When her parents came home on leave, Xiao Jiu heard them complaining.
"Things are really getting out of hand now. You need grain coupons to buy grain, meat coupons to buy meat, and you think that's all? No, no, no, now you need coupons for everything—milk powder, alcohol, cigarettes, candy, oilcloth, you name it. Even building materials—you need lime coupons for plastering, and coal coupons to buy coal."
"Dad, didn't it already start last year? Why are you saying this?"
"Silly child, last year is last year. This year the situation is much more difficult than last year. Last year, you could still buy tickets by using connections and paying more money. But this year it's not possible. You can't buy tickets even if you have money, and you can't buy tickets even if you have tickets. And judging from the current situation, it will probably get harder and harder in the future."
The couple are currently receiving temporary worker wages. Zhao Lingli earns 15 yuan a month, while Tao Changyi's work involves technical skills and earns 17 yuan. In addition, the factory provides some labor protection supplies every month. All workers who come in through legitimate channels receive these, but those who come through private introductions or third-party agencies do not. Fortunately, the couple successfully passed through layers of screening to advance their positions.
They do receive a salary, and it's true that there's a food allowance at the factory, but the couple doesn't have urban household registration; they still have rural household registration. They own land, so they don't receive grain coupons or meat coupons. Other coupons are only given to them after the regular employees have all been paid.
However, there were also many temporary workers in the factory, and when they got their hands on the documents, they mostly received those that were not very useful.
Zhao Lingli was also speechless. "Mom, you don't know, I need some cotton thread to sew a piece of clothing, and guess what? Even for just a small thread, they asked me for cloth coupons. Where am I supposed to get cloth coupons? Just thinking about the future makes my head spin. We have so many children in our family, and they even need cloth coupons for a small thread. How are we going to manage?"
The mother felt her mind go completely blank, and the grandmother's expression changed repeatedly. "The world has changed again!"
"That's right. City people have food ration coupons, coal purchase coupons, all sorts of colorful and miscellaneous ration coupons. But in the countryside, we have nothing. I don't know if it's right or wrong for us to change our household registration."
The old man, who was listening nearby, casually chimed in.
"What's right and what's wrong? As long as you stick to what you've done, you won't regret it. Now we have land to farm, and you both have salaries. Who's lacking food or drink? The children are all in school, and my husband and I are healthy enough. That's enough. Don't be so ungrateful."
Grandma seemed to be persuaded, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that what the old man said made sense.
“Your father is right. Don’t worry too much. As for these clothes, we can mend and patch them for another three years. When the children grow up and become successful, things will probably get better. Don’t worry about these things. You’ve come back once in a while, so take a good rest.”
As we were talking, we heard a commotion outside. Someone was crying. What happened?
Grandma sat at the front door, opened the door and glanced outside. She saw several children running back from the riverbank, one of them carrying a child on his back. Seeing this, she immediately sensed something was wrong.
Why are you running away? Why are you crying?
"Grandma Tao, Jin Suo was stung by a bee. He's so weak now, he can't even lift his eyelids. We quickly carried him back."
Upon hearing this, alarm bells rang in Xiao Jiu's mind. "Grandma, no, Zhou Jinshuo wasn't stung by a bee, he was stung by a wasp! If it's serious, it could be fatal!"
As soon as Xiao Jiu finished speaking, she regretted it. Grandma turned to look at her and asked, "How do you know it's a wasp and not a honeybee?"
“Grandma, just look at the wound and you’ll know. It’s a bee. When a bee stings, it dies quickly, and its stinger drags its internal organs out with it. When a wasp stings, only a very small stinger remains in the wound. That’s the difference. When I was in the hospital before, I heard the doctors talk about this. They also said that a child was brought in late and developed some kind of anaphylactic shock. By the time he got to the hospital, he was already dying.”
In the countryside, it's common to get stung by a bee. Some people's mouths or eyes swell up for days afterward; that's a common occurrence.
However, these are all considered mild cases. If a patient has a severe case and treatment is delayed, it could lead to death.
That's why Xiaojiu urged her grandma to go with her to take a look. Grandma is also a kind-hearted person, especially since they are so far from the county hospital. If they could save a child in time, it would be a good deed. So the two of them followed without thinking.
Zhou Jinshuo is the village chief's grandson. He is eight years old this year. This is his nickname. His real name is Zhou Jianjun.
