Chapter 26 Li Weihong
Dr. Xu's real name is Xu Gaoyuan. He worked as a barefoot doctor in the county town for most of his life before winning a spot in a provincial hospital through a skills competition.
Due to his outstanding work ability, he was promoted to the position of director in just a few years.
Instead of doctors who simply graduate and go straight to provincial hospitals, he has always been dedicated to discovering more experienced and truly skilled rural doctors.
Chen Yun has such rich experience at such a young age; with proper nurturing, his future is limitless.
"After we finish dealing with this matter, I'll talk to you about the skills competition this afternoon."
Xu Gaoyuan's eyes were full of appreciation for talent. The more he looked at Chen Yun, the more he felt that he could be nurtured. He didn't even hear what Fang Su was saying to the others.
"Now that it has been proven that Dr. Chen did not violate any procedures during the rescue, and the patient has personally testified to this, let's address the issue of the two women falsely accusing Dr. Chen and the hospital..."
Fang Su's sharp, hawk-like gaze fell upon Liu Baoguo.
How to handle this situation will definitely be left to Liu Baoguo, the hospital director, and at the same time... it will also be a test of his work ability.
Chen Yun is one of the victims, and all she can do now is wait.
Liu Baoguo was so nervous that his palms were sweaty. When Fang Su gave him a meaningful look, goosebumps quickly rose on his back.
"First, control these two troublemaking women. I'll go call the security department."
Xue Lihua's face drained of color. She turned to look at the crowd, terrified, and tried to find a gap to slip through.
"Calling anyone won't help; you're going to pay this money today!"
Unfortunately, her mother didn't see the situation clearly at all and still seemed unwilling to give up. At some point, she even moved to Fang Su's leg and grabbed his trouser leg.
They're really courting death...
Chen Yun heard Xue Caihua speaking coldly from outside the crowd.
Soon, security personnel carrying steel batons and pitchforks entered the hospital, led by Liu Congwu, the head of the security department.
Xue Lihua's face turned pale, and her legs went weak, causing her to collapse to the ground.
"Take him back to the security department for questioning." Liu Congwu, having worked in the public security system, immediately grasped the key point: "Why did they choose to cause trouble today when there are leaders inspecting the area? Someone must have been behind this. If this extortion succeeds, who will dare to come to our factory hospital for treatment after this gets out?"
"take away!"
"Why are you arresting me? If anyone should be arrested, it should be this heartless doctor!"
The old woman refused to let go, and before being lifted up, she forcefully tore the hem of Fang Su's trousers.
Liu Congwu's eyes darkened, and his tone became even more impolite. He shouted, "Take him away!"
The security guards carried the person directly to their office.
Liu Baoguo looked at Fang Su with a questioning gaze, and seeing him nod, he immediately followed.
"You all go back to your offices and continue working."
Before leaving, Liu Baoguo told everyone to return to their posts and continue working. He specifically called out Chen Yun: "Dr. Chen, if you feel unwell, go back and rest first. Hand over your work to Dr. Zuo."
Zuo Lingling: "..."
It's understandable that he's afraid Chen Yunzhen will be poached by Xu Gaoyuan, but what's the point of letting her take over the job?
That black and white ultrasound machine—no one in the entire hospital except Chen Yun knew how to operate it.
The grand procession moved far away, and with the crowds following behind, eager to see what would happen, it was even more noisy than any other wedding procession.
After such a mess, Jiang Meihua had no face to stay and conduct the investigation.
After apologizing to Chen Yun again, he hurriedly picked up the child and followed her to the security department. As for Xue Dashi... he was like a toad, jumping up and down whenever you poked him.
Chen Yun silently turned around and went back to her office to take off her white coat.
Since the leader said she should rest, how could she continue to stay at her post?
***
Fifth Production Team of Huangniba Brigade.
The Fifth Production Team, formerly known as Hunhe Village, is located on the northwest bank of the Hunhe River. Backed by mountains and facing the Hunhe River, it has been a beautiful place with clear waters and beautiful scenery since ancient times.
Apart from the former landlord's house with its towering gate at the west end, the entire production team consisted of low mud-brick houses with walls made of yellow mud and surrounded by straw.
Li Weihong's father, Li Xuedang, lived right in front of the gatehouse.
Before sunrise, Li Xuedang's family went to the fields to earn work points, and by noon, when the sun was shining on their roof, they were already busy with their own chores.
"Can't you just lie down and rest for a while? Why do you keep running up the mountain in this heat?"
When Li Xuedang put down his hoe, picked up his bamboo basket, and prepared to go up the mountain, Li's mother worriedly offered a few words of advice.
