Hearing that, Zhou Yu’s steps faltered for a moment, but she continued walking the next second without responding to System 088 in her mind.
She currently had no practical clinical experience whatsoever. Even if she went to save someone, she would be willing but unable. She might even end up delaying the patient’s treatment.
Besides, she was carrying so many things right now. It would be better to hurry home.
【The situation is critical. The patient is suffering from an acute myocardial infarction.】
【The system can provide Quick-Acting Heart Relief Pills. The host only needs to follow the instructional video within the system and perform the rescue procedures accordingly. If you go now, the chance of a successful rescue is over 90%.】
【If no one provides aid within two minutes, the patient’s probability of death will exceed…】
The mechanical voice of System 088 sounded unusually hurried and anxious.
‘Where’s the patient?’ Zhou Yu asked in her mind before the system could finish explaining.
The reason she had initially refused was because she thought it was some kind of chronic illness. Now that she heard it was an acute heart attack, she could no longer worry about the consequences.
Moreover, the system had said the chances of saving the patient were so high. Combined with the fact that she had learned some emergency first-aid techniques back in school, there was no way she could stand by and do nothing.
【After exiting the fabric shop, look to the right. You’ll see him.】 System 088 replied succinctly.
Zhou Yu set down the items she was carrying and asked the shop owner to watch over Lu Cheng for a few minutes. She only said that she would be back shortly before quickly running toward the location indicated by System 088.
The patient was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. Beside him was a young man in his twenties who kept calling out for his father. He was presumably the patient’s son.
The father and son were surrounded by a crowd of curious onlookers, yet not a single person dared step forward to help.
“Everyone, please move aside. I’m a doctor.”
Zhou Yu could not concern herself with anything else. Saving the patient came first.
The crowd instinctively parted to make way for her. Zhou Yu quickly pushed through and took out the Quick-Acting Heart Relief Pills that System 088 had just provided.
“Lay the patient flat on the ground, and everyone else move back a little.”
Handing the medicine to the patient’s son, Zhou Yu explained, “These are Quick-Acting Heart Relief Pills. Give them to your father. I’ll perform some emergency treatment afterward. There’s still a chance to save him.”
The young man looked at Zhou Yu deeply, his brows knitting slightly together.
He did not really believe what this young woman was saying, nor did he believe she possessed the ability to save someone. But there was no other option at the moment.
He could only take a gamble.
“Fine. I’ll trust you for now. But if…” the man said coldly.
“I know. Let’s save him first.”
Zhou Yu knew what the man was probably about to say, but there was no time for that now. The situation was urgent.
The family member’s attitude was far from friendly, but it was only natural for a son to be worried about his father. Saving the patient came first.
Even after taking the Quick-Acting Heart Relief Pills, the patient showed no obvious response.
Zhou Yu stepped forward and pressed the philtrum beneath the patient’s nose with her left hand. With her right hand clenched into a loose fist, she repeatedly rolled and pressed the area between the Tanzhong and Huagai[1]Tanzhong and Huagai are acupuncture points located along the center of the chest. Tanzhong is near the middle of the breastbone, while Huagai is higher up, just below the throat. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2492349_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2492349_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); acupoints, stimulating the heart muscles.
After a moment, the patient’s brows twitched slightly, but his complexion still showed no significant improvement.
Zhou Yu then clenched her right hand into a loose fist again and placed her left hand over it. Using the weight of her body, she rolled and pressed across the chest from right to left.
During the pressing and rolling motions, the patient needed to inhale. When she released pressure, the patient exhaled.
She repeated the process several times until the patient’s shoulders began to move and the color gradually returned to his face. Only then did Zhou Yu withdraw her hands.
A few seconds later, the patient slowly regained consciousness.
Only then did Zhou Yu finally let out a sigh of relief.
Rising to her feet, she turned to the young man beside her.
“The patient’s condition has improved. There shouldn’t be any immediate danger to his life. If you’re worried, take him to a nearby hospital for a thorough examination.”
The young man nodded.
He wanted to apologize for his earlier attitude, but Zhou Yu simply waved her hand and said nothing. She only urged him to take the patient to the hospital as soon as possible for further checks.
Then she turned and headed back toward the fabric shop.
Because the place where the man had suffered his sudden heart attack was not far from the fabric shop, Lu Cheng had been standing at the shop entrance and had seen almost the entire rescue from start to finish.
Confusion creased his brow.
He clearly remembered that the stepmother in his memories did not know how to treat illnesses.
So how had she suddenly become capable of saving people?
Zhou Yu, however, was in no mood to explain anything to Lu Cheng.
Her back was drenched in cold sweat.
The situation had truly been critical. She had acted on impulse. Fortunately, the man had survived.
If she had failed to save him, the consequences would have been enormous.
It seemed that she would need to spend more time studying medicine in the future. That way, when she encountered situations like this again, she would be able to handle them with confidence instead of stumbling through them in a panic like she had today.
【Host, you’ve already done very well. You successfully saved him, didn’t you?】
System 088 spoke up comfortingly.
It could not understand why Zhou Yu looked so unhappy after successfully rescuing someone.
‘Let’s talk after we get back,’ Zhou Yu replied expressionlessly.
After thanking the owner of the fabric shop, Zhou Yu once again picked up her large bundle of purchases and took Lu Cheng back to the village by vehicle.
By the time they arrived home, it was already past noon.
“Lu Cheng, I’ll have to trouble you to cook the rice for lunch first. I’ll make a few dishes afterward.”
As Zhou Yu poured the rice and other supplies into the storage jars, she gave Lu Cheng his instructions.
Back in her room, Zhou Yu finally had a chance to catch her breath.
Thinking back on what had happened earlier, she felt that she had been far too impulsive today. She had absolutely no clinical experience, yet she had still rushed in to save someone.
