Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1327 A steady stream of patients; money makes the world go round (Part 2)
Fang Yan released Lao Hu's hand and turned to Shi Min. The urgency in his voice had subsided slightly, and his expression became solemn.
“Director Shi, I’m really sorry, but the situation today makes it impossible to cooperate with the publicity. Look at that isolation tent over there…” He gestured towards the canvas tent, “It’s full of children diagnosed with scarlet fever. This disease is spread through droplets and is highly contagious, especially to children with weak immune systems. Once infected, they may experience fever and sore throat at best, and at worst, like that child just now, their airway can be blocked by a pseudomembrane, endangering their lives.”

He pointed to his gloves, still covered in medicinal powder, and then glanced at his classmates who were busy decocting medicine and disinfecting nearby:

“We’re just using gauze masks to cover ourselves right now. If you and the cameraman get close, not only are you at risk of getting infected, but the camera and microphone might also get contaminated with germs. If you bring them back to the city and they get into your children’s homes, that would be a disaster.”

Shi Min followed his gaze and saw that the students in front of the isolation tent were busy running around, while the parents were all covering their mouths and noses and standing far away. The air was filled with the faint smell of mugwort and disinfectant. It was not a "lively free clinic" at all, but a tense epidemic prevention scene.

He instantly dropped his professional smile, and his brows furrowed.
"Director Fang, please don't say that. Epidemic prevention is definitely the top priority. Publicity can be done at any time, but the child's life cannot be delayed."

"It's good that Director Shi understands." Fang Yan breathed a sigh of relief and her tone softened. "It's not that I'm disrespecting you, it's just that this disease is too strange. I just resuscitated a child with airway obstruction, and he almost didn't make it. The villagers are already panicked. If they see the camera filming the children, they'll think something terrible has happened, and they'll panic and it will be even harder to control the situation."

Old Hu finally came to his senses and said:

"Oh dear, it's my fault! I was only thinking about helping you promote your business, and I almost made things worse."

After saying this, he turned to look at Shi Min and said:
"Director Shi, this was my fault. I'll take you back right away."

Shi Min's gaze swept over the busy scene at the free clinic. Li Hui was squatting by the coal stove, staring at the medicine pot, the rising steam blurring her glasses; Cheng Baogui was carrying a sprayer and sprinkling quicklime around the isolation shed, his footsteps making a rustling sound as he stepped on the lime powder; and several other classmates were helping the villagers set up a temporary clinic tent.

He turned to look at Fang Yan and Lao Hu and said:
"Don't rush to leave. Director Fang, I know that epidemic prevention is important, but it is precisely because of this emergency that we should film."

He pointed to the old professor who was feeding medicine to a child not far away:
“Look, you led school teachers and students to provide free medical services in the countryside. When a sudden outbreak occurred, you didn’t panic. You were busy with rescue and isolation, and you even taught the villagers how to protect themselves. This is not just a good thing, it’s a real thing. Filming it and broadcasting it will not only let more people know about your actions, but also let more people learn how to prevent scarlet fever, which may save more children.”

Shi Min took two steps forward, deliberately standing in a safe area ten meters away from the isolation shed, and added:
"Don't worry, we will never get close to the isolation shed to film the scenes of you dispensing medicine, disinfecting, and setting up the shed."

He then pointed to several places with the photographer he had brought and said:
"Let's just film from the outside and not disturb them."

Hearing that others had said that, Fang Yan thought for a moment and said:

"Okay, I'll get you some masks. You should wear them too."

Shi Min nodded.

Then Fang Yan brought out gauze masks and put them on all of them.

Then they started taking pictures with their cameras.

At this moment, Lao Hu asked Fang Yan:

"Is there anything I can help with?"

He said in dialect:

"Just keep an eye on them, make sure they don't get infected."

Fang Yan pointed to Shi Min and the photographer, saying that they were already busy enough, and it was best for professionals like them to handle it.

"Should I send some people from the factory over to help?" Old Hu asked, feeling that there weren't enough people on site.

Despite having thirty students and a few professors, there were quite a few people present. When three or five families gathered here, the number of people exceeded that of the group.

Fang Yan shook his head and said:
"No need, we have enough people on site for now, but we are a bit short of medicinal herbs."

At this point, he said to Lao Hu:

"Oh, right, I just had someone go to the factory in Chaoyang Dongba to get some medicinal herbs. We don't have enough of these medicines like bezoar and pearl powder."

