Chapter 5: A thick stack of cash and sanitary napkins in the wind.
The afternoon sun was scorching and blinding, and the shadows of the trees gradually slanted westward.
Rong Chengzhou has already left, but he left behind two fellow pilots, saying they had to stand for six hours before they could go back.
Jiang Mingxue saw several patients in the afternoon. During her free time, she handed Xing Kaiyu and his companion a cup of tea and tried to persuade them to go inside to avoid the sun for a while.
"Anyway, your captain isn't here, and there are no cameras here. You can go inside and rest for a while; he won't know."
Xing Kaiyu was tempted for a moment, but his faith slapped him back: "No way, sister-in-law."
Sweat streamed down his forehead, soaking his blue Air Force uniform until it turned jet black, but his gaze remained resolute: "The captain said six hours, so we must stand for 360 minutes, 21,600 seconds, not a second less."
"..."
He's good at arithmetic.
Jiang Mingxue's attempts to persuade him failed, and she obediently went back to the fan.
I don't know how Rong Chengzhou trained his soldiers, they are all so obedient.
The old-fashioned fan hanging from the ceiling hummed as it turned, its white blades long since lost their original color, covered with a thick layer of dust, and tangled with spiderwebs, with seven or eight spiders taking root on them.
Jiang Mingxue sat behind the consultation table, resting her chin on her hand, and the words Rong Chengzhou had said before leaving, "I thought you wanted me to be so polite," involuntarily came to mind.
This question stumped her; she wasn't sure what kind of attitude she wanted him to have towards her. She hoped he would keep his distance, minimize contact, and ideally be a polite yet distant stranger. But she was also afraid that if he was too polite, she would feel burdened, since she was the one who initiated the marriage proposal.
This was her first time interacting with a man, and she skipped the process of getting to know each other, falling in love, and getting to know each other. Originally, she just wanted to get a marriage certificate and live a peaceful life. The peaceful life of the past year had numbed her senses, making her ignore the fact that this marriage certificate was not just for a moment, but for a lifetime.
Life is so long, they were bound to meet sooner or later. It's just that this encounter was too sudden, catching her off guard. She wasn't mentally prepared for how to face him.
The fan wobbled precariously, creaking and groaning as it operated. The chirping of cicadas from the big locust tree outside the door pierced through the window, each note trailing off like waves rolling in from all directions.
One wave subsides, another rises.
It was hot and humid, noisy, and harsh.
It's annoying.
--
Whether he was too busy or to keep his promise, Rong Chengzhou did not come again in the following days. However, the news that the two pilots had stood guard at the entrance of Yuanhe Medical Clinic for an entire afternoon quickly spread throughout the neighborhood.
Soldiers have always been revered by the public, especially the air force squadron that helped them extinguish a wildfire and save hundreds of villagers six months ago. The number of people coming to their door for medical treatment has visibly increased, perhaps out of trust in the air force, or perhaps to take the opportunity to inquire about the pilots' personal circumstances.
That afternoon, Jiang Mingxue, dressed in a white Chinese-style shirt, sat in the clinic seeing patients. The folk remedy given by Rong Chengzhou was very effective. After drinking it for two days, the rashes on her arms and neck had almost disappeared, and even the mosquitoes stopped biting her. Now there were no marks left on her arms, and her condition improved a lot during the consultation.
She placed her fingertips on the wrist of an elderly woman with gray hair to listen to her pulse, and asked gently, "Do you often experience palpitations, insomnia, forgetfulness, or loss of appetite?"
"Yes, yes, yes, it all matches!" The old man nodded hurriedly. "Alas, as I get older, I have more and more health problems. Dr. Jiang, do you think there's any hope for me?"
Jiang Mingxue: "Of course. Don't worry, it's just a minor problem. I'll prescribe some medicine for you, one dose a day, and you should feel better in seven days."
"Good, good!" The old man cried tears of joy, but his face soon turned worried again. He carefully took out a handkerchief from his pocket, inside which were several neatly folded banknotes and a few coins.