When the grandfather and grandson arrived at the village chief's house, little Jin Suo was already incontinent, nauseous, vomiting, and even had a rash all over his body.
Even though Xiao Jiu instructed them to repeatedly wash the affected area with soap and vinegar, there was no immediate effect from taking them to the hospital.
Zhou Jinshuo's condition was already very serious. In fact, even without Xiaojiu's encouragement, they would have taken him to the hospital, but the county town was too far away. After thinking it over, they decided to go to the township health center. The family quickly got on the oxcart and headed towards the township.
As for whether he can be saved, no one can say for sure.
What Xiao Jiu didn't know was that this child was quite lucky, as he happened to run into Tang Cuimei, who was on her way to Xihe Village.
Cui Mei came to exchange books with Tao Ran and ask him a few political questions, but she didn't expect to run into Zhou Jin Suo.
When she saw Zhou Jinshuo's condition, she immediately realized something was wrong and, in a moment of panic, stopped their car.
Upon hearing that she had been stung by a bee, and not even knowing whether it was a honeybee or a wasp, Cui Mei glanced at the wound and her expression turned serious.
“He was stung by wasps. If you trust me, stop the oxcart first. There’s a grove of trees over there where the sun isn’t too strong. Go there, and I have a way to temporarily suppress the sting, at least enough to get him to the county hospital. Don’t go to the township clinic; the conditions there aren’t good enough.”
The Zhou family felt that the young girl in front of them was exaggerating. If the township health center couldn't save her, how could a little girl like her?
The person driving the cart happened to be the village chief himself. He saw that the little girl didn't seem to be talking nonsense, so without saying a word, he drove the oxcart to a shady spot.
As soon as the car arrived, Tang Cuimei carefully examined Jin Suo's condition, removed the allergen, and then glanced at the bed sheet in the car. She immediately asked his family to prop up the bed sheet to cover her up, saying that she could save him, but it had to be kept secret.
This action successfully made Village Chief Zhou hesitate, but Cui Mei stared at him intently.
"Hurry, or it will be too late. Look at your child, he's breathing rapidly. This is very dangerous. Don't worry, I'll take you both to the hospital and make sure he gets admitted and treated. Before that, I'll take responsibility if anything happens!"
With Tang Cuimei's words, the village chief no longer hesitated. He quickly pulled up the bed sheet to surround the child and her. This shield prevented anyone from seeing her skillfully taking out needles and spray from her spatial storage and administering an intramuscular injection to Jin Suo. If the situation was still not good, it would be necessary to establish an intravenous access, but this would require further observation.
After administering corticosteroids and adrenaline, and spraying her throat with saline nebulizer, she immediately tore off the bed sheet and beckoned them to get in the car.
"Quickly, go straight to the county hospital."
After Zhou's wife got into the car, the village chief immediately cracked the whip, and the three of them hurried to the county hospital.
Cui Mei wasn't listening at all; she was either taking his pulse or adjusting his posture, making him lie flat with his legs raised. When Zhou's wife saw how professional the girl was, her heart, which had been pounding, suddenly calmed down for some reason.
They were busy rescuing people, so when they went downhill, they ran down in unison and pushed the oxcart. They didn't dare to sit on it, for fear that if they went downhill too fast, the ox wouldn't be able to keep up and something would happen. With the weight lighter at the back, the ox wasn't under as much pressure, and they were able to keep going until they reached the county town.
Fortunately, Cui Mei kept comforting him and did a lot of life-saving treatment, and he finally made it to the hospital.
When the emergency room doctor received her, Cui Mei calmly recounted the medication she had been given, the child's previous reactions, and the various coping strategies. Watching the child being taken into the emergency room for treatment, she subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
Her heart is still pounding, not from nervousness, but as if she has rediscovered the professional instinct she had when she was a doctor.
Perhaps doing so would expose her, perhaps it would put her in danger, but when she saw the eight-year-old child, she didn't care about anything else.
What a wonderful child! He's so robust and healthy. If he were to die in front of her because of a wasp sting, she might regret it for the rest of her life.
As dusk settled, the lights in the emergency room finally went out, and the child was wheeled out. After comforting the village chief and his daughter-in-law, the doctor said a few words to them.
