On the train, Su Man watched as her uncle’s figure gradually grew smaller, until it finally blurred into the distance and disappeared. Only then did she reluctantly tear her gaze away.
The train clattered and rattled as it headed into the distance. In order to make her journey more comfortable, Xu Jianguo had pulled some strings and gotten her a sleeper ticket. There weren’t many people in the carriage, so it was relatively quiet.
Su Man gazed at the constantly changing scenery outside the window, still feeling as though everything was somewhat unreal.
She had truly broken free from the fate she’d had in her previous life and embarked on a completely different path. She had no idea what the days ahead would bring, but with her space at her disposal and her own baby on the way, Su Man was filled with boundless motivation.
The train would take several days to reach its destination, and since she was pregnant, Su Man had no intention of mistreating herself.
Before setting out, she had used the eight hundred yuan she’d gotten from Wang Yong’s family to stock up on plenty of food. After experimenting several times, she had discovered that compared with the outside world, time inside the space was completely still.
What’s more, whatever condition an item was in when she put it inside remained exactly the same when she took it out. So, after gritting her teeth, she had stocked up on a large amount of food.
She had no idea what awaited her in the days ahead, and now that she was pregnant, she certainly couldn’t let herself go hungry.
After eating two meat buns, Su Man was about to rest for a while.
Suddenly, she heard an auntie nearby cry out in alarm.
“Juanzi! Juanzi! What happened to you? Don’t scare your mother!”
People in this era were still very warmhearted. The moment they heard that someone had fainted, everyone hurried over to help.
Su Man went over as well.
The girl lying beneath the sleeper berth looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old. Her hair was tied into two long braids, and her round face had delicate, pleasant features that made her look particularly likable. She was also wearing one of the most fashionable dacron dresses of the time. At that moment, she lay there quietly, as if she were simply asleep.
The auntie was wearing a dark blue top and a pair of pants that had been washed so many times they had faded white. She had an honest-looking face, and her hair was neatly combed. But now, her face was filled with anxiety. Tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes as she called the girl’s name in a choked, frantic voice.
Something about the scene in front of Su Man felt wrong, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on what.
To anyone else, however, it looked exactly like a girl had suddenly fallen ill for some unknown reason, while her distraught mother could do nothing but cry helplessly.
Before long, a plump female train attendant, drenched in sweat, pushed her way through the crowd.
“Everyone, please move aside! Move aside! Is there a doctor here?”
Su Man hesitated, but ultimately said nothing.
Although she had learned a great deal of medical knowledge by now and possessed that miraculous water from her space, she had no medical license. If something went wrong, she could easily end up bringing trouble upon herself.
The girl’s complexion still looked rosy, and she didn’t appear to be in any immediate danger. For the moment, Su Man decided to stand back and observe.
Not long afterward, a thin man wearing glasses shouted from outside the crowd.
“I’m a doctor! I’m a doctor! Let me in and take a look at the patient!”
As soon as everyone heard that there was a doctor, they immediately made way. The thin man calmly walked inside.
Su Man took one look at him and immediately felt uneasy.
The moment the man entered, she noticed that his eyes instinctively went straight to the auntie who was crying.
He rubbed his hands unconsciously and adjusted his glasses, as though he were somewhat nervous.
The people around them, however, had no suspicions at all. Upon hearing that there was a doctor, they chatted excitedly among themselves, saying how lucky the girl was and that perhaps she could still be saved.
The auntie grabbed the man’s hand and pleaded with him earnestly.
“Doctor, please, hurry and save my daughter! She’s my only child. I was taking her south to visit relatives. She was perfectly fine this morning, but after she ate, she said she felt a little sleepy. I didn’t think much of it, but just now, no matter how much I called her, I couldn’t wake her up!”
“If anything happens to her, I… I won’t be able to go on living either!”
The people around them immediately became worried as well. They all sympathized with and comforted the distraught mother.
The doctor with the glasses immediately reassured her.
“Auntie, my name is Hu Gang. I’m a doctor at the People’s Hospital in the capital. Don’t worry. Let me take a look at her.”
With that, he stepped forward and first lifted the girl’s eyelids to examine her eyes. Then he checked her pulse.
His expression turned solemn. Everyone around them unconsciously held their breath, afraid that they might interfere with his diagnosis.
Once he had finished examining her, the auntie impatiently asked, “How is she, Doctor? Is there something wrong with my daughter?”
Doctor Hu spoke with a grave expression.
“Your daughter seems to have eaten something she’s allergic to. It looks like she’s gone into shock. But there doesn’t seem to be any immediate danger. I recommend taking her to the hospital right away.”
The moment he said this, the auntie’s body swayed. The female train attendant quickly caught her and comforted her.
“Auntie, don’t panic. Didn’t the doctor say she’s not in immediate danger? We’ll be arriving at the next station soon, and we can get her to the hospital for treatment right away.”
Doctor Hu spoke up at just the right moment.
“I’ll be getting off at the next station anyway. I was originally going home today to visit my family, but as a doctor, how could I stand by and do nothing in a situation like this? Once we arrive, I’ll take you and your daughter to the hospital. If anything happens on the way, I’ll be there to take care of her.”
The auntie thanked him repeatedly, visibly relieved.
“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Doctor Hu. We’re truly lucky to have you here today. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even know what to do with my daughter all by myself! Once my daughter gets better, I’ll definitely go to the hospital and present you with a banner of thanks!”
After hearing this, everyone agreed that it seemed like the best solution under the circumstances. With a doctor accompanying them, all they had to do was wait until the next station, take the girl to the hospital, and let the hospital doctors treat her.
Seeing that the situation had more or less been resolved, the female train attendant reported everything over the intercom. The passengers continued discussing how fortunate it was that the girl had happened to encounter this doctor today.
The auntie sat beside the girl’s berth, holding her daughter’s hand, still looking deeply worried.
But the more Su Man thought about it, the more something felt wrong.
She stared intently at the auntie’s face.
At the instant the woman turned around, Su Man caught the faint upward curve of her lips, as though she had just accomplished what she had set out to do.
More importantly, after all the studying she had done recently, Su Man had gained a basic understanding of medicine.
The people in the carriage had never studied medicine and didn’t understand what “shock” meant, but she knew that shock could be a life-threatening condition at any moment.
How could Doctor Hu possibly say that there was “no immediate danger”?
There was definitely something wrong with this Doctor Hu!
And the auntie was highly suspicious as well. Although she had continued to put on an outward show of panic and concern after the doctor spoke, the way she talked and acted remained remarkably composed and orderly.
She looked nothing like a mother who had been frightened out of her wits by her daughter suddenly falling ill.
But everyone now believed their story.
If Su Man rashly raised her doubts, the people who didn’t know the truth might accuse her of trying to make a spectacle of herself and interfering with the doctor’s efforts to save the girl.