Outsider: The Fifth Young Master of the Kang Family

Chapter 32: Not Yet Diagnosed
"Dad, I'm starving! Where's mom? What delicious food did you cook today?" As soon as A-Zu got home from get off work at noon, he started shouting and yelling, like a hungry ghost reincarnated.

Lao Dou Kang Ershou pointed at the noodles he was eating. A Zu was surprised and asked, "Noodles?"

"Yes, it was cooked by my sister-in-law." Dad said, pointing at Xianglan who came out of the kitchen.

Xianglan came out to greet A-Zu as soon as she saw him, "Fourth Uncle is back. Mom was out for something today. Can I cook you a bowl of noodles?"

A-Zu looked disgusted, "Is there nothing else to eat at home?"

According to legend, when Bodhidharma was preaching, he saw someone eating noodles. He stepped forward and knocked over the bowl and chopsticks, and told the person: "Noodles are poisonous and can harm people's lives." Although later scholars have proven that this legend is unreliable, people at that time believed it to be true and developed a fear of noodles.

In the book "Jingshi Zhenglei Beiji Bencao" written by Tang Shenwei, a famous doctor in the Northern Song Dynasty, there is such a record: "Wheat is a common food in the world, but it is hot in nature and good at stirring up wind and qi when it is cooked with fire. This is very true."

The original meaning of this sentence is that eating pasta can easily make people have bad tempers, but the people at that time were not very literate, so the saying that pasta is poisonous spread. In addition, Tang Shenwei was very famous, and his words were very credible, which deepened the people's stereotype that "noodles are poisonous".

Although with the popularity of pasta, southerners have gradually started to eat pasta in recent years, and the rumor that "pasta is poisonous" has been refuted. However, the long-term eating habits and food culture of southerners make them love rice more. In the eyes of Cantonese people, noodles are generally breakfast and supper, not a full meal. Not eating rice is equivalent to not eating a full meal. This is also the reason why A Zu looked disgusted.

"What's wrong with eating noodles? People in the north eat noodles with their faces covered in grease." My dad, who only eats noodles occasionally, thinks noodles are not bad. As his wife is not at home and there is no one to cook, he has to make do with it.

"How about this, you heat up the cold rice, put two eggs in it, add some beef, and it would be better if you add some onions." A Zu thought for a while and then instructed his sister-in-law.

The eldest sister-in-law smiled slightly, "Are you still thinking about the leftovers? I gave them to your second brother a long time ago."

"Second brother, are you kidding me? You even want to snatch the leftovers from me. At least leave some for me." After hearing this, A-Zu shouted in grief.

"What are you shouting about?" Kang Qirui came back from outside.

"What's your name?" The second brother Kang Qizon walked out of the dining room after eating.

A Zu complained to Er Lao: "You should at least leave me some leftovers." Then he looked at Kang Qirui, "A Rui didn't eat either, right? How about we go out to eat?"

Kang Qirui waved his hand and sat down, "I ate."

"When our brother saw that there was no food at home, he ran to the Zhu family next door to eat. If you have the ability, you can also go to eat." The second brother laughed. After hearing this, A Zu looked helpless. The fifth brother was the future son-in-law of the Zhu family. With the protective personality of Mrs. Zhu, there would always be food next door. Go alone? You won't even get a share of the northwest wind.

"Is there no rice at home?" A-Zu sat on the sofa helplessly. There are so many women in the house, and no one cooks?

Kang Qirui explained, "It's not that there is no rice. Someone invited my mother to dinner today, my second sister-in-law has to look after the store, and my third sister-in-law is at work. My eldest sister-in-law is resting at home today, so we can have noodles occasionally."

"Mom, where are we going to eat?" A-Zu asked curiously.

"They said we were going to Fangcun to eat donkey meat." My father was also full at this time and came over to chat.

Er Lao and A Zu looked at each other and said, "No way? Do we have to go so far to eat donkey meat? Isn't there a donkey tied up at the street corner food stall?"

"They say the food there is delicious, so people even take a taxi there to eat." Dadou explained with a smile.

"I have to run dozens of kilometers to eat donkey meat, and I don't even have any leftovers when I get home." A-Zu, who had no food to eat, complained.

"I'm back!" At this time, the voice of the old maid Wang Yulian came.

A-Zu quickly got up to greet him, "Mom, what delicious food did you pack?"

The old woman rubbed her belly, frowned, and said with a distressed look, "What are you doing?"

Seeing his wife like this, his father asked, "Are you very full? You keep rubbing your belly."

The old woman sat down on the sofa, rubbing her belly and saying, "I am full, but I just don't feel comfortable."

"Mom, are you not feeling well?" Kang Qirui and the second brother asked in unison, while A-Zu went to ask his sister-in-law to cook noodles.

"Mom, the donkey you ate was not a mad donkey or a sick donkey, right?" The second brother was very worried.

"No, that donkey was very fresh. I watched someone else slaughter it." The old woman felt even more uncomfortable sitting there, so she stood up and spoke as she walked.

"But your face looks strange." Kang Qirui asked.

"The gas in my stomach can't get out." The old woman looked very painful.

"Bloating? Do you want Wanling to come back and see?" Kang Qirui saw the nanny was in pain, so he suggested asking Zhu Wanling, a professional, to come. But after taking two steps, he remembered that Wanling was on night shift yesterday and was still resting, so he turned back and said, "Wanling was on night shift yesterday and is still sleeping now. Why don't we go to the hospital directly?" The nanny was really in pain, so she agreed to go to the hospital. Her uncle Kang Ershou and Kang Qirui, who had nothing to do in the afternoon, went with her.