She handed over a yellow twenty-yuan bill, a purple five-yuan bill, five one-yuan coins, and three fifty-cent coins, totaling thirty-one yuan and fifty cents, saying apologetically, "Dr. Jiang, this is all I have on me. If it's not enough, could you please prescribe a shorter number of days' worth of medication?"
Jiang Mingxue felt a pang of heartache when she saw the patches on the old man's clothes. She picked out a few coins from his hand and said with a smile, "This is enough. I'll prescribe a month's supply for you. Remember to take it on time. The pharmacist will teach you how to decoct the medicine later."
The old man knew, of course, that so many medicines couldn't possibly cost only six yuan and fifty cents, and with tears in his eyes, he kept thanking her.
After the old woman left, Jiang Mingxue paid the remaining amount for the medicine from her personal account. Then, flipping through the ledger, which was thicker than the complete Journey to the West, she couldn't help but sigh heavily.
Yuanhe Medical Clinic offers credit services, but only to those who are truly in need. Modern people are generally well-off, and the credit records of branches in other regions are only a few pages long. However, in Haining, 70% of the credit is on credit, which means that the clinic is completely unable to make ends meet and even needs support from headquarters for daily supplies.
As the ninth-generation successor of Yuanhe Medical Hall, she has been personally visiting Yuanhe Medical Hall branches across the country since last year. One purpose is to supervise the operations, but the main purpose is to provide treatment to people with limited access to medical services. In the past, she has encountered some minor problems during her visits, but none have been as challenging as this one.
Unaccustomed to the local environment, inconvenient transportation, lack of medicinal herbs, poor living conditions, backward medical conditions, and an extreme imbalance between income and expenditure... Jiang Mingxue rubbed her temples with a headache, not even knowing where to begin with any of the problems.
Footsteps sounded at the door. Jiang Mingxue looked up and saw three young air force personnel carrying two large bags of things stepping over the threshold and walking in.
They were several unfamiliar faces whom I had never seen before, still green and youthful, probably new recruits who had just joined the army.
Jiang Mingxue stood up and asked in confusion, "What is this...?"
Several energetic new recruits stood at attention and saluted her in unison: "Hello, sister-in-law!"
The voices were clear and loud, echoing inside and outside the clinic, attracting passersby outside to frequently look inside.
Jiang Mingxue: "......"
There's no need to be so loud.
One of the air force soldiers explained to her with a smile, "Sister-in-law, Captain Rong asked us to deliver these. They are all daily necessities. The captain is busy with military affairs and cannot deliver them in person, so he asked a few of us to make the trip for him. The captain said that if you need anything, just tell him and he will ask someone to deliver it."
They relayed the message verbatim, and Jiang Mingxue accurately grasped the phrase "sent through someone." The more considerate he was, the more guilty she felt.
She quickly thanked them and invited them in for tea and a rest.
The new recruits exclaimed, "Your wife is so gentle; she and our captain are a match made in heaven!"
Jiang Mingxue smiled and said, "Thank you. It's kind of you to make this special trip."
"It's not hard work at all. This job is much more comfortable than standing at attention in the army."
The group burst into laughter, and Jiang Mingxue couldn't help but chuckle as well.
After they left, several women around fifty years old came in together. They first took some traditional Chinese medicine to regulate hormones, and then chatted with her with smiles: "Dr. Jiang, do you know how old those young air force men who just came in are? Do they have girlfriends? What are their family situations like?"
Jiang Mingxue was taken aback by their question: "I'm sorry, Auntie, I don't know very well. This is the first time I've met them."
The middle-aged woman was not discouraged: "What about the two men who were standing at attention at your door yesterday? I heard they were transferred from Beicheng. My daughter works in Beicheng and is twenty-five this year. Maybe we can set them up?"
"Me too, me too. My daughter is a high school teacher in downtown Haining. She works from 9 to 5, has weekends off, and is a tenured teacher. Dr. Jiang, could you keep an eye out for her if you have time?"
"I don't have a daughter, but my niece isn't married yet. She just graduated with her PhD this year and is preparing to go abroad for postdoctoral studies. She's very beautiful, and her parents have pensions..."
