Chapter 105 Free Clinic (1)
Mengding County, Hewei Town.
After a week of scorching sun, the mud on the streets dried and cracked, revealing fissures thicker than a hand.
Residents who were notified to return home gradually returned to the town and began cleaning and disinfection under the leadership of government officials.
A major disaster is always followed by a major epidemic, and the next stage is also crucial.
Chen Yun had just finished a cesarean section and returned to her office to rest. She was so exhausted from three consecutive surgeries that she was almost delirious. She sat down and looked up at the sky outside the window to find out whether it was day or night.
If Zuo Lingling hadn't already developed the ability to perform surgery independently, Chen Yun would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago.
"Director Chen."
Before Duan Yun even arrived, his voice drifted into Chen Yun's ears through the old corridor, and Chen Yun looked towards the door.
"One good news and one bad news... Which do you want to hear first?"
Instead of syringes and medicine, the treatment tray contained two large, ripe, red peaches; their color alone told them they were definitely overripe.
"Good news."
Duan Yun picked up two peaches and placed them on the table, then handed the larger one to Chen Yun: "A specialty of Mengding, I've washed it."
The peaches were crisp, sweet, and juicy with a slight chill; they must have been a recent supply.
Click—
Duan Yun also took a big bite, and then spoke somewhat unclearly: "The new medical support team will arrive this afternoon. I heard there are as many as forty people, including two obstetricians and gynecologists."
Initially, the hospital only received pregnant women from nearby towns and villages. However, as the roads were improved, many people heard that the Hewei Central Hospital had a very skilled obstetrician and gynecologist, and people from over 100 kilometers away started coming here.
In just a few days, the hospital wards were already overflowing with patients, and even the corridors were filled with pregnant women and their families waiting to give birth.
Within two days of reporting the situation, we received news that the newly added support would arrive immediately, which would greatly alleviate the severe shortage of medical personnel.
"That's really good news!" Chen Yun suddenly felt a surge of appetite and took another bite of the peach. "Then what's the bad news?"
Click—click—
After finishing the peach, Duan Yun gently tossed the pit into the trash can, then sighed with a wry smile: "The new medical team will take over all the work of the hospital, and we... will be going to various villages to conduct free clinics."
The free clinic was actually something Chen Yun had anticipated. After hearing this news, which wasn't exactly bad, he simply asked, "How many villages are we assigned to?"
"At least fifteen!"
When do we depart?
"We'll depart immediately after the handover with the new support team. They'll arrive this afternoon, and I estimate we'll have to leave first thing tomorrow morning." Duan Yun sighed, and seeing that Chen Yun simply nodded to indicate that she understood, he couldn't help but sigh again: "Guess why I said the medical mission was bad news?"
"Difficult conditions?"
"That's just one of the reasons. The main reason is that there's a 'troublemaker' in the village we're going to this time. Not only are the conditions poor, but the village also poses a certain danger..."
Duan Yun has been working at the Hewei Town Hospital for five years and has heard of some of the well-known villages nearby.
Of course, some of these reputations are good, while others are terrible and make people shake their heads.
Changsun Village, whose name is on the list of participants in the free clinic, is one of the latter.
Before liberation, the leader was a bandit who ruled the mountain. He was later persuaded to surrender and move down the mountain to join another village.
Once the revolution ended, the administrative name was changed from production team back to village, and the village was renamed Changsun Village.
Villagers who were not surnamed Sun were ostracized, and over time, some moved away, some passed away, and in the end, only people with the surname Sun remained.
"I heard that the village is called Changsun Village because the village chief had just had his first grandson, who was the eldest grandson of the Sun family... so it was called Changsun Village." Duan Yun curled his lips: "Knowing the origin of the village name, you can imagine how feudal this village is."
The preference for sons over daughters in Changsun Village was extreme. Many girls were drowned or thrown into an abandoned baby tower after birth, and the practice would not stop until a son was born.
The family planning policy had no effect on these people; there were plenty of families in the village who secretly had second or third children.
Whenever family planning officials came to the village for inspections, the entire village would cover for each other and tip each other off... including the village committee.
This is why most of the survivors in Changsun Village were men.
