Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1431 Outrageous! (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

The commune canteen was located in a row of brick buildings next to the health center. The four square tables were polished to a shine, and the bowls were made of coarse porcelain with peeling paint on the edges. The local dialect sounded familiar, like the ones my grandmother used when I was a child.

As soon as you enter, a wave of heat mixed with the aroma of lard and firewood hits you. A large iron pot on the stove is bubbling away, and the auntie in charge of cooking is sprinkling the rare chopped green onions into the dishes.

This is clearly a kitchen specially built for the Wang Family Compound, with a pure Ming and Qing dynasty architectural style.

It's the same style as the wood-burning stove in the kitchen of the family with the dialect accent.

"Director Fang, Dean He, Dr. Bai, Dr. Li, and all comrades, please have a seat!" The commune cadres warmly invited Fang Yan and the others to sit down.

The table was set with eight dishes and a soup, with a pot of braised pork in the center.

This was definitely the main dish of the morning.

The rest were all vegetarian dishes, including vegetarian meatballs, stir-fried shredded white radish, cold vermicelli and bean sprout salad, shredded potatoes, stewed tofu, stir-fried eggs with dried tofu, and a scallion and egg soup.

The staple food was white flour steamed buns, which must have been specially prepared for them since they came; they wouldn't normally eat like this.

The dialect clearly indicates that this was the highest standard that the grassroots could offer. In 1978, just as the reform and opening up was about to begin, although there were many coal mines in this area, they actually had little impact on the local people and communes.

In the era of rationing, a meal like this, with meat, vegetables, and all refined grains, was considered the greatest respect one could show to these cadres from the city.

"Our commune has limited resources, so this is just some simple home-cooked food. Please don't mind it, comrades! Eat more in this cold weather!" the commune cadre said to Fang Yan and the others.

Then he brought out some locally brewed bulk liquor to treat the locals to a drink.

However, everyone refused.

"We're heading back this afternoon; we have a lot of things to do, so we won't drink!" Fang Yan refused.

Li Ke and the others also said:
"Me too, we have to see patients this afternoon, so we're not drinking anymore!"

Others echoed this sentiment, and the commune leaders stopped trying to persuade them and told everyone to eat quickly.

They kept piling food onto the plates of the people speaking in dialect.

Fang Yan picked up the steamed bun, took a big bite, and ate it with braised pork, his mouth full of meaty aroma.

Pork tastes better these days.

At this moment, Bai Xiaochun lowered her voice and whispered to Fang Yan:

"Brother Fang, are you going back this afternoon?"

Fang Yan nodded and said:
"Yes, there are still things to deal with. I've seen the situation here, and with the county hospital's report, I have a general idea of ​​what's going on. I'll combine this with the situation here and optimize a solution. When I get back to Taiyuan, I'll talk to the local health department leaders, and then it will be issued."

"You'll need to continue monitoring the follow-up issues of this pilot program, and then provide feedback on any suggestions for improvement."

He Yang, who was standing to the side, immediately said:
"Dr. Bai, we will fully cooperate with any suggestions you may have!"

Bai Xiaochun nodded. Fang Yan is here to solve problems, not to treat people. After understanding the situation, he knew he didn't need to stay too long.

Then Fang Yan said to Li Ke:

"By the way, Dr. Li, please give me the contact information for the commune and the county hospital, otherwise I won't be able to find you easily."

Li Ke was taken aback when she heard this, and then she realized that she hadn't given Fang Yan her contact information yet, so she quickly wrote down two addresses for Fang Yan.

He could be contacted not only by telephone, telegram, but also by mail.

After finishing the meal, Fang Yan took out the cigarettes he had on him and distributed them to the commune cadres present. Logically, he shouldn't have distributed them, but since he had brought them there, there was no reason to take them back, so he simply gave them away.

Consider it a thank you for their hospitality this morning.

When the cadres who received the cigarettes discussed it, they realized that Fang Yan was about to leave, so they quickly got him a large bag of local specialties.

It's nothing much, just walnuts and vermicelli.

"Dr. Fang, we don't have much to give you, please take these," the commune leader said to Fang Yan.

"You're too kind!" Fang Yan took the money and realized it was quite a lot.

After Fang Yan left, the commune leader smiled and said:

“A token of our appreciation is nothing. We rarely have people from the capital here. Director Fang, you are the first one in all these years. It’s just a pity that you left in such a hurry, otherwise we could have made some preparations.”

Fang Yan said to them:

"Oh, that's too kind of you. Thank you for the gifts, it's much better than nothing!"

After saying that, Fang Yan and the others prepared to leave.

A group of people came over to say goodbye to Fang Yan, especially a group of doctors who had listened to his lecture today. They had truly benefited greatly from it and were quite reluctant to see Fang Yan leave.

Fang Yan told Li Ke to wait for her news, then waved goodbye to everyone, got into the car, and started her journey home.

The way back was downhill, so we were able to go a bit faster.

It took about fifty minutes to reach the county town.

On the way, Fang Yan had already found out that there was a train from here to Taiyuan that afternoon, departing at four o'clock and arriving at Taiyuan Railway Station around six-thirty.

