Zuo Liangliang was a skinny, forty-six-year-old man.
He was wearing a brand new, bluish-black padded coat and a pair of shiny leather shoes.
Yet, looking at his outstretched hands, they were covered with dry, cracked marks. Especially when he smiled, revealing a mouth full of yellowish-black teeth, you would hardly believe he was a doctor.
In every village brigade, a room would be set aside for the village doctors to run a clinic.
Mubangou was no exception; the clinic was in the yard of the village brigade.
"Welcome, Doctor Du and Dr. Wu." When Wu Buwei and Du Heng got out of the car, Zuo Liangliang enthusiastically reached out his hand to greet them.
Du Heng quickly shook Zuo Liangliang's hand, politely saying, "Mr. Zuo, don't be so formal with us. We're old acquaintances; there's no need to be so polite."
This was not just Du Heng making small talk; they really were quite familiar with each other.
Village doctors had to visit the Health Clinic from time to time.
Whether it was to get paid, for training, or to seek help, they had all met before and knew of each other.
Having worked for five years, Du Heng was quite familiar with them.
After exchanging pleasantries upon entering the clinic, Zuo Liangliang brought out a booklet.
"This is the booklet I prepared after last year's meeting, Doctor Du. Please take a look and let me know if there are any corrections to be made."
"Mr. Zuo, you've been really thorough with this. It has saved me a lot of trouble."
Zuo Liangliang chuckled. "Do you have any other tasks for this visit?"
Du Heng handed the booklet to Wu Buwei and turned to chat with Zuo Liangliang. "We have two objectives for this visit, Mr. Zuo. The first is to complete the health profiles for the entire village. Our superiors require that profiling for the entire district be completed by June. I've reviewed your work; it's comprehensive, including family members, health status, and medical history. Therefore, I don't need to do anything redundant."
Being praised once again, Zuo Liangliang couldn't help but feel a little satisfied. "It's the least I can do. After all, I am serving the people in the village."
"The second objective is to provide medical services to the doorsteps of the villagers, helping with any issues within our ability. We require Mr. Zuo's support for this."
After Du Heng finished speaking, Zuo Liangliang slapped his thigh and responded, "Great! That's a good thing. You wouldn't know, my skills are limited. A lot of the time, I'm not sure about the diagnosis and am hesitant to prescribe medicine. Most people in the village are elderly. Worrying about causing inconvenience to their children, they are reluctant to spend money and normally just try to bear with their conditions. But as time passes, mild illnesses become serious, and minor diseases become severe. Many have even developed complications. It troubles me."
Du Heng was left speechless by these words.
Luckily, Zuo Liangliang continued, "Such a wonderful thing, I will definitely support it. Just tell me what you need. As long as I can do it, I won't hesitate."
Du Heng glanced at the clinic, then at the Chinese medicine cabinet, which had yellowed and started peeling. "Mr. Zuo, are the Chinese herbal medicines in here still usable?"
"They're usable. They're very well preserved. Come and see for yourself if you don't believe me."
"Let me check."
This was not Du Heng being disrespectful. When dealing with people's health and medicine, one couldn't afford to be complacent.
If Chinese herbal medicine wasn't stored properly and had become damp or spoiled, its medicinal properties would be entirely different, and consuming it could be fatal.
He carefully checked each drawer, especially the ones near the floor.
However, just as Zuo Liangliang had said, the medicine ingredients were well-preserved, and nothing seemed amiss.
After the check-up, Zuo Liangliang said with a smile, "I'm always very careful with them."
"The medicine ingredients are all in good condition. Mr. Zuo, we didn't bring much medicine this time, so after I diagnose the patients, I might have to trouble you with preparing the medicine."
At these words, Zuo Liangliang's eyes lit up.
It was obvious that Du Heng was offering him a share of the work.
"Of course, of course," Zuo Liangliang responded modestly, then asked with a slight hesitation, "Are you going to charge for the treatments this time?"
Du Heng chuckled. "No charge. When we left, the Health Clinic provided subsidies. Home medical visits, diagnosis, and treatment are free. Patients only need to pay a little for the medication."
"That's good." Zuo Liangliang sighed in relief.
If money were involved, they likely wouldn't have been greeted so warmly. "In that case, you two can rest here for a while. I'll go find the brigade secretary and ask him to make an announcement over the radio. We can start treating patients here tomorrow morning. How does that sound?"
Du Heng contemplated for a moment. He figured that since they were providing home visits, they should show sincerity by carrying the medicine box to the villagers' homes themselves.
Moreover, making the elderly come to them would make him seem arrogant, which wouldn't be good.
"Mr. Zuo, there's no need. Let's just go directly to their homes to save the elderly a trip."
Zuo Liangliang looked a bit troubled, but since Du Heng was in charge of the treatment, he had no choice but to go along with it.
"Okay, let's follow your plan. Let's go to my place first, have some food, and then maybe a little drink before we start tomorrow."
"Mr. Zuo, let's start right now. We have the entire township to cover, so we're a bit pressed for time. But I'll still need to trouble you, Mr. Zuo. If you could just find me a place to have a meal, that would be great."
"There's no need to search. You can have your meals at my home during your visit, and you can stay at my place in the evenings."
"That would be too much trouble, Mr. Zuo. We don't need to stay the night; we drove here, so we'll go back in the evening." Saying so, he picked up his medicine box, which he was carrying for the first time. "Mr. Zuo, let's get going now."
Zuo Liangliang swung his arm back and readily said, "Let's go."
"This household consists only of an elderly couple. The man's name is Zuo Shucai; he's 75. He suddenly suffered hemiplegia in the second half of last year, paralyzing his left arm and leg. He took medicine a few times, but it was too expensive, so he stopped. The woman's name is Yang Ying; she's 70. She doesn't have any major ailments, just the 'three highs' (high blood pressure, high blood glucose, and high blood lipids). The medicine was also too expensive for her, so she stopped taking it a long time ago and occasionally feels a bit dizzy."
Zuo Liangliang introduced them as he led the way, speaking without any hesitation. "These two are my uncle and aunt. They have two children, a son and a daughter. My cousin (female) married far away and only comes home once every two or three years, so we can't rely on her. My cousin (male) also has his difficulties. With two elderly parents needing medicine and two children requiring school fees, he had to leave to work in the city quite early."
As they spoke, the three of them entered a small courtyard.
"Uncle, Aunt, are you home?" As soon as he entered the yard, Zuo Liangliang raised his voice.
Seeing an old lady with a sullen face lift the door curtain, Zuo Liangliang quickly said, "Auntie is at home. These two are doctors from the Health Clinic; they've come to provide medical treatment at your home."
Then he gestured for Du Heng and Wu Buwei to step forward.
However, the old lady just looked at them without saying a word.
Noticing the old lady's expression, Zuo Liangliang quickly added, "Don't worry, the treatment is free."
"Quick, quick, come in."
Du Heng smiled faintly. Well, that's pragmatic. As soon as she heard it was free, a smile appeared on her face, and she invited them into the house.
The room was very clean, if a bit cold. The old man was lying on the bed, covered with thick quilts.
"Oh, you didn't say you were coming. I haven't lit the fire, so it's too cold in this room."
The old lady kept saying it was cold, but she didn't move to do anything about it.