Chapter 80 Hope from God
It rains heavily during the Qingming Festival.
It seems to be normal to rain during Qingming Festival.
Donghua Town had a continuous drizzle a few days ago, but during the Qingming Festival, it was sunny and the spring breeze was warm.
At the beginning of the road leading to Yanggou Village in Donghua Town, a young man got off a bus carrying a backpack. He walked with fatigue and his face was a little swollen. He was not very old, about 27 or 28 years old.
After getting off the car, Qi Wei looked around. This place was a bit far from the market. There were self-built houses on the roadside and a supermarket. Further ahead was a straight cement road with several ox carts parked on the roadside.
Mr. Yang Si was looking at the rice fields not far away and smoking a pipe when suddenly a voice rang in his ears: "Hello, are you going to Yanggou Village?"
"Go!" Fourth Master Yang quickly threw his cigarette on the ground, stomped it out with his foot, and turned around. "Are you the only one?"
Qi Wei nodded, "Just me."
"Can you wait a little longer? Wait until more people come before leaving."
"Okay," Qi Wei stood by the road with his bag on his back, waiting, his eyes fixed on the rice fields.
"Young man, put your bag on the bus. It's heavy to carry. Have you had breakfast?"
Fourth Master Yang looked at Qi Wei and advised.
Qi Wei hesitated for a moment, then took the bag and put it in the car. "I haven't eaten yet. Is there any place selling breakfast nearby?"
"Yes, at the market..."
As they were chatting, two young girls came over and stopped in front of another ox cart. The man was from Haotang Village and asked Mr. Yang Si loudly, "Old Uncle Yang, let these two girls ride in your cart. Pull them over first."
Fourth Master Yang quickly asked Qi Wei, "Young man, shall we go first?"
"OK."
"Okay, ask those two girls if they're willing to share a ride with the guy."
Li Yun and Xu Zhiyi didn't mind. They walked over with their bags on their backs and followed Qi Wei's example by placing the bags under the buttocks of the ox cart.
Li Yun first walked around the ox cart and asked with interest, "Uncle, can I take a photo with the ox later?"
She wasn't the first to make such a request. Fourth Master Yang was already used to it and smiled: "Sure, sure, it's free, no charge. It's called Old Buddy. Where are you from?"
"My hometown is Xiangshi. When I was a kid, I only saw cattle, not water buffaloes. By the way, Sister Xu, where are you from?"
The cart was a bit small, so it was inevitable that one would bump into other people's limbs. Xu Zhiyi didn't want to bump into the young man in the same cart, so she sat in an uncomfortable position.
Li Yun quickly noticed her movements and pulled Xu Zhiyi towards him while asking questions. Xu Zhiyi almost stuck her whole body to her, so she finally couldn't touch anyone else.
Xu Zhiyi breathed a sigh of relief. "My hometown..." She pursed her lips, as if she was reluctant to mention it, and reluctantly said, "Hanjiang City."
"Not bad. I remember that people over there can really eat spicy food, right?"
"Yes, you like spicy food?"
"I can handle spicy food just fine. I can't handle really spicy food because it causes stomachaches."
Mr. Yang Si, who was listening to the two girls chatting happily in front, also said, "Then you are in luck. You don't have to worry about not getting used to the food when you come to our place. By the way, have you two had breakfast?"
"I almost forgot, we also bought breakfast!"
Li Yun slapped his head, quickly put the bag in his arms in the car, opened the zipper, and took out the soy milk and buns.
The two of them found a hotel in town, washed up, and then went out. They bought breakfast on the way, but forgot to put it in their bag.
"Breakfast is enough. Eat something first to fill your stomach. Lunch will be served later!"
Fourth Master Yang asked Qi Wei again, "Young man, you haven't eaten yet, right? No wonder you look so pale. We're in a hurry now. Do you want to go to the market to eat something and take the next bus? Or what should we do?"
Qi Wei's face was swollen and pale. He shook his head and said, "No, I don't want to eat anymore. Let's go."
"That's fine. You're young and can handle it with just one meal."
Mr. Yang Si said nothing more, patted his old friend and said, "Let's go."
The ox took very human-like steps, and the ox cart moved forward slowly.
