Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1183 The 51st Anniversary of the Founding of the Army: Traditional Chinese Medicine Joins the Ranks (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)
The next day soon came.

August 1st has arrived.

After practicing my dialect early in the morning and having breakfast, I finished my ward rounds at Peking Union Medical College Hospital and then went to check on the patients at the outpatient clinic today.

After giving a few instructions, Fang Yan went downstairs to get his car, then drove to the Jingxi Hotel.

Last night, there were no cars or people on the road, and it took me half an hour to drive. This morning, I encountered the morning rush hour and had to get there before nine o'clock, so I had to leave a little earlier.

Sure enough, the scene on the road was completely different from last night; the streets were full of cars and people.

Buses, company trucks and jeeps, and bicycles of all types, both old and new, were all crammed onto the road until they left the main urban area, at which point things calmed down.

It had already taken twenty minutes to discover the dialect, so we quickly sped up.

When we arrived at the Jingxi Hotel, it was already 8:40. The asphalt road in front of the hotel was spotless, and a banner fluttered in the morning breeze, reading:

"Celebrating the 51st anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army."

Soldiers in crisp uniforms stood in two rows, the red stars on their caps gleaming in the morning sun. Every five steps there was a sentry post, and their belts were taut at the waist.

Black sedans and military green jeeps drove up from a distance, slowly stopped at the entrance, checked their documents, and headed towards the inner parking lot.

Fang Yan was no exception. After driving up to the entrance and checking his documents, he was allowed to drive towards the parking lot.

After being led to the designated parking spot in the parking lot, Fang Yan saw that some people around her were carrying black briefcases and others were holding thick file bags. When they met each other, they only nodded to each other and spoke in very low voices, as if they were afraid of disturbing the solemnity of the morning.

Most of these people were wearing military uniforms, and very few were dressed in civilian clothes like him.

In the distance, under the pitch-black dome of last night, several figures in Zhongshan suits are now pointing at the banner, while guards-like figures are quickly taking notes in their notebooks.

More than a dozen cars were already parked in the row designated for parking by the local dialect, and the drivers were all standing next to their cars smoking.

Fang Yan was just wondering whether to go to the hotel's main building or the auditorium when a man wearing a red armband came over to guide her:

"Is it Comrade Fang Yan?"

“Yes, that’s me!” Fang Yan replied.

"This way, please. Professor Deng and the others are already waiting for you at the auditorium entrance." The other person pointed in the direction of the auditorium. Looking in the direction he pointed, a group of people were gathered at the entrance of the auditorium in the distance, with gray-blue cadre uniforms and military green uniforms mixed together.

Fang Yan, with his sharp eyesight, quickly recognized the group as a troupe from Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, led by Deng Tietao. Also present were Elder Xie and several other retired military cadres. Among them were Elder Gu and Elder Zhang, whom Fang Yan recognized as having visited Elder Xie's home before. (See Chapter 521)
As they were led out of the parking lot, the smell of coal smoke in the air was diluted by the morning dew, replaced by a faint scent of ink. Fang Yan saw some people passing by with materials in their hands and realized that the smell was probably from freshly printed meeting materials.

The echoes of bugle calls still lingered in the wind, clearer than the changing of the guard call from last night, as if urging something on.

Fang Yan straightened his clothes and walked quickly toward the crowd.

"Here you are!" Shen Huaimin was the first to see Fang Yan and greeted him directly.

The others also noticed Fang Yan at this moment and all turned to look at him.

"There was a bit of traffic on the way, but thankfully we weren't late," Fang Yan said to everyone after glancing at his watch.

It's almost 8:50 now.

Deng Tietao said to Fang Yan:

"We've been waiting for you here. Let's go into the venue together."

Fang Yan nodded and walked towards the door with everyone, asking them as he did so:

"How did everyone sleep last night?"

Deng Tietao said:
"That's right, it's very quiet here, not even the cicadas are chirping."

