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The sudden appearance of a stranger immediately drew everyone’s attention. The brigade leader froze for a moment before furrowing his brows.
“Why did you come out too?” He glared at her, then turned to the other educated youths gathered around watching the commotion. Spotting Yi Xiuyu, he scolded her, “I told you to take good care of the sick girl. How could you let her out?”
As if Lin Xuejun were some uncontrollable, bizarre creature.
Only then did Yi Xiuyu notice Lin Xuejun was also there. Her face paled in shock, and she blinked with a guilty expression, as if she had made a mistake. She rushed forward, let out an “ah” that didn’t lead to anything coherent, then suddenly turned her back and crouched down, ready to carry Lin Xuejun home on her back.
Lin Xuejun glanced down at Yi Xiuyu’s narrow shoulders, still visible despite the layers of thick clothing. Her lips twitched slightly before she reached out to pull Yi Xiuyu up and explained to the brigade leader, “Don’t blame Comrade Yi Xiuyu. I sneaked out on my own.”
“This is pure recklessness! A fever could kill you.” The brigade leader scanned the crowd, muttering, “I’ll find someone strong to carry you back.”
“No need.” Seeing the brigade leader about to point someone out, Lin Xuejun grabbed his wrist in a panic. When he turned to her in surprise, she sighed and pointed at the swaying cow that could barely stand.
“Never mind me, saving the cow is more urgent. I’ve read some veterinary books back in Beijing. Let me try.”
“You—” The brigade leader seemed about to say something.
But Lin Xuejun swiftly cut him off, turning to Wang Ying with hurried urgency. “Do you have rubber gloves and oil?”
“Huh? There are rubber gloves, but what for—” Wang Ying was baffled.
“Let me borrow them.” Lin Xuejun nodded at her and held out her hand.
As if compelled, Wang Ying opened her medical bag and pulled out the gloves, only to suddenly realize something was off. She quickly turned to the brigade leader for confirmation with her eyes.
But Lin Xuejun had already handed her small quilt to Yi Xiuyu and taken the gloves from Wang Ying’s hand.
“You really know how to deliver a calf?” The brigade leader asked uncertainly.
The other herders also watched nervously, their faces tense with worry.
Lin Xuejun walked to the cow’s side, first stroking its head so it could see her and lower its guard. Then she tugged at the rope held by the old herdsman to confirm the cow was securely tied and wouldn’t suddenly lash out during treatment. Only then did she circle the cow, examining it from all angles.
“After a cow’s water breaks, the calf should come within half an hour. This one’s been struggling to calve for over three hours now, right?
“The cow’s been restless, lying down and getting up repeatedly for most of the day. Half an hour ago, there was blood, and now it can barely stand, right?
“Were there any other unusual signs before labor?”
Though the brigade leader wasn’t a veterinarian, he had once observed the middle-aged veterinarian from the commune headquarters at work. That vet had also first ensured the cow was securely tied to prevent it from thrashing, then proceeded to touch and probe its body. Back then, he had asked what the vet was doing, and the vet had called it “percussion”, a method for diagnosis.
The moment he observed Lin Xuejun’s technique, he felt there might be hope. Watching her frown and concentrate as she stood beside the cow, his confidence grew a few more notches. He first called a herdsman to fetch the brigade’s reserve veterinary medicines and tools, then instructed another to retrieve the late local veterinarian Bala’s remaining animal treatment supplies.
Only then did he turn to translate Lin Xuejun’s questions into Mongolian for the elderly livestock owner, Ulzii.
Though Lin Xuejun understood Ulzii’s Mongolian, considering her original identity was a Beijing high school student who’d never been to Inner Mongolia and couldn’t speak the language, she pretended not to understand them. As she moved behind the cow, she listened to the brigade leader’s translation.
“The way the girl’s dancing around the cow like that… I hope she doesn’t get kicked. One hit from that would be rough,” muttered the herdsman wearing the yuden hat, watching nervously as Lin Xuejun tapped here and there, listened carefully, and alternately stroked and patted the animal. This educated youth had just arrived and was still recovering from illness. The last thing they needed was for her to get trampled by a cow.