Li Yun bought six steamed buns in four different flavors and asked Xu Zhiyi, "Sister Xu, what flavor do you want, mushroom and vegetable buns, preserved vegetable and pork buns, mapo tofu buns, or red bean buns?"
"Red Bean's, right?"
"One or two?"
"One will do."
"Then I'll give you this mushroom and vegetable one too."
Xu Zhiyi took the two buns, turned his head to look at the surrounding scenery, and started eating silently.
"Hello, would you like some buns? We bought too many and can't finish them. If you don't mind, could you help me eat some?" Li Yun suddenly said to Qi Wei who was in the same car.
Qi Wei didn't react for a moment. Li Yun shook the bun in his hand and said, "It's clean. I haven't touched it with my hands. I see that you don't look well. You should eat something. Are you here to play too?"
Qi Wei no longer resisted Li Yun's kindness. He took the buns and smiled shyly: "Thank you. My name is Qi Wei. I came here from Handong to play. I'm not hungry, I'm sick. I came here to relax. Thank you for your kindness."
Since falling ill, Qi Wei's mood has been like the rainy season in the south, with not a single sunny day. Only by watching Xia Xia's energetic videos can he find the long-lost relaxation and joy.
"Young man, you are sick. I was wondering why you looked pale. But why don't you go to the doctor when you are sick? Why are you still out playing? You really don't take care of your body. Xiao Wu's grandfather is a doctor. When we go to the village later, I will take you to see a doctor."
"No, no, thank you, sir. I have a serious illness and need a kidney transplant. I can't wait for a kidney, so I just ran out to play."
"What's wrong?"
"Uremia."
Li Yun felt pity and replaced the meat buns that were originally intended for Qi Wei with buns with a lighter flavor.
"What a pity, he's so young, but don't be afraid. Medical technology is so advanced nowadays, even the dead can be brought back to life. As long as he's not dead yet, there's still a chance."
Qi Wei originally found it difficult to talk about his illness, especially since he was a young man and not married. It would not be nice to say this in front of two young girls.
But he didn't expect that the words would come out easily. Perhaps it was because the environment here was too comfortable, or perhaps it was because the two young women's distant yet friendly attitude towards him made him feel more relaxed...
Qi Wei complained about the pain of his illness. He had a hard life since he was a child. When he was a child, his parents went out to work and he was sent to live with his grandparents when he was less than one year old. His parents might not come back once a year. When he was five or six years old, his parents gave birth to a younger brother, and they could not even remember that he was in their hometown.
It was not until Qi Wei was in junior high school that his grandparents passed away one after another and there was no one to take care of him at home, so his parents took him to Handong. Compared with his younger brother who was raised by his parents since childhood, he was like an orphan who grew up in the wild. He had a dull and unpleasant personality, could not keep up with his studies, and was once hated by his parents.
Qi Wei did very poorly in the high school entrance exam. Going to high school in Handong required a school selection fee of 30,000 yuan, so his parents simply stopped him from going to school and asked him to go out to work.
After leaving school at the age of fifteen, Qi Wei worked in a factory, learned to be a barber, and worked as a waiter. He had experienced all kinds of hardships. At the age of nineteen, he worked as a waiter in a star-rated hotel. He stayed there for five or six years, and gradually rose from a grassroots employee to the head of the housing management department. His salary was getting higher and higher. Just when he saw that there was hope in his life, he was diagnosed with uremia during a physical examination.
The hotel was pretty nice to him and didn't fire him, allowing him to take a paid leave.
After Qi Wei told his family that he was sick, his parents simply blocked him and didn't even want to ask a single question, for fear that Qi Wei would ask them for money.
In this way, Qi Wei went to the hospital alone to see a doctor and undergo dialysis. The doctor told him that a kidney transplant was the best treatment for uremia. As long as there were relatives willing to provide him with a kidney, a kidney transplant would only cost tens of thousands of yuan.
But if the kidney is from an external source, it will cost at least 200,000 or 300,000 yuan.
Qi Wei entered society at the age of fifteen and earned a lot of money, but all the money he earned in the previous years was taken away by his parents on the pretext of saving it. After Qi Wei fell ill, he immediately asked his parents for help, wanting to get back the money he had saved from his work, but he was pointed at in the nose and scolded out of the house.
