Chapter 394: Chapter 394 Mayor Liu’s Great Disappointment
Liu Jiaxin stepped forward and then gently knocked on the door. Soon, a middle-aged woman came out and opened it.
"Oh, Sister Jia Xin, you’re here."
Seeing this, it is likely that Liu Jiaxin was not visiting for the first time, and the person inside seemed very familiar with Liu Jiaxin, greeting her warmly after seeing her.
"Sister-in-law, is Mayor Liu at home? I had an appointment with him yesterday. I told him I found a young doctor for him. Isn’t it just right that I brought him over today?"
"Ah, just a moment ago, my husband, Liu, was still talking about it, wondering if this time there would be hope after Jia Xin finds a doctor for him. He’s been preoccupied with this matter. Come on in, please."
She was very hospitable and polite, ushering the two of them into the courtyard. After entering, Liu Zheng just glanced around. Inside his courtyard, he smelled a very strange odor.
He couldn’t pinpoint exactly where this odor was coming from, but it was different from anything he had smelled on the street. Moreover, if he wasn’t mistaken, the odor seemed to emanate from a floral fragrance.
"What’s wrong? Is there a problem?"
Liu Zheng stood in the middle, furrowing his brow tightly, his nose twitching continuously.
"Do you smell that? There’s a particular odor."
At this point, Liu Jiaxin took a couple of deep breaths, but she seemed not to detect the strange odor he described.
"No, I just smell a floral fragrance. Look, there are really quite a lot of flowers here."
"You mean the scent of flowers. Mayor Liu doesn’t have any other concerns. Moreover, the old lady used to like gardening, so she planted a lot of flowers and plants in the backyard. If you have time later, I can show you around. The odor you’re talking about is probably the scent of these flowers."
"Okay, now I understand. Please take me inside now."
Liu Zheng nodded. He didn’t pursue the matter further, but he had a feeling this wasn’t as simple as he thought, and there was probably some issue at hand.
"Old Liu, Old Liu, look, Jia Xin is here. And she has especially brought someone over for you."
He shouted loudly inside, and soon a balding middle-aged man hurried in from the outside.
"You are, you’re the doctor Jia Xin mentioned?"
Upon seeing Liu Zheng, he seemed somewhat incredulous and wondered if someone so young could have the capacity. He had sought all the famous doctors he could, including centenarians who had examined him, but never felt like this.
"Yes, Mayor Liu, hello, my name is Liu Zheng."
"Liu Zheng? Why does that name sound so familiar? Liu Zheng?"
"Heh, Mayor Liu, you surely find the name familiar because I have just recently become the head of a village. Remember me now?"
"Oh, I remember now, I remember. It was you, but doesn’t a village head, oh, I remember now, didn’t you mention before that the village head used to run a clinic in the village? So, you’re the village doctor?"
"Correct, I am the doctor in the village. That’s why, after learning about the old lady’s condition, I hurried over here."
"Oh, I see. I thought Jia Xin had found someone from outside. It turns out, you’re from a nearby village."
When Mayor Liu heard this, he seemed somewhat disappointed, having never imagined that the person he was searching for would be a village doctor.
After all, there were many famous doctors he had not approached before. Was he now supposed to pin his hopes on a village doctor? For him, this indeed seemed like an unacceptable reality.
"Oh Liu, let me tell you, often in these villages, many experts are hidden. I’ve told you before, don’t just focus on the big cities. We should look closer to home, see, the person has come."
"Alright, since he’s here, I am very grateful to you. Let’s go, I’ll show you."
Liu Zheng nodded and then turned to look at the two women sitting there.
"Mayor Liu, you should take just me with you. Let the others stay here for now."
"Okay, I understand. You two wait here, I’ll take Doctor Liu upstairs."
Afterward, led by Mayor Liu, Liu Zheng walked toward a bedroom on the second floor.
"Mayor Liu, there’s something I don’t quite understand. Since the elderly is unwell and has trouble with her legs, why would you arrange for her to stay on the second floor instead of a bedroom on the first floor? Wouldn’t it be more convenient for care?"
"You think I didn’t want to arrange for my mother to stay on the first floor? It would have spared her the trouble of going up and down the stairs. But she insists on being on the second floor. I really couldn’t persuade her otherwise, so every time I have to carry her down. This back-and-forth is too much, and I don’t know how long I can keep it up. Doctor Liu, this is the room."
As he spoke, he had already pushed open a room door. Upon entering, Liu Zheng immediately sensed a foul smell wafting through from inside.
Liu Zheng instinctively frowned. Normally, an elderly person’s room might have a particular scent, often referred to as ’the old person smell,’ which is quite normal.
But to emit such a foul odor was truly not something ordinary for an elderly person.
"Mother, Mother, I’ve come to see you."
While talking, he quickly walked forward as though he had already grown accustomed to the smell in the room.
Liu Zheng didn’t rush to check on the elderly’s condition, instead he looked around the room, detecting a very strange odor. This odor was identical to the one he’d first smelled upon entering the courtyard.
"Doctor Liu, please take a look. This is her condition. And, as you may have already noticed upon entering the room, there’s a foul smell. Yes, her skin has started to ulcerate, and each time a patch of skin suppurates, it typically takes about a week for the pus to ooze out. A week later, the area heals on its own and then another spot takes its place."
