CHAPTER 374: CHAPTER 374: CAN’T HOLD ON

How could she say something like that with a straight face?

Elder Huang sent Tang Chuxia out to rest while he and Old Zheng went into the office, discussing who knows what.

Now, Round-faced had temporarily become Tang Chuxia’s assistant, and with a complex expression, she hummed a tune, attempting to tiptoe around anyone who almost bumped into her.

It seemed that in such a sorrowful place as the hospital, she could still live quite cheerfully.

If Round-faced didn’t have such strong mental fortitude, she would have suspected Tang Chuxia had gone mad.

Humming songs in the hospital? What was she thinking?

Tang Chuxia hadn’t gone mad; she just found it interesting.

Healing and saving people had never been in her consideration. She loved a carefree life, loved being among crowds, but today she realized that experiencing something novel she had never done before was also quite thrilling.

During the surgery, she was scared, but she distracted herself with other things to avoid being too overwhelmed.

Fortunately, the outcome was very good, and she found her own direction.

Seeing Round-faced struggling with her expression, Tang Chuxia wasn’t sure how to speak up and just laughed, saying, "That expression won’t do. It’s quite frightening!"

Round-faced, having her cheek pinched by Tang Chuxia, spoke somewhat inarticulately, "Dr. Tang, how do you manage to be so impressive?"

Round-faced had also been there during the surgery.

Orthopedic surgery was bloody, but assistance from a nurse was needed.

Tang Chuxia thought for a moment. "A rare talent!"

Round-faced gave an awkward smile.

Dr. Tang was really full of herself.

While they were talking, emergency services came looking for orthopedic assistance again; there were many patients brought in.

They said a residential area had collapsed, and many people were injured.

Round-faced, set up according to Tang Chuxia’s instructions, couldn’t just stand by and watch. After all, she was now considered Elder Huang’s leading disciple and could move freely around the hospital.

She quickly followed Tang Chuxia towards the emergency area, and the scene there was beyond Tang Chuxia’s imagination.

In her memory, except for the last disaster response, she had rarely encountered so many patients at once.

"What should we do?"

Tang Chuxia asked Round-faced!

Round-faced exclaimed, "Dr. Tang, I’ll follow your lead!"

Tang Chuxia sighed, she didn’t have such experience.

"Maybe you should direct me instead; I don’t know how!"

She wasn’t lying; she truly didn’t know.

Round-faced was decisive. She saw that Tang Chuxia was indeed unfamiliar with the hospital procedures. Plus, emergency service was different from other areas, and since neither of them was from emergency services, they naturally sought the person in charge.

Round-faced pulled Tang Chuxia to the nurse’s station, where the nurses were too busy to pay attention to them.

"Help clean the wounds, make it easier for stitching!"

Finally, a nurse had time to hand them each a tray.

Tang Chuxia realized now wasn’t the time to question. Time to get to work!

Round-faced told Tang Chuxia, "They can’t help it either. There aren’t enough hands. Let’s just get to work and help as much as we can!"

Tang Chuxia understood.

Cleaning wounds, she could do that.

But in her mind, cleaning wounds meant rinsing with saline, then applying iodine tincture before bandaging and so forth.

She clearly had forgotten that in this era, any medical supplies were scarce.

The result of that? Saline rinse?

How could that be afforded!

Casual use of gauze?

What a joke!

Use bottles of iodine?

Who gave them the audacity?

Watching the nurses carefully economize even during their busiest times, always worried about wasting even a bit.

Tang Chuxia felt overwhelmed.

In such circumstances, they might as well just wash with water.

In fact, that was exactly what was happening, especially for those treated later; they simply started to clean the wounds by soaking them with potassium permanganate.

Afraid of infection?

Definitely.

But what could be done?

It was better than doing nothing, right?

Tang Chuxia also cooperated and witnessed some of the helplessness of that era.

Finally, when she was done with the rush, fractures were sent to the orthopedic department, and those with minor scratches could leave after treatment.

After a busy time, Tang Chuxia finally had a moment to rest. Just as she sat down, a nurse recognized her and asked if she could help with a dislocated patient.

Could Tang Chuxia refuse?

Of course, she could.

When Mrs. Gu came over to see Tang Chuxia, did she seem in the mood for jokes?

Her spirit was numb.

She just collapsed on the ground, "Aunt Hong, you really have it tough!"

Mrs. Gu chuckled bitterly, "Child, why are you sitting on the ground? Get up quickly!"

She helped her up, "There’s a woman in the obstetrics department having some problems, your master needs you to go there and assist with the acupuncture!"

With a sigh, Tang Chuxia hugged Mrs. Gu.

"Aunt Hong, I truly admire you all. How do you withstand such workload?"

Mrs. Gu laughed, "What’s this? It’s not like we haven’t done continuous shifts before!"

Saving lives is crucial.

No matter how exhausted Tang Chuxia was, she dragged herself along with Round-faced to the obstetrics department.

Once there, Mrs. Gu had briefed her about the woman’s condition, explaining that the acupuncture needed to be done on the Yin Union acupoint, no wonder Elder Huang insisted that Tang Chuxia come.

Elder Huang instructed her at the door, "When you administer the needle, make sure to observe closely. Report any changes to me, I’ll be outside figuring out prescriptions!"

Tang Chuxia acknowledged without issues.

At that moment, Round-faced was already standing by her side with a tray, really looking like the perfect little assistant.

It seemed Round-faced had recognized Tang Chuxia’s capability, and the broken filter, which had cracked while Tang Chuxia grimaced with exhaustion, was picked up again.

The two of them opened the curtain and stepped in, then they were both stunned.

Mrs. Gu quickly passed a mask to Tang Chuxia, and Round-faced the nurse hurriedly grabbed one to cover her entire face.

It wasn’t an exaggeration; it was genuinely because of the odor emanating from the woman in labor.

It was overwhelming.

Mrs. Gu whispered to Tang Chuxia, "These mothers don’t know how to protect themselves, eight out of ten have a strong odor, you’ll adjust in a bit!"

Tang Chuxia held her breath.

She did want to adjust, but the smell was truly horrific.

It was like the stench of rotting fish and shrimp.

Who could endure that?

But seeing the nurses and doctors around her appearing calm, she didn’t want to show weakness.

So, she nodded, took the silver needle handed by Round-faced, and prepared to begin.

But when she opened the woman’s legs and saw the exposed condition.

She didn’t want to hold back, but she really couldn’t.

She covered her mouth and ran out, vomiting profusely.