I was born in 70, my family is in Yiyang Mountain, Hunan, and when I graduated from junior high school in 87, I was not admitted to the technical secondary school by one point. When I was extremely depressed, the teacher told me the good news that the county health school was going to recruit a group of students with good grades this year, who were also doctors, and asked me if I was interested in signing up.
I didn't hesitate to fill out the volunteer and told my father the news when I got home.
My father was very pleased with my decision, but I didn't know at the time that the health school I was going to go to was very different from the regional health school I had been thinking about for many years, but this was all for later.
Why did I want to study in a health school and become a doctor?
Because my father was the barefoot doctor of the brigade, he was almost the most respected man in the village from the time we were sensible. When there was any dispute between the villagers and neighbors, and the captain of the branch secretary team could not mediate well, my father said a few words on both sides in the past, and the trouble could basically be solved.
After all, in those days, the most serious thing in the countryside was the lack of medical care and medicine. My family has been three generations of doctors in my father's generation, and after becoming a barefoot doctor in the brigade, he received some pitiful Western medicine from the commune health center, and most of them went to the mountains to collect herbs and give them to the sick villagers.
In those days, there was also cooperative medical care, and the medicine given by my father was basically free of charge, that is, the brigade made up a little work. People's hearts are flesh and blood, and in the minds of the villagers, my father is indeed a "living Bodhisattva".
When I was in middle school, I started to deliver medicines to my family, and the cooperative medical center in the village became my family's private pharmacy.
But my father still adheres to the psychology of "I hope that people in the world are free of diseases, so why worry about the medicine and dust", and the pharmacy can barely maintain, and the profits are pitiful, but it has to occupy the labor of my father.
Everyone had to eat, and in order to make a living, my father wanted to close the pharmacy. The villagers were very reluctant to know about it, and as soon as everyone discussed, Murakami "zoned" a pond next to the pharmacy to the pharmacy, not to rent a penny for our family to raise fish, which can be regarded as subsidizing the family, provided that my father's pharmacy cannot be closed.
In this way, my father's pharmacy continued to open, and by the way, he raised some fish in that mountain pond, and when he was free, he would throw some grass in the vicinity, and at the end of each year, he could catch a few hundred catties of fish from it, and it would be a lot of money to sell them.
So, my father has always been grateful to the villagers for taking care of him, and has been saying in my ear since I was sensible:
Doctors are the most respected profession in the world, and they can eat no matter what. You see, in my life, my strength is not as great as others, and my brain is not as flexible as others, but I have not been tired of anything.
So, from that time on, I secretly decided that I would also become a doctor in the future to save lives and help the people for the well-being.
It's a pity that the high school entrance examination is just one point apart, and I passed by the regional health school. Fortunately, thanks to the news provided by the teacher, I still went to the county health school.
At that time, the tuition fee was 600 yuan per semester, which was a lot of money. Although when I received the notice, I was still wondering: Why is the tuition fee of this health school so expensive? Doesn't it mean that there is no charge for studying in a secondary school?
After signing up, I learned that we were the first officially enrolled students of the prefectural health school, and it is said that we are cooperating with the local health school to recruit children from the health system in the county, and after graduation, we will be assigned to various health centers. Originally, there were 50 places, but the school recruited 10 more people, that is, students like me who are not children of the system.
Our ten students have the best grades, but after graduation, they are likely to have to fend for themselves, and the so-called way of livelihood is actually there: go home and become barefoot doctors.
Although I was disappointed that I could not enter the health center to become a national doctor, it did not affect my enthusiasm for studying medicine in the slightest.
Because I have heard and seen it since I was a child, I did not feel the slightest pressure to study. When my classmates couldn't figure out the names of those Chinese herbs, I was able to go up the mountain to dig them alone many years ago. When others were still worried about the soup recipe and couldn't read it, I was taught by my father to sing it as a nursery rhyme when I was a child.
As a result, I was very respected by my teachers and classmates at school, which also reduced my depression to a certain extent.
The first semester was over, and when I came home, I had nothing to do, so I stayed at my father's pharmacy every day. The villagers did not look down on me as a "quasi-doctor" who was still in school, and sometimes even took the initiative to let me try my hand, but I enjoyed it.
Soon at the end of the year, according to the custom, my family will start fishing on the day of the New Year, and most of them are selling for money during the New Year, which is also the source of my tuition for the next semester.
Because at the end of the year, there was basically nothing to do in the pharmacy, and after the fish was raised, my father went to the town every day to sell fish, and I stayed at home to watch the pharmacy, anyway, I was basically able to deal with some odd things.
