Chapter 275 Survival is the priority!
Although Qin Suisui did not see Pei Jiuyan, she could imagine that his eyes must be full of a teasing smile at this moment.
"I know," she replied. After all, Captain Li had said it was her lover; who else could it be but him?
Pei Jiuyan chuckled again, and considering that it wasn't so convenient to make a phone call outside, he said succinctly, "My task here is almost finished, and I can wrap it up tomorrow."
He and Comrade Zhou Jianguo planned to head to Pucha City tomorrow night because they had found some information that they needed to investigate there.
Qin Suisui nodded: "I also found the lampflower today. I need to stay another day tomorrow, and we'll set off early the day after tomorrow."
She originally came to Hongshan Brigade to find the origin of the 'Lampbush Flower', but on the night she arrived, she encountered a child in the brigade suffering from rabies. She caught up on sleep the next day and helped treat the children in the village. Only today did she have time to go up the mountain. Tonight she will study the newly picked 'Lampbush Flower'. If it doesn't work, she will go up the mountain again tomorrow.
If all goes well, I should be able to leave early the day after tomorrow.
The two agreed to meet at the Chashan Brigade in Pucha City, and Qin Suisui was about to hang up the phone.
But then a buzzing sound came from the other end of the phone, followed by Pei Jiuyan's slightly deep voice: "Wife, I miss you so much, and you should remember to miss me too."
Qin Suisui's face flushed red instantly.
Although he often spouts lewd remarks when he's with Pei Jiuyan, even forcing her to say them too, the moment they leave the room, he automatically reverts to his aloof, icy demeanor. When has she ever heard him say such cheesy things in public? Maybe on the phone, someone overheard!
After waiting for a long time without receiving a reply, the person on the other end of the phone gave a low "hmm?" with a slightly raised tone, seemingly quite dissatisfied with her lack of response.
Qin Suisui's face turned even redder, and she let out a soft "hmm" that was so faint it was almost inaudible, but Pei Jiuyan keenly caught it and smiled with satisfaction.
Seeing Jia Zhenzhen's teasing look as she waited to the side, Qin Suisui was embarrassed and annoyed, and hung up the phone with a "bang," having said everything she needed to say anyway.
When they came out of the brigade headquarters, Captain Li was still waiting outside. Seeing them come out, he smiled and put away his pipe: "Come on, your aunt has already cooked dinner and is calling you home for dinner."
During dinner, Qin Suisui explained her itinerary to Captain Li and Aunt Zhang, because if they were leaving the day after tomorrow morning, Captain Li would have to drive them to town in a donkey cart.
She knew that oxen and donkeys were public property these days, and worried that the donkey cart might have other plans for that day, so she let her know in advance so that she could "make a reservation".
Upon hearing that they would be leaving the day after tomorrow, Aunt Zhang and her family were filled with reluctance. Captain Li opened his mouth, but hesitated, as if he wanted to say something.
Seeing that he seemed to have something to say, Qin Suisui quickly asked, "What's wrong, Uncle? Is there something inconvenient?"
Captain Li shook his head, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Didn't you help treat some kids in the brigade with rabies yesterday? It's all over the brigade now. Some older comrades with chronic illnesses, and some kids with poor health, all want to ask you to take a look."
After saying that, he quickly added, "Of course, they definitely won't let you see them for free; they'll pay for the consultation."
Seeing that Qin Suisui didn't speak, he continued to explain, "As you know, our Hongshan Brigade is located in a remote mountain area. It takes more than two hours to get from here to the town by donkey cart. There's nothing in the town except a small clinic, which can't treat many illnesses. You have to go to the city, which takes another hour or so. It's too much of a hassle to go back and forth like this. Many of the elderly people here have never left the mountains in their entire lives..."
Realizing that he might have misunderstood, Qin Suisui quickly explained, "Uncle, it's okay. It's not that I'm unwilling to help. I was just calculating the time. After dinner, could you please help me tally up how many people need to see a doctor? I can see a few tonight, and a few more tomorrow morning. I might need to go up the mountain again in the afternoon."
