"The current medical conditions are limited, and the equipment is limited. We can't perform sterile surgery, so it's good enough to save a life. There's not much else to consider."
Cheng Suming opened the tent curtain and pulled Sinan into the medical tent.
The medical tent is very large and can probably accommodate more than a hundred people at the same time.
However, this is a place specifically for surgery, which is much better than the tent next to it that is used to house patients. It is not crowded with so many people, but it still makes people feel uncomfortable looking at it.
Many of the people in the tent were seriously injured patients with broken limbs. Most of them were covered in blood and lying or curled up on the ground with painful expressions, waiting for treatment.
A small number of them fainted directly, or stared at the ceiling of the tent with blank eyes, their chests not moving at all, and they looked like they were dead.
Many family members of the patients were wiping tears and anxiously grabbing the few doctors and nurses in the tent, begging them to save their relatives first.
Due to limited treatment equipment, apart from a few sets of intact equipment that were carried out by the soldiers from the military zone's safe air-raid shelters, the rest were slightly usable medical equipment that the soldiers found on the spot among the ruins and used as a makeshift device.
Because there was very little anesthetic and it was almost used up, and there were limited surgeons and medical staff. Even if all the medical staff were busy from morning to night, with so many patients and a steady stream of patients being sent in, the medical staff simply could not save them all.
When Sinan entered the tent, there was a special operating area on the left side of the tent separated by a curtain. There was a surgeon holding a medical electric saw and performing an amputation on a seriously ill patient without any anesthetics.
Amid the teeth-grinding squeaking sound of the electric saw, the patient screamed in pain, his face turned red, veins bulged all over his body, and he twisted his body desperately to struggle.
However, he was tied tightly to the operating table with medical rubber bands. He was surrounded by several medical staff and family members of the patient, all holding him down. He struggled for only a minute before his eyes rolled back and he fainted from the pain.
For a moment, the only sounds in the operating area were the sound of the electric saw, the gasping breathing of the medical staff, and the helpless and painful cries of the family members.
The scenes in the operating area were so horrific that both the visual and the sound made people feel creepy and uncomfortable.
Si Nan's stomach was churning again and he wanted to go outside to vomit. A pair of hands unconsciously grabbed Cheng Suming's arm.
Cheng Suming led her to another area separated by a curtain facing the operating area. This was a place specially for medical staff to rest, with more than a dozen simple tables, chairs, benches and camp beds.
Cheng Suming asked Si Nan to sit on the camp bed that belonged to him for resting next to the tent. He took out an alcohol swab from the table beside him, half-knelt in front of her, and cleaned and bandaged her ten fingers and injured left foot.
The two men were one tall and one short. From Si Nan's perspective, he could see that Cheng Suming's thin jawline was tense, and his handsome face was full of heartache, but his thin lips were gently pursed, and he said nothing.
Si Nan knew in his heart that Cheng Suming must be very distressed and unhappy to see his hands so worn out, but he couldn't say anything to blame her, so he had that expression.
Enduring the stinging pain in his hands and feet, Si Nan said softly, "Su Ming, the stone building materials I moved today were not in vain. I saved a lot of people, including the elderly, children, men and women, and even a pregnant woman."
Cheng Suming paused and looked up at her. She gave him a guilty smile.
The two were so close that they could feel each other's heartbeat and breathing, which were surprisingly consistent.
Cheng Suming saw her smiling frivolously, with curved eyebrows and eyes sparkling, and her face, which was covered with black and gray, smiled particularly brightly, which was both charming and funny. He couldn't help but stretched out his slender fingers to pinch her nose, "Very impressive."
"That's right." Si Nan swung his left leg that had been rubbed with medicine, and a proud smile appeared on his beautiful face: "Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. I saved at least ten people today. Tell me, I have done so many good things, will God give me blessings?"
"Yes." Cheng Suming re-bandaged her ten fingers, stood up, put the alcohol swab back in place, and answered without hesitation.
Si Nan looked down at his hands that were wrapped in gauze like cocoons, and said helplessly: "If there are blessings, I hope that God can give them all to Sheng Youqing and her family, so that they can live in peace."
