CHAPTER 56: CHAPTER 56: BITTERNESS ENDS, SWEETNESS BEGINS

Forget it, this wretched world really makes one lose love.

Don’t believe it if you don’t want to, he doesn’t care for their beliefs.

Anyway, time will reveal one’s true nature, he firmly believes that his character will be recognized.

Thinking of this, he changed the subject, "Since we’re idle, how about we go gather some firewood?"

Bai Chen and the others agreed.

Then, a few of them returned to the Youth Corps Courtyard to get ropes, axes, and other equipment to gather firewood.

Yi Chichi and the others were completely unaware, continuing with their tasks as usual.

Yu Qingqing, who was becoming increasingly agitated with embroidery, put down her work.

"I can’t find the pattern in this thing."

"??? The pattern is actually pretty easy to find."

Yi Chichi had a different opinion, "You just need to follow the reference material."

"I can’t use it as a reference."

She knit her brows in pain, "It’s a feeling I can’t describe. It’s like I know how to make the stitch, but something always goes wrong, and it’s really frustrating."

Saying this, she looked at Yi Chichi as if she had seen her savior, "Chichi, do you have any way to help me change this flaw?"

Yi Chichi thought for a moment, "I don’t have any good methods either; in your case, you probably just need to practice more."

But in her judgment, she feared that practice might not have much effect.

Compared to Liu Lan’s sense of spatial awareness, depth, and sensitivity to colors, Yu Qingqing’s thresholds were too low in all aspects.

Her lower thresholds didn’t even have a bottom.

So, the color coordination of the insoles she embroidered didn’t match, there was no form, and any sense of spirit was just legendary.

"Can you improve with practice?"

"... I don’t know."

Not wanting to lie, Yi Chichi said sincerely, "At least you can learn a type of needlework."

This almost made Yu Qingqing faint with anger, but she couldn’t argue.

Alas, it’s not Yi Chichi’s fault for telling the truth; it’s primarily her own shortcomings.

Thinking of this, she looked at Liu Lan, earnestly saying, "Lanlan, the reputation of our Kao Shan Village depends on you, work hard, and make sure to diligently practice!"

This sudden burst of enthusiasm left Liu Lan both amused and helpless, "Okay, I’ll work hard."

Having received this assurance, Yu Qingqing was satisfied, vacating her seat and handing the cotton cloth and needle and thread to Liu Lan, "You practice, I’ll go back to my own work."

Then, the scene in the clinic became a group of women sitting together sewing soles and embroidering shoe insoles while Yi Chichi, having had her fill, was teaching Liu Lan and the others needlework.

The reason ’others’ was included was that after Wang Nan and the others learned that the flowers on the cotton cloth were embroidered by Yi Chichi, they also wanted to learn embroidery techniques.

As the saying goes, the more lice there are, the less concerned one is about bites; the more debts there are, the less worried one is. Yi Chichi was in such a state now.

Teaching one person needlework is teaching, and teaching a group is still teaching; it makes no difference to her.

So, teach she did.

Not only did she teach, but she also drew detailed diagrams for them.

She explained the features of chaotic needle embroidery, the differences between large and small cross stitches, the requirements for angles, and so on.

Everyone listened attentively; as for how much they could remember and learn, it depended on themselves.

Thus, Yi Chichi’s daily routine became returning to the Youth Corps Courtyard in the evening and spending the daytime with Liu Lan and the others at the clinic.

Wen Shi was a man of action; after Wen’s mother’s symptoms eased, he went to the village head to get a certificate and took Wen’s mother to the county with He Yunsong.

Before leaving, he brought Wen’s mother to say goodbye and express gratitude.

Yi Chichi, "??? Why thank me? You paid the money."

Though the money didn’t go into her pocket, it went to the clinic, contributing to the Kao Shan Village brigade’s income.

By next year, when work points and wages are calculated, she would have her share.

This statement silenced the Wen family and He Yunsong because paying the money meant they didn’t need to thank her. Was there something wrong with this logic?

No.

But it still felt off somehow.

"Anyhow, thank you!"

After struggling for a while, Wen Shi squeezed out a word of thanks.

Yi Chichi’s response was to wave her hand, "Hurry up and go to the hospital, or the road will get difficult once it starts snowing."

The weather wasn’t good, with an overcast sky that seemed to threaten more snow.

The temperature felt very low.

Standing at the door of the clinic where the fire wall was burning, she still felt cold, and couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to walk on the deserted country road.

Wen Shi acknowledged her and left with Wen’s mother and He Yunsong.

Aunt Ma and the others watched the trio’s departing figures and couldn’t help but sigh, "Shufen has finally seen better days after all the hardships."

Wang Nan, holding a needle and poking at an insole, curiously asked, "Did Aunt Wen have a tough life before?"

"Yes!"

They spoke in unison but didn’t elaborate on how tough it was.

Yi Chichi knew but refrained from discussing personal privacy topics, so she didn’t join in on the conversation.

Suddenly—

"Xiao Yi, get me some pills."

The one who came was Ma Yong, an old resident of Kao Shan Village. It was said he used to be a mountain man, with a very solitary nature, making him a natural leader.

He was also a man who had suffered a hard life, looking seventy or eighty even though he wasn’t yet fifty. His wife and child were said to have had an accident which broke him.

Yi Chichi wasn’t familiar with him, having only seen him a few times, but seeing his anxious expression and hearing his request for medicine, she stood up, "Uncle, where are you feeling unwell?"

"It’s not me, it’s the pigs at the farm; they’re having diarrhea."

Aunt Ma and the others jumped up, "There’s a problem with the pigs?"

"Yes."

Ma Yong’s expression was full of anxiety, "I found out early this morning; some of them were already so weak they could barely stand, and we couldn’t keep up with cleaning up the pig manure."

Saying this, he urged again, "Yi Qing, quickly get me some medicine."

Yi Chichi found herself powerless to help, opening the medicine cabinet to show him, "Uncle, it’s not that I don’t want to give you medicine, there’s none to give,"

Why do barefoot doctors appear? Why is a small plot of land allocated to each production brigade’s barefoot doctor to grow medicinal herbs?

The root cause is the poor state of medical care today, with not only a shortage of Western medicine but also a despairing lack of self-produced capacity.

Amoxicillin, well known to people of later generations, began trial production in China in 1976, with formal production in 1979.

While tetracycline and gentamycin were domestically produced, their output couldn’t meet demand.

The clinic often lacked medicine; even when a report was made to apply for some, they had to wait for supplies from the commune or county pharmacies.

Thus, production brigade’s barefoot doctors mostly rely on a combination of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine for treatment.

When Western medicine is available, it is prescribed, and in its absence, they rely on Chinese herbal medicine.

However, Yi Chichi had never studied veterinary medicine, so she couldn’t do anything about the pigs’ diarrhea but urged, "Uncle, you’d better hurry to the commune to find a veterinarian."

"Yes, find a veterinarian."

Aunt Ma and the others were urgently urging; the production team’s pigs were not theirs personally but collectively owned.

Before the New Year, they had to turn over half; without pigs, the title of excellent production team would slip away.

"Come on, follow me home to get the cart, riding a bike is faster, we’ll watch the pigs first."

"Yes, we’ll watch them."

Then, Ma Yong rode the secretary’s bike to the commune to find a veterinarian.

Aunt Ma and the others, along with the notified team leader and secretary, went to the pig pen to check on the pigs. Yi Chichi, knowing acupuncture, was brought along by Aunt Ma and the others under the principle of "a dead horse as if it were a living horse," hoping for a miracle.