"Okay! Okay!" Captain Li nodded hurriedly, quickly ate a few mouthfuls of rice, and ran outside.
Aunt Zhang watched his retreating figure speechlessly and complained, "He's like his butt's on fire." She then quickly served food to Qin Suisui and the others, saying, "Take your time eating, there's no rush. I reckon there won't be too many people. Our brigade also has barefoot doctors who can treat most minor ailments. The ones that require your help are things that barefoot doctors can't handle."
Qin Suisui nodded.
People in the mountains eat early in autumn and winter, and by the time they finished eating, it was still before six o'clock. It wasn't even dark outside yet, so Qin Suisui borrowed a table from Aunt Zhang and set up a "consultation table" in Captain Li's yard.
The number of people who need her help is indeed not large, just three elderly people and four children.
The three elderly people suffered from chronic illnesses due to overwork in their youth, which couldn't be cured overnight. Qin Suisui could only advise them on dietary methods to improve their conditions and taught them a massage technique. The other elderly person had a parasitic disease typical of Yunnan Province. Qin Suisui gave him medicine and instructed him not to drink unboiled water.
After visiting the three elderly people, it was already very late, so the four children could only visit them tomorrow morning.
After washing up in the evening, Qin Suisui and Jia Zhenzhen took out the lampflowers they had picked during the day and began to study them under Qin Suisui's high-intensity flashlight.
The next morning, after having breakfast at Aunt Zhang's house, Qin Suisui sat back down at the makeshift "clinic" and continued to see four children.
The four children were all fine, and it didn't take Qin Suisui much effort; the meeting ended earlier than she had anticipated.
It was not even eleven o'clock yet, and Qin Suisui had already used up all the lantern flowers they had picked last night. Today, she and Jia Zhenzhen went up the mountain again. Because of the clouded leopard's "escort," they didn't trouble the Li family this time. Hu Jue, on the other hand, wandered around the surrounding villages, hoping to find any news of his eldest daughter.
Following the same route up the mountain as yesterday, Qin Suisui took advantage of the cloud leopard attracting Jia Zhenzhen's attention to secretly transplant a lot of Yunnan-specific medicinal herbs into her space.
Now her space has become a veritable "herb garden," containing medicinal herbs from Qiongtan Island, Changbai Mountain, and Yunnan Province, giving her more possibilities for both concocting poisons and making antidotes.
They collected quite a few more lantern flowers, and around 3 PM, the two of them returned along the same route. They wanted to explore a bit more, but remembering their terrifying experience on their first night at Hongshan Brigade—a mix of hallucination and reality—they both shuddered. Survival was the priority!
It was already past four o'clock when they came down the mountain. Aunt Zhang was picking mushrooms. Qin Suisui saw so many mushrooms and casually asked, "Auntie, are we having mushroom hot pot tonight?" There are too many to finish in one meal.
Aunt Zhang nodded: "I've already set aside enough for tonight. I'll make some fried chicken mushrooms, fried dried mushrooms, and fried mixed mushrooms for you to take home and eat later."
"Oh, right!" Aunt Zhang washed her hands, ran to the kitchen and brought out a few jars of honey: "This is wild honey that you picked on the mountain yesterday. I've already helped filter it. There are still more than seven pounds left after filtering, which is enough to fill three bottles. You can take it with you."
Qin Suisui hurriedly waved her hand: "Auntie, this is not allowed. The honey was harvested by Brother Li Er and Brother Li San. We didn't help at all."
"Why not? You are our family's, no, our entire brigade's, benefactor. If it weren't for you, so many children in our brigade would have died. Giving you anything is only right! I reckon someone else will come to bring you things tomorrow! If they want to give you anything, just accept it! Do you hear me?"
"Besides, we have plenty of wild game. You don't need to worry about saving some for us. We can go up the mountain to find more whenever we want to eat!"
Having said that, Qin Suisui had no choice but to accept. There were three large bottles of honey, each weighing more than two pounds. Qin Suisui gave one bottle to Jia Zhenzhen, who smiled and said, "My good sister! Now I can go home and please my mom again!"
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