Chapter 81: The Unexpected Still Happened

"Girl, are you really thinking about digging for caterpillar fungus to make money?" Wang Guilan, of course, heard the implication in Xia Yan's words and responded with a smile on her face.

Xia Yan nodded eagerly, her head bobbing like a pecking chick. In her heart, she was already calculating that aside from raising pigs, she could treat digging for fungus as a sideline.

As a beginner, she figured that even at a slow pace, she could manage to dig up fifty to a hundred stalks a day. At ten cents apiece, that would be five to ten yuan daily—over a hundred yuan in a month. With that money, she could buy a radio in just a month.

Life in the mountains was good in every way, except that it could get a bit dull during downtime. If she had a radio to listen to the news and some music, life would be much more interesting.

Wang Guilan thought for a moment and advised, "Xia, digging for caterpillar fungus isn’t as simple as you think. For one thing, you have to be flat on the ground to find them, and it's up on the snowy mountains where the wind is fierce. With your delicate skin, you'd be black as charcoal after just a few days."

"Aunt Wang, I can handle all that," Xia Yan replied with confidence.

Seeing her so resolute, Wang Guilan smiled and agreed, "It's only January now; the earliest you can dig for fungus is March. Remind me when the time comes—at my age, I’m afraid I might forget."

"March?" Xia Yan was a bit disappointed. She’d thought she could start right away, but March was still more than two months away.

"March is still early. Around here, we usually start digging in April or May," Wang Guilan added, trying to comfort her.

Hearing that it would be yet another two months, Xia Yan’s spirits drooped further.

Wang Guilan busied herself spreading out the dried radish in the winnowing basket, and Xia Yan went over to help. The days passed peacefully and full.

Meanwhile, Yuan Xiangqin had finally waited for Li Yong to go up the mountain for duty. For the past few days, just the smell of oil made her nauseous. She knew that if she didn’t resolve things soon, it would only get more troublesome.

She took out the packet of abortion medicine Zhang Jun had given her from the cupboard. But as soon as she opened it, she hesitated—the pungent smell of the powder made her cough and sent her running to the bathroom to vomit.

When she returned, her face was pale. She touched her belly, steeled herself, and poured the powder into her mouth, swallowing it with a large gulp of water while pinching her nose.

She wrapped herself tightly in her quilt—Zhang Jun had told her not to catch a chill after taking the medicine.

Just then, a knock sounded at the courtyard gate. "Teacher Yuan!"

Zhou Weimin stood outside, looking anxious. He had come to the school to proctor an exam, only to find the test papers locked in the cabinet. Yuan Xiangqin was the one who usually kept the key.

He waited until nearly class time, but she didn’t show up. Upon inquiry, he learned she was unwell and had taken leave, so he hurried over for the key.

Yuan Xiangqin, having just lain down, had no desire to deal with whoever was at the door and burrowed deeper under her bedding.

Zhou Weimin called out a few more times, but hearing no response from inside, he muttered, "Could she have gone to the infirmary?"

When the noise at the door subsided, Yuan Xiangqin poked her head out, wrapped herself more tightly in the quilt, found a comfortable position, and prepared to sleep it off—hoping that when she woke, everything would be over.

But just after she turned on her side, a stabbing pain shot through her lower abdomen. It hurt so much she curled up like a boiled shrimp, her forehead drenched in sweat.

"Help... help!" She tried to shout, but the pain in her belly rendered her voiceless. Desperately, she pushed a thermos off the table so it crashed to the floor.

Outside, Zhou Weimin was just about to leave when he heard something shatter inside the room.

"Teacher Yuan?" he called again, but hearing no reply, he grew worried. "Could something have happened?"

He hurriedly vaulted the courtyard wall, pushed open the door, and saw Yuan Xiangqin lying on the floor clutching her stomach, her trousers stained crimson.

Without hesitation, Zhou Weimin scooped her up and rushed to the infirmary. Zhu Yan was out; only Zhang Jun was there. When Zhang Jun saw Zhou Weimin carrying Yuan Xiangqin, his face went deathly pale.

"Doctor Zhang, please, check her—what’s wrong?" Zhou Weimin urged.

Zhang Jun forced himself to remain composed and helped Zhou Weimin settle Yuan Xiangqin on the hospital bed. "Teacher Zhou... you should go... go..."

"Go where? Doctor Zhang, speak up!" Zhou Weimin pressed, anxious.

Yuan Xiangqin, in too much pain to care who was present, grabbed Zhang Jun’s hand. "Zhang Jun, save me, please!"

Zhou Weimin thought nothing of it—patients in distress often behaved this way.

"Teacher Zhou, step outside please. I’ll handle this," Zhang Jun said, controlling his emotions.

"Alright." Zhou Weimin nodded and stepped out to wait by the door. After thinking it over, he decided he ought to inform Li Yong—if anything happened to Yuan Xiangqin, it would be beyond his authority.

So he hurried to the office to have someone contact Li Yong.

Inside the infirmary, Zhang Jun glanced at Yuan Xiangqin’s blood-soaked trousers and immediately understood.

"Zhang... Zhang Jun, why are you just standing there? Save me! The pain is killing me!" she cried.

"I... I don’t know how to handle this. Dr. Zhu Yan usually handles pregnancy cases," Zhang Jun stammered, flustered.

"Where’s Zhu Yan? Call her!" Yuan Xiangqin was past caring about anything else. Zhu Yan was her good friend—she could be counted on to keep this secret.

"Zhu Yan’s gone down the mountain!"

"Then call her! Do you want me to die here? If anything happens to me, you’ll never get away with it! Ah! Go, now!" Yuan Xiangqin was on the verge of fainting from the pain.

"Alright... alright, I’m going." Terrified, Zhang Jun dashed out to call the hospital at the foot of the mountain.

"What? She’s not there yet?" Zhang Jun nearly shouted when he heard the reply. After a moment, he instructed, "Please, when Dr. Zhu arrives, tell her there’s an emergency at the station—her good friend Yuan Xiangqin—she must come back immediately."

After finishing the call, Zhang Jun bumped into Zhou Weimin, who had just returned.

"Doctor Zhang, how’s Teacher Yuan?" Zhou Weimin asked.

"She’s... she’s fine," Zhang Jun replied, his voice unsteady.

"Really? But she was bleeding..." Zhou Weimin was skeptical, but after a moment he said, "If she’s alright, that’s good. I was worried she might need surgery, so I contacted Li Yong."

Zhang Jun nearly buckled at the knees. "You called Li Yong just now?"