Getting Medicine in Town

Chapter 11

Wu Jie held the two prescriptions, his head throbbing. When the doctor came by yesterday, he had given a little medicine and it cost him fifty-three yuan.

Now he had two full sheets of paper. To save her life, it would cost at least two or three thousand yuan.

Where could he get that much money? He only had a little over four hundred yuan on him.

Wu Jie gripped the two papers, his eyes landing on the axe nearby.

The villagers soon heard Wu Jie making a massive scene. Face flushed red and axe in hand, he sought out two families.

One was the family of the woman who had splashed Li Qingqing with boiling water.

That woman had visited Li Qingqing earlier. Seeing how severe the situation was, she had been terrified herself.

Now, Wu Jie stood at her doorstep with an axe, demanding justice.

“My wife is practically gone because of her basin of boiling water! Go look for yourselves, the doctor already told me to prepare the coffin. I don’t ask for much, just let me splash a basin of boiling water back!”

Everyone hurried to persuade him: “Wu Jie, we’re all neighbors here. Technically, you should even call her ‘Auntie.’ Let’s talk this out, don’t ruin the harmony.”

“Whoever wants to help persuade her can take this basin of boiling water instead!”

The crowd found it hard to argue further. At that moment, a member of the Zhang Family who had come with Wu Jie spoke up according to Wu Jie’s instructions: “Wu Jie, don’t lose heart. Didn’t they say there’s still hope?”

Hearing there was still hope, the others immediately joined in the persuasion.

Wu Jie shouted: “Hope? What hope! Two pages of prescriptions, I don’t even know how much they’ll cost! How can I save her?”

The others understood immediately. He wasn’t actually there to kill anyone. They quickly said: “Auntie, how much money do you have in the house? Hurry up and bring some out!”

Hearing this, the woman hurried inside to find money.

The other family was that of the child who had run blindly into her.

Having seen what happened with the first family, this household obediently handed over money right away.

Wu Jie now had fifteen hundred yuan. Adding the money he borrowed from his in-laws and his own relatives, he had over two thousand in total.

“It should be enough.”

Having gathered the funds, Wu Jie ran the whole way. The Zhang Family member, fearing there might be something wrong with the papers, ran along with him.

They crossed mountain after mountain and two rivers, finally arriving in town. The two of them looked as if they had been fished out of a river, soaked in sweat.

There was only one clinic in town. Usually, they closed for a break at noon, but today a patient happened to be on an IV drip. While the doctor on duty had gone to rest, two nurses remained on duty.

Wu Jie moved to go inside.

The Zhang Family man immediately stopped him: “Let me go ask first if there’s any problem with the writing on this paper.”

Wu Jie was anxious, but since the Zhang Family man had just helped him, he couldn’t easily refuse. He handed over the papers.

The Zhang Family man took the papers to the front of a clothing shop: “Second Sister, is your husband in? Wasn’t he a teacher before? Have him look at what’s written on this paper for me.”

The woman called a man out.

Wu Jie watched from the side, his heart filled with worry. He prayed nothing would go wrong after he had finally made it to town.

The man came out, looked them over, and said: “It’s a list of medicines. What’s the matter?”

Hearing this, the Zhang Family man finally gave the prescriptions back to Wu Jie. He didn’t follow him to the clinic; exhausted from the journey, he stayed at the clothing shop to chat.

Wu Jie heard them talking about the new wife.

“This prescription was written by that new wife in my family. I heard she used to be a doctor in the city.”

Another person said: “Then you’d better keep a close eye on her. Don’t let her run away.”

“Once she has a child, she’ll be fine.”

Wu Jie walked to the next street, and their voices faded away.

“I need medicine!” He ran into the clinic and slapped the prescriptions onto the glass counter.

This area was remote, and many things weren’t done strictly by the book. Seeing someone bring a prescription, the clinic staff were usually prepared to just fill it.

But this time was a bit special.

“You want disposable IV sets? Can you perform an infusion yourselves?” The one taking the medicine was a young nurse.

How would Wu Jie know? He didn’t understand any of this.

“Just give me whatever is on there. I brought money, I’ll pay.”

“It’s not a matter of money. I have to ask clearly, is there someone there who knows how to do an infusion?”

“I think so.”

What did “I think so” mean? Did they know or not?

The nurse found it strange and asked: “What is the patient’s illness?”

“Scalded by boiling water.”

“Is it serious?”

“Very. The doctor said she was beyond saving. But we have a doctor from out of town there. She gave me this prescription and told me to come get the medicine.”

“Where are you from?” the nurse asked, wanting to go take a look.

“Xinghua Village.”

It was noon, and with the hot sun outside, the staff inside were prone to dozing. An older nurse nearby, who had been drowsy, suddenly snapped to attention. She immediately asked: “Up past the Wachang?”

“Yes.”

The older nurse stood up and took the two sheets of paper. She hadn’t heard the part about the Outsider Wife being a doctor. She asked: “This is written with quite some skill. Who wrote this?”

“An Outsider Wife in our village. She used to be a doctor in the city.”

The young nurse was still uneasy and said: “How long does it take to get up there? Maybe I should go with you to take a look.”

Hearing this, the older nurse pulled at the young nurse and raised her voice: “The person who wrote this is much more skilled than we are. If they can write this prescription, can’t they handle an infusion? Just get him the medicine according to the list. You move like a snail; by the time you get up there, it’ll be too late.”

The young nurse wanted to say more, but the older nurse gave her a look, signaling her to be quiet. Though the young nurse felt unsettled, she hurried to gather the medicine.

