NOVEL WEB Episode 42: Fell into the Ditch
Faced with the crowded scene, Gao-Yuan was both amused and exasperated. Why did they all flock to him?
There was no way around it. Who wouldn’t want to save time and money with a single dose that cured the ailment? One dose and the illness would be gone—imagine how much money and trouble that would save!
Gao-Yuan quickly explained again that the previous case was special, and not every patient could be cured with just one dose. After much effort, he managed to convince some of the patients to leave, but a large portion still insisted on seeing him.
Gao-Yuan pulled out a sheet of paper he had written on earlier and called out, “Shengli, come here for a moment.”
Li Shengli, who had been scratching his head in frustration, immediately walked over when he heard Gao-Yuan calling. “What is it? Dr. Gao?” asked.
Gao-Yuan replied, “Here's the thing: you should stop diagnosing patients by yourself for now. It’s too slow. Look at this sheet I’ve prepared—it lists symptoms like body pain, chills, coughing, and so on. You take this and ask patients about their symptoms, checking off the ones they have.”
“Uh…” Li Shengli glanced at his small group of patients and hesitated, “What about my patients?”
“Send them to me,” Gao-Yuan replied.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Li Shengli’s patients were gone in the blink of an eye.
Li Shengli was momentarily speechless, but in the end, he could only smile bitterly and grab the symptom checklist to start working.
With Li Shengli’s help, the efficiency on Gao Yuan’s side quickly improved. Gao-Yuan even found the time to curse Shen Congyun, telling the old man to stop rambling so much.
After being scolded, Shen Congyun finally quieted down and stopped his incessant muttering.
Although Li Shengli wasn’t independently diagnosing patients anymore, their treatment efficiency surged. He Yu, who was in charge of dispensing medicine, was so busy she nearly resembled a thousand-armed Bodhisattva.
Yang’s father, who was watching from the side, tried several times to bring up the matter on his mind. However, seeing how overwhelmed the doctors were, he couldn’t bring himself to interrupt. In the end, he could only sigh heavily and silently puff on his cigarette, though his anxiety was palpable—after all, so many people were still waiting for him.
Yang’s father paced back and forth anxiously and suddenly spotted his son squatting on the ground, playing with ants. A wave of anger surged up within him, and he marched over, delivering a heavy slap to his son’s head.
Yang Degui nearly fell flat on the ground. “Dad, why’d you hit me?” he cried out.
“I’m bored!” Yang’s father snapped.
With that, he gave his son two more big slaps.
Seeing that the village secretary was about to lose his mind, even Yang’s mother didn’t know what to do.
At that moment, a voice came from the front gate: “Dr. Gao, the herbs you ordered have arrived.”
“They’re here!” Gao-Yuan quickly got up and ran outside.
Zhao Huanzhang also looked toward the door, recognizing the voice of Zhang Yuancai, who had come to deliver the medicinal herbs. Zhao had been about to go out and help, but before he could stand, he saw that Gao-Yuan had already gone, leaving him feeling increasingly irrelevant as the clinic’s director.
Outside, Zhang Yuancai greeted Gao-Yuan, quickly unloaded the herbs, and hurried off with his mule cart without even taking a sip of water.
Gao-Yuan didn’t dare delay. He immediately called for He Yu to help divide the herbs and then headed back inside, where he found Yang’s father still beating his son.
“Yuan…” Yang’s mother was at a loss for what to do.
Gao-Yuan quickly intervened, “Uncle, stop! That’s enough.”
“What’s the matter?” Yang’s father asked, panting.
“The herbs have arrived. Let’s discuss what to do next,” Gao-Yuan explained.
Joy spread across Yang’s father’s face. “We can talk business now?”
Gao-Yuan nodded.
“Great!” Yang’s father clapped his hands and looked at Yang Degui, thinking that if he’d known beating his son would solve the problem, he would have done it earlier.
Eagerly, he turned to Gao-Yuan and asked, “So, what’s the plan? When will you start the village visits?”
Gao-Yuan got straight to the point: “As soon as we finish treating the patients here, I’ll organize a team to visit the village.”
Yang’s father hesitated, “You’ll organize it? Shouldn’t we call Dr. Zhao over to discuss it as well?”
Gao-Yuan nodded. “Don’t worry. You and I can handle it. Whatever I say now counts.”
“Huh?” Yang’s father was a bit stunned, staring at Gao-Yuan in disbelief. Has this kid really risen so high in such a short time, becoming someone whose word counts?
