A doctor who travels through two eras

When Bi Xinglong returned to his office, there was a letter on his desk.

The letter was sent from Shaoyang, Hunan Province. The sender was Feng Ruoqi, a fellow townsman and classmate of Bi Xinglong.

The two went to school together in their hometown in Hunan Province, went to study abroad at the Medical School of Cambridge University in the United States together, responded to the call to return to China together in the early days of liberation, and entered the Union Hospital together.

So the relationship between the two is just like that of half-brothers.

During last year's staff reduction, Bi Xinglong from the Department of Respiratory Medicine of Union Hospital was selected by Lin Sanqi and retained by the Changping Branch.

Because Feng Ruoqi was a surgeon, he was unfortunately included in the diversion list, and his whole family returned to their hometown in Shaoyang.

Bi Xinglong opened the envelope, spread out the letter, and tears began to fall as he read:
"Brother Xinglong, I have received the food coupons and money you sent back. I am so lucky to have a good brother like you, otherwise I don't know how I would have lived on.

After returning to my hometown, my original house and land had all been distributed to the villagers. My parents and brothers had all passed away, leaving me alone in the family. My hometown was still the same hometown, but my home was no longer the same home.

I now live in the charity cemetery at the east end of the village, which is where the coffins were originally placed.

The charity house was in a very bad condition, with only half of the roof left. I had to use straw to cover half of the house. It was fine on sunny days, but on rainy days the whole house was wet, and all the books I brought back home were soaked and could not be saved.

After returning to the village, the villagers asked me and my wife to work in the fields. Unfortunately, I only knew how to read and see doctors, so how could I work in the fields? So I asked if I could be a teacher or an accountant, but the village chief laughed at me for being a toad wanting to eat swan meat.

Now I work in the fields, and the villagers despise me for not having enough physical strength. Other men earn 10 points a day, but I only earn 6 points, which means that our family never has enough food. When I went to the countryside, I weighed 160 kilograms, but now I only weigh 110 kilograms.

My little daughter happened to be sick. A minor cold turned into pneumonia. Unfortunately, I had all the medical skills but no medicine to cure her. I was ready to lose her, but then your letter arrived, and the money and food coupons also arrived.

So I am writing this letter to express my gratitude, and I am grateful that if we meet again, I will let my little princess worship you as her godfather. Haha. I really envy you for being able to stay in the capital and continue to be a doctor.

My life is over, completely over. If I had known this would happen, I would have stayed abroad as a doctor like Wang Shen and his friends. Sigh, I am so sorry for my wife and children..."

Bi Xinglong put down the letter and was speechless for a long time. Then he thought of President Lin’s instructions and instantly gained confidence. He took the pen and paper and started writing quickly.

"Brother Ruoqi, I received your reply. Knowing your current situation, I feel very sad and anxious. I know that the suffering you expressed in your letter is probably not even one-tenth of the suffering in reality.

Not only you, I'm also in touch with old colleagues such as Liu Wenyun, Fu Xiaoping, and Shang An.

We all came back from abroad to join Union Hospital together. Now you have all been sent back to your hometowns, and your lives have also fallen into great difficulties.

But Ruoqi, you have to live on, live bravely. I am writing this time to tell you a good news. Comrade Lin Sanqi, the vice president of our Chinese medicine hospital, knows your predicament and has decided to help you.

The food coupons and cash you received were not given by me, but by President Lin.

President Lin asked me to tell you that you are all the most elite medical talents in the country, the doctors most needed by the country, and each one of you is extremely valuable.

The tuberculosis treatment project currently being carried out at our Chinese medicine hospital has been successful. I believe that it won’t be long before our hospital’s tuberculosis department will be expanded, or even a separate infectious disease hospital will be established. At this time, a large number of medical staff will be needed to join.

Dean Lin's meaning is very clear. If Union Hospital does not recruit you, we welcome you to join us. If there is a chance, he will pull you out of your hometowns one by one, let you return to the capital, and put on your white coats again.

So Ruoqi, no matter how hard it is, you must hold on. The remittance slip of 100 yuan enclosed in the letter was also given by President Lin. President Lin treats us as a national hero, so we must also treat him as a national hero.

Come on, we'll see you in the capital, that day won't be too far away."

After Bi Xinglong finished writing the letter, he filled out the remittance form and prepared to go to the Changping Post and Telecommunications Bureau.

