Chapter 15: Promoting your own product
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
Ren Xiaosu sulked as he left. He wanted to beat up the young doctor, but his reason was unjustified. After all, he had intended to steal the doc’s occupation.
He had to become a doctor. Ren Xiaosu completely agreed with Yan Liuyuan’s point of view. The physician profession could very easily obtain the gratitude of others.
But how was he going to become a doctor if he did not have any medical skills?
After he reached the school, he started wracking his brains. Then he remembered the scene when they stepped out of the pawnshop last night.
The woman was crying loudly at the door of the clinic while the man was bleeding nonstop. In the end, his heart stopped.
Ren Xiaosu unwittingly looked at the skin between his thumb and index finger. Eh, the infected wound had scabbed over today?
So that black ointment not only reduces inflammation, it can even quickly heal a wound?
Ren Xiaosu had been wounded before, so he knew a great deal about the healing process of the human body. For example, a wound caused by a sparrow’s peck would take at least seven days to scab over.
Wait a minute! Ren Xiaosu got an idea on how he could become a doctor. If that person at the clinic could become a doctor through deception and bragging, why couldn’t he also become a doctor? This was especially true as he had a miracle medicine on him now.
Wouldn’t it be fine if he just opened a clinic that specialized in knife wounds? He could just stitch up the patient and then apply some black ointment onto it and the job would be done!
Back when the old doctor was still alive, he mentioned that he would not do suturing because he did not have the necessary sterilization equipment. If outside bacteria stayed in the body, they could kill the patient, so it would be useless even if he did stitch them up.
The old doctor understood this.
However, it was different for Ren Xiaosu. He did not have to worry about this at all!
Thinking of this, Ren Xiaosu got an idea. He even thought of how he could make some arrangements for Xiaoyu in the future.
Xiaoyu’s plan for the future was to see if she could get some sewing or patching jobs to earn some money to make a living. But Ren Xiaosu felt that this would be very difficult for her. If she were to offer this service in the stronghold, there would probably be a lot of customers looking for her.
But as everyone in town was poor, they could do their own sewing and patching work at home. Who would want to waste their money on a service like this?
Ren Xiaosu thought that since she wasn’t going to be able to sew clothes, she could sew wounds instead. But he did not know if Xiaoyu would faint at the sight of blood.
Ren Xiaosu even specially went to inquire with the schoolteacher, Zhang Jinglin. After all, he knew more than most people.
Zhang Jinglin looked at Ren Xiaosu in surprise. “You want to open a clinic that specializes in treating knife wounds? Do you have sutures?”
Ren Xiaosu thought for a while and asked, “What’s a suture?”
Zhang Jinglin was dumbfounded. “Then do you have anesthetics?”
“What’s an anesthetic?”
Zhang Jinglin was at a loss for words.
In this moment, Zhang Jinglin realized that Ren Xiaosu was utterly unprepared.
Zhang Jinglin patiently said, “Do you know why the clinic has never thought of doing such procedures when there are so many patients with knife wounds in town? It’s not only a problem of bacterial infection. There’s also a lack of anesthetics and sutures. I heard that these supplies are desperately needed even within the stronghold.”
Zhang Jinglin continued, “There’s also a particular way to administer the anesthetic. If too little is administered, it will be painful for the patient. But if too much of it is administered, the patient will be susceptible to complications. As for the sutures, it’s even more difficult. Not only do you have to consider the tensile strength, you also have to consider if its coefficient of friction will allow it to penetrate the tissue of the human body.”
“Oh, so it’s like that.” Ren Xiaosu waved his hand around. “That’s not a problem. A dying person won’t care about the pain. I’ll just use threads for sewing clothes to stitch them up.”
“Then what about the sterilization?” Zhang Jinglin asked in a startled manner.
“I have a secret formula for that!” Ren Xiaosu said.
It was just as Ren Xiaosu had predicted. Zhang Jinglin was not omniscient. He had some specialized knowledge, but the rest of his knowledge rested at a superficial level.
