Chapter 375 Spinning and the Green of Winter

night.

Wang Mengde finally got off work on time today.

These days, the lucky ones from each department have been studying very hard and helping out wholeheartedly.

Because they had a solid foundation in medical knowledge, they followed behind and it didn't take them long to master the treatment methods of some diseases.

They are all doctors with many years of diagnosis and treatment experience, so Wang Mengde is naturally very reassured and lets them participate in the treatment.

Gradually, he only needed to grasp the general direction and didn't need to keep an eye on it all the time.

Even during the weekly ward rounds, if the patient's condition was stable and the illness was not complicated in his opinion, he would not need to go.

We only need to check those patients whose conditions are serious and about whom other doctors are unsure, as well as a small number of "big customers".

In this way, he saves a lot of time, and the number of foreign patients can continue to grow steadily.

As for whether some patients will have objections, that is not a problem.

Since they came to China for treatment, it means that they have not been cured in major hospitals in their respective countries, or even in major hospitals in many other countries, so they came here.

In this case, as long as the condition improves, they will at most complain verbally and will not dare to do anything else.

Nanluoguxiang.

Courtyard 95.

These two days, Ran Xiaomei was a little worried about her family here, so the whole family came to the courtyard to stay for two days.

In fact, in winter, Wang Mengde prefers to live in the staff building of his unit with his family.

When the staff building was first built, considering that there were many older and famous Chinese medicine experts in the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Guang'anmen Hospital, a lot of extra money was spent to install heating.

This is not municipal heating, but in the community, each building has a room dedicated to the boiler.

Then before winter, a large amount of coal was brought back from the suburbs.

At the beginning of November, the boiler master would add coal to the boiler at fixed times day and night.

Because we were willing to burn coal, the house was very warm every day. We didn't need to wear a cotton jacket at home, just a single piece of clothing would be enough.

Sometimes, the children would not even wear any clothes and would play in the house in just shorts without feeling cold.

Heating is much better than burning a stove in the house. Not only does it eliminate the risk of gas poisoning, but the temperature in the house is also much higher.

In addition, every household has a toilet, so there is no need to go to the public toilet in the dark and cold at night.

"Hey, Meng De is back."

Wang Mengde was carrying his bicycle and just entered the yard when he saw Yan Bugui standing in front of his house with his neck hunched and his hands in his pockets. He didn't know what he was doing.

"Uncle, it's so cold, what are you doing?"

"Well, Meng De, I was just about to go to your house, so it's a good opportunity for us to go together."

Yan Bugui said cheerfully.

"Second Uncle, are you looking for me or my dad?"

Wang Mengde asked with some surprise.

This old man Yan never comes to the temple without a reason.

If you're willing to go out in such cold weather, you must have something to do, and it must be a good thing that can get you a bargain.

Otherwise, according to his motto, 'If you eat well and wear well, you won't be poor, but if you don't plan well, you will be poor', it is better to go out as little as possible in winter.

Because the weather outside is too cold, more food is needed to provide heat.

It can be considered as an indirect way to increase appetite.

"It's like this. Your second aunt was spinning thread at home this afternoon. The good cotton was not enough. I wanted to borrow some cotton from your family."

Yan Bugui explained.

In this era, many families would use cotton to spin yarn at home.

Not only was there a shortage of supplies, the cotton thread bought with coupons was simply not enough, but it also saved some money.

The specific steps are to first make the cotton into a thin round shape, and then roll it up with chopsticks like rolling noodles. After pulling out the chopsticks, it becomes a long strip.

The next step is to use a hand-cranked spinning wheel to weave cotton thread.

When Wang Mengde was young, he lived in Tiangezhuang. Wang Tianshi often worked in the fields during the day and came back to spin yarn at night.

Sometimes when the moonlight was good, she would spin outside. If there was no moonlight, she would light a kerosene lamp and gently turn the spinning wheel under the dim light in the house.

Wang Mengde was quite naughty at that time and would often break the cotton thread on purpose.

Wang Tian was not angry, she just laughed and scolded him a few times, calling him "bastard" and "troublemaker", and then carefully continued the call.

So he was very impressed by the spinning wheel.

