ryethenovel Chapter 15 Doctor's Orders
Chapter 15 Doctor's Orders
Lin Xiue's mother has been suffering from back pain for quite some time.
Most women on the island suffer from back and leg pain to some degree. Weaving nets requires bending over, drying fish requires bending over, mending clothes requires bending over, and even taking care of children requires bending over. After decades of bending over, none of them are without pain.
Lin's mother's back pain was more severe than others; sometimes the pain was so bad that she couldn't straighten up and had to slowly move around while holding onto the wall. But she never went to the hospital, saying that hospitals were expensive and that even if she went, she wouldn't get better and it would be a waste of money.
When the pain got really bad, I'd put on a plaster, bought from the town's pharmacy for two cents a plaster.
Lin Xiu'e tried to persuade her mother several times, but her mother refused. When pressed, her mother said, "Your father's leg is all better, what's my back?"
One day in mid-May, Lin's mother bent down to pick up a fish basket, and her waist suddenly got stuck.
It's not that it hurts, it's that I can't move.
She stood there stiffly, bent over, with large beads of sweat streaming down her face. Lin Xiu'e and her two younger sisters helped her to the bed, where she lay for more than half an hour before she could slowly move again.
This time, Lin's mother didn't argue.
The next morning, Lin Xiue borrowed a bicycle from Jiang Haiping and took her mother to the town's health center.
The health center is located at the west end of the town, a two-story building with gray walls and gray tiles. The air is filled with the mixed smell of disinfectant and traditional Chinese medicine.
Lin Xiu'e registered and helped her mother wait on a bench in the first-floor corridor. After waiting for an hour, it was their turn.
The doctor's surname was Chen. He was in his forties, wore glasses, and spoke slowly and deliberately.
He had Lin's mother lie face down on the examination bed and pressed down on her lumbar spine. "Does it hurt here?"
Lin's mother said it hurt. She moved her hand up a little. "What about here?" Lin's mother said it hurt too, but less.
Dr. Chen pressed on a few more spots and asked Lin's mother to turn to her side and lift her leg. Lin's mother said it hurt halfway up the leg.
Dr. Chen sat back down at the table: "Lumbar spondylosis. The lumbar muscle strain is also severe. What kind of work do you usually do?"
"Weave nets. Dry fish. Cook." Lin's mother lay on the bed, too afraid to move.
"You've been doing too much bending over. This illness is caused by bending over too much." Dr. Chen picked up his pen and wrote a prescription. "First, get an X-ray to check the extent of the growth. In the future, do less bending over, don't lift heavy things, and sleep on a hard bed at night."
Lin's mother sat up in bed: "How much does it cost to get an X-ray?"
"fifteen."
Lin's mother glanced at Lin Xiu'e. Lin Xiu'e said, "Take a picture."
After taking the X-ray, Dr. Chen inserted it into the lightbox. On the lumbar spine X-ray, bone spurs had grown along the edges of several vertebrae, like nodules sprouting from old tree roots.
"Here, and here. The growths are already compressing the nerves. That's why she has back pain and can't lift her legs," Dr. Chen pointed to the X-ray. "It's not too serious yet. Conservative treatment: medication, plasters, and rest. If it gets worse and the growths block the spinal canal, then surgery will be necessary."
Lin's mother's face turned pale. Lin Xiu'e clenched her hands: "Then how do we treat it now?"
Dr. Chen prescribed the following medications: anti-inflammatory drugs, blood-activating and stasis-removing drugs, and ten plasters. These plasters weren't the two-cent kind sold in town pharmacies; they were made by the hospital itself, costing one yuan per plaster.
"Change the plaster every two days. Take the medicine on time. Come back for a follow-up check-up in two weeks."
Lin Xiu'e went to the pharmacy to get her medicine. The total cost, including the medicine, registration, and X-ray, was over forty yuan.
She put the medicine and plaster into a cloth bag and helped her mother walk out.
When they pushed their bicycles over, Lin's mother was sitting on a bench, her hand on her waist, her face expressionless.
"Mom, get in the car."
Lin's mother slowly stood up and sat sideways on the back seat. Lin Xiu'e got on the bicycle and rode along the stone-paved road in the town towards Moon Island.
After riding for a while, Lin's mother suddenly spoke up: "Forty-odd yuan. It took your father a month to earn that back when he was repairing his boat."
Lin Xiue didn't turn around: "I earned it to spend."
"It's not worth spending money on me."
The bicycle wobbled. Lin Xiu'e gripped the handlebars tightly: "Worth it."
After crossing the seawall, the wooden sign for the ship repair site could be seen in the distance. Lin Xiu'e parked the car at the gate of the courtyard and helped her mother out.
Lin's mother stood for a while, supporting her back, looking at the several fishing boats waiting to be repaired leaning against the stone trough, at the newly laid boat row on the west side, and at the row of dried mackerel hanging under the eaves.
