With no doctors or medicine, illness was a frequent occurrence, especially among children. Countless children died soon after birth, and those who survived were constantly battling one illness or another. Only those who managed to endure could live – otherwise, they could do nothing but wait for death!
The desperation of the poor for doctors became apparent.
Clearly, they pinned all their hopes on Feng Qingxue, who had the opportunity to study medicine. They wholly upheld the promises they made at her wedding feast to Lu Jiang.
Bearing such heavy expectations, Feng Qingxue studied even harder, never daring to slack off.
Guan Cheng saw this and took it to heart.
He and Lu Tianjun were different. Lu Tianjun planned to follow in Lu Jiang’s footsteps and join the army when he turned eighteen. With a grandfather and an aunt at home to care for his younger brother, he felt relieved. His younger brother would also be a bit older by then.
But for Guan Cheng, he only had his younger brother. His leaving would surely frighten him.
He chose to stay, and his only option was to study medicine. The outside world’s persecution of scholars was too severe; erroneous rumors about them were everywhere. Even though it seemed to have quieted down in recent years, there were bound to be storms in the future. This was what he heard Lu’s father discussing when he was idle. He deeply remembered this and didn’t dare to follow the same path as his ancestors.
Both Lu’s father and Lu Jiang fully agreed with Guan Cheng’s thoughts and resolution.
Not to mention the fact that "too many skills do not oppress the body," but in this era, doctors were more likely to be favored by the masses than people from any other profession. This was beneficial for the siblings’ future stability.
Even if the siblings’ true identities were exposed, the masses would keep silent because they all depended on Guan Cheng to save their lives.
Wasn’t this what the old, middle-aged, and young people of the Wanglou Brigade promised the Lu family at the wedding feast?
Most importantly, Lu Jiang had heard rumors that the country and the military were studying the issue of families accompanying the military. Although many troops were always on the move before the People’s Republic was established and could not bring their families, most ended up stationed in permanent military areas after the founding. Soldiers with families had no way of staying with their loved ones and this could lead to problems.
Therefore, sooner or later, the country would implement policies about families accompanying the military.
Based on the information Lu Jiang had gathered, he estimated that relevant policies would be issued within three years at most.
By then, of course, Lu Jiang hoped Feng Qingxue could live in the military with their children. Doctor Guo had also said that Feng Qingxue should study hard so that she could be assigned to work in the military. If Guan Cheng became successful in his study, he could stay in the Wanglou Brigade and treat the people, and they wouldn’t need to worry about medical problems after Feng Qingxue left.
Since Lu Jiang saw studying medicine as a way out, Feng Qingxue didn’t refuse. She studied on her own and tutored Guan Cheng.
Although what she learned was basic knowledge, she, as an adult with a certain level of cultural attainments, had a better understanding than Guan Cheng, who had only read a few elementary textbooks with his ancestors as a child. Naturally, she was qualified to guide him.
Unfortunately, Guan Cheng would have to start school soon.
But he was persistent and calm. He would squeeze in study time after finishing work every day after school.
Because of this, Lu Jiang and his eldest nephew, Lu Tianjun, took up most of the household chores. Wu Zheng had to perform acupuncture on Lu Jiang continuously for a month. This made it impossible for him to return to the hospital for a check-up within the two-month period as Doctor Guo had stated. So he sent a telegram requesting an additional twenty days of leave, which was agreed by the military and the hospital. The main reason was that nobody understood Wu Zheng’s capabilities better than Doctor Guo.