Dong Yuezhang’s driver was a nimble man. Seeing Du Heng staggering out of the car, he imdiately applied the handbrake, got out, and hurried to Du Heng’s side, carefully assisting him.
"Dean Du, be careful. Let’s get back in the car and rest for a bit."
"Thank you."
"Dean Du, you’re too polite. We’re not strangers," the driver said with a sincere smile, his movents gentle.
Du Heng didn’t put on airs and let the driver help him back into the car. It wasn’t that he was being overly dramatic—his legs were genuinely weak and trembling.
I should exercise more, Du Heng suddenly thought with an unrealistic fantasy as the driver supported his arm.
The ambulance collected the injured and rushed to the Health Clinic without delay.
Once the patients were sent in, Du Heng no longer felt anxious.
Breathing difficulties, without equipnt and dicine, posed a significant threat. But once all the necessary instrunts were available, it wasn’t such a critical issue.
Returning to his office at the Health Clinic, Du Heng collapsed into his office chair. He trusted Yu Haiting’s abilities, so he didn’t bother to check on the hospital room.
About twenty minutes later, Yu Haiting walked into Du Heng’s office, hands in his pockets. Seeing Yu Haiting’s calm expression, Du Heng knew Ma Yuanghai’s condition must have stabilized.
"Is he all right?"
"Yes, his breathing has stabilized." Yu Haiting made himself comfortable on the sofa and continued, "However, both father and son have burns of varying degrees. The son is relatively better off; aside from two blisters on his hand, he has erythematous burns on his neck."
As Yu Haiting spoke, he shifted slightly on the sofa, finding a more comfortable position. "Ma Yuanghai’s condition is more serious. His face and hands mostly have superficial second-degree burns, with many blisters. Four fingers on his right hand are more severely injured, with small hemorrhagic spots indicating deep second-degree trauma. Moreover, many blisters on his hands have ruptured—it’s unclear if this happened while extinguishing the fire or during transport—and the wounds are contaminated, posing a risk of infection. Dean, given the situation, should we treat them here or notify Municipal First Hospital to transfer them?"
Du Heng had sowhat recovered by now, but the soreness in his thighs and arms felt even more intense. He had no desire to stand up or even move an inch.
"Superficial second-degree burns with a small wound area aren’t a major problem. We can handle it ourselves. This will also give everyone a chance to gain so experience and improve their skills. We shouldn’t just transfer patients out at the slightest sign of risk."
Yu Haiting wasn’t surprised by Du Heng’s response. He considered this question a necessary procedural step. "I understand. I’ll go handle it now," he said.
Seeing Yu Haiting about to get up and leave, Du Heng quickly reached out. "Yu, wait a minute."
Yu Haiting stopped. "Is there anything else?"
"I’ll write you a prescription. Have soone prepare it. It should be more effective than the dicines we have in our Pharmacy."
As he spoke, Du Heng reached for a pen and paper on his desk: raw tung oil, sesa oil, lard, mutton fat, beeswax...
"Yu, I’ve also written down the preparation thod. Don’t ss up the heat control. Insufficient heat will render it ineffective, while overcooking can cause infection. Make sure to add the beeswax and rice vinegar just as it begins to turn a charred color."
Yu Haiting took the prescription and glanced at it. The only item that seed like a dicinal ingredient was red lead powder; the rest were common fats and oils. "Dean, everything else is easy to find. Even lard, with New Year approaching, we can get it. But this mutton fat might be a bit difficult to find."
Du Heng smiled. This was a typical blind spot for a city dweller like Yu Haiting.
In the mountains around Central Lake, most households had a custom of drinking ’sheep fat flour tea’. This sheep fat flour tea was made by slowly rendering the fat from a sheep’s large, fatty tail, then mixing it with roasted flour and other ingredients.
Moreover, many people raised sheep in Central Lake now, so finding mutton fat was quite easy—just a phone call away.
Du Heng chuckled. "Wait a mont. I’ll make a call and ask soone to send so over."
He then picked up his phone and dialed his elder brother, Du Ping. "Brother, do you know anyone who has mutton fat?"
"What for?"
"Ma Yuanghai and his son were burned. I want to make so ointnt for them."
"Will what you make be effective?"
"Why would I make it if it wasn’t? Just tell who has mutton fat," Du Heng replied, annoyed by his brother’s skepticism.
"Can it relieve pain?"
"Yes."
His brother on the other end sounded pleased. "Then make a larger batch. Many people who just ca from fighting the fire got burned. With flaming debris flying everywhere, their hands, faces, and necks were covered in red marks, and so even have blisters. I’ll tell them all to co and get so."
An image of a mountain teeming with people instantly flashed through Du Heng’s mind, and he couldn’t help but shiver. He quickly said to his brother, "Brother, those with minor injuries don’t need to co. They can just rest at ho for a couple of days and they’ll heal on their own."
