Chapter 38
“Have you been here before, Dr. Pei?” Zhuang Yumian looked at the person walking extremely fast in front of her, leading her through the twisting and turning alleys.
The sound of a window being pushed open came from upstairs. She felt her arm being pulled, and her whole body was brought to another section.
The two of them saw a white phlegm fly over their heads, and finally over the stone wall, landing in the overgrown weeds next to it.
Zhuang Yumian was so shocked that her breath stopped for a moment. “Oh my god, what kind of people are these? It was so close!” She held out her little finger and wanted to put it in front of Pei Yunle’s eyes. “It was this close to spitting on our heads!”
There was a not-so-small puddle at her feet. Zhuang Yumian lifted her leg and easily jumped over it. This leap finally closed the gap between the two of them.
The words she had just said turned into hot air. She looked at the woman next to her through this bit of fog. The black hair was tangled in the black earring of the same color. The high nose bridge cut out a dark shadow. Her lips were very pale, and her expression was also faint.
“Is Longtan Community still far?” Zhuang Yumian was a talkative person. The less the person next to her liked to talk, the more she wanted to ask.
The two of them finally walked out of the alley. Pei Yunle finally lifted her half-closed eyes and looked at the scene in front of her.
It was still this ever-flowing river, the same stone-paved bridge. Except that a few mountains had been dug up and turned into a residential area.
“It’s not far.” Pei Yunle said three words. Winter had just passed, but there was still a lingering chill. It was said that it was the beginning of spring, but the flower buds on the branches did not dare to poke their heads out.
“There are too many residents in the community. We’ll just pick some old people who are active downstairs.”
With that, Pei Yunle touched the questionnaire tucked under her elbow.
In recent years, Anyang had established a medical-nursing consortium, led by a tertiary hospital to integrate community health centers and elderly care institutions, providing online nursing service appointments and home hospice care.
However, the development in Pingshun was really lagging behind. Most of the able-bodied people had gone out to work, and most of the people who stayed behind were the elderly and children. There was only one private elderly care institution here. Although the price was not expensive, no one was willing to go. The reason was naturally that they did not want to waste money.
People always fantasized about life after death, but they were not willing to really improve their quality of life.
This was the grassroots of the grassroots. The health funds were small, and the health resources were even smaller. Words like “smart online” were completely irrelevant to Pingshun.
Not to mention smart elderly care, which was complete nonsense.
But there would always be people who were willing to be the pioneers, right? Even if the days here were harder than in Anyang, and there was not much oil and water to be gained. Even if they could not start any smartization yet, it was still necessary to establish a relationship with the community here first and investigate the situation and elderly care needs of the local elderly.
Who would be this fool?
Pei Yunle stood up. She did not want to be a doctor completely. After returning to Anyang, she thought about doing something else. She thought of collecting scrap. This could really make money.
But the image of Chen Qingtang arguing with her for the first time came to her mind.
She said that Pei Yunle should not waste the educational resources she had received, when there were still so many people who could not go to school.
Pei Yunle was dejected. She did not want to make Lin Zilan angry, nor did she want to make Chen Qingtang sad. So she took out the career planning book she had submitted for a competition. The theme inside was the combination of medical care and elderly care.
She had been thinking about it for a few months and was thinking of making a private platform. Just as she heard about Anyang’s new policy, this thing was still new, and not many people had come. Pei Yunle, with the help of a little inside information from Lin Zilan, passed the interview and written test and got the job.
When she sat on the bus with a few bags, Lin Zilan was still frowning, but she did not say anything, just stopped giving her living expenses.
Here it came again. Pei Yunle wanted to laugh when she thought of her mother’s trick. She even forgot to avoid another puddle at her feet.
The dirty, colorless sewage did not splash on her pants, but instead, Zhuang Yumian, who was walking next to her, was the unlucky one.
“My new pants!”
Pei Yunle glanced back at her and shrugged. “Sorry, I’ll buy you a new pair when we get back.”
Zhuang Yumian snorted and walked into the Longtan Community with the documents in her hand.
The community here was pitifully small. The only office building was only one story high, and a large hall stood alone in front of them.
Pei Yunle pushed open the door and went in. There was no one inside. She looked at the clock on the wall. They had come at an inopportune time, just at the lunch break.
Next to it was the residential area. Three buildings surrounded a circle of vegetation with all its leaves gone.
There was some relatively new fitness equipment downstairs, and a few old people were sitting under the tree chatting.