“Alright,” Yang’s father quickly agreed.
Pointing to the pile of herbs outside, Gao-Yuan said, “Uncle, see those herbs outside? You need to transport them to the village as soon as possible.”
“Huh?” Yang’s father was taken aback, thinking he must have misheard.
Gao-Yuan continued, “Uncle, it's really inconvenient for people from the surrounding villages to come here for medicine. I plan to send a batch of herbs into the village so that after we prescribe them, you can collect the medicine there directly without needing to make the trip.”
Realizing what was happening, Yang’s father was overjoyed. He nodded enthusiastically, his words spilling out quickly with excitement, “That’s fantastic! I was just worrying about how we’d get the medicine. Do you know how tough it is to travel tens of miles through the mountains? If we can get the herbs delivered to the village, it’ll save us so much trouble. You’ve really helped us out!”
Yang’s father was genuinely moved. They’d had infectious diseases in the past, but no one had ever brought medicine directly into the village. Villagers had to walk for hours just to pick up their prescriptions, making it difficult to treat patients.
This time, with herbs being delivered to the village, everything would be so much easier!
Gao-Yuan added, “Uncle, I’m afraid it’ll be hard work for you, bringing these herbs into the village.”
Yang’s father waved him off, “That’s a small matter.”
“One more thing,” Gao-Yuan continued. “I plan to let the nearby villages’ patients come to your village to pick up their herbs, so they don’t have to make the trip here.”
Yang’s father agreed, “That’s fine, no problem. It’s just as hard for them to get medicine as it is for us. Let them come to our village—I’ll handle that.”
“Great!” Gao-Yuan nodded quickly, then added, “But if people from other villages come regularly to get medicine, it might cut into your work hours and cause you to lose labor points. About that compensation...
Before he could finish, Yang’s father cut him off. “What are you talking about?”
“Huh?” Gao-Yuan was startled.
Yang’s father patted his chest and said solemnly, “I’m a Party member!”
Gao-Yuan stood at attention, saluting him with a serious nod. “Understood.”
Soon, the herbs were loaded onto a wheelbarrow. Gao-Yuan wrote the names of the herbs on small pieces of paper and tied them to the bags so they wouldn’t get mixed up.
Once everything was ready, Gao-Yuan said to Yang’s father, “Uncle, once we’ve finished with these patients, we’ll head to the village immediately.”
Yang’s father was moved. He grabbed Gao-Yuan’s hand, saying, “Thank you so much, Xiao-Yuan. Our village patients owe you a great deal of thanks.”
Gao-Yuan responded earnestly, “It’s what I’m here for. Now, hurry and get the herbs back to the village.”
“Alright,” Yang’s father called to Yang Degui, “Quick! Take the cart!”
Yang Degui looped the cart’s strap around his neck, lifted it up, and began to pull. After just a few steps, though, he hit a rock, stumbling and nearly flipping the cart over.
Yang’s father flew into a rage, shouting, “How did I raise such a useless son? Get out of the way and let me do it.”
With a single hand, Yang’s father pulled the cart upright. With another hand, he steadied the load effortlessly. Taking two steps forward, he said, “See? This is easy! How could you make it look so difficult?”
Yang Degui’s face turned sore.
Unable to resist lecturing, Yang’s father continued, “You young folks these days just don’t know what hardship is. Back when we were supporting the front lines, no matter where the army went, we delivered supplies. We pushed wheelbarrows through water and over mountains. What kind of road haven’t I traveled? And you’re stumbling over flat ground? Useless!”
Yang Degui, arms crossed, scowled deeply.
After berating his son, Yang’s father decided to push the cart himself. He lit his tobacco pipe with his left hand while single-handedly controlling the cart with his right, moving swiftly down the road.
From behind, Gao-Yuan called out, “Uncle, be careful! It’s dark!”
Yang’s father scoffed, full of disdain, “This? It’s like playing with a child's toy. Careful about what?”
Not only did he ignore Gao-Yuan’s warning, but he also sped up. With a full load, he was eager to get back.
Before he could go far, the darkness obscured his path. He pushed the wheelbarrow too quickly, and the wheel struck a rock. The cart tipped to one side, right over a dry ditch on the side of the road. In an instant, both Yang’s father and the cart tumbled into the ditch together.
Gao-Yuan was shocked.
Yang Degui, startled at first, then burst out laughing, clapping his hands, “Ha! My dad fell into the ditch!”