Fang Yan was in a hurry to get back to Taiyuan, so he planned to take this train back.

After He Yang arrived at the hospital, he immediately had his driver go to the train station to buy tickets for Fang Yan and the others. On the way back, he already knew what Fang Yan was up to. This guy was actually going to help Li Ke clear his name, and he was even going directly to Taiyuan to find a high-ranking official who had come to Beijing with him.

On the bus, Fang Yan asked him, "Who's behind Wang Zhankui?"
He Yang dared not say anything about it. He was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat. He was not like Fang Yan. This man was really influential. He was just a small deputy director of the county hospital. Although his family was a big family and he had many relatives in Beijing, they were not familiar with him.

He still felt the power of connections in the local dialect.

This is fucking terrifying. Wang Zhankui probably never dreamed that helping his relative with Li Ke would lead to him attracting such a powerful figure.

Damn it!
What exactly did Li Ke say to Fang Yan?
Why would the two of them help each other so much just because they speak in dialect?

I'll have to ask them about it properly later!
He Yang thought to himself silently.

Back at the hospital, Fang Yan and the others began packing their luggage. He Yang summarized the liver disease treatment situation at the county hospital over the past few days and finally handed it over to Fang Yan to take away.

Around 3 p.m., three hospital leaders drove Fang Yan and the other three to the train station.

After saying goodbye to them, Fang Yan followed Li Chong and the others onto the train, where they checked their tickets and boarded.

This journey came quickly and ended quickly.

After getting into the car, Li Chong was a little worried that He Yang might tell Wang Zhankui about it. If that guy caused trouble halfway through, it would be dangerous. But Fang Yan wasn't afraid at all.

He Yang and Wang Zhankui had absolutely no connection, and Wang Zhankui, as a deputy director of the county revolutionary committee, didn't have the ability to plant spies on the train.

Li Chong completely assumed that the man was a British spy.

At four o'clock, the train started moving towards Taiyuan. Fang Yan had already made up her mind that as soon as she got back, she would find Zhang Yi and tell him about Li Ke's situation. The fastest way to get things done was to go directly to Zhang Yi; other methods would involve going through procedures, which was too slow.

At 6:30, Fang Yan and his group arrived safely at Taiyuan Railway Station.

After getting off the bus, Fang Yan asked around to find out the exact location of Zhang Yi's office, and then he and a few others boarded a bus and headed straight there.

At 7:10 p.m., Fang Yan and his group arrived at their destination.

After the security guard handed over his identification and informed them, Zhang Yi and his secretary soon came out together.

Upon seeing Fang Yan, he greeted her with a smile:
"Comrade Fang Yan! I'm so sorry, I didn't recognize you on the plane last time!"

Fang Yan was taken aback. From what he said, it was clear that he already knew her identity.

"The youngest miracle doctor in Beijing! The trump card in the hands of Director Liao of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, I knew he couldn't be an unknown!" Zhang Yi said with a smile.

He then spoke in dialect:

"Speaking of which, I've known your Peking Union Medical College Hospital's Dean, Mr. Dong, for many years."

"I heard he's working at the Ministry of Health now."

Zhang Yi immediately started talking about dialects as soon as they met.

Fang Yan understood perfectly; Zhang Yi had already figured out his background, and his warm attitude was just right. He smiled and shook hands with Zhang Yi: "You're too kind. I'm just here in Shanxi to take care of some practical matters; I'm nothing special."

"Haha, young man, you're too modest!" Zhang Yi said as he pulled Fang Yan inside.

At the same time, he asked him:
"By the way, have you finished all your work?"

"Yes, the pilot program is going smoothly overall." Fang Yan nodded.

After saying that, Fang Yan immediately added:

"However, I've come back this time because I have something more urgent to ask you."

"Oh? What is it?" Zhang Yi was a little surprised. Logically speaking, Fang Yan shouldn't even know his position. Why would he suddenly say he needed to trouble him?

Without beating around the bush, the conversation cut straight to the point:

“I met a traditional Chinese medicine doctor in Lingshi named Li Ke. He was framed by someone there and has been wrongly accused for nearly thirty years. I had heard from someone that you were sent down from above to do this kind of investigation work, so you should be the right person to contact.”

"Almost thirty years?" Zhang Yi was taken aback.

He even doubted that he had heard correctly.

The dialect didn't say anything else, it just went like this:
"These are his materials, please take a look."

After saying that, he took out the materials written by Li Ke from his briefcase and handed them to Zhang Yi.

Somewhat bewildered, Zhang Yi took the materials written by Li Ke earlier. At the beginning was Li Ke's self-introduction, followed by the details of his two cases.

Zhang Yi read on and on, and finally understood what was going on. It turned out to be something that started in 1953, and a young man had been tormented for most of his life.

They still live in each other's shadow to this day.

By the end, the old man was already quite angry:

"This is outrageous! I'd like to see who's behind this!"

PS: I've gained another 100 monthly votes, so I still owe you 15000 words after finishing this chapter.

That's all for today, please come early tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)