Yun Qinghuan lifted her head and saw two simple tile-roofed houses ahead. Despite the darkness of the night, she could sense the dilapidation of these structures. It was unclear how many years they had been standing.
Fortunately, their luck was good today. When they reached the clinic’s entrance, they found the door unlocked, merely secured from the inside. It seemed that the village doctor was resting inside.
Bai Naihan walked up to the door and knocked. Perhaps he was anxious, as his knocks were quite forceful. “Uncle Zhang, are you there?”
After calling out several times, a somewhat elderly male voice came from inside the house. “I’m here. Is it Naihan? Is something wrong with your leg?”
A rustling sound followed, suggesting someone getting out of bed, putting on clothes, and approaching to open the door.
“Uncle Zhang, it’s me. My leg is fine, but it’s An’an; he has a high fever.”
With a crisp creak, the wooden door resonated distinctly in the silent night. The door swung open, revealing a man in his fifties wearing disheveled clothes. Seeing Bai Naihan in a wheelchair and Yun Qinghuan looking anxious while holding the child, he hurriedly said, “Quick, bring the child inside.”
“Uncle Zhang, An’an will be okay, right?” Yun Qinghuan entered the house, placing the child on a nearby recliner as she asked.
She, too, addressed him as Uncle Zhang, following Bai Naihan’s lead.
From the memories of the original owner, Zhang Shu was the old village doctor, reliable in medical skills and with a conscientious demeanor. He charged minimal fees for treating illnesses, and whenever someone in the village fell ill, they sought him out.
She guessed Uncle Zhang was the one who treated her illness the day before.
Uncle Zhang, at this moment, was solemnly taking An’an’s pulse, carefully observing the child’s expression. After a while, he reassured them, “Don’t worry, he’s fine. Fortunately, you brought him in on time. There’s nothing major with the child now. Just give him some medicine and an IV drip. If you had come a bit later, he might have ended up like his father, with impaired hearing due to a high fever.”
Upon hearing this, Yun Qinghuan was startled.
Suddenly, she thought of the original story where the antagonist, Bai Jin’an, seemed to have one deaf ear – only one ear could hear. Although it didn’t significantly affect his daily life, it was still a disability. Because of this impairment and his tragic background with no parents, he was often ridiculed in his childhood. The female lead, out of sympathy, showed some concern for him, and as a result, the love-deprived Bai Jin’an developed an obsession with her.
Later, in an attempt to oppose the male and female leads, he carried out a series of intellectually degrading actions, turning himself into a major antagonist.
The original story didn’t specify when Bai Jin’an’s ear was damaged, just vaguely mentioning that it happened in his childhood due to illness and a high fever. So, was it due to this recent fever?
Thinking about this, Yun Qinghuan pressed her lips and fell into a brief daze. Then she said to Uncle Zhang, “Thank you for your help, especially in the middle of the night, disturbing your sleep.”
Uncle Zhang waved his hand, “It’s okay. The child’s health is more important.”
He prescribed medicine for Yun Qinghuan to feed to the child and proceeded to hang the IV drip bottle from a nearby shelf to administer the drip.
The child was uncomfortable with the fever, and Yun Qinghuan struggled to feed him the medicine as he kept his mouth tightly shut. She could only softly coax him, “An’an, be good, Mom is here. Once you take the medicine, you won’t feel uncomfortable anymore.”
Perhaps hearing the familiar comforting tone, An’an gradually relaxed and obediently opened his mouth to swallow the medicine.
Seeing him take the medicine, both Yun Qinghuan and Bai Naihan breathed a sigh of relief.
In this way, the two of them stayed with the child until the IV drip was completed, enduring until the misty dawn.
Uncle Zhang, who was nearby, kept a close eye on the child’s condition and didn’t rest.
Fortunately, the child’s body temperature gradually decreased. Yun Qinghuan touched his forehead again, comparing it to her own and found that An’an now only had a slight fever.
After finishing the IV drip, Bai Jin’an, who had been whimpering uncomfortably, was now peacefully asleep on the recliner. Both the medication and the IV drip contained ingredients to aid sleep and help the patient recover quickly.
Yun Qinghuan thanked Uncle Zhang, “I’m really grateful to you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t know where to take the child for medical help in the middle of the night.”
If the child’s illness had been truly delayed, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Uncle Zhang waved his hand, “No need to be polite. An’an is a child I’ve watched grow up, and besides, his father was a good person, helping me gather a lot of herbs. I couldn’t bear to see the only child of Wen Song really falling ill.”
Speaking of Bai Wen Song, Uncle Zhang’s eyes also dimmed with sadness.
Yun Qinghuan suddenly remembered that when Bai Wensong was alive, it was likely that he had lost his hearing due to a fever during his childhood. After he stopped going to school, he taught himself by studying medical books and followed Uncle Zhang to learn about some simple herbs. While he might not be considered a seasoned doctor, he had a basic understanding of medical skills. Every time he went to the mountains to find some wild ingredients to improve their diet, if he encountered precious herbs, he would pick them and give them to Uncle Zhang.
Uncle Zhang was getting older. Due to some events in his youth, he was assigned to this small village. At that time, his wife was pregnant, but due to those events, she had a miscarriage. Later, Uncle Zhang divorced his wife to avoid burdening her. His wife remarried, but due to the impurity on his body, he never remarried.
Since Baijia Village needed a village doctor, he stayed here as the village doctor. Because of his medical skills and kind nature, the villagers, who initially didn’t like him, now highly respected him.
Uncle Zhang, having no children of his own, treated Bai Wensong almost like a son when he was a child. Hence, when he mentioned Bai Wensong, he appeared so saddened.
These old stories were heard by the original host from others, and it was only now, seeing Uncle Zhang’s sorrowful expression, that Yun Qinghuan retrieved these memories.
She couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
Judging from the attitudes of the people around, An’an’s father was indeed a very good person.
It was just a pity that he was so young, and his good days had just begun before they were abruptly cut short.
Now that An’an had recovered, Yun Qinghuan planned to take the child home to rest. Bai Naihan, on the other hand, insisted on giving Uncle Zhang the treatment fee, but Uncle Zhang firmly declined.
Bai Naihan furrowed his brows, “Uncle Zhang, these medicines of yours have costs. If you keep operating without making money, how can your clinic sustain itself?”
“Moreover, yesterday, you treated me and my sister-in-law, which was already a discounted service. Today, I can’t let you suffer more losses.”
Seeing his persistence, Uncle Zhang couldn’t help but sigh, “You stubborn child, fine. I’ll accept this money. If anything happens to the child in the future, hurry and bring him here, or just call me.”
Before leaving, Uncle Zhang checked Yun Qinghuan’s pulse again, “Your pulse seems much steadier. Once you get home, just brew and drink the medicine I prescribed, and you should be mostly fine.”
He applied medicine to Bai Naihan’s leg again. After finishing the treatment, he looked at his leg with a melancholic expression, not saying much.
Clearly, Bai Naihan’s leg condition wasn’t very optimistic.
∞
Translator Note
Next release
– Dec. 25 (10am)
(There’ll be extra chapters for Christmas, stay tuned!)
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∞
- “But when the fulfillment of the time came, God sent his Son, born through a woman, and born under the Law. This was so he could redeem those under the Law so that we could be adopted.” — Galatians 4:4-5
