Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1428 Li Ke (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)
The jeep drove out of the county hospital gate, its wheels crunching softly over the frost-covered dirt road. A few streetlights were still on along the roadside.

As we drove out of the county town, the sun rose in the east, its rays filtering through the hills and turning the eastern slopes golden. Only then did Fang Yan notice that the withered grass on the hillsides was still covered in frost; it was indeed cold in the mountains.

Not long after leaving the county town, the car started to shake.

"This road is not as good as the roads in the city, but they laid coal ash on it half a year ago, so it's much easier to walk on than before," He Yang said to Fang Yan.

“In the past, when we went to Jingsheng Town, it was all muddy on rainy days. If the car got stuck, it would take several people to push it. Now, at least we don’t have to worry about getting stuck.”

Fang Yan nodded and looked out the car window. The dirt road was about two zhang wide, with low earthen slopes on both sides. A few withered trees grew sparsely on the slopes, their branches bare, with only a few dry leaves hanging on them, swirling in the wind.

There were no crops in the fields on both sides of the road, only tilled ridges.

"Is that the Jingsheng River up ahead?" Fang Yan asked, pointing to the faintly visible reflection in the water.

“Yes!” the driver nodded. “After crossing another stone bridge, we will reach the Jingsheng River. The river is low in winter, and some places are frozen. In summer, the water is high, and you can see the villagers washing clothes and watering their fields by the river.”

As they spoke, the jeep drove across a stone arch bridge. The stones on the bridge surface were polished to a shine by the wheels, and the bridge railings still bore faint patterns carved in earlier years.

Sure enough, the Jingsheng River under the bridge was covered with a thin layer of ice, and the slowly flowing water could be seen beneath the ice. The reeds on the bank were withered and yellow, and were blown by the wind and stuck to the ice.

There wasn't even a trace of an animal; it was desolate.

“Look at those dark houses on the left, those are the workshops of the coal mine.” He Yang pointed to a row of low brick houses by the roadside. “Lingshi produces coal, and there are also several small coal mines around Jingsheng Town. Many villagers work here. This is the shift change time in the morning, and we may encounter coal trucks later.”

Not long after he finished speaking, several trucks loaded with coal came from ahead. The coal in the truck beds was shiny black, and the trucks were covered with thick coal dust. As they passed, they kicked up a cloud of black ash. The drivers quickly slowed down and waited for the trucks to pass before continuing on their way.

Even with the car windows slightly closed, the smell of coal dust still lingered in the air, stronger than in the county town, leaving a faint black stain on the windows.

Seeing these coal trucks, Fang Yan was reminded of the once-glorious coal bosses behind them.

In 1983, the state began to implement the "flow of water quickly" policy, allowing private individuals to contract coal mines. As a result, a large number of township coal mines and small private coal mines sprang up in Shanxi, which gave rise to the first batch of coal bosses. At the beginning, information did not circulate widely, and most of the contractors were local farmers. They completed their initial capital accumulation by contracting collective coal mines or acquiring state-owned mines at low prices.

They were among the first group of people to become wealthy.

By 2000, the Shanxi local government began to further liberalize coal mine contracting and management rights, and a large number of businessmen from other places joined in coal mine contracting and management. This was when the name of coal bosses became known throughout the country.

Fang Yan thought to himself, "Why don't I come and get involved here in a few years? After all, the development of traditional Chinese medicine also needs money. It would be a waste not to seize this opportunity."

While he was already planning, he had already passed the coal mine workshop.

Now the road begins to climb up the mountain, the slope gradually becomes steeper, and the jeep's engine roars.

The earthen slopes on both sides of the road have turned into stone slopes, with some cold-resistant shrubs growing on the stones. Their leaves are dark green and stand out in the winter.

Occasionally, you can see abandoned cave dwellings on the hillside, with stone blocks at the entrances and old corn stalks hanging on some of them, which must have been places where villagers used to live.

"We're almost at the Wang Family Compound. Look at those houses with blue bricks and gray tiles in front of us!" He Yang pointed to the buildings in the distance, his tone filled with pride.

Fang Yan came to his senses and looked up. He saw a large courtyard built against the mountain, stretching from the foot of the mountain to the middle of the mountain. The blue brick walls gleamed coldly in the morning light, and the upturned eaves were arranged in a well-organized manner. Even from a distance, one could see the grandeur of the past.

