novelden Chapter 1903 The poor can't even afford medical treatment
Chapter 1903 The poor can't even afford medical treatment
After leaving the Hongxing Gangfang, Li Xiangnan rode his motorcycle with Song Ziming on the back, not daring to delay for a moment, and sped towards Nanluoguxiang.
No. 17, Nanluoguxiang, was a crowded and cramped courtyard. As soon as you entered, you could smell the damp, musty smell and the stench of the nearby public toilet. This courtyard was clearly different from the well-maintained traditional courtyard house where Li Xiangnan lived.
After asking around, they finally found Lan Cuihua's house, which was a low, pitifully small side room in the backyard.
The door was ajar, and Li Xiangnan gently pushed it open.
A warm, mixed smell of patients and cheap disinfectant wafted towards me.
The room was already dimly lit at four o'clock, with only a dim tungsten filament lamp on.
The space was so small that it was almost impossible to turn around. In the corner, there were piles of scavenged coal scraps and broken tools, and the only table was supported by tiles.
The room was barely divided in two by an old, faded curtain with several large patches.
Behind the curtain, one could vaguely see a small bed made of wooden planks and benches, covered with thin bedding. This must be Lan Cuihua's private little nest.
Outside the curtain, right next to the door, a bed was cobbled together from two long benches and several broken door panels. On the bed lay Lan Ping, Lan's father, whose face was ashen and whose breath was faint.
He slept by the door, using his thin body to shield his daughter from the cold wind that seeped in through the cracks.
This scene caused Li Xiangnan and Song Ziming, two men who were used to seeing the world, to feel a pang of sorrow, as if something had tugged at their hearts.
This is the most authentic life of ordinary people at the bottom of society. A sudden serious illness is enough to completely destroy this already precarious family, making their already impoverished situation even worse.
"Dr. Li, Brother Song! You've really come..."
Lan Cuihua was wiping her father's forehead with a damp towel when she heard the noise and turned around. When she saw Li Xiangnan and his companion carrying medicine boxes, her voice trembled with excitement. She quickly stood up, at a loss for what to do, trying to find a place for them to sit, but there wasn't a single decent chair in the house.
She remembered something and hurriedly ran to the dilapidated cupboard. She carefully took out a glass jar with the Double Happiness logo printed on it, which contained more than half a jar of water and a few pieces of yellow peach.
"Dr. Li, there's no tea at home..." Lan Cuihua solemnly placed the bottle on a clean spot on the table by the door, her face flushed, head bowed timidly, clutching the hem of her clothes. "This is canned food that my dad used to get from his workplace. I couldn't bear to eat it... Don't worry, I scooped it out with a spoon, it's absolutely clean... Please don't be offended..."
By the end, her voice was barely audible.
This was probably the most presentable thing this poor family could offer to their guests.
Li Xiangnan looked at the half-empty bottle of syrup, at the girl's chapped hands from years of washing clothes in cold water, and at the tears in her eyes that were a mixture of hope and humility, and his throat tightened.
He tried to make his voice sound normal: "Miss Lan, don't bother, let me check on your father first!"
Song Ziming sighed, turned to look around, and felt a sudden pang of sadness for no reason.
"Okay, okay..." Lan Cuihua quickly led the way, but in reality, the room was only so big, there was no need for her to reach out and guide them.
Li Xiangnan walked to Lanping's bedside, squatted down, and began to examine her.
Although Lan Ping was poisoned, her consciousness was blurred, and she managed to open her eyes a crack with difficulty after sensing someone's arrival.
This is much better than the condition of Grandpa Cheng in the Red Star Clinic.
When he saw the young man squatting in front of him clearly, he guessed that it was the doctor his daughter had invited. A faint, apologetic smile immediately appeared on his withered face, and his lips moved, making a barely audible sound.
"Thank you... thank you so much, Dr. Li... Cuihua... go... Cuihua, it's in the cupboard... in the drawer... in the hidden compartment... quickly take it... and give all the money to Dr. Li..."
He tried to get his daughter to do things, albeit intermittently and with all his might.
That was money he had saved up, penny by penny, while riding his rickshaw, to buy his daughter new clothes for the New Year or to pay her tuition. It totaled six yuan, which he wrapped in layers of oil paper and hid in what he thought was the safest place.
