A Western Doctor’s Happy Farming Life[1] 155

Qingyin Village, kind of a name which revealed the peace and harmony.

At the entrance of the village there grew a huge tree which only could be measured by more than ten men hand-in-hand surrounded in a circle. The crown of the tree hung in the air just like a piece of green cloud, guarding quietly this tiny village.

Song Qinghan got out of the carriage while his eyes turned into the ones of coldness, and then he reached out to take over the bag from Yuan Wenxuan, whispering, “It’s your day today, alright?”

Even though Yuan Wenxuan had practiced himself in his mind conceiving of the scenario he would encounter and tried his best to calm down, he was still a bit nervous. After taking a few deep breaths, he nodded, answering, “Alright, let’s go in.”

Luo Haiyun was infected by the serious attitude of the two of them. He followed them silently while sizing up the surrounding environment himself.

They walked straight into the nearest house where a cold coffin was placed in the middle of the yard. The sun was scorching while it spread its sunlight onto the ground of the village everywhere, waves of putrid smell attacked three of them from all directions.

Yuan Wenxuan paused and realized that the person who lay in the coffin should be the one who died from the cold. He raised his head and took a glance inside, and then walked into the main room directly to greet the resident who was sobbing there.

“Uncle, we’re doctors from Huichun Shop, could you take your hand out and let me take the pulse?”

The crying man who was interrupted by the sudden inquiry wiped his face and scanned Yuan Wenxuan with his pair of swollen eyes. He sighed deeply when he found that all of the doctors were indeed a group of young people, but he still stretched his hand out obediently, and then he answered in a weak tone, “Does Huichun Shop become so snobbish now? You don’t even send us some sophisticated doctors now because we don’t have money? Alas, never mind, forgive me for saying that, I just, I just encountered so many things recently, my mind might be a bit messy now…”

Yuan Wenxuan was not affected by his dejected words. He frowned and took the man’s pulse seriously.

Seeing that Song Qinghan really didn’t intend to step in, Luo Haiyun thought for a moment and took the initiative to walk forward and ask about the man’s situation.

“Brother, do you still remember who was the first one got the disease in the very beginning? And how long have you been ill? Does there still exist someone who wasn’t infected?”

The reason why he asked the last question was because he was inspired by the small pox incident. That wasn’t a redundant question at all because no one at present knew whether the healthy ones would play the key role for this outbreak.

The man pondered for a moment, and then he answered weakly, “The first one… I remember that it is Old Chen who lives in the village end, and his son got the similar symptom in the ensuing course, and then it was the school, and finally the whole village was conquered. As for those who didn’t get ill, there indeed has some but rare… They had already escaped from this village and left.”

“As for me, I am not sure if it was my luck to get this disease so late or not. If I didn’t come back from the outside as soon as I heard the news, I wouldn’t get ill like now.”

Luo Haiyun nodded thoughtfully and continued to ask, “Excuse me, do you mind me asking whether the one who was placed in the coffin there died out of the disease?”

The man turned his sight outward. Just as he caught the sight of the coffin, he started to sob again while the tears were lingering around his eyes.

But since he got outsiders here today, he didn’t make that emotion out of control, and then he answered with a quiet face, “Yes, that’s my father. He got the disease earlier than me. I wouldn’t come back that hurriedly if he was still healthy. But I was still too late, he couldn’t even utter when I came back from outside and met him, and he could only stared at me with concerns without words. I know, I know he tried his best to persuade me to leave here quickly. But how cruel would I be to leave my biological father struggling here alone and die with no peace?”

“So, I chose to stay and take care of him for his last few days. He finally couldn’t make it and left me this morning. I’m sorry if I offended you just then when you came in.”

He did not portray the whole matter in an emphasizing tone, yet what he said did arise the deepest emotion from the bottom of his heart. Yuan Wenxuan paused the pulse-taking action as if his father Yuan Boshu popped up right in his mind, he turned his head to Song Qinghan and said, “Master, the pulse is the same one as the cold.”

After that, he turned to Luo Haiyun and uttered respectfully, “Would you please give me some advise, Doctor Luo. I’m afraid that I can’t make a precise diagnosis myself.”

Luo Haiyun nodded and sat down, secretly praising over the child in his mind.

Practical and with serious attitude at the same time. Nothing was more important than that!

However, Luo Haiyun’s final conclusion towards the pulse bore the resemblance with the one of Yuan Wenxuan. So Luo Haiyun couldn’t help taking a glance at Song Qinghan after he got up from the seat, seemingly intending to inquire for his opinion.

Song Qinghan didn’t say anything but just fixed his eyes on Yuan Wenxuan, seemingly waiting for his answer.

Noticing that all the three adults at the scene were fixing their eyes on him, Yuan Wenxuan felt a bit nervous himself, and then he coughed slightly, and uttered, “We can’t make a precise conclusion just from a single case, let’s move on to the next family.”

After that, he made a bow with both his hands folded in front to that man and left directly.

Yuan Wenxuan’s attitude was not only just serious, but the seriousness seemed also to be rather hyper-active. He did check all the families from the beginning of the village till the end. He took the pulse of every patient who got the similar symptom and inquired of some questions to them. The sun had already hung high up in the sky after he succeeded checking out every resident, and at the same time they were all coated with a layer of sweat.

After checking the last patient, Yuan Wenxuan looked a little embarrassed and said with a slightly red face, “People in the village have similar symptoms. It is indeed just a common symptom of a cold. However, if they don’t lie, and they took medicine on time and pay attention to keep warm. Then it might be something else causing the outbreak, something we just fail to find out now.”

