Sent to the countryside, I turned the health center into a top-tier hospital.

The woman picked up the child and glared at the man fiercely: "You just wait, when Mom gets back, she'll give you a piece of her mind."

"Honey, don't tell Mom. I promise I'll never do it again," the man pleaded with his wife.

Just as the young couple, carrying their child, were about to leave the clinic, a woman in her fifties rushed in.

Upon seeing the child in the woman's arms, she snatched it away, her face filled with anxiety. "My precious grandson, are you alright? You scared Grandma to death..."

"Mom, it's nothing, it was just a dislocated shoulder, Dr. Chen has already fixed it," the woman said.

Upon hearing this, the woman turned and glared at her son, then suddenly slapped him across the face.

"You little brat, if you dare to be so rough with my grandson again and hurt him, I'll break your legs!" After saying that, the woman gently stroked the little boy's head. "Grandson, does it still hurt? Grandma will go buy you something delicious."

After saying that, the woman took the child and left, while the other woman looked at her husband who had just been slapped and burst out laughing.

"Serves you right..." the woman laughed and walked away.

The man just looked at Chen Ping awkwardly, smiled, and left.

After the family left, the consultation room fell silent again.

Chen Ping sat down, picked up a pen and wrote down what had just happened. He had just finished writing the character "脱" (tuō, meaning "to remove") when the pen stopped on the paper.

The image of Liu Erzhu's family from two days ago flashed through my mind.

The child had a persistent high fever, kept vomiting, and had developed bacteremia from a Salmonella infection, but Liu Erzhu insisted on taking the child away.

With his mother-in-law fanning the flames, Liu Erzhu's wife's desperate face and empty eyes kept replaying in his mind.

Families of similar ages, with children of roughly the same age, can have drastically different attitudes towards their children.

Chen Ping could clearly sense that this family was happy.

This young woman is happy, unlike Liu Erzhu's wife.

Chen Ping put down his pen, looked up at Wang Tao standing by the door, and asked, "Wang Tao, do you know where Daliushu Village is?"

"I know, just follow the road east from our door, cross the stone bridge, and walk another three or four li. Master, you want to go to Liu Erzhu's house, right?"

Wang Tao instantly guessed what Chen Ping was going to do.

Chen Ping nodded. "That child had such a high fever, Salmonella had entered the bloodstream, and the antibiotics had just been started when the IV was removed. If it had been left untreated, something bad would have happened."

"I was worried that this family wouldn't take the child to the county hospital for treatment, so I planned to go and check on them. It would put my mind at ease..."

"Okay, when do you want to go? Just call me and I'll give you a ride on my bicycle. I can carry someone on the back. It's not far."

Wang Tao said.

"Okay!" Chen Ping nodded.

Chen Ping continued to see patients. Around ten o'clock, seeing that there weren't many patients left, he said something to Zhao Guosheng.

I took off my white coat, put on a light jacket, and went out.

Wang Tao pushed out his bicycle; it was the same old old-fashioned bicycle that rattled everywhere except for the bell.

"Master, I'll carry you..." Wang Tao said.

"Forget it, I'll ride it. I'm afraid I'll hurt my butt on the way."

Chen Ping looked at the back frame of the 28-inch motorcycle and shook his head in fright.

There wasn't even a cushion, just a few metal plates; Chen Ping dared not sit on it.

"Hehe, then I'll enjoy this luxury and have Master carry me..."

Wang Tao handed the bicycle to Chen Ping, then plopped down on the back seat, dangling his legs and swaying back and forth. He patted the seat and said, "Let's go, Master. I'll show you the way."

Chen Ping got on his bicycle, left the health center, turned onto the street, and rode eastward.

After leaving the town, the asphalt road turned into a cement road, and then the cement road turned into a dirt road. The road surface became narrower and narrower. In the fields on both sides, the wheat seedlings were just sprouting, a layer of green fuzz, which looked like a green carpet when the wind blew.

The leaves of several persimmon trees on the distant hillside have all fallen, leaving only a few bright red persimmons hanging on the branches, like little lanterns.

Wang Tao, sitting on the back seat, kept saying, "Master, please ride slower. The road is bumpy just outside the village, but it will be easier after we cross the stone bridge."

"You're riding so fast, my butt's almost split in two..."

Chen Ping smiled but didn't say anything, but he pedaled even harder, and the bicycle sped along the road.

About half an hour later, a village appeared ahead. The village was not large, with an estimated fifty or sixty households.

"Master, we're at Big Willow Tree Village just ahead..." Wang Tao said.

Chen Ping nodded and rode his bicycle into Daliushu Village.

Several old men squatting against the wall at the village entrance, basking in the sun, glanced up at them, then lowered their heads again.

Wang Tao jumped out of the back seat and asked an old man, "Grandpa, do you know where Liu Erzhu lives?"

The old man looked up at Wang Tao, then pointed to the east of the village, "Turn east, Liu Erzhu's house is in the first alley at the east end of the village, the third house there, there's a big locust tree at the entrance of the alley."

"Thank you, sir..." Wang Tao said, then looked at Chen Ping: "Master, he's in the east of the village."

"Come on up, let's go over there..." Chen Ping said.

Wang Tao waved his hands repeatedly, "I'd better walk there, it's not far, my butt can't take it."

After saying that, Wang Tao walked towards the east of the village, his gait somewhat unnatural, indicating that he had indeed suffered a lot along the way.

Chen Ping simply pushed his bicycle and followed Wang Tao toward the east end of the village.

As soon as they arrived at the alley with the big locust tree, they saw a large crowd gathered there.

The alley was already narrow, and when there were many people, it blocked the road completely. Someone was crying, and the crying was high-pitched and long, and could be heard clearly from half a street away.

Some people were shouting, some were trying to persuade, and all sorts of chaotic voices mixed together, making people feel uneasy.

Chen Ping parked his bicycle by the roadside, and the two of them squeezed into the crowd.

The further you go in, the more you can hear the source of the crying. It's not just one person crying; several voices overlap, both male and female, crying until their throats are hoarse.

In the middle of the crowd was an open space, and Liu Erzhu's old wooden door was open, with Liu Erzhu's mother sitting on the steps.

His hair was disheveled, he was patting his knees with both hands, muttering something over and over, his face was covered in tears and snot, and he looked like his soul had been taken away.

Liu Erzhu stood next to his mother, leaning against the door frame, his face as white as paper.

His lips trembled, his eyes were fixed on the ground, his hands hung at his sides with his fingers slightly curled, and he seemed to be frozen in place, not moving at all.

There was an old door panel on the ground, and two people were lying on it.

The two, one big and one small, were soaked to the bone, their clothes clinging to their bodies, and their wet hair sticking to their faces.

Water droplets trickled down her hair, leaving a small, dark, damp stain on the muddy ground beneath the door.

The moment Chen Ping saw the two people clearly, his steps froze as if he had been nailed to the ground.