Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1344: Empty Promises, Factory Quarantine Situation (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)
Upon hearing Fang Yan's words, Mr. Sima's eyelids suddenly opened a crack, his cloudy eyes staring straight at Fang Yan. After a long pause, he managed to squeeze out a few muffled words: "Really...can it get better?"

He had traveled all over the country and seen all kinds of storms in his life, but ever since he was diagnosed with this disease, the radiation and chemotherapy had made him look like a ghost, and the lump on his neck had become harder and harder, like a piece of dead iron. Doctors abroad shook their heads and said, "We have done our best." He had long seen through the prospect of the rest of his life.

The local dialect's expression "can recover" feels like a lifeline suddenly offered to you; even knowing it might be just comfort, you can't help but want to grasp it.

Fang Yan met his gaze, showing no sign of guilt, but rather confidence:

"I wouldn't dare say you'll be as strong as you were when you were young, but at least it will relieve the lump on your neck, so you won't have to suffer from that stuffiness anymore, and you can eat and sleep soundly."

He paused, then deliberately elaborated, “You didn’t choke on those two sips of water, did you? That’s the foundation being restored. After a few more days of replenishing with the fire-inducing soup, your kidney yin will be sufficient and the dryness in your lungs will be cleared. Then we’ll start giving you medicine to soften and disperse the lumps. When that time comes, you can feel the lump yourself and tell it’s softer than before.”

This is much more substantial than the vague statement "it can be better".

Mr. Sima's Adam's apple bobbed as he recalled the feeling when he drank the water. He subconsciously touched the side of his neck, which was still hard, but the burning, throbbing pain from before was gone.

He remained silent for a moment, surprisingly without throwing a tantrum, and simply gave a soft "hmm." His eyelids slowly drooped again, but this time his lips were no longer taut, indicating that he believed him.

Seeing this, the wife's eyes quietly reddened. Since her husband fell ill, he had become more and more irritable, and this was the first time he had listened to advice like this.

She quickly nodded to Fang Yan: "Director Fang, don't worry, we will definitely cooperate. If he dares to throw a tantrum, I'll be the first to stop him!"

"No need to stop me." Fang Yan smiled and turned to look at Mr. Sima:

“Mr. Sima is an open-minded person. He knows when to be serious and when to take care of his health. Besides, we’re not suffering while we’re getting treatment. In addition to taking medicine, I’ll have the kitchen stew some clear pigeon soup for you. It’ll be oil-free, so it’s both nourishing and not greasy. It’s much more comfortable than drinking those bitter medicine soups.”

These words struck a chord with Mr. Sima.

He's always loved to eat, but since he got sick he can't eat this or touch that, and he's been craving it all for a long time.

Upon hearing "pigeon soup," his eyelids twitched again. Although he didn't speak, he secretly glanced at his wife and saw the "hope" in her eyes. His wife knew it all too well and quickly pressed on, saying, "Did you hear that? Director Fang is thinking of you. When you feel better, we'll have pigeon soup!"

Seeing his demeanor, Fang Yan knew what was going on. This hot-tempered guy looked tough, but he was actually a sucker for empty promises.

He didn't say anything more, but he reminded his wife a few more times, "If you wake up and want to drink water, do it the same way as before," and then he quietly led Lao Tao out of the ward.

As soon as they reached the corridor, Lao Tao lowered his voice and said, "I was worried he would cause a scene, but I didn't expect him to calm down so quickly."

“To deal with a patient like this, you have to give him something to look forward to,” Fang Yan said slowly. “It’s not that he doesn’t believe he can’t be cured, it’s that he’s afraid of suffering without any effect. We’ve explained the treatment steps clearly and given him something tangible to look forward to, like that bowl of pigeon soup. That’s more effective than saying ‘cooperate well’ ten times. Practicing medicine requires not only understanding medicine, but also understanding people. He has a bad temper, but he’s very perceptive and knows who truly cares about him.”

Old Tao said with a smile:

"He's just a stubborn mule."

……

Before lunch, Fang Yan watched as Mr. Sima drank a bowl of "fire-inducing soup" before going home. After drinking the soup, his feet finally began to warm up, and the temperature in his knees also rose.

And after adding Ophiopogon japonicus, he didn't feel as thirsty after drinking it.

After Mr. Sima's family members were settled in the hotel, they gradually returned to the ward. The whole family is now watching closely.

