Chapter 508 371: Patient with Abdominal Pain, Qin Feng Enters the Mountains

"Grandpa, how about I go buy medicine for you?"

"It's too late, you have class tomorrow. Let grandpa go to the clinic by himself tomorrow. Be good, Xiaoya, go to sleep now, it's okay."

Upon hearing the girl's words, the old man on the bed forced a smile despite the intense pain, reassuring her.

"Oh."

Xiaoya was somewhat reluctant, but obediently headed to the inner room, glancing back with every step, her eyes full of concern.

"Hiss~"

As soon as the girl left the room, the old man finally showed a pained expression, sweat beading his forehead.

Squeak~ Squeak~

He held his breath, raised his arm with effort, and pushed himself up from the bed to sit.

The piercing pain from his waist and legs made him afraid to breathe deeply; he could only hunch over, breathing shallowly until he could somewhat catch his breath. After three to five minutes, he reached for the teacup on the table, drinking a couple of sips to feel a bit more comfortable.

In the darkness, the old man reached to touch his knee, swollen and misshapen, the pain preventing him from even straightening it.

Rheumatoid arthritis—an extremely painful disease with ineffective treatments, requiring medication for manageable relief during flare-ups, though sometimes the medication hardly helps.

The weather has been bad these days; the mountains are damp with continuous rain, too much moisture.

So the pain is even worse!

The old man is Mawei Village's sole old doctor, as there's only one narrow mountain path, worn down by countless footsteps.

On rainy days, the path becomes too slippery, impossible to walk on, hence, no way to descend the mountain.

Thus, mountain villagers wait for good weather to carry a bamboo basket, walking several dozen miles to town to buy daily supplies.

To sell mountain goods, they have to wait for the biweekly market, earning only tens of yuan.

The village's small clinic is essentially a tiny emergency medicine cabinet in the so-called village committee's dilapidated hut, stocked by hospital donations or kind-hearted people through the government to villages.

Most of the time, villagers visit the old doctor for a small fee to get Chinese herbal medicine unless the illness is serious, then they go to the clinic to buy medicine.

Although donated, these medicines are the village committee's sole income source, sold at low prices to villagers, like 0.3 yuan per 'Kuai Ke' pill.

Having collected herbs in the mountains for many years, the old man faced constant humidity, coldness, and snakes, bugs, mice, infested dangerous areas even breeding miasma.

As age advanced, his body became increasingly frail.

Initially, he planned to pass his herbal medicine skills to his son, but a decade ago, an accident occurred—his son fell off a cliff while gathering herbs. In anguish, the old man carried his son's corpse from the gorge.

Unable to endure hardship, the daughter-in-law left the village, remarried to a pig butcher in town, leaving the old man and granddaughter to rely on each other...

Thud thud thud~

At dawn, the cold air made the girl clutch her blanket tighter, hearing a knock amidst sleepiness.

"Mr. Han, Mr. Han."

A middle-aged woman's voice cried out urgently, leaning on the door, calling repeatedly.

"Coming~"

The old man crawled from bed with difficulty, threw on an old cotton coat, supported his waist, removed the latch from the main room, and opened the door to a worried and urgent face.

"Troublemaker's mom, what's happened?"

"Mr. Han, the child's father started having stomach pain last night, tried soothing with warm water, but didn't sleep all night. Just now the pain got worse, he couldn't even crawl out of bed. Could you please go look at him?"

The woman spoke while stamping her feet, nearly crying out of urgency.

"Alright, alright, just give me a moment."

Upon hearing this, the old man's hunched back straightened a bit, turned inside to grab a wooden box, then headed out, closing the door behind, following the woman quickly toward her home.

Soon, within ten minutes they reached the yard, and without even entering, low painful groans came from inside the house.

The old man's brows furrowed slightly; the man seemed to be in great pain!

He immediately stepped into the east room and saw the man on the bed curled up like a shrimp, sweating profusely, his features contorted, greeting the old man through strong will.

"Sixth Uncle, sorry for the trouble."

"Put your hand here, let me check you." The old man waved and sat by the bed, opening a medicine box, pulling out a pulse pillow, "Sanqiang, did you eat something unclean?"

"No, no, we ate as usual, and I ate too, he only drank a glass of alcohol."

The woman shook her head repeatedly; rural life doesn't allow for different meals for a family.

"Bring me what you ate today and the alcohol for a look." The old man checked the pulse, brows furrowing slightly—this pulse was complicated, seeming abdominal pain but the direction actually connected to the head, meaning the cause wasn't merely stomach pain.

However, necessary checks were still required, since food-related issues were common amongst rural people, with illness entering through the mouth.

After checking the food and finding nothing unusual, the old man decided to try acupuncture and medication.

He took out a small cloth bag containing acupuncture needles, lit an alcohol lamp, then performed acupuncture on the man's abdomen, arm, and head according to the method for abdominal pain.

After about five or six minutes, the old man removed all needles, and the man's breathing steadied miraculously, his facial expression relaxed, the pain gradually subsiding.

"Sixth Uncle, thank you, I feel much better, my stomach isn't that painful anymore, even at this late hour making you travel such a long mountain path."

The man quickly thanked, then waved to the woman beside him, "Why are you standing there? Quickly, get some money for Sixth Uncle."

"No, no, I just temporarily suppressed your pain, the illness isn't cured yet, why take money?" The old man shook his head while rummaging in his wooden box, "Let me prescribe you some medicine to drink for the next couple of days, and if the pain worsens or any other issues arise, hurry to find me."

"How can this be right?" The man refused repeatedly, deeply respectful of doctors.

"Say no more, observe carefully these days, I'll go back and think about it properly." With that, the old man left quickly, brow furrowed, not even the woman caught up.

...

These days, Qin Feng remained busy at the free clinic in the town, not only for town residents but also many people from nearby villages came to get checked, addressing long-standing ailments.

Everyone was overwhelmed daily, basic health inspection supplies nearly exhausted, doctors and nurses began working barehanded, not bothered by these people's scents or muddy skin.

As healthcare workers, facing patients and conditions, sometimes it's beyond imagination, but also completely natural.

"Director Qin, Director Wang, you've really worked hard these days."

In the evening, the vice mayor, back from handling matters in the villages, had dinner with them, expressing heartfelt gratitude during conversation.

"We're just doing our best, in a few days we'll have to go back too." Wang Yang said with a smile, "Director Qin, I've learned a lot following you these days, I should thank you too."

"No, no, Director Wang, you're a few years senior, I'll just daringly call you Brother Wang." Qin Feng shook his head, lifting his drink to toast him.

For grassroots townships and county hospitals, especially in places like this, indeed not easy!

Qin Feng felt deeply these days, encountering these villagers residing deep in mountains—medical care was unfamiliar, even miraculous.

Therefore, he pondered one thing, entering the mountains!