Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
You could hardly expect someone to care enough to pursue care of his long-ill parent.
This was an ancient Chinese saying, which made sense.
A lot of energy and patience were required to take care of a patient.
Long Tianyou didnât say anything. He knew what exactly his father meant. In fact, he had already gotten sick of taking care of his father.
âAye!â
Long Yunfei sighed. He had run out of his options. He felt ashamed.
. . .
Meanwhile, the doctors were having a meeting to discuss a patient in the Peopleâs Hospital of Lianshan County.
This was not supposed to happen!
âHow could this happen?â said a doctor. âHe was in the last stage of cancer.â
The laboratory results the doctors had belonged to Li Maoshuangâs uncle, who had a diagnosis of late-stage cancer.
âI didnât expect our treatment could make such a big difference,â said another doctor.
None of these doctors could believe that the medication they prescribed could have such a wonderful effect. After all, it was not the first time they had treated a cancer patient. The treatment protocol and medications for all cancer patients were pretty much the same. The priority was to prolong a patientâs life and reduce pain. Li Maoshuangâs uncle was an exception. All of the doctors thought he was going to die soon. They even suggested his family to take him home. For a moment, it appeared that he had a momentary recovery of consciousness just before his death. However, the recovery was proving to not be momentary.
âMaybe we should observe him a bit longer?â suggested a doctor.
âHow about changing the medication?â suggested another doctor.
âNo, we donât want anything to go wrong,â said the treating doctor.
It was so unusual for any cancer patient to get better, when they were late-stage. It was a miracle as well as glorious.
At the end of the meeting, the doctors decided to keep Li Maoshuangâs uncle at hospital for ongoing observation and treatment.
Hence, they saw Li Maoshuangâs more frequently.
âThe doctors come here all the time!â Li Maoshuangâs cousins, of course, knew why they their father had gotten better. It really had nothing to do with the doctors in the hospital.
âThey come all the time because Dad has gotten better over the past few days. They must want to know the reason,â said one of Li Maoshuangâs female cousin.
âHuh! Seal your mouth. We canât tell them about Dr. Wang,â said Li Maoshuangâs eldest cousin.
âI see,â said the female cousin.
. . .
Ginseng, wolfberry, gorgon, solomonâs seal, ganoderma...
Wang Yao was brewing a decoction.
All the herbs in the decoction were to improve oneâs immune system. Wang Yao didnât put Shanjing and Guiyuan, which were two licorice roots. Instead, e used other herbs to replace them. The decoction would work, just not as effective as the original Regather Soup.
It took Wang Yao a long time to brew the decoction, because he needed to make sure all the herbs were completely melted in the liquid.
As Wang Yao almost finished brewing the decoction, he took out some of the original Regather Soup and added it into the decoction. It was the finishing touch. Wang Yao hoped that the original Regather Soup would increase the effect of the decoction significantly.
The fire went out gradually.
The decoction was ready.
Wang Yao didnât know how effective it would be. He needed to test it on a patient.
It was just the beginning. If it worked, he could apply the same method to other decoctions.
. . .
Meanwhile in Beijing, Song Ruiping asked Chen Ying to come to meet her.
âMaâam,â said Chen Ying.
âYing, I want you to go to somewhere for me,â said Song Ruiping.
âWhere would you like me to go?â asked Chen Ying.
âLianshan County. I want to you pay a visit to Dr. Wang,â said Song Ruiping.
âPay him a visit? For what?â Chen Ying was a bit surprised, because it had always been Chen Boyuan who visited Wang Yao in Lianshan.
âTo ask him when heâs available to come to Beijing, of course. Xiaoxue is recovering, but she has yet to fully recover. You can also ask him to see your brother,â said Song Ruiping.
âOkay,â said Chen Ying.
âGet yourself ready and leave as soon as possible,â said Song Ruiping.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âOkay, Maâam,â said Chen Ying.
She went back to pack up her luggage right away. Actually, she had wanted to visit Wang Yao a long time ago. Wang Yao often mentioned to her about his village and Nanshan Hill.
She couldnât wait to have a look at the village and the hill.
. . .
Another day passed.
It was getting late.
Wang Yaoâs mother was still walking back and forth in the room, because her brotherâs wife was in the hospital. She would probably give birth to a baby at night.
âI thought they had decided she would have a C-section tomorrow,â said Wang Yao.
Nowadays a lot of pregnant women would pick a good day to have a Caesarean section for the best luck. A lot of people believed that the time of birth would have a lifetime impact on a person.
Wang Yaoâs uncle and his wife were no exception. In fact, both of them were very superstitious, especially about child birth. They paid someone to predict the best time for their child to be born. However, one still had to expect the unexpected.
âYao, can you go to the hospital?â asked Zhang Xiuying.
âMe? What can I do there?â said Wang Yao with surprise.
He didnât know much about childbirth.
âYou go and take a look at your uncleâs wife. Try to delay the child until tomorrow,â said Zhang Xiuying.
âMom, are you serious?â said Wang Yao with a laugh.
âWell...â said Zhang Xiuying with a sigh.
âThis is ridiculous. Your sister-in-law is giving birth to a baby, what can Yao do help her?â said Wang Fenghua.
âMom, how about you give my uncle a call to ask if he needs any help with lifting the bed. If he needs help, I can go. You and Dad can stay at home,â said Wang Yao.
