Page 30

Meat Tower Chen's cries of pain came from inside the house. Zhang Ruiyang, who had been happily playing, startled and crawled out from under the wicker chair. He was about to rush inside when Nan Shao reached out and scooped him up.

"Don't go in. Auntie and Daddy are treating Fat Uncle's wounds. We mustn't disturb them. Let's play outside."

"But Fat Uncle's crying..." Zhang Ruiyang said hesitantly, craning his neck to try to peer into the house over Nan Shao's shoulder.

"It's all right. If he can cry out, that means Fat Uncle's doing well. He'll get better very soon." Nan Shao stroked the little fellow's head, then crouched down and set him on the ground. "Are you hungry?"

Zhang Ruiyang's attention immediately shifted. He shook his head, reached a little hand into his front trouser pocket, and rummaged around until he pulled out an apple-flavored lollipop. He held it up to Nan Shao. "Handsome Uncle, I still have a lollipop. Do you want it?"

Nan Shao recognized it at once as the one he had given him that morning. An indescribable feeling welled up in him, and a trace of fondness unconsciously entered his eyes. He took the candy and peeled off the wrapper, which had already stuck to it. Glancing at the child staring fixedly at his hands, he smiled and put the candy back in the boy's hand. "Go ahead and eat it. Uncle still has lots. But you can only have one a day, or little bugs will eat holes in your teeth." After saying this, he could not help feeling bleak. In the future, even tooth decay would probably become a luxury ailment.

Holding the candy, Zhang Ruiyang glanced hesitantly toward the house, seemingly considering whether to take it inside for Daddy to taste first.

"You eat this one yourself. In a little while, I'll give Daddy, Fat Uncle, and Auntie Muran one each." Seeing what he was thinking, Nan Shao sighed and made the promise.

"Does Handsome Uncle get one?" The child had a good memory. Counting on his fingers, he repeated the list and immediately noticed that one person was missing from those who would get candy.

"Yes." Nan Shao felt deeply gratified. His affection for the little fellow had not been wasted.

Satisfied, Zhang Ruiyang popped the candy into his mouth and, probably out of habit, tried to crawl under the wicker chair again. Fortunately, Nan Shao reacted quickly and caught him. "From now on, no crawling on the ground while you're eating." Washing hands was nowhere near as convenient now as it had been before. Otherwise, he would already have carried the child inside and given him a thorough wash.

Zhang Ruiyang blinked his big, dark eyes and squirmed uncomfortably before finally settling reluctantly on the stone step beside Nan Shao. He sucked back the saliva that was about to dribble out and took the candy from his mouth.

"I know. Grandma didn't let me crawl on the ground before, either," the child answered loudly, but at the mention of Grandma, his spirits suddenly sank.

Nan Shao could not help putting an arm around his little shoulders and once again employed the great art of changing the subject. "My name is Nan Shao. From now on, call me Uncle Nan or Uncle Shao. Don't call me Handsome Uncle anymore."

"Uncle Pumpkin!" Zhang Ruiyang froze for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up. He looked up at Nan Shao, but could only see his chin covered in dark stubble. Unable to resist, he reached up to touch it. The prickles tickled his palm, making him giggle. "Just like Daddy's."

Uncle Pumpkin... Nan Shao's face instantly stiffened. Only after a long pause did he say slowly, "It's Uncle Nan Shao." His full name would do, too.

The child said, "Oh," withdrew his hand, and concentrated on licking his candy.

Nan Shao relaxed, not knowing that he had relaxed too soon, so that the name Uncle Pumpkin would stick with him for a long time.

Inside the house, Li Muran, wearing gloves, was deftly stitching up Meat Tower Chen's wound on the left. Because the bullet had only grazed that side, leaving no casing inside and damaging no major blood vessels, the wound looked frightening but could be stitched and bandaged once it had been cleaned. The right side was much more troublesome by comparison, so she had left it until later.

When the apocalypse struck, Li Muran had been interning at Zhongzhou Province People's Hospital. She had only been in general surgery for a few days, having previously rotated through burns and plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery, and urology. She had done plenty of debridement and dressing changes and assisted in quite a few operations. Although she always served as third or fourth assistant, tying knots and suturing were routine, and when her supervising doctor was the lead surgeon, she sometimes had a chance to use the scalpel herself. Of course, this was her first time treating a gunshot wound, and she really had little confidence, but under the current circumstances, she could only do her best.

Sweat poured off her. Li Muran turned her head and rubbed it against her shoulder, then used forceps to lay several pieces of gauze over the stitched wound. She left the rest to Zhang Yi, telling him to secure them with adhesive tape, while she removed the drape and spread it over the wound on the right leg. In the past, her instructor would certainly have given her a vicious dressing-down for doing this, but there was only one debridement kit. Conditions simply did not allow her to maintain strict sterile technique.

The wound in the right leg had to be opened up, then the dead tissue excised along the bullet's path, the bullet or fragments lodged inside located, and the femur checked for fractures. This series of tasks seemed simple, but was extremely involved in practice, requiring a thorough knowledge of the leg's anatomy to avoid damaging blood vessels or nerves. Even an experienced orthopedic surgeon would need a considerable amount of time, let alone Li Muran, who lacked practice.

The sky was visibly darkening. Li Muran had no confidence at all that she could finish before nightfall. Even another hour of electricity might not be enough, so she could only tell Zhang Yi, "Find me some candles. As many as possible."

Li Muran could not possibly manage everything here alone, so Zhang Yi called Nan Shao inside as well and assigned him the task.

Nan Shao was stumped. Even before the apocalypse, he would not necessarily have known where to get candles, let alone now.

"Search this house first. If there aren't any, go to the trading market and see whether anyone has some to trade." Hearing his question, Zhang Yi thought for a moment and said.

Nan Shao promptly followed his instructions, searching every corner of the house, along with its chests, cupboards, and drawers. He actually managed to find two half-used white candles as thick as a thumb. But those were nowhere near enough for surgery, so he grabbed a few Corpse Crystals and prepared to go to the trading market for a thorough search. Just as he was about to leave, he backed up again, poured the water remaining in everyone's bottles into a basin belonging to the house's original owner, and rinsed the bottles while he was at it. Then he took them along and brought Yangyang, who was clinging to the back doorframe and peering inside, with him as well.