Old Hu waved his hand after hearing this:

"Sigh, that's to be expected, the factory over there isn't far from here..."

After saying that, he asked:
"By the way, when did they go? Why haven't they come back yet?"

He said in dialect:

"In a while."

After speaking in dialect, he glanced into the distance. He didn't see any cars, but he saw several people coming this way. Needless to say, they were bringing their children here for treatment.

Fang Yan reminded Lao Hu:
"Alright, another patient is coming soon. Keep an eye on Director Shi and the others. Remember to disinfect the place before you go back. I have to see patients now."

Old Hu glanced at the villagers approaching from a distance and nodded:

"Okay, just let me know if you need any help."

"Doctor, doctor! Come quick!!!" The people who arrived were already wailing when they saw Fang Yan and his team in their white coats before they even got there.

Upon hearing this, Party Secretary Zhou Dahai, who was standing nearby, cursed:
"Stop howling! Come here right now!"

Fang Yan quickly went to meet them. He saw two adults supporting a boy who looked to be about ten years old. The boy was limp and leaning against the adults. His face was burning red, his lips were chapped, and he couldn't help but cough with every step he took. His body was trembling from coughing, and he could vaguely see patches of red rash on his neck.

"Don't rush, put him here first." Fang Yan pointed to the makeshift examination table that had just been set up, indicating that they should lay the child flat. He quickly put on new gloves and was about to reach out to touch the child's forehead when the boy suddenly pulled away, shouting in a hoarse voice, "Don't touch me... it hurts from the fever..."

"Sweetie, let Uncle take a look at your throat and it won't hurt anymore." Fang Yan softened his tone, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Shi Min's camera pointing this way, but deliberately avoiding the child's face, only taking pictures of his hand taking the pulse and the medicine bottle next to the examination table, and his worries eased a little.

The moment he took the child's pulse, Fang Yan's brow furrowed again—the pulse was rapid and erratic, more agitated than the previous children's. He gestured for the parents to hold the child's shoulders, then, holding a tongue depressor, he leaned closer: "Open your mouth, ah—"

The boy struggled to turn his head to the side, and his parents quickly held his jaw in place. As soon as the tongue depressor was inserted, Fang Yan could see clearly—his throat was full of redness and swelling. Although there was no false membrane, it was covered with a layer of fine pus spots. His tongue was bright red, and the barbs had already emerged.

"How many days have you had a fever? Have you mentioned a sore throat?" Fang Yan asked, gesturing for her classmate next to her to take notes.

"It's been three days!" The child's mother wiped away tears, her voice trembling. "On the first day, the fever reached over 38 degrees Celsius. We thought it was just a common cold, and some ginger soup didn't help. Yesterday, the child started complaining of a sore throat, and this morning the child couldn't even stand up. These little red spots have also appeared on the body..."

three days?

That's the longest one we found.

Fang Yan observed for a moment and said:
"It's scarlet fever. The heat toxin has just entered the interior and hasn't yet formed pus."

Then he stood up and shouted at Li Hui:
"Li Hui! Take five qian of Isatis root, four qian of honeysuckle, three qian of platycodon root, and two qian of raw licorice root, add half a cup of reed rhizome water, and boil over high heat for a quick decoction!"

"Alright!" Li Hui had just finished arranging the newly arrived medicinal herbs when she heard this, and immediately began to prepare the medicine. The medicine pot on the coal stove was still steaming, and she quickly replaced it with a new earthenware pot, added water, and lit the fire.

Just as things were settled here, two more parents rushed over with their children. One child was crying and complaining of eye pain, while the other slumped listlessly against an adult's shoulder, too weak even to cry. Zhou Dahai quickly stepped forward to maintain order: "Line up! Keep three steps between you! One at a time! Don't push the children!"

Fang Yan had just finished taking the pulse of the second child and was instructing Cheng Baogui to take the "suspected case" to the observation area next door when she heard Lao Hu shout, "Fang Yan! The car is here! Anton and the others are back!"

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw a Mercedes-Benz bumping along the dirt road, followed by a tractor and several workers wearing blue work clothes from the pharmaceutical factory.

The tractor's cargo bed was filled to the brim with medicine boxes covered by a tarpaulin, and Meng Jimin clung to the cargo bed, waving his hands vigorously.

As soon as the truck came to a stop, he jumped out and shouted, "All the medicinal herbs have been brought! There's plenty of bezoar and pearl powder, and the warehouse manager even gave us some extra things, like forsythia, mint, and borneol. A few college students from the factory have also come to help."

