Dr. Liu's words were like a bolt from the blue for Zhou Jiajun, leaving him completely stunned. His expression froze for a moment, his body went limp, and he uncontrollably stumbled back two steps and slumped into a chair, as if all the strength had been drained from his body in an instant.
"Xiao Zhou, you have to try to take it easy." Dr. Liu felt a little sorry for him looking like this, so she reached out and patted Zhou Jiajun's shoulder. Everyone eventually comes to this point, and she believed that Zhou's mother would not want to see her son so sad.
He just couldn't understand how an honest boy like Zhou Jiajun could let his mother suffer from malnutrition and let him have a high fever all night.
"Jiajun, try to be more positive. I believe your mother doesn't want you to be so sad. We'll take good care of you from now on, so don't be upset." This was the heartfelt comfort from the kind-hearted villagers.
"Zhou Jiajun, how did you take care of her? Damn it, you've left her like this. Even though everyone's poor these days, she shouldn't be malnourished." This was the resentment of a villager who heard Dr. Liu's words.
Then the villagers started chattering away. Zhou Jiajun felt like countless flies were buzzing in his head, ready to explode at any moment; his head was throbbing with pain.
"Dr. Liu, I beg you, please save me! I'll even take your life if you want, please!" Zhou Jiajun knelt down with a thud, hugged Dr. Liu's thigh and wailed. It was quite a strange sight to see a grown man crying like a helpless child.
The scene silenced everyone instantly; they were stunned and dared not say another word. It would be unreasonable for them to interrupt when the other person was so heartbroken.
"This... don't hold me, get up quickly, I... I tried my best, but if his fever doesn't go down, it will really kill him." Dr. Liu was completely bewildered, struggling to push Zhou Jiajun away as she spoke helplessly.
If he could save them, he would do everything in his power. But his abilities were limited; he could only treat minor illnesses like colds and fevers in the villagers. A case like Zhou's mother's was truly difficult to treat; he could even say that even the local hospitals might not be able to cure her.
"Stop watching the commotion, everyone. My little clinic is closed today. You should all go home." Dr. Liu didn't want anyone to watch the show, so he waved his hand and sent everyone away.
"Um... Brother Zhou, what's wrong?" A soft female voice rang out in the quiet room, clear and energetic, sounding particularly loud in the quiet environment.
"An Jin?" Dr. Liu turned his head and saw the woman standing at the door, and couldn't help but call out her name in surprise. "Are you here to deliver herbs?"
Because An Jin and Wu You enjoyed hunting, digging traps, gathering herbs, and picking wild vegetables in the back mountains, they had accumulated quite a few items. Dr. Liu, being older, also needed to gather herbs, so after a friendly discussion with Wu You, they decided to exchange them.
In those days, the policy of suppression against speculation and profiteering was still in place. The existence of the black market was too secretive, and the vast majority of villagers were still honest farmers who would never use money for transactions. In their eyes, this was speculation and profiteering, which was strictly prohibited by the state.
Although speculation and profiteering were strictly prohibited, the exchange of goods was permitted and not considered a problem. The Wuyou couple exchanged herbs with Dr. Liu, obtaining some medicine from him—a win-win situation.
"Dr. Liu, these are the medicinal herbs we collected over the past two weeks, specially brought to you." An Jin took off her backpack, showing the herbs inside to Dr. Liu. The herbs were cleaned meticulously using professional methods, without any damage, which was why Dr. Liu was willing to cooperate with them.
"Aunt Zhou, is she running a high fever?" Seeing Zhou's mother's flushed face, An Jin frowned and asked cautiously.
"Sigh..." Dr. Liu sighed and briefly explained the situation.
Seeing Zhou Jiajun so heartbroken and his mother so haggard, An Jin couldn't help but feel deep sympathy and hesitated before speaking.
“Brother Zhou, I once learned some medicine from Brother Yan. Why don’t you let me take a look at Aunt Zhou?”
Because he needed to learn how to collect medicinal herbs, Wuyou taught Anjin some medical knowledge and discovered that the other party had a talent for this and was also very interested in medicine. In the past six months, he had taught him quite a lot. But all of this was theoretical knowledge; when it came to actual practice, he really had nothing.
"Yes, why don't you let An Jin take a look?" Dr. Liu also advised. He really couldn't stand having his legs held by others anymore; it looked terrible. In truth, he didn't have much hope for An Jin.
How much medical skill can a teenage girl have? Knowing how to collect herbs only means she has some knowledge, but it's not enough to prove anything. It's just a desperate measure.
"Okay, An Jin, please take a look at my mother. Whether it's good or bad, I'll be grateful for your kindness." Zhou Jiajun wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes. The man in his twenties was crying so hard that his face was covered in tears and snot, which showed how heartbroken he was.
An Jin entered, and with the dust on his hands, he brought it close to Zhou's mother's face, examined her eyelids, and took her pulse. His technique was slightly clumsy but incredibly natural.
Watching his technique, Dr. Liu couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation of surprise. This seemed to have some skill involved; it wasn't just the little girl playing around as he had initially thought.
“Brother Zhou, this is some tonic you gave me. Give it to Aunt Zhou, it should help. She's mainly weak and caught a cold, which caused her high fever. Her body couldn't handle it all at once, so I believe this medicine will help. Then you can take her to the county hospital in time.”
An Jin spoke logically and clearly, and as she spoke, she took a small plastic bottle from her pocket and placed it in Zhou Jiajun's hand. Dr. Liu looked at it curiously, then gently kissed it. A rich medicinal aroma wafted out, and his eyes lit up. This was definitely a good thing.
"Give this to your mother to try first. This stuff will definitely not do any harm to her health." Since Dr. Liu said so, Zhou Jiajun had no doubts and immediately diluted it with water and fed it to his mother.
The three hurriedly helped Zhou's mother onto the oxcart to go to the hospital. On the way, Zhou's mother's condition did not worsen and was even better than Dr. Liu had expected.
Fortunately, everything is moving in a positive direction. The doctor said that Zhou's mother's condition is relatively stable and she only needs to stay in the hospital for a while. It's also fortunate that she was brought in in time; otherwise, she might have been burned into a mentally impaired state.
Zhou Jiajun was extremely grateful to An Jin, wishing he could treat her like a goddess, which made An Jin feel quite embarrassed.
After confirming that Zhou's mother was safe and sound, the three of them returned to Guangming Brigade together. Zhou Jiajun needed to go back to pack some things so he could take care of his mother at the hospital. However, an unexpected incident occurred just as they reached the village entrance.
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