Chapter 8: Chapter Eight: Broken Leg

Translator: virtual group Editor: virtual group

The three of them had a good meal. Guo’er patted her full tummy and laughed happily. Guo Xiang was also very satisfied. The fish and eggs were all organic and natural, meaning that they tasted really good. Organic and natural goods were rare in her previous life. They were really delicious.

However, Wang Guiying started to worry. Food had run out. Before her son sent money back, they would have to eat sweet potatoes every day. She was okay with that, she was worried that Guo’er and Guo Xiang wouldn’t be used to it. 

“Mother, don’t worry. I will go and buy some food. Do you know still has food stored up?” Guo Xiang asked.

“During this time of the year, only the village chief’s family would,” Wang Guiying said. “Let’s go tomorrow. It’s late today. The road is slippery in the dark. You might fall.”

“Mother, it’s okay. Have you forgotten that I know kung fu?” Guo Xiang smiled. If she didn’t go today, there would be no food for tomorrow morning. She didn’t mind skipping a meal, but Guo’er was still young. She could not let her go hungry.

“Make sure you’re careful!” Wang Guiying said. She took a flashlight from the house and gave it to Guo Xiang. “The road is very muddy after the rain. Take your time.”

“Okay, I got it,” Guo Xiang took the flashlight and answered happily.

When she arrived at the village chief’s house, she bought 10 kilograms of food with four yuan. It was originally around 20 cents per kilogram, but Guo Xiang didn’t bring any food coupons, so she paid 40 yuan per kilogram instead. She thought she would buy the food for now. After all, she wasn’t even sure whether they had food coupons at home or not. 

Guo Xiang carried the food on her back and walked back. The road was very muddy. Because it had rained, there were potholes everywhere, and some places had even collapsed. She walked very carefully. If she dropped food and got it dirty, even if she washed it clean, the weather would easily make it go moldy.

Suddenly, there was a humming sound appeared in front of her. It would go on for some time, stop, then continue again.

Although Guo Xiang was an atheist, there were still so many things in the world that science could not explain. When she thought of the ghost legends she had heard in the past, she started getting goosebumps. She cried out in fear, “Who is it? Who’s there?”

She held the flashlight and shone it at the sound. She found an old bicycle on the ground. When she kept looking, she found an old man with half-white hair in the ditch next to her. Perhaps he got injured and could not get up. His face was pale and he kept grunting.

Guo Xiang heaved a sigh of relief. It wasn’t a ghost.

She quickly found a dry place to put down the food and jumped into the ditch to help the old man, “Sir, how are you? Have you injured yourself?”

After helping the old man up, the old man cried out in pain, “Slow down, my leg is broken…”

“Huh?” Guo Xiang was shocked. What the accident so bad that he had broken his leg?

She carefully helped the old man up and sat him on the edge of the ditch. Then, she slowly moved his legs up.

She picked up the flashlight and found a place to put it. Then, she pulled up the old man’s pants and gently pressed her fingers on his leg to check. When she felt the place where the bone broke, the old man cried out in pain again. It was indeed a fracture.

“Sir, your injury is pretty serious. Let me take you to the hospital,” Guo Xiang said quickly.

“It’s alright. Just take me home,” the old man waved his hand.

“I can’t do that. Your leg is broken. You have to go to the hospital. A broken leg is no joke,” Guo Xiang was anxious.

She knew that the poor people in the countryside were reluctant to spend money to treat their illnesses, but a broken leg was a big deal. If they became disabled in order to save some money, the loss would not be worth it.

“No need. I am a doctor myself. You can send me home,” the old man shook his head.

Only then did Guo Xiang notice that there was a medicine box tied to the back seat of the bicycle. This man should be a barefoot doctor in the village, right?

She knew that the medical conditions were not good in the 80s. There were no formal hospitals in the villages. Usually, barefoot doctors would open a simple clinic. When the villagers had headaches and fever, they could get injections and prescribed medicine there. But, could he also treat a broken leg?