âOkay, Iâll call him,â said Zhang Xiuying.
She rang her brother immediately, and was told that no assistance was required at this stage.
âLet me know if you need any help,â said Zhang Xiuying.
âOkay, I will,â said her brother.
Wang Yao left for Nanshan Hill after dinner. As he passed his clinic, he got a phone call from his mother, who told him that his uncleâs wife was about to give birth. Zhang Xiuying asked Wang Yao to go home immediately. So Wang Yao went back home to pick his car and drive to the town center.
âMom, I can go by myself. You canât have to come,â said Wang Yao.
âI must go, what if they need me to help?â Zhang Xiuying insisted.
There were not many cars on the road at night. Wang Yao drove fast. On his way to the hospital, Zhang Xiuying received a message that her sister-in-lawâs water had broken.
The doctors must operate on her sister-in-law immediately.
It was past 8pm by the time they had arrived at the Peopleâs Hospital.
Apart from Wang Yao and Zhang Xiuying, Zhang Xiuyingâs youngest sister, her husband, and Wang Yaoâs uncleâs brother-in-law had all arrived.
âHow is she?â asked Zhang Xiuying.
âSheâs been in the theater for 20 minutes. The doctors are operating on her.â Wang Yaoâs uncle looked nervous. His face was pale.
It was a long wait, especially for the family members.
Time passed extremely slowly.
Finally, one of the doctors came out with a baby.
It was a baby girl.
Wang Yaoâs mother took over the baby, and held her in the arm.
Wang Yao stepped forward to take a look at the baby. It was the first time he had ever seen a baby so closely.
Hmmm...
The baby looked a bit ugly.
Well, most newborns were ugly.
However, the baby was so alive.
She was so new to the world.
After a while, Wang Yaoâs uncleâs wife was propelled out of the theater. The anesthesia was still taking its effect.
Wang Yao and Zhang Xiuying helped propel the mother into a hospital room, then transferred her onto the hospital bed. Wang Yaoâs uncle arranged a nice hospital room for his wife. There were two beds in the room while the other bed was empty. That way, one of the family members staying overnight in the hospital could rest on the other bed.
âWhat a cute baby girl!â said Zhang Xiuying as she was holding the baby.
Maybe because it was a girl, Wang Yao didnât think his uncle was too excited.
âIâll let Mom know everythingâs fine so she wonât be worried,â said Zhang Xiuyingâs youngest sister.
âRight, go ahead,â said Zhang Xiuying.
Due to the arrival of the baby, one of the family members had to stay to take care of both the baby and the mother. Zhang Xiuyingâs youngest sister was not well, so Zhang Xiuying decided to stay in the hospital. Wang Yao also stayed in a hotel in Lianshan overnight. He wanted to go to his sisterâs place, but it was too late.
The next morning, Zhang Xiuying looked tired after staying up for the whole night.
âMom, you should go home to have a good rest,â said Wang Yao.
âOkay,â said Zhang Xiuying. âBy the way, can you go to your grandparentsâ place to bring them to the hospital later during the day?â
âNo problem,â said Wang Yao.
Wang Yao drove his mother back home, then drove to his grandparentsâ house. His grandparentsâ were about to leave for the hospital. If Wang Yao had gotten there a bit later, they would probably have taken the bus to the hospital. After he had dropped his grandparents in the hospital, he went to the town center.
On his way to the hospital, he got a call from a stranger.
âWhat? Heâs dead?â asked Wang Yao with surprise. âI see.â He hung up the phone.
âIs everything alright? Whoâs dead?â Wang Yaoâs grandparents overheard his conversation with whoever on the other side of the phone. The two of them were a bit worried.
âYes, everythingâs fine,â said Wang Yao with a smile.
He dropped his grandparents at the hospital and talked with them briefly before leaving.
At the moment he had something more pressing to deal with. One of his patients was dead.
It was the person who had a headache initially and was poisoned subsequently. He died in the Peopleâs Hospital of Haiqu. The police had started to investigate his death. The personâs secretary, that middle-aged man, told the police everything the person had done in the last few days during an interview. The police noticed that the person had visited Wang Yao twice and taken herbs prescribed by him.
Such important information would, of course, attract the attention of the police. They quickly found Wang Yaoâs number and gave him a call.
I suppose the police will come find me in the village.
As expected, two policemen came to the village from Haiqu in the morning. They found Wang Yao in his clinic, and asked him about the dead person.
âHad you ever seen him before he came to you?â asked one of the policemen.
âNo, Iâve only seen him twice in two days. He came to complain about a headache in the first day. He came back the next day because he was poisoned,â said Wang Yao.
âPoisoned? Are you sure?â The two policemen immediately became alert.
âYes,â said Wang Yao.
âWhat kind of poison?â asked one of the policemen.
âIâm not sure,â said Wang Yao.
âWhen did you obtain your medical certificate?â asked the other policeman.
âSeptember this year,â said Wang Yao.
He showed the two policemen his medical certificate and permit of running a medical clinic. This paperwork indicated that he complied with the legal requirements of running a medical clinic. Otherwise, he would be in trouble.
âDo you know who he is?â asked one of the policemen.
âNo. I only know that his surname is Luo,â said Wang Yao.
âHis name was Luo Jiadong,â said one of the policemen.
âSo was he someone special?â asked Wang Yao.
âYes, he was,â said the policeman.