Pei Yunle walked over. She had not worn a jacket when she went out. She had just wrapped herself in a black high-collared sweater and put on a white coat. Although it was a little cold, she could still bear it.
Wearing a white coat, people would always be less wary of you because you were a doctor. At least it was better than being a complete stranger.
“Good morning, grandmas. We are doctors from Tongkang Community. We would like to investigate something. Can we have a few minutes of your time?”
An old woman with all her teeth gone looked up. “Tongkang still has doctors?”
Zhuang Yumian popped out from the side and took out the survey form in her hand. “Yes, yes. We’ve just recruited some recently. But we can’t compare with the hospital. The equipment there can at most measure your blood pressure, do some rehabilitation exercises, and some health care work.”
“We’re preparing to do elderly care work recently. We want to see how everyone’s health is, and also ask for everyone’s opinions.”
She took off the pen cap and handed out the survey forms in her hand to the old people in the circle.
“I can’t see.” The old woman held the thin paper.
Other than those with poor eyesight, there were also illiterate old people.
Pei Yunle took back the survey form, took the pen from her chest pocket, and said with a calm smile and a gentle voice, “How about this, you say it and I’ll write it down.”
“It’s so troublesome. It’s getting cold and I want to go home.”
At these words, a few old people next to her followed suit.
Pei Yunle took out the eggs she had bought at the supermarket beforehand. “Don’t be in a hurry. I know it’s still cold. Everyone can take an egg back to boil and eat. It will warm you up, right?”
With that, Pei Yunle did not wait for their reply and gave Zhuang Yumian a look. The eggs in the bag were quickly distributed.
After taking the eggs, the old people had benefited, so they cooperated with them and answered the ten or so questions.
It took almost an hour to finish the questionnaire.
Zhuang Yumian’s face was green. She only dared to complain after they had walked onto the street. “I had to repeat the same sentence seven or eight times. There was no key information at all. I asked them if they usually measured their blood pressure, and she actually started talking about when she was a daughter-in-law, about her sisters-in-law and mother-in-law, aiyo.”
Pei Yunle smiled and did not say anything, just led her forward.
Today was Sunday, which was the day of the market in Pingshun. The roadside was full of small stalls, and it was so crowded that there was no place to put your foot down.
A few red three-wheelers were parked on the side of the road, piled with red apples and yellow oranges. A large sign clearly stated ten yuan for three jin.
Zhuang Yumian stood in front of a three-wheeler. “Dr. Pei, I want to buy a bag of strawberries. They’re much cheaper than in Anyang.”
Pei Yunle looked at the plump, juicy strawberries and was about to remind her that the strawberries here were very sour. But standing in front of the owner, she could not say anything.
She remembered when she was at the market with Chen Qingtang. That person had clearly been biting into the sour fruit, but her face was still calm, just to trick her into eating one more sour strawberry.
At the thought of this, her mouth turned sour, as if she had already eaten a dozen strawberries.
There were many people on the ground selling plants they had picked from the mountains, saying they could be used as medicine. The old people were bargaining with each other, unwilling to buy and unwilling to leave.
It was the first time Zhuang Yumian had seen the market in the town. She just felt that everyone was bumping into her.
“Dr. Pei, can we not go this way?” She did not know the way, and there were many people here. Afraid that the two of them would be separated, Zhuang Yumian had to hold on to Pei Yunle’s wrist tightly.
Pei Yunle looked down at the five fingers that were clinging to her hand bone, lifted her hand, and brushed her hand away. “Just follow me closely and you won’t get lost. Besides, don’t you have a phone?”
“Then you walk slower. By the way, do we have to go this way? Is there a shortcut?”
“I don’t want to go this way either, but there are no other roads around. Just make do.”
“Oh right, I asked you just now and you didn’t answer me. Have you been here before?”
Pei Yunle nodded. “I have. I stayed for a whole summer.”
“So long? What were you doing here?” Zhuang Yumian exclaimed from the side.
“This is probably a very complicated story…” Pei Yunle’s voice was mixed with the sound of a horn next to her, and Zhuang Yumian could not hear clearly.
“No wonder you’re so familiar with this place. You can walk through any alley.” Zhuang Yumian casually popped a strawberry into her mouth, her expression natural.
“Mainly, someone took me around this small town at that time.”
