Chapter 123: Dragging Others In

At this moment, Eldest Uncle Chen Baishu was still racking his brains over the heart-saving pills.

“Old Chen, there’s a conference tomorrow. Do you want to go?” someone beside him suddenly asked.

“Conference?” Chen Baishu was surprised.

He hadn’t received any related information or invitation—maybe it was because he wasn’t skilled enough and they didn’t think much of him.

“Yeah! You didn’t know? Some big names in traditional Chinese medicine will be there, along with a few rising stars,” the doctor beside him said.

“Old Li, you got an invitation?” Chen Baishu asked.

The doctor beside him shook his head. He was one of the top three doctors in the steel factory’s medical office and the best in terms of skill.

“No, but our factory got one spot. I know Doctor Jin definitely won’t be interested, and I’ve got something else to do tomorrow, so I figured I’d ask if you wanted to go,” he said.

Doctor Jin was another physician at the steel factory, but he had no interest in traditional Chinese medicine, so there was no need to ask him.

“Great! Thank you, Old Li!” Chen Baishu said joyfully.

Upon hearing that some TCM experts would be attending, he already had some ideas and decided to go and exchange insights.

Old Li glanced at Chen Baishu and saw him writing something in a notebook. He couldn’t help but ask, “What are you writing?”

Chen Baishu thought for a moment and said, “This rural medical trip left a deep impression on me. It’s just too hard to get medical treatment in the countryside. Rural medical resources are truly lacking.”

Zhoujiazhuang was already considered a village near the capital, and yet medical care was so difficult to come by and the resources so scarce—one could only imagine what it was like in more remote rural areas.

Old Li sighed too. “There’s no helping it. Training a qualified doctor is incredibly difficult.”

Currently, over 80% of China’s medical resources were concentrated in cities, especially doctors. As for senior doctors, the proportion was even higher—over 90%.

That was understandable. Even if senior doctors were willing to work in the countryside, the villages simply couldn’t “support” them.

The conditions in rural areas would severely limit the abilities of senior doctors. With complete infrastructure in cities, it was just more reasonable.

When rural folks had serious illnesses, they had no choice but to come to the city.

Nothing could be done about it.

“That’s why I was thinking, is it possible to quickly train a group of barefoot doctors?

Actually, common illnesses like colds and fevers make up the vast majority of cases. If someone can treat those, that basically covers most of the medical needs in rural areas.

Serious illnesses—well, they’ll just have to travel to the city,” Chen Baishu said, echoing Zhou Yimin’s words.

Exactly! Zhou Yimin had talked about this with him.

Zhou Yimin had discussed two major matters with him—one was the heart-saving pill, the other was about resident doctors in the countryside.

He had told Chen Baishu about the current challenges in rural medical care and asked whether he could compile a medical manual suited for the countryside—something that literate individuals could be quickly trained to use and go to work.

In short, Zhou Yimin wanted to get the Barefoot Doctor’s Manual published early and bring blessings to rural communities.

Zhou Yimin also understood that Chen Baishu alone wouldn’t be able to pull this off. The reason he discussed it with him was to use his voice to spread the idea and attract more attention.

You have to know—in the previous timeline, the Barefoot Doctor’s Manual was written by a collective of medical colleges and universities.

A group of highly knowledgeable senior experts, for the first time, worked from grassroots realities, adapted to rural medical conditions, and transformed complex knowledge into concise, clear language using the most straightforward terms and most practical methods to popularize the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses.

That book didn’t follow the traditional format of first explaining anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, or pharmacology. Instead, it was problem-centered—clear, simple, actionable, and results-oriented. It became a successful example of public medical education.

In the previous life, that book was hailed as divine.

As long as you could read, you could become a barefoot doctor. You could quickly diagnose and treat the 99% of common illnesses by following the manual.

It enabled the country to rapidly train a large number of grassroots barefoot doctors, fundamentally resolving the challenge of rural medical access at the time.

If Zhou Yimin didn’t intervene, the Barefoot Doctor’s Manual would still eventually appear.

Five years later, when the Great Leader learned how backward rural healthcare was, he became furious and said, “The Ministry of Health is not the people’s Ministry of Health. Just rename it the Urban Health Ministry, or the Lordly Health Ministry, or the Urban Lords’ Health Ministry instead!”

That statement scared a lot of people back then.

So in 1969, the Barefoot Doctor’s Manual was finally published. Some statistics showed that more than 1.5 million barefoot doctors were trained because of that book.

What Chen Baishu just said left Old Li dumbfounded.

He never imagined that Old Chen harbored such ambition.

“This isn’t a small project, Old Chen. You’re thinking way too big,” Old Li said with a slight shake of his head.

Even with him added to the effort, it would be hard to complete such a monumental work.

Chen Baishu gave a wry smile. He had agreed to Zhou Yimin’s request quite lightly, but once he actually sat down to write, his mind turned to mush. He had no idea where to begin.

Now, he finally realized how difficult it really was.

That’s why he deliberately brought it up in front of Old Li—he was trying to rope him in. He also intended to bring his retired teacher back into the fold.

He knew very well: if they could really complete such a work, it would be remembered for generations.

To say he wasn’t tempted would be a lie.

“That’s exactly why I’m hoping to invite you in, Old Li.

Actually, this idea came from our courtyard’s Comrade Zhou Yimin. You know him—anything that benefits the people, he’s always thinking about it,” Chen Baishu added, even pulling Zhou Yimin into it.

Because Zhou Yimin had clout!

“The one who invented the hand-pump well and solar stove in our factory?” Old Li was stunned.

“That’s him. He shared a lot with me, and I think some of his ideas aren’t entirely unworkable. Later I’ll ask Old Jin. Although he and I differ in philosophy, as long as it benefits the people, none of that matters.”

Zhou Yimin had also told him—whether it was traditional Chinese medicine or Western medicine, as long as it could treat people and serve the people, it could be included in the manual.

Upon hearing this, Old Li couldn’t help but get a little excited.

He could already sense how much prestige was buried in this. If his name ended up in the book too, then…

“Old Chen, this kind of monumental work isn’t something the two of us can finish alone. We’ll need to bring in more colleagues,” Old Li said calmly, even though he was stirred deep down.

“Yeah. I plan to invite my teacher out of retirement. You bring in a few people too. Tomorrow, I’ll attend the conference and try to recruit more,” Chen Baishu said with a plan in mind.

“Alright, count me in. Comrade Zhou Yimin—he’s impressive!” In the end, Old Li couldn’t help but praise Zhou Yimin too.

Chen Baishu nodded. “He really is. He’s the most promising young man in our courtyard.”

No doubt about it—no one in the whole courtyard questioned that.

(End of Chapter)