"Mild pneumonia."
With Dr. Wang's help, the doctor who was taking the chest X-ray worked overtime for a while.
Finally, a conclusion was reached as Lin Shuying's high fever would not subside.
"You saw the doctor promptly, so it's not particularly serious. I'll give you three bottles of IV drip first, and I'll prescribe some medicine. Stay in the hospital tonight for observation. If the fever goes away tomorrow, I'll give you another day of IV drips. You can go home with the medicine."
I learned from the young nurse who had just helped lead the way that Dr. Wang was an internal medicine expert. He was supposed to be on leave today, but if his senior brother hadn't asked for leave for something, he would have come to cover for him. Chen Chunhua and the others would not have been able to see him at all.
When Chen Chunhua heard his conclusion, she almost wanted to kneel down.
It was mild pneumonia, and with prompt medical attention, it wasn't particularly serious. So if they had rushed over right away, would Da Nan have been fine?
She pushed Lin Shu forward and said, "Doctor, can you check on my son too? He's with his sister every day. Will he be infected?"
Doctor Wang smiled amiably, "Your daughter has common bacterial pneumonia, which isn't that easily contagious."
However, as he spoke, he still lifted up Lin Shu's cotton coat, put the stethoscope in it and listened carefully for a while.
"There's no phlegm in my lungs," he said, adding, "Are you coughing?"
Xiaoshu shook his head and stopped coughing.
“But there will be snot, right?”
Xiaoshu nodded quickly, but his nose was still blocked.
"It's okay, just a mild cold. Just drink some hot water when you get home. It's best to drink a bowl of hot ginger soup every morning. Children's self-healing ability is enough for this kind of minor cold."
Doctor Wang put away his stethoscope and explained patiently that the family was not well off. Although the child's clothes were clean, they were old and worn. The couple's cotton-padded jackets were full of patches. It would be better for them to spend less money.
"There may not be enough beds in the ward. If you can hold on for a while, I'll have someone add a bed in the corridor. I'll also have quilts. The bed fee will be much cheaper."
Doctor Wang looked at Lin Shuquan's thin body and hesitated, "It's this little boy..."
Chen Chunhua quickly thanked the doctor for his care. "It's okay. Since this pneumonia isn't very contagious, they can just share a bed, one at the head and one at the tail. We brought our own blankets too, so they'll be warm enough."
Hospital beds are always in short supply, not just in the 1970s and 1980s. Even in 2024, there are still many people who need to sleep in the corridors.
They were not a wealthy family, it was just a one-night stand, and the two children were small enough that they could just squeeze together. Chen Chunhua and Lin Guoqing accepted this well.
After three bottles of water were hung up, Lin Shuying had enough strength to help her mother go to the toilet. Apart from her face still being a little red and white, she only had the problem of frequent and urgent urination.
Lin Shugan was curled up in the other corner of the hospital bed, chewing on the white steamed buns his father had bought from the state-owned canteen outside with great relish.
"Sister, this steamed bun is so delicious! Eat more, so you can have the strength to beat the salt!"
Lin Shuying smiled silently, then broke the bun in her hand into two halves and handed it to him, "You should eat more too, so that you won't get sick."
Lin Shu rushed over but didn't answer. His sister was the patient. If he dared to take his sister's food, he would be guaranteed to be treated to stir-fried pork with bamboo shoots by his parents in the next second.
As expected, Chen Chunhua, who was standing next to her, reached out and pushed Lin Shuying's bun back.
"You are the patient now, you have to take care of yourself first. Your brother has enough to eat."
Lin Shuying complained to her mother helplessly,
"Mom, I've already eaten two eggs. I can't finish this whole bun. It's okay to share some with my brother."
"Then you eat first. We can leave the rest later if you can't finish it." Chen Chunhua said, smearing some fermented bean curd on the part of the steamed bun she broke open. "Eat it quickly, don't waste it. You'll need to pay half a pound of food coupons to buy these!"
Actually, the medical treatment had already cost a lot of money, but since the big money was already spent, it was better not to worry about the small amount. Lin Guoqing had just grabbed a handful of money when he went out, and there were still several food coupons in the money. Chen Chunhua asked him to buy some fine grains for the two children.
He bought a total of two eggs, three white steamed buns and a piece of fermented tofu, which were all for the two children. The two adults ate multi-grain steamed buns, which had a rough texture, but were cheap and didn't even require food coupons.
However, because they left in a hurry, they didn't take anything with them except money and the quilt that Lin Shuying was wearing. Lin Guoqing gritted his teeth and bought a large porcelain jar.
The doctor said that if you have a cold or a fever, you should drink more water and sweat more, and you must drink hot water, and you can't do this without a cup.
Lin Shuying felt sorry for her parents, but she also knew that the most important thing now was for her to get better quickly. Only when she was fine could her parents go back to work, her younger brother could feed the chickens and cut grass, and she could take care of the other two children besides her school time.
Thinking of her, she started to eat the steamed buns with fermented bean curd in big mouthfuls. If she choked, she would drink some water. She had to recover as soon as possible!
At night, Chen Chunhua tucked in the corners of the quilt for the two sleeping children, then sat down against the wall. She and Lin Guoqing hid behind the hospital bed, which was quite warm.
"I don't know how the third child and Xiaonan are doing. Xiaonan has been sleeping with us at night since she was born. I wonder if my sister will cry in the middle of the night..."
Lin Guoqing was still thinking about his two children. His third child was only four, at the age of being the most hated by everyone, and his youngest daughter was only two, at the age of being the most receptive to people and the most dependent on her parents. He felt entangled just thinking about leaving them there.
Chen Chunhua, on the other hand, was more open-minded than him. After all, she had been through it once before. "It's no big deal if they cry all night. I can just boil an egg for each of them when I get home to comfort them."
Lin Guoqing looked at her, and the emotions he had suppressed for a whole day finally surfaced late at night.
"You were really amazing today. You threw a knife at my mom and then rushed me to the provincial capital with your child in your arms like he was dying. And what did the doctor say? Mild pneumonia."
He smacked his lips, somewhat resentful of Chen Chunhua for making a fuss out of nothing.
"It's mild. I don't believe the county hospital can't even treat such a minor ailment. Why do we have to go all the way to the provincial capital? The boat ride alone cost a lot of money..."
Before he could finish his words, Chen Chunhua gave him a look.
"Believe it or not, if you go to the county hospital for a mild case, they might ask you to go home and endure it on your own. And then it might turn into a serious case! You feel relieved now, but that's because your daughter is fine! If something really happened, hmph!"
She will never forget what the man looked like who cried and screamed and almost went with Da Nan.
Lin Guoqing shrank back against the wall and stopped talking.
He felt that his wife had become more and more aggressive recently. In the past, whatever he said was the truth, but now she would not tolerate his questioning in anything he did. One word from Shen Chunhua was worth ten words from him.
Humph! It’s unbearable for Tian Gang to live like this!
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