"You're learning to sew here?"
"Um."
Lin's mother didn't say anything more. Lin Xiu'e took her home and settled her in bed. A piece of plaster was torn off and applied to her lower back; it was dark brown and smelled even stronger than the one from the town's pharmacy. Anti-inflammatory medicine was placed by the bedside, held down with a water glass.
The two younger sisters stood by the bed, watching. The younger one asked, "Mom, what's wrong?"
Lin's mother said, "It's nothing, just a backache. I'll be fine after resting for a couple of days."
Lin Xiu'e came out of the house, and her father squatted in the yard mending fishing nets.
"What did the doctor say?"
"Bone spurs. Avoid bending over and lifting heavy objects."
Lin's father was silent for a moment: "From now on, I'll move the fish baskets. Let the two younger ones do more of the drying and netting work. Your mother's back is a result of what she did when she was young. She was already working in the fields during her postpartum period after giving birth to your brother."
Lin Xiu'e didn't speak. Lin's father lowered his head and continued mending the net. The shuttle moved back and forth between the meshes of the net, his movements slower than usual.
In the afternoon, Jiang Haiping returned from the hardware store in town and saw Lin Xiue squatting at the entrance of the courtyard wall mixing tung oil putty.
After preparing one batch, I covered it with a damp cloth and then prepared a second batch.
"Did you see your mother's back?"
"I've seen the doctor. It's bone spurs, and he prescribed some medicine." Lin Xiu'e prepared the second basin, covered it with a damp cloth, and said, "The doctor said I should bend over less. From now on, my dad will carry the fish baskets around the house."
Jiang Haiping squatted down: "And you?"
"What about me?"
"You're also bending over at the ship repair shop. You have to bend over when grouting, you have to bend over when shoveling barnacles, and you have to bend over when cleaning the grooves."
Lin Xiu'e paused for a moment: "I'm young. It's okay if I'm bent for a few years."
"Your mother thought the same way when she was young."
Lin Xiu'e fell silent. She brought over the third basin of tung oil putty and began mixing it. After mixing it a couple of times, she stopped.
"Brother Ping. Master Qiu has been sewing for forty years, and his back has been bent for forty years. Have you noticed how he walks? His back is hunched."
Jiang Haiping said he had noticed it. Qiu Changhai walks with his back slightly hunched, as if he were still bending over and sewing.
"Master Qiu's problem is an occupational hazard. No seamstress can avoid becoming hunchbacked in old age." Lin Xiu'e lowered her head and continued mixing the tung oil putty. "If I were to do seamstressing for forty years, I'd be like that when I'm old."
Jiang Haiping looked at her: "So you still want to learn?"
Lin Xiu'e mixed the tung oil putty evenly, dipped her finger in it and rubbed it: "Learn. If I don't learn this, what else can I learn? Girls on the island my age are either weaving nets, drying fish, or getting married. They all suffer from back pain and hunchbacks when they get old. At least the seams I can make will keep other people's boats from leaking."
She covered the prepared tung oil putty with a damp cloth. There were three basins in total, neatly arranged on the rocks at the entrance of the courtyard wall.
In the evening, Guo Dayong's wife arrived.
She rode a dilapidated bicycle with a cloth bag strapped to the back. She was short, with a round face, and wore a faded red plaid shirt.
She stopped her bicycle at the gate and took the cloth bag off the back seat and carried it inside.
Guo Dayong was squatting next to Lao Fang watching him disassemble a cylinder head of a main engine when he heard the noise and stood up. Lao Fang said, "You go ahead, I'll watch over things here." Guo Dayong climbed out of the engine bay.
"Why are you here?"
"I'm bringing you some clothes. It's getting hot, and your work clothes are too thick." Guo Dayong's wife handed him a cloth bag. Inside the bag were two old undershirts, clean and neatly folded.
Guo Dayong took it: "Have you eaten?"
"have eaten."
Guo Dayong put the cloth bag into the stone house, and when he came out, he had an enamel mug in his hand. He poured a cup of water and handed it to her.
Guo Dayong's wife took a sip and looked around the boat repair site: looking at the boats in the stone trough, the newly paved boat row on the west side, the dried mackerel hanging under the eaves, and the three basins of tung oil putty lined up on the reef.
"You're repairing the ship here?"
"Um."
"How does it compare to an agricultural machinery factory?"
Guo Dayong thought for a moment: "The agricultural machinery factory has a canteen, dormitories, and bathhouses. This place has nothing. But when the agricultural machinery factory repairs a tractor, the wages come from the factory. When this place repairs a boat, the wages come from the owner."
He paused for a moment: "The machines on the ship are different from those on a tractor. Master Fang told me to observe and learn first, and not to rush into it. Right now, I'm disassembling and reassembling that old 6135 that was brought from the factory every day. Master Fang said that I should thoroughly understand the old machine before getting on a real ship."
