Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Letting them come based on sequence numbers might be simple and effective.
He acted as soon as he got the idea. He found a piece of wood, cut it into the size of matchbox, polished it to get rid of the wood chips, and carved a medicine character on it with a knife, as well as a number on the back.
Wang Yao made 20 small plates like that. He could only see one patient at a time, and they could be used in the cycle.
The wooden plates came in handy. A patient held a plate and saw the doctor based on the sequence number, like a queue number. The patients quickly got the hang of it.
In recent days, it had pretty cool. The highest temperature was no more than 25 degrees Celsius, which was comfortable. The weather made it nice to hang out.
Three men came to the village in one car with three persons in it. They looked only a little older than 20. The license plate showed they were not locals.
âIs it right here?â one of the young men asked.
âYeah, it should be,â another young man said.
âWhere is it?â the first man said.
âXishan, it should be in the west,â the other man said. âCan we ask people if we got lost?â
âNo. Otherwise, they will know our purpose,â the third young man chimed in. âGo, letâs take a look.â
Many people had been coming to the village to see Wang Yao for treatment, so they were not take too seriously. The three young man went up to Xishan along the village streets and mountain roads.
âHey, where are you going?â At the foot of the Xishan, they encountered an old man herding sheep.
âAh, we come here to play,â one of the young men said.
âDonât go up the mountain. It is dangerous over there.â The old man pointed to Xishan.
The villagers knew there was something horrible on the hill. Now, nobody went up there. Even the previous farmland was deserted.
âOK, well, weâll take a look at other places,â the young man said.
âThese boys. Whatâs the point of playing in such village?â The old man walked away with the sheep.
The three men took advantage of his inattention. The immediately turned into woods and went up Xishan Hill.
âHey, what do you think the dead place looks like?â one of the young men asked.
âTry to find it,â another young man said.
It was almost all thorn trees, chestnuts, or something like economic crops on the mountain. They were lush enough to leave one feel cool.
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Some birds flew over in the sky.
âWhere is it?â one of the young men asked.
The mountain did not look large, but trying to finding something small on it without a special mark was not easy.
âAh, look, there is lots of lime powder over there,â one of the young men said. he had spotted a hole with stones that was full of sprayed lime powder. There was also a pit. âLetâs go to take a look.â
The three men went into the hole where the dandelions and foxtails grew well.
âIt canât be here,â said they young man who found the pit. âIt is too small, and there is not something distinct.â
âLetâs go down a little to have a look,â the second young man said.
There were a number of exploratory headings in the hole that had been dug by Wang Yao, but he had not filled them on that day.
âWhy are there so many pits?â the third young man asked.
âItâs probably mouse holes down there,â the second young man said.
âDead place? what kind of death is it?â The first young man did not understand.
These young men were from Wei. They saw the news online that a âdead placeâ turned up in a village in Lianshan, Haiqu, and incurred some trouble. Now, it was settled, but it was sealed for some unknown dangers.
There curious and bold young men discussed it and decided to take an adventure there. So far, they were disappointed.
âHey, is it like that?â the first young man said. âIt canât be!â
âOr, is the news online going wrong?â the second young man asked.
âIt canât be. I called one of my friends in person who is from Lianshan. He said it is real what they said,â the third young man said.
âIs it just like that?â the first young man asked.
With no any sign, a dog suddenly turned up and stared at them standing in the hole.
âGod!â The three men were frightened. âGo!â
The dog did not go. It just stood there and staring at them quietly.
âDamn it!â The first young one man picked up a stone from the ground and threw it toward the dog.
âLetâs go. There is no something interesting,â the second young man said.
âYes, indeed,â the third young man said.
Three men were about to leave feeling disappointed when the first young man shouted, âOw!â
âWhatâs up?â the second young man asked.
âNothing. It felt like I got stung,â the first young man said. He had just felt a sudden prickling pain on his ankle. It was like he was poked by a needle.
âLetâs go if you are alright. We got nothing on this trip,â the second young man said.
âLetâs wander around over here to see whether there is something else interesting,â the third young man said.
Three men went down from Xishan to the south. All they saw were hills, crops, and plants. There was nothing special.
Ow!
The first young man was gradually left behind. He suddenly had a serious headache. He felt like he lost all of his strength. His chest also tightened, making it difficult to breathe.
âNo, I have to take a rest,â he said to his two friends in front of him, but his voice was too weak.
He found a stone at the roadside and sat down to rest. He took out his bottle and wanted to drink. The scene in front of him flashed. Ooh!
The other two men soon realized he wasnât with them. They quickly went back to look for him and saw him falling to the ground. He had fainted.
âWhatâs up?!â They were shocked. They picked him up and one of the young men carried him on his back. They called out for an ambulance as they ran toward the village.
It did not take long for them to run out of breath.
âWhatâs wrong, boy?â A villager kindly asked.
âMy friend suddenly fainted for no reason,â one of the young men replied.
âThere is a clinic in our village, and the doctor has rich medical expertise. You can go there,â the villager said.
âOK, thanks!â They hurriedly went to the clinic.
A number of cars were parked outside it. The people waiting inside were sitting down or standing while Wang Yao was giving an acupuncture treatment to a patient whose leg had been numb and sometimes felt as if it was not connected to his body. After the acupuncture treatment, he instantly felt better.
Bump! The door was pushed open. Two young men rushed in. âDoctor, please save him.â
âWait a moment,â Wang Yao said to the man being treated by acupuncture.
âOK, saving his life is important,â the patient said.
âPut him down. What happened?â Wang Yao asked while checking the unconscious young man.
âWe went up to Xishan just now, and he was like that not long after we went down,â one of the young men said.
âXishan, why did you go there?â Wang Yao asked.
âWe were curious and wanted to take a look around,â the young man said.
âWhere did you go exactly?â Wang Yao asked.
âA hole full of lime powder.â At this time, the young men did not dare hide anything. They told him everything they knew.
Wang Yao instantly realized that the patient was very likely to be bitten by poisonous insects or a mouse.
âBy the way, when we were on the mountain, he said his leg was stung by something,â the young man said.
Wang Yao checked his leg. He found a wound on the left ankle. It had become dark green around it.
âThe toxicity is heavy,â he said. âWait a moment.â
Wang Yao went to the next room and took out a bowl of detoxifying soup made from half of the antidote herb.
âLay him down,â he said.
Wang Yao took his pulse to ensure there was no problem before proceeding to treat the previous patient.
After about 30 minutes, the young man lying on the bed woke up.
âHaibo, how do you feel?â his friend asked.
âWhere am I?â the young man asked.
âIn a clinic in the village,â his friend said. âYou were poisoned.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âDoctor, is my friend alright?â the other friend asked.
âIt is not life threatening, but you need to rest for a while,â Wang Yao said. âWhat was the point of going up to Xishan?â
âWe knew there was a dangerous place over there, so we wanted to take a look,â one of the young men said. âHow much is it?â
â$1,000,â Wang Yao replied.
âAh?!â The two young men were shocked. âThatâs expensive!â
âIs it expensive?â Wang Yao asked.
âNo, not expensive at all,â the young man said instead. âWeâll pay for it.â
The two young men paid the fee and left, carrying their friend on the back.
âWhat do you think? Is he a fraud? What kind of medicine can be so expensive?â one of the young men asked.
âAs long as Haibo is alright,â the other young man said.
âYeah, and Iâll pay you back,â the poisoned young man with a pale face said.
Toot! Toot! Toot! An ambulance arrived.
âWhere is it?â the young men were confused. âDo you think we need to go to a hospital?â