Chapter 684 - 353: An Unconventional Surgery (Part 2)

Chapter 684: Chapter 353: An Unconventional Surgery (Part 2)

Yang Family was happy for her as well. She asked, "Have the betrothal cards been exchanged already?"

Liu Yunlan replied, "They have. The matchmaker ran back and forth twice and sorted everything out. Both my parents and the family of my third aunt’s cousin were satisfied, so we exchanged the betrothal cards. Now we’re just going through the motions. We’re taking Yungen to meet them so their whole family can get a look at him. I’ll be going that day, too. After that, we’ll send the auspicious gifts to finalize the engagement."

Yang Family sighed with emotion. "Things are so much more elaborate these days. It was never this much trouble before. A matchmaker would just come to the door with a proposal, the two families would meet and decide if they were a good fit, and then they’d exchange betrothal cards to consider it settled. Take Juhua and Huai Zi, for example. Our family worked it out amongst ourselves first, then we just found a matchmaker for appearances’ sake, so we could say it was a proper, formal marriage. And that was that."

Juhua smiled. "The higher a family’s social standing, the more particular they are about these things. Not a single detail can be out of place. Wealthy families naturally follow the same rules. For humble families like ours, things are much simpler and more direct. I think that’s for the best. Otherwise, you go through all that fuss, and who knows if you’ll even have a good life together in the end."

"It’s the same for everyone," Liu Yunlan said. "We’re just going along with their family’s wishes to put their minds at ease."

Liu Yunlan then went on about how capable the girl was, though her temper was a bit fiery, and how she would be able to help her younger brother after marrying into the family. But Juhua didn’t hear a word. Her mind had wandered. ’I wonder how Doctor Qin and Yun Ying are doing? It’s a good thing for a doctor to save lives, but to watch someone die right in front of you, powerless to help... That must be an awful feeling.’

Just as this thought crossed her mind, Juhua heard Yang Family say, "A bit of fire is a good thing. A fiery temper doesn’t mean she’s not virtuous. I’ll say something, and you youngsters had better not laugh, but before I got married, I was quite the spitfire myself. I was always getting into fights whenever someone bullied Juhua’s second uncle."

Liu Yunlan pursed her lips to suppress a smile. She snuck a glance at her mother-in-law and said cautiously, "I heard my father mention... he said you beat him up once, too!"

Juhua couldn’t help but burst out laughing with a "PFFT!" Her laugh made Yang Family a bit embarrassed. "Did that really happen? How come I don’t remember?" she asked sheepishly. Then, as if recalling something, she raised her head and declared, "He must have been bullying Juhua’s second uncle! Otherwise, I wouldn’t have hit him. Your father was a handful when he was a boy, you know."

Juhua stifled another laugh. ’Mom is just too cute!’ she thought.

Liu Yunlan quickly changed the subject, feeling it wasn’t right to poke fun at her mother-in-law.

Qin Feng didn’t return until sunset, and he was in a great hurry. As he passed the Zheng Family’s home, he saw Qingmu in the yard, pounding dried soybean pods with a wooden mallet. He went in to ask for a favor: could Qingmu go to Li Changxing’s place and buy a few black fish for him? He explained that he needed to go back and pack some things and would come by to pick up the fish and be on his way.

Qingmu nodded in agreement. Without asking what the fish were for, he turned to grab a fish basket.

Juhua heard Qin Feng’s voice from inside the house and rushed out. When she saw he was alone, she asked, "Where’s Doctor Yun?"

Qin Feng smiled faintly. "She’s keeping an eye on things over there. I just came back to grab some more medicine before I head back."

He saw Juhua looking at him with a questioning gaze. Instead of speaking, he simply gave her a slight nod before turning to leave. Juhua, however, let out a sigh of relief, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from her heart. She went off to push little Hulu around in his walker.

Seeing Juhua reminded Qin Feng of what had happened earlier, but he didn’t regret it in the slightest.

As it happened, the wife of Liu Heizi from Qingbei Village was having a difficult labor. She had struggled through the entire previous night until the midwife finally declared that she feared the worst. She told Liu Heizi to fetch Doctor Qin and see if at least one of them could be saved.

This time, Qin Feng was resolute. For one, he had already made up his mind. For another, he’d had dealings with this Liu Heizi before and knew him to be an honest man. He planned to lay out the stakes and convince Liu Heizi to cooperate with him. And so, he had called for Yun Ying, and together they went to Qingbei Village.

When they discovered that conventional methods would not be enough to save the mother and child, he took out a Nourishing Essence Pill he had prepared long ago. He placed it in the expectant mother’s mouth, instructed Yun Ying to apply her needles to stabilize the patient, and then prepared to perform a caesarean section.

Yun Ying opened her mouth as if to protest, but he cut her off with a fierce glare. She said no more and threw all her focus into the caesarean section.

Once the decision was made, all their reservations were cast aside, and the procedure began to move forward smoothly.

Liu Heizi stood guard at the door himself; if the midwife and his mother were to see the scene inside, they would likely faint. Even an expert surgeon from Juhua’s past life would have been shocked speechless. The surgery was a complete hodgepodge. The senior and junior disciples, clad in what could only be called "white coats" and wearing white cloth masks, caps, and gloves, bustled about nervously. Scalpels and silver acupuncture needles were being used in tandem in a bizarre fusion of Chinese and Western medicine. The air in the room was thick with the smell of alcohol, vinegar, ginseng, and various other herbs. In short, the entire scene was both eerie and strange.

Once the baby was delivered, Yun Ying, ignoring the mess, put her mouth over the infant’s and sucked hard, clearing its airway of a mouthful of fluid and grime. She spat it out, and the baby immediately let out a loud, healthy wail. It was a robust, large baby—which explained why the birth had nearly cost the mother her life. Yun Ying breathed a sigh of relief but dared not linger. She wrapped the child, set it aside, and went back to help her senior brother finish the procedure.

Throughout the process, the two of them were completely engrossed. This was not only out of caution but also because it was the first time in their medical careers that they had ever cut open a pregnant woman’s abdomen. Every step taken and every detail observed was critically important for them.

When everything was finally done, both senior and junior disciples were on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion, yet they didn’t dare relax for a moment. From this point on, however, they were using their familiar Chinese medicine techniques, so they moved with much more proficiency. They brought out all the precious medicines they normally treasured: topical salves for the wound and internal pills, all in combination with a prescription from Qin Feng. Yun Ying gathered the herbs and personally decocted them, so busy she barely had a moment’s rest.

The members of the Liu Family were weeping with joy, kneeling and kowtowing to Qin Feng and his partner. Qin Feng had no time to deal with them. He gave a dismissive wave, too preoccupied to even speak, and returned to his work. He ordered Liu Heizi to remain at his post and let no one enter the room.

Only Liu Heizi understood the full situation. He knew, of course, that this was an extraordinary event, so he guarded the door without taking a single step away, even eating his meals sitting right there in the doorway. He told his family and relatives that this was a secret technique passed down from Doctor Qin’s master and that no one else was allowed to witness it. This explanation was enough to keep everyone at bay.