Chapter 725 How to decide
"Why did you come to us?"
His skinny fingers subconsciously clenched the armrest of the chair, not even noticing the wooden splinter piercing his palm.
"Who in the family is sick? What medicine do you want to buy?"
Dou'er was originally curled up in the corner, but now he raised his head.
The girl's pale face was still covered with tear marks, but when she heard these words, her eyelashes trembled slightly.
The look in her eyes as she stared at Wang Jianguo contained both the bewilderment of surviving a disaster and a bit of curiosity.
The moonlight leaked through the cracks in the broken tiles, casting a crisscross of light and shadows on the three people. The flame of the lantern suddenly "crackled" and burst into a spark, startling the crickets in the corner and stopping their chirping.
Wang Jianguo squatted in the messy pharmacy, looking at Yang Huaixi's face covered with blood scabs and Dou'er's terrified eyes, feeling mixed emotions.
The night wind swirled medicine residue and broken porcelain pieces around my feet. The dim light from the lantern stretched the shadows of the three people long, casting broken outlines on the broken wall.
He took a deep breath and decided not to hide it anymore. He reached out and gently pressed Yang Huaixi's trembling shoulders. He could feel the old man's bony bones in his palm, as if he was holding a piece of dead wood.
"Brother Yang, now that things have come to this, I won't hide anything anymore."
His voice was low and firm, with an unmistakable sincerity.
"I came here today specifically to see you."
As he spoke, he took out a slightly wrinkled piece of letter paper from his pocket. In the dim light of the lantern, the seal of "Beidahuang Red Flag Commune" was faintly visible on the paper.
"Our commune wants to build a clinic, but we can't find a decent doctor anywhere. I thought of you and Dou'er."
A trace of surprise flashed across Yang Huaixi's cloudy eyes, and his swollen eyelids blinked with difficulty, as if he couldn't believe what he heard.
Dou'er also stopped sobbing and raised her head. There were still traces of tears on her face, but a glimmer of hope was burning in her eyes.
Wang Jianguo continued:
"I originally thought that I could invite you to take charge and teach a few young men some medical skills. But who could have thought..."
His voice suddenly choked and his eyes swept across the mess on the ground.
“That’s what happens here.”
From afar came the sound of a train whistle, long and shrill, which startled the night owl and made it let out a few strange cries.
Wang Jianguo held Yang Huaixi's hand tightly, and his tone became more earnest:
"Brother Yang, Dou'er, you can no longer stay here. The Black Tiger Gang will never let you go."
"But if you come with me to the Great Northern Wilderness, the land there is vast and sparsely populated, and there is a need for doctors like you. Although the clinic is simple, it can at least provide you with a place to live."
The night was as thick as ink. In the dilapidated pharmacy, the swaying oil lamp cast the shadows of three people on the mottled wall, making their shadows hazy.
Yang Huaixi leaned on a broken wooden chair, each breath accompanied by a muffled sound in his chest. His scarred hands tightly gripped the chair handles, his knuckles turning white from the force.
Wang Jianguo squatted in front of him, his eyes full of expectation and earnestness, waiting for the old man's reply.
"Brother Jianguo,"
Yang Huaixi finally spoke, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper rubbing against a rough wooden board.
"In theory, you saved us from those villains today. This favor is heavier than a mountain. If you need anything, I will help you even if it costs my life."
He paused, his cracked lips trembled slightly, and a hint of hesitation appeared in his sunken eye sockets.
"But......"
He turned his neck with difficulty and looked towards the inner room, where Dou'er was preparing hot water for him.
"Although Dou'er calls me brother, she has been like my child over the years. I can't make this decision for her. I have to ask her what she thinks."
Wang Jianguo was slightly stunned, then nodded, his eyes full of understanding.
He naturally understood that Yang Huaixi and Dou'er depended on each other in this dangerous black market, and every decision affected their future.
The house fell into a brief silence, with only the night wind blowing through the broken window frames, blowing up the scattered medicine residue on the ground, making a rustling sound.
Just then, there was a slight sound of footsteps coming from the inner room, and Dou'er walked out carefully, holding a bowl of steaming water.
There were still traces of tears on the boy's handsome face, but his eyes revealed stubbornness and tenacity.
He walked up to Yang Huaixi and gently handed the bowl of water to him, moving very gently for fear of hurting his wounds.
Yang Huaixi took the bowl of water, but did not rush to drink it. Instead, he looked at Dou'er with loving eyes and said slowly:
"Dou'er, Brother Jianguo and his commune want to set up a health center and invite us to help. The journey is long and the future is uncertain. We don't know how much hardship we will have to endure..."
His voice gradually choked.
"I want to hear your thoughts. No matter what decision you make, I will be with you."
Dou'er listened quietly, with her hands hanging by her sides tightly clenching the corners of her clothes.
He looked up at Yang Huaixi, then at Wang Jianguo, and his mind flashed back to all the hardships he had experienced in the black market over the years:
The fear of being bullied by gangsters, the exhaustion of boiling medicine late at night, and those desperate eyes due to illness... Looking at the present, Yang Huaixi is covered in wounds, but still cares about her wishes.
Wang Jianguo came from afar, bringing not only an opportunity but also hope.
"Brother, Brother Jianguo,"
Dou'er took a deep breath, his voice was crisp and firm, and there was a gleam in his eyes.
"I agree to go to the Great Northern Wilderness. Over the years, we have suffered a lot in this black market, but even so, brother, you have never given up the idea of practicing medicine and saving lives."
"Now that we have such an opportunity, which allows us to treat patients and save lives in an upright manner and have a stable family, I am willing to go."
Yang Huaixi's hand holding the coarse porcelain bowl trembled violently, and the scalding water splashed on the back of his scarred hand, but he was completely unaware.
Under the dim light of the oil lamp, Dou'er's pretty face was reflected in flickering light. The girl's drooping eyelashes cast tiny shadows under her eyes, but could not hide the surging emotions in her eyes.
The gaze was so scorching that even the weathered old man couldn't help but look away, his Adam's apple rolling with difficulty between his blood-stained collar.
"Brother, look."
Dou'er suddenly squatted down and took out a copy of "Compendium of Materia Medica" with worn edges from the blue cloth bag. A few dried mugworts were sandwiched between the yellowed pages.
"When you taught me to recognize medicine, you said that angelica can replenish blood and activate blood circulation, and astragalus can replenish qi and strengthen the exterior. These herbs should save lives, but in this black market..."
Her voice suddenly became hoarse, and her fingertips stroked the blood-stained words on the pages of the book - those were splashed when thugs smashed the store last month.
"I saw with my own eyes that you wrapped the life-saving ginseng slices into a red paper with the words 'Golden Gun Pill' engraved on it."
The night wind suddenly blew in through the broken window, causing the oil lamp wick to crackle and emit sparks.
Yang Huaixi felt the wound on his ribs begin to ache again. It was the wound left by a heavy blow from the iron rod, but at this moment it was not as painful as the dull pain from his heart.