Fang Yan felt relieved; this time, it must be a student recruited last time.

They were all chosen by him from Wang Yuchuan.

The Mercedes came to a stop, and Anton got out, greeting them in dialect:

"Quickly, take the bezoar powder to Li Hui, and move two boxes of isatis root to the consultation table!"

Shi Min immediately turned her camera to film the scene of the students unloading the medicine. Several students carried the medicine boxes and ran back and forth. The moment the canvas slipped down, the company's logo was revealed inside. The sound of the shutter was particularly clear in the noisy crowd. When Lao Hu saw this, he quickly introduced them to Shi Min, saying that these college students were the backbone of the factory and had just graduated from the same school. They had just joined this year, and some of them were even students of these professors.

Just as he finished speaking, he saw college students in factory uniforms greeting Wang Yuchuan and the others, calling them "teacher" repeatedly.

Shi Min nodded. These are all news stories. Even though the atmosphere here is tense, they would definitely be good material for news.

"Xiao Zhang, quickly take that picture! Capture the students greeting the professor, and then get a close-up of the company logo on the medicine box—the integration of industry, academia, and research, and young students going to the countryside for epidemic prevention—this footage is so substantial!" Shi Min said to the photographer.

The photographer immediately adjusted the lens, and the telephoto lens accurately captured the scene of several young people in blue overalls surrounding Wang Yuchuan and greeting him. One of the young men, wearing glasses, was carrying half a bag of disinfectant cotton that he had just brought from the factory. He was saying, "Teacher, we brought new disinfection tools." Wang Yuchuan patted him on the shoulder and gestured for him to help Cheng Baogui spread quicklime.

The camera pans across the tractor, then focuses on the canvas sign that reads "Qihuang Company Dongba Medicinal Herbs Factory," before scanning over the medicine box with the school's name printed on it and the new enamel mug on the consultation table.

Old Hu quickly said:

"Look at this lineup! Our factory recruits top medical students who usually learn theory from professors. Now they're going to the countryside to practice in real-world situations, which not only helps the local dialect but also helps the kids improve their skills!"

"This is very meaningful. It's not just about epidemic prevention, but also a great example of bringing traditional Chinese medicine resources from the city to the countryside and young people connecting with the people. Broadcasting this will definitely inspire many people."

Upon hearing this, Lao Hu corrected him:
"This was actually an event organized by our company in conjunction with a joint foundation and the school..."

While they were busy with their publicity, Fang Yan was already busy again.

Fang Yan had just seen off a girl diagnosed with scarlet fever, and the sleeves of his white coat were already soaked with sweat.

He had just taken off his gloves, which were stained with medicine, and put on new ones when he saw Zhou Dahai leading a couple over in a hurry. The couple was holding a curled-up little girl in their arms. The child's face was buried in her mother's arms, and her neck, which was exposed, was covered with fine red rashes. Even the back of her ears was flushed abnormally.

"Dr. Fang, this child woke up this morning saying he was cold. He was wearing two layers of cotton-padded clothes but was still shivering. He suddenly developed a fever just now, and these spots have appeared on his body!" The man's voice was choked with sobs, and the child in his arms whimpered twice, his voice so weak it was like a mosquito's buzz.

Fang Yan quickly told them to place the child on the examination table. As soon as his fingertips touched the child's forehead, he couldn't help but frown; it was frighteningly hot, at least thirty-nine degrees Celsius. He lifted the child's eyelids to take a look and saw that her conjunctiva was severely congested. He then quickly touched the lymph nodes behind her ear, and as soon as he pressed on them, the child cried out in pain.

"Hold her down, let me check her throat." As soon as the words were spoken in dialect, the child's parents immediately stepped forward and held down the child's arms.

The moment the tongue depressor was inserted, Fang Yan's heart skipped a beat: a grayish-white pseudomembrane had formed on the back of the throat, with red and swollen edges, and the tongue was a deep purplish-red with dense prickles, even more severe than the boy who had previously suffered airway obstruction. "When did the fever start? Did he say his throat hurt?" Fang Yan asked, while gesturing to the classmate next to her to write down "Confirmed scarlet fever, intense heat and toxicity, accompanied by pseudomembrane formation."

"It started in the early hours of the morning!" the mother said, wiping away tears. "There were no warning signs beforehand. She just mentioned something about a lump in her throat while eating last night, but we didn't think much of it..."