Cheng Suming raised his eyebrows: "Others hope that blessings will be bestowed upon them, so that they can be healthy, wealthy, and have a smooth career. But you want God to bestow blessings upon others."
Si Nan said indifferently, "Since it is a blessing, it doesn't matter who it comes to. If it really comes to pass, I hope that all the blessings I have accumulated can be cast on my lover, relatives and friends I care about. Even if it sucks away all the blessings and luck from me and makes me live a few decades less, it's fine."
"You're talking nonsense again." Her words reminded Cheng Suming of her miserable appearance when she died young in her previous life. His chest suddenly ached, and his whole body trembled. He reached out to grab Si Nan's shoulders, looked at her with a sad look, and said in a deep voice: "Don't say such words in the future that you would use your life to offset the blessings and luck of others! You are you, your life, your blessings are your own, and no one can replace or take them away. Do you hear me?!"
Si Nan was startled by the anger in his eyes. He didn't know why he was angry, so he nodded obediently: "Got it, I won't say those words again in the future. I was just joking just now."
Cheng Suming saw the surprise and a little timidity in her eyes, knowing that he had frightened her. He held her tightly in his arms, as if he wanted to carve her into his bones and blood. With a trembling voice, he whispered: "Anan, you must remember that no matter what happens, you must focus on yourself. Don't give up your life for the so-called relatives, friends, and lovers! You must be a little more selfish, think more about yourself, and protect yourself. If one day I am in danger, I hope that you will save me if you can, instead of losing your life for me. Do you understand?"
He hugged her too tightly, and Si Nan felt some pain from his hug. She struggled to get out of his arms and nodded heavily: "I understand, I understand everything. Don't worry, I won't participate in the rescue tonight. Have a good rest. I'm tired and sore all over, and I can't lift my hands anymore."
"I told you not to ignore your own body and show off your strength." Cheng Suming pinched her arms and shoulders for a while to relieve her sore muscles. Seeing that it was getting late, he took out two military iron lunch boxes that the army used specially for their doctors from under the bed and said, "I'll go get some food. You wait here."
"Can you serve my meal for me?"
"You are now a family member of a special profession. Not only can you fight for me, but you can also eat more."
"Wow, that's so good!" Si Nan's eyes lit up, and he waited expectantly for Cheng Suming to come back with the meal, the smile on his face frozen.
The appetite is indeed quite big, two full boxes of sweet potato porridge, four steamed buns bigger than their faces, and two packets of very salty pickled mustard tuber, which is a benefit for people in special professions.
Seeing her expression of despair, Cheng Suming reached out and pinched her face and said, "It's good enough that we have something to eat. Others can only scoop two spoonfuls of porridge and eat a dry steamed bun. At least we have pickled mustard to go with the rice, so don't be picky."
"That's true. I have had too many good days and eat too well at home, so I'm picky. This is a bad habit. I need to change my picky eating habits." Sinan took a lunch box and wanted to take a sip of porridge, but his hands were shaking so much that he couldn't hold the lunch box and almost fell on the table.
Cheng Suming had no choice but to ask her to take out a spoon from the space and feed her one spoonful at a time.
It was the first time that Sinan was fed like a child by a man other than her uncle. Her heart was filled with emotion and sweetness. She opened her mouth wide like a hungry swallow, eating the sweet potato porridge which was much thicker than the porridge for the people queuing outside. She felt the sweet taste in her mouth, and then had a bite of salty pickled mustard and a bite of steamed bun. She ate with a smile on her eyes and seemed to enjoy it.
Because there were so many patients, the medical staff were busy around the clock and had to take turns to eat. Cheng Suming spent some time in the rest area, and nurses kept coming to urge him to go for surgery.
He quickly finished the meal, pointed at the camp bed and said to Sinan: "Sleep here after dinner. Don't go to the previous tent. I can only feel at ease if I can see you at any time."
Si Nan wiped the unwashed lunch box with a tissue, and said without raising his head: "I know, my husband is strict, I won't go anywhere, I will just hang out under your nose."
