"Are these crabs for me?" Lin Zhilan asked.
"Yes." Yan Yuan secretly clenched his fingers behind his back. "I don't know when Grandpa will get better, but I know how to catch crabs too. It's not hard."
Lin Zhilan smiled. "Xiao Yuan, I'm only in my twenties. There's no rush."
"If you want to thank me, you'll have plenty of opportunities in the future. But if you keep staying up late, you'll lose your chance to grow taller."
"I won't," Yan Yuan said, looking up at her.
Lin Zhilan laughed in exasperation.
Jiang Chengzhou grew fast; his height was among the top in his class. Even boys a few grades above him might not be as tall as he was.
Yan Yuan didn't have such good living conditions, yet he was just as tall as Chengzhou.
That was why he dared to speak like that.
"Traditional Chinese medicine says that midnight is when liver blood returns to the meridians and kidney qi generates. You are right at the age where your body is growing. If you stay up late often, your kidney essence will deplete, and your bones will stop growing. Don't think you're fine now; once these couple of years pass, it will be hard to shoot up in height again. If you end up shorter than Linlin, crying won't do you any good."
The corners of Yan Yuan's mouth curled up, knowing that Auntie Lin was just showing she cared.
"I know."
"Knowing it means you have to do it," Lin Zhilan said, half-scolding. "If you really want to thank me, then grow up well. I'm so young, do you think I won't live to see the day you make something of yourself?"
Yan Yuan just smiled and said nothing.
"You're just as stubborn as your grandpa. Come home and eat with me later, and we can bring some food back for him while we're at it."
"No need, I can just go home and cook," Yan Yuan quickly replied.
Lin Zhilan gave him a sidelong glance. "Making fish rice for your grandpa again?"
Yan Yuan blinked, tacitly agreeing.
"With your grandpa's illness, he needs to eat less seafood and more vegetables and staple foods like rice and noodles. Since you have crabs, how about you trade them with me?"
The island fishermen lacked staple foods the most, so they had invented fish rice.
They would simply boil fish directly in seawater, drain it, and let it cool. That served as their staple food.
Yan Yuan thought for a moment. They really were out of rice and noodles at home.
He could only agree.
While Lin Zhilan was administering acupuncture to his grandfather, Yan Yuan quickly made a trip back home.
When they returned to her house together, Linlin saw Yan Yuan and ran over, her pigtails swinging. "Brother Xiao Yuan, I'm back! Did you miss me?"
Yan Yuan pursed his lips and gave a soft mm, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"This is for you. A New Year's gift."
Yan Yuan pulled a shell from behind his back.
It was a white butterfly shell, fully as large as two adult hands.
The surface of the shell gleamed with a pearlescent luster, showing a faint pink hue under the sunlight, along with a layer of silvery-white iridescence.
"Wow, so pretty!"
Linlin practically jumped for joy. "Is this for me?"
"Yes."
Linlin took it with both her little hands, cradling it against her chest. Her eyes were wide and round, her joy completely beyond words.
Happily holding the shell, she ran off to show it off to her grandparents.
The corners of Yan Yuan's mouth curled into an imperceptible smile.
Jiang Chengzhou came over and slung an arm around his neck. "Yan Yuan, where's my gift?"
Yan Yuan's smile faded. "Next time you beat me on an exam, I'll figure out a way to find one for you too."
"Never mind then," Jiang Chengzhou shook his head, looking up at the ceiling. "You get a perfect score every time. How am I supposed to beat you?"
A hint of amusement flashed in Yan Yuan's eyes.
Such a large white butterfly shell was very hard to find.
Only when casting nets out at sea could one occasionally dredge up one or two.
But to the fishermen, useless things like shells were usually thrown right back into the sea.
The shell given to Linlin was one that Yan Yuan's grandfather had specially kept, knowing his grandson liked tinkering with such things.
Yan Yuan knew Linlin would definitely love it, so he had polished it clean to give as a New Year's gift.
Linlin indeed loved it, and Yan Yuan knew he hadn't made the wrong choice.
Lin Zhilan packed the food prepared for Yan Yuan's grandfather into an enamel mug, secured the lid tightly, and placed it in a cloth bag.
After eating, Yan Yuan said goodbye to Xu Yueyun and Su Bingcheng, and prepared to head back to the hospital with Lin Zhilan.
Before leaving, Lin Zhilan reminded Jiang Chengzhou to steam all the crabs and wait for her to return.
Crabs are scavengers, so their stomachs and intestines contain a massive amount of bacteria.
While alive, they can suppress it, but once dead, the bacteria inside the crab will multiply wildly, rapidly decomposing the crab meat and producing a large amount of histamine.
Histamine is toxic, and even high-temperature steaming cannot completely destroy it.
People who eat it can easily suffer from vomiting and diarrhea, and in severe cases, poisoning.
Su Bingcheng waved at her. "Don't worry, I'm here at home. I'll definitely get it done right."
"Dad, I'm leaving it to you then."
"Got it, no problem."
Lin Zhilan winked at Chengzhou, signaling him to keep an eye on the old man.
Jiang Chengzhou understood perfectly and made a funny face behind his grandfather's back.
Not long after this incident, the traditional Chinese medicine department received its second inpatient.
Auntie Yu and Liu Feng came over together with Manager Qian.
Director Liu also came by and gave Lin Zhilan some materials, asking her to write a research summary and a clinical report on this case.
At the same time, he secretly handed her a copy of the Chinese Medical Journal.
"Read the papers in here more often and learn how to write them. It will be good for your future professional title evaluations."
In fact, at this current stage, title evaluations relied on seniority, performance, and public reputation.
But Director Liu had some channels and knew that researchers in big cities and large hospitals, as well as experts in key national projects and new drug research, were still writing papers.
The higher-ups were already discussing whether to resume publication of the Chinese Medical Journal.
Director Liu had already caught wind that this matter would be finalized within a year or two.
The requirement for academic papers would definitely be reinstated in the future.
If Lin Zhilan could truly cure this patient with polio sequelae, she would become famous, and the entire military district hospital would become famous as well.
If this paper were written, the value within it would be immeasurable.
Director Liu was mainly worried that Lin Zhilan wouldn't know how to write it.
After all, she hadn't graduated from a formal medical academy and hadn't studied systematically.
Little did he know, Lin Zhilan's training couldn't have been more systematic.
Not only had she published many heavyweight papers in various authoritative journals at home and abroad, but she was now already guiding students in writing papers.
"I understand. Thank you, Director Liu."
Director Liu peeked in to look at Liu Feng, sighing in admiration. "Dr. Lin, I really have to hand it to you."
You went back to the capital to visit relatives once, and brought a patient back with you.
The main thing was that in the eyes of the world, this disease was simply incurable.
It didn't affect lifespan, so many people just had to accept it.
If Lin Zhilan could really restore the motor functions of the child inside, it would not only mean conquering the sequelae of polio, but it would also mean that traditional Chinese medicine therapies could help other patients with impaired motor nerve functions.
This was a military district hospital, and the majority of the patients they received had physical traumas.
Rehabilitation was also a very important part of the hospital.
That made this research incredibly important.
Lin Zhilan said, "Director Liu, let's keep a low profile."
Great things are accomplished in secrecy. Lin Zhilan didn't want this to become the talk of the town before there were even any results.
"I understand, I understand," Director Liu replied repeatedly, not forgetting to urge her to go teach at the Yangcheng College of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Just as they were talking, Auntie Yu came out of the hospital room.
