When Fang Yuan came out of Doctor Jiang’s office and returned to her consultation room, she found a middle-aged woman dressed like a government cadre sitting there waiting for her.
Fang Yuan cast a questioning glance at the nurse who had followed her in.
The nurse quietly leaned over and whispered, “I already told her you were performing an emergency operation and that another doctor could see her instead, but she insisted on waiting for you.”
Fang Yuan nodded to show she understood.
She returned to her seat, sat down, and smiled at the visitor. “May I ask what seems to be the problem?”
The middle-aged woman was dressed in a gray Lenin suit. Her short hair, streaked with gray, was pinned behind her ears with two tungsten hair clips. Her expression was rather stern and distant. She carefully looked Fang Yuan up and down before finally asking, “Are you Doctor Fang Yuan?”
“Yes, I am Fang Yuan.” After spending two straight hours concentrating on suturing during the operation, Fang Yuan was feeling rather tired. “Excuse me, let me pour myself a glass of water first.” She stood up, poured some hot water from the rattan covered thermos into her enamel mug, took two sips, then sat back down.
She had already noticed that there was something unusual about this patient, so she decided to remain calm and wait for the other party to speak first.
The woman glanced at Fang Yuan’s wrist. The corners of her lips lifted slightly as she fixed her eyes on Fang Yuan and said, “The watch you’re wearing doesn’t look cheap. I heard you’ve only just started working. Can your salary really afford such an expensive watch?”
The watch Fang Yuan was wearing was an Omega ladies’ wristwatch, a gift from her grandfather when she was in university. She now began to suspect that there really was something wrong with the woman sitting before her. What did the watch she wore have to do with this woman?
“Are you here for a medical consultation today?” Fang Yuan asked in return. She glanced at the name on the registration slip. Zhang Huiyun. Workplace: County Party Committee Publicity Department.
Zhang Huiyun cleared her throat. She also realized that her question had been too abrupt and had aroused Fang Yuan’s suspicion. Softening her expression, she said, “I heard you’re also skilled in acupuncture. My lower back often aches. Would it be convenient for you to come to my home and give me acupuncture treatments a few times?”
“There are many possible causes of lower back pain. I recommend that you undergo an examination first, then we can arrange an appropriate treatment plan.”
“My back problem started after childbirth. Examinations never find anything wrong. I came specifically because I heard you practice acupuncture.”
Although Fang Yuan knew that this female cadre named Zhang Huiyun seemed a little strange, a doctor’s compassion would never allow her to turn away a patient. She said, “I’ll examine you first. If there aren’t any issues, you can come here regularly and I’ll give you acupuncture treatments. The hospital keeps me quite busy, so I’m afraid it won’t be convenient for me to make house calls.”
Zhang Huiyun had no objections. She followed Fang Yuan’s instructions, removed her shoes, and lay down on the examination bed.
Fang Yuan drew the privacy curtain, examined her by palpating her waist and abdomen, then said, “If it’s convenient for you now, I’ll give you one acupuncture treatment first and we’ll see how effective it is.”
Zhang Huiyun hesitated. She had not actually come to seek treatment today. She had already gone to the provincial capital for her back pain without seeing any improvement. How could this young doctor possibly cure it with just a few needles? She had only mentioned acupuncture casually a moment ago. Now that the words had already been spoken, it would be awkward to take them back, so she could only agree to let Fang Yuan try.
After sterilizing the silver needles, Fang Yuan inserted them into several points, including the Ashi point and Shenshu acupoint, using a treatment method that unblocked the meridians and relieved pain.
Lying face down on the examination bed, Zhang Huiyun felt a trace of nervous regret when she saw Fang Yuan take out the long needles. However, apart from a few slight stings that felt like mosquito bites, she experienced no other discomfort.
After inserting the needles, Fang Yuan checked the time, stepped away from the examination bed, returned to her desk, and began writing the medical record.
Zhang Huiyun gradually felt a warm, tingling sensation spreading through her lower back. Raising her upper body slightly, she asked, “Doctor Fang, how long before the needles can be removed?”
She still had things to do today. If she had to lie there for several hours or half a day, all of her work would be delayed.
Fang Yuan turned around with a smile. “They can be removed after fifteen minutes. Don’t move. If the needles shift position, it’ll be troublesome.”
Zhang Huiyun immediately lay back down without daring to move an inch.
Once the time was up, Fang Yuan removed the silver needles. Zhang Huiyun got up and straightened her clothes. The weather had recently begun to cool, and her lower back had indeed been bothering her again. After the acupuncture treatment, however, her back felt much more relaxed. The dull ache that had prevented her from straightening up had disappeared.
She had originally come only because her younger sister had mentioned this female doctor and wanted to see her for herself. She had never expected to have her longstanding back problem unexpectedly treated as well.
Only then did her expression truly relax. Looking warmly at Fang Yuan, she asked, “Doctor Fang, when should I come back next time?”
“If your work isn’t too busy, you can come once every two days. If you’re really unable to find the time, once a week is acceptable as well, although the course of treatment will take longer.”
“That’s fine. Then I’ll come once every two days.”
Now, as Zhang Huiyun looked at Fang Yuan’s large eyes and fair complexion, she felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction. Good genes were very important. If the mother was beautiful, the child would not turn out badly either.
After seeing the patient off, Fang Yuan asked the nurse whether there were any more patients scheduled for the morning. Learning that there were none, she finally relaxed and leaned back in her chair to rest for a while.