Most of the trees around the courtyard have lost their leaves, with only a few old locust trees standing tall and strong, like large umbrellas, guarding this old house.

“This compound used to be surrounded by fields. Later, the commune allocated part of it to the villagers to live in and used the rest as offices. The health center borrowed a few rooms in Gaojiaya.” He Yang explained, “The brick and wood carvings of the Wang Family Compound are very famous. Some of the window frames are carved with flowers, birds, fish and insects, and some of the gate towers are carved with opera stories. If you have time, you can go and have a look after your appointment.”

Fang Yan nodded. This place is known as the No. 1 Academy in China, even larger than the Forbidden City.

This shows how wealthy the Wang family was at the time.

Now that it's being used as a health clinic, I wonder what the descendant of the Wang family, who ended up as a beggar, thinks about it.

Just then, the jeep turned a corner and saw a wooden sign standing by the roadside with the words "Jingsheng Town Health Center" painted in red. Not far away, at the entrance of the hospital, many villagers were already queuing up, wrapped in thick cotton-padded clothes and holding medical forms in their hands. When they saw the jeep coming, they all looked over curiously.

Some children even ran over and surrounded Fang Yan and his group's vehicle, standing not far away and examining it. Coal trucks were actually quite common in this area; they just rarely saw this kind of jeep.

"We've arrived!" The driver stopped the car and honked the horn twice.

This is to let the people inside know that they have arrived.

He Yang first opened the car door and said to Fang Yan:

"Director Fang, let's go downstairs. Dr. Bai and Dr. Li should already be waiting inside."

Fang Yan pushed open the car door, and a cold wind blew in his face, carrying a dusty smell. He looked up at the Wang family compound in front of him. The blue bricks and gray tiles showed signs of dilapidation. Compared with his own courtyard in the capital, this place was obviously lacking in maintenance.

Plus, it doesn't rain much here, so there's a layer of dirt on top.

The skin of the villagers around them was rougher, and since many of them were patients, their faces looked as if they were covered with a layer of ash.

The skin of Li Chong and his two companions, tanned during training, was much fairer than that of their fellow villagers.

Not to mention the dialect, he was practically glowing white standing in the crowd, it was obvious at a glance that he wasn't a local.

Just then, the staff from the health center came out of the courtyard after hearing the sound of cars outside.

Fang Yan spotted Bai Xiaochun, who had been sent over from her class, at a glance.

She was wearing a white lab coat over a bulky cotton-padded coat, which made her look quite bulky.

It was obvious that the white coat was not her size.

"Brother Fang!" Bai Xiaochun called out to Fang Yan.

"Hey!" Fang Yan responded with a smile, then led the others up.

"You've worked hard these past few days!" Fang Yan said to Bai Xiaochun.

Bai Xiaochun waved his hand:

"It's not hard work! It's not hard work! We're just treating people from our hometown, there's nothing hard about it."

Bai Xiaochun is from Lingshi, so she's quite comfortable here.

She spoke to the dialect:

"Let's go inside first. I've sorted out the situation here and need to report to you."

Fang Yan nodded and walked into the courtyard. Although the place looked a bit dilapidated, you could feel its historical significance as you went inside. The paving stones on the walkway were specially carved with flowers, like lotus flowers.

Lotus blossoms at every step?

In addition, the brick carvings on the eaves of the houses, as seen in the dialect, are also carved with flowers and plants, and are quite exquisite.

Walking into the courtyard, you can see several bundles of dried herbs piled up in the corner, neatly tied with hemp rope. Next to them is a bamboo winnowing basket, which contains some leftover dried grass.

“The conditions here are a bit poor, but the villagers are very cooperative.” Bai Xiaochun pushed open the door to a room with a wooden sign that read “Office”. “Please come in and sit down. I’ll tell you about the situation recently.”

Inside the house, a tin coal stove was burning brightly, its flames casting a warm glow on the walls.

Against the wall stood an old wooden table, covered with a faded blue cloth. On the table were a thick stack of ledgers and several sheets of paper with tables drawn on them. Next to it, on a wooden shelf, were rows of medicine packets with red labels. The labels were written in neat calligraphy, such as "Package No. 1" and "Package No. 3".

There were two middle-aged men inside. When they saw Fang Yan and his group come in, they stood up, nodded to them, and then went out.

