Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 234 Diagnosis and Treatment

"Master, you..." Song Ying was startled by her sudden excitement. In her impression, Master has always been calm and composed, with basically no major emotional fluctuations.

Doctor Lin also realized her own loss of composure. She took a deep breath, calmed down her emotions, and said, "Tell me about the doctor's condition in detail."

Song Ying thought for a moment and said, "That's all. Uncle Xu didn't say anything else."

After she finished speaking, she saw her master suddenly look disappointed, and couldn't help but ask cautiously: "Master, is that doctor someone you know?"

Doctor Lin looked at the dark night outside, reluctantly suppressed the idea of going to Xu's house right now, and replied, "It is very likely."

"Is he a very important person to you?" Song Ying asked again.

"Yes." Doctor Lin's tone was a little lighter, as if he was recalling the past, his face full of nostalgia and regret, "I have been looking for him for more than 40 years."

"More than forty years?" Song Ying was stunned. She had lived to the age of 11, and some of those years were infancy and childhood for which she had no memories. She already felt that life was very long. How long would more than forty years be!

Immediately, she became puzzled again: "If he is an important person, why didn't he tell you where he was going when he left?"

Doctor Lin sighed for a long time before saying, "Take me to Xu Lei's house tomorrow."

"Okay." Song Ying agreed without asking any further questions.

Because of this incident, after dinner, Doctor Lin did not stay in the main room to read or organize his notes as usual, but returned to his bedroom.

This series of abnormalities made Song Ying feel like he was being scratched by a cat. He was extremely curious and it took him a long time to finally calm down and memorize the lessons.

The next day, when she was half asleep, she was dug out of bed by Doctor Lin. At first, Song Ying thought she had overslept because she had slept too late.

After asking about the time, she realized it was only the beginning of the Mao hour. Even in the past, when she was at home, except during the busy farming season, she would always get up in the middle of the Mao hour.

"Master, this is too early!"

"Let's make an exception today. Let's go find Xu Lei first. You can come back later to catch up on your sleep."

Song Ying: “…”

It was a winter morning, and the sun rose very late. At this point, it was still pitch dark. The master and his disciple were walking on the street, and there was no one around.

Song Ying thought, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was almost curfew when Master talked about it last night, he would have gone to Xu’s house in the dark.

After passing through many streets and alleys, it was almost noon when we arrived at Xu's house. It was still dark, but at this time, people who had gotten up early were already busy fetching water, cooking, sweeping the floor, and delivering vegetables and goods.

But there was no movement from the Xu family, and it was obvious that the father and son were still sleeping.

Song Ying pointed to the dilapidated wooden door and said, "This is it. Do you want to knock on the door now?"

Doctor Lin nodded without hesitation.

Song Ying didn't care about disturbing people's sleep and knocked on the wooden door.

After knocking for a long time, Xu Lei's voice finally rang out in the room, with some anger at being woken up: "Who is it?"

"Uncle Xu, it's me! The medicine boy from Huichun Hall!"

Xu Lei in the room was stunned. It was agreed yesterday that the silver needle would take at least half a month to make, so why did it come today?

Then he remembered what he had asked for yesterday. He jumped out of bed with a start, wrapped himself in a cotton coat and rushed out.

After opening the gate, Xu Lei saw a middle-aged woman standing outside. He was so excited: "Doctor Xiao Song, could this be your master?"

"Ah, yes! This is my teacher. She heard about your son's illness and was very worried, so she came to see him."

"Please come in! Sit inside! I'll go wake Xiao Wei up now!" Xu Lei became even more excited, and ran into the house after saying this.

After he went in, Song Ying approached his master and whispered, "Master, let's take a look at his son first."

He first examined the patient and then asked him about the doctor from that year. Xu Lei would definitely tell him everything he knew.

Although Doctor Lin was in a hurry, as a doctor, saving lives and healing the wounded was his top priority, so he patiently took Xu Wei's pulse first.

As soon as she felt Xu Wei's pulse, Doctor Lin frowned. She carefully observed Xu Wei's face and said, "This is a defect from the beginning."

She turned her head and looked at Xu Lei: "During pregnancy, the mother's nutrition was not adequate, and the baby did not develop well. This is a congenital weakness and is difficult to treat."

"Not getting enough nutrition?" Xu Lei was stunned.

Doctor Lin nodded and said, "Your wife probably didn't make it. She died during childbirth."

Xu Lei nodded with difficulty, and then said: "Doctor, did you make a wrong diagnosis? How could it be that the nutrition is not enough? When my wife was pregnant, I gave her 100 coins a day for daily necessities!"

Doctor Lin frowned. With 100 wen a day for food, one could eat very well even in the Shen Mansion.

She thought for a moment and then asked, "Is this 100 wen just for food, or does it include other things?"

She glanced at the dilapidated hut and asked again without waiting for Xu Lei to answer: "Did you live here before?"

"No, my family was well off at that time, and we rented a two-story courtyard in the city." Speaking of the situation back then, Xu Lei couldn't help feeling melancholy.

"100 wen per day including rent?"

Xu Lei nodded: "I give my wife 3 yuan at the beginning of every month, and she decides all the expenses of the family."

Doctor Lin was amused. "3000 coins a month. A two-story courtyard would cost at least 1500 coins a month. The remaining 1500 coins are needed to cover the family's food, clothing, and daily expenses. Do you think the business of a pregnant woman will be enough?"

She said this very impolitely, and the sarcasm in her tone was not concealed. Xu Lei's dark face turned red with embarrassment, and he stammered, "Isn't 3000 a month enough?"

Doctor Lin rolled his eyes in anger and wanted to get up and leave very much, but as he still had to ask him questions in a while, he forced himself to be patient and continued taking the patient's pulse.

While checking Xu Wei's pulse, he asked, "Do you usually have trouble breathing?"

Perhaps because he seldom goes out, thirteen or fourteen-year-old Xu Wei is very shy. When asked, he glanced at Xu Lei and said nothing.

"The doctor is asking you, tell him nicely."

Xu Lei spoke up, and Xu Wei timidly replied, "Occasionally."

"Go to sleep, fall asleep quickly..."

After a long while, Doctor Lin finally finished examining his pulse and said, "He has a weakness that he was born with. He is weaker than other people. Even if he is cured, his life span will be shorter than that of ordinary people."

Hearing this, Xu Lei was not sad at all, but was pleasantly surprised: "You mean it can be cured?"

Every doctor he had seen in the past said that his little Wei would not live to adulthood.

Doctor Lin nodded: "I'll prescribe a prescription first, take two doses of medicine, and then come back to see me."

Xu Lei almost cried with joy, nodding repeatedly: "Okay, okay, thank you, doctor! Thank you, doctor..."

Facing him like this, Doctor Lin softened his attitude a little and asked, "I came here today for another matter. I heard that your family's skill in making silver needles was taught by a doctor. I want to ask, what was that doctor's last name? Do you remember what he looked like?"