“The pseudomembrane has already grown out.” Fang Yan stood up and shouted to Anton, who had just finished moving the medicine box, “Anton! Get the bezoar powder! Also, prepare the agate mortar and pestle, add borneol and indigo, quick!”

Anton had just put the medicine box down when he heard this and immediately turned to get the medicine. Li Hui also came over, holding freshly brewed medicine in her hand: "Brother Fang, the previous child's medicine is ready, should we prepare this one to clear the heat?"

"Prepare it first!" Fang Yan stared at the child on the examination table. Seeing that her breathing was getting more and more rapid and her nostrils were flaring slightly, she felt her heart tighten again. "After you blow her throat, give her the medicine. Take it with reed root water to dilute it so she won't choke."

"Brother Fang! That kid in shed number two is having trouble breathing!" Cheng Baogui was already urging him from a distance.

Fang Yan's heart sank when he heard this. He ran towards the isolation shed, shouting, "Li Hui! Keep an eye on the children over here. I'm going to check on them! Anton, prepare the medicine and send it over immediately!"

Rushing into shed number two, they saw the four- or five-year-old girl who had been diagnosed earlier lying on a straw mat, her lips slightly bluish-purple, and each breath she took was accompanied by a "hoarse" sound.

The parent standing nearby was sweating profusely with anxiety: "She was fine just now, and suddenly she started panting!"

Fang Yan quickly stepped forward, lifted the child's blanket, and sure enough, saw that there was another patch of red rash on her neck. She reached out and checked her pulse, which was fast like a drumbeat, but so weak that it would dissipate with a single press.

"The diaphragm is about to fall off!" Fang Yan immediately picked up the child and laid her on her side. "Quick, get the suction catheter! And get the throat medication too!"

Just then, Anton ran in from outside, holding the prepared medicine powder. Fang Yan took the horn-shaped blowpipe and blew it twice into the child's throat.

As soon as the powder was applied, the child coughed violently, coughing up a bloody fragment of the fake membrane from the corner of his mouth, and his breathing became easier instantly.

"It's alright, it's alright." Fang Yan put the child back on the straw mat, her white coat soaked with sweat.

Just as he was about to get up, a classmate ran in with a thermometer: "Brother Fang, three more kids have come in, all with fevers, and one of them says he can't see anything!"

Fang Yan rubbed his throbbing temples and strode out of the shed.

A long queue had already formed in front of the consultation table. Shi Min's camera was pointed at the crowd in line, but deliberately avoided the children's faces, only filming the medical records held by the parents and the lime isolation line on the ground.

Old Hu stood aside, helping Zhou Dahai maintain order, shouting to the parents of the crying children, "Don't push! One at a time! There's enough medicine! There are enough doctors too!"

According to the statistics, in some cases, all the children in a family fell ill, in others, neighbors were affected together, and in still others, people from different villages were affected after visiting each other.

Fang Yaozhong, standing to the side, asked:
"Hongjing Village, Lijiazhuang Village, Xipo Village... these three villages are not far apart, and they all share a single well?"

Fang Yan said from the side:
"We need to ask Secretary Zhou!"

Zhou Dahai leaned over and nodded: "That's right! The well in Xipo Village dried up a while ago, and a lot of people came to our village's old well to fetch water. I guess it was the well water that carried the water!"

“Then it’s not just sporadic cases anymore, it’s a cluster outbreak,” Wang Yuchuan said to Zhou Dahai in a deep voice as he closed the register.

Zhou Dahai exclaimed "Huh?" He was so busy he was almost dizzy.

The dialect serves as a reminder:
"Secretary Zhou, please have someone broadcast a message in these three villages immediately. Anyone who has been in contact with the confirmed child or has gone to the old well to fetch water in the past week, regardless of age, must come in for a tongue test! Especially those with children under five years old, no one can be missed!"

Just as Zhou Dahai was about to respond, a villager wearing a straw hat came running from a distance, panting and shouting, "Secretary Zhou! Doctor Fang! Something terrible has happened! Three more children in Hongjing Village have collapsed, and they're delirious with fever!"

He slapped his forehead:

"Oh dear, have we stirred up a drug den? How come everyone's showing up all at once after we got notified..."

He was about to cry.

Fang Yan thought for a moment, then looked at the parked trucks and said:

"Secretary Zhou, is it safe for vehicles to pass through that village?"

Zhou Dahai paused for a moment, then nodded:
"Sure, the farm road is wide enough to pass through, it's just a bit bumpy."

