Whether He Gets Treated Is Your Call. I'm Fine Either Way

Section Chief Fang pointed to the man beside him and introduced him to her. "Come on! Let me introduce you first. This is Director Hao, who runs our guesthouse!"

Director Hao was a portly man who smiled whenever he spoke. After exchanging greetings, he invited her to sit down.

Then Section Chief Fang continued, "Here's the situation, Comrade Song Ning! We've had torrential rain here for over a week now, and several mountain roads ahead have collapsed. They won't be open to traffic anytime soon. After we reported to our superiors in Anping, our work unit reassigned us. We'll be heading east instead, first thing tomorrow morning! So we won't be able to take you to Yu City!"

"But don't worry!" Section Chief Fang immediately added. "I've explained your situation to Director Hao. He'll arrange the rest of your journey and make sure you find your family without any trouble."

As soon as Section Chief Fang finished, Director Hao said with a smile, "Comrade Song, just make yourself comfortable here at our guesthouse for now. Once the roads reopen, I'll arrange your trip to Rong City right away. Our town may be small, but anyone heading toward Yu City or Rong City has to pass through Bijie County! When the time comes, I'll make sure everything is taken care of!"

Song Ning had no doubts about Director Hao's assurances.

This was a government guesthouse, still part of the government's internal administration.

Though Director Hao managed the guesthouse, he was also a government official.

Finding a vehicle to give her a ride would take no more than a word from him.

Section Chief Fang asked again, "Comrade Song Ning! What do you think of these arrangements...?"

Song Ning quickly stood and gave them a slight bow. "Thank you so much! I have no objections! I'm sorry for troubling you both!"

"Ha ha! Good, good! As long as you're all right with it!"

Section Chief Fang breathed a sigh of relief, then reached out to shake Director Hao's hand. "Hao, we'll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning. I'm counting on you to take care of Comrade Song Ning!"

"Don't worry! Leave it to me!"

Honestly, Song Ning was a little touched. People in this era really did have a strong sense of responsibility! And they were genuinely kindhearted!

Before she left, Director Hao specifically told her to go to the dining hall out back for all three meals on time. She only needed to sign in.

The next morning, Song Ning went downstairs to the dining hall for breakfast.

The two rows of benches along the lobby walls were packed. Quite a few people were also sitting on the corridor floor, leaning against their luggage, most with their eyes closed as they caught up on sleep.

The rain outside still hadn't stopped, and the guesthouse had only so many rooms. Giving stranded travelers somewhere to shelter from the rain was already about as much as the government could do to help.

When she passed through the lobby again on her way back, however, the people who had been resting separately earlier had gathered into a crowd. A woman's screams rang out from within.

"My boy-my boy! Wake up! What's happened to you?"

"Take him to the hospital! Hurry and get him to the hospital! The child isn't responding!"

"Call someone! This guesthouse can call for an ambulance, can't it?"

"I heard the hospital's ground floor flooded yesterday too. They moved a lot of the patients out!"

Song Ning peered through a gap in the crowd and could just make out a pretty young woman sitting on the floor with a child in her arms. She couldn't see anything more.

Listening to the cries that kept coming from the crowd, she rubbed her ear, pushed her way through, and took a look-

The child in the woman's arms was around four or five, with a flushed face, a rigid body, and eyes rolled upward. He was convulsing nonstop.

The woman holding him was panicking. As she cried, she pressed hard on his convulsing arms, trying to make him return to normal.

"He's having a seizure from a high fever! Don't hold his arms down! You'll hurt him!"

With the force the child's mother was using, she could break his bones.

Unable to watch any longer, Song Ning stepped forward, pulled the woman's hands away, and pressed the groove above the child's upper lip.

Sure enough, his skin was burning hot. It was obvious he had been running a fever for quite a while.

A well-dressed middle-aged woman beside them, presumably the child's grandmother, saw that someone who seemed knowledgeable had arrived and hurriedly pleaded, "Comrade! Please save my grandson! I'm begging you!"

"Everyone, move back! Don't block the airflow!"

Song Ning gave the order firmly as she laid the child flat on the floor.

She turned his head to one side and quickly loosened his collar.

