Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“By the way, these patients all have muscular-skeletal problems, so you can take over,” Wang Yao said.
“OK,” Pan Jun said.
He came here to learn from his teacher and was keen to gain new skills. He was ready to start working.
“Dr. Wang, who is this?” a patient asked.
“I’m Dr. Wang’s student,” Pan Jun said. “I work in Lianshan People’s Hospital.”
“Oh, the county hospital?” the patient asked.
“Yes,” Pan Jun said.
He started to happily treat the patients. He had grasped the massage techniques very well. Practice made perfect, and he had practiced.
“Your skills are improving fast,” Wang Yao said as he was observing Pan Jun.
“I practice in my sister’s clinic whenever I get a chance,” Pan Jun said.
Wang Yao made him a cup of tea.
Pan Jun treated three patients for Wang Yao. His treatment was very effective.
“You are good. I feel much better now,” said the last patient, an old man in his 60s.
“It’s good you are feeling better,” Pan Jun said. “You need two more sessions to consolidate the effect of the treatment.”
“OK,” the patient said.
After all the patients had left, Wang Yao invited Pan Jun for lunch at the restaurant in the village next door.
“Dr. Wang, I’m actually here for something else,” Pan Jun said.
“What is it?” Wang Yao asked.
“The condition of the patient I mentioned to you the other day, who was bitten by an insect, is getting worse,” Pan Jun said. “Can you help him?”
“The one from Li Family Creek?” Wang Yao asked.
Pan Jun nodded his head in affirmation.
“Yes.” It was not difficulty for Wang Yao to treat that patient. He just needed the detox grass.
“I don’t think he’ll survive if he doesn’t get treated immediately,” Pan Jun said.
“But, he has to come to my clinic first,” Wang Yao said.
“That’s right,” Pan Jun said.
They went back to Wang Yao’s clinic after lunch. Pan Jun consulted him on a few questions when there was no patient around. He had come across these questions while treating patients in his sister’s clinic. He was steadily accumulating his experience and studying while practicing.
“What you asked are really good questions.” Wang Yao could tell Pan Jun had worked hard and that his knowledge in Chinese Massage had improved significantly with those questions. He could see Pan Jun’s progress every time he came to the clinic.
“When you have completely grasped massage theory and technique, I can teach you something else,” Wang Yao said.
“That’s great,” Pan Jun said with a smile.
He was keen to learn more, but he knew his capacity. One of his strengths was that he was content with what he had learned. He would choose to learn new skills according to his abilities. He wouldn’t take on too much.
In Lianshan People’s Hospital, the patient who was bitten by an insect had decided to move to Haiqu People’s Hospital.
The doctors there also didn’t know what to do with this patient. They had never come across a similar case before.
“Wait! Actually, I think I’ve seen a similar case,” a doctor said after reading through the notes.
He thought for a while and remembered that the symptoms of a patient from a wealthy family he once saw with a number of doctors were similar to this patient’s.
“Yes! Him!” the doctor murmured.
“What are you talking about?” another doctor asked.
“I’ve seen a similar case,” the other doctor said.
“Really?” his colleague asked.
“Yes, but that patient was not cured by us. He was cured by some doctor in Lianshan with some strange herbs,” the doctor said.
“Lianshan? He is from Lianshan. He transferred here because the doctors in Lianshan People’s Hospital couldn’t help him,” his colleague said.
“Fine, let’s try to treat him first,” the doctor replied.
They went to give the patient some medication. However, the medication didn’t work at all. The toxin was unknown, and the patient’s condition was getting worse rapidly. They had no experience in treating this kind of condition, so they had to cross the river by feeling the stones.
In Wang’s Family Village, it started to rain. The weather had been really weird lately.
Maybe it was because of the rain, but Wang Yao didn’t have any patients when it was 3 p.m. Pan Jun left the clinic an hour later.
The rain just came so suddenly, Wang Yao thought.
He stayed in his clinic to read a book for a while. After a while, he browsed a website on his phone.
What is this?
He saw news in a forum related to his village. It stated that a number of people had died after being bitten by unknown insects.
He clicked the story and found whoever wrote it was pretty positive about what had happened. It said unknown insects in the village had been found to cause an outbreak of a contagious disease. A number of people died. A lot of people knew about this, but the local government didn’t allow anyone to spread the news.
Wang Yao took a look at the comments below the news and found even people from other places were paying attention to the story. One of the comments was interesting. It said: [Exactly! One of my friends almost died there.]
Maybe his friend is one of those people who came the other day? Wang Yao thought.
Other comments included, [What kind of insects?] and [Show us the picture.]
Some people just wanted to stir things up. Another comment stated: [Unknown insects have also been found in the hot springs resort in Li’s Family Creek. A number of people have been bitten.]
The comments seemed to never end, including from people in Li Family Creek.
[It started to spread in our village?]
[Is it true?]
Visitors to the area also commented.
[I really doubt it. I’ve been there twice. How come I’ve never heard of anything related to insects?]
[I think someone is using the rumor to harm their business, which has been so good.]
Wang Yao read the comments for a while before turning off his phone and continuing to read his book. It was still raining outside.
On Xishan Hill, the areas covered by lime stone powder had become alkaline after the powder reacted to the rain.
Squeak! Something came out. It was a mouse. It looked around as its head stretched into the rain and went underground again.
Time passed slowly as the rain continued. It was still cloudy the next morning, although the rain had stopped. The wind indicated that the rain could come back any time.
Two people came to the village in the morning.
“Is it the right place here?” one of them asked.
“Yes,” the other person said.
Both of them were wearing casual clothes. One of them was in his 30s, and the other one was in his 40s. Both of them were quite short.
“This is Xishan Hill?” the man in his 30s asked.
“Yes,” the man in his 40s said.
“Let me ask someone here,” the man in his 30s said.
Since they didn’t see anyone on the street in such a bad weather, they knocked at the door of a house in the village.
“Xishan Hill? Why do you guys want to go there?” the owner of the house asked. “It’s just over there, but that place is very dangerous. I suggest you guys not to go there.”
“I see, thank you,” the man in his 40s said.
The two of them followed the path among the houses to Xishan Hill. It started to rain again.
“Shall we start?” the man in his 30s asked.
“OK,” the man in his 40s said.
Om! They heard a noise.
“Here,” the man in his 30s said.
They soon found one of the dangerous areas.
“Is this the right place?” the man in his 40s asked. Both of them started to look serious.
“The rain has destroyed a lot of things. Let me take a look,” the man in his 30s said.
He jumped into the cave and started to look for something. He suddenly hit out into the ground and took his hand back.
Squeak! A mouse was in his hand.
“These damned mice. I hate mice” the younger man said.
Squeak! The mouse was trying to get out of his hand and bite him.
“You are dead,” the younger man said.
Soon, the mouse shrank and died. It turned into a dry mouse, as if it had been dead in the desert for years.
