Chapter Thirty-Two: Treating the Ox

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Before Feng Kai could say anything, several commune members objected, voicing their doubts one after another.

“Secretary, you really intend to let this kid treat the cow? Isn’t that just fooling around?”

“Exactly. I’ve never heard that Yi knows how to treat cattle. What if he ends up killing it?”

“Who says otherwise? This is no place for him to show off. He really doesn’t know the seriousness of the matter!”

“If we slaughter it now, we can at least recover some of the money from the meat. If we wait until it dies, then everything will be lost...”

Hearing their distrust, Li Yi said flatly, “If I say I’m confident, then I’m confident. If that’s how you’re going to talk, I’m done with it. In any case, whether the cow dies has nothing to do with me!”

With that, Li Yi retreated behind the crowd.

He had only meant well. He had never expected them to speak so harshly.

What did they want from him? Were they expecting him to sign a formal pledge before treating the cow? He was no bleeding-heart saint.

Feng Kai frowned and shouted, “Enough arguing!”

Once everyone had quieted down, he turned to Li Yi. “Yi, tell your uncle honestly. What are the odds you can cure this cow?”

“If I have medicine, ninety percent,” Li Yi replied.

Li Yi still respected Feng Kai, so his tone was much gentler than before.

“All right. I believe you. Treat it,” Feng Kai decided.

Li Yi did not waste any time. This was a common ailment, and its treatment was not complicated.

Western medicine followed the principles of relieving spasms and pain while clearing and fermenting the intestines. Forty milliliters of a thirty-percent metamizole injection could be administered intramuscularly in a single dose.

Alternatively, thirty milligrams of atropine sulfate injection could be administered subcutaneously, together with a deep enema using warm water.

Thirty milliliters of belladonna tincture could also be mixed with three thousand milliliters of warm water and given orally in one dose.

Traditional Chinese medicine was effective as well. All that was needed was ninety grams of cubeb, thirty grams of fennel, thirty grams of green tangerine peel, thirty grams of costus root, twenty grams of Sichuan pepper, sixty grams of oriental wormwood, sixty grams of white peony root, thirty grams of wine-prepared rhubarb, and fifteen grams of licorice.

The method was simple too: decoct the herbs, strain out the dregs, allow the liquid to cool to a suitable temperature, and administer it all at once.

The production brigade had no Western doctor, but it did have a barefoot doctor whose supply of traditional medicines was fairly complete.

Li Yi immediately made a trip to Doctor Liang’s home. For fifty cents, he bought all the required herbs, then used the doctor’s medicine stove to boil them.

Since the medicine was for livestock, there was no need to worry about the exact amount of liquid. It was ready after only a short while.

After straining out the herbs, Li Yi carried the medicinal liquid back to Little River Bend.

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By then, the commune members had heard that Li Yi was going to treat the cow and had all come to watch. The place was packed with people; anyone who did not know what was happening might have thought some major disaster had occurred.

When Li Yi arrived, he spotted Tang Xue and his third sister, Li Na, among the crowd.

He did not go over to greet them, however. Treating the cow was more important.

Upon reaching the sick animal, Li Yi immediately called over two strong young men. One held the cow’s head steady while the other inserted a horn tube into its mouth for administering the medicine.

The old yellow cow was ill and had barely any strength left to struggle. It could only let several grown men wrestle with it.

Li Yi did not care whether it was pregnant and showed it no particular tenderness. He directly poured two large bowls of the thick medicinal liquid into its mouth.

Worried that it might spit the medicine out, Li Yi thoughtfully worked its jaws up and down and rubbed its neck as well.

Only after confirming that the sick cow had swallowed every drop did he tell the men to release it.

Seeing that the medicine had gone down successfully, Feng Kai walked over to Li Yi with his dry tobacco pipe in hand and asked, “Yi, will this really work?”

“Whether it works isn’t up to me. We’ll have to see how it responds.”

As he spoke, Li Yi pointed to the pregnant cow, which was gasping heavily on the ground.