“Any family that loves their daughter would not want her to marry into the infamous Changsun Village. You can imagine that the village would be full of bachelors!” Duan Yun said with a look of disdain. “That’s why Changsun Village is also known as the Bachelor Village in our area.”
“The village of bachelors…” Chen Yun nodded gently.
Villages like this have a deeper hidden danger beneath the surface—the trafficking of women.
In her previous life, Chen Yun had watched many documentaries about the trafficking of women and children, including one about Changsun Village, where the preference for sons over daughters led to a situation where men in the village could not find wives.
Since I can't marry her... I'll just buy her!
"So this time, all the women who went to the village for free medical consultations were married women, and all the unmarried women were sent to other places."
The higher authorities made very comprehensive arrangements for the safety of the medical team. Not only were no unmarried female comrades included, but a team of soldiers who were engaged in disaster relief in the town were also specially assigned to accompany them.
Duan Yun wasn't worried about safety, but the thought of going to such a village to help them treat illnesses made him feel uneasy.
The conversation was interrupted by a sudden commotion downstairs. Duan Yun pouted and said, "The reinforcements have arrived. Let's go downstairs."
"Okay." Chen Yun wiped the juice off her hands and suppressed what she wanted to say.
Downstairs in the lobby, township representatives were happily welcoming the support team.
Chen Yun, with her sharp eyes, quickly spotted Jiang Changjun, a colleague from the Workers' Hospital, among them.
Jiang Changjun is a pediatrician. I heard that he comes from a family of doctors and has a son who is a classmate of Gao Nianping.
To sum it up in one sentence... the two are not familiar with each other.
Chen Yunyuan was thousands of miles away, so of course he couldn't know that Jiang Mingliang and Gao Nianping had clashed, let alone read Jiang Changjun's thoughts from his honest and simple face.
The welcoming ceremony ended quickly, and the deputy mayor soon announced the list of teams that would be going to provide free medical services the next day.
"Director Chen Yun is the leader of Team Three. The team members include Jiang Changjun, Zuo Lingling, and so on, totaling twelve people."
Jiang Changjun glanced around the room expressionlessly before walking up to Chen Yun and greeting her, "Director Chen."
"Dr. Jiang, welcome!"
Jiang Changjun extended his hand and shook hands with Chen Yun in a perfunctory manner, then asked a seemingly unrelated question: "Director Chen, have you been in contact with your family recently?"
"The telephone line at the town's central hospital is faulty, so we can't make calls."
Jiang Changjun suddenly scratched his face, then grinned apologetically at Chen Yun: "It's like this, my son Jiang Mingliang..."
Jiang Changjun recounted everything that had happened at school in detail, and then repeatedly apologized at the end.
“That child was spoiled by my parents-in-law since he was little, and I was busy with work... so I really didn’t discipline him enough!”
In fact, Vice Principal Wu wasn't lying. The older generation spoils the children so much that they become unruly and will inevitably cause trouble sooner or later.
The reason he felt guilty was that he was too embarrassed to admit that his own parents were the culprits, so he blamed Jiang Changjun's parents instead.
Unfortunately, Principal Wu, who was feeling guilty, was present at the time; otherwise, Gao Ming would not have suspected Jiang Changjun and his wife of the worst.
Sometimes being too cautious leads to overthinking...
"We really need to educate children about right and wrong, otherwise they'll have to be taught by society after they leave school!" Chen Yun sighed.
“His mother and I have fully realized the seriousness of the problem. His mother took him home a few days ago!” Jiang Changjun not only did not find Chen Yun’s words unpleasant, but even thought they made a lot of sense: “We will discipline him personally from now on.”
"You guys go and rest first. We still have to walk dozens of miles of mountain road tomorrow morning," Chen Yun smiled at him.
"Then I'll go rest."
Just by hearing the deputy mayor read out the village names and how far they were from Hewei Town, one could imagine how much they would have to travel in the next month.
Jiang Changjun went to his dormitory to rest, while Chen Yun continued to work without stopping.
With the help of a professional obstetrician and gynecologist, Chen Yun finally got a good night's sleep that night.
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.
The medical team has been fully assembled, and the escorting military team is also in place and waiting to depart after the announcement.
