Chapter 696: Warning

Seeing the chubby girl with tears streaming down her face, the doctor’s heart softened a little, but he still refused to take a look. He was a doctor for people, not a veterinarian.

"Go find a veterinarian."

"The vet is off helping a cow give birth, so he doesn’t have time to see a dog. Doctor, please! All life is precious. Just think of it as doing a good deed!"

Adrian Hawthorne took a fine piece of cashmere from his bag—enough for a whole overcoat—and slipped it into the doctor’s drawer. The doctor’s eyes lit up. After a long moment of hesitation, he finally picked up his stethoscope. He pressed it against Dollar’s belly for a while but couldn’t hear anything out of the ordinary.

"His heartbeat and pulse are relatively normal, just a little weak. There’s no organ enlargement. Let me check his throat."

The doctor, to his credit, was quite thorough. He had Adrian Hawthorne hold Dollar’s mouth open while he peered inside with a light for a long time, but he was still stumped. "No lesions in the throat."

"But Dollar can’t keep anything down," Adrian Hawthorne said. "He even threw up meat porridge."

"My initial suspicion is a growth in the throat, possibly a deep one. We’d need an X-ray to see it, and the clinic doesn’t have the equipment for that," the doctor speculated.

Adrian Hawthorne frowned. It was too late to go to the county town now, and besides, the doctors at the county hospital were unlikely to be so accommodating. The doctor sighed, tore off a prescription form, and scribbled a line of text with a flourish before handing it to Adrian Hawthorne.

"Go to the County People’s Hospital and find Dr. Dutton. Show her this note."

’Having accepted such a fine piece of cashmere from the kid, I might as well see the good deed through and have my wife take a look. The fabric is for her new clothes, after all.’

"Thank you, Uncle! You’re such a good person!" Tang Xiaonan bowed repeatedly in thanks. ’There really are a lot of good people in the world,’ she thought. ’Everyone is so kind.’

Adrian Hawthorne also thanked him and left with Dollar in his arms. It was getting dark outside, so they would have to wait until morning to go into the county town.

"You have to hang in there. You’ll be all better tomorrow, okay?"

Adrian Hawthorne gently petted Dollar, murmuring softly. As if he understood, Dollar licked his hand in response and seemed to perk up a bit.

When they got home, Phoebe Huxley was making dinner. Jim Thorne was clamoring for steamed eggs with salted meat. Though Phoebe Huxley gave him a slap, she made it anyway. She retrieved the piece of salted meat they had started a few days ago from the courtyard, soaked and washed it in hot water, and cut it into thin slices. Then she cracked a few eggs over it—no other seasoning needed—and put it on the stove to steam.

Tang Xiaonan placed Dollar’s bed by the kitchen stove where it was warm. Dollar lay there listlessly. When Phoebe Huxley lifted the pot lid, a cloud of hot, fragrant steam billowed out.

Dollar, who had been dozing, suddenly stirred. He lifted his head alertly and stared at the stove. Phoebe Huxley brought the dishes to the table one by one. Jim Thorne was dying to grab a piece of the salted meat, but he followed the rules, waiting until all the dishes were served and both Felix Thorne and Phoebe Huxley had picked up their chopsticks before he began to eat.

"WHIMPER..."

Somehow, Dollar had crawled to Jim Thorne’s feet. He was tugging weakly at his pant cuff, his eyes filled with urgency.

"You want some meat, too? Here, have some."

Jim Thorne placed a piece of the salted meat on the floor, but Dollar didn’t even glance at it. He kept tugging at the pant cuff, whimpering, even though he was too weak to even stand.

Tang Xiaonan sensed something was wrong. She picked up the salted meat from the floor, sniffed it, and pretended to eat it. This made Dollar even more frantic. He scrambled over unsteadily and tugged at her pant leg.

"Is there something wrong with this meat? We can’t eat it?"

Dollar nodded. ’Finally, Master understands.’ He collapsed onto the floor, utterly exhausted. That last effort had drained all his strength. ’So tired...’