At the age of 28, the family's fish were almost sold, and my father, as always, would talk about the good things of the villagers every night, and say that you have chosen the right school for this school, and you will definitely be able to become a respected person like him in the future.
I have to say that my father's generation was really too simple-minded, and they didn't think of any high-income enjoyment. The family's pharmacy can only barely maintain, and he is already satisfied with having a fish pond that does not require rent to earn tuition fees and a few delicious meals.
As soon as I got up that day, I told my father that I was going to the town to buy something today.
My father readily agreed, but he also explained one thing, saying that there are three herring fish at home, two big ones have seven or eight pounds, and one small one is more than one pound, and you take them to the street, and the two big ones have already been ordered, and I tell you that the place can be sent directly to you, and you will sell the small one, and the money from the sale will be given to you as pocket money.
I happily accepted the task, got a bucket with three fish, and carried them to the town, first sent the two large herring fish according to the address, and then placed the fish bucket on the side of the road, hoping to sell the little herring for a good price, and I would have extra money to buy books.
But I'm still a scholar after all, and I can't let go of my face and shout, just worship the fish bucket in front of me, and others don't know what you're selling. It was almost noon, and no one had ever asked me.
The only time someone came to me with a fish in his hand, and learned that the price of my herring was more than a piece cheaper than the grass carp inside, although he sighed, he didn't need to buy another one.
Seeing that it was almost noon, the herring that was more than a pound or two pounds was still lying alone in the barrel in front of me.
I couldn't hold it anymore, so I stood up and looked left and right for a while, and finally I thought of shouting a few times, and decided to lower the price and sell the fish as soon as possible so that I could do my own thing.
As soon as I stood up, an old man on crutches walked up to me, still holding a few pairs of Chinese medicine, looking at the herring in my bucket tremblingly, and asked me with surprise on his face: Houshengjia, is your herring for sale?
Isn't this nonsense? I didn't sell the fish on the street, but I put it here to give people an eye-opening -- our local fish farmers are mainly grass carp, silver carp and carp, but the herring is one of the four major fish, but few people raise it, and it is rare to see herring on the market for many years, which may be the reason why the old man asked.
Knowing that my herring was going to be sold, the old man asked the price, and I was busy getting rid of it quickly, so I said a price of two yuan and a half. You know, at that time, the price of grass carp was also three yuan, and my herring was only two yuan and five, just because I wanted to buy it quickly.
The old man had just seen the surprise of the herring, and then he reached out in his pocket, and then showed a look of disappointment and confusion. Embarrassed and cautious, he asked me:
After the birth of the family, I only have one dollar, can I use this dollar to buy your herring gall, the fish is still yours.
I was surprised when I heard it, a dollar was not a small amount in the countryside at that time, and the old man didn't seem to be particularly rich, but he was willing to use a dollar to buy only my fish gallbladder, what is the reason for this?
I felt strange, so I asked more: Old man, you are really a strange person, you can buy half a catty of fish for one dollar, but you only buy one fish gall, you can spend a few more dollars to buy the fish, isn't the fish gall bladder also yours?
The old man was embarrassed to tell me: I have bad eyes, I just asked the ophthalmologist to open a bill today, and the doctor explained that he wanted to use herring gallbladder as a medicine, and he looked for a long time before he saw a herring fish in you.
But after catching the medicine, there is only one dollar left, which is not enough to buy your fish, so I am willing to use the remaining dollar to buy fish gall bladders, and when the fare is gone, I have to walk back to Jinjinping.
As soon as I heard that the old man was sick, with Chinese medicine in his hand, and his left eye was really not bright, and he had to go out to buy medicine by himself at such an old age, my heart was suddenly so touched, I looked at the herring in front of me, and quickly made a decision.
I said to the old man: Since you want herring gall bladder as a medicine, there are still ten miles from the street to Jinjinping, and I can't bear to ask for your dollar fare, so isn't it really a conscience, I think you are pitiful, I will give you this fish, and I will keep a dollar for you.
After saying that, I grabbed the herring and handed it to him with a prepared palm leaf wearing the gills.
Seeing that I didn't charge money and wanted to give him a herring for nothing, the old man refused to ask for it. I was still muttering in my mouth, saying that I was dozens of years old, and I never wanted other people's things, and I saw that you were only a teenager in your later life, at most as old as my granddaughter, where could I ask for your fish in vain.
Actually, the main thing is that I want to get rid of it as soon as possible and go to the bookstore to buy some books and go home. simply stuffed the herring fish into his hand, but said in his mouth: If you don't want to ask for nothing, then send the money to Dr. Huang's house in Maple Bay in a few days, I am his son.