Chen Qingtang and she had strolled in the summer night, and on the mossy stone-paved road, they had fanned themselves with cattail fans in front of everyone’s gaze, just to immediately fan away the sticky sweat that had overflowed from their secretly held hands in the deserted alley. So Pei Yunle began to remember every alley, and even standing at a certain corner, she could still remember the touch of Chen Qingtang’s lips.
Seeing her expression darken again, Zhuang Yumian handed her a strawberry. “Want one?”
Pei Yunle did not want it. “You can have it yourself.”
“This road is like the square in Anyang. There are also a bunch of people who set up stalls here to sell toys to make money from children.”
Zhuang Yumian pointed to the small road in front. “Can we go and have a look?”
“We still have to go back to Tongkang Community. We’ll lose the forms later.” Pei Yunle reminded her. Seeing that Zhuang Yumian was getting playful, she felt that things were not good. Mainly, she really did not want to accompany Zhuang Yumian everywhere.
“Aiya, it’s okay, it’s okay. Just a look. I just want to buy a hair tie. The one on my head is about to break.”
Hearing this, Pei Yunle turned her head and glanced at her ponytail. The hair tie on it did indeed seem to be on the verge of breaking.
“Okay, hurry up and buy it and let’s go.” Pei Yunle sighed.
The hair ties at the small stall were even cheaper, ten yuan for five. Although they were not very good-looking, they were cheap. Zhuang Yumian was not picky and quickly chose a few plain-colored ones.
“This ring box is like the Barbie doll set I used to play with as a child.” Zhuang Yumian held up a ring box from the stall, which contained a fake diamond ring.
Pei Yunle just glanced at it and then looked away. Pingshun was indeed so small, so small that Chen Qingtang’s figure was everywhere.
She squatted by the stall and waited. The passersby in their various colored clothes formed a colorful ocean. She was floating in this tide, her head dizzy.
Next to it was a meat stall. The sound of a cleaver suddenly falling on the chopping block was annoying.
“Yo, you’re finally here. I’ve been saving these two racks of pork ribs for you.” The butcher’s voice was deafening.
“Have you considered what I told you last time?”
The voice was too loud. Pei Yunle turned her back to the butcher and covered her ears, watching Zhuang Yumian pick and choose from the pile of hair clips.
“When are you going to weave that dream net next time? My niece is crying and wants one.”
The butcher’s voice was still exploding in her ears. The cries of the vendors were infinitely amplified by the loudspeakers. Pears, apples, and oranges were on this side of the road, and snake skins, herbs, and flower wine were on the other side.
The friction of clothes as people came and went, and the fierce arguments of bargaining.
However, all these sounds were no longer audible. They were mixed with the sound of the wind and floated away to who knows where.
Pei Yunle’s fingers had already left her ears. There was nothing else blocking the sound source. The colorful ocean began to fade into black and white little by little.
Her legs were numb from squatting. She turned her head to look at the meat stall behind her.
A touch of plain color stood in the black and white world. Chen Qingtang still exuded an irrepressible vitality, and the entire small town also began to be dyed with color.
Pei Yunle felt that the surroundings were still quiet. At this moment, it was her and Chen Qingtang’s exclusive silent resonance.
Her legs were numb from squatting, and she almost could not stand up.
“Dr. Pei, I’m done buying.” Zhuang Yumian held the hair clips and hair ties in her palm and handed them to the dazed person.
The two of them were squatting by the small stall. Zhuang Yumian had a novel smile on her face, and they looked very close.
The moment she heard the voice next to her, Pei Yunle began to receive the hustle and bustle of this world.
“Oh…” Chen Qingtang’s gaze was still on her. For a moment, Pei Yunle did not know how to deal with Zhuang Yumian. The survey form in her hand had already been stained with some dirt from the sweat on her fingertips.
“Let’s go back to Tongkang now. I’m so hungry. I’ve been busy all morning, and I still have to make a spreadsheet when I get back.” She yawned.
Pei Yunle glanced at Zhuang Yumian, wanting her not to speak to her in such a “let’s go home” tone. The two of them had only been colleagues for a few days.
“You go back first. I’ll be there later.”
With that, Pei Yunle stuffed the survey form in her hand into Zhuang Yumian’s hand.
“Ah, I don’t know the way.”
“Then you can just take a taxi or ask a passerby!”
Pei Yunle finally dealt with Zhuang Yumian in a few words. When she turned her head again, Chen Qingtang had already taken the bag of pork ribs, paid, and was about to leave.
She turned away decisively. For a moment, Pei Yunle could not see her expression clearly, as if they had never known each other.
