Famous Among Top Surgeons in the 90s

Chapter 36: Respiratory Disease 3
 

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“What do you want with her?”

“Isn’t she studying at the Capital’s Medical College? I heard she’s already prescribing medicine under the old professor’s guidance, so I’m going to find her and see if she can help me with my sore throat,” said Aunt Fang.

“While you’re at it, get me some medicine too,” Uncle Fang told his wife, feeling unwell himself as he touched his heavy, drowsy forehead, seemingly unable to eat his breakfast.

Aunt Fang hurried to the sleeping car to look for someone.

On the other hand, Sun Rongfang had a comfortable night’s sleep thanks to the cardigan her considerate daughter provided. The temperature was just right, neither too cold nor too hot. She felt extremely relaxed upon waking, only feeling a slight soreness in her neck when she turned her head.

Upon waking, Sun Rongfang noticed that Uncle Fang across the way seemed to have some problems. Looking at his complexion, she asked, “Do you have a cold?”

“Don’t you have a cold?” Uncle Fang asked her back.

“Of course not,” said Sun Rongfang, “My daughter prepared a cardigan for me, which kept me warm without being cold.”

“Not too hot?” Uncle Fang remembered how he almost overheated in his thick cotton clothes the previous night and was surprised that the mother and daughter could stay warm just by wearing a sweater.

“Not hot,” said Sun Rongfang. Noticing the thick coats thrown on the seats by the couple, she exclaimed in astonishment, “My goodness, it’s not winter, why are you wearing such heavy clothes?”

Making them sound foolish, Uncle Fang became annoyed and said defensively, “What about it? It’s cold, and no matter what you say, a thick cotton coat is better than wearing a sweater, you fool.”

At this point, Xie Wanying, who had woken up earlier, took the chance to get off at an intermediate stop and bought some buns from a breakfast cart on the platform. Hearing someone curse at her mother, she strode up to Uncle Fang and said, “Wearing excessively thick clothes and taking them on and off can easily lead to catching a cold. I suspect you’ve caught a cold too. Respiratory diseases like the common cold are most likely to surge suddenly in the North during the fall.”

Uncle Fang, realizing that he and his wife were probably right about having caught a cold and feeling as though Xie Wanying had hit the nail on the head, was too embarrassed to back down and said angrily, “You’re not a doctor, just someone who is going to study at medical school. You don’t understand a damn thing. Let’s see what you have to say when a real doctor comes back.”

Just then, Aunt Fang came back with someone. Behind her followed two women.

One of them had her hair coiled up, a round and chubby face, around forty years old. The other had a ponytail, wore glasses, and was dressed in a prim skirt, looking no more than just over twenty. These two, presumably, were the mother and daughter medical students Aunt Fang had mentioned.

“Doctor Lin and her mother are here,” Aunt Fang said to her husband. “Doctor Lin is so kind; as soon as she heard we had a cold, she immediately came to see us.”

“This is perfect. Doctor Lin,” Uncle Fang began, turning to address her, “this person here, who knows where she came from, claims that wearing cotton clothes makes it easier to catch a cold, and also says that taking clothes on and off will make one more prone to a cold. You’re the doctor; you tell her if she’s right or wrong.”

The so-called Doctor Lin, Lin Liqiong, looked no more than a third or fourth-year clinical student to Xie Wanying, who immediately knew that her clinical experience must be insufficient. Of course, if Lin Liqiong really possessed medical knowledge, she should know that Xie Wanying’s professional opinion was correct.

Under the watchful eyes of Uncle Fang and Aunt Fang, Lin Liqiong adjusted her glasses and said primly, “What she said is incorrect.”

“See that!” Uncle Fang let out a sigh of relief, exclaiming excitedly.

Sun Rongfang was stunned. What did that mean, had her daughter, who was supposed to be a doctor, been wrong?