After getting her assurance, Cheng Suming hurriedly put on a mask and went to the operating area to perform the operation.
Afterwards, doctors and nurses came down one after another and went into the rest area to rest and eat.
Noticing Si Nan's presence, everyone would chat with him during meals and praise Cheng Su Ming highly. "I didn't expect that Dr. Cheng, who looks so young, has such superb medical skills. Many patients were declared hopeless when they were sent here, but he managed to save them from the brink of death! He is also very good at surgery. Many patients don't have anesthesia and need amputation or removal of dead flesh to avoid life-threatening conditions. No matter how the patients struggled, cried or cursed on the operating table, he would hold the scalpel, electric saw and other medical equipment and cut quickly, accurately and ruthlessly! We surgeons were infected by his nonchalant attitude and no longer worried about whether the patients were in pain or whether they would complain or resent them. We just did our job well and saved the patients' lives."
Si Nan listened to them with a smile, agreeing with them from time to time. Cheng Su Ming was only 30 years old, but he could get the recognition of those attending physicians who had been practicing medicine for more than 10 to 20 years. As his wife, she was naturally proud of it.
Cheng Suming has a special skill, and she believes that in the future, this job can bring him a lot of convenience and earn him a lot of wages and materials. She can also be at ease and be a parasite, doing whatever she wants behind him.
By the time the doctors had taken their turn and finished their meal, it was almost eight o'clock in the evening. Sinan heard the officers outside blowing the assembly whistle, calling on people to take the backup flashlights, searchlights and other backup power sources provided by the army and continue to rescue people in the ruins. The soldiers who had been busy all day were replaced to eat and rest.
She walked out of the tent and stood at the door. She saw that the soldiers who were replaced were all covered in dust and dirt, with blood blisters and scars on their hands. They were holding steamed buns and porridge, sitting or leaning against the ruins of a safe place. Everyone looked extremely tired, their hands were shaking so much that they couldn't even hold the bowl steadily. They simply put the bowl down and lay down to eat and drink, and then took the time to close their eyes and rest after eating.
Since they received the order and arrived at the area of responsibility after the earthquake yesterday, they have been moving various large building materials and stones among the rubble, digging holes, hanging ropes, and using all kinds of methods to rescue people buried under the rubble.
Because of an aftershock during this period, many soldiers did not have time to retreat and were injured or buried, but no one complained about the retreat. Many of them have been busy until now with injuries and have rested for less than three hours. They have seized every opportunity to rest.
Many people who were not seriously injured or who were resting in tents due to lack of labor felt very distressed and spontaneously looked for clothes and quilts to cover them so that they could sleep warmer.
The soldiers were so tired that they didn't even have the energy to say a word. They could only squint their eyes, say thank you to the people, and take a rest during the one-hour meal break.
Si Nan looked at this scene and felt warmth in his heart. No matter how the world collapses, there will always be someone silently protecting you.
These people can be soldiers of the people or ordinary people. Everyone is protecting others in his or her own way.
As someone who possesses a mysterious space, what can she do for these people's soldiers who are fighting for the people?
She looked towards a large square tent surrounded by a large group of tents. It was where the army stored supplies. There were two soldiers armed with live ammunition guarding it, preventing some ignorant disaster victims from entering the tent and taking away the supplies inside.
She thought for a moment, walked to the tent, and said to the two soldiers, "Hello, comrades. I am the wife of Dr. Cheng Suming from the medical tent. My husband asked me to come over to ask you if you have any medical equipment for surgical operations. I forgot what it is called, but I have seen what the equipment looks like. Can you let me in to take a look?"
One of them frowned and said, "It seems that all the medical equipment we brought has been taken out."
Another person said, "Maybe they haven't taken all of it yet. Let Mrs. Cheng go in. Doctor Cheng is the surgeon hired by Captain Zhou himself. When I went to the restroom, I passed by the medical tent and heard people outside talking about how young Doctor Cheng was but his medical skills were amazing. Maybe there really is something in there that Doctor Cheng needs."
