Chapter 409: The Sisters Meet

Lü Yizhong looked to be in good health, his face glowing. Since his return to Guangzhou, he had initially been somewhat shy and ashamed to show his face. But as the kūnzéi thieves’ power in Guangzhou grew, their business boomed, and the Pearl River was filled with their steamboats, bringing in shiploads of goods and taking out shiploads more. The officials, too, were all eager to curry favor, their faces beaming with ingratiating smiles. His heart, once full of sorrow and shame, had mostly recovered, and he gradually returned to his old ways, bustling between the various government offices in Guangzhou, acting for all the world like a “kūnzéi thief advisor,” which made him the subject of much gossip in official circles.

For this medical tour, Lü Yizhong had also run around to coordinate with the officialdom. After a few pleasantries, he quickly got into his sedan chair and personally led the way. Both Nanhai and Panyu counties had sent yamen runners to control the crowd and provide an escort.

Sitting in his horse-drawn carriage, Shi Niaoren looked at the unfamiliar street scenes along the way. He thought of how the Guangzhou station staff had retreated in disarray before the second anti-encirclement campaign. Now, under the title of “Great Song Imperial Physician,” he was entering the city in a grand manner, led by a turncoat. It seemed the Senate’s enterprise was starting to look like a proper conquering army.

With yamen runners clearing the way, the group quickly arrived at Huifu Street, where they were treated to another round of pleasantries, food, and drink. The next morning, the sign for the clinic was hung out.

Because of some advance publicity, many patients came as soon as the clinic opened, many of them with the attitude of “treating a dead horse as if it were alive.”

The entire Huifu Street was packed with people. Sedan chairs lined the street for a long way. Yamen runners from both counties and men from Qiwei were on the scene to maintain order. A dianshi (a low-ranking county official) was even sent from Nanhai County to oversee the situation.

As it was early summer and the sun was strong, to prevent people from suffering from heatstroke while waiting, Sun Chang had arranged for awnings to be set up along the street and had prepared herbal tea.

Large blocks of ice were placed in the front and back of the temporary clinic to cool it down. Although the project to build a gas-powered cold storage in Guangzhou had been rejected, there was a large one in Hong Kong. Now, a large amount of ice was shipped to Zichengji in Guangzhou for sale every day. The various shops under the “Zi” brand were also enjoying this “native air conditioning.”

Patients registered first—only one family member was allowed to accompany them. Before registering, they had to press their thumbprint on a “life-and-death waiver,” declaring that life and death were up to fate and the doctor would not be held responsible for any death. Then, a nurse would conduct a preliminary examination and triage.

Shi Niaoren divided the work, letting the naturalized doctors and medical interns he had brought with him see patients by specialty first, while he supervised. He would only step in for cases they couldn’t handle.

However, Dr. Shi’s most crucial task was to perform surgery, the strongest aspect of modern medicine. Most traditional medicines had records of surgery, but it was rare because the mortality rate was too high due to the lack of anesthesia, fluid replacement, and antibiotics.

But surgery had an immediate effect on many diseases and often caused a sensation among the natives during medical tours. Along with antibiotics, it was known by the natives as the “twin marvels of Australian medicine.”

Dr. Shi saw his first patient in Leizhou. He was the only son of a wealthy Guangzhou merchant, in his teens. At some point, a tumor had grown under the skin of his right arm. In the past six months, the tumor had grown larger and larger, spreading like a bunch of grapes, covering almost half his arm and causing severe pain.

The wealthy merchant had somehow learned that the Australians’ medical skills were superb and had specifically sought out Pei Lixiu. He was registered first under her arrangement. Of course, the merchant had paid handsomely.

After examining the patient, Shi Niaoren confirmed his previous diagnosis of a lipoma based on the photos. He immediately ordered the patient to be sent to the operating room to wait.

The surgery on the merchant’s son was very successful. The lipoma, weighing about three jin, was removed. Dr. Shi had a nurse put it in a large glass jar filled with alcohol and brought it out to be displayed on a shelf in the registration area. This greatly enriched the local residents’ conversation and served as a solid piece of publicity. Fearing post-operative infection, Dr. Shi requested that the patient be hospitalized for about a week for timely dressing changes and oral antibiotics.

The work of the medical tour was very busy, running from eight in the morning to eight at night, a continuous twelve-hour clinic. During this time, the medical staff took turns resting for three hours a day.

During this period, Dr. Shi would first examine the surgical inpatients’ wounds every morning and instruct the nurses on how to change their dressings. Then he would start performing surgeries, which often lasted until noon. After lunch, he would take a short break, then get up and go to the outpatient clinic to deal with the patients that the accompanying naturalized medical staff had found to be beyond their diagnostic and treatment capabilities during the morning clinic.

The people seeking treatment and the onlookers blocked Huifu Street three layers deep. Of course, many of them were just there to watch the excitement, and the surrounding shops also took the opportunity to do a lot of business.

