Chapter 25 The Sick Child
Daliang Village nestles against the backdrop of a mountain and a river, its houses scattered like chess pieces beside a lush forest. Paths wind through lush green fields, and the sounds of chickens and dogs echo through the village, brimming with life.
A gentle breeze blew by, carrying the fragrance of lotus flowers into her nose. Shen Yuexi sniffed gently, and the fragrance was so light that it relaxed her brows. If the lotus leaves could be made into spices, they might sell for a lot of money. In ancient times, the spice industry must have been a very profitable way.
Just as she was considering whether to try using the universal manufacturing machine, she heard a woman crying desperately and sadly from a house not far ahead.
Shen Yuexi couldn't stand hearing other people cry, especially such a miserable sound. She went to the family's house out of curiosity.
This household was a classic example of poverty. The wall was peeling, and dark green moss grew at the base. The wooden door leading into the house was cracked, the paint peeling off, and it hung crookedly on its hinges, as if a kick would cause the whole door to fall to the ground.
Shen Yuexi reached out and pushed gently. The door hinge creaked and the wooden door slowly opened inward.
There was a woman inside, squatting with her back to her, and she didn't notice her coming.
Shen Yuexi looked around. The yard wasn't large, but it was neatly arranged. Cultivated land occupied half the yard, where various vegetables were planted, separated by a fence. A few hens had their necks stuck through the fence, nibbling at vegetable leaves.
The house was built of adobe bricks, with a wooden frame on the roof, covered with waterproof felt. It was okay in the summer, but I guess it would be extremely cold in the winter.
There was a yellow dog tied to the fence. When Shen Yuexi came in, it immediately stood up and barked at her.
"Dog, stop barking."
The woman didn't look back, but just sobbed and called the yellow dog to stop.
Shen Yuexi: “…”
The dog's name inexplicably made her want to laugh, but when she heard the woman crying, she forced herself to hold it back.
The dog obediently turned back, lay on the ground, wagging its tail, its eyes vigilantly watching Shen Yuexi's every move.
Shen Yuexi walked around it and came to where the woman was.
The woman was holding a boy about five years old in her arms. The boy had a sallow face, chapped lips, and was extremely listless. He was as thin as a piece of paper and would fly away if the wind blew. He was so frighteningly thin.
The woman hugged the child tightly, crying in a suppressed and desperate voice.
She looked to be in her early twenties. Since Shen Yuexi came in, the woman had not once glanced at her, her mind fixed on the child in her arms, sobbing softly.
Shen Yuexi squatted down and took the child's hand. The boy opened his innocent eyes, looked at her listlessly, and gave her a kind smile. His voice was weak and intermittent, like a kite with a broken string:
"Sister, am I going to die?"
The child is only five years old, but he seems to already know his fate.
After saying this, the boy glanced at the sobbing woman again and said, "But if I die, my mother will surely not be able to live either."
Shen Yuexi was startled. She had never expected the child's first words to be that he was going to die. His voice was so weak that it sounded very far away.
The woman holding him couldn't hold back any longer after hearing this and burst into loud sobs. Her tears were like a faucet that could not be turned off.
Since crossing over, Shen Yuexi had encountered pursuit and poverty, and she could face them calmly. But today, this sensible and distressing child made her want to do something for him.
Her nose felt sore, and her eyes blurred as she looked at the boy. She blinked hard to stop the tears from falling.
With a slight smile, Shen Yuexi stroked the boy's thin hair and comforted him: "You won't die. In a few days, you will be full of energy and playing with your friends. Now close your eyes and have a good rest."
The child's breathing was weak, and she didn't dare let him say too much.
The boy smiled weakly, his eyes filled with longing for happiness. Five-year-olds were easy to coax. Perhaps he'd mistaken Shen Yuexi's sudden visit for a doctor. Out of an inexplicable trust in her, perhaps inspired by the doctor's authority, he obediently closed his eyes in his mother's arms.
The woman turned her head and looked at Shen Yuexi gratefully, then raised her hand to wipe away the tears from her face.
She looked much older than her years. In Shen Yuexi's world, she was just a carefree student. But now, tortured by life, she had become a 30-year-old middle-aged woman, with only a faint trace of her once beautiful face visible on her withered face.
Shen Yuexi asked: "What happened to him?"
The woman hugged the sick boy tightly. Shen Yuexi was close, gently holding the child's hand. She could clearly feel the woman's anxiety and despair beside her. She could see that the woman's hands were shaking, and she looked at a loss.
Hearing the question, the woman's lifeless eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had grasped a glimmer of hope. She thought Shen Yuexi was a doctor and pleaded anxiously, "Can you save my child? I'll give you any amount of money."
The woman spoke earnestly and pleadingly. She had gone mad and considered everyone she saw to be a doctor.
As she said this, she stood up holding the child and was about to run into the house, but was stopped by Shen Yuexi.
This young woman had obviously forgotten her family's situation, so how could she come up with any money? She said this simply because she hoped to do everything in her power to save the boy in her arms.
Shen Yuexi hesitated for a moment and did not answer immediately.
She didn't know any medical skills. As a scientific researcher, she dabbled in many disciplines, but only based on the needs of her work.
For example, in the pharmaceutical industry, she may clearly know the materials needed to make some medicines, but if she is asked to produce them, it is beyond her ability.
To put it bluntly, she's a person with a solid theoretical foundation who specializes in research, not practice. That's why she invented something like the universal manufacturing machine.
Only by combining theory and practice can we achieve perfect results.
She also frequently consults the basic principles of some subjects and has some knowledge of medical science.
Without directly answering her question, Shen Yuexi first asked the woman: "Is the child sick?"
We should first figure out what's going on before we can draw any conclusions, right?
The woman raised her arm and wiped her tears with her sleeve. She said, "My child has had diarrhea for some unknown reason since the day before yesterday, and it hasn't gotten better. Doctor You prescribed two doses of medicine, but they didn't work."
Shen Yuexi nodded gently: "And then?"
"He started passing white pus and red blood yesterday, and he rolled around on the ground in pain," the woman said, looking at the child in her arms with heartache. "Doctor You said he has diarrhea, and he can't treat it. It's all up to fate."
After hearing this, Shen Yuexi understood that the child had dysentery, a disease characterized by diarrhea and bloody stools. Everything matched.
"Didn't you take the child to the county town to see a doctor?"
"We've already called several doctors..." the woman said in a low, mournful voice. "The doctors at Baohe Hall have also come to see me, and they all say it's difficult to treat."
Shen Yuexi frowned.
I didn’t expect that a minor dysentery would be so difficult to treat in ancient times, and even the doctors in the county town couldn’t do anything about it.
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