The others nodded in agreement. At this moment, Fang Yan looked at Elder Xie and the others, greeted them, and then asked Elder Xie:
"By the way, Mr. Xie, I showed the book to the leaders last night. What did they say?"

Old Xie popped a throat lozenge into his mouth and mumbled:

"I went over to talk to them yesterday, and then they said they needed to review and discuss it in detail. They didn't call me back until 2 a.m. They only asked three questions: Can the herbs mentioned in the book be found in the south? Can the soldiers learn the processing methods in three days? Can a medical team be sent to the border for a pilot test next month?"

He paused after speaking, and then said:
"And there was a note they gave me earlier."

Then he took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and revealed a few lines of writing in pencil:

"If this book proves practical and effective, we can print 5,000 copies and distribute them to the front-line troops. Also, I suggest adding a special session on Traditional Chinese Medicine to the morning agenda, so that our comrades from Guangzhou can focus on the prevention and treatment of tropical diseases."

Mr. Gu added from the side:
"In the morning, the deputy chief of staff looked at the snakebite first aid diagram in the book and specifically asked his guard to call the military doctor from the medical team to his office, pointing to the diagram and asking, 'Is this kind of grass common near Lang Son?'"

"Guess what? The army doctor was from Yunnan. He said that the snakes were everywhere in the mountains behind his hometown, but nobody knew they could cure five-step snake bites."

Mr. Xie said:
"I feel that there shouldn't be any major problems in using it. Your handbook plus this comprehensive guide can be considered as a ticket to entry for traditional Chinese medicine. When I came in just now, I saw the organizing committee changing the agenda. The special session on traditional Chinese medicine is scheduled for 10 o'clock, and they have even reserved half an hour for you to speak."

Upon hearing this, Deng Tietao stared at the note in Xie Lao's hand and read it repeatedly:
"If the leader really says he's going to send a medical team, then we can leave anytime."

"Oh, what's the rush?" Old Xie folded the note and put it back in his pocket.

"Let's get today's meeting going. I just saw that the General Logistics Department's Health Department is here too. They have a statistical table in their hand, saying that the number of people suffering from heatstroke in the southern troops last month was 30% less than last month, all because they used the heatstroke relief formula in your previous manual. This is a real achievement, and everyone who deserves a reward today should be rewarded."

As we spoke, we arrived at the entrance of the auditorium, where staff in military uniforms were checking admission passes.

Fang Yan noticed a red stamp on his ID, the same as Deng Tietang's. Old Xie patted him on the shoulder:

"Alright, go in. The first three rows are for military leaders. You can sit on the left side of the expert section. There are name tags on the table. We'll sit somewhere else."

Fang Yan and Deng Lao nodded and then went inside.

As soon as they stepped into the auditorium, everyone was taken aback by the scene inside. More than a thousand seats were completely filled, and the lights in the front row were so bright that they made people dizzy.

The loudspeaker was playing: "We are the sons and daughters of workers and peasants, we are the people's armed forces..." Everywhere were figures in military green, and there was an indescribable solemnity in the scene.

At this point, the person leading the way pointed to the third row on the left: "The seats are over there."

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed and saw a row of empty seats.

Fangyan has good eyesight and even saw the words "Fangyan" on the table sign.

Then the group walked forward, and Shen Huaimin asked Fang Yan:

Do you know what rewards the military gives out?

"I don't know what?" Fang Yan shook his head and asked in return.

Shen Huaimin awkwardly scratched his head:
"I don't know either, that's why I asked you."

"..." Fang Yan was speechless.

As soon as Fang Yan reached his seat, he saw that the copy of "Nanyang Materia Medica" that he had given to Elder Xie the night before was still on his seat, obviously just placed there.

Upon closer inspection, an envelope was found tucked inside.

PS: I've gained another 400 monthly votes, so I owe you 8000 more words, bringing my total to 14000 words.

There will be more this afternoon.

(End of this chapter)