Zhang Yong was shocked when he saw He Jiuniang. They had all fled from disaster, and they were badly injured. They had lost all their wealth and ended up in the refugee slum.
The Lu family members, however, looked clean and had rosy complexions, clearly having not suffered much hardship. It was unbelievable that they even put sugar in the water they were given.
Especially since the Lu family's conditions were not as good as the Zhang family's before, did the Lu family have some kind of extraordinary encounter?
He pursed his lips and didn't speak, but the child in his arms nodded understandingly.
He Jiuniang held Xiuya in her arms and fed her some water. Lu Guilan arrived and excitedly called out from afar, "Third Sister-in-law!"
Lu Guilan is the youngest daughter of the Lu family. She has only been married to the Zhang family for five or six years. In her hometown of Changzhou, Lu Guilan lived a good life and often helped her family. Now that she has fallen on hard times, the Lu family naturally wants to lend her a hand.
"Little sister, it's so good to have found you! Our parents were so worried about us on the way here!"
He Jiuniang stood up, holding Xiuya in her arms. Xiuya had already woken up, but because of her poor health, she was still drowsy, just like Gou'er had been.
"Yes, it's so good to see you all!"
As Lu Guilan said this, tears streamed down her face.
She had previously thought that she was living a good life, yet she had ended up in such a state; her family was living even worse than her, and she didn't know what kind of suffering they would endure on the road ahead.
Seeing He Jiuniang standing safely in front of her, with a rosy complexion, she was genuinely happy for them.
Are your parents alright?
He Jiuniang nodded: "Good, very good. We met some helpful people on the way and didn't suffer much."
"That's good, that's good!"
Lu Guilan was so excited that she kept rubbing her hands together, wanting to pull He Jiuniang aside, but remembering that she had just gone to collect night soil for a wealthy family, her hands might not be very clean, so she refrained from doing so.
"Well, my brother-in-law and Uncle Zhang are both injured, and Xiuya is sick too. Let's take them to the clinic first, we can't let this drag on!"
He Jiuniang wasn't very familiar with Lu Guilan, so she couldn't say much. Right now, it was more important to get down to business.
Lu Guilan looked embarrassed: "I...we've run out of money..."
They were robbed on the way and spent more money to get to the city. Now they are penniless. They even pawned the hairpin that Sun gave them. Otherwise, they would not have let the injured adults and sick children suffer here.
"I do, but stop talking about that. We're all family, getting well first is the most important thing!"
He Jiuniang carried Xiuya ahead; the smell here was too strong, and she could barely stand it.
Lu Guilan responded, not even having time to say thank you. Seeing that she had already left, she hurriedly helped her husband up with Xiao Huzi, and had her sister-in-law Shen help Zhang Yong as they left the refugee camp together.
Zhang Song was still unconscious, and Lu Guilan was supporting him so he couldn't walk easily, so they could only find a nearby clinic for treatment.
On the way, He Jiuniang gave each of them a steamed bun to fill their stomachs so they could have some strength.
The family hadn't smelled the aroma of meat in so long that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe them as wolfing it down.
The clinic was deserted, with not a single person buying medicine. When the young clerk saw so many people come in, he immediately beamed and said, "Please come in and have a seat. The doctor is in the back. I'll go and call him right away!"
Before he finished speaking, he took off running to the backyard, his shouts of "I've got a job!" particularly loud.
Soon two men came out, one old and one young, who appeared to be father and son.
What happened?
Seeing this, the young doctor rushed forward to help Lu Guilan. The older doctor, in comparison, was calmer, but still had the young waiter tidy up a place for Zhang Song to lie down.
"This wound must have been there for seven or eight days. Look, it's almost infested with maggots! If we don't get it treated soon, I'm afraid it won't live to see tomorrow."
In this sweltering weather, the family's strong body odor naturally attracted mosquitoes, especially flies, which love to lay their eggs in such rotten places.
He Jiuniang had already examined the wound on Zhang Song's arm, but she hadn't looked at the one on his chest. After all, the concept of men and women was very important in this era, and if she were to strip her brother-in-law of his clothes in public, what would people say about her?
Upon hearing this, Lu Guilan became anxious: "Doctor, you must save my husband! It's not that we don't want to come to the clinic, it's just that we have no other choice!"
She wiped away tears as she spoke. If it weren't for earning some money to buy medicine, she wouldn't have left her seriously ill daughter to collect chamber pots for others. She and Shen had worked hard all morning but only earned ten coins, not even enough to buy the cheapest medicine. She had really tried her best.
"It's already this serious, there's nothing I can do but try my best."
The old doctor sighed and shook his head.
In Lu Guilan's eyes, this was hopeless, and tears streamed down her face.
Unable to bear it any longer, He Jiuniang couldn't help but say, "Doctor, this wound is festering, shouldn't we scrape off all the rotten flesh? We can't delay any longer!"
When will this constant babbling end?
"Ah, yes, yes, but his wound is too big. Even if we scrape away all the rotten flesh, there's no guarantee it won't rot again!"
The old doctor shook his head as he spoke, then asked the young waiter to prepare a dagger and a candlestick for him to scrape away the rotten flesh.
"Doctor, I've heard that salt water or strong liquor can reduce inflammation. After scraping the wound clean, can I use these two to clean it?"
It wasn't that she wanted to meddle, but she saw that the old doctor had no intention of cleaning Zhang Song's wound, so she had to speak up to remind him.
“That makes sense!” The old doctor glanced at He Jiu Niang and praised, “This young lady knows a lot, but both of these methods are extremely painful when cleaning wounds. She’s already in this state; if she’s further stimulated, I’m afraid she won’t be able to endure it…”
Medical conditions are rudimentary nowadays, and doctors rarely have that kind of awareness. Faced with such a situation, they can only shake their heads.
However, these three were different. He Jiuniang had just given them medicine, and they would be fine as long as their wounds were treated. So she said, "Doctor, the people are unconscious, so they can't feel the pain. The wounds must be cleaned thoroughly, otherwise, in this hot weather, there will be endless troubles!"
The doctor thought her words made sense, so he asked the waiter to prepare some strong liquor.
Zhang Song's condition was the most serious, so naturally he was treated first. Watching the rotten, foul-smelling flesh being scraped out bit by bit, Zhang Yong trembled as he watched. Knowing that it would be his turn soon, his face turned deathly pale.
After scraping it clean, the old doctor was about to clean Zhang Song's wound. Fearing that he couldn't bear it, he said to his son, "Put something in his mouth so he doesn't bite his tongue."
Upon hearing this, Lu Guilan's tears fell even more freely. It was all her fault for being incompetent, which caused her husband to suffer so much.
He Jiuniang didn't think much of it, but she couldn't say anything at the moment. She could only silently hold Lu Guilan's hand and tell her not to tremble so badly.
As soon as the strong liquor was poured, Zhang Song, who had been unconscious, did indeed stir. He was still not awake, but the sweat on his forehead and his clenched teeth told everyone that he was in a lot of pain.
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