“Doctor Fang, do you know that female cadre from earlier?” the nurse asked. That patient had specifically requested Doctor Fang by name. She had refused to see any of the other doctors and would rather wait here.
“I don’t know her. She probably heard someone mention me.” At first, Fang Yuan had thought the woman was rather strange, but afterward she had not displayed any further unusual behavior. Fang Yuan herself became puzzled. Had her acupuncture really become so well known that people were now seeking her out specifically?
“Oh, by the way, here are two letters for you. I brought them over.” The nurse placed the letters on Fang Yuan’s desk.
Fang Yuan thanked her and picked them up. One was from a classmate in the provincial capital. The other bore a military postmark, but there was no sender’s name on the envelope. Curious, she opened the military letter first.
The sender was Chen Nanfang.
Fang Yuan had almost forgotten about him.
After reading the contents of the letter, she placed the paper back on the desk, rested her chin on one hand, and stared at the empty flowerpot on the windowsill. A trace of inexplicable heaviness settled across her face.
Chen Nanfang wrote that he would soon be leaving with the main force for the battlefield in Vietnam to participate in the War to Resist American Aggression and Aid Vietnam. He did not know whether he would return alive. Although Fang Yuan had told him not to write to her, he had still decided to send this final letter.
In it, he urged Fang Yuan to do everything she could over the next few years to remain at the county hospital and not join any medical teams sent to the countryside. He once again emphasized that she absolutely must not go to a place called Shilin Village. He said he could not explain the reason, but he was absolutely not speaking recklessly. He hoped Fang Yuan would believe him just this once.
After reading the letter, Fang Yuan developed a strange feeling regarding the warning Chen Nanfang had given her. Yet what weighed on her heart even more was the news that he was heading to the battlefield.
She had grown up in an era of peace. She had never experienced the displacement, constant danger, or smoke filled battlefields of wartime. However, she had heard countless people speak of war’s cruelty. Now someone she actually knew was about to fight in a foreign land. Alongside her admiration for him, she felt an even greater sense of worry.
Silently praying for Chen Nanfang’s safety, she stood up and poured the remaining water from her cup into the flowerpot outside the window. She hoped that by the time the buried seeds bloomed again, Chen Nanfang would have safely returned.
When she opened the second letter, a joyful smile gradually spread across her face.
After one piece of bad news came another that filled her with happiness.
Her closest friend from university, Shao Fen, was getting married that weekend. The groom was Li Xinwen, a senior from their hospital. Fang Yuan had never expected that only a few months after graduation, Shao Fen would already have found her ideal partner and decided to spend the rest of her life with him.
There had been thirty students in Fang Yuan’s clinical medicine class at university, only five of whom were women. All five had lived together in the same dormitory and had become very close.
After graduation, only Shao Fen remained at the provincial capital hospital, while the others scattered in different directions. They still exchanged letters regularly, but gathering together was not easy. Although it had been less than half a year since graduation, Fang Yuan already missed her classmates very much. She did not know whether the others would be able to make it to Shao Fen’s wedding, but she knew she would definitely be there.
That afternoon, Director Chen called Fang Yuan into his office and asked about her recent work. During the conversation, he brought up whether she would be willing to take on greater challenges by training in a more difficult environment.
Feeling somewhat uneasy after leaving Director Chen’s office, Fang Yuan went to Doctor Jiang and asked whether the hospital had made other work arrangements for her.
Doctor Jiang rubbed the stubble that had appeared after only half a day without shaving. After thinking for a moment, he said, “As you know, the Ministry of Health has issued directives to send specialists and doctors from medical institutions to rural areas. Right now, our hospital has two attending physicians providing support in remote villages, helping train local grassroots medical workers and treating farmers and their children who have no way of traveling to big cities for medical care. We can’t leave those medical teams out there fighting alone forever, so the hospital leadership is currently looking for additional personnel to reinforce them.”
Fang Yuan could not help asking, “Has the hospital selected me?”
Doctor Jiang shook his head with a smile. “That’s a decision for the hospital leadership. No one knows yet, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Director Chen didn’t only speak with you. He has talked with all of us doctors as well. He simply wanted to understand our thoughts first. According to the instructions of our nation’s top leader, the people being sent should be experts. You’ve only recently joined the hospital. Your experience and seniority are still limited. Compared to you, there’s a much greater chance they’ll send me instead.”
Seeing that Fang Yuan’s face was still rather tense, Doctor Jiang joked, “Or do you think you’ve already mastered both Chinese and Western medicine and deserve to be called a medical expert more than I do?”
Fang Yuan burst into laughter. “Doctor Jiang, this is a very serious matter. Don’t tease me.”
Doctor Jiang was an attending surgeon who had practiced medicine for twenty years. He had previously worked at Shao City Hospital before being transferred to the county hospital for certain special reasons. Although he was a surgeon, he also treated fractures, filled teeth, and handled everything from minor ailments to major illnesses. He could perform major operations with a scalpel in hand and deal with every kind of emergency that arose. He was truly one of the county hospital’s technical pillars and an expert in his field.
“I just don’t want you to view this issue too seriously. I know conditions in the countryside are very difficult, especially for female doctors. There will be many inconveniences after you’re sent there. But if the time really comes when we’re needed, then we should face it with the right attitude and accept the assignment wholeheartedly.”
“I understand, Doctor Jiang,” Fang Yuan replied.