【The situation was critical. There was no other choice. The system scanned several kilometers around the area and found no doctors nearby. If the host hadn’t intervened, the patient’s chance of dying today would have exceeded ninety percent.】 System 088 explained.
‘Yes, the situation was urgent,’ Zhou Yu replied in her mind. ‘But there were a lot of things I didn’t do well during the rescue. My techniques weren’t particularly precise either.’
She continued, ‘It’s not that I don’t want to save people or that I’m afraid of taking responsibility. I’m worried about failing to save someone and ending up harming them instead. That’s why I hope situations completely beyond my control won’t happen too often in the future.’
【But…】 System 088 hesitated, thinking that Zhou Yu no longer wanted to complete missions.
【I’m a Life-Saving and Healing System. Our mission is to save lives and heal the injured.】
‘You said the system contains a large number of medical references and instructional videos, didn’t you?’ Zhou Yu said. ‘From now on, I’ll set aside a few hours every day to study medical knowledge.’
She paused before adding, ‘That way, when I encounter patients in the future, at least I’ll have plenty of theoretical knowledge to rely on.’
【In that case, that couldn’t be better.】
The system had not expected its host to be so motivated, and it immediately sounded delighted.
Zhou Yu noticed that although System 088’s voice remained mechanical, it somehow seemed much happier.
She did not comment on it.
【By the way, Host. This rescue mission was classified as an emergency mission, so there is a reward for completing it. The reward is one bottle of Quick-Acting Heart Relief Pills and one hundred yuan in cash.】 The system paused briefly before continuing.
Zhou Yu was genuinely pleased to hear there was a reward.
Before going into town today, she had only possessed thirty-five yuan in total. After spending more than sixteen yuan on supplies, she had been left with less than twenty yuan.
She had been worrying about how she was going to earn money in the future.
The system’s reward of one hundred yuan had arrived at exactly the right time.
After sitting quietly for a little longer and organizing her thoughts, Zhou Yu suddenly remembered lunch.
That little fellow Lu Cheng was probably still in the kitchen cooking rice.
She stood up and headed toward the kitchen.
“Is the rice ready yet?” Zhou Yu asked.
“Almost,” Lu Cheng replied after lifting the lid to take a look.
Smiling, Zhou Yu reached out and ruffled his hair.
“Then I’ll have to trouble you to keep watching the fire. I’ll make a dish or two.”
Lu Cheng nodded.
He did not say anything else. Instead, he quietly walked back behind the stove and resumed tending the fire.
Zhou Yu felt that Lu Cheng was a rather quiet child.
He rarely spoke, his personality was withdrawn, and he lacked the liveliness a four or five-year-old should have. It seemed she would need to spend time helping him open up in the future.
Still, there was no rush. This sort of thing could only be done gradually.
Fortunately, the child was only four or five years old. He probably had not spent that long with the original host from the novel, so it should still be possible to guide him back onto the right path.
As she thought about these things, Zhou Yu chopped some vegetables, a few green peppers, and finally some pork into thin strips.
She planned to make a plate of stir-fried green peppers with shredded pork, along with a pot of vegetable and egg-drop soup.
Although Zhou Yu had never really cooked in her previous life, her mother had been an excellent cook. Zhou Yu occasionally helped out in the kitchen, so she vaguely remembered how to prepare a few dishes.
The problem was that she was currently struggling to remember exactly how stir-fried green peppers with shredded pork was supposed to be made.
Pork was still fairly expensive in this era.
Although she had just received the system’s reward of one hundred yuan, she had no idea when her next mission would come or when she would have another opportunity to earn money. It was better to be frugal.
As a result, she had only cut up half the pork she had purchased, saving the remaining half for tomorrow.
【Host, the system doesn’t only contain medical resources. It also contains many other kinds of reference materials and documents.】
【Would the host like me to play an instructional video on cooking stir-fried green peppers with shredded pork?】
Just as Zhou Yu was agonizing over the matter, the system’s voice sounded in her mind.
The system could do that too?
The corners of Zhou Yu’s lips curved upward.
‘Sure,’ she replied mentally.
With the help of the cooking tutorial video and Lu Cheng tending the fire, Zhou Yu quickly finished the stir-fried green peppers with shredded pork and the vegetable egg-drop soup.
The entire cooking process went surprisingly smoothly.
“Cheng’er, go wash your hands and come eat,” Zhou Yu called out as she filled bowls with rice and served the dishes.
It had been a very long time since Lu Cheng had eaten meat or eggs.
He was craving them so badly that he did not even notice the change in the way Zhou Yu addressed him.
At that moment, all of his attention had been completely captured by the aroma of the food.
Lu Cheng quickly washed his hands and returned.
In the past, he would never have dared imagine being allowed to eat meat.
But considering how much his stepmother’s attitude toward him had improved over the past two days, he secretly hoped she might give him a few strips of pork.
When Lu Cheng returned, Zhou Yu handed him a bowl of white rice.
“What are you standing there for? Hurry up and eat.”
Taking the bowl, Lu Cheng began eating.
However, he did not dare reach out with his chopsticks to pick up any of the dishes.
Even so, his eyes kept drifting toward the plate of stir-fried green peppers with shredded pork.
Zhou Yu knew that Lu Cheng was still somewhat afraid of her.
She did not say anything. Instead, she picked up several generous portions of shredded pork with her chopsticks and placed them into his bowl.
Under Lu Cheng’s astonished gaze, Zhou Yu said, “Help yourself to the dishes.”
Lu Cheng could not understand the change in his stepmother.
No matter how much he thought about it, he could not figure out why she had suddenly become different.
All he hoped for now was that his stepmother would remain this gentle forever. That she would give him food to eat. And that she would never hit him again.
References[+]