As such, Zhang Jinglin suddenly realized that he did not know how to refute Ren Xiaosu. In the end, he gave a wave of his hand. “Get ready for your class. The next period will be the survival lesson.”
Because Ren Xiaosu had tasted the sweetness on the first day he taught the class, he decided to prolong the lesson again until night fell before dismissing the class.
Some of the students still did not realize the kind of life they were going to live from now on.
After school, the students started walking out of the class. When Ren Xiaosu noticed that no one thanked him today, he could not help but take the initiative to ask, “Aren’t you guys going to thank your teachers?”
The students shuddered in fear as they collectively turned around and thanked their teachers.
However, Ren Xiaosu was utterly disappointed when he took a mental look at the palace. He did not gain even a single gratitude token coin.
Zhang Jinglin had already told him that it was quite normal for the students to not understand the teacher’s perspective. Ren Xiaosu felt that he still had a long way to go.
On their way back home that night, Ren Xiaosu could see that the lights were on in their shack from a distance away. He hurriedly went over and lifted the curtain door. When he stepped inside, he was surprised to see Xiaoyu sitting in their broken chair and sewing their clothes for them. There was even corn porridge and cooked wild vegetables next to her, which she had made for them.
They usually left their clothing in the shack since no one would steal them.
Even if someone stole the clothes, the thief would have to wear them out someday. Once they did that, they would get recognized. It would be a surprise if Ren Xiaosu did not beat the thief to death.
When Xiaoyu saw them return, she smiled and said, “Sorry that I came in without your permission. I saw that your clothes were ripped, so I decided to sew them up for you. Quick, eat dinner.”
Yan Liuyuan reached his hand out, wanting to scoop out some porridge. This meal was considered a luxury in town. Normally, they would only eat black bread or potatoes for their meals. However, Ren Xiaosu slapped Yan Liuyuan’s hand. “Have you thanked Big Sister Xiaoyu yet?”
Yan Liuyuan still behaved himself in front of Ren Xiaosu. “Thank you, Big Sister Xiaoyu.”
Xiaoyu quickly said, “Stop hitting Liuyuan.”
“I can spoil him now, but no one will spoil him when he’s on his own,” Ren Xiaosu explained. Then he also said in a serious tone, “Thank you, Big Sister Xiaoyu.”
“You’re welcome.” Xiaoyu smiled and said, “What do you two usually like having for dinner?”
Yan Liuyuan said, “We don’t usually eat dinner.”
“How can that do? You’re both still growing,” Xiaoyu said.
For some reason, Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt that Xiaoyu should have been their sister all this while. No one would say such words to them in the past.
“Big Sister Xiaoyu,” Ren Xiaosu asked, “your sewing skills are great. Why don’t you come over and help us when our knife wound clinic opens for business?”
“A knife wound clinic?” Xiaoyu was stunned. “Why do you suddenly want to open a clinic that specializes in knife wounds?”
“Because I have a medicinal herb formula for treating knife wounds. It can reduce inflammation and help wounds heal quicker.” After Ren Xiaosu finished, he showed the wound on his hand to her. Xiaoyu took a look at it and noticed that Ren Xiaosu’s wound had already formed into a scab.
Xiaoyu thought for a moment and said, “But there are much fewer fights happening in town these days. In the past, more than ten people would get injured each day, but only one person gets injured every few days now.”
This was indeed true. Excluding the person killed by Ren Xiaosu and the man at the clinic entrance yesterday, it seemed that there were really no fights happening recently.
The cases of night break-ins weren’t counted because there wouldn’t be any survivors left most of the time.
Ren Xiaosu pondered it for a moment. “Why don’t I go and chop some people up?” He quickly shook his head.
At the same time, Yan Liuyuan was shocked. “Bro, aren’t you being too ruthless? What is this? Promoting your own product?”
“No, no, we can’t do such things. We mustn’t get carried away by our own interests.”