Chapter 171: 171 Medicine qi is spicy to the eyes
After soaking the medicine ingredients overnight in alcohol, Du Heng found that they were now ready for use.
After organizing everything, Du Heng called over Wu Buwei. "Buwei, come here. Today, your big brother is going to teach you how to make medicinal pills."
Wu Buwei put down his book and eagerly trotted after Du Heng to the decoction room.
In the morning, the decoction room was quite busy. Wang Lili was working with two others inside, with two more people cleaning the hospital rooms. Seeing Du Heng leading Wu Buwei in, Wang Lili teased with a smile, "Wow, our Dean is showing such concern for us by coming to give us a helping hand, huh?"
Stretching his neck to look inside, Du Heng saw a row of decoction pots emitting white steam. The small room was filled with a strong medicinal aroma.
"Are you guys almost done?"
"A few pots of medicine haven't been decocted long enough. It'll take about another ten minutes or so."
Wang Lili and the others moved away from the door, opening the windows wide as well. The medicinal aroma floated out through the door and windows.
"Dean, we don't need any decoction machines or plastic sealing machines. Just install a ventilation fan in this room. It's unbearable inside when there's a lot of medicine being decocted."
Wang Lili wiped a tear from her eye. "We can bear with the pungent medicinal smell, but what kind of medicine did you use? The aroma is so irritating to the eyes."
Standing outside, Du Heng inspected the decoction room. When there were fewer people or no one at all, there didn't seem to be any issues. But now with more people, the decoction room had become quite problematic.
"It's not the medicinal aroma that's irritating your eyes; it's the lack of ventilation and the high humidity in the room."
"So, are you going to install the ventilation fan or not? If this continues, we'll really have to protest."
"I will. I'll discuss it with Secretary Lu when he comes later."
The group stood at the door, chatting and waiting.
After Wang Lili and the others took the medicine and left, Du Heng and Wu Buwei went inside to attend to their own tasks.
However, once the two of them started, the aroma that spread out was not only uncomfortable but also truly irritating to the eyes.
The strong smell of vinegar mixed with medicine made everything unpleasant.
When they finally got what they needed, Du Heng and Wu Buwei quickly returned to their office.
The Health Clinic was quite simple in its facilities, without any sterile rooms and the like, so Du Heng and Wu Buwei had no choice but to make small pills by hand in their office.
"KNOCK, KNOCK."
"Come in."
As the two were about to clean up the pills on the table, they saw the person who had come in holding two large red invitations.
"Zhang, what brings you here?"
The woman Du Heng addressed as Zhang worked at the neighboring Township Government. She was fifty-three years old but was very well-preserved, looking as if she were only in her forties. Most importantly, her figure hadn't lost its shape.
"I came over to deliver some invitations. I wanted to invite you and Xiao Wu to have a meal together." While speaking, Zhang placed the two invitations in front of Du Heng and Wu Buwei.
They had just been making pills and had medicine stains on their hands, so they didn't immediately pick up the invitations. Instead, they went to the sink to wash their hands first.
As they washed their hands, Du Heng asked with a smile, "Zhang, is your daughter getting married?"
Zhang suddenly became a bit shy. "It's not my daughter, it's me. I just want to invite some friends for a meal and some drinks, nothing big."
Du Heng was taken aback for a moment, but quickly realizing his reaction might be impolite, he hastily smiled and said, "Congratulations, Zhang. Which lucky man has won your favor?"
"You know him, Mr. Zhao from Central Lake Middle School."
"Mr. Zhao? Of course, I know him! When I was in junior high, he taught all our physical education classes. I saw him a few days ago, and he still looked as strong as a young man. But Mr. Zhao is quite tight-lipped; he didn't mention this to me at all."
Having wiped his hands, Du Heng walked over. "I'll definitely be there, and I'll give you a big Red Envelope. It's not easy for you two to get together."
"Yes, I've been raising my child alone since my divorce twenty years ago; time has just flown by. Zhao's been the same, raising his child by himself for over a decade. Sigh, let's not talk about that."
As Du Heng picked up the invitation and glanced at it, he said with a grin, "Yes, let's not dwell on the past. There are still many good days ahead. By the way, Zhang, I didn't hear any news. How did you two decide to get married?"
Zhang smiled. "Last week, someone played matchmaker for us. We already knew each other well, our backgrounds and all, and felt the other person was good, so we agreed. Besides, at our age, we're not picky anymore."
Delighted, Du Heng accepted the invitation. "That's fate! No one can stop it when it comes."
Seeing Du Heng and Wu Buwei accept the invitations, Zhang felt happy as well. "Alright, I won't disturb your work any further. I'll be going now. Oh, and Township Chief Song has something for you; she wanted you to go see her."
Startled, Du Heng asked, "She's looking for me? Zhang, do you know what it's about?"
"How would I know? That's your leader's business. I'm just the messenger."
"Alright, I'll head over now."
Taking off his white gown, Du Heng went to the neighboring Township Government compound with Zhang. Zhang pointed out the location before heading off to take care of her own tasks.
Township Chief Song was actually the Deputy Township Chief, named Song Jiaying, just a year older than Du Heng. She had been transferred in from another place last year.
When Du Heng knocked on the door and entered, she was sitting with her large belly, wearing a radiation protection suit, and typing on her computer.
Finding a seat by himself, Du Heng smiled and said, "Township Chief Song, you're already seven months pregnant, aren't you? And you're still working so hard. Can your body handle it?"
Song Jiaying finished typing her last word, then stood up, one hand on her waist and the other supporting herself on the table. She walked over to the sofa. "I have to work hard. There's a ton of work to be done, and everyone else is busy too. Some people haven't had a good night's sleep in over a month. It's not appropriate to assign the work to anyone else."
Complaining? Short-staffed?
Du Heng's heart skipped a beat, fearing that Song Jiaying might say something that would put him in a difficult position.
"We're in the same boat. The Health Clinic currently has more than a dozen inpatients, and there are also patients from the outpatient service during the day. We're busy from morning till night. Well, as you say, we're all serving the people."
I'd better set the stage first.
"Did Township Chief Song ask for me for a specific reason?" Du Heng didn't want to waste time on pleasantries; he just wanted to get back quickly.
Song Jiaying, appearing rather languid, leaned back on the sofa.
Hearing Du Heng's words, she didn't beat around the bush and revealed her intent directly. "The fight against poverty has entered its final stages, and our township government is now fully mobilized. Various schools have also taken responsibility for some families, and both the police station and the Savings Bank have sent people to help, but it's still not enough."
Just as I thought, she needs people.
Without waiting for Du Heng to reply, Song Jiaying continued, "I know the Health Clinic has been quite busy recently, so I didn't ask you for people. But even after reassigning staff from other departments, we're still severely short-handed. We have no choice but to turn to you for help."