They say he is ungrateful and unfilial. His parents raised him, so it is his duty to give money to them. There is no reason for him to ask for it back.
Qi Wei said that he had uremia and would die without surgery, so he was blocked by his parents. When Qi Wei came to their house again, his parents and his younger brother moved away.
The ox cart moved slowly, giving Qi Wei enough time to talk about his experiences over the years. Xu Zhiyi didn't want to listen at first, but as he listened, he became immersed in it.
Looking at Qi Wei, his face showed pity: "You are a boy, and your parents treat you like this?"
She thought that parents in the world were only mean to girls.
Qi Wei laughed bitterly and said to himself, "When you are not loved, men and women are the same."
Fourth Master Yang kept shaking his head in the front, "There are still parents like this in the world, really..."
He didn't know what to say.
Xu Zhiyi laughed and said, "Uncle, at your age, haven't you ever seen cruel parents?"
"As the saying goes, even a tiger won't eat its own cubs. Some parents are irresponsible, but they can't just watch their children die!"
Xu Zhiyi thought of something and sneered, "That's because the customs here are good, unlike my hometown. If I hadn't been lucky, I would have been thrown into the water and drowned by the elders on my father's side as soon as I was born."
Hanjiang and Handong are neighbors. Just now, when Fourth Master Yang asked Xu Zhiyi where she came from, she looked reluctant. At that time, Qi Wei had some guesses in his mind that this girl must be at odds with her family.
Sure enough, when Xu Zhiyi said that she was almost drowned when she was born, Qi Wei understood.
The Han River has a particularly serious preference for boys over girls. In an era when having a second child was not allowed, if the first child was a girl, she would most likely be abandoned, sold or killed.
The two, a man and a woman, were of different genders, but their experiences were very similar. Qi Wei was even worse off than Xu Zhiyi, as a sudden illness shattered his expectations of life.
Without his health, he has nothing.
Might as well have some fun during the last period of your life.
Qi Wei didn't say these words out loud, but the others could understand. All the money he had saved had been taken away by his parents. Without a suitable kidney, and without money, he was left helpless. Anyone would fall into despair, watching death approach.
Li Yun quickly tried to smooth things over, "Forget it, let's not talk about those bad things when we're out having fun. Look at the beautiful mountains and rivers here, the scenery is so beautiful. Maybe playing here for a few days will make you feel much better!"
"Yes, yes, yes. Sometimes, when a person's mood improves, all physical problems disappear!"
After being interrupted by Li Yun and Mr. Yang Si, the atmosphere in the car finally became better.
When they arrived at Yanggou Village, Li Yun and Xu Zhiyi got off the car, planning to stroll around the village first and then go to Yantou Mountain to play. Qi Wei was stopped by Fourth Master Yang, who insisted on taking him to see Xia Wu's grandfather to check his pulse.
The three of them went their separate ways.
"Uncle, I don't want to see it. There's really no need to see it. The hospital has already examined me..."
"Oh, just take a look. There's no harm in taking a look. What if he can cure you? Let me tell you, young man, don't underestimate Chinese medicine. Xiao Wu's grandfather is a very skilled doctor. Many people here are sick and can't be cured even in big hospitals. But he can cure them in no time!"
Fourth Master Yang was so confident that even Qi Wei was a little shaken. Could it be that he really had met a miraculous doctor who was unknown in the world?
During the struggle, Qi Wei was taken to Xia Wu's home.
The Yang family's courtyard is divided into the front house and the back house. There are two rooms in the front, which is the territory of Mr. Yang.
The house on the left has a medicine cabinet and a bed. Sometimes when villagers come to see a doctor, Grandpa Yang lets them lie on this bed to rest.
The room on the right is Mr. Yang's bedroom. The books take up more space than the bed. There is a color TV from the last century by the window, and in front of the TV is a long rattan chair with a shiny surface.
When he was not out seeing patients, Yang Hongen liked to lie on a rattan chair. Sometimes he would draw the curtain behind the TV to let the sunlight in, and read a book while wearing his reading glasses. Sometimes he would draw the curtain, turn on the TV, and tune into an opera program where he could hear the singing of an opera, and Mr. Yang would fall asleep while swaying on the rattan chair.
