Zuo Liangliang was a skinny, forty-six-year-old man.
He was wearing a brand new, bluish-black padded coat and a pair of shiny leather shoes.
Yet, looking at his outstretched hands, they were covered with dry, cracked marks. Especially when he smiled, revealing a mouth full of yellowish-black teeth, you would hardly believe he was a doctor.
In every village brigade, a room would be set aside for the village doctors to run a clinic.
Mubangou was no exception; the clinic was in the yard of the village brigade.
"Welco, Doctor Du and Dr. Wu." When Wu Buwei and Du Heng got out of the car, Zuo Liangliang enthusiastically reached out his hand to greet them.
Du Heng quickly shook Zuo Liangliang’s hand, politely saying, "Mr. Zuo, don’t be so formal with us. We’re old acquaintances; there’s no need to be so polite."
This was not just Du Heng making small talk; they really were quite familiar with each other.
Village doctors had to visit the Health Clinic from ti to ti.
Whether it was to get paid, for training, or to seek help, they had all t before and knew of each other.
Having worked for five years, Du Heng was quite familiar with them.
After exchanging pleasantries upon entering the clinic, Zuo Liangliang brought out a booklet.
"This is the booklet I prepared after last year’s eting, Doctor Du. Please take a look and let know if there are any corrections to be made."
"Mr. Zuo, you’ve been really thorough with this. It has saved a lot of trouble."
Zuo Liangliang chuckled. "Do you have any other tasks for this visit?"
Du Heng handed the booklet to Wu Buwei and turned to chat with Zuo Liangliang. "We have two objectives for this visit, Mr. Zuo. The first is to complete the health profiles for the entire village. Our superiors require that profiling for the entire district be completed by June. I’ve reviewed your work; it’s comprehensive, including family mbers, health status, and dical history. Therefore, I don’t need to do anything redundant."
Being praised once again, Zuo Liangliang couldn’t help but feel a little satisfied. "It’s the least I can do. After all, I am serving the people in the village."
"The second objective is to provide dical services to the doorsteps of the villagers, helping with any issues within our ability. We require Mr. Zuo’s support for this."
After Du Heng finished speaking, Zuo Liangliang slapped his thigh and responded, "Great! That’s a good thing. You wouldn’t know, my skills are limited. A lot of the ti, I’m not sure about the diagnosis and am hesitant to prescribe dicine. Most people in the village are elderly. Worrying about causing inconvenience to their children, they are reluctant to spend money and normally just try to bear with their conditions. But as ti passes, mild illnesses beco serious, and minor diseases beco severe. Many have even developed complications. It troubles ."
Du Heng was left speechless by these words.
Luckily, Zuo Liangliang continued, "Such a wonderful thing, I will definitely support it. Just tell what you need. As long as I can do it, I won’t hesitate."
Du Heng glanced at the clinic, then at the Chinese dicine cabinet, which had yellowed and started peeling. "Mr. Zuo, are the Chinese herbal dicines in here still usable?"
"They’re usable. They’re very well preserved. Co and see for yourself if you don’t believe ."
"Let check."
This was not Du Heng being disrespectful. When dealing with people’s health and dicine, one couldn’t afford to be complacent.
If Chinese herbal dicine wasn’t stored properly and had beco damp or spoiled, its dicinal properties would be entirely different, and consuming it could be fatal.
He carefully checked each drawer, especially the ones near the floor.
However, just as Zuo Liangliang had said, the dicine ingredients were well-preserved, and nothing seed amiss.
After the check-up, Zuo Liangliang said with a smile, "I’m always very careful with them."
"The dicine ingredients are all in good condition. Mr. Zuo, we didn’t bring much dicine this ti, so after I diagnose the patients, I might have to trouble you with preparing the dicine."
At these words, Zuo Liangliang’s eyes lit up.
It was obvious that Du Heng was offering him a share of the work.
"Of course, of course," Zuo Liangliang responded modestly, then asked with a slight hesitation, "Are you going to charge for the treatnts this ti?"
Du Heng chuckled. "No charge. When we left, the Health Clinic provided subsidies. Ho dical visits, diagnosis, and treatnt are free. Patients only need to pay a little for the dication."
"That’s good." Zuo Liangliang sighed in relief.
If money were involved, they likely wouldn’t have been greeted so warmly. "In that case, you two can rest here for a while. I’ll go find the brigade secretary and ask him to make an announcent over the radio. We can start treating patients here tomorrow morning. How does that sound?"
Du Heng contemplated for a mont. He figured that since they were providing ho visits, they should show sincerity by carrying the dicine box to the villagers’ hos themselves.
Moreover, making the elderly co to them would make him seem arrogant, which wouldn’t be good.
"Mr. Zuo, there’s no need. Let’s just go directly to their hos to save the elderly a trip."
Zuo Liangliang looked a bit troubled, but since Du Heng was in charge of the treatnt, he had no choice but to go along with it.
"Okay, let’s follow your plan. Let’s go to my place first, have so food, and then maybe a little drink before we start tomorrow."
"Mr. Zuo, let’s start right now. We have the entire township to cover, so we’re a bit pressed for ti. But I’ll still need to trouble you, Mr. Zuo. If you could just find a place to have a al, that would be great."
"There’s no need to search. You can have your als at my ho during your visit, and you can stay at my place in the evenings."
"That would be too much trouble, Mr. Zuo. We don’t need to stay the night; we drove here, so we’ll go back in the evening." Saying so, he picked up his dicine box, which he was carrying for the first ti. "Mr. Zuo, let’s get going now."
Zuo Liangliang swung his arm back and readily said, "Let’s go."
"This household consists only of an elderly couple. The man’s na is Zuo Shucai; he’s 75. He suddenly suffered hemiplegia in the second half of last year, paralyzing his left arm and leg. He took dicine a few tis, but it was too expensive, so he stopped. The woman’s na is Yang Ying; she’s 70. She doesn’t have any major ailnts, just the ’three highs’ (high blood pressure, high blood glucose, and high blood lipids). The dicine was also too expensive for her, so she stopped taking it a long ti ago and occasionally feels a bit dizzy."
Zuo Liangliang introduced them as he led the way, speaking without any hesitation. "These two are my uncle and aunt. They have two children, a son and a daughter. My cousin (female) married far away and only cos ho once every two or three years, so we can’t rely on her. My cousin (male) also has his difficulties. With two elderly parents needing dicine and two children requiring school fees, he had to leave to work in the city quite early."
As they spoke, the three of them entered a small courtyard.
"Uncle, Aunt, are you ho?" As soon as he entered the yard, Zuo Liangliang raised his voice.
Seeing an old lady with a sullen face lift the door curtain, Zuo Liangliang quickly said, "Auntie is at ho. These two are doctors from the Health Clinic; they’ve co to provide dical treatnt at your ho."
Then he gestured for Du Heng and Wu Buwei to step forward.
However, the old lady just looked at them without saying a word.
Noticing the old lady’s expression, Zuo Liangliang quickly added, "Don’t worry, the treatnt is free."
"Quick, quick, co in."
Du Heng smiled faintly. Well, that’s pragmatic. As soon as she heard it was free, a smile appeared on her face, and she invited them into the house.
The room was very clean, if a bit cold. The old man was lying on the bed, covered with thick quilts.
"Oh, you didn’t say you were coming. I haven’t lit the fire, so it’s too cold in this room."
The old lady kept saying it was cold, but she didn’t move to do anything about it.
User Comments
0 comments from readers