They also have their lunch delivered by the hotel.

Fang Yan brought business back to the Yanjing Hotel, and they really should give him a top employee award at the end of the year.

Fang Yan could have gone home for lunch, but to show respect for them, they ate lunch at the hospital.

Of course, the food was also delivered by Yanjing Hotel. Mainly because Huang Huijie knew he was here, she ordered a meal for him when she ordered food.

Fang Yan took advantage of a break during her meal to call Lao Hu. Today was the fifth day, and if there were no problems with their quarantine, they could come back tomorrow. Lao Hu's assistant, Xiao Lin, answered the phone.

They inquired about the situation over there, asking if there were any new scarlet fever cases.

"Director Fang, I just checked the situation with the comrades in the epidemic prevention team." Xiao Lin's voice came through the receiver. "Yesterday afternoon and this morning, three more students were indeed discovered, but their symptoms were mild and their fevers were not as high as the previous batch. After taking the medicine, they have stopped coughing much now."

He paused and then said:

"Don't worry, the children we treated at the commune recovered very well! The epidemic prevention team gave us feedback, and some people were even planning to come to the factory to deliver things to you, but we called them back."

Fang Yan asked him:
"How are the students in our class who were infected before?"

Kobayashi responded:
"Two of them had their fevers subside yesterday. This morning during rounds, most of their rashes had started to disappear, and their voices were no longer hoarse. Professor Wang said that after two more days of treatment, they should be fine."

Fang Yan thought for a moment and then asked:

"By the way, how's Lao Hu today?"

Xiao Lin said, "Mr. Hu is doing well. He just told me that the braised pork was delicious today. He took his temperature this morning, and it was 36.5 degrees Celsius. He has no symptoms. You were right; he doesn't have scarlet fever."

He said in dialect:

"That's good."

Lao Hu and the professors are fine; they should be back tomorrow.

Fang Yan paused for a moment, then asked:
"So, none of your factory's regular employees have contracted scarlet fever?"

"No, no!" Xiao Lin quickly replied, his tone exceptionally certain. "Didn't you specifically instruct us to disinfect the factory area and dormitory area before you left, and also brew herbal medicine for everyone as a preventative measure? We've been taking our temperatures every day these past few days, and everyone is normal; not even a single person has caught a cold."

"The surrounding villages have also stabilized. The epidemic prevention team has sent people to be stationed there. They take the villagers' temperatures and distribute preventive medicine every day. When I went to deliver supplies yesterday, I heard from the village secretary that there have been no new cases for two days. The elderly and children who were previously sick are also getting better."

Finally, Xiaolin emphasized: "The epidemic prevention team said that another screening of all people will be conducted tomorrow morning. As long as the body temperature is normal and there are no symptoms, they can return to the city with the main group. Those few newly diagnosed students will have to stay for observation and can only leave after they are completely cured."

Fang Yan breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and said:
"Alright, best of luck, see you tomorrow!"

"Okay, see you tomorrow!" Kobayashi replied.

After hanging up the phone, Fang Yan went to tell Huang Huijie the news. Huang Huijie was relieved to hear that Lao Hu would be back tomorrow. She didn't realize it usually, but now that she hadn't seen him for several days, she missed him quite a bit.

After lunch, Mr. Sima's condition improved, and the heat in his legs returned to normal.

The dialect was found to be quite fast in responding, which shows that the "fire-inducing soup" was indeed given accurately.

If all goes well, we will soon be able to use Li Ke's cancer-fighting and life-saving soup.

Fang Yan started thinking as soon as he left the ward.

Original formula for the Cancer-Fighting and Life-Saving Decoction:
It consists of 19 herbs: seaweed, raw licorice, motherwort seed, vinegar-processed turtle shell, snake tongue grass, prunella vulgaris, Paris polyphylla, clam shell, Dioscorea bulbifera, raw Pinellia ternata, fresh ginger, Scrophularia ningpoensis, and oyster shell (30g each), large fritillaria cirrhosa (15g), Cremastra appendiculata and Sophora tonkinensis (10g each), whole scorpion (12), centipede (4), and realgar (1g) (powdered and swallowed).

According to the original plan, I intended to try the original recipe first, but now I plan to make some modifications to the dialect.

PS: I've gained 400 more monthly votes, so I owe everyone another 8000. After finishing this chapter, I'll owe you 6000 words.

There will be more this afternoon.

(End of this chapter)