Two soldiers opened the tent curtain, and one of them led Si Nan inside: "Mrs. Cheng, that's the area where the medical equipment was placed before, look for it yourself."
There were all kinds of equipment and supplies piled up inside, most of which were military-specific supplies, stacked up in layers according to different categories.
Si Nan pretended to search inside, and while the soldier wasn't paying attention, he took out thousands of pairs of cotton gloves, thousands of men's warm cotton coats, and three boxes of instant noodles on the ground.
She didn't dare take too much supplies and food for fear of exposing herself.
Then she pretended to have discovered the mainland, pointed at the supplies and said to the soldier: "Why are there so many instant noodles? Oh, and there are gloves. If we give everyone cotton gloves, our hands won't hurt so much when we move construction materials."
When the soldier saw the supplies, he exclaimed, "When did they get so much supplies here? Did they misclassify them?"
He immediately pulled out a pair of gloves, handed them to Si Nan and said, "Mrs. Cheng, I remember you are a member of the rescue team, right? Take these gloves first. Have you found the equipment you need?"
Sinan said no and left the supply tent looking very disappointed.
The soldiers ran to the officers' tents and reported the sudden increase in supplies.
Commander Zhou didn't think much about it. "It's just a lot. Maybe they made a mistake when distributing supplies at the military district. Divide the gloves and clothes. Cook the instant noodles in a big pot tomorrow morning so that everyone can have some."
The soldiers took orders and quickly distributed the gloves and clothes.
Before the distribution, a soldier asked hesitantly: "Shouldn't these gloves and clothes be given first to the people who helped with the rescue?"
The soldier in charge of distributing gloves said, "What's the priority? We have to keep rescuing people, but we can only rescue those people for three to five days at most. What do you think supports those people to follow us to rescue?"
The warrior was silent.
The reason why so many people are following them to rescue is basically to rescue their trapped relatives and friends as soon as possible. Once their relatives and friends are rescued, they will no longer have the obligation to rescue others.
People with better hearts and more kindness may continue to save people, but after more than two years of natural disasters, most people have experienced the evil of human nature and witnessed a lot of dark and gloomy things. Their bodies and minds are tired and numb. To make them risk their lives to save those unrelated people, to be honest, few people would do it.
Judging from the situation at the ruins over the past two days, most of the family members of the trapped people who had been rescued did not go to the ruins to continue the rescue.
They either guarded their injured family members or joined the gold-mining and scavenging teams, desperately searching for food and other supplies, not caring about the army's rule of exchanging labor for two meager meals a day.
As for getting the people to participate in the rescue, they have to be willing, and their troops cannot force them, so in the past they always gave priority to the people. This time, it naturally fell on the soldiers first.
Sinan felt much more relieved when he saw the soldiers putting on gloves and clean and warm clothes.
She stood at the door of the tent and looked out for a while, but she didn't see Cheng Wei and the other two. She didn't know what had happened to them. They had agreed that if she and Cheng Su Ming didn't return to Shenxianyuan Community today, Cheng Wei and the other two would come to find them, but they still hadn't shown up, and she was really worried.
She took advantage of the short break when Cheng Suming finished an operation to tell him about her concerns.
Cheng Suming finished a glass of water and said, "With the abilities of Yang Wentao and Yu Yong, it's no problem for them to protect Cheng Wei. Maybe they were delayed by participating in the rescue. If they don't come tomorrow, you and I will go back to find them the day after tomorrow."
Si Nan saw that he looked tired, the medical gloves on his hands were all bloody, and the nurse had to hand him water. He raised his hand to wipe the water stains from the corners of his mouth, "Can you leave at any time?"
She was a head shorter than Cheng Suming. To match her movements, Cheng Suming lowered his head in front of her, enjoying her caress. Even through his glasses, she could see his deep eyes full of smiles: "I'm not a regular doctor, just a temporary employee. If I want to leave, no one can stop me."