A few days ago, all the men in the production team were exhausted from digging mud ponds in the fields. Li Xuedang complained of pain in his hands for several nights.
I went to the hospital for acupuncture the day before yesterday and said that Dr. Chen took a look at me on the way.
I was just starting to feel better when I began to go on all sorts of errands, even walking into the mountains under the blazing sun.
“A couple of days ago, I went up the mountain to feed the chickens and saw that the wild jujubes in the mountains were ripe. I picked some and took them to Dr. Chen, because I was afraid that if I went too late, the rest of the team would have picked them all.”
Li Xuedang took off his rubber shoes and put on straw sandals, then stood up and stomped his feet hard on the muddy ground a few times.
The reason the brigade doesn't allow outsiders to come into the mountains to pick mushrooms is because they're worried that outsiders will discover the chickens and sheep they're secretly raising in the mountains.
The document issued by the higher authorities said that livestock were not allowed to be kept at home, so they kept them in the mountain valley.
Every household raises them, and as long as the number is not large, the brigade usually turns a blind eye.
“Then I’ll go with you, and we can check how many eggs are in the nest.” Upon hearing this, Li’s mother quickly agreed to go as well.
As soon as I stepped out of the house, I saw Old Yang's third son, San Yang, and his wife carrying bamboo baskets and heading up the mountain.
"Uncle Li, let's go up the mountain too!"
A cute little girl with chubby cheeks was running ahead of the couple, the Yangs, wearing a red cloth jacket.
"Take my pear blossoms up the mountain to find some wild jujubes for the kids to snack on." San Yang smiled憨厚ly.
"On that way, I also need to pick wild jujubes."
"For the eldest grandson?"
"I'm going to the hospital for acupuncture tomorrow. I'll bring some to Dr. Chen to try. City folks never get to eat the wild delicacies from our mountains."
"Dr. Chen!" The three Yangs' eyes lit up.
Upon hearing the name, Pear Blossom, who was hopping and skipping ahead, immediately scurried back on her short legs.
"Dad, let's also take some wild fruits to Doctor Chen."
"Does my daughter Pear Blossom still remember Doctor Chen?" San Yang asked with a smile.
"I remember!" Pear Blossom grabbed her father's finger and shook it, patting her belly in a childish voice: "The doctor prescribed medicine for me, and my tummy won't hurt anymore."
“Your dad came over yesterday and said that Pear Blossom had a worm longer than her hand, and she hasn’t complained of stomach pain since.” Li Xuedang gestured to show the length: “I heard that the worm was still alive when it came out!”
"If Dr. Chen hadn't given us some instructions beforehand, my wife and I would have been terrified."
Even though Chen Yun had already described what the insects looked like, the three tall men, San Yang, were still too scared to go forward and take a look.
"How did Dr. Chen know the baby had worms just by touching Pear Blossom's belly?"
“Otherwise, he could work at the factory hospital,” Li Xuedang said, giving a thumbs-up behind his back. “The doctor at our commune clinic said I couldn’t do any farm work because of my illness, but look at me now…”
He patted his chest loudly and laughed heartily.
“My dad said Uncle Li is in even better spirits than him lately, and I think… he’s absolutely right,” San Yang laughed.
"I heard your father is also going to see Doctor Chen to have his knee checked?"
Old Yang is getting on in years, and his hands and feet ache terribly on rainy days. He has been gritting his teeth and enduring it for the past ten years or so.
Li Xuedang's cough used to be audible even through several doors, but now he never complains of being tired when going up and down mountains or into the fields, and his strength is no less than anyone else's.
Old Man Yang secretly began to have his own ideas.
After thinking about it for several nights, he secretly approached the three Yangs, hoping that each of his three sons could chip in some money to take him to the hospital for a checkup.
Before the three Yangs could even tell their wives, Li Xuedang blurted it out first.
San Yang hurriedly looked at his wife's expression.
“It would be good to go to the hospital for a checkup,” San Yang’s wife replied. “We definitely can’t afford to go to the county town, but we can afford to see Dr. Chen.”
"It's a good thing that Pear Blossom's mother thinks this way." Li Xuedang glanced at San Yang's wife with some surprise.
The third daughter-in-law of the Yang family is good in every way, except that she is a little too frugal. Apart from her daughter Lihua, she doesn't even value her own life.
"Dr. Chen said that minor illnesses can be cured for 50 cents, but if you are unwilling to spend that 50 cents, you will end up spending 50 yuan if it gets serious."
It turns out that it only works when you start talking about money...
