Chapter 705 Wang Jianguo Persistence
She remembered that last month, Old Man Zhang next door had acute gastroenteritis, and his son pulled him to the clinic on a cart. It was raining heavily on the way, and when they arrived, Old Man Zhang had a fever and was delirious.
"you do not say,"
She wiped her eyes and said, "Last winter, it snowed heavily and Aunt Li's grandson got a rash. She walked for two hours in the snow and fell ill when she came back..."
When Wang Jianguo turned around, the hem of his military coat swept across the soy sauce bottle on the corner of the table. He squatted down and looked at Yang Xiaohua, who was sitting, with a scorching gaze:
"Do you know? Last month, Mr. Liu coughed up blood and endured it for three days before going to the clinic, which delayed his treatment..."
His voice suddenly softened.
"If our village had a clinic, we would have to suffer less!"
Yang Xiaohua bit her lips and dug her nails deep into her palms.
She recalled the long wait in the hospital corridor before her father died.
I think of those eyes that dimmed because they didn’t get timely treatment in the emergency room late at night.
The memories came flooding back, almost overwhelming her.
"This is truly a benefit to the people!"
Wang Jianguo slapped his thigh hard, causing the dishes and chopsticks on the table to clink.
"Can you bear to see old men and young men carrying their children in the mud in the middle of the night?"
He turned to Zhao Shuzhuo with unquestionable determination in his eyes.
"Brother Shuzhuo, this matter has been settled for now! As soon as the sun rises tomorrow, we will go to discuss it with Director Song!"
Zhao Shuzhuo frowned and rubbed the stubble on his chin.
He recalled that three years ago, when he led the educated youth to reclaim wasteland, they also faced many difficulties.
But looking at the burning enthusiasm in Wang Jianguo's eyes, and then looking at Yang Xiaohua's drooping eyebrows, he finally nodded slowly:
"Okay, let's listen to Director Song's opinion first. But Xiaohua,"
His voice suddenly became gentle.
“If conditions permit, don’t refuse. You are needed here.”
He Yushui suddenly jumped up, and the flour on her apron fell off:
"I'll be the first to sign up as an apprentice! I'm very nimble and I promise I'll learn it in no time!"
Shen Chunhua also stood up, clapping her bamboo fan in her palms:
"I'll go door to door to mobilize people. There are plenty of young girls in the village. I'll definitely gather enough people!"
The moonlight quietly climbed up the window frame and cast a paper-cut carp pattern on Yang Xiaohua.
She looked at the enthusiastic crowd in front of her and suddenly felt her eyes getting hot.
Perhaps, this piece of black land can really become her new battlefield, allowing her to use her own hands to protect the health of more people.
At dawn, the Great Northern Wilderness was still immersed in thick ink, and the mountains in the distance were like the silhouettes of giant beasts lurking on the horizon.
Wang Jianguo turned over and sat up. The hand of the alarm clock on the kang had just passed five o'clock. The iron shell glowed coldly in the moonlight.
He put on his shiny rubber shoes carefully, and in the dim light of the kerosene lamp, he carefully checked the plan for building a health center folded in his pocket.
He had copied it last night under dim light, revising it over and over again in pencil.
In the yard, he skillfully applied some butter to the bicycle chain. The sound of metal friction was particularly clear in the silence.
Looking up at the gray sky, a few remaining stars are still hanging stubbornly on the horizon.
He took a deep breath of the dewy air, as if he could already smell the joy after successfully persuading Director Song.
When Wang Jianguo's bicycle stopped outside Zhao Shuzhuo's house, the sky in the east was already turning pale.
The morning glory on the fence was still curling. He took off his hat and fanned the sweat off his forehead, knocking his knuckles on the mottled wooden door:
"Brother Shuzhuo!"
The sound woke up the swallows under the eaves, and the flapping sound of their wings echoed in the morning mist.
"I'm going to the commune to discuss the health center with Director Song. Will you come with me?"
There was a rustling sound from inside the house, and soon the wooden door creaked open.
Zhao Shuzhuo was wearing a washed-out blue cloth work suit, holding a half-eaten cornmeal cake in his hand, with a few grains of rice residue on his collar.
The morning light shone obliquely on his face, revealing the faint dark circles under his eyes - it was obvious that he had also spent a restless night.
He stuffed the cake into his mouth and said incoherently:
"Come on, let's go together."
As he said this, he turned around, pulled out a sharpened sickle from behind the door and put it on his waist.
"After I see Director Song, I'll go to the production team. I'll be gone for several days, and I don't know how the sowing progress is going."
Wang Jianguo grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth, and reached out to help Zhao Shuzhuo push the bicycle out.
Two bicycles were parked side by side on the dirt road, the butter on their chains glistening in the morning sun.
"If we can get this done today,"
Wang Jianguo said excitedly while adjusting the seat height.
I'll go to the supply and marketing cooperative this afternoon to see if I can order some disinfectant and gauze."
His eyes fell on the patch on the knee of Zhao Shuzhuo's overalls, and he thought of this big brother who lived frugally on weekdays but was always generous when others needed it.
The early morning in the Great Northern Wilderness was wrapped in a layer of wet mist, and dewdrops hung heavily on the grass leaves.
Zhao Shuzhuo stood in front of the adobe house where He Yushui and Yang Xiaohua were temporarily living, holding the handlebars of his bicycle and not moving.
The patches on the knees of his overalls were darkened by the dew, and the soles of his shoes were still stained with mud from helping Shen Chunhua repair the fence yesterday.
There were slight breathing sounds coming from inside the house. He raised his hand several times, and stopped half an inch away from the door, his knuckles hanging on the faded wooden door, as if being pulled by invisible threads.
Finally, he mustered up the courage to knock on the door, his voice very soft:
"Xiaohua, Jianguo and I will go to the commune, and then I will go to the production team."
After he finished speaking, he put his ear to the door and could hear the rustling of bedding, but he could not hear any response from Yang Xiaohua.
The morning breeze blew across the eaves, lifting a few strands of his hair that were wet with dew. He suddenly felt annoyed at his own clumsiness and added:
"When you get up later, remember to have some breakfast. There's sweet potato porridge simmering in the stove. I added more firewood before I left."
The old hen in the yard clucked as it came in through the gap in the fence and dug up the grains on the ground.
Zhao Shuzhuo looked at the faded window paper-cuts pasted on the window frame. They were cut by Shen Chunhua during the Chinese New Year last year, and the edges were already curled.
Thinking of Yang Xiaohua's pale face and stubborn eyes, his throat tightened and he continued:
"If you're bored at home, go to the supply and marketing cooperative with Yu Shui. I heard they've got new vanishing cream and floral fabrics from Shanghai."
He paused, his voice becoming softer.
"If you don't want to go out, just stay in the house and rest. There's hot water in the thermos and a blanket on the kang..."
There were rustling footsteps in the house, followed by He Yushui's hazy voice, with the laziness of just waking up:
"Brother Shuzhuo, please leave quickly and don't disturb us to rest."