After Xia Wu became busy, Bugs Bunny was left alone at home, so he had to be kept in a cage. It didn't have to be caged; it wouldn't run around. But one time, it ran from Xia Wu's house to Grandpa Yang's pharmacy, opened the medicine cabinet, and messed with it, spilling all the herbs Grandpa had prepared all over the floor, and even urinated on them...
From then on, whenever Xia Wu went out, he would put Bugs Bunny in a cage and send the cage to his grandfather's house for safekeeping.
When Fourth Master Yang brought Qi Wei to the Yang family's house, the gate was open, but there was no one in the yard. He shouted at the top of his voice, "Is anyone there?"
After calling out twice, Yang Hongen woke up from his dream: "Old Four? I'm in the room, come in."
Fourth Master Yang's face lit up with joy. "He's just at home, hurry in."
Qi Wei followed Mr. Yang Si to the corridor and smelled a strong aroma of Chinese medicine.
The door of Yang Hongen's room was ajar, and it opened before Mr. Yang Si could push it.
"Is this... a rabbit???" Qi Wei lowered his head and saw a yellow rabbit crawling out from the crack of the door, then pushing the door open.
Noticing Qi Wei's gaze, the yellow rabbit looked at him with a hint of contempt, as if mocking him, a human, for making a fuss.
Qi Wei: “???”
Was he sick and stupid? How could he see so many emotions in a rabbit's eyes?
Fourth Master Yang was not surprised at all. He pushed the door open and walked right in. He also praised him: "Myna is getting smarter and smarter. He can even open the door for people."
Yang Hongen half-sat up on the rattan chair, and Bugs Bunny jumped on his knees, finding a comfortable position to nestle beside his hand.
A rabbit named Myna is even stranger.
Qi Wei followed him into the house silently. Fourth Master Yang introduced him to Yang Hongen, "This is a young man who came to our village to play. He's also a fan of Xiao Wu. He came all the way here. Poor him, he must be ill and needs a kidney transplant. I thought of bringing him here for you to see and think of a solution."
Yang Hongen looked at Qi Wei and sized him up for a moment. The light in the room was a little dim and the opera was a little noisy.
He found the remote control and turned off the TV, then asked Master Yang Si to open the curtains.
"Young man, please move a stool and sit over here."
Yang Hongen had some idea that the patient needed a kidney transplant, so he asked Qi Wei to sit opposite him. He brought a high stool and placed it between the two of them. He also found a small pillow to support his arm and asked Qi Wei to put his arm on it, exposing his left wrist.
Mr. Yang Si stood aside, not daring to speak, for fear of disturbing Yang Hongen. The room was quiet for a while.
Qi Wei secretly looked at the old man in front of him. To be honest, when he saw Yang Hongen for the first time, his heart skipped a beat. This old man looked too much like an otherworldly sage.
Yang Hongen should be in his sixties or seventies. When he was young, he was definitely over 1.8 meters tall. Now he is old and has shrunk a little, but he is not hunched over and looks energetic. His hair is a little gray, and his eyebrows are very long. Three or four centimeters of white eyebrows hang on both sides of his cheeks, making him look like an immortal.
Looking at the many books in the room, at first glance they are all related to traditional Chinese medicine. There are even some yellowed ancient books with no words on their covers. The enamel pot next to it has a thick layer of tea stains. The room is always filled with the reassuring smell of Chinese herbal medicine.
Qi Wei didn’t know what others thought of the environment here, but in Qi Wei’s heart, he felt that it was very trustworthy.
Not to mention that there was a strange rabbit wrapped around Yang Hongen's legs.
While Yang Hongen was just taking Qi Wei's pulse, he was thinking divergently. Legend has it that there is a Guanghan Palace on the moon, and in the Guanghan Palace there is the fairy Chang'e. Next to the fairy Chang'e is a rabbit that can pound medicine. Could the rabbit also pound an elixir that can allow people to ascend to heaven?
When such a magical rabbit appeared next to an old Chinese doctor, he inexplicably had a feeling that his disease might be curable. So he didn't want to ascend to heaven, but just wanted his kidney disease to be cured, preferably without the need for a kidney transplant to save some money.
"How old are you, young man?"
Yang Hongen suddenly spoke, interrupting Qi Wei's wandering thoughts.
"I'm 25, sir. Can my disease be cured?"
