Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1246 Another Night Watch (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

“We will definitely increase the amount, but not drastically. To give you an example… it’s like applying fertilizer to crops. If you apply too much fertilizer at once, it will burn the roots. It depends on whether the crops can handle it. So we will increase the amount gradually. You don’t need to worry about that,” Tao Guangzheng explained to Lao Zhang.

Old Zhang's fruit peel broke off on the ground with a "thud," and he continued to ask:
"So that means you'll feel this uncomfortable every time you take the medicine?"

This left Tao Guangzheng speechless.

He would be lying if he said it didn't hurt, but he seemed to have a hard time accepting it.

Just then, Fang Yan spoke up:
"Where there is free flow, there is no pain; where there is pain, there is no free flow. Logically speaking, pain will not become more severe as the dosage of medicine increases, but will gradually lessen as the symptoms lessen."

Wang Huiyuan also said:

"Old Zhang, you don't need to worry about me. I'm not that fragile."

"There's no other way now, even if it hurts, we have to get treatment."

"Besides, they've already spoken in their dialect, so things will definitely get better gradually!"

Hearing Wang Huiyuan say that, Old Zhang finally agreed.

Next, Fang Yan and Tao Guangzheng went into the living room and left it to the staff that Secretary Huang had brought. These people were responsible for keeping an eye on Wang Huiyuan's pulse tonight.

Fang Yan asked Tao Guangzheng curiously:
"This requires constant monitoring. Was this how your family treated patients in the past?"

This is incredibly exhausting. The level of fatigue doctors experience while administering medication to patients like this is simply hellish.

Tao Guangzheng shook his head and said:

"Of course not. We didn't have the facilities here before. We would check on them every few hours. If there was a problem, the patient would tell their family, and then the family would notify the doctor. We wouldn't keep an eye on them all the time like this."

"In the past, only landlords or officials who could afford to pay for this treatment were probably able to enjoy it."

Fang Yan came to his senses and nodded; this was exactly what he had imagined.

If the Tao family could have manpower to keep an eye on the patient for three days and three nights at a time, I don't know how much they could accomplish.
It's probably already on par with big stores like Hu Qing Yu Tang and Tong Ren Tang, right?

Fang Yan said to Tao Guangzheng:
"Your family's methods actually contain many backup plans for dealing with emergencies? Like just now, when you added the spleen-strengthening pills, did you already anticipate that it would damage the spleen and stomach?"

Tao Guangzheng was also a little hungry at this moment. He looked at the dried dates on the table, took one and popped it into his mouth, saying as he ate:
“My grandfather used to say that using strong medicine is like walking a tightrope, with your left hand holding the lifeline. Using sal ammoniac to treat blood stasis and toxins is like using explosives to blast rocks; when it explodes, it inevitably scatters pebbles, so you always need to prepare some shields to block them. When I treated hunters in the mountains, if they vomited badly after taking medicine, I would add some honey to make the medicine more gentle—that's what I call a shield.”

"But there's definitely no such thing as Comrade Wang being particular about these things. The spleen-strengthening pills I brought weren't something I expected; I was already taking them myself..."

Fang Yan suddenly realized and nodded, saying:
"That's true."

After the two chatted for a while longer, the restaurant delivery person arrived.

Two waiters from the Yanjing Hotel arrived, bringing enough food from four food boxes for everyone here.

They even prepared one for Old Zhang's family of three.

As soon as the two men laid out the food boxes on the living room table, the rising steam and aroma filled the room.

When the top food box is opened, a dark brown braised pork knuckle lies on a white porcelain plate, its glossy skin sprinkled with bright green scallions. Next to it are two small dishes of pickled vegetables, pickled cucumbers and pickled radishes, crisp and refreshing.

"Comrade Guangzheng, Lao Hu specially prepared a special dish for you today." Fang Yan said to Tao Guangzheng with a smile. When the second food box was opened, there was a basket of steaming hot buns inside, with the pleats pinched evenly. Fang Yan smelled them: "Pork and scallion filling, fresh out of the steamer, still hot."

Tao Guangzheng's eyes lit up. He had been through a lot on his way back from XJ, and his mouth was already dry from all the eating.

The smell alone is making my mouth water.

As he helped bring out the other dishes, he said to Fang Yan, "Thank you so much, Mr. Hu. He's so thoughtful."

These dishes all look quite delicious now.

Fang Yan said to Tao Guangzheng:
"We were planning to eat at home today, but I didn't expect you to stay up all night here with me. I'm really sorry."

Tao Guangzheng said:
"Hey, it's alright, that's what we doctors do."

"Old Zhang and the others have millet porridge with steamed egg custard," he said, opening the third food box. The porridge in the white porcelain bowl was thick, and the steamed egg custard was as tender as tofu.

"Uncle Zhang, this is for you. Aunt Wang just took her medicine and needs to eat something soft to nourish her spleen and stomach."

Fang Yan handed over Old Zhang's share, and Old Zhang could hardly believe it when he received it.

Zhang Li gasped softly in surprise:
"And there's steamed egg custard too!"

Then Fang Yan found the vegetarian dishes prepared for the two monks.

The stir-fried mushrooms and greens glistened with clear oil, while the cold wood ear mushrooms were sprinkled with sesame seeds; at the bottom was a lunchbox, and the aroma of millet porridge wafted out when the lid was lifted.

Then there were the dishes served to the staff who were on night watch; they were also of a luxurious state banquet standard.

Old Hu never shortchanges anyone when it comes to food.

He greeted everyone in his local dialect, inviting them to dinner.

Old Zhang was a little embarrassed. He had been treating his wife's illness at their house, and they hadn't even entertained Fang Yan and his friends. They had even eaten the food that Fang Yan and his friends had ordered. If this were to be told, probably no one would believe it.

Tao Guangzheng had eaten at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital cafeteria before, and he already felt that it was quite high-standard. He didn't expect it to be even higher this time.

He's finally convinced.

Judging from the generous gesture of Mr. Hu, who is collaborating with the local dialect group, it's clear that he'll receive excellent treatment in the future. Just one meal made Tao Guangzheng feel that his return was worthwhile.

After the meal, Lao Zhang quickly asked Zhang Li to brew everyone some of his family's best tea.

Let Fang Yan and the others drink tea while they keep watch here.

Fang Yan and Tao Guangzheng started talking about his job as the dean in XJ.

Fang Yan wants to gain a detailed understanding of the lack of medical care and medicine in remote border areas.

Tao Guangzheng happened to be free, so they started chatting.

Time passed quickly and it was already late at night.

When Tao Guangzheng yawned for the ninth time, Fang Yan checked the time and told him to go to sleep first, while she stayed here to keep watch.

Tao Guangzheng was also exhausted. He originally wanted to be polite to Fang Yan, but he couldn't resist and went to sleep.

Fang Yan continued to keep watch until 3 a.m., when he was also exhausted and decided to go to sleep for a while.

Just then, Old Zhang suddenly came out of the bedroom and said to Fang Yan:

"Dr. Fang, come take a look! Huiyuan seems to be having a nightmare, but I can't wake her up!"

P.S.: That's all for today, I'll continue tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)