Transmigrated as My Aunt in the 70s

Chapter 755: Chapter 748: Deadly Medicine

Sisi struggled to suppress the urge to spit out the cornbread in her mouth, barely swallowing a bite. Beside her, Zhang Jie and Shangguan also picked up the bread, took a bite, paused for a while, and then began eating fervently, as if they had a vendetta against the bread, the rhythm of their eating was pretty fast.

Once her body got accustomed to the bitter taste, Sisi began eating the bread again. The bread from Yanwang’s family was roughly the size of an adult’s palm. Sisi fought off her nausea, finished the bread in her hand, quickly grabbed a few pieces of bacon and stuffed them into her mouth to mask the bitterness, which made her feel somewhat better.

Shangguan and Zhang Jie each ate only one bread and did not take a second piece. This mixed bread was indeed a challenge to the taste buds.

Gui only ate one piece as well; judging by his furrowed brows, he also wasn’t used to such bitter food.

"When I came here before, we had good grain. This is the first time I’ve eaten such bread. Damn, even pigs at my place wouldn’t eat this kind of bread," Gui complained bitterly. If not for the fifty yuan a day he was getting from Sisi, he wouldn’t eat such bitter bread at all!

But Yanwang ate it with relish, taking big bites, occasionally sipping wine, and nibbling on some dishes, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Sisi took out her camera and took photos of both the good bread and the mixed bread. Although both types of bread looked golden yellow, a closer look revealed differences. The good cornmeal was pure yellow, very bright in color, while the mixed bread was not as bright and had a bit of a darker hue.

Sisi also took photos of the moldy cornmeal and packed a small bag, preparing to take it back as evidence.

Sisi originally wanted to explain a bit, but Uncle Yanwang didn’t ask a thing and was very cooperative with her, watching her with a somewhat strange expression, as if he was thinking about something.

In the afternoon, Sisi and Zhang Jie, led by Yanwang and Gui, toured the entire village, discovering that the living conditions of the villagers were really bad. Like Yanwang’s family, the fact they could eat mixed bread every day counted as good; some families couldn’t even fill their bellies with mixed bread and had to add wild vegetables to it.

It was even worse than when Sisi first came to Yuexing Village in the seventies. Now it’s 1996, so why is life still so hard?

Yanwang sighed, "Our village relies entirely on God for food. Last year, there wasn’t much rain, and the harvest was poor. Since summer began this year, it hasn’t rained much; it doesn’t look promising. Of course, we have to conserve grain; otherwise, winter will be very difficult."

"Doesn’t the government care?" Zhang Jie couldn’t help but interject.

"They do. Isn’t all that grain distributed by the government? Without that grain, our lives would be even tougher!"

Yanwang couldn’t distinguish the difference between a foundation and the government; to him, a foundation was just the government!

Sisi also didn’t explain the difference between the foundation and the government to him, believing that even if she did, Yanwang wouldn’t understand.

Then they found some commonly used medicines distributed by the health clinic. Sure enough, they were all expired by a year or two. The villagers were mostly illiterate, so they couldn’t understand the production dates on the medicine boxes.

"These medicines are no good; taking them doesn’t help, and they cause body pain!" a middle-aged woman told Sisi and the others.

Inquiring further through Gui, the middle-aged woman started to ramble. It turned out that two months ago she had severe diarrhea and thought of these medicines. She took out the diarrhea medicine prescribed by a doctor and took two tablets. Unexpectedly, after taking the medication, her diarrhea worsened and her whole body ached, making it impossible to get out of bed. Her husband was so frightened that he went to the mountains to dig up some herbs to brew for her. After a few days of drinking it, she, fortunately, pulled through.

Sisi recorded everything the woman said and took out the medicines she had taken to photograph them. Shangguan held a camcorder on the side, recording everything, while the villagers gathered around them, chattering incessantly.

Most of the conversations were about material issues. Some reported that the quilts weren’t warm enough, feeling like hard planks over the body. Others said there weren’t enough clothes, lacking distribution among villagers. Naturally, the most frequently mentioned issue was the grain problem.

"We don’t have any other thoughts; we just hope to receive some grain that isn’t completely moldy so that when we eat it, we won’t vomit yellow water."

"As for the grain, just forget it. I just hope the government can fix our village road, so I can go out and earn money. I’m tired of always relying on government aid; we’re not beggars!"

.....

Sisi also inquired about the children’s education issues. Yanwang said there was a school forty li away, where all the children from the village were studying.

"There are only three teachers at the school; two are locals, and one is from a big city. Quite a handsome young man, I heard he’s a college graduate, skilled in both literature and the martial arts, can sing, paint, and write beautifully; he’s quite talented!"

Yanwang couldn’t stop praising Mr. Yan from the big city and even mentioned that he had once wanted to marry his eldest daughter to Mr. Yan. But unfortunately, Mr. Yan found his daughter too young and didn’t agree.

"How old was your daughter then?" Zhang Jie asked curiously.

"Fifteen."

"And how old was Mr. Yan?"

Yanwang wasn’t sure. After thinking, he said, "I’m not very clear either. He’s been here for fourteen years. At that time, he looked about the same as he does now, hasn’t changed much, probably about my age."

Zhang Jie rolled her eyes. No wonder Mr. Yan refused; marrying off a daughter to someone about your age, your heart as a father sure is broad!

They stayed in Jianding Village for only one night and bid farewell the next morning. Sisi left five hundred US dollars, a bag of wine, and a box of chocolates for Yanwang’s family.

She didn’t dare leave much more, as she only had one backpack and leaving too much might arouse suspicion.

The next stop was Mochong Village, one mountaintop away from Jianding Village. As expected, the situation in Mochong Village was worse than in Jianding Village.

The situation in Mochong Village was similar, except that last year a young man died from taking those medicines.

Sisi and the others found the deceased’s home where his parents were present. They showed them the medicine that led to their son’s death, which turned out to be expired anti-inflammatory drugs, or antibiotics.

According to the deceased’s mother, her son had a bad cold during those days, was coughing heavily, and the child’s father intended to go to the mountains to dig some herbs to brew for the child, but the child insisted the medicine was more potent than herbs and would be effective with just a few tablets.

"But the child only took three tablets, and by evening he couldn’t make it. His whole body swelled, kept crying out in pain, and even after two days of rescue at the health clinic, it was too late. Oh, my child was only sixteen!"

The couple seemed to be reminded of their grief by Sisi and the others, crying hysterically. Unfortunately, this sixteen-year-old boy didn’t even have a photograph.

"I’m just afraid that with time, I won’t even remember what my child’s face looked like, what should I do then?" the mother said sobbing, tears in her eyes.

Sisi felt a pang of sorrow hearing her words, took out a pen and paper from her bag, and began drawing according to the couple’s description. At first, no one knew what Sisi was doing, but as the portrait began to emerge on the paper, everyone was amazed.

Before long, the image of a young boy appeared vividly on the paper. The deceased’s mother stared fixedly at the drawing, her tears flowing even more fiercely as she muttered.

"This is my child! My child was indeed this handsome!"