Zhong Nanshan: Guardian of Life

Chapter 13 Physician's Ambition
When Zhong Nanshan, as a medical student, aspired to practice medicine and help others, he did not expect that he would encounter many difficulties and experience ups and downs on the road of practicing medicine and helping others.

At the end of [-], Zhong Nanshan was transferred from Beijing Medical College to Rushan, Shandong.Zhong Nanshan stayed in Rushan for more than a year.Farmers in Rushan have a very difficult life. They can only eat white noodles twice a year, and they can only eat meat by killing pigs during the Chinese New Year.But the peasants are very kind to Zhong Nanshan, who came from Beijing, and always give him the best things in his home.This is the peasants in the Chinese countryside. Although life is hard, they are still kind and simple. Zhong Nanshan was very moved.Zhong Nanshan lives in a farmer's house and has to sleep on a cold kang.The winter in the north was bitterly cold, and it was too cold to lie down on the icy kang, so he could only kneel, curl up, cover everything that could keep him warm, and survive the long cold night.

At this time, his wife Li Shaofen was concerned about her adoptive mother and in-laws, so she gave up the opportunity to stay in the national team as a coach, left Beijing and returned to Guangzhou. Since then, the two have worked hard on their own, seeing each other at most once a year.Like a real farmer, Zhong Nanshan ate dried sweet potatoes to satisfy his hunger and worked hard in the fields in severe cold days.One year's rations will be exhausted in the spring of the next year, so Zhong Nanshan can only put some locust leaves in the pot to satisfy his hunger.Life is hard, but Zhong Nanshan always believes that he must accept labor training, which he should bear.

There were many bedbugs and lice on the kang, and his ankle was bitten by lice. He scratched the skin, the wound was infected and festered, and it swelled into a big bag. It was difficult to wear cotton shoes.Zhong Nanshan gritted his teeth and insisted on going to work while limping.Zhong Nanshan's performance was noticed by the peasants.In March [-], due to his outstanding performance, Zhong Nanshan won unanimous praise from farmers and joined the Communist Party of China as he wished.

In [-], shortly after Zhong Nanshan returned to Beijing from Rushan, the "Cultural Revolution" began.His father Zhong Shifan and mother Liao Yueqin, who were far away in Guangzhou, were also severely impacted. Zhong Shifan was sent to the lower levels, and Liao Yueqin died during the "Cultural Revolution".When the bad news came, Zhong Nanshan was distraught and worked hard to forget the pain and win the trust of the organization.

In 400, Zhong Nanshan became the school's boiler worker.In this arduous position, he burst out with greater enthusiasm, almost working hard in a desperate state.The main job of the boiler workers is to deliver coal to the furnace. With a shovel as large as a bucket, they dig up coal weighing tens of catties at a time, then walk more than ten meters with the shovel coal, and throw it into the raging furnace.The high temperature in the boiler room consumes a lot of physical energy.The hardest labor is cleaning the hearth.The hearth had to be cleaned once a day, and when it was cleaned, the heat wave stirred up smoke and dust, which made people almost faint.This job tested Zhong Nanshan's physical limits.Soon, he really encountered an extreme challenge.Zhong Nanshan actively responded to the call for blood donation and donated [-]ml of blood.He just donated blood in the morning, and at night he went to work in the boiler room on time.No nutritional supplements, not even rest.Under the high temperature, he soon lost his strength and fell in front of the furnace door.The heat scorched him, and he passed out.A janitor who came to the boiler room to fetch hot water and a group of professors and doctors rescued Zhong Nanshan.

In the same year, his son Zhong Weide was born in Guangzhou.Li Shaofen is alone in Guangzhou, taking care of both the elderly and children.After burning the boiler for half a year, Zhong Nanshan went to Kuancheng in Hebei with the medical team sent to the countryside in [-].At this time, the wife was also sent to the countryside in Sanshui, Guangdong.Once, Zhong Nanshan's medical team visited a village and a villager suffered from severe stomach pain. However, since Zhong Nanshan graduated, his work has nothing to do with medical treatment, and he lacks clinical experience, so he dare not make a rash diagnosis.In order to save others, he rode on an old bicycle and went to the city in the dark to ask for Dr. Wang Haiyan from the medical team.The mountain road was rugged, and Zhong Nanshan drove back and forth for Dr. Wang for six hours.They arrived at the patient's home at two o'clock in the morning, but they were still one step too late, and watched the patient die.Zhong Nanshan was heartbroken, annoyed that he was incompetent and unable to treat the patient.

In [-], Beijing Medical College began to recall good-performing faculty and staff to engage in teaching and scientific research.Zhong Nanshan has always been motivated and performed well, but his application for promotion was still rejected due to "birth problems".This was a great blow to Zhong Nanshan.The ambition of becoming a doctor who cures diseases and saves lives is still in my heart, and every time I think about it, I feel a thorn in my back.When will he be able to regain his old dream and refocus on the medical profession he loves?No one could answer him.

(End of this chapter)