“Hmm. I hope it can pull through,” Feng Kai sighed.

“Uncle, you don’t have any confidence in me?” Li Yi asked with a smile.

“You’re not a veterinarian. Where do you expect me to get any confidence?” Feng Kai shot back, rolling his eyes.

“Then why did you let me treat it? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill it?”

“If it’s already a lost cause, we might as well try anything. What else can we do?”

“Wouldn’t it be easier just to slaughter it?”

Feng Kai sighed. “I can’t bear to.”

He then rose and looked around at the commune members.

“Today, I was the one who asked Yi to treat this cow. If it dies, I’ll take responsibility. Whatever the cow is worth, I’ll pay for it.”

Brigade Captain Zhang Tongfu hurriedly said, “Old Feng, why put yourself through this?”

The secretary raised a hand to stop him and continued, “You may not know this, but this cow is already twenty-two years old. I personally brought it back from the county when I was twenty-eight.”

“I remember that back then it was a calf less than eight months old. I raised it day by day until I became the brigade accountant, then deputy captain, and finally captain. I kept feeding it the whole time.”

“A cow is like a cat or a dog. The longer you keep one, the more attached you become. I truly can’t bear to see it work for the brigade its entire life, only for us to slaughter it with a single stroke. I just can’t bear it...”

By the time he finished, Secretary Feng’s voice had begun to tremble.

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The old secretary’s speech was so moving that everyone fell silent. Several young female intellectuals had even begun discreetly wiping away their tears. Anyone who did not know better might have thought they were watching a melodrama.

Li Yi could not stand the atmosphere any longer. He stepped forward and patted the old secretary on the shoulder.

“Uncle Feng, that’s enough. It isn’t beyond saving. You’re making it sound like a final farewell.”

The crowd could not help laughing at his words.

“You little rascal. You really are asking for a beating...”

Li Yi smiled. “Don’t worry, Uncle. The cow only caught cold after being soaked in the rain. It’s simply more vulnerable because it’s old and pregnant. Look, isn’t its condition already improving?”

At his words, the onlookers turned to look at the sick cow on the ground. They saw that the animal, which had been rolling wildly moments ago, had quieted considerably. Its breathing was no longer as labored as before.

“Hey, he’s right. It really does look much better!”

“It’s stopped rolling around, and it isn’t gasping anymore. Yi really does know what he’s doing!”

“Who would have thought? He’s usually such a good-for-nothing, but when it matters, he can actually get things done!”

“Exactly. Do you think our village is about to produce its very own veterinarian?”

As everyone discussed the matter, Tang Xue turned to Li Na in surprise.

“He... he knows how to treat cattle?”

Li Na was just as bewildered. She shook her head.

“I’ve never heard of it before.”

“Then how...”

“Don’t ask me. My little brother has always had his own strange ways. Take those cold rice noodles, for example. I have no idea where he learned to make them, but they taste wonderful. You wouldn’t believe how popular his little stall is...”

Tang Xue listened to Li Na, but her eyes kept drifting toward Li Yi, who seemed almost like the main character in the center of the scene.

The more she watched him, the more she felt that this man was full of mysteries. The villagers all said he was uneducated and good for nothing, but from what she knew of him, that was not true at all.

He could make cold rice noodles, bake flatbreads, and sell mountain produce for money. Now he could even work as a veterinarian. How could anyone call a man like that useless?

Some people also said he was a cheeky rogue who never behaved properly. Yet Tang Xue had noticed that although he liked making flirtatious remarks, there was actually a strong sense of righteousness in his heart.

There was his heroic rescue of someone on the road. And they had been engaged for such a long time, yet he had never made any improper demands of her. That alone disproved the rumors.

Besides, Tang Xue could not explain why, but Li Yi seemed especially handsome to her now, and he possessed an unmistakable air of distinction.

He was still the same man, and his clothes and appearance had not changed much, yet somehow he seemed entirely different—full of charm.

At that thought, she found herself lost in a daze.

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