Chapter 433: Will There Be a Future?
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“Most of the people living here are old people who stay behind. They are old and unwilling to move away. However, due to geographical reasons, the medical situation is very worrying. Therefore, our affiliated hospital will arrange for doctors to come over for volunteer medical consultation every once in a while and distribute some basic medicine.” Teacher Cao introduced as they walked, “Look, the terrain of this village is especially harsh. Even cars can’t enter. This is the place we are going to today.”
Everyone silently tugged at the straps of their backpacks and followed Teacher Cao closely.
s.h.i.+ Jin also followed slowly. The mountain road was difficult to walk on and everyone had to help each other up.
Although Teacher Cao was old, he walked without hesitation. He carried a large backpack and strode ahead.
s.h.i.+ Jin did not hold them back and continued walking in the middle. A moment later, she stopped in her tracks, her gaze drawn by a few unusual blades of gra.s.s in the jungle.
“Teacher Cao, Senior Li, I’ll go take a look at the plants over there.” s.h.i.+ Jin notified them and walked over.
“I’ll go with you.” Li Liangjing immediately followed her.
Liu Kaiyuan could not help frowning. He secretly felt that these two were meddlesome. “What are you two doing? Can’t you see that the sky is almost completely dark?”
After all, he had grown up in a city. He had an inexplicable fear of this kind of dark forest.
“s.h.i.+ Jin must have found some herbs. Let her pick some.” Teacher Cao had realized from his conversation with s.h.i.+ Jin that this girl liked Chinese medicine and was very knowledgeable about herbs.
“Don’t we have all kinds of emergency medicine in our bag?” Liu Kaiyuan patted his bag. He really did not understand why she was picking those herbs.
Western medicine was very good. It was neat and convenient. For example, he only took up a small s.p.a.ce when he packed the common emergency medicine. He was nothing like Li Liangjing and s.h.i.+ Jin, who brought a bag full of herbs. Now that she saw new ones, she had to go and pick a bunch.
Xie Ruilang stopped him. “Don’t say so much.”
Liu Kaiyuan frowned and did not say anything else. He only muttered in his heart, “Don’t let anything happen to these two on the mountain and implicate me again.”
After a while, s.h.i.+ Jin and Li Liangjing each returned with a large bunch of herbs with water on them.
“Teacher Cao, do you think this is a top-notch anti-inflammatory medicine?” Li Liangjing asked.
“Not bad, it’s indeed a very good herb.” Teacher Cao nodded. “Its ability to stop bleeding is also top-notch.”
Liu Kaiyuan said impatiently, “Let’s go.”
Li Liangjing and s.h.i.+ Jin then walked forward. On the way, they saw other herbs and stopped to pick them.
Both of them were very interested, especially Li Liangjing. In his usual studies and research, it was very difficult for him to come into contact with fresh medicinal herbs. He did not expect to have so many unexpected gains here.
This was also due to the lack of development in this forest. All the plants were in their original state, and no one would pay attention to these ordinary-looking herbs.
The journey took a lot of time. By the time they reached the top of the mountain, Liu Kaiyuan’s anger had already acc.u.mulated to the maximum.
“We’ll be staying here tonight.” Teacher Cao opened a wooden door. “Come in. We used to live here when we came in the past.”
The wooden house was rather s.p.a.cious. However, it was too simple and crude. There was a wave of moldy smell. And the already cold weather became even colder.
Apart from a lamp, there were no other household appliances.
Teacher Cao went to start the fire first. Li Liangjing and s.h.i.+ Jin went to help cook the rice.
Liu Kaiyuan took out a piece of bread and said, “Do you guys want to eat something to fill your stomach?”
“No need.” Li Liangjing and s.h.i.+ Jin did not want to continue listening to his complaints and rejected him directly.
“Teacher Cao, what about you?” Liu Kaiyuan asked politely. Seeing that they didn’t want it, he shared it with Xie Ruilang.
After the fire started, the food was cooked.
The simple aroma of the dishes instantly revived everyone’s spirits. As they ate, they finally came back to life.
***
The next day, everyone started their volunteer medical consultation.
As expected, most of the people who came were old people in their seventies or eighties.
These old people basically had some basic illnesses. This time, they were here to take a look at headaches, fever, blood pressure, blood sugar, and so on.
Although it was simple, Li Liangjing and s.h.i.+ Jin still recorded the data seriously.
Liu Kaiyuan and Xie Ruilang were distributing medicine.
These old people were very familiar with Teacher Cao. When they saw him bring the young people over, some of the old people who came to take the medicine turned around and sent over sweet potatoes, yams, corn, and other things.
Teacher Cao also accepted it with a smile. Only then did those elders leave in satisfaction.
“Are we really going to accept these things?” Li Liangjing asked.
“Take it. It’s all from the fields. It doesn’t cost much. If you don’t accept it, they will feel guilty,” Teacher Cao explained.
Li Liangjing then found a bamboo basket and kept the items.
After a busy day, everyone returned to the wooden house and finally relaxed.
On the way back, s.h.i.+ Jin remembered that she had seen quite a lot of herbs. Since it was not dark yet, she could go out and look for more. There should be more.
She informed Teacher Cao who said, “Go, come back early.”
Li Liangjing followed. “I’ll go with you.”
Liu Kaiyuan pursed his lips. “What’s the point of digging? Didn’t you see that the medicine we gave the elders today was all Western medicine? Even the elderly don’t eat those herbs anymore.”
s.h.i.+ Jin turned a deaf ear and walked forward. She remembered that there were some herbs on the mountain that were very useful. She could pick them and plant them.
Although Chinese herbs were different from western medicine, they were essentially the same. They were all used for curing and saving people
Li Liangjing followed her. Seeing that she had already picked a bunch of herbs that he did not recognize, he could not help but ask, “s.h.i.+ Jin, you really know a lot about these herbs.”
“A little.” s.h.i.+ Jin squatted down and took another handful. “Actually, these herbs are not particularly rare. It’s just that people nowadays don’t really believe in these herbs. So naturally, no one knows their value.”
Li Liangjing sighed. “Do you think our industry really has a future?”
“How could it not?” s.h.i.+ Jin smiled faintly. “It’s just that we haven’t brought it to greater heights yet.”
She gathered a few more and asked Li Liangjing to help her carry them. Then, she continued walking forward. She only returned when it was almost dark.
As she neared the cottage, she smelled the rich aroma of roasted sweet potatoes and yams.
Teacher Cao waved her hand and said, “s.h.i.+ Jin, Liangjing, come and try it.”
s.h.i.+ Jin took the roasted sweet potato from Teacher Cao. It had a strong fragrance and tasted sweet and sticky.. The fragrance was overwhelming.