met free Chapter 173
Chapter 173
After saying this, Chen Shuyi took a step back, turned around, and revealed the door behind him. "You can go now, Xiangzi."
Chen Shuyi's resolute decision opened Xiangzi's eyes. He angrily said, "Uncle Chen, how can you be so selfish, only thinking of yourself? Can you bear to see so many people hospitalized because of chicken plague, forced to spend all their savings on treatment? You're making dirty money! You know this is wrong. The villagers haven't even noticed the chicken plague yet. You could have changed the situation, at least made them aware of the dangers of chicken plague and kept them away from the worst possible outcome. But you choose to turn a blind eye for some dirty money. Uncle Chen, don't you have any feelings for the people in this village? Can you bear to see everyone get sick from eating chicken plague? Can you bear it? Many children in the village, the same age as me, are children you've watched grow up. Can you bear to see them sent to the hospital because they ate chicken, duck, or goose meat contaminated with chicken plague?"
Xiangzi's questioning made Chen Shuyi gasp, feeling increasingly guilty. He turned away from Xiangzi and said solemnly, "Of course I don't want to see this scene, but Xiangzi, I need money, and I need to support my daughter's university education. I am a doctor and a father. If I didn't have so many burdens, if I didn't have to support my family and bear the high tuition fees for my daughter, perhaps I would have agreed to your request to act without hesitation. But Xiangzi, these realities of life are like shackles, firmly binding me in place. I dare not be myself; I should think more about the people around me. With your and the village chief's reminders, the villagers will pay attention to these things. They won't eat too much chicken, duck, or goose meat contaminated with fowl cholera, and they won't experience the kind of serious illness you described that requires hospitalization. At most, they'll just get diarrhea or other minor illnesses and come to my clinic for diagnosis."
“Xiangzi, you’re still young, you don’t have that many burdens, but I do.” Chen Shuyi looked much more haggard as he said this. “Do you know how hard my daughter studied? She studied day and night and finally got into a top university, but she failed because of the tuition. University tuition is two thousand yuan a year, while my monthly salary as a doctor in the village is only a little over a hundred yuan. There are only about a hundred people in the village, and apart from the elderly and children, hardly anyone gets sick and comes to my clinic. This time, the consultation fee is only a few yuan. I basically don’t make any profit on medicines and such, otherwise, they’d be too expensive for the villagers to afford. This money is simply not enough. Several years ago, I thought about becoming a doctor in the town or city. You know the salaries are higher in the city…” "I used to earn several hundred yuan a month, which was much better than what I made at my small clinic. But if I leave, what will happen to the villagers? They'll have to walk a long way to the town or city to see a doctor, and by the time they get treatment, their condition might be too serious to be cured. I struggled with this decision for a long time before deciding not to go to the city. It's good that I'm here with you all, earning about a hundred yuan a month. But after buying groceries, meat, and other living expenses, there's hardly anything left at the end of the month. I even have to spend some of my own money to buy medicine in the city for my clinic. I still can't save much. Besides, my mother had a serious illness before, and all our money went to buying medicine and such."
"Now that my daughter has been admitted to a top university, I have to think about her future. She absolutely must go to school, even if it means selling everything I own. But studying in a faraway city will be a huge expense, and tuition is a major headache. I've worked diligently in this village for decades, yet I can't even afford my daughter's tuition. But I don't dare tell her, you know? I don't want to see her disappointed face, and I don't want her to know how incompetent her father is, unable to even save up two thousand yuan for tuition." For the past few days, I've been forcing myself to borrow money. Do you know what that feels like? Humiliation, fawning, begging—people just joke that even Dr. Chen has fallen so low as to beg. I'll never forget the look of mockery they gave me. I don't want to borrow money anymore. If I don't borrow, I have to earn it myself. And this chicken plague is a great opportunity for me. I can make a lot of money from it. As long as the spread of the chicken plague expands, I can make a steady stream of money and save enough for my daughter's tuition.