When the old man heard "Maple Bay Doctor Huang", his face suddenly brightened, and he said loudly: Houshengjia, you are the son of Dr. Huang, no wonder you are so kind. Okay, you are so kind and generous today to give me a favor, I will take the fish home for the time being, I know your father, and I will definitely send money when the time comes.
I didn't take his words to heart, and when I got home, I forgot to say it, and I didn't tell it until my father asked me how much the fish had sold for in the evening.
My father didn't blame me, but said very happily: You shouldn't have left your address, if people really send money, then you will be embarrassed.
Luckily, I didn't see the old man for two days in a row, and I almost forgot about it.
On the morning of the third day of the Lunar New Year, I was drinking tea and chatting with my uncle at my neighbor's house, and my mother called me on the side of the road, saying that there was a sudden guest at home, and she had come to look for me.
I hurried home to see that it was the old man I had delivered the fish, he had not come alone, and there was a young girl about the same age as me next to him.
Although I am not ashamed, I blush when I see a strange girl, and I am so nervous that I even stammer. The old man introduced to me with a smile that the girl next to him was his granddaughter, and he didn't worry that she would go out alone, so he came with him.
The old man also joked to me: Houshengjia, I didn't see you stutter that day, why did you become like this today?
Do you think I'm stammering because of you, an old man, or because of your granddaughter?
Mother brought tea, no matter what, they were all guests, and people came so far to find me, a hairy guy, at such an age, there should be no less etiquette.
My mother went to call my father back, and the two really knew each other at first sight, and they had worked together in the commune many years ago.
Since they are acquaintances, they speak a lot more casually, and I know that my uncle's surname is Liu. Uncle Liu has been praising my father for teaching his son well, and he has such compassion at a young age, and his future achievements are limitless.
My father said to Uncle Liu very modestly: This stupid boy in my family has not been doing his job since he was a child, and now he is studying in the county health school, and he will not have any achievements in the future, and he is not the same as me.
Hearing that I was studying in the health school, Uncle Liu was very happy, pointed to his granddaughter next to him and said to us proudly: What a coincidence, my Hongmei is also studying in the health school and will graduate next year. You young people are studying medicine, so you can get in touch with more in the future.
As soon as these words came out, the girl named Hongmei was downright and generous, but I suddenly blushed, although in my own home, I didn't know where to put my hands.
Uncle Liu's grandfather and grandson ate at my house and then left, but my father refused to accept his money, and said that it was just a fish raised by himself, where is there a reason to send it out and collect money, isn't this a slap in the face.
Before leaving, Uncle Liu must have asked me and Hongmei to leave contact information for each other, and said that in the future, we should write more letters to contact, and people who study medicine can only learn skills by exchanging experiences with each other.
I don't know why, after the start of school, the shadow of the red plum has always appeared in my mind.
I have to say that she is really pretty, and compared to her, the female classmates in our class are overshadowed.
So, I tried to write her a letter, of course, it was just a normal hello, but I soon received a reply from Hongmei, and she also said in the letter that Grandpa was muttering in her ear throughout the winter vacation.
After going back and forth, I couldn't stop the correspondence with Hongmei, but I never talked about love, and the letters were all about learning and future prospects.
When I was in the second grade, Hongmei graduated and was assigned to our township health center.
I only graduated in the second year, because I didn't have a receiving unit, so I could only go home to help my father open a pharmacy, which can be regarded as a "professional counterpart".
In the spring of 91, Hongmei suddenly came to my house and asked me to take the exam, saying that our health center has been expanded, and you are a graduate of the county health school, as long as you pass the examination, you can officially enter the system.
I already knew the news, although I was moved at first, but after inquiring with the teacher, I knew that this expansion was aimed at the families of the staff on the staff, and others were not qualified.
I reluctantly told Hongmei what I had heard, but she said to me with a red face: I have written my family members on your registration form.
At this point, no matter how stupid I am, I can understand what is going on. immediately hugged her and turned around several times, which made her blush.
In that way, I successfully passed all the assessments and officially joined the township health center.
In '93, I was admitted to medical school with Hongmei and was able to continue my studies on a full-time basis. It was in that year that we got married.
After graduating, the two of us were assigned to the county hospital together. Decades have passed, and our marriage has always been a model in the eyes of our colleagues.
I have always been grateful for the herring fish that was sent out back then, and my happy marriage with Hongmei can be described as "fish as a matchmaker".