CHAPTER 36: CHAPTER 36: MIDNIGHT HEALING

EDITOR: ENDLESSFANTASY TRANSLATION

Because Lin Mengli worked as a waiter in the town’s tavern, he was considered one of the better-off families in the Lin Clan (though the Clan Leader thought he was not pursuing a proper profession and wasn’t fond of him). The house in the courtyard was built with oyster shells and stones, making it very wind-resistant.

Lin Wanwan took off her raincoat under the eaves at the door. Her shoes were soaked from the wind and rain; there was nothing she could do because the raincoat’s ability to shield from rain was limited. In such stormy weather, only modern raincoats, pants, and shoes could effectively keep one dry.

After entering the house, Lin Wanwan took out a towel to wipe her head and face to prevent bringing too much moisture into the inner room.

Inside the inner room, a faint oil lamp was lit, and Lin Mengli’s elderly mother, Mistress Shen, was sitting by the bed, taking care of the child.

The smell in the room was awfully unpleasant, with a mix of excrement and vomit; there was no way it could smell good.

Lin Wanwan pretended to feel the little one’s pulse at the wrist, but she was actually just observing his condition.

Lin Mengli’s son was five years old this year, a relatively frail and timid child. His formal clan name had not yet been given; his common nickname was Gou Dan (Dog Egg).

At this moment, he was lying in bed drenched in sweat from a fever, wrapped in thick blankets, with lips chapped and cracked, looking truly pitiful.

Madam Chen and mother-in-law Mistress Shen both stared at Lin Wanwan, their hearts filled with anxiety.

"Wanma, do you think the child can be saved in this state? He was convulsing uncontrollably just now, and now he’s not moving at all. Oh, my dear grandson! It pains me so much!" When Lin Wanwan first entered, Mistress Shen wanted to kneel before her, but Hua Nong stepped forward to hold her back.

Lin Wanwan touched Gou Dan’s forehead; it was burning hot, probably over thirty-nine degrees. She immediately avoided the others’ gazes, opened the medical kit in a shaded area, and took out the ear thermometer. She shielded their view with her wide sleeves and measured Gou Dan’s temperature. As expected, it was 39.7 degrees!

Lin Wanwan put away the ear thermometer and took out a small cup of ibuprofen suspension from the medical kit that was already prepared. She lifted the blanket, picked up the little one’s head, and fed it to his lips, softly whispering, "Gou Dan, open your mouth. I’ll give you medicine. It’ll feel better once you take it, be good."

In a daze, Lin Gou Sheng opened his eyes, glanced at Lin Wanwan, and swallowed the medicine. This kind of children’s fever medicine had a bit of a sweet sugar cane flavor, and the little guy didn’t resist it at all.

After giving the fever medicine, Lin Wanwan directed Mistress Shen to clean up the filth in the room and instructed Hua Nong to prepare a basin of warm water with the hot water she brought and asked Madam Chen to undress Gou Dan for physical cooling by wiping his body.

Mistress Shen and Madam Chen were very hesitant upon hearing this. Mistress Shen, holding a broom, asked, "Wanma, the child fell ill because of the cold. Why take off his clothes instead of wrapping him well in blankets?"

Lin Wanwan couldn’t give them a lesson in common sense and instead firmly ordered, "Aunt, if you trust my medical skills, listen to me. If you don’t, go to town to find someone else more skilled, and I’ll leave immediately."

Mistress Shen panicked and quickly said, "Trust, trust! Child, quickly wipe my grandson’s body, quickly wipe! Listen to Wanma!"

After Madam Chen had wiped Lin Gou Dan’s body several times, Lin Wanwan took out some oral rehydration salts, poured them into a small porcelain cup kept in her medical kit, mixed it with cooled warm water, and then fed the little one with rehydration salts, followed by Montmorillonite powder after a while.

Once all the medicine that could be given had been administered, Lin Wanwan felt she was temporarily of no further use. She said to Madam Chen, "After giving Gou Dan the medicine, once the medicine takes effect, his fever should subside, but it could recur. Please monitor his condition.

If he vomits and has diarrhea severely, come call me in the morning, and I’ll administer another dose. You might not be able to handle the dosage properly, so I won’t leave the medicine here."

Mistress Shen and Madam Chen hurriedly escorted her out, anxiously asking, "Wanma, Gou Dan’s illness is severe. Do you think we should notify his father to come back..."

Lin Wanwan herself wasn’t very confident, so she said, "Let’s observe first. If the fever doesn’t subside by tomorrow morning, then it’s serious. When you call Brother Mengli from town, also invite a village doctor."

Hearing this, Mistress Shen and Madam Chen were both alarmed but helpless. They could only watch Lin Wanwan put on her raincoat, take her medical kit, and leave with Maid Hua Nong.

"Oh, Dragon King, please bless my grandson and keep him safe!" Mistress Shen knelt outside in the wind and rain, pleading.

Meanwhile, Madam Chen returned to the room and followed Lin Wanwan’s instructions, continuing to wipe Gou Dan’s body for cooling. She could only do such things, as their family was small in number. Over the years, they couldn’t keep their younger son healthy, leaving only this one single seedling.

That night, Lin Mengli’s wife, mother, and younger brother did not sleep well, nor did the "barefoot doctor" Lin Wanwan, who was forced to take charge.

The ancient medical conditions were too poor, and she was genuinely worried about Gou Dan’s condition.

She believed that if the fever medicine she brought from modern times couldn’t lower Gou Dan’s temperature, then the situation was indeed very serious. She didn’t trust that the ancient doctors of the Great Tang had any better methods.

After traveling back in time to the Great Tang, Lin Wanwan had supplemented a lot of knowledge about its history. In terms of medicine, even the Imperial Physicians of the Palace Medical Bureau and the Pharmacy Bureau were not necessarily very skilled.

At least, things like casting charms, driving away evil with chickens, and spirit dancing to expel ghosts were all openly present in the Great Tang’s medical community.

Perhaps someone like Sun Simiao, an old sage, truly had skills and real medical knowledge, but the skills of ordinary village doctors were likely questionable at best.

She asked Madam Chen to invite a village doctor from town only as a last resort, hoping for the best effort, lest there be regret.

Unable to sleep, Lin Wanwan rummaged through the locked cabinet and took out the "Barefoot Doctor Manual" and "Child Raising Encyclopedia" to browse. She now felt particularly like a community doctor in the United States, looking up medical books before treating patients.

It wasn’t until dawn that Lin Wanwan finally put away the books and lay down to sleep for a while.

Fortunately, the next morning, Lin Mengli’s younger brother, the fifteen-year-old Lin Mengzhou, brought good news: Lin Gou Dan’s high fever had subsided and the diarrhea had stopped.

The medicine from thousands of years later was still quite effective for people from a millennium earlier. After all, they didn’t have much drug resistance in their bodies.

This put Lin Wanwan at ease.

She took her medical kit and went to check on Lin Gou Dan again, giving him another dose of Montmorillonite powder and oral rehydration salts, and sending over some fruits. She instructed Madam Chen, "For the next few days, let him eat lightly and eat more fruits and vegetables. If the fever rises again, come call me. If there’s no fever, vomiting, or diarrhea, there should be no major issues."

"Thank you, Wanma, we’re so lucky to have you here! Wanma, you’re truly a benefactor to our family! We were so scared last night, thank goodness you were here!" Madam Chen and Mistress Shen couldn’t stop expressing their gratitude, feeling overwhelmingly grateful and relieved.

Lin Wanwan’s medical skills had an immediate effect; to them, it seemed like a miraculous technique.