“The local commune's health workers are responsible for compiling the statistics,” Bai Xiaochun said. Fang Yan suddenly understood.

"Please sit down, I'll pour you some hot water." Bai Xiaochun picked up the enamel mug on the table, poured some hot water from the iron kettle on the coal stove, handed it to Fang Yan first, then poured water for the others, before opening the account book on the table and saying to Fang Yan:

"From the completion of the training to the start of the promotion, our health station has treated a total of 187 hepatitis patients, including 23 with acute icteric hepatitis and 164 with chronic hepatitis. After using the medication, 162 patients showed significant improvement in symptoms, and the rest are still taking the medication and under observation. No adverse reactions have occurred."

Fang Yan took the water glass and looked at the densely packed records in the ledger. The name, age, symptoms, and dosage of each patient were clearly remembered, and there were even notes on the follow-up visits. He nodded: "Very meticulous."

“It was mainly Dr. Li who helped a lot,” Bai Xiaochun said with an embarrassed smile. “He knew the villagers here well and knew which families were in poor condition, so he would deliver medicine to their homes. Some villagers were illiterate, so he taught them how to use the medicine word by word, repeatedly reminding them when and how much to drink. He also brought together doctors from the commune health center and the barefoot doctors from the brigade and trained them repeatedly.”

Fang Yan looked around and asked:

"What about others?"

“In another courtyard,” Bai Xiaochun said to Fang Yan.

Fang Yan stood up and said:

"Let's go see him."

“Okay, I’ll take you there. He should be seeing patients in the clinic in the west wing right now.” Bai Xiaochun quickly closed the ledger and led Fang Yan outside.

Passing through two moon gates, you arrive at the west courtyard.

Only one room was lit, and several villagers wrapped in cotton-padded coats were gathered around the door, talking in hushed tones.

Upon hearing footsteps, the villagers all turned around.

"Director Fang, this way please." Bai Xiaochun smiled at the villagers and pushed open the door to the consultation room.

The scene inside was busier than in the office, with several doctors inside. One of them, a middle-aged man in an old white coat, caught Fang Yan's eye.

He was sitting behind a wooden table taking the pulse of an elderly man. His brows were slightly furrowed, his left hand was on the old man's wrist, and his right hand was holding a pen, quickly jotting something down on a piece of paper.

On the table were a pulse pillow, a stethoscope, and a stack of medical records laid out, with several doctors standing nearby.

"Dr. Li!" He Yang was the first to greet him.

Hearing the sound, the middle-aged man looked up.

He glanced at Fang Yan first, then looked at He Yang and said:

"Hey, Dean He! You've arrived?"

He was clearly very focused on his medical appointment and didn't hear the car horns outside at all.

Li Ke was born in 1930. He was falsely accused and imprisoned in 1953. He then studied traditional Chinese medicine under an old Chinese medicine doctor surnamed Huang in prison. After his release, he began practicing medicine locally in 1963.

He is 48 years old this year. He looks very thin and wears glasses.

This person has unusually large ears, and his hair is different from most people's; it's very coarse, and each strand stands upright.

Fang Yan began to scrutinize the man carefully as soon as they met.

He Yang stepped aside to let Fang Yan walk to the front and introduced:

"This is Director Fang from Beijing, who came specifically to check on the hepatitis pilot program."

Li Ke also looked at Fang Yan at this moment.

He had already heard many stories about Fang Yan from Bai Xiaochun. This person became famous at a young age and was quickly recognized by his superiors and entrusted with important responsibilities. What's even more impressive is that he currently has a 100% cure rate. Whether it's medical skills or luck, only the most renowned geniuses in traditional Chinese medicine throughout history have received such treatment.

It was so dazzling that it felt like it had received special favor from God.

Compared to him, I am the complete opposite.

"Hello, Director Fang!" Before meeting Fang Yan, Li Ke had many questions he wanted to ask, but after meeting Fang Yan, he found that he couldn't say anything.

"Hello Dr. Li, I've heard so much about you!" Fang Yan said to Li Ke with a smile.

The person in front of us can be considered one of the idols of traditional Chinese medicine in the dialect.

Although he was very excited at the moment, he remained calm on the surface because it was their first meeting.

"I was just treating a fellow villager at a critical point and didn't hear anything outside," Li Ke apologized to them.

Fang Yan waved his hand and said:
"It's alright, please go see a doctor first."