Song Qinghan nodded. Seeing that Yuan Wenxuan’s lips were parching, he finally showed his first smile ever since they arrived here. He shook his head and said, “Let’s find a place to have lunch first. At least we should drink some water. Remember, we’re here to try to dispel the disease, not to be caught by it.”

After that, both Yuan Wenxuan and Luo Haiyun finally loosened their shoulders with a look at ease.

The three of them found a small village next to them and delivered some coins to the farmers. After they helped prepare the food, they finally were served with the first meal here.

Because they came here in a hurry, the family did not prepare any meat. They only cut a few pieces of dried meat which were long stored since the passed winter, and fried them with pickled vegetables, serving with a few dishes of fresh wild vegetables.

Well, that was a delicacy for them already.

After Luo Haiyun finished the three bowls of rice, he praised thoughtfully, “I’m used to eating the table delicacies from land and sea and now I finally find that a simple diet is the best.”

Song Qinghan didn’t say anything, but Yuan Wenxuan whispered, “If you treat yourself with this kind of simple diet every day, probably you will think the other way.”

Luo Haiyun was stunned but then burst into laughter. He nodded, “Indeed.”

He then took out several silver coins again as if he was inspired by Yuan Wenxuan’s words, and summoned the farmer over again, handed over the coins, and complimented, “The dishes are quite divine and well-served. If we don’t get any result from the investigation today, probably we will have to come over here for the meals in the following days, we hope you can prepare for us.”

If someone says that he doesn’t love money, he must be talking a great lie. Noticing the coins in Luo Haiyun’s hand, the farmer got his eyes lit up all of a sudden, and took them over excitedly, and then he smiled and said, “Thank you, Noble. By the way, Nobles, do you mind me asking what you investigate here in this place? Probably I can lend a hand for that?”

This was not a secret at all, so Luo Haiyun turned his gaze to the direction of the Qingyin Village and sighed, “Of course we’re investigating the outbreak of the disease wreaking a havoc in the Qingyin Village. It’s so strange that it seems to be a normal symptom from a normal cold, but it’s just difficult for them to be cured. Even worse, some people died from it… It’s so weird, so probably it will take some times for us to figure it out.”

After hearing Luo Haiyun’s words, the farmer’s expression became stranger. Looking around in a meticulous way, he bent over and whispered to Luo Haiyun, “I’m not sure if it’s suitable to say or not, but…”

Luo Haiyun echoed, “Say it.”

There was a flash of hesitation in the eyes of the farmer, but he still made up his mind and continued to say, “As for the disease for the Qingyin Village, it’s actually their karma! They offended the Buddha, so they are being punished by the celestial beings right now!”

Luo Haiyun laughed, shook his head and said confidently, “Don’t talk nonsense about the celestial beings thing. Well, I mean, if the celestial beings really get the power to drop a crime on human beings, how come they refuse to make our dreams come true? Or should they mean to make those homeless people with innate kindness suffer from the hunger and misfortune?”

As soon as he said so, the farmer’s expression suddenly became rather awkward. It seemed that he did not expect that his kind notice would be teased like that.

Just as the farmer was about to leave, Song Qinghan suddenly asked in his calmness, “What else do you know? What do you mean that they were punished by the celestial beings? What did they do?”

The farmer paused, turned to take a glance at Song Qinghan, just as he found out that Song Qinghan was a femina man, he dithered without knowing whether he should listen to Luo Haiyun or Song Qinghan.

Although Luo Haiyun was stunned when Song Qinghan suddenly asked, he still decisively said, “Tell us the truth! If what you say makes sense, you will get another reward.”

After that, he took out a big ingot from his sleeve and placed it on the table while making a sound. The farmer’s sight was totally attracted by the ingot without moving off.

Well, “Taking the coins properly” without making a crime was totally feasible. So the farmer became rather serious as he withdrew any other redundant expressions on face. He pondered solemnly, seemingly marshaling his thoughts.

“About one year ago, someone in the Qingyin Village got an inspiration one day and he commenced raising a large scale of wild chicken, and gave up cultivating his land. He gathered all his family members and concentrated on cultivating those chirping chicken. It seemed that they found it was a profitable way to make more coins, so in the end the whole village imitated the family’s method and started to raise chicken as well. Well, you should know that they were blessed at the very beginning because they got the best and most fertile fields there. Shouldn’t they be punished by those celestial beings since they wasted that kind of source?”

Yuan Wenxuan was the first to ask, it was the question Song Qinghan would love to ask either.

“But when we went over there, we found that there were still people planting their fields. They will be harvesting in a while.”

The farmer waved his hand, seemingly letting go, and said disdainfully, “That was when they saw the have good prospects of gain later on, so they rent all the fields out. However, this good land has been abandoned for so long. It will be difficult to return to how it used to be!”

Song Qinghan nodded and asked calmly, “Anything else we should know?”

When the farmer noticed that this group of people were not excited at all, the enthusiasm in his mind was extinguished suddenly, so he answered disappointedly, “Nothing more, oh, by the way, the time when they concentrated on rising their chickens, their chickens clucked without stopping like they were a drove of soul-stealers. We residents here were all annoyed by that sound and made lots of proposals to them, but they never gave us a response to that.”

“From that time onwards, we knew that something would happen to them sooner or later. See? We don’t even have to resort to any strategies, and they are being punished by the celestial beings.”