“Has Miss Nan seen a doctor? Which doctor did she see?” asked Chairman Wan Hui.
“She hasn’t seen a doctor yet. Miss Nan says she knows her own body well. She believes she fell ill because she was too tired and her immune system was weakened,” answered Xiaoqing.
As soon as Xiaoqing finished speaking, Chairman Wan Hui said: “She won’t get better like this, she must see a doctor. I know of a highly skilled one. He’s good at treating mon illnesses like colds and fevers. I will bring him over to examine her right now.”
“Um… I suggested calling a doctor for Sister Nan Feng this morning, but she refused,” Xiaoqing hesitated, “Here’s what we can do; I’ll go ask her what she thinks.” With that, she turned and hurried upstairs.
Chairman Wan Hui watched Xiaoqing’s retreating back, pondering deeply amidst the smell of Chinese medicine.
Not long after Xiaoqing had run upstairs, she returned saying, “Chairman Wan Hui, our Sister Nan Feng says thank you. She promises to e and express her gratitude if your doctor can cure her illness.”
Chairman Wan Hui promptly left.
Half an hour later, Chairman Wan Hui’s carriage returned, and indeed, he had brought along a doctor.
Xiaoqing ushered the doctor into Nan Feng’s room, while Chairman Wan Hui waited outside, listening to the activity within.
The voice of the doctor and Nan Feng conversing drifted out:
“Miss, where exactly do you feel unwell?” the doctor asked.
“I have a dry mouth, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, my head feels heavy but my legs feel light, and I can’t walk steadily,” Nan Feng reported.
Xiaoqing chipped in, “Exactly, this morning when Sister Nan Feng tried to walk a few steps, she almost fell. That’s why she has been lying down ever since.”
The doctor nodded: “Well, let me take your pulse.”
The doctor started to feel Nan Feng’s pulse.
Outside, Chairman Wan Hui was virtually pressed against the door, all ears.
After quite a while, the room sprung to life again. “Miss Nan, your pulse is in chaos. You certainly have a serious illness, not just a mon cold. Have you eaten anything unusual recently?”
Xiaoqing said, “Where is the question of eating anything! Apart from taking her medication, Sister Nan Feng hasn’t eaten a single bit of rice. She’s been starving.”
The doctor, seeing Nan Feng’s pale face, studied her pulse once more, then shook his head: “This is problematic, I can’t diagnose the specific disease. It seems to be a mix of gastrointestinal problems and cold symptoms. Let me prescribe some medication first. Take it for a couple of days. Make a bag of it into medicine every day and take it three times. Check if your situation improves. If it does, continue taking this medicine. If not, I will change it to gastrointestinal medicine.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Nan Feng said weakly.
After the doctor and Xiaoqing left the room, Nan Feng quickly sat up, pounded her hand, opened her cupboard, and started eating the mung bean cake she had stolen in the middle of the night.
She had wanted to eat it for a while now, but the arrival of Chairman Wan Hui had made her resist.
Mung bean cake, unlike other food, doesn’t produce a lingering smell that can be detected by others.
After devouring a few bites, she poured herself a big cup of water and drank it down greedily.
This wouldn’t do—she was too hungry. She shouldn’t steal mung bean cake tonight; she needed to eat some meat.
Nan Feng put down her cup, but maybe because she had been hungry for so long, she did so with a weakness that toppled over another cup on the table. The cup fell with a “clink,” shattering into pieces.
Downstairs.
The doctor had already written a prescription. As Xiaoqing was about to see him and Chairman Wan Hui out, a ’clink’ came from upstairs. Everyone downstairs was startled. Without a second thought, Xiaoqing dashed upstairs.
Seeing this, Chairman Wan Hui followed suit.
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