Night fell.
The soldiers set off again to return to headquarters.
Political Commissar Wang stood in the wind and snow, welcoming their safe return.
"Political Commissar, we're back!"
"The snow looks lighter today than yesterday; it might even stop tomorrow!"
"I hope it stops soon, so we can have some peace and quiet."
Political Commissar Wang responded to everyone's greetings one by one, "Go eat first, the canteen made sauerkraut and pig's blood stew with vermicelli, and also made pork meatballs."
After saying that, he walked up to Xu Xinghe with a gentle smile on his face, "Comrade Xu, I have something I want to talk to you about. Why don't we eat and talk?"
Xu Xinghe nodded in agreement, "Let's go."
She was hungry too.
The two entered a private room in the cafeteria.
A short while later, the food was served.
There were three dishes in total. The large bowl contained pork meatballs in an amber-colored broth. Each meatball was round and glistening with oil.
In another casserole-like dish, simmering pickled cabbage, pig's blood, and glass noodles, the pickled cabbage shreds were golden yellow, the pig's blood cubes trembled as they soaked in the soup, and the glass noodles were crystal clear.
There was also a plate of candied sweet potatoes, with golden sweet potato chunks coated in glistening sugar threads that could actually be pulled into strands when picked up.
Political Commissar Wang gestured for Xu Xinghe to sit down, saying, "On a day like this, you need to eat some hot stew to warm yourself up. This candied sweet potato was specially made for you, so please try it. I heard you have a lot of sweet dishes where you're from, so you should be able to eat it."
Xu Xinghe didn't stand on ceremony and eagerly took a bite of the meatball.
The meat is tender yet chewy, and the seasoning is just salt, making it exceptionally flavorful.
Believe it or not, not only is the rice from Heilongjiang Province more fragrant, but even the meat tastes different.
In no time, Xu Xinghe was sweating slightly as she ate. She unbuttoned the top button of her cotton-padded coat, and the anxiety she felt from the disaster relief efforts seemed to dissipate with the hot meal.
Looking at the steaming hot pot, she suddenly realized that no matter how fierce the wind and snow were outside, with a hot meal like this and a group of down-to-earth people around her, there was no obstacle she couldn't overcome.
"Political Commissar Wang, what do you want to talk to me about?" she asked, swallowing the rice noodles in her mouth and looking up.
"Comrade Xiao Xu, it's like this, I heard that the frostbite ointment you distributed to the soldiers is surprisingly effective. Many people's frostbite disappeared after just one day of application. This ointment is more effective than the ones in our hospital, and even better than the imported frostbite medicines I know of."
Political Commissar Wang's eyes were earnest. "Right now, it's not just Heilongjiang Province; the other two northeastern provinces are also suffering from snow disasters. Countless soldiers and civilians are suffering from frostbite. I'd like to ask how much ointment you have; I'll buy it all. As for the price, as long as it's not too expensive, I can accept it!"
He can take as much as Xu Xinghe has!
It's not just for our brothers in Heilongjiang Province, but also to be sent to the other two northeastern provinces.
Xu Xinghe silently put down his chopsticks and shook his head. "Political Commissar Wang, I'm sorry, I can't provide too much right now, mainly because I don't have that many medicinal herbs."
It's not that she doesn't want to give it, it's that she can't give it.
The medicinal herbs only have such therapeutic effects because they grow in her space.
Whether the transplanted embryos will survive is another matter entirely; she cannot give a definitive answer before conducting experiments.
Unless the medicinal herbs can survive after transplantation, there is no chance of mass production.
But the spiritual spring water is another problem; the final medicinal effect will definitely not be as good as the one she makes herself.
Unless there is no shortage of medicinal materials, and you find a medical expert to combine various medicinal materials to achieve better treatment results, but that takes time.
Political Commissar Wang could tell she wasn't lying. He sighed and didn't press the matter. "Alright, thinking about it, it makes sense. Such good frostbite ointment couldn't be made so easily, otherwise we would have been using it already. We'll use your ointment first, and as for the money, you must accept it. We've already received your donated grain, so we can't accept your ointment for nothing. But don't worry, you'll get all the credit you deserve!"
The money was his intention, and it wouldn't diminish Xu Xinghe's contributions in the slightest.
He just didn't want a good person who had always given so much to end up with nothing.
Seeing his insistence, Xu Xinghe didn't refuse, "Okay."
Anyway, when the time comes, she'll just use the money to buy more meat and return it to the soldiers in the military.
The meal is over.
Xu Xinghe went straight back to the courtyard.
She locked the door, entered the space immediately, divided the remaining ointment into smaller portions, found a rough ceramic flowerpot, and specially scooped out a piece of frozen black soil.
Once the soil had softened and become loose at room temperature, she carefully transplanted a medicinal herb from the space and planted it in a flowerpot.
The sky grew completely dark.
Xu Xinghe stretched her tired body, took a shower, snuggled into the warm quilt, and closed her eyes.
The next day was another gloomy day, with leaden-gray clouds hanging low overhead. The snow had lessened considerably, turning into fine flakes that were whipped up by the wind and trickled down people's necks.
Li Xingzhou and two other doctors walked together into Hongxing Village through the thin snow.
As per the above requirements, the military hospital was to form a medical team to conduct physical examinations on all residents of a village every three days, with a focus on frostbite.
After the snow disaster these past few days, almost every village has more than a dozen people with severe frostbite.
But when they actually arrived at Hongxing Village, Li Xingzhou and his two companions were stunned.
The soldier who came to inspect took off his gloves. Although his hands were red from the cold, he did not have severe frostbite or even cracks.
If one person is like this, you can say that they are keeping warm well, but if everyone is like this, then that's strange.
Li Xingzhou adjusted his glasses and looked at the soldiers who came to check on him. "The frostbite here doesn't seem to be serious. How did you manage to do that?"
The other two doctors also stared wide-eyed, waiting for an answer.
The soldier grinned and showed him his hands, which were covered in calluses. "Dr. Li, my hands have been frostbitten before, and they even cracked the other day, but after applying the ointment that Comrade Xu gave me, they're all healed today!"
Upon hearing this, the people nearby immediately chimed in with their own opinions.
"That's right! Comrade Xu's medicine is truly miraculous! It works even better than the frostbite medicine I bought for two yuan outside!"
“I took it back and applied it to my dad. He was in so much pain on the first day that he couldn’t move, but he was able to get out of bed on the second day.”
"It's much better than the ones prescribed by the hospital. Just applying it can stop the pain and itching. I finally don't have to worry about chilblains this year."
"Comrade Xu is such a good girl, donating grain and getting medicine for others."
Upon hearing the last sentence, Li Xingzhou already knew who this Comrade Xu was—Xu Xinghe.
She was the only one who recently donated food.
Li Xingzhou paused, his hand holding the ointment furrowing slightly, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses.
Xu Xinghe has no medical background, so how could she make such a frostbite ointment?
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