"Bullshit!" Du Ping, on the other end of the line, showed no deference, yelling directly, "Do you have any idea how painful burns are? And you want them to just ’heal at ho for a couple of days’? Why don’t you burn yourself with a lighter and try ’healing’ for a couple of days? It’s easy for you to say when you’re not the one suffering!"
"Enough nonsense. I’m notifying everyone who has returned from the fire to co to the Health Clinic and get so of this ointnt you ntioned."
Du Heng knew burns were painful, extrely painful. But how painful, exactly? He had no personal experience. This was a common issue with most doctors: they judged others based on their own experiences. Having never felt such pain, they couldn’t truly empathize.
Often, when a patient was in so much pain they were starting to convulse or were on the verge of fainting, a doctor might calmly say, "Just bear with it. It’ll be over soon."
Hearing such words, one would feel an overwhelming urge to curse and throttle the damn doctor.
When Du Ping then said to "get so," Du Heng imdiately grew anxious. "Get so? Brother..."
"What ’Brother’? Everyone pitched in to fight the fire. Don’t tell you expect them to pay for it?" Du Ping cut him off, giving him no chance to object. "Alright, I’ll find the mutton fat for you now and have soone send it over. By the way, do you need anything else? I’ll ask around and have them send it all together."
Du Heng felt helpless but didn’t dare argue with his elder brother, mainly because his brother was right.
"Lard. Get more lard."
"Okay, you wait."
After hanging up, Du Heng slumped back into his chair.
He didn’t know how many people would ultimately show up, but knowing the villagers, it would likely be a considerable number. Once the ointnt was distributed, where would the money for the ingredients co from?
He couldn’t let his brother do a good deed and expect the Health Clinic to foot the bill. If word got out, it would surely stir up another round of gossip.
Forget it, I’ll pay for it myself, he thought. A thousand yuan or so should cover it.
Just as he was thinking this, his phone rang again. It was Dong Yuezhang.
"What’s up, Dong?"
"Your brother just said you made so Burn Ointnt. Is it effective?"
"Remove the ’is it’ from that question; do you still not trust my skill? Pain relief, anti-inflammatory, promoting tissue regeneration, pus removal... Erythematous burns will show improvent in two days. For blistering burns, even deep second-degree ones, I’m confident of improvent within five days."
"That’s good. Make more, and let all the burned villagers get a share. It’s New Year; we can’t let them suffer through the holidays in pain."
Du Heng’s eyes suddenly lit up. He chuckled and said, "Buying the raw materials is troubleso, and the quantity will definitely be quite large. I’m afraid..."
Before Du Heng could elaborate on his unspoken implication, Dong Yuezhang saw right through him. "You buy the materials, bring the invoice, and I’ll reimburse you. But you must guarantee its effectiveness, and make sure there’s enough to go around."
"Understood! I guarantee I’ll complete the task assigned by the organization."
Du Heng was elated. It felt great to have soone else footing the bill.
"Yu, increase the quantities by twentyfold! Hurry and prepare the other materials. The mutton fat and lard will be delivered soon."
"Got it." Yu Haiting turned and left imdiately.
Du Heng decided not to head back just yet; he would join in making the ointnt. He was already worried about others ssing up the preparation of a small batch; with such a large quantity, controlling the heat would be even more challenging.
「Half an hour later」
Du Heng, along with the on-duty doctor and nurses, was busy at work. By this ti, villagers who had been fighting the fire began to arrive at the Health Clinic one after another.
When Du Heng saw their conditions, he imdiately understood that while he hadn’t exactly slacked off during the firefighting, he definitely hadn’t exerted himself as much, or as recklessly, as these villagers.
Among them was his elder brother, whose hands and neck bore severe burns with several blisters.
Looking at everyone, Du Heng felt an indescribable emotion.
He wasn’t injured, but that didn’t an he hadn’t worked hard. It was just that during the fire, the saying, "A wise man doesn’t stand under a crumbling wall," had beco a subconscious instinct. He’d made protective movents without even realizing it.
The more one reads, the more "selfish" one becos.
He used to scoff at this saying, but now, having truly experienced it, he realized there might be so truth to it.
Du Heng was filled with deep emotion, reflecting on his actions and feeling uneasy, when he suddenly froze.
Then, looking at the nurses in the hall bustling about, applying ointnt to the villagers, a flicker of delighted surprise crossed his eyes.
The tally of virtual effective cases in his mind was steadily increasing with each application of ointnt by the nurses.
140/1000
145/1000
160/1000
192/1000
Du Heng felt a rush of heat surge to his head, making him dizzy.
So this was another way!
So this thod could be used!
It turned out that not only the patients he personally treated counted as effective cases, but the ointnt he made and the prescriptions he wrote could also increase the tally of effective cases!
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