As soon as I walked out of the office, I saw Cai Chunhua, Yang Guang, Fu Jinsheng and others from next door coming over with some letters.

"Hey, Lao Cai, you went to send letters too? How was it? How many people did you contact?"

Cai Chunhua sighed: "I contacted six old colleagues. Their lives were miserable... Among them, Li Shujin is no longer alive. He jumped into the river out of frustration..."

"Ah! Li Shujin is gone? Oh my!"

Bi Xinglong, Cai Chunhua and Li Shujin were all formerly from Union Hospital. When they suddenly heard that an old colleague had committed suicide, they could hardly control their grief.

"Why is he so depressed? He's a PhD from Cornell Medical College, ah..."

Yang Guang and Fu Jinsheng were also upset after hearing this. They found it hard to understand the difficulties faced by doctors in rural areas. It was not only physical torture, but also a kind of spiritual despair with no hope. At the same time, they were lucky because they came from the Digital Hospital. Even if they were sent back to their hometown, the psychological quality of the soldiers was strong.

Yang Guang patted Cai Chunhua and Bi Xinglong on the shoulders:

"Don't be sad. Let's hurry up and complete the task assigned by Dean Lin. Send the letters and food coupons and cash to our old colleagues quickly to give them hope. Tell them to stay strong and live, waiting for the day when the organization calls them."

Cai Chunhua wiped away her tears:
"Old Yang is right. We have to hurry up. Have other colleagues written letters to contact old colleagues across the country?"

Fu Jinsheng raised the letter in his hand:

"Everyone has contacted all the old colleagues they can. Look, I'm about to go to the post office."

"Let's go, let's go together!"

"You said that if Dean Lin announced the good news, would the higher authorities think that our Chinese medicine hospital is crazy? Can tuberculosis be cured?"

"We have not committed academic fraud. If we can cure the disease, then we can cure it. Every piece of information we have is authentic, and every piece of data in our paper is well-documented."

"Dean Lin is truly a miracle man. I wonder where he got this miracle drug from..."

……

……

The next day, Lin Sanqi, holding a thick document, went to the Ministry of Health compound with President Shen and Vice President Ji.

In the minister's office, Director Li Dequan saw the three people come in and kept his eyes on Lin Sanqi.

"Hey, why did the timely rain from the Chinese Medicine Hospital come to the department on the fifth day of the first lunar month? Let me make it clear in advance, you can pay New Year's greetings, but we are in a new society now, and it is not customary to give gifts to leaders."

Lin Sanqi smiled and took out an iron box:

"I am now a soldier under Minister Li. Didn't Mr. Lu Shuren say that a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier? So I came here early after the Chinese New Year to flatter the leader and strive for an early promotion to replace our Dean Shen."

Dean Shen pretended to be angry: "Then I'll leave?"

Lin Sanqi quickly begged for mercy: "Dean, you are not leaving, you are being promoted to be the director of the department."

When Minister Li heard this, his face turned serious: "Then I'll leave?"

Then the old lady laughed out loud, and several people followed suit.

"Sit down, sit down, sit down. You three deans are here so early in the morning on New Year's Day. There must be something important going on, right? Tell me quickly."

Dean Shen personally placed a folder in front of Minister Li and said happily:

"Minister, we are here to report the good news to the organization. Our Capital Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine has officially conquered tuberculosis and has become the first hospital in the world that can cure tuberculosis. This is the supreme glory of our hospital of traditional Chinese medicine and our new China."

Minister Li was not as surprised as expected. Instead, he looked at the three people with some suspicion:

"I know you are doing research on tuberculosis, but it has only been seven months since you proposed the slogan until today? Maybe even less than seven months. Foreign countries have spent hundreds of years trying to conquer a disease, but you conquered it in such a short time?"

Li Dequan was not an ignorant woman. She graduated from a women's university and married General Feng Yuxiang after graduation. She visited various parts of the world.

Such a remarkable woman naturally knew what tuberculosis represented.

In her mind, if even developed Western countries cannot conquer a disease, how can we possibly conquer it in our country where there is almost no medical research environment?

Precisely because the old lady had such a "prejudiced" mentality, she was not very concerned about the tuberculosis research projects that the Chinese medicine hospital was doing, nor did she really believe that the Chinese medicine hospital would succeed.

He never even visited a traditional Chinese medicine hospital once.

In her mind, Chinese medicine hospitals must be just as boastful as other places, and it is simply a case of exaggeration sweeping across the health system. (End of this chapter)