He said in dialect:

"Send a car directly over there and bring the person over."

At this moment, the prescription slip beside him reminded him:

"Their driver might not agree."

Fang Yan was taken aback; these days, drivers might indeed not agree.

Drivers these days are different from drivers in later generations; they are in extremely high demand. They are all keeping their distance now, afraid of getting infected. If you ask them to pick up people, the drivers will most likely refuse.

Should we use a car to transport it?
That's even more impossible. How many cars can a sedan carry? It's not like it's an Indian motorcycle.

Fang Yan thought for a moment and shouted to Lao Hu:

"Old Hu, did you bring any money?"

Old Hu, who was speaking enthusiastically in the distance, paused when he heard the dialect:
"what???"

"Did you bring any money?" Fang Yan asked.

Old Hu was a bit confused. There wasn't much to buy in this rural area. He looked at the supply and marketing cooperative and asked:

What do you want to buy?

"It's not about buying things!" Fang Yan walked quickly to Lao Hu's side and said in a low, urgent voice, "There should still be patients in each village, and we need to send vehicles to pick them up, but the drivers might not agree. We need to quickly come up with some money to give some subsidies to the drivers who are willing to go, the sooner the better!"

Old Hu then realized what was happening and slapped his thigh: "Hey! You should have said so earlier! I brought the money with me!"

He immediately opened the wallet at his waist, inside which were neatly stacked more than a dozen ten-yuan bills, which was no small amount in 1978.

He pulled out five bills and held them in his hand, then followed Fang Yan to the open space where the trucks were parked.

Several drivers were squatting on the hood of their cars smoking, watching the free clinic from a distance, their faces showing obvious hesitation.

When they saw Fang Yan and Lao Hu coming over, they became wary.

After Fang Yan and the others explained their needs, one of the drivers, wearing blue overalls, stood up first, rubbing his hands together and said, "Dr. Fang, it's not that we don't want to help, but this disease is very dangerous. What if we catch it... our wives and children at home are waiting for us."

Other drivers chimed in, "That's right, the farm road is really bumpy. If something happens to the child in the car, we can't afford to take responsibility."

Before they could finish speaking, Old Hu handed the lead driver five ten-yuan bills in his hand, his tone straightforward: "Sir, I know you have concerns. This fifty yuan is your subsidy. After you finish this trip, I'll give you food and meat coupons. If you get sick, all medical expenses will be reimbursed. Here's another fifty yuan, is that alright?"

The driver's eyes suddenly lit up as he stared at the money in Lao Hu's hand, his Adam's apple bobbing involuntarily.

Fifty yuan plus food coupons and days off—the benefits were indeed tempting.

He hesitated for two seconds, glanced at the other drivers, and finally took the money and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Okay! Since you've said that, I'll go! It's just a few kids, right? I'll drive slowly and make sure it's safe!"

Once the first driver took the plunge, the rest of the drivers immediately agreed.

Another driver wearing a hat stood up: "Then I'll go too! My truck is big enough to carry more family members!"

Old Hu immediately pulled out five more bills and handed them over: "You're a generous boss! Same treatment, I'll personally light your cigarettes when we get back!"

"Me too! I'm going too!" "Count me in!"

Before Lao Hu could speak again, the remaining two drivers also stood up, their earlier hesitation gone.

Old Hu simply took all the money out of his wallet and distributed it among the group, then specifically instructed them:
"Please wear your masks properly. I'll have someone thoroughly disinfect your cars when we get back to ensure your safety!"

"Don't worry!" The driver had already jumped into the driver's seat and honked the horn loudly. "I'm off to Hongjing Village!"

"Wait!" Fang Yan called out to him, then turned around and had An Dong bring over two packs of new gauze masks. "Wear these, and try not to have close contact with the child. Call us anytime if anything happens."

The driver took the mask, put it on his face, and started the truck.

The engine roared to life, kicking up a cloud of dust as it sped off toward Hongjing Village.

Another driver started his vehicle, and the two trucks bumped along the dirt road, raising dust, before a third truck drove off as well.

With the three cars gone, the matter was considered half settled.

Old Hu watched the car disappear at the village entrance and smiled at Fang Yan:

"You're quick-witted; this money was well spent! Saving a few children is better than anything else."

He said in dialect:

"Alright, I still need to make some preparations. The real test will come when they arrive."

PS: The basic chapter of 6000 words has been updated.

(End of this chapter)