Every word and sentence was Chen Shuyi's heartfelt expression, his bitter tears. Initially, he stayed because of his affection for the villagers and his inability to bear seeing the sick forced to travel far to towns or cities for treatment without a doctor. He chose to stay, earning a meager salary of about a hundred yuan a month, barely enough to support his family. But fate often plays cruel tricks. While he remained in the village, his mother fell seriously ill. Treatment required a hospital, and despite spending all his savings, he couldn't save her. He often wondered if he had chosen to work in the city and earn a higher income, he could have provided his mother with better medical care, and perhaps she wouldn't have left him, wouldn't have left this world. If only he had been more resolute… But alas, there are no "ifs"…
Only after that did Chen Shuyi realize the importance of family. Nothing was more important than his family, so when he had to make a choice, he would choose his family without hesitation and strive to give them a better life, even if it meant bearing the blame. Sometimes Chen Shuyi had no choice. He was a cripple and couldn't do manual labor, so he could only work as a doctor, a barefoot doctor. The paths he could think of were very few.
Zhao Da'e, who had listened to everything from outside the door, fell silent. In her previous life, Chen Shuyi hadn't taken the initiative to advise the villagers against consuming chicken, duck, and goose meat contaminated with fowl plague. Instead, because the fowl plague had spread, many people came to him for treatment, and he made a lot of money in a short time, enough to pay for his daughter's university education. Chen Shuyi's daughter went to a top university, majoring in computer science, and after graduation, she was offered a high-paying job by a Fortune 500 company. Meanwhile, too many people in the village had eaten too much chicken, duck, and goose meat contaminated with fowl plague, and many ended up in the hospital or suffered health problems. Perhaps out of guilt, Chen Shuyi's daughter wanted to take him to the city to enjoy a better life, but Chen Shuyi refused. Instead, he asked his daughter to contribute some money to improve the conditions of the clinic. He planned to stay in the village for the rest of his life, even providing free medical treatment to the villagers. In her previous life, Zhao Da'e had often seen Chen Shuyi sighing and lamenting. At that time, Zhao Da'e didn't understand why Chen Shuyi was so sad every day when he had a daughter who had a high-paying job in the city, and his daughter and son-in-law often visited him and were respected in the village. But now she understands.
Because of this fowl plague, which had harmed many villagers in his previous life, causing many to suffer from food poisoning and spending all their savings on treatment, Chen Shuyi may have felt guilty back then. He felt it was his fault, believing that if he had warned everyone earlier, most villagers would be healthy. So, later on, Chen Shuyi treated everyone for free, only charging for medicine. Perhaps at that time, he was atoning for his sins, earning money against his conscience. Later, he had countless moments of regret for earning this money. But thinking about it carefully, perhaps this is just human nature. After all, from Chen Shuyi's perspective, he could have made a lot of money from this plague without doing anything, supplementing his family income and raising tuition fees for his daughter's university education.
Zhao Da'e thought about her savings. This month, she earned three thousand yuan from selling water. Chen Shuyi's daughter would graduate from a prestigious university and become a highly sought-after, high-salary talent by major companies, majoring in the emerging internet field. She was definitely the kind of talent Zhao Da'e needed! If Zhao Da'e wanted to expand her Kangxi Spring Water business further and wider, someone knowledgeable in computers would be indispensable. Moreover, since Kangxi Spring Water wasn't a continuous supply, Zhao Da'e could try developing other businesses, such as emerging industries.
Lost in thought, Zhao Da'e didn't notice what was happening inside.
Seeing that he couldn't persuade Chen Shuyi no matter what he did, Xiangzi could only shake his head helplessly. "Uncle Chen, I've already tried to persuade you, but you didn't agree, so there's nothing I can do."
As he spoke, Xiangzi reached into his pocket, but found nothing. He was stunned for a moment. He touched it again and his eyes widened in shock. The medicine bottle he had put in his pocket was gone!
Seeing this, Chen Shuyi suddenly smiled and pulled out a medicine bottle from behind his back. "Is this what you're looking for?"