Li Ke nodded and continued seeing patients. Fang Yan watched him write medical records. He still maintained the old-fashioned habit of using classical Chinese to shorten the content when writing medical records.

This is a habit that only many veteran doctors have, but it really tests the doctor's own level of education. Li Ke joined the army after graduating from junior high school at the age of 16. He served as a war correspondent in General Peng's Northwest Field Army. In 1949, he entered the Literature Department of the Northwest Art Academy. He also studied with traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in prison for many years. So his level of education is beyond question.

After Li Ke finished seeing a patient, he called over someone behind him to take over, then turned to Fang Yan and said:
"Director Fang, I heard that these prescriptions being promoted were all summarized by you?"

Fang Yan nodded and said:

"Yes, all six prescriptions were developed by me."

Actually, two of the six prescriptions in this dialect were copied from Li Ke's later summaries.

Upon hearing Fang Yan nod in confirmation, Li Ke's eyes lit up.

"Six prescriptions... Director Fang's skills are truly amazing!" he exclaimed, his tone devoid of any politeness, filled with heartfelt recognition. He then added, "To be honest, I've been pondering the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis for almost ten years."

Li Ke turned around and took out a bound manuscript from his bag. The cover was worn and frayed, and the inside was filled with dense handwriting, with some places even containing herbal illustrations.

He turned to the middle page, pointed to the annotations above, and said:

“You see, I felt years ago that hepatitis shouldn’t be treated solely based on the ‘damp-heat’ symptom pattern. Some of my fellow villagers have been working hard for a long time and have weak spleens and stomachs. If you only use bitter and cold medicines to reduce jaundice, their bodies simply can’t handle it. I tried adding astragalus and atractylodes to the Artemisia capillaris decoction. It had some effect, but I always felt it was a bit lacking. Either the jaundice was reduced slowly, or the spleen and stomach couldn’t be protected. I haven’t found the most suitable combination yet.”

He looked up at Fang Yan, his eyes filled with inquiry: "It wasn't until I used your No. 1 and No. 3 prescriptions that I understood where the problem lay. Your prescriptions not only accurately addressed the root cause of 'damp-heat stagnation' but also subtly aligned with the principle of 'strengthening the body's resistance and consolidating its foundation. Take the No. 3 prescription for treating chronic hepatitis, for example. I've tasted the herbs, and it should contain Bupleurum and Curcuma to soothe the liver, as well as Codonopsis and Poria to strengthen the spleen. It's much more comprehensive than the prescriptions I had previously come up with haphazardly. None of the villagers complained of stomach discomfort after taking it. This is a truly effective and practical prescription!"

At this point, Li Ke paused, glanced at the medicine packet on the table, a slightly embarrassed look on his face, and lowered his voice:

"It's just that... Director Fang, this medicine packet of yours is only labeled 'Number One' and 'Number Three,' without specifying the exact formula and dosage. I know this is your hard work, and I shouldn't ask too much, but as you know, there are many patients at the grassroots level, and sometimes when we encounter special cases, we want to adjust the dosage according to the patient's constitution, but we can't be sure of the exact situation."

"I'm not trying to find out your secret formula, I just want to ask you for advice. For example, in this pack, what's the right ratio of Artemisia capillaris and Gardenia jasminoides to quickly reduce jaundice without damaging the yin fluids? And in the pack three, how do you control the dosage of Bupleurum chinense to avoid depleting liver yin? These are questions I haven't been able to figure out in my clinical practice. If I could hear your thought process, I would not only learn something, but I would also be more confident in treating my fellow villagers in the future."

Fang Yan's expression turned somewhat strange upon hearing Li Ke's question.

The two medicine packets that Li Ke mentioned were the complete version of Li Ke's future that Fang Yan had copied. When Fang Yan saw the notebook full of annotations in his hand and looked at the thirst for knowledge in his eyes, he was suddenly touched. Li Ke, who was more than 20 years older than him, did not have the airs of an elder at all. Instead, he was like a humble student who only wanted to improve his medical skills.

He recalled the two prescriptions he had copied from Li Ke's descendants, which now seemed like a transmission across time and space, only now the roles were reversed, and he had become the "transmitter".

Fang Yan smiled and said:
"Dr. Li, you're too kind. I'll tell you about it now..."

PS: I got 300 more monthly tickets, so I still owe you 3000 words after finishing this chapter.

(End of this chapter)