"Brother! What's wrong with your sister-in-law?"
Outside the door, Cheng Yaojin looked at Fang Er with great urgency.
"Old Sun said it's intestinal carbuncle, but I don't understand what that means. Your sister-in-law has been unconscious for a day, showing no signs of awareness. However, the treatment requires a risky procedure, which is why I sent Zhang Tian to find you."
"Old Sun is currently using acupuncture to alleviate her condition, but the real treatment needs your decision." Fang Er explained patiently.
"Then treat her! No matter how risky, as long as she can be saved!" Cheng Yaojin glared at Fang Er. He couldn't understand why they had a solution but waited for him to return.
"Old Sun's intention is to open the abdomen to see what's damaged inside, and then administer treatment." Fang Er, although unfamiliar with intestinal carbuncle, inferred from the name that it was a condition affecting the intestines. Perhaps appendicitis? Intussusception? Intestinal obstruction?
"Open the abdomen? Are you joking with me?" Cheng Yaojin stared into Fang Er's eyes. He didn't understand intestinal carbuncle either, but he understood "open the abdomen" – it meant cutting open his wife's stomach!
"At a time like this, do you think I have the leisure to joke with you?" Old Sun has performed abdominal surgery on others in Shenyang, and not just once, with no issues afterwards. However, the risk is still very high, so Old Sun dared not act without your consent, waiting for your return."
Upon hearing Fang Er's words, Cheng Yaojin squatted on the ground, cradling his head, his eyes red. Opening the abdomen was almost always a fatal wound on the battlefield! After a while, Cheng Yaojin stood up and asked Fang Er, "Is this the only way?"
Fang Er nodded heavily. He believed that if Old Sun had any other method, he wouldn't have chosen abdominal surgery. Receiving Fang Er's answer, Cheng Yaojin pushed open the door and walked in again.
Looking at Madam Sun, who was in a deep coma but whose face showed pain that felt like a knife stabbing into his own heart, making it difficult to breathe. Sun Simiao inserted the last silver needle and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a cloth. He turned to Cheng Yaojin and asked, "Did Fang tell you everything?"
Cheng Yaojin nodded and squeezed out a single word: "Cut!"
"Very well, you go rest. The rest will be handled by this humble Taoist and Fang. " Sun Simiao walked to the door, called two servants from the Cheng residence, and had them pull Cheng Yaojin away. Then he looked at Fang Er: "Fortunately, I brought all the surgical equipment. However, the lighting?"
"Old Sun, please wait a moment. I'll go prepare the operating room now!" Seeing Cheng Yaojin's agreement, Fang Er asked the Cheng residence servants for a horse, made a gesture to the helicopter in the sky, and then rode out of the city.
Zhang Tian followed him in the helicopter. After reaching the outskirts of the city, the helicopter landed. Fang Er let go of the horse, slapped its hindquarters, and the warhorse ambled back towards the Cheng residence. An old horse knows the way and can return home without being led. The saddle bore the mark of the Cheng residence, and no one would dare offend Cheng Yaojin over a horse.
The helicopter flew back to the workshop by the Longshou Canal. Although Fang Er's studio had not been used since its reconstruction, the wiring was already in place. Quickly retrieving a pile of lamp heads and bulbs from his spatial storage, Fang Er spent half an hour hanging over a dozen lamps from the ceiling.
After finishing this, Zhang Tian also refueled the helicopter. He asked him to return to pick up Sun Simiao and Cheng Yaojin's wife. Fang Er then took out alcohol and a 2-liter sprayer obtained from the hardware store, spraying the interior and exterior of the studio. He went to the carpentry workshop to find Niu Liang and had him build an operating table as quickly as possible.
As soon as the sterilized operating table was placed in the studio, the sound of the helicopter could be heard from the sky. After the helicopter landed and the rotor stopped spinning, Cheng Yaojin and two strong women from his household carried Madam Sun down from the helicopter on a door panel, with Sun Simiao following behind them.
Qi Sui, who had already been instructed by Fang Er, quickly led them to the outside of the studio. Two sets of new military uniforms, disinfected with alcohol, were placed at the entrance. Sun Simiao glanced at them and understood their meaning. He picked up one set and put it on. He looked at the other set, then at Cheng Yaojin, and finally handed it to one of the accompanying strong women.
"Duke of Lu, please wait outside." Witnessing his wife's abdomen being cut open was not something an ordinary person could accept, even Cheng Yaojin, who was accustomed to life and death. This was his wife, not an enemy! However, Cheng Yaojin was unappreciative, his eyes fixed on Sun Simiao: "I'm going in!"
"Even if something goes wrong, I'll be with Cuihua!" Sun Simiao sighed, but still handed the uniform to the strong woman. The surgery required Madam Sun to remove her clothes, and with Cheng Yaojin present, it was somewhat inappropriate.
The two carried Madam Sun into the studio. Cheng Yaojin, looking at the closed door, was about to rush in when he was held back by the strong woman. "Master! Don't be like this, Madam will be alright!" The strong woman's voice was choked with tears. They were maids who had accompanied Madam Sun as part of her dowry. Having lived together for decades, they were more like family than mistress and servant.
Fang Er was ready inside. Madam Sun was lifted onto the wooden operating table. Old Sun opened the medicine box he carried with him; all the surgical instruments were inside. After disinfecting them with alcohol, he looked at the strong woman who had followed them in: "Unfasten your mistress's clothes. I am about to begin."
The strong woman did not dare to delay and fumbled to unfasten Madam Sun's clothes. Sun Simiao held the scalpel in his right hand and a cotton ball soaked in alcohol in his left, disinfecting Madam Sun's abdomen. He muttered, "I hope this first cut won't wake her up in pain!"
Fang Er shivered and quickly shouted for him to stop. Sun Simiao looked at him in confusion. Fang Er said, "I have painkillers here. Feed them to her just in case." With that, he took out two ibuprofen chewable tablets from his pocket. Fang Er had taken these in his previous life; they were sweet and quite effective for toothaches. He wasn't sure if painkillers would still work during surgery, but even if they could alleviate some of the pain, it was his best effort. A normal dose is one tablet, but Fang Er put both into Madam Sun's mouth. The medicine dissolves instantly in water and takes effect quickly.
Watching him administer the medicine, Sun Simiao waited curiously for a moment. In less than five minutes, the furrowed brow on Madam Sun's face relaxed. Old Sun looked at Fang Er: "Why didn't you bring this out sooner!"
"Uh! I didn't think of it for a moment." Fang Er was telling the truth; few people in his family fell ill, so he generally forgot about medicine after exchanging for it.