“After we finish working in the fields in a few days, I’ll have San Yang take Dad to see Doctor Chen,” San Yang’s wife said, but her hand unconsciously circled her belly twice. “If Dad’s medical treatment doesn’t cost much, I’d also like to see Doctor Chen.”
"Your daughter, Rinka, is almost four years old, right?"
"That's right! My belly hasn't shown any signs of pregnancy for years. I wonder if giving birth to a pear blossom has damaged my body."
"I heard that Dr. Chen can also take pulses. Why don't you ask her to prescribe some traditional Chinese medicine to help you regulate your body?"
"Auntie, you've really hit the nail on the head."
Li's mother felt a mix of emotions.
At least San Yang's wife gave birth to a girl, but his youngest daughter, Li Weihong, has been married for four years and still hasn't gotten pregnant.
Even if the son-in-law didn't say anything, the Huang family only has one son, and the in-laws might secretly dislike him.
As she was thinking, Li's mother suddenly had a jolt.
If San Yang's wife can get traditional Chinese medicine from Doctor Chen, can't Wei Hong also get a checkup from Doctor Chen to see what the problem is?
"Old Li, there are some sorghum bushes on that slope over there. Pick some and send them to Doctor Chen."
"Auntie, I'll go with you."
They each had their own agendas, but at this moment their goals were the same!
After working for half the afternoon, Li Xuedang was worried that the sorghum would spoil if it was soaked in water, so he specially found a bamboo basket and hung it in the well to cool it down.
The next afternoon, after earning their work points, the two of them, disregarding the darkness and the impending rain, hurriedly picked up some wild berries and headed towards the Red Sun Machinery Factory.
After getting married, Li Weihong and her husband lived with her parents-in-law in three single-story houses in a cadre family building.
The cadre family housing was built early, and the bricks used were black bricks that were fired by themselves. The bricks had many air holes, so they were not good at keeping the house warm in summer or cold in winter.
The house is surrounded by a bamboo fence, and some scallions, ginger, and garlic are planted inside.
When the elderly couple arrived, Li Weihong's mother-in-law, Zhang Lanqiong, was in the field picking scallions to prepare dinner.
Li Xuedang quickly called out to stop the person across the fence.
"Mother-in-law, is Wei Hong here?"
"Mother-in-law!"
When Zhang Lanqiong saw her in-laws coming to the factory so late, she worried that something terrible had happened at home, so she quickly opened the fence to welcome them in.
"Come in quickly, come in quickly! It looks like it's going to rain heavily!"
"I picked some sorghum buds on the mountain, thinking that my father-in-law likes to drink, and sorghum buds make a delicious liquor."
"So that's what happened. You scared me."
Zhang Lanqiong welcomed the two into the main room, served them some cooled boiled water, and then sat down to exchange pleasantries.
"Sorghum liquor is good, but we don't have any liquor coupons right now. We'll keep a few for Wei Hong to enjoy, and take the rest back to the kids at home as snacks so they don't go bad."
Zhang Lanqiong is from Northwest China. Not only is she tall and strong, but she also acts very decisively. She said she would only leave a few handfuls, so she only took two handfuls out of her basket and put them on the table.
“Wei Hong and the students went to the vegetable market to buy meat. You can stay and eat hand-pulled noodles today.”
As he spoke, he wiped his hands on his apron and was about to stand up.
“Mother-in-law, please don’t rush. Wei Hong’s father and I will leave after we’ve said a few words to Wei Hong when she comes back.”
“How could I let you go back on an empty stomach?” Zhang Lanqiong pressed Li’s mother down to sit on a stool, then glanced at the door and immediately laughed: “They’re back, I’ll go cook.”
Huang Xuegong and Li Weihong chatted and laughed as they pushed aside the bamboo fence and went straight into the kitchen.
"Wei Hong, your parents are here."
"My parents?" Li Weihong came out of the house again, but Huang Xuegong was even faster and had already entered the house in a few steps: "Mom and Dad, you're here!"
"Studying engineering," Li Xuedang said with a smile.
Huang Xuegong inherited his mother's tall stature, with short, thick, black stubble and a pair of dark eyes that seemed to hold a light.
If it weren't for the fact that her right hand was completely bare, her daughter would never have had a chance with such a good young man.
"Father, Mother, what brings you here?"
"I picked some sorghum berries, and your sister-in-law's hen laid some eggs, so I brought some over for you."
“Just have someone send a message and I’ll come to your house to get it. Aren’t you tired from walking such a long way up the mountain?” Li Weihong gently pushed Huang Xuegong and helped her mother up by the arm to walk outside: “Come to my room and rest for a while.”
Huang Xuegong picked up a bamboo basket and followed behind.