"There are so many injured people here who need your treatment. I don't want you to leave at this critical moment. I know what you are worried about. Don't worry, I won't leave here to find Cheng Wei and the others. As you said, they must have been delayed by something. Maybe they will come to find us tomorrow. I will not leave here until Sheng Youqing is found."
Si Nan touched his thin cheek and suddenly found the blind spot: "Su Ming, I remember the lenses of your glasses were shattered on the day of the earthquake. I was in a hurry at that time and didn't even think of replacing them for you. How come they are now in good condition today?"
Cheng Suming smiled faintly: "I ordered this pair of glasses before the natural disaster. When hit, they will crack like ordinary lenses, but they will recover to their original state in a short time. As long as they are not lost, they can be worn for a lifetime. It also has a night vision function, which can see the basic vision clearly at night."
"So amazing? It must be very expensive." Si Nan wanted to take off his glasses and try them on himself. At this time, a nurse ran over and shouted: "Doctor Cheng, the patient on the operating table is bleeding suddenly. Please go over and take a look."
"I'll go right away." Cheng Suming looked at Si Nan solemnly and said, "Go to bed early."
"Okay." Sinan watched him leave.
Soon, screams were heard from the patient in the operating room, and then there was silence. After a while, crying could be heard, accompanied by the hysterical cries of the patient's family: "You quacks! How did you save people? She said she didn't want the surgery, why did you insist on doing it on her? My poor daughter, give her back her life!"
The excited sounds of smashing and destroying things were heard from inside. A middle-aged female doctor advised, "Family member of the patient, please calm down. Your daughter was already in critical condition when she was sent here. We only have a one-third chance of saving her life if we perform thoracic surgery on her. We have informed you of this in advance, and we will only perform the surgery after you agree. There is no point in you making a fuss here."
"I don't care, you are quacks! You have harmed my daughter, you must pay with her life!" The middle-aged woman in her fifties grabbed the scalpel on the operating table and was going to stab the female doctor who was operating on her daughter in her twenties.
Without saying a word, Cheng Suming kicked the woman to the ground, snatched the scalpel from her hand, twisted her arm, and handed her over to the alarmed soldiers nearby, asking them to control the emotional family member.
When the others saw this scene, they couldn't believe that the doctor would hit people. Three or five of them whispered to each other and talked about it.
"You're all full and have nothing to do, right? If you have nothing to do, go help others and take care of your own family members." Cheng Suming said coldly, scolding the family members who were chatting in the tent: "Things are different now. In today's natural disaster doomsday environment, we doctors have no obligation and responsibility to save each of you. If you want our doctors to perform surgery, be prepared for your family members to lose their lives! If you don't have that awareness, take your injured family members to seek help from others or wait to die. If you dare to be as arrogant and unreasonable as that woman just now, get out now. No one will save you!"
The noisy tent fell silent in an instant. Everyone understood that in the current situation, these doctors could treat the affected people for free only out of respect for the national organization.
If there were no national government, these doctors, even if you gave them huge amounts of money and food, if they didn't want to save you, it would be useless to force them with a knife.
Everyone kept silent at the same time, fearing that their loud voices would anger the doctors and cause them to not save their family members, which would be a waste of time and effort.
Several older doctors in the operating room gave Cheng Suming a thumbs up and whispered, "It's really refreshing. If it were in the past, we wouldn't dare say a harsh word to the patient if a medical accident happened, for fear that the family would make a big fuss and report us, which would make us lose our medical ethics and our jobs."
"Yes, it's different now. After so many natural disasters, doctors in our field have died or resigned. It's hard for us to survive. If it weren't for occupational diseases and a sense of responsibility, who would be willing to do such a thankless job?"
"Dr. Cheng, you did something I always wanted to do but didn't dare to do! Now we can work with peace of mind and not worry about those medical disputes."
Cheng Suming said nothing and turned to look at Si Nan.
Si Nan stood in the dark, gave him a thumbs up, and silently said, "Well done!"
The ice on Cheng Suming's face melted, and the corners of his mouth curved up. He also said to her silently, "Don't look at it anymore. Go and have a rest."
Sinan nodded and made a gesture as if he was about to leave.
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