There are not many spinning wheels in the city, and most families buy cotton thread.

As for the Yan family, they are relatively special.

In order to save money, Yan Bugui went to the rural area, spent a small amount of money, bought a broken spinning wheel, and then shamelessly asked his neighbor Uncle Huang to help repair it.

From then on, the sound of spinning wheels was often heard from Old Yan's house.

"Second uncle, I basically don't care about family matters. Please ask my mother about borrowing cotton later."

Wang Mengde spoke as he pushed the bicycle carefully.

As for the cotton at home, he remembered that there was still quite a lot.

Last month, a foreign patient brought dozens of tons of high-quality cotton. Every employee at the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Guang'anmen Hospital received a lot of it.

As a recipient of donations, he received several times more than others.

At that time, the comrades in the logistics department filled several snakeskin bags with the stuff, and then transported it back home in several batches. In total, it weighed about 100 pounds.

The quilts in the house and the cotton in everyone's two cotton-padded jackets were all made recently and did not need to be replaced at all.

That is, when he returned to Tiangezhuang a few days ago, he brought a bag for his grandparents.

There was also Ran Xiaomei, who made a set of cotton clothes for each of the two children of her two brothers-in-law, using seven or eight kilograms of cotton clothes.

The rest are piled on top of the cabinet.

If many of the small items in the house had not been taken to the house in Guang'anmen, there would not be enough space for so many things.

In just a few words, I arrived at my doorstep.

They temporarily parked the bicycle outside, took a bamboo basket from the handlebars, and then the two of them entered the house one after the other.

Wang Mengde's family has no shortage of honeycomb coal, and for the sake of his children's health, the flower pot stove at home burns very vigorously.

Although it’s not as warm as Guang’anmen where there is heating, it’s much warmer than old Yan’s house.

After cooking, the second aunt sealed the stove. If she wasn't afraid that the stove would go out, she wouldn't want to leave even a gap, so the temperature in the house is not much different from that outside.

"Old Yan is here, please sit down and have a cup of tea to warm yourself up."

Wang Hao was sitting in a chair reading a newspaper. When he saw him come in, he greeted him quickly.

Feeling the temperature in the room, Yan Bugui looked at the burning flower pot stove with a mixture of heartache and envy. He whispered to Wang Hao:

"Lao Wang, I'll sit for a while."

As he said that, he chose a seat near the stove and sat down.

Wang Yuandi was standing next to him, picking up an enamel pot on the table and pouring him half a cup. Because there were two people drinking tea at home, Ran Xiaomei would make a pot of tea in advance before leaving get off work every night.

Picking up the teacup and warming his hands with the water, Yan Bugui greedily sniffed the scent of the tea leaves.

That is, you can drink tea at Wang Mengde's house. At home, you can drink boiled water at most. Sometimes, in order to save coal briquettes, there is not even boiled water.

Every Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, he would exchange the little tea ration in their home with others for food.

At this moment, when he turned his head, he inadvertently saw a green mass in the bamboo basket that Wang Mengde brought back, so he stretched his neck curiously to take a look.

This one look made his teeth almost pop out.

I saw that the big bamboo basket was filled with all kinds of fresh vegetables.

Just looking at the top, you can find spinach, rapeseed, cucumber, tomato, etc. There are probably more varieties that you can’t see below.

"Meng De, these were given to you by the foreign patients who came to you for treatment?"

Yan Bugui widened his eyes and asked in disbelief.

He really couldn't believe his eyes.

It is winter now, and the green things you can see on the market are the cabbage leaves that have been stored in advance.

In an era when there were no vegetable greenhouses, it was incredible to see so many fresh vegetables in this season.

At the same time, he swallowed involuntarily.

Every household has been eating cabbage and radish for a month or two. Now when they see fresh green vegetables, they can't wait to eat a few bites of them raw to satisfy their cravings.

"Yes, Uncle Two.

These are foreign patients who come to our unit for treatment. In order to live a more comfortable life, they will occasionally transport some supplies from their respective countries.

There were a lot of fresh vegetables among them, and they gave me some of them to thank me for treating their illnesses.”

Wang Mengde explained with a smile.

He brought large amounts of supplies home every now and then, and the neighbors had already known about it.

