Volume One, Chapter 15: My Abilities Are Limited; Let's Take Them to the County Health Clinic

“Y-Yes, yes, yes—go find Uncle Zhou, I’m going right now!”

Old Tang muttered to himself as he dashed out the door.

Uncle Zhou was the barefoot doctor of the village, practicing medicine for over twenty years. Tang Guan-guan recalled that in her previous life, by 1985, the term “barefoot doctor” had been phased out nationwide. To continue practicing, one had to pass official qualifications.

Now it was 1980, and for minor ailments like headaches and fevers, villagers still habitually turned to the barefoot doctor.

Uncle Zhou lived not far from the Tang family. A round trip there and back would take only about seven or eight minutes.

During this time, Tang Guan-guan suppressed the panic rising in her chest, dampening a towel with cold water and repeatedly wiping Lu Hang’s forehead.

But it was no use; Lu Hang remained unconscious with a high fever, making Tang Guan-guan’s tears well up and rim her eyes.

“Why hasn’t he come yet?”

Wang Xiuying paced anxiously inside the house, constantly glancing toward the door.

Tang Jing was also roused by the commotion, clad in clothes, and came into Tang Guan-guan’s room.

“What’s wrong with brother-in-law?” The young girl poked her head in and, catching sight of Lu Hang on the kang bed, widened her eyes in alarm.

“Is this a high fever?”

“Yes. Your father went to find Uncle Zhou! Why hasn’t he arrived yet? Mother, go check—”

Wang Xiuying had no time for idle talk. Stomping her foot, she dashed out and waited at the gate.

Just as she stepped outside, hurried footsteps sounded.

Uncle Zhou, an elderly man, was sweating profusely as he ran.

“Where is he?”

“Quick, take me to see him—”

“In the inner room, hurry! The child hasn’t woken, it’s making me anxious!” Wang Xiuying, losing all courtesy, grabbed Uncle Zhou’s arm and rushed inside.

Uncle Zhou entered carrying his medical kit. Tang Guan-guan’s voice trembled as she called out:

“Uncle Zhou, please, quickly examine him!”

Uncle Zhou did not respond verbally but hurried to check Lu Hang.

After taking his pulse and inspecting the wound on Lu Hang’s leg, his expression grew even graver.

“The wound is infected and producing pus. The high fever won’t subside!”

“My ability is limited. He needs to be taken to the health clinic.”

The family’s hearts thumped painfully upon hearing this.

Old Tang sank to the floor, overwhelmed with anxiety.

Tang Guan-guan, however, was the first to recover from the initial panic.

“Father, don’t panic. Go borrow a cart first. We’ll travel overnight to the county health clinic.”

Since Old Tang’s household and the main family had not yet separated, the cart was kept in the east courtyard. They had just had a quarrel with the main family that evening, so borrowing a cart now would surely require some negotiation. Time was of the essence, so it was better to borrow from someone else.

Hearing this, Uncle Zhou quickly said, “No need to borrow from outside. We have one at my place. Old Tang, come with me to get the cart!”

More than ten minutes later, Old Tang returned from Uncle Zhou’s house pushing a wooden cart.

They laid thick cotton padding on the cart and together lifted Lu Hang onto it.

Tang Guan-guan dashed back inside to fetch the wedding quilt recently made and covered Lu Hang with it.

Worried about the cold on the road at midnight, she went back in to retrieve Old Tang’s military coat and draped it over him.

The coat was something Old Tang seldom wore, faded from many washes but without patches.

His head could not be left exposed, so Tang Guan-guan also pulled out her red wool scarf—the one she had taken when leaving the Zhao family—and wrapped it around Lu Hang’s head.

All of them were busy and sweating from the effort.

But this was only the beginning. From Shitou Village to the county health clinic would take over an hour even at a brisk pace.

Moreover, it was deep into the night, and the mountain path was treacherous, uneven and difficult to traverse.

No matter how difficult, they could not afford to delay!

Despite the commotion, Lu Hang barely opened his eyes once, leaving everyone’s hearts in their throats.

Tang Jing, the young girl, held a torch and led the way.

Old Tang pulled the cart, while Tang Guan-guan and Wang Xiuying pushed from behind.

Under the moonlight, they set off.

Meanwhile, in the neighboring east courtyard, one person lay awake in the middle of the night.

Tang Guan-guan’s eldest cousin, Tang Jinghai, lay on the heated kang bed, warm beneath a fresh cotton quilt.

The kang was far more comfortable than the hard bed at school.

Yet—

He could not sleep.

His mind replayed the scene of Tang Guan-guan’s conflict with their parents in the east courtyard earlier that day.

Tang Jinghai’s feelings were mixed.

He had wanted to help but, for some reason, never stepped forward.

He knew Tang Guan-guan might not recognize him, but he had known her for a long time.

Back then, she was still the daughter of the Zhao family, called Zhao Guan-guan.

Like him, she studied at No. 1 Middle School.

Every day she wore the latest fashion—a dacron floral dress—with two thick, glossy black braids framing her delicate, fair face. She was lively and charming, an excellent student from a good family, admired secretly by many boys.

After class, many boys would find excuses to walk past her just to steal a glance or catch her attention.

He was no exception.

Then, overnight, the girl he fancied became his cousin.

This was something he found hard to accept.

Yet—

While struggling to accept it, he also felt a strange satisfaction.

The once high-and-mighty girl who had looked down on him had fallen into hardship too.

Like him, she had become a country girl.

That feeling was like a child who, having lost a toy, damaged it out of spite.

Tang Jinghai sometimes felt ashamed of these petty thoughts.

Yet he could not control the shameless thrill that occasionally bubbled up inside him.

He felt corrupted by these wicked thoughts.

Lost in his tangled thoughts, a sudden noise at the door startled him.

It was Xu Lanzhi and Tang Dali, his parents, stepping out in their clothes to look around.

Soon, their voices carried through the yard.

“Hey! Did you hear the noise next door?”

“Seems like there’s something, and it’s not quiet.”

“I heard it’s Lu Hang, that good-for-nothing, seriously ill. Hmph! Better if he dies! Saves us wasting food!”

“Shh—don’t say that carelessly. If the second family hears, they’ll come looking for a fight!”

“What’s there to fear? I’m saying this in my own home—they can’t hear me. Besides, I’m right. He’s just a burden on the whole family.”

Then Xu Lanzhi’s eyes suddenly widened as she warned, “Tang Dali! I’m telling you now, if your second younger brother’s family comes asking to borrow money, don’t lend them any! Got it?”

“Lend what? You control the money. I don’t have a penny on me. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.”

“Huh? You dizzy-headed fool, you really want to lend them some, don’t you?” Xu Lanzhi grabbed her husband’s ear and twisted it hard.

Tang Dali yelped in pain, “Ouch! I was just joking, didn’t really mean it!”

“Hah!”

“You worthless man. Don’t you know how much it costs to treat someone at the county hospital? Even selling everything wouldn’t cover it!”

“If you dare think about it, I—I’ll divorce you!”

“Go! Go tell the old lady too. In this family, no one is allowed to lend money to the second family!”

—

Tang Jinghai closed his eyes, listening to the ruckus outside.

Tomorrow morning, he decided, he’d return to school. That way, if his second uncle’s family came asking for money, he wouldn’t be caught in the middle. Whether he helped or not, it would be a dilemma.