Except for a few paralytics, cripples, blind people, and deaf-mutes who were sent by the onlookers to cause trouble, most of the native patients were properly treated by Dr. Shi. In the Ming Dynasty of this world, the natives’ hygiene habits and nutritional levels were extremely poor, so Shi Niaoren felt more and more like he was serving in an African refugee camp in his original world. Compared to the Senators who had to work in the fields or forge iron, Shi Niaoren had been living a pampered life among the transmigrators these years. So when he saw his assistants treating diseases caused by poor personal hygiene—such as draining and changing the dressings for patients with malignant sores—he couldn’t help but feel a little squeamish. But after three days, Shi Niaoren’s team had already seen seven or eight hundred patients. They had used surgery to save many patients from the risk of blindness due to trachoma-induced trichiasis and keratitis, a common local disease. They had also performed many minor orthopedic surgeries for falls and injuries, as well as several appendectomies and hernia surgeries. Under his guidance, the accompanying naturalized medical personnel handled many cases that were untreatable by the medicine of this world, such as hepatitis, bacillary dysentery, acute gastroenteritis, and pediatric emergencies like diarrhea and fever.

Li Mo, as the person in charge of general affairs, was busy from morning to night, and her life was fulfilling. At night, she would bathe, eat, and sleep, trying not to think about the past. Although Guangzhou was not a place of heartbreak for her, reminiscing always brought her much pain.

One day, she was filling in at the registration desk. After a busy morning, when she was about to pack up, she suddenly found an envelope under the counter.

Puzzled, she opened the envelope and a lilac tassel fell out. Li Mo’s face instantly turned pale. She quickly stuffed the letter into her bosom and hurried back to her dormitory.

That night, everyone felt that Big Sister Li was very strange. Her face was sometimes pale, sometimes flushed, as if something special had happened. A few female nurses whispered among themselves, wondering if this usually cold Big Sister Li had found love.

A few more busy days passed, and the medical tour was coming to an end. On the last day, after the clinic closed, Guo Yi hosted a banquet for everyone at the Ziminlou. He said that considering everyone’s hard work this week, he invited them to rest in Guangzhou for two days. The Guangzhou station would organize a tour to the White Swan Pool and other places. For those who wanted to go shopping on the streets, the Guangzhou station would also arrange for someone to accompany them.

Li Mo was very familiar with Guangzhou. She said she wouldn’t join the tour group and just wanted someone to accompany her for a walk in the city.

The Guangzhou station then arranged for a female bodyguard from the Qiwei Escort Agency to accompany her. Before setting out, the Guangzhou station also gave each person one tael of silver as pocket money.

Li Mo and the female bodyguard wandered around the city, bought some snacks and local products, and then came to the Ziminlou. She told the female bodyguard that she wanted to take a bath here. The Ziminlou was the territory of the Guangzhou station, so the female bodyguard naturally didn’t need to accompany her—not to mention that bathing was a private matter. She waited on the first floor.

Li Mo booked a private room on the third floor. During the day, the private rooms on the third floor were very quiet, with few customers. It would only get busy at night. She entered the room, but she neither undressed nor drew a bath. She just sat on the sofa, waiting, both anxious and excited, as if she were suffering. If someone else had seen her, they would have thought that this Big Sister Li was in the throes of a passionate love affair, waiting for her lover.

Fortunately, her wait was not long. The door of the private room was knocked on rhythmically: tap, tap, tap—two short and one long, exactly the signal agreed upon in the letter. She quickly stood up, tidied her hair and clothes, and unlocked the door.

Standing at the door was a woman dressed as a maid, her hair covered with a gauze scarf, and she was holding a bundle of clothes, just like the maids of wealthy families who often accompanied their masters here for bathing and entertainment.

However, who could it be but Li Siya?

“Big Sister—”

“Miss.” Li Mo’s lips trembled. The Li Siya before her was no longer the young girl she was when she eloped, but a woman in the prime of her life, ready to be plucked. However, her eyebrows, her eyes, her mannerisms, and her every smile were exactly the same as before.

“Let’s talk inside.” Li Siya said, turning sideways and entering the private room first.

She had been thinking about this meeting for a long time. She had long observed that the members of the medical tour were always accompanied when they went out on the street. It was impossible for her to meet Li Mo alone without being seen. She was sure that her big sister would definitely meet her, but how to meet in private was a problem.

After much thought, this was the most suitable method. She had one of her subordinates, posing as a wealthy merchant, book a private room on the third floor of the Ziminlou first. She herself would disguise herself as a maid and enter the Ziminlou with him.

As long as her sister was willing to see her, she would follow the method in the letter and also book a private room here. Then she could meet with Li Mo.

Li Mo closed the door and locked it. When she turned back, Li Siya had already removed the gauze scarf from her head and was looking at her with a smile. She could no longer hold back, and tears streamed down her face.

“Miss.” She almost cried out loud. In an instant, everything from the past flashed before her eyes, and she was filled with a mixture of emotions.

“Call me sister.” Li Siya could not contain her excitement either. Although the meeting was intended to make use of her wet nurse’s daughter, they had grown up together, and the bond between the sisters was extremely deep. Tears welled up in her eyes.