The door closed.
Li Weihong's face immediately darkened: "Is your sister-in-law going to borrow money again?" As she spoke, she quickly picked out five eggs: "Take these back to her. I don't have any money or ration coupons to borrow again."
Ever since her sister-in-law's family found out she started working at the factory, they've been constantly asking her to borrow money under various pretexts, or asking her to find her a job.
My parents are too embarrassed to refuse, so they make the trip every time, even if they come back empty-handed each time.
“With your brother around, your sister-in-law won’t dare to borrow money from you anymore.” Li’s mother said with a smile, pulling Li Weihong to sit down next to her. “Your father and I didn’t come here to borrow money today, we came to give you money.”
As soon as his wife finished speaking, Li Xuedang took a handkerchief from his waistband and placed it on the table.
Li's mother continued, "This is the money you brought home; your father and I have saved it!"
The handkerchief was untied, revealing a roll of small bills.
"Take this money and ask Dr. Chen to prescribe some traditional Chinese medicine to help you get pregnant soon."
The money was still warm from her body. Li Weihong clutched the roll of small bills tightly, her eyes reddening, tears welling up in her eyes before finally spilling over.
They have been married for over four years but have no children.
Her husband, Huang Xuegong, always told others that he was still young and not in a hurry to have children. But Li Weihong knew in her heart that her mother-in-law was risking her life to go to the Guanyin Temple to burn incense and pray for a child because she wanted to have a son in the family.
"You and Xuegong are not young anymore. You can't follow the trend of late marriage and late childbirth. Having children at an older age is bad for your health..."
Not to mention outsiders, even the parents thought the young couple wasn't in a hurry to have children.
“Mother.” Li Weihong wiped her eyes, but tears flowed fiercely: “Why do you all think, like outsiders, that I don’t want to have children, that I… can’t get pregnant?”
"What?"
Li Weihong angrily punched her stomach a few times: "What can I do if my belly is so uncooperative! Whenever I heard that a barefoot doctor could treat women's diseases, he would take me there. The soil in the garden at home was full of the medicine residue I drank, I almost drank it like water!"
Huang Xuegong sat silently by the door, and upon hearing this, he couldn't help but sigh.
"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Li Xuedang's eyes were practically spitting fire, and he even looked at Huang Xuegong with some suspicion: "Since Wei Hong took so many medicines and they didn't work, could it be Xuegong's problem?"
The village's family planning brochures all say that the sex of a child is determined by the man, so if a child cannot be born, it must also be related to the man.
"..."
Li Weihong was surprised that her father had such high moral standards, unlike some illiterate people who would immediately curse a woman as a barren hen.
"Then let Dr. Chen take a look at the student too?" Li's mother said.
"It's not a problem with studying work."
When her parents asked her that question, the tears welling up in her eyes immediately receded, and Li Weihong awkwardly pursed her lips: "I have no problem with studying engineering."
Li Xuedang thought his daughter was too embarrassed to tell the truth, so he patted his son-in-law's shoulder earnestly and said, "If you have a problem, get it treated. There's nothing to be embarrassed about."
Huang Xuegong scratched the back of his neck, so embarrassed he wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground.
"Dad! It's because Wei Hong soaked in the river for too long when she was little. Now, every time she has her period, her stomach hurts so badly that she feels like she's going to die."
"When I was a kid, my grandpa was a raftsman, and my brother and I would go to the river every day to tie up bamboo rafts. Sometimes we would stay there for hours..."
Since things have come to this point, there's no point in Li Weihong hiding anything anymore, so she might as well tell the truth.
The river water in the mountains gets so cold in winter that it's bone-chilling, and she's been experiencing excruciating abdominal pain ever since her first period.
The village women all said that getting married and having children was the best thing to do, but the old doctor the mother-in-law found told them that because Li Weihong had a severe case of uterine cold, it would be even more difficult for her to get pregnant.
In the end, it all comes down to the hardships of those days!
Feeling guilty, Li's mother hurriedly promised, "Go to the hospital as soon as possible. If you don't have enough money, I'll pawn the gold earrings your grandmother left behind to pay for your treatment."
“Mom and Dad, it’s not about the money,” Huang Xuegong quickly interjected.
If it were truly effective, his parents wouldn't have hesitated to spend money on treatment, especially since nothing seemed to work after all the other treatments...
“Other doctors can’t do it, that’s their problem with their skills, but Dr. Chen can definitely do it… Look at your dad!” Li’s mother grabbed Li Xuedang’s arm: “He’s recovered and he’s been snuggling into my bed every day, he’s healthier than anyone else!”