"Doctor, how is my mother?" Kang Qirui, his father and his mother came to the hospital. After waiting in line for half an hour, it was finally their turn.

The doctor was not in a hurry to ask about the condition. He first asked whether the treatment was paid for by the government or by himself. After hearing that the old lady was a retired person and was receiving treatment at the government expense, he prescribed a bunch of tests and asked the old lady to go for the tests first.

"Doctor, isn't this just stomach bloating? Do we need to do so many tests?" Kang Qirui couldn't help but ask when he saw that the doctor even ordered a gynecological examination.

"You're a doctor?" the doctor asked rudely, "How do you know it's bloating without an examination? How do you know there's nothing else?"

This left Kang Qirui speechless. Just because the old lady was receiving treatment at public expense, she deliberately ordered unnecessary examinations to get more money. In Kang Qirui's opinion, this is extremely unethical behavior and violates the professional ethics and ethical standards that doctors should have. Doctors, as core personnel in the medical industry, should prioritize the health and well-being of patients, rather than treating patients as profit-making tools.

Kang Qirui was very upset and wanted to say something, but was stopped by his mother-in-law and mother-in-law, "Come on, A'rui, let's go get checked first."

Kang Qirui had no choice but to take the check-up form and accompany his mother to the check-up. It took more than two hours before they finished all the tests and came to the doctor.

"How are you, doctor? What's the disease?" The old lady handed over the examination form.

"Normal, normal, all normal." The doctor looked through the examination reports one by one.

"If everything is normal, then why do I still feel so uncomfortable?" the old woman asked puzzledly while touching her belly.

"It has not been confirmed yet, it has not been confirmed yet. So you should be hospitalized first and have a check-up tomorrow," said the doctor.

"I need another checkup? Didn't you say everything was normal?" Kang Qirui was a little angry. What's wrong with this doctor? The old lady was just suffering from bloating, but after so many tests, there was still no conclusion. She had to be hospitalized for further checkups.

"We have to speak based on the facts of the examination and not jump to conclusions casually." The doctor looked as if it was a matter of course.

At this time, the nurse came over with a check sheet and said it was the result of the old woman's urine test.

When the doctor saw the test report, he became excited and said, "Look, there is something wrong with this report."

"What's the problem?" said the old man worriedly.

"Grandma, how old are you this year?" The doctor did not answer my uncle, but asked about his age.

"I'm 62 years old, what's the matter?" The old woman looked confused, wondering what this had to do with her age.

"Is the age correct?" The doctor was also confused when he looked at the test results.

"That's right, she has five children, and the eldest son is 40 years old." My dad explained, but he also felt that this doctor was not very reliable. How could he make a mistake with his age?

"It says here that your 'pregnancy test is positive', grandma." The doctor pointed to the report on the test form.

The old man and the old lady didn't understand, but Kang Qirui did. He rolled his eyes and said loudly: "Doctor, look at my mother. She is over 60 and has been menopausal for a long time. How can she get pregnant?"

"What?" This scared the old lady.

Fortunately, Zhu Wanling came at this time, "I finally found you. As soon as I got up, my mother said that Aunt Kang came to the hospital for treatment and asked me to come to work early today. A Rui, how is Aunt Kang? I heard your voices from a distance just now."

Kang Qirui was also relieved when he saw Zhu Wanling, "Wanling, please find a good doctor for Mommy. This doctor is not good. He said Mommy is pregnant. Isn't this crazy?"

Zhu Wanling was helpless after hearing this. She felt embarrassed to go to work in this hospital today, so she had to say, "It's the night shift now. Director Li, oh, the chief doctor of the internal medicine department, has gone off work. How about Aunt Kang stay in the hospital for one night? I'll ask Director Li to come over to see her tomorrow as soon as he starts work?"

Kang Qirui and his father looked at each other and had no choice but to let the old lady stay in the hospital for one night. Zhu Wanling finally arranged a private ward after selling several favors. Public treatment is all paid for by the government, so Kang Qirui didn't want to say anything.

After arranging everything, the old man stayed to take care of his mother, and Kang Qirui did not leave either, and followed Zhu Wanling to the nurses' station. The night shift was relatively easy, and there was nothing serious, so they basically just chatted and rested at the nurses' station. Kang Qirui chatted with several nurses on duty for a while, and then he couldn't stand it anymore and fell asleep on Zhu Wanling's rest bed.

The next morning, Zhu Wanling woke Kang Qirui up and said that Director Li had come to work. I have to say that the director of the department was quite capable. He pressed on the abdomen a few times, and the old woman burped and expelled the gas. Then Director Li prescribed some medicine and let her go.

On the way back, the old lady was still complaining: "If I had known this would happen, I would not have come yesterday, but waited until today. I stayed in the hospital for a day and felt uncomfortable all over."

My father also had some opinions. The old lady had a bed to sleep on, but he could only sleep on a chair.

Seeing Zhu Wanling's embarrassment, Kang Qirui explained, "Many hospitals are like this now, with many unscrupulous and unqualified doctors. So this is why I looked for Wanling, hahaha, because she must know which doctor is the most reliable."

(End of this chapter)