That night, Huang Xiaoguo's room was brightly lit with candles. Wang Huijun touched Huang Xuewen's forehead; it was burning hot. "He has a fever."
Huang Xiaoguo was woken up in the middle of the night by Wang Huijun. Hearing that the child had a fever, he immediately woke up. "How could he suddenly have a fever? I didn't take him out in the cold wind during the day. I even put a hat on him when you came back in the evening."
Wang Huijun said coldly, "He didn't eat during the day, and he ate too much at night. Now he probably has indigestion, which is why he has a fever."
"Then, what should we do?"
Huang Xiaoguo rolled over and said, "I'm going to find Mom."
Wang Huijun called out to him, "What time is it now? Mom has been asleep for a long time. I remember there's some wine in the kitchen, go get it, and also get some hot water while you're at it."
Huang Xiaoguo put on a pair of shoes and immediately opened the door and rushed towards the kitchen.
Wang Huijun pressed her face against Huang Xuewen's small face, and the fiery heat instantly spread to her own face.
A tear slid down his cheek and dripped onto Huang Xuewen's face.
When Huang Xiaoguo came in with the things, Wang Huijun had recovered completely, except that her eyes were a little red.
"I've brought the items. How do I use them?"
Wang Huijun took the towel from his hand, soaked it in alcohol, and carefully wiped Huang Xuewen's nape, palms, and soles of his feet.
Before the second time, Old Mrs. Wu came in with a sullen face.
Wang Huijun glanced at Huang Xiaoguo subconsciously.
Why are you looking at him like that!
"Is it a small matter for a child to be sick and have a fever?" Looking at Huang Xuewen's flushed face, Old Mrs. Wu spoke to Wang Huijun in a serious tone for the first time.
Huang Xiaoguo lowered his head.
"What are you waiting for! Quickly wrap the child up tightly and go to the clinic to have a doctor take a look."
Wang Huijun nodded emphatically, quickly grabbed a small blanket, wrapped Huang Xuewen up, covered his head with the corner of the blanket, picked him up, and followed Wu Laotai as they ran towards Xiayao Village under the cover of night.
The night sky was cloudless, and the bright moon illuminated the road. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law walked quickly and soon knocked on the door of the clinic in the darkness.
Zhou Yongjun, who was sleeping soundly, was startled by the loud knocking on the door and rolled out of bed. In his panic, he grabbed his glasses from beside his pillow, put them on, threw on his clothes, and went outside.
"Who is it?"
As soon as I stepped outside, I saw Old Mrs. Wu, a woman behind her, and the blanket she was holding in her arms.
Seeing that the shape resembled a child, Zhou Yongjun disregarded his shock and anger at being woken up, quickly adjusted his glasses, and ran over to open the door for them.
"Dr. Zhou! My grandson has a fever, please take a look."
"Alright, alright, come in quickly."
As Zhou Yongjun led the child towards the treatment room, he asked when the child had developed a fever and how long it had lasted.
Wang Huijun carefully explained when and how long the child had a fever, and also mentioned that the child had eaten a little too much that evening.
"Okay, I understand."
She handed Wang Huijun a thermometer and asked her to put it under the child's armpit to take his temperature. Then she gave Grandma Wu two warm cotton balls.
Let her wipe the child's neck and armpits.
If the weather were warm, I could wipe my inner thighs, but now the weather is cold and damp, and the charcoal brazier in the house has long since gone out.
I kept tossing and turning, pulling the blanket off and covering myself again, afraid of catching a cold.
Wang Huijun took the cotton ball and sensed something was wrong. "Is this wet?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
"If you wipe it with alcohol..."
Before Wang Huijun could finish speaking, Zhou Yongjun interrupted her, saying, "Don't use alcohol on children, it might cause them to shiver."
After saying that, seeing her pale face, he realized that she must have used alcohol to wipe the child when she was at home. He sighed and said in a gentle tone, "As long as you didn't soak such a small child directly in alcohol, it's not a big problem. Just be careful not to use alcohol to wipe the child next time."
Wang Huijun lowered her eyes and nodded, tears falling one after another onto the blanket wrapped around Huang Xuewen.
By the time Huang Xiaoguo finished packing and came over, Huang Xuewen had already received an injection to reduce his fever.
"A high fever of 38.6 degrees Celsius. We gave her an antipyretic injection and fed her some warm water. She'll be fine once the fever goes down."
"You should stay here for the night and observe the situation further. If there's nothing else to do tomorrow, you can go back."
"We're from our province, it's really troubling Dr. Zhou so late at night."
Zhou Yongjun looked displeased and sternly criticized Wang Huijun, "What kind of talk is that! We're all from the same village. Besides, for me as a doctor, a child's illness is the most important thing. What's with all this talk of trouble?"
Wang Huijun looked at Old Lady Wu, unsure of what to do; she was just being polite.
"Dr. Zhou is right. Children are the flowers of our motherland, and they are the most important."
Just as Wang Huijun was about to breathe a sigh of relief after seeing off a satisfied Zhou Yongjun, a head suddenly poked in from outside the door, "Call me if you need anything in the middle of the night."
"I know, I know."
As the fever subsided, Wang Huijun finally felt relieved.
Huang Xiaoguo now understood why Huang Xuewen had a fever. He lowered his head and stood beside Wang Huijun, saying, "I'm sorry... I..."
"Dad...Dad..."
Wang Huijun was nearby and heard her son calling Huang Xiaoguo in his drowsy state, which calmed her anger.
"Paying more attention to our son in the future is better than anything else."
"I, I understand."
She cautiously peeked at Huang Xuewen, whose brow was gradually relaxing, and finally felt relieved. She put down the blanket she was carrying on her back and covered Wu Laotai and Wang Huijun with it. "It's cold at night, Mom, you should go back and rest first. Huijun and I will take care of things."
"Yes, Mom, you should go back and rest."
Grandma Wu glanced at the unreliable couple and said, "No need, it's only a few hours away anyway."
Once Old Lady Wu has spoken, there's never any room for reversal, so Huang Xiaoguo and Wang Huijun didn't dare say anything more.
She stayed awake all night until dawn. Looking at Wang Huijun and Huang Xiaoguo, who were squinting, Old Lady Wu's eyes were clear, showing no signs of tiredness.
When Zhou Yongjun came in, his eyes met those of Old Lady Wu, and he was slightly surprised. "You're awake?"
I glanced at her neat, frizz-free hair; it didn't look like she'd been asleep.
Grandma Wu didn't explain, but changed the subject, saying, "Dr. Zhou, could you please take another look at the child?"
"Oh, okay."
Putting that question aside, he patted Huang Xuewen's forehead and said, "The fever has gone down, you don't need an injection anymore. Just go home and drink plenty of warm water. Pay attention to your diet for the next few days and eat more light and bland foods."
While Zhou Yongjun was talking to Old Lady Wu, Wang Huijun and Huang Xiaoguo had already woken up and heard him say that everything was alright.
The couple breathed a sigh of relief.
"Should we prescribe some more fever reducer?"
Zhou Yongjun's relaxed brows furrowed again in an instant, "Every medicine has some side effects. The fever has subsided. Just be careful with your diet when you get back and don't get indigestion. What medicine should I take?"
Wang Huijun shrank her neck; why did she always manage to irritate Dr. Zhou with her words?
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