He’d been kicked by a cow before, but luckily it struck his thigh instead of his stomach, though he’d still nursed a limp for half a month. Given this girl’s slight frame, just one kick might take her out completely. With the mountains snowed in, getting her medical help would be nearly impossible. If they lost both cow and calf during this difficult birth, plus this young woman, wouldn’t that be a complete disaster?
“Is she another newly arrived educated youth?” the herdsmen began whispering among themselves.
“Don’t recognize her.”
“Think she’s the sickly one who had to be carried here when she arrived.”
“Look how thin her arms are, like bamboo sticks…”
pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:
“Comrade Mu, could you hold the cow’s tail for me? Don’t let her whip me with it,” Lin Xuejun suddenly turned and said, pretending not to hear the murmurs.
Mu Junqing, who’d been intently observing Lin Xuejun’s actions and expressions, found himself stepping forward automatically at her request before his brain even processed the command, taking hold of the offered tail.
“Make sure you stay close to the cow’s side the whole time and don’t let her kick you,” Lin Xuejun instructed.
“…Right.” Mu Junqing looked at the tail now in his hand, then at the cow’s rear end nearly at his eye level. He shuffled nervously, momentarily speechless.
The brigade leader was about to assert his authority and tell the herdsmen to quiet down when Lin Xuejun called out clearly, “Brigade leader, have someone spread some dry hay beneath the cow’s hindquarters.”
The brigade leader swallowed his unspoken order, blinking as Lin Xuejun turned back to the cow. Resigned, he raised his arm and instructed the woman managing the cattle shed to prepare the hay.
A child standing beside the woman darted off like a rabbit before his mother could move, returning with an armful of hay.
Seeing the braided Mongolian child watching her expectantly with the hay, Lin Xuejun stepped back and pointed beneath the cow. Body language being universal, the child immediately understood, carefully spreading the hay beneath the cow’s rear.
Lin Xuejun nodded in approval. This way, any waste or amniotic fluid wouldn’t splash everywhere, and the newborn calf wouldn’t land directly on muddy ground.
Squatting down, Lin Xuejun picked out the iodine from the veterinary medicines delivered by the brigade leader. She then took off her overcoat and padded jacket, handing them to Yi Xiuyu before rolling up her sleeves to her upper arms. After putting on rubber gloves, she applied iodine to her forearm and the outside of the gloves.
Wang Ying watched Lin Xuejun’s confident and swift movements with nervous anticipation, her gaze fixed intently on the rubber gloves the other woman wore.
Those were the gloves she had received as a reward for being the fastest learner in her health class. It was the only pair in the whole class.
She treasured them dearly, keeping them wrapped in cloth inside her medicine box, protecting them from wind and moisture like a prized possession…
As Wang Ying was silently lamenting, her eyes suddenly widened in shock. The next moment, her pupils constricted and trembled, nearly rolling out of her eye sockets—
Aaaaaah!
Lin Xuejun had actually stuck her hand in! Wearing her gloves! She stuck it in!
The other herders gathered around were just as stunned as Wang Ying.
After all, this was a rare sight, and many had never seen anything like it before!
For a clean, delicate-looking girl like Lin Xuejun to perform such an act so decisively was beyond their imagination!
—With her left hand resting on the cow’s hip, Lin Xuejun suddenly, and without hesitation or a change in expression, thrust her right hand and forearm straight into the cow’s rear!
[Author’s Note]
(Next chapter: Birth)
[Side Story]
This was like the most unassuming soldier in the army suddenly charging out of formation during a standoff, catching everyone off guard. Right under the watchful eyes of generals and commanders, they galloped straight to the enemy’s front line, drew their bow, and aimed an arrow at the enemy leader…
It was basically like getting stabbed in the backside with a little knife, truly an eye-opening experience!
…
P.S. The bovine birth canal entrance is located directly below the vulva.
P.S. Clinical examination methods:
1. Inquiry; 2. Inspection; 3. Palpation; 4. Percussion.
P.S. Medical rubber gloves first appeared in 1890. Rubber surgical gloves began to be used in China in the 1950s. In the 1970s, China started importing rubber glove production technology to gradually achieve domestic production. In August 1951, China and the Soviet Union collaborated to plant 12 million acres of rubber trees across Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou provinces to provide raw materials for the rubber industry.
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