Chapter 269: The First Patient

Chapter 269: The First Patient

The next morning, Ye Xiaoxiao woke up stiff and sore—not because of the bed, but from sitting in the car for too long.

The weather here was indeed dry, and Ye Xiaoxiao felt her skin getting flaky.

After putting on moisturizer in the morning, she felt slightly better.

After breakfast, Ye Xiaoxiao headed back to the clinic. Although the Head told her it wasn’t busy and suggested she rest for a few more days, she still wanted to get acquainted with the place.

First, she checked the arrangement of the clinic’s routine medications and noticed that the supplies were pretty limited.

“We mostly just handle basic meds and IVs here. If it’s a serious injury or illness, we can’t treat it,” the Head said matter-of-factly, then glanced at Ye Xiaoxiao. “You trained in Chinese medicine, but we don’t have any Chinese herbs here.”

Ye Xiaoxiao asked, “Is there a way to send mail from here?”

Zhao Chunhua replied, “All outgoing mail gets screened, and no addresses can be shown. If you want to send a letter, you can go to the post office in Nalan Town.”

Ye Xiaoxiao: “So receiving packages is also done there?”

Zhao Chunhua: “That’s right. It's not too far—only a two-three hour walk.”

Ye Xiaoxiao: *How is that quick?*

Zhao Chunhua: “Just use Nalan Town as the address and pick it up when you have time, or wait for the troops to bring it back when they go out.”

Ye Xiaoxiao went back to organizing the clinic’s medications.

The Head's advice wasn't exactly useful.

Zhao Chunhua watched Ye Xiaoxiao bustle about but said nothing.

“No rush getting things in order here. Pull out any expired meds—don’t let them sit around.”

Ye Xiaoxiao gave a determined nod.

The first patient arrived sooner than expected. Just as she finished taking stock of the medications, a man hunched over in pain came in.

Since Ye Xiaoxiao looked young and unfamiliar, and there were no standard uniforms here, the man managed to gasp out, “I’m looking for Dr. Yang.”

Ye Xiaoxiao: “Have a seat first.”

Another person was supporting the man.

“Are you the new doctor here?”

Ye Xiaoxiao: “Yes. First, let me take your pulse.”

Her fingers found his wrist.

“You're a Chinese medicine doctor?”

The colleague who had accompanied the man blinked in surprise, then his face darkened with disapproval.

"What nonsense—how could TCM..."

"It's no big deal, just a bout of gastroenteritis. We’ll start an IV."

Ye Xiaoxiao had already withdrawn her hand and advised the patient, "You need to eat on time. Don’t go hungry or stuff yourself."

"You actually diagnosed that?"

"Hey, Old Hu—mind your manners with the doctor."

The gastroenteritis patient was named Li Chengfeng. Ye Xiaoxiao registered his name and went to prepare the medication.

This kind of basic task was something Ye Xiaoxiao had down pat way before college.

Once the IV drip was administered, Li Chengfeng started feeling much better.

The archaeology guy from before was speechless.

Sheepishly looking at Ye Xiaoxiao, he said, "Sorry about earlier, that was rash of me."

Ye Xiaoxiao didn’t hold it against him—she was used to skepticism.

Old Hu turned to Li Chengfeng and launched into a never-ending lecture, "The doctor just told you to eat on time. I’ll grab you some buns from the mess hall."

Clinic visits and meds were free for staff, so there was no need to worry about costs. Even so, hardly anyone bothered to come for meds.

When Li Zhen came to call Ye Xiaoxiao for lunch, she did a double-take seeing a patient there.

"Who administered the IV? You?"

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Yes, is there a problem?"

Li Zhen: "Did you also prepare the medication? Usually, only the Head and Dr. Yang are allowed to handle that. You sure you know what you’re doing?"

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Relax, I’m trained."

Li Zhen stomped her foot. "All these newbies boast about their degrees, then botch things left and right."

Ye Xiaoxiao thought about it—those who could get into university in this era were actually quite capable. Probably just rookie mistakes.

"I’ve got this."

Li Zhen was speechless, but seeing that Comrade Li seemed fine, she asked, "Are you still coming for lunch, or should I bring you something?"

Ye Xiaoxiao: "Is it free?"

Li Zhen: "Suit yourself!"

Ye Xiaoxiao handed her lunchbox to Li Zhen. "Appreciate it."

Li Zhen carried the lunchbox to the cafeteria and bumped into Yang Juan on the way. "You should go back and check later. The newbie’s already hooking people up to IVs!"

Past newbies never dared pull this.

Yang Juan’s eyes widened. After getting his food, he skipped the cafeteria and rushed back to the clinic.

Back at the clinic, Ye Xiaoxiao had already taken out Li Chengfeng’s IV.

Then she took out a few bottles of medicine from the cabinet, popped the caps off, and measured out individual doses parceled in paper packets.

There was no other way—resources were scarce, so this was the only option.

She couldn’t just hand him a whole bottle.

"Two days' worth of medicine, to be taken after meals.

Your condition isn’t serious today, but if it develops into acute gastroenteritis, work’ll be the least of your worries—with the medical conditions here, you could actually die."

Old Hu, clutching his lunch pail, remarked, "You’re quite sharp-tongued, kid."

He then needled Li Chengfeng, "You heard her, right? If you die, our project will be dead in the water."

Li Chengfeng: "Don’t curse me."

Just then, Yang Juan returned.

Seeing the medicine Ye Xiaoxiao had prepared, he found nothing wrong with it.

All that worry for nothing.

...

By the afternoon, the Head had also gotten wind of this.

"Now we’ve got two doctors at the institute. Under normal circumstances, Yang Juan and Xiao Xiao can split shifts—one day each."

Li Zhen: "What about me?"

Zhao Chunhua: "You were always just helping out and cleaning. Don’t think about skating by."

Li Zhen could only pout and slump back into her seat in disappointment.

Ye Xiaoxiao was fine with whatever the Head decided.

Yang Juan also saw no issue—on his days off, he could get some quiet reading time without Li Zhen popping in every five minutes.

After three days at the Nalan Base, Ye Xiaoxiao started getting to know folks there.

The base also learned that a young, good-looking resident had arrived at the medical office.

Ye Xiaoxiao couldn’t figure out why she hadn’t spotted Lu Hanchuan for three whole days—was he even here?

Aunt Yun wouldn’t steer her wrong.

So where was Lu Hanchuan?

Once she got her bearings, Ye Xiaoxiao started fishing for intel from the soldiers around.

"Do you all usually live at the base?"

The young soldier, Zhang Ben, was getting treated for a sprain. While Ye Xiaoxiao was setting his ankle, she threw out a question.

"Yeah."

"Do you always stay here on duty?"

Ye Xiaoxiao wasn’t sure if he’d tell her.

Zhang Ben clearly didn’t mind. "We get deployed sometimes too. The area around here is kinda dicey, Dr. Ye. You shouldn’t go out alone."

No way I’m going out there. Good luck finding them if someone gets lost in the desert.

Ye Xiaoxiao: "No way I’m going out there."