"..."
Huang Xuegong turned his face away, too embarrassed to look at his father-in-law's expression.
The four of them closed the door and started talking about what happened inside. If his mother-in-law accidentally mentioned it, he might actually ask her a couple of questions...
"Mother." Li Weihong blushed deeply with embarrassment.
"What's there to be embarrassed about?" Li Xuedang took out a pipe from his belt, tapped it on the corner of the table, and took a few puffs. "If you're sick, get treatment early. There's nothing to be ashamed of!"
Li Weihong looked at the unlit pipe with a wry smile, and quickly changed the subject: "I'll go to the hospital in a couple of days to ask Dr. Chen for help."
“No need for tomorrow.” Li’s mother stood up and picked the eggs back into her basket. “Let’s go now. We can give Dr. Chen some sorghum wine to thank her for curing your father’s asthma.”
Li Xuedang tucked the unlit pipe back into his belt: "Your mother and I just went to the hospital, and the people there said she's off today."
The elderly couple didn't know that the factory had days off, so they waited at the gate until it was time for them to go in and find someone.
Only after asking did I learn that the doctor doesn't work on Saturdays and Sundays, so I had to go to the house to find the person.
"Then I'll tell Mom." Li Weihong couldn't refuse her parents, so she had no choice but to stand up.
Actually... she also wanted to take this opportunity to ask him privately so she could have a better understanding of the situation.
If there's really no cure, we won't go to the hospital; otherwise, the news will spread throughout the factory the moment we go to the hospital.
When Zhang Lanqiong heard that they were going to send sorghum soup to Chen Yun, she put down the dough she was kneading and insisted on going too.
I passed by the supply and marketing cooperative and bought some noodles as a gift.
Huang Xuegong was curious that his mother, who usually disliked joining in the fun, would take the initiative to go along and even generously buy a bunch of white noodles that the family rarely ate.
"It's obvious you don't care about anything at the factory."
"What could possibly happen in the factory that I don't know?" Huang Xuegong works in the factory warehouse, where he can see any changes in the factory's business strategy through the incoming and outgoing goods: "Our factory's performance has ranked among the top ten in the province in the past two years."
"Who told you about factory matters? The staff hospital isn't part of our factory!"
"What does the staff hospital have to do with this?"
“Last week, some people caused trouble at the hospital. One of them seemed to be an employee of your warehouse, his name was… I don’t remember his name, but I know his wife’s name was something like Xue Lihua…”
The factory has three warehouses and over a hundred employees. Huang Xuegong couldn't possibly remember whose wife was named Xue Lihua.
"You probably wouldn't know who it is if I said their name, but if I say who was recently criticized in a meeting and had to write a self-criticism, you'll definitely recognize them!"
“Zeng Wu!” Huang Xuegong immediately said a name.
Zeng Wu worked in a warehouse. I heard that he was punished because his family disrupted the factory's production order. His bonus and benefits were all deducted that year, and after he retired from his post, his children could not take over his job. His work station was taken back by the factory.
Huang Xuegong thought that Zeng Wu's family members had been arrested for opportunistic gambling, given the severity of the punishment.
“It wasn’t that serious to begin with, but they deliberately caused trouble when the factory leaders came down to inspect. It was Zeng Wu who came up with the idea behind it,” Zhang Lanqiong said.
The factory's staff hospital became infamous throughout the factory after this incident.
"Is it related to Dr. Chen?" Li Weihong asked hurriedly.
"It was Dr. Chen who saved the person at the time. If he hadn't written a detailed rescue record... we might have been extorted by them."
"Is Dr. Chen alright?"
Three days have passed since the incident, and no official announcement regarding the handling of the matter has been released yet, so not many people know about it.
After hearing her husband say this when he got home, Zhang Lanqiong even asked her relatives who worked at the hospital for more details.
"She's not injured!" Zhang Lanqiong waved her hand. "The leaders of the provincial hospital have taken a liking to Dr. Chen and want to transfer her to work at the provincial capital hospital."
The factory even held a special meeting to discuss this matter.
The provincial hospital wanted to transfer Chen Yun to the provincial hospital for further training. To put it nicely, it was for learning, but in reality, it was just to transfer her away.
Liu Baoguo was so angry in his office that he slammed his fist on the table, saying that the staff hospital only had this one pillar of support, and if he left, the sky would fall.
Given that Chen Yun himself is not keen on being transferred, the factory might actually relent and release him.
"Mom, Dr. Chen lives on the fifth floor of this apartment building."
Before they knew it, the group had arrived at the family building.
Several handcarts were parked downstairs, it looked like someone was moving.
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