At first, some people reported it secretly. Later, the leaders of the street and neighborhood committee came to investigate several times, and finally the matter was left unresolved.

The neighbors in the alley also knew what was going on.

As the second uncle of this hospital, Yan Bugui naturally knows better than others.

But before that, they were just some food, daily necessities, and other rare supplies, which he could understand.

But now they were bringing back vegetables, and they were all shipped from abroad by plane, which made him stunned.

After a long while, he finally came to his senses and said sourly:

"Those people really know how to enjoy themselves. They are not afraid of shortening their lifespans."

Wang Mengde did not comment on his remarks.

He is now concentrating on improving his medical skills and research results. Then, if his family is safe and sound and they can enjoy a more convenient life, that would be perfect.

As for causing trouble, we'll have to wait another ten years.

After drinking two cups of tea and chatting for a while, when they saw that the Wang family was getting ready to eat, Yan Bugui tactfully put the enamel pot on the table.

Although I was extremely reluctant, I still had some vision.

Of course, he had to talk about the serious matters. He stood up and said to Ran Xiaomei:
"Sister-in-law, I came here today to borrow two kilograms of cotton from you for urgent use. I will be able to return it to you in the spring."

"Uncle, I'll get you some cotton right away."

Ran Xiaomei agreed without even thinking about it.

In her mind, it is normal for neighbors to help each other, and since it is a loan, she will have to pay it back in the future.

After Yan Bugui left reluctantly, Wang Mengde's family started to have dinner.

The dinner table.

A large pot of fragrant stir-fried meat with cabbage, tofu, pork belly and shredded radish, topped with white flour buns.

But Yaya was not interested in the sumptuous meal in front of her, which was usually served at other people’s homes. She took a small bite of the steamed bun and then looked back at the fresh vegetables in the bamboo basket.

His eyes were full of desire, and he whispered:

"Dad, I want to eat some vegetables."

"Eat well. No one will cook vegetables for you now."

Beside her, He Shengnan frowned and spoke first with a serious face.

The children in the family, especially the daughter, became a little spoiled because they had enough food and clothing and were very much loved.

The food we eat now would have been unimaginable ten years ago.

In the big pot of signature dish in front of me, there was more than a pound of pork belly slices, and there was also stir-fried pork with radish, which also contained two or three ounces of pork.

In the past, we had to save this meat for at least a month.

The conditions are so good, but you are still picky. You simply don't know how to appreciate what you have.

When Yaya heard her mother's stern voice, she was suddenly at a loss. She looked at Wang Mengde with her big watery eyes.

"Yaya, be good. Let's eat first. When dad comes back tomorrow with some mutton and vegetables, we'll have a good hotpot."

Wang Mengde comforted softly.

Along with the fresh vegetables, some beef, mutton and other supplies were also transported.

At that time, he remembered that there was still a lot of pork left at home, so he only picked some vegetables to bring back.

Anyway, the meat will be temporarily stored in the unit's logistics warehouse, and he can go and get his share whenever he wants.

The next morning.

President Lu brought Wang Mengde to the superior department.

"Comrade Wang Mengde, congratulations! Guang'anmen Hospital's medical fee income reached more than 8 million US dollars last month.

When the higher-ups heard the news, they were very happy and asked me to tell you a few words. "

The superior leader saw Wang Mengde and said with a smile.

After a pause, he continued to convey the above words:

“I hope Comrade Wang Mengde will continue to work hard and achieve more success, strive to break through the 10 million US dollar mark as soon as possible, and make more contributions to the country.”

"Leader, I will definitely follow the expectations from above and achieve better results."

Wang Mengde said with an excited look on his face.

He didn't expect that this matter would alarm the higher-ups.

However, he did not feel much pressure about the expectations from above.

Over the past two months, more and more foreign patients have applied to come to China for treatment. When he was reviewing the applications, he would simply pick out half of the information and discard it.

If we wait until the beginning of next spring and the three special care buildings of Guang'anmen Hospital are completed, more patients will come.

By then, let alone a medical fee of 10 million US dollars, even the goal of 11 million US dollars would be easily achieved.

Moreover, he has recently achieved other research results and is about to succeed.

(End of this chapter)