Yang Hongen didn't answer him directly, but continued to ask Qi Wei about his daily living habits and how he discovered that he had the disease.
Qi Wei told everything truthfully.
"That's right," Yang Hongen retracted his hand and said slowly, "The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine mentions the concept of 'guan ge'. Its symptoms are consistent with what we call uremia today. Guan refers to urinary incontinence, and ge refers to nausea and vomiting in severe cases. The core concept is that the underlying condition is deficiency and the superficial condition is excess..."
Yang Hongen spoke a lot and many of the symptoms matched Qi Wei's condition.
He works in a star-rated hotel, where he needs to stand for long periods of time and stay up late. Sometimes he is so busy that he doesn't even have time to urinate, so he can only drink less water and hold it in. The reversed day and night schedule, coupled with a diet high in oil and salt, can easily cause kidney problems.
Qi Wei relied on his youth and did not take the initial symptoms seriously at all. The creatinine level was out of control and the kidney damage was irreversible, so it would naturally become more and more serious and develop into the so-called uremia.
"Doctor Yang, is there any hope for me?" Qi Wei's face was gloomy and he almost cried. He had no money for a kidney transplant, and the best outcome for him was to control his condition and prevent it from getting worse.
Mr. Yang Si also looked at Yang Hongen expectantly and told him about Qi Wei's miserable life story.
"This child's parents are so cruel. They didn't use the money they saved to pay for his medical treatment, and he just ran away. He's no different from an orphan. He came here just to spend a few days in leisure, not thinking about the future. He's only 23, so young."
Yang Hongen rubbed his thumb. His many years of medical experience made him extremely cautious when facing patients. He never exaggerates or conceals anything. Of course, he would not rashly say that he could definitely cure the disease.
Just like he couldn't cure his own grandson's dementia.
Who can say for sure?
"Young man, if you're not in a hurry to go back to work, why not stay here for a while? I'll prescribe a prescription for you. Take it for half a month and see how it goes. Also, eat a light diet with less oil and salt to avoid putting extra strain on your kidneys."
As Yang Hongen spoke, he pulled out a used exercise book from the bookshelf next to him. He flipped to the back and found a ballpoint pen. He raised his hand to think for a moment and began to write the prescription.
Qi Wei was a little excited. "I'm not in a hurry to go back. Can I rent a house in our village? If so, I can stay here for a month."
Fourth Master Yang was also happy for him. "There are quite a lot of empty houses in our village. If you don't mind, you can live with me. It's close to their house, and you can eat with me. I'm an old man and my meals are light, which is just right for you."
Qi Wei really didn't know what to say. He had just come here to have fun and relax, but he didn't expect that everyone he met would be so enthusiastic.
"Uncle, thank you so much. Thank you for taking me in. How about this: I'll give you 2,000 yuan a month for food and accommodation. Is that okay with you?" Qi Wei felt a little embarrassed when he said the price. 2,000 yuan for free food and accommodation, it's not such a good thing outside, especially since he is a patient.
Who knew that Fourth Master Yang would just wave his hand and say, "I don't need that much. Just give me three hundred. This isn't where the emperor lives. How can I ask for so much? It's not easy for you either."
"Isn't three hundred too little?"
"It's quite a bit. You still have to pay for medical treatment."
The two men bargained, and finally Qi Wei made a firm decision to give Mr. Yang Si eight hundred yuan. If he didn't accept it, Qi Wei would find another place to live.
Yang Hongen wrote the prescription and said to Qi Wei, "You are a good young man. Just live at Lao Si's house. I can come visit you if anything happens. I will go get you some medicine now."
The so-called getting medicine means walking across the corridor to the opposite room, opening the medicine cabinet and starting to weigh the medicine.
"Pinellia, dried tangerine peel, Poria cocos, Plantago seed..."
Yang Hongen quickly packed seven packets of medicine and said, "One dose a day. Boil three bowls of water into one bowl. Drink it for seven days first. I'll check your pulse and see if I need to change the medicine."
"Thank you, Doctor Yang. Thank you so much. How much are these medicines?"
"Just give me two hundred."
At this price, in Hanjiang, it is only enough to see a specialist.
Qi Wei's lips were trembling, as if God was trying every possible way to keep him alive.
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