Jiang Mingxue's lips twitched slightly. After realizing their purpose, she stopped listening attentively.
Unexpectedly, Xu Yan was right. In the eyes of the older generation, the Air Force is a highly sought-after son-in-law, and the matchmaker brought her to him so quickly.
She carefully chose her words and said seriously, "Aunties, I'm very sorry, but I don't know anything about what you're asking. Yesterday, the air force pilots were just injured and came to me for treatment. Our clinic has regulations that strictly prohibit disclosing any information about patients. In addition, it's not easy for soldiers to protect our country, so we hope you can protect their privacy. No matter what news you hear, please don't spread it."
Upon hearing this, the women were greatly disappointed and sighed, "Alright, then we'll listen to Dr. Jiang."
After seeing them off, Jiang Mingxue breathed a sigh of relief. She had just finished seeing all the patients for the day, so she called Yan Ze and Bai Dong over to help carry the things inside and distribute them.
The things Rong Chengzhou gave her were all very practical, including mosquito nets, flashlights, tissues, a small water dispenser, a kettle, a desk lamp, laundry detergent, disinfectant wipes, instant noodles, a self-heating hot pot, and so on. There was also a pack with her name written on a sticky note, which was prepared just for her.
After dinner, Jiang Mingxue took the items back to her room and opened them with Xu Yan. Inside were some pastries from Beicheng, toiletries, two new sets of bed sheets and duvet covers, a thick wad of cash, and... sanitary napkins.
"Tsk tsk tsk—" Xu Yan clicked her tongue repeatedly, "Sister Ming, your brother-in-law is so considerate. He not only prepared a comb, towel, and mirror, but also so many sanitary napkins for you. He was worried that you wouldn't be used to the food, so he even brought you pineapple cakes and ox tongue biscuits with a shelf life of only five days. Judging from the production date, they were made this morning. He's afraid that you'll get thin from hunger in this poor, remote place."
Jiang Mingxue was also somewhat surprised. The differences between the diets of the North and South are significant, and she hadn't eaten much these past few days. Moreover, there were no convenience stores nearby, and her period was approaching. She was worried about not having enough sanitary napkins and didn't know where to buy them. She didn't expect Rong Chengzhou to deliver everything to her so conveniently.
He's been so thoughtful; if she doesn't even say thank you, she'll seem ungrateful.
Thinking of this, Jiang Mingxue took out her phone, found his chat box in the search bar, and opened it. It was empty; the chat history only had one page in total.
July 12, 2024 —
[CZ]: I've received a new assignment and I'm going back to my unit this afternoon. I won't be back for at least six months. Leave a message if you need anything, and I'll reply when I see it.
[Jiang Mingxue]: Okay.
[Jiang Mingxue]: May you have a safe journey.
December 4, 2024 —
[Jiang Mingxue]: Mr. Rong, what is your mobile phone number? The neighborhood office is updating resident information and needs to fill in spouse information.
January 13, 2025 —
[CZ]：139010xx102.
February 22, 2025 —
[Jiang Mingxue]: Okay.
Since receiving his New Year's reply, Jiang Mingxue has never sent him a message again.
Six months later, she typed a few more words:
[Jiang Mingxue]: Mr. Rong, thank you for the gift. Everyone is very grateful.
I was certain he wouldn't reply for at least several days, so I tossed my phone aside after sending the message. But less than two minutes later, my phone started vibrating.
Jiang Mingxue picked up her phone and saw the little red dot on Rong Chengzhou's profile picture. She subconsciously looked out the window and saw a bright moon hanging above the starry sky in the countryside.
She thought the sun had risen at night, and she was a little unaccustomed to the fact that it had come back so quickly.
[CZ]: Okay, let me know in advance if you need anything else.
[Jiang Mingxue]: We already have everything we need, enough for a month.
[CZ]: OK/jpg.
[Jiang Mingxue]: By the way, where did you buy all these things? I can buy them myself next time, so you don't have to bother to buy them and deliver them.
A minute later, the phone vibrated again, and Rong Chengzhou sent a brief message of two words:
[CZ]: My home.
Jiang Mingxue: "......"
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