This is the logic of how ordinary people interact. As soon as they meet, Lan Ping has to take out money, afraid that Dr. Li Xiangnan will not treat him.
Upon hearing this, Lan Cuihua looked at her father, then at Li Xiangnan, her face filled with hesitation, but tears welled up in her eyes.
Li Xiangnan was deeply saddened and quickly pressed down on Lan Ping, who was struggling to get up. "Uncle Lan, don't move! Lie down and rest. I'm a doctor, and treating patients is my duty. Let's not talk about money now; you're not cured yet!"
Without further delay, he immediately opened his medicine box and took out the gold needles.
The room was cramped, so Song Ziming quietly retreated to the outside, partly to keep watch and partly to give the father and daughter some dignity.
The treatment process still requires focus and meticulousness.
Li Xiangnan carefully used his golden needles to guide the cold poison out of Lan Ping's body.
Compared to Grandpa Cheng, Lan Ping's poisoning was less severe, and since he had prior experience in treating such cases, he was able to handle it with ease.
However, Li Xiangnan still dared not be careless, and he was fully focused on each needle insertion.
During this time, Lanping vaguely felt pain and woke up several times, urging her daughter to get the money, but Li Xiangnan stopped her each time.
Lan Cuihua knelt to the side, looking at the beads of sweat on Li Xiangnan's forehead and his focused and calm face, her heart filled with indescribable gratitude.
The treatment lasted for nearly an hour. When Li Xiangnan withdrew the last gold needle, Lan Ping's ashen face finally regained some color, her breathing became much more steady and long, and she fell into a deep sleep.
"Brother Nan, the medicine is here!"
Song Ziming listened to the instructions and used the time to go and buy medicinal herbs.
Li Xiangnan wrote another prescription, carefully explaining the usage, dosage, and precautions, and said, "Miss Lan, your father's cold poison has been basically eliminated. Next, take the medicine on time and rest for a period of time, and he will gradually recover his strength!"
Following the instructions, Lan Cuihua nodded repeatedly, tears streaming down her face like broken pearls. She looked at her father, who had fallen into a deep sleep, and at the exhausted Li Xiangnan, and made as if to kowtow.
Li Xiangnan and Song Ziming, who had just entered, quickly helped the person up.
"Miss Lan, you mustn't! Get up quickly!"
Before leaving, he took out twenty yuan from his pocket and handed it to Song Ziming, then silently exchanged a glance with him.
While Lan Cuihua was packing her medicine box, Song Ziming quietly took out twenty yuan from his pocket and quickly pressed the four ten-yuan bills under the can of sugar water that was meant as a gift for the guest.
Forty yuan might not be much to Li Xiangnan and Song Ziming, but for the Lan family, it was enough to feed them for several months or even a year, to provide for Lan Ping's recovery, and to give Lan Cuihua a breather.
Without disturbing Lan Cuihua, who was immersed in the joy of her father's improved health, the two quietly left the poor but warm little house.
When Li Xiangnan and Song Ziming dragged their weary bodies back to the courtyard house, it was already late at night.
Grandpa Li Dequan still sat beneath the screen wall like a pillar of strength.
Wang Defa was burning charcoal in a brazier nearby.
Hearing footsteps, Li Dequan suddenly opened his eyes and saw that his grandson had returned safely, much earlier than expected. His face was instantly filled with shock and disbelief.
"Xiang Nan? Why are you back so soon?"
Li Dequan suddenly stood up, his tone full of surprise and uncertainty.
He originally thought that his grandson's trip to the morgue was likely to be fraught with danger and that he would have to go through a difficult period of negotiation.
Li Xiangnan didn't have time to recount the harrowing experience in the morgue or the hardships the Lan family had endured. He quickly stepped forward, grabbed his grandfather's hand, and spoke urgently and solemnly:
"Grandpa, is everything alright at home? I've made a major discovery! The one who forced the coffin clerk to target our family is a man called Little Buddha!"
"Little Buddha?"
Li Dequan exclaimed in shock, his pupils suddenly contracting, and the wrinkles on his face seemed to deepen. "How could it be Little Buddha? The news I heard was about Buddha!"
"???"