Seeing that someone had stepped in to handle the crisis, the lobby attendants quickly followed her instructions and cleared the people away.

The convulsions continued for another minute or two before stopping.

The child went limp as his strength drained away, losing consciousness completely.

At the sight, his mother collapsed on the floor, her voice distorted with terror.

Just then, Director Hao hurried over after being notified. Seeing the scene before him, he stamped his feet in distress...

"What are we going to do? The county hospital called us for help at five this morning. Their ground floor is flooded, and they have nowhere to put the patients! The county Party committee compound is full of patients now! Never mind sending an ambulance-they don't even have enough doctors!"

Song Ning looked up and asked Director Hao, "Do you have a first-aid kit here?"

Director Hao looked troubled. "We do! But we don't keep much medicine on hand!"

As he spoke, an attendant brought a small wooden box out from under the counter. It contained only a few pieces of gauze, some alcohol, and little else.

Common medicines at the time, such as cold remedies and fever reducers, came as loose white tablets with short shelf lives. They had to be freshly dispensed at a hospital.

Song Ning nodded in understanding and said calmly, "Please bring a basin of warm water! And can you find a bed?"

"Yes, of course! Take the child to the duty room first!"

Director Hao answered at once, then turned to the attendant beside him. "Hurry and fetch some water! Be quick!"

Although the situation had been caused by the weather, he still didn't want anything to happen to someone in his guesthouse!

Someone had already helped the grandmother lift the child from the floor, while others helped his mother up from where she had collapsed.

Everyone had been quite cooperative, but someone at the side still questioned, "Doudou has obviously passed out from the fever! Even in a hospital, he'd need emergency treatment! We-we can't waste time here, can we?"

Song Ning hadn't intended to pay any attention and followed the grandmother toward the duty room.

But the woman who had spoken clearly knew the child's mother. She stepped forward and caught her arm. "Sister Ying, we have to be careful when it comes to the child! There are no proper doctors or medicines here. A basin of warm water won't cure him! We need to find another way!"

The woman called Sister Ying had already been too panicked to know what to do. Hearing this only made her panic more.

She couldn't help looking toward Song Ning, on the verge of tears!

Song Ning paused and looked at the two women. "Why don't you two discuss it first? I'm in no hurry! There isn't even a single tablet here. I'm worrying about that myself!"

Hearing Song Ning say that, the woman demanded shrilly, "You-show us your credentials! Are you even a doctor? Do you know how to treat patients? If you harm the child, you won't be able to take responsibility!"

Song Ning rubbed inside her ear and rolled her eyes at the woman, then turned only to Sister Ying. "I really don't have any credentials to show you! You're his mother. Whether he gets treated is your call! I'm fine either way!"

As she spoke, the attendant came over carrying a steaming aluminum bucket of water.

Song Ning took a needle from the sewing kit provided for guests on the counter. As she disinfected it with the alcohol beside her, she told the two women, "Make up your minds quickly! I'm busy!"

Meanwhile, the grandmother and a helpful bystander had carried the child into the duty room and settled him. Coming out and seeing what was happening, the grandmother said angrily, "What are you two doing? Someone is willing to help save Doudou! Why are you making trouble?"

"Mom! Have you forgotten what happened to Dad? It's precisely because Doudou's life is at stake that we can't be careless!"

"Mom! What Juanzi said... makes sense too! Maybe we should..."

Song Ning had already entered the duty room. Raising her hand, she pricked the child's earlobes and the spaces between his fingers in turn, drawing a few drops of blood from each spot.

The child remained unconscious and showed no response.

The attendant who had brought the water stood beside her, feeling uneasy.

Weren't they outside... still discussing whether to let her treat him?

Why had she already started drawing blood...?

Song Ning then undid the child's clothes and turned him onto his side. Finding it awkward with only one hand, she tilted her head to look at the attendant beside her.

"Come help me!"

"Oh, right!" The attendant hurried over to hold the child steady and watched as she pricked the back of his neck too, squeezing out a few drops of blood.

Once Song Ning finished, she handed the needle to the attendant. "All done! Here's your needle back! I'm heading upstairs!"

"Ah-wait-" The attendant was bewildered.