Near the end, she saw Carbamazepine¹. This drug?

This medicine was usually for bipolar disorder or epilepsy, acting as a sedative. She felt it was a bit strange to use this for pain relief in a burn case, as there were better options for analgesia.

She originally wanted to ask the older nurse, but thinking of the older nurse’s attitude just now and how she had said the prescription was very professional, she feared asking would only reveal her own lack of skill. So, she simply included it.

All the medicine was gathered and packed.

“How much is it?”

Wu Jie was extremely nervous. He clutched over two thousand yuan in his hand, thinking about the heavy debts he still owed. He planned to raise two more pigs later and sell them for cash.

The young nurse saw his tension and felt a stir of sympathy. After all, medicine really was not cheap.

She said, “This Carbamazepine is quite expensive. How about I swap it for a cheaper painkiller for you?”

At that moment, the threat Sha Niu’s mother made before leaving proved useful. They had already bought so much; if they didn’t follow the prescription for this last bit and something went wrong, what would happen?

“No swap. Just tell me how much.”

“It’s three hundred and fifty yuan in total.”

Wu Jie could hardly believe his ears. “How much?”

“Three hundred and fifty yuan.”

Wu Jie quickly pulled out the money, counted three hundred and fifty yuan, and handed it over.

With over two thousand yuan still tucked in his shirt, Wu Jie was overjoyed. He grabbed the large bag of medicine and started running back.

As soon as he left, the young nurse couldn’t help but ask the older nurse, “Sister, did I say something wrong just now? Why did you keep winking at me?”

“You’re new, you don’t know the people from Xinghua Village. Anyway, don’t go there if anything comes up in the future. If you go, you might not come back.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Just remember it, don’t ask so much.” The older nurse didn’t want to talk about those things.

In Xinghua Village, Sha Niu didn’t know what she could do. Everyone was right; she only knew how to get in the way. So, instead of staying by Li Qingqing’s side, she kept running to the large rock at the village entrance to see if anyone was coming back.

The sky was almost dark when a figure finally appeared on the mountainside.

Sha Niu sprinted down the path. Wu Jie could no longer run; he felt like he was going to cough up his lungs. Just then, he heard Sha Niu’s voice: “Give me the medicine! I’ll run back!”

Sha Niu was usually simple-minded, but she had her clever moments. Wu Jie had no other choice but to hand the medicine to her.

Taking the medicine, Sha Niu moved like a monkey, her body light and her steps swift as she rushed back.

As soon as the medicine arrived, Ming Wen began to methodically clean Li Qingqing’s wounds and set up an IV drip.

Her movements were practiced and familiar. In this dark, dilapidated little mud hut, she actually gave off the aura of a doctor from the town clinic.

Sha Niu’s mother watched from the side, feeling a sharp pang in her heart. She imagined what kind of environment this girl should have originally belonged to.

She was human, after all, and no one could remain indifferent seeing a bright pearl covered in dust².

Li Qingqing’s mother whispered to her, “It looks like she really is a doctor. From now on, if anyone in our village has a problem, we’ll have a doctor to look at them.”

Li Qingqing’s mother was very happy.

Sha Niu’s mother didn’t respond. She just watched Ming Wen on the other side.

Ming Wen, with her crippled leg, was systematically checking the patient’s condition, her eyes never leaving the person on the bed.

Sha Niu’s mother wasn’t from the city and had never been there. She could only imagine in her mind the life this young woman should have had in the city.

The others kept watch there until the middle of the night, when Li Qingqing finally woke up. Though weak, she had indeed regained consciousness.

“It’s a miracle!”

“The Zhang Family has picked up a real treasure this time!” Li Qingqing’s family members were all talking about it, marveling at the Zhang Family’s good luck.

One had to understand that the village’s barefoot doctors couldn’t cure Li Qingqing, yet this girl from the city produced results so quickly.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Sha Niu was the happiest of all. Her Immortal Lady had saved her best friend, Li Qingqing!

She thought somewhat narcissistically that it must be because she was so good to the Immortal Lady that the Immortal Lady was willing to help.

After all, people went to beg the Immortal Lady every year when they were sick, but the Immortal Lady never saved anyone.

The Immortal Lady really did like her best. She would be even better to the Immortal Lady in the future.

“Day five. The days aren’t so hard to endure anymore. The silly girl brings me food every day. I saved a girl named Li Qingqing.”

“Her injuries required medicine. I had her husband go to town to buy it. For someone familiar with the mountain terrain and with healthy legs, it takes about four hours to get to town. Even if they reach the town, it’s very difficult to escape.”

“I’ve gained something as well. The only benefit of a remote mountain area might be that it’s relatively easy to get medicine. I hadn’t held out much hope, but I still got it.”

“I have a bottle of Carbamazepine.”

When Sister An walked in, the old woman was still crying. The tears of an elderly person would make even a heart of stone feel sad, let alone someone like Sister An.

Sister An felt terrible. She hadn’t originally believed the old woman’s words. Of course, she hadn’t told the old woman’s grandson about it either. There was no need. Even if the old woman really was senile and talking nonsense, she wouldn’t betray her.

Besides, she hadn’t forgotten about the paternity test. That matter had always been a thorn in her side.

Seeing the old woman so heartbroken now, she began to reflect. Perhaps some of it was true.

Maybe the part about immortals was just the old woman being confused and comforting herself, but the facts that her granddaughter had been kidnapped and that she was being controlled by a fraud ring might be true.

Sister An decided to look into it herself. Regardless of whether it was true or false, she had to find out exactly what was going on.

Translator’s Notes