“Thanks to the previous treatment, otherwise even if he had been brought here, he wouldn’t have survived. The child needs to be observed more. Let’s go and complete the admission procedures. If his blood pressure rises, we need to lower it. We also need to monitor his breathing, pulse, and even urine output. One of you stay here, and the rest of you can go back and report. As long as there are no problems within 24 hours, he will have passed the critical period. Now we need to be wary of the possibility of biphasic attacks in some patients. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
The village chief and the others nodded as if they understood, but Cui Mei breathed a sigh of relief, which proved that her initial treatment was not a problem.
I am also grateful that her small medical space has enough medicine to deal with these emergencies.
Just as she was about to leave quietly, the village chief suddenly came over and grabbed her arm.
“Young lady, don’t go! You’re our family’s savior. We will definitely repay this great kindness. Which village are you from? We’re from Xihe Village. I’m the village chief of Xihe Village. If you need any help in the future, just let me know.”
Upon hearing this, Cui Mei raised an eyebrow. "I'm from Taoyuan Village. I was just planning to go to your Xihe Village this afternoon. Grandpa Tao and Grandma Tao are our godparents."
Upon hearing that the Tao family were godparents, the village chief immediately slapped his thigh.
"Oh my, so you're a godparent of the Tao family, and from Taoyuan Village too. You must be surnamed Tang, right? I know, I know. I never knew you had this ability."
"Village chief, let's just let this matter go for now, and not talk about it again. It was all just luck, don't you think?"
The village chief was taken aback, clearly not expecting anyone to refuse such a favor, but then he realized what was going on.
Although he was also curious about what she had done behind the bed sheet, and why her eyes were so determined at the time, and why she had taken the initiative to stop the consequences.
This young girl is clearly not an ordinary person, especially since she is still so young. If word gets out, it will definitely cause her trouble.
The girl didn't want anything, she just wanted him to keep it a secret, what couldn't he do?
Thinking of this, he immediately took out twenty yuan from his pocket and stuffed it into Cui Mei's hand.
“We’re just country folk, we don’t have much money. Don’t think it’s too little. Take the money, and we’ll call it even. Don’t worry, I’ll talk to my daughter-in-law, and it definitely won’t get out. If we run into each other again, we can pretend we don’t know each other. Is that okay?”
But Cui Mei refused to accept the money. "It was just a small favor. If the village chief wants to repay me, he can just treat my godparents' family better in the future. The child is still in the hospital and needs money right now. I didn't do anything, so there's no need to give me anything."
She was worried about how to repay the Tao family, and her eldest sister kept talking about this kindness. Now that she could have such a tacit understanding with the village chief, she felt that this opportunity would not come again.
It has to be said that Cui Mei is a smart girl. After all, money is nothing compared to the debts of gratitude that are hardest to repay.
The old man also discerned the character of this family's daughter and immediately agreed.
"Okay, you're a good kid, God will bless you. As for the Tao family, they're a kind and honest family. As long as I'm still in charge, I'll definitely take good care of them. Alright, it's getting late. If you won't take the money, at least let me take you back to the village, right?"
The old man paid the hospital fees, bought food for his daughter-in-law and grandson, and also bought a bag of steamed buns for Cuimei.
"Come home and eat. You must be hungry. I'm sorry for keeping you busy this afternoon. Don't bother cooking when you get home."
Since I couldn't refuse, I simply accepted it.
When Tang Cuimei returned to the village, it was already eight or nine o'clock in the evening. After saying goodbye to Village Chief Zhou, she hurried home.
Sure enough, Cuihong was already sitting anxiously at the gate waiting. Seeing this older sister, she felt extremely sorry for her.
She gently patted her shoulder, and the drowsy Cuihong woke up immediately. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Cuimei returning from outside.
He took her hand and led her to the kitchen, pointing to the pot, clearly indicating that he had left some food for her.
Cui Mei waved the steamed buns in front of her. Although they were cold, the aroma of the meat buns was really tempting, and she gave Cui Hong two at once.
Cuihong happily took the meat bun and ran into the house to eat it.
Cui Mei shook her head, took out two more herself, and put the rest into her storage cabinet to keep them fresh and prevent them from spoiling in the heat.
There was mung bean porridge simmering in the pot, along with two sorghum buns and a plate of dark, pickled vegetables.
Although it was simple, this was the healthiest meal. She didn't eat the sorghum buns and put them in the storage cabinet so she could have them later if she got hungry. The aroma of the meat buns was too tempting, so she ate those two first.
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