Hearing the commotion, Father Yuan also hurriedly climbed out of bed. The moment he saw that Li Xia was burning up and completely unconscious, her face flushed bright red and her breath radiating waves of heat, he quickly worked alongside Mother Yuan to carry her onto the handcart. He then pushed the handcart, running toward the production brigade’s clinic. The rural paths were pitted and uneven, so he did his best to keep the handles as steady as possible, paying no mind to the sweat pouring down his cheeks as he focused entirely on moving forward.
The production brigade’s clinic was merely a single earthen room, with a faded wooden sign hanging at the entrance. Dr. Ma was sitting at his desk, sorting through herbal medicine. Hearing the creaking wheels of the handcart, he looked up and immediately set down his work to greet them: “What happened here?” Mother Yuan said frantically, “Dr. Ma, please take a quick look at our fifth child! She’s burning up so badly she’s completely delirious!”
Dr. Ma pulled out a thermometer so old its paint was chipping, tucked it under Li Xia’s armpit, and then pressed the back of his hand against her forehead, his brow furrowing instantly. Once he removed the thermometer and checked the reading, he let out a sigh: “She’s already running a fever of forty degrees. I’ll prescribe a dose of fever-reducing herbal medicine for you; go back, brew it quickly, and feed it to her. If her fever still hasn’t subsided by this afternoon, you’ll have to send her to the town health center—I don’t have Western medicine here, but they might have aspirin in town.”
“Yes! Thank you, Dr. Ma. Please prescribe the medicine quickly!” Mother Yuan responded hurriedly, her hands continuously chafing the back of Li Xia’s hand. As her icy-cold fingertips brushed against the scalding skin, her heart panicked even more. This child had been robust since she was a baby and had never fallen ill before. She had even joked with Father Yuan previously, saying that their fifth child was blessed with good fortune, experiencing few disasters and little pain. Who could have imagined that she would become so terrifyingly sick the moment she did fall ill?
Dr. Ma gathered Chinese thorowax root, mint, and honeysuckle from the medicine cabinet, adding a bit of licorice root to balance out the bitter taste. Wrapping it neatly in coarse straw paper, he handed it to Father Yuan: “Add it to the pot once the water boils and simmer it for fifteen minutes. Feed it to her while it’s hot; every mouthful she can drink counts.” Father Yuan took the medicine pouch, paid for the prescription, and pushed the handcart back home at an even faster pace. The wheels of the handcart ground against the gravel path, making a loud creaking and groaning sound, as if urging them to hurry home.
Upon returning home, Mother Yuan carried Li Xia onto the bed and tucked her under the quilt. Turning to Eldest Sister, she instructed, “You stay at home, brew the medicine, feed it to Fifth Sister, and check on her condition from time to time. Your dad, your siblings, and I still have to go down to the fields; we can’t afford to miss the farming season.” Eldest Sister nodded and took the medicine pouch, heading straight for the kitchen, while Father Yuan called out to the other children, grabbing their farming tools to rush to the fields—during the busy farming season, not a single day could be wasted.
In the kitchen, Eldest Sister placed the herbal medicine into an earthen pottery jar, added water, and set it over the hearth fire to simmer. The aroma of the medicine quickly blanketed the room, carrying a sharp, bitter fragrance. Once the medicine was fully brewed, she poured it into a bowl. Waiting until it cooled down enough so it wouldn’t scald the mouth, she carried the bowl into the bedroom, gently propping Li Xia up to let her lean against her chest. “Fifth Sister, wake up, it’s time to take your medicine,” she called softly, scooping up a bit of the liquid with a spoon and bringing it to Li Xia’s lips.
Li Xia’s lips were so dry they were peeling. Feeling the lukewarm medicine, she instinctively opened her mouth. As the liquid slid down her throat, a bitter taste spread from the tip of her tongue, yet she felt practically nothing—her mouth felt dry and coarse, as if it were filled with a handful of sand, leaving her unable to even discern the bitterness of the Chinese medicine. Eldest Sister fed her spoon after spoon, and half the bowl of medicine was quickly finished. She then took a damp towel and applied it to Li Xia’s forehead before turning around to go finish her chores.
In her semi-conscious state, Li Xia’s awareness cleared up slightly. She knew she had developed a fever—one so intense it left her completely devoid of strength, while a fire seemed to rage within her throat. Recalling that she still had fever-reducing medication obtained from a previous lucky draw inside her system space, she bit her lip. Gathering the last remnants of her strength, she retrieved a white tablet from the space and swallowed it dry. She didn’t dare gamble on the effectiveness of the herbal medicine; with a high fever of forty degrees, something terrible might truly happen if it kept burning. Only when the tablet slid down into her stomach did she breathe a sigh of relief, closing her eyes once more to sink into a heavy, drowsy sleep.
Over an hour later, after finishing the chores at hand, Eldest Sister returned to the bedroom to check on Li Xia. Reaching out to touch Li Xia’s forehead, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the temperature was considerably lower than it had been in the morning, no longer terrifyingly scalding, and the flush on her cheeks had faded a bit. She checked Li Xia’s breathing again, finding it even and steady. The heavy stone in her heart finally dropped to the ground. Tidying up the bowls and chopsticks, she also shouldered her farming tools and rushed off to the fields.
Seeing Eldest Sister arrive in the fields, Mother Yuan quickly set down the seedlings in her hand and stepped forward to ask, “How is Fifth Sister? Has her fever gone down?” “It’s gone down a bit. I felt her forehead before I left, and it wasn’t as hot as it was this morning. Her breathing is even too,” Eldest Sister said while wiping away her sweat. Mother Yuan nodded, the anxiety weighing on her mind finally easing a fraction. She instructed further, “When we wrap up work this afternoon, go back a bit earlier to check on her. If she still isn’t well, we’ll send her to town.”
In the countryside of this era, life was harsh, children were numerous, and adults focused all their energy on earning work points and filling their bellies. Their care for children mostly amounted to “as long as they are alive.” When a child fell ill, they would endure it if they could; only when it became truly unbearable would they seek out a barefoot doctor for some herbal medicine. For someone like Li Xia, who was sent to the clinic and given herbal medicine the moment she developed a fever, it was already a testament to how deeply her family cherished her.