“But your leg is broken…” Guo Xiang was anxious.

“It’s fine, really. I can treat it myself,” the old man insisted. “If you don’t want to send me home, then forget it. I’ll walk back myself.”

The old man struggled to get up. Guo Xiang hurriedly held him down. His leg was broken, but he still wanted to walk. What if the dislocation got even more serious?

“Okay, okay. I’ll send you back, okay?” Guo Xiang compromised. The old man was too stubborn.

She took the flashlight and shone it on the side of the road. She picked up two slightly thicker branches and used them as splints to place them on both sides of the old man’s calves. She searched in the medicine box and found two rolls of bandages. She used the bandages to fix the old man’s legs with the branches to prevent further damage.

The old man looked at Guo Xiang in surprise. This girl knew medicine?

After fixing the old man’s legs, Guo Xiang helped the bicycle up and parked it on flat ground.

She set up the bicycle and carefully helped the old man onto the back seat. She placed the food on the horizontal bar in front of her. She then turned her head and asked, “Sir, where do you live?”

“At the west end of the village, by the Plum Blossom River,” said the old man.

“Okay, I’ll send you home,” Guo Xiang nodded. She pushed the bicycle and felt that something was wrong. She used the flashlight to illuminate it and found that the bicycle chain was broken. No wonder the old man fell.

She had no choice but to push the bicycle.

When they reached the west end of the village, Guo Xiang followed the old man’s directions and arrived in front of a mud house with a red cross hanging on top of it. She parked the bicycle properly and helped the old man down.

The Grandpa handed the keys to Guo Xiang and let her open the door. He pulled the light cord beside the door and the house instantly lit up.

Guo Xiang helped the old man into the house while she looked around.

There was a glass counter at the door. There were some commonly used western medicines in the cabinet and a white wooden chair on the side.

Behind the counter was a wooden medicine cabinet. The small drawers were probably filled with Chinese medicine. In front of the cabinet was a row of Western medicine, and there was also an aluminum box for needles. It seemed that he helped people with injections as well.

Guo Xiang helped the old man sit down on the white chair. She folded the legs of the old man’s pants and looked again. It was too dark outside just now, so she could not see clearly. Now, she saw that there were still some external injuries.

She found alcohol, cotton wool, and tweezers on the medicine cabinet. She picked up some cotton wool with the tweezers and dipped it in alcohol to wipe the wound on the old man’s leg. She washed the wound and looked at the more serious areas. She found a bottle of Yunnan Baiyao, sprinkled the wound with the medicine, and wrapped it with gauze.

When she did this, the old man did not say a word. He just watched her do it in silence. Seeing her skillfully wash and bandage the wound, he was even more certain that she had studied medicine.

“Sir, your wound is fine, but I can’t do anything with your broken leg. I don’t know how to relocate the bones,” Guo Xiang said.

Although she did have to go through every department when she did her placement back then, she was not a professional orthopedist after all. She was afraid that she would cause more harm if she messed up.

“I’ll do it myself,” the old man said.

He gently lifted the injured leg and asked Guo Xiang to grab a low stool to rest his leg on. He untied the bandage that Guo Xiang had just tied. He pressed his hands on his calf. With a crack, a layer of cold sweat appeared on the old man’s forehead.

“Help me bandage my leg up again,” the old man sighed, his face turned paler and paler. Looked like it was quite painful. 

“That’s it?” Guo Xiang was surprised. She gently pressed her hands on the part that was dislocated just now. She could not feel any protruding parts. Did he put the bone back in place? 

Guo Xiang was shocked. She had studied medicine for so long, but she had never seen a doctor relocate their own bones. This old man was no simple doctor. At least in terms of relocating bones, he was as skilled as her previous mentor.

Guo Xiang found a splint again and fixed it to the old man’s calf. She also found some anti-inflammatory medicine from the medicine cabinet for the old man to take. He glanced at Guo Xiang and took the medicine without any objection.