't happen." Because there is an old precedent to follow.

Sister Bao sighed, she felt bad even if her salary was deducted. Her niece was alone, she only got a permanent job last year, and she had to send money back home every month, how much money could she have?

Sister Bao came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

When Wei Dai saw her leaving, he said to Wen Jiajia, "Our family is not short of money. If someone asks you to bring medicine in the future, don't do it."

This matter is too risky.

Wen Jiajia looked at him: "You think I'm stupid? Can I take medicine with me casually? It doesn't matter if it doesn't cause any side effects. Once it happens, it won't be enough to make me bankrupt."

She didn't even dare to use the simplest red potion.

Wei Dai sighed: "This matter is a bit troublesome."

Wen Jiajia nodded, thought for a moment and said, "Should we buy something for Xiaopang?"

After staying in the village for a long time, she found that if someone in the family was seriously ill, the villagers would visit them with a few eggs, a few pieces of brown sugar, or even a few bones.

In fact, this is still the case decades later.

She still remembers who in her hometown has broken a leg, or is sick and needs surgery. Her father, who has been away from home for many years, will still ask uncles in the village to help send gifts.

Even she herself - when her classmate got into a car accident, her classmates made an appointment to visit him with some gifts.

Wei Dai nodded: "That's what I should do."

Wen Jiajia thought that Wen Chun, Wen Xuan and Xiaopang were getting along well, so she planned to send them half a pound of meat.

The next day.

Xiaopang is said to be still in the hospital. Wen Chun and Wen Xuan became a little worried after learning from Xie Yi that Xiaopang was hospitalized.

Wen Chun frowned and asked his aunt, "Is Xiaopang seriously ill? When I vomited, I took medicine for two days and it was fine."

Wen Jiajia: "There are many kinds of vomiting. You vomited because of a fever, while Xiaopang vomited because of poisoning. How can they be the same?"

"Oh! I'm worried about Xiaopang. We made an appointment with him to play ball together after we get to school." Wen Chun frowned even more tightly and put his hands on his hips like an adult.

Although she was young, she already knew how serious "poisoning" was.

Everyone in the village said that my parents died of poisoning.

"Aunt, I want to go see Xiaopang." She was silent for a while and then said, "I'm afraid that if he dies, I will never see him again."

“…”

Wen Jiajia's mouth twitched slightly, and she was speechless.

"It's not that serious yet." She tapped her rice bowl and said, "Eat first, and we'll talk after you finish eating."

This morning we had preserved egg and lean meat porridge, fried eggs with soy sauce, and two fried dough sticks that Wei Dai brought back from the cafeteria.

It was quite rich, but the two children had no appetite for it.

After eating, the two children ran into the room. Wen Jiajia heard the sound of rummaging through drawers and cabinets, but she didn't know what was going on.

Then he ran to the next room and hid at the door with Xie Yi, as if he was planning something again.

Wei Dai was not at home, so Wen Jiajia had to sweep the snow by herself.

The snow melted into water and soaked the soil.

The mud dyed the white snow with color, making the snow shoveled to the door dirty.

Wen Jiajia shoveled for half an hour and was sweating all over.

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan finished their discussion and asked Wen Jiajia for a small basket to put their toys in.

"Aunt, we're going to visit Xiaopang." Wen Chun said seriously, "We all know the way to the hospital."

"Are you so anxious?" she asked with a smile.

Wen Chun nodded heavily: "Yes! It's urgent."

Wen Jiajia rubbed her head, took out the half pound of meat that Wei Dai bought this morning from the cupboard, wrapped it in oil paper, put it in her small basket and said, "Go ahead, your aunt will go with you."

Continue read on readnovelmtl.com