Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Yun Jie pointed in the direction of the consultation room on the right and said,” We were both ordinary pharmacy administrators. Strictly speaking, we couldn’t treat patients and get medicine for them. Only doctors could do that. However, our village was relatively poor. There were two doctors who studied Western medicine at the clinic, but there were no doctors who studied traditional Chinese medicine.
“Sister Gao had already gone to find someone willing to come to the pharmacy to be a doctor. It’s such a big pharmacy, so it’s more formal to have someone to see the doctor. Otherwise, the villagers would think that our pharmacy was not as strong as the clinic. It’s just that outsiders didn’t want to come to such a poor place like our village, so after so many days, Sister Gao still hadn’t found a suitable person.”
Ye Ling sorted out the messy herbs in the bag and nodded, indicating that she was listening to Yun Jie.
Yun Jie suddenly turned her head and looked at Ye Ling seriously. “I thought you could be a doctor.”
Ye Ling was stunned for a moment before shaking her head helplessly. “We still had to follow the rules.”
Yun Jie sighed and complained, “The rules were rigid! There used to be a few barefoot doctors near our villages, but after the policy was issued, these barefoot doctors lost their jobs. Although the village committee also encouraged these barefoot doctors to take the medical license, they had been treating patients and saving people based on their experience for many years. It was too difficult for them to learn professional medical knowledge and take the exam. Some barefoot doctors were still illiterate.”
The strict regulations of the policy were originally for the sake of the people’s lives and health. It was to prevent some people who were not skilled from using unscientific methods to treat patients. It was not uncommon for quack doctors to harm people in the past.
However, a one-size-fits-all policy was also somewhat unrealistic.
In poor rural areas, how could there be so many people who could get a doctor’s certificate and a medical license?
In many areas, the illiterate rate was as high as 90%. It was too difficult to find a qualified doctor in such areas. Barefoot doctors were the only choice for sick people in these areas.
“There were also some barefoot doctors who secretly treated the villagers. The villagers trusted these barefoot doctors more than us. Many of the villagers who came to our place came with the prescriptions of the barefoot doctors. We were really in a difficult situation.”
Some of the barefoot doctor’s prescriptions were normal and well-founded, but some of them were unorthodox. Yun Jie and Ji Mei could not judge whether there was a problem with them or not.
If the patient went back after grabbing the medicine and had a problem after taking it, who would be held accountable?
The barefoot doctor could completely deny that he was the one who prescribed the prescription, but there were records of the villagers taking medicine from the pharmacy, so the responsibility would most likely fall on the pharmacy administrator who took medicine for the villagers.
Yun Jie was a little dissatisfied. “Even if the barefoot doctor’s prescriptions were wrong, they would blame us as pharmacy administrators for not seeing the problem with the prescriptions. But those prescriptions were all unorthodox. We had never even heard of them. How could we distinguish them?”
Ye Ling didn’t expect that a small pharmacy administrator would have to bear so many risks and problems.
From Yun Jie’s tone, it could be heard that she sympathized with and complained about the barefoot doctor.
Through Yun Jie’s explanation, Ye Ling had a better understanding of the barefoot doctor.
“However, even if barefoot doctors were not professional, most of them treated patients normally. Witch doctors were the ones I hated the most.” Yun Jie placed the processed herbs into the medicine box and said casually.
Witch doctor?
Ye Ling was about to ask when a middle-aged woman suddenly walked in from the door. Behind the woman was a little girl about seven or eight years old.
There was a large cloth bag tied in front of the woman. The cloth bag looked like a kangaroo’s pouch, and there was a two-year-old child lying inside.
On the woman’s back was a large bamboo basket filled with various herbs.
Seeing the woman, Yun Jie walked to the counter and smiled. “Sister He, why are you here so early today?”
A shy smile appeared on Sister He’s haggard face. “Today was Da Ya’s birthday,
so…”
Yun Jie came to a realization. “So, you were going to celebrate Da Ya’s birthday tonight? Da Ya, happy birthday!”
Sister Yun smiled gently at the little girl behind Sister He.
Da Ya’s face turned red. She seemed very embarrassed. After a while, she tugged at the corner of her clothes and whispered, “Thank you, Sister Yun Jie.”
Sister He saw an unfamiliar face in the pharmacy and looked at Ye Ling nervously.. “Is this the new doctor?”