When Xiangzi saw the familiar medicine bottle, he nodded subconsciously. But when he realized what was happening, he immediately stepped forward and tried to snatch the bottle back. He shouted, "Don't touch this, Uncle Chen! Give it back to me!"
But how could Xiangzi possibly outmaneuver Chen Shuyi, who often went up the mountain to gather herbs for exercise? Chen Shuyi turned around and then swung his hand back, launching a sneak attack on Xiangzi's forehead, making Xiangzi's head ache terribly.
Xiangzi scratched his head, on the verge of tears, and said, "Uncle Chen, what are you doing? Give me back this medicine bottle, I still need it."
Chen Shuyi snorted coldly, "If you want me to return this medicine bottle to you, then tell me what you need it for first, and then I'll consider whether or not to return it to you."
Xiangzi's eyes widened, never expecting Chen Shuyi to say such a thing. "No, Uncle Chen, this medicine bottle is mine. How can you keep it and not give it back to me? No, how did you just steal this medicine bottle from me?"
Chen Shuyi glanced at Xiangzi, who seemed a little disoriented, and chuckled, “I didn’t steal it. This medicine bottle was what you dropped when you pretended to have a stomachache. I just happened to pick it up and put it here. I was going to return it to you, but I thought you didn’t really have a stomachache, so I wanted to see what you were doing here before returning it. But now that I see you like this, I’m pretty sure you’re up to no good. Tell me, what are you planning to do with this medicine bottle? If I didn’t agree to act with you, are you going to use this medicine bottle to threaten me?”
When Xiangzi saw that Chen Shuyi had revealed his purpose so clearly, he felt quite guilty and even a little embarrassed to look up. There were other medicines swirling in the medicine bottle. He had originally planned that if Chen Shuyi didn't answer his act, he would continue to shout that his stomach hurt, then run outside with the medicine bottle and yell that Dr. Chen had prescribed the wrong medicine. He would use this to threaten Chen Shuyi into agreeing to come and help him with the act, because if the doctor prescribed the wrong medicine, he would be held responsible. The medicine in that bottle was actually a laxative; as long as he took it, he would have diarrhea. Xiangzi wouldn't need to pretend; he would just shout loudly and run out of the clinic with diarrhea. Everyone would definitely believe that Chen Shuyi had prescribed the wrong medicine, causing his diarrhea. Then everyone would point and whisper about Chen Shuyi.
Of course, Xiangzi hadn't intended to do this. He just wanted to use it to threaten Chen Shuyi, to scare him, and then have him put on an act for him. Initially, Xiangzi thought he could persuade Chen Shuyi with just his words. After all, helping the villagers was something any normal person would agree to. In Chen Shuyi's memory, Chen Shuyi had always been a kind, gentle, and compassionate person. But today, Xiangzi was truly disappointed. So, he decided to use another method that his aunt had taught him: to threaten Chen Shuyi with the laxative in the medicine bottle.
But before he could even take out the medicine bottle, Chen Shuyi discovered it. How could that be? Without the medicine bottle, how could he threaten Chen Shuyi to listen to him? He couldn't even take the laxative inside. How could he pretend to have diarrhea and be sick? Xiangzi was so stupid that he cried.
But Xiangzi dared not reveal his true intentions openly. He could only bite the bullet and say, "Uncle Chen, please give me back the medicine bottle. I had a cold a few days ago and wanted to use it to make medicine. How could I possibly use it to harm you? I don't understand what you're saying."
Chen Shuyi looked at Xiangzi with a half-smile, "Then let me ask you, where did you get this medicine? I don't remember you ever having a cold or buying any medicine from me before."
Stared at by Chen Shuyi, Xiangzi swallowed hard. He forced a smile and replied, "Of course, I bought this medicine in town while delivering goods, and I also went to see a doctor on the way. Uncle Chen, please give it back to me. This medicine is quite expensive, so don't overthink it. How could I possibly harm you with this little medicine bottle? If you don't want to help me, then don't. I'll leave, but you have to give me back my medicine bottle first. After all, I spent money on it, and I need to use it to make medicine when I get back."