After a lengthy speech of encouragement, the announcement was finally made.
"Set off!"
The three-person medical team consists of twenty medical personnel, twelve women and eight men, and a five-person military squad responsible for security.
"Hello Director Chen, I am Ye Jian, the team leader in charge of safety this time. For the next month, our team will be responsible for the safety of all the doctors."
"Hello, Squad Leader Ye."
"If you have any medicine, you can give it to our soldiers to help transport it. The mountain road is difficult to walk, and it will be very difficult for you to climb the mountain with heavy loads again."
Ye Jian felt that this mission was arduous, and his brow had been furrowed ever since the mission was announced, which led Chen Yun and the others to think that Squad Leader Ye was very serious at first glance.
The majority of their team members were women, and none of them looked like they could endure hardship.
“Okay.” Chen Yun was not arrogant and nodded immediately: “We brought a batch of alcohol. Could you please arrange for the soldiers to help carry it?”
"I'll arrange for someone right away."
The car had to stop after traveling on the highway for an hour, as the narrow road ahead could only accommodate two bicycles side by side, let alone a car.
The road network coverage in Mengding County is still very poor.
Looking around, all you can see is lush greenery. Nature's ability to recover is much faster than that of towns and cities. Only the broken branches and pebbles left on the road can still be seen as traces.
"It's so hot."
After only half an hour on the path, some people in the group were panting and complaining in low voices.
It was only a little past nine o'clock, but the scorching sun was already hotter than in early June in the northern part of the city. Exposed skin quickly felt burning hot.
Chen Yun was no exception.
Besides the heavy medicine on my back, there was also a stinging pain in the areas of my face not covered by the straw hat, which was instantly aggravated by the sweat.
"Everyone, hang in there, we're still half an hour away from the first village."
Squad Leader Ye, who was in charge of leading the team, stopped to encourage everyone and pointed to a location hidden in the mountains.
It would have been better if they hadn't mentioned it, but once the exact location of the village was revealed, everyone's heart skipped a beat.
When Squad Leader Ye said half an hour, that was for well-trained soldiers. For doctors like Chen Yun who lacked exercise year-round, it would probably take less than an hour to even see the village.
"Let's go!" Chen Yun turned around and called out, "The sooner we get here, the sooner we can rest, otherwise the sun will be even hotter later."
The group quickened their pace.
Duan Yun wiped his sunburnt face: "Dr. Zuo, tell me quickly, how exactly did you get into Beicheng Hospital?"
The mountain road was really difficult to walk. If we didn't find something interesting to talk about to distract ourselves, the rest of the time would definitely be even more difficult to endure.
Zuo Lingling was more curious about Duan Yun and the people she knew at Hongri Machinery Factory.
"Do you still remember Li Weihong?" Duan Yun asked.
"I remember, she's the daughter-in-law of Huang Fangcheng, the Party Secretary of the Machinery Factory. Li Weihong was the first person to get pregnant and give birth after seeing Chen Yun..." Zuo Lingling had a deep impression of this.
"Li Weihong's husband also lost his job."
"Huang Xuegong?" Chen Yun still remembered the man who had a slight physical disability but was very upright.
"Yes! Huang Xuegong was on the first list of laid-off workers after Huang Fangcheng retired. Isn't that a case of being forgotten once someone leaves?"
"Did Huang Xuegong go out to work or stay in the factory?" Chen Yun asked curiously.
"No! Their whole family went back to Beicheng. I was just wondering if you ran into them!" Duan Yun said.
"The northern part of the city is so big, it's not that easy to run into each other."
The northern part of the city is almost up to the Fifth Ring Road. Even if Chen Yun wanders around outside every day, she might not have a chance to run into them, let alone since she spends all her time in the hospital.
“That’s not necessarily true.” Duan Yun pointed at Chen Yun and then at Zuo Lingling: “Just like you two went to the same hospital, and so did we… Who would have thought we’d meet in Mengding County?”
"That's true."
No sooner had Chen Yun finished speaking than he raised his hand and called for the group to stop advancing.
A river appeared a few dozen meters ahead of them, its waters swollen and submerging the only stone bridge in and out.
It also blocked their way into the village.
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