Guo Dayong's wife nodded: "If someone is good to you, you should be even more attentive. Back at the farm machinery factory, the foreman scolded you because he wanted what was best for you. Master Fang doesn't scold you either, which is also for your own good."
Guo Dayong said, "I know."
Guo Dayong's wife stood up: "I'm going back. I still have to cook for the girl." After taking a few steps, she turned back: "I washed the undershirt before wearing it. It's been drying in the sun for a few days and it's covered in dust."
Guo Dayong said, "Okay." She got on her bike and rode away. Her red plaid shirt billowed in the sea breeze, like a small flag.
Old Fang poked his head out of the cabin: "Your wife is a smart woman." Guo Dayong didn't say anything, took the enamel mug back and put it away, then squatted back down next to Old Fang to continue watching the disassembly of the mug cover.
As it was getting dark, Lin Xiu'e came again.
It wasn't food they were delivering, it was plasters. Lin's mother put one on and said the smell was too strong and she couldn't sleep. Lin Xiu'e said, "You have to put it on even if it's smelly. It was prescribed by the doctor, and it costs one yuan a plaster." She left the plasters at the ship repair shop, saying that the smell would dissipate quickly there, and she would come back to get them when she needed them.
The plaster was placed on the windowsill of the stone house, with stones used to weigh down the corners.
Old Fang sniffed it: "This plaster, was it made by Old Chen from the health center? I've used it before. It works."
Lin Xiu'e said it was prescribed by Dr. Chen.
"Old Chen is good at treating back problems. When I was young, I twisted my back and went to him for a checkup. I used a plaster for half a month and it got better. After that, everyone in the factory with back pain went to him." Old Fang stubbed out his cigarette. "Your mother's back needs to be taken care of. She can't do heavy or strenuous work, and she should avoid bending over too much."
"My dad said he'll carry the fish baskets from now on."
"That's good."
Lin Xiu'e stood there for a while. The fishing boats in the stone trough rocked gently. On the new boat row to the west, Old Chen's newly painted boat was still there, its reddish-brown hull gleaming dimly in the twilight.
She turned and walked back. After a few steps, she turned back again and pushed the plaster on the windowsill further in, afraid it would be blown away by the wind.
At night, Jiang Haiping sat in the stone house doing accounts.
The ship repair shop repaired nine ships in May, making a gross profit of just over two thousand. The forty-odd yuan that Lin Xiue spent taking her mother to see a doctor was her own savings from her wages.
The apprentice at the ship repair shop was provided with meals but not paid wages, but Jiang Haiping gave her twenty yuan a month for spending money. She had saved it up for three months, and this time she spent it all.
Old Fang pushed open the door, carrying a mug of tea: "Settling the accounts?"
Jiang Haiping closed the ledger: "I'm done."
Old Fang sat down: "I heard Lin Xiu'e's mother talk about her back today. She has bone spurs and needs to recuperate. Her father's leg just healed, and now her mother's back is hurting again. This family is never quiet."
"That's how all fishermen are," Jiang Haiping said.
Old Fang took a sip of tea: "Do you remember last autumn, when Cai Datou's boat was repaired, he squatted at the helm and cried? You'll understand when you've been repairing boats for a long time that behind every boat is a family. If the boat is damaged, the family can't make a living. If the boat is repaired, the family comes back to life."
He looked at Jiang Haiping: "That girl Lin Xiu'e, she may not say it, but she keeps things to herself. Today she mixed three basins of tung oil putty, one more than usual. When she has something on her mind, she works extra."
Jiang Haiping recalled the image of Lin Xiu'e squatting at the entrance of the courtyard wall that afternoon, mixing tung oil putty. Three basins were neatly arranged on the rocks, covered with a damp cloth.
"Her mother's illness is curable. Bone hyperplasia isn't a terminal illness; it can be managed with rest. But given their family's circumstances, recuperation is a luxury. Her father has to go to sea, her younger brother is still small, and her two younger sisters are in school. The whole family relies on her mother alone. Now that her mother is ill, the burden has fallen on her shoulders."
Jiang Haiping said, "She also has a younger brother. He's thirteen, and he said he doesn't want to study anymore and wants to go on a ship."
Old Fang was silent for a while: "A fisherman's son will always be a fisherman. Generation after generation, that's how it's always been. Those who can leave the island are extremely rare."
He stood up and patted Jiang Haiping on the shoulder: "She can't get out of this. You can.
He pushed open the door and went out. The sea breeze blew in and turned a page of the account book.
Jiang Haiping closed the account book and weighed it down with an enamel mug. On the windowsill, the plaster left by Lin Xiue was pressed down by a stone, and the smell of medicine was blown into the room by the night wind, spicy and slightly bitter.