Chapter 556: Folk Remedy

Ji Xiang begged bitterly in the end, and finally got his wish, returning to the ward with a stomach tube inserted.

The old man in the next bed said with a look of disdain, "You were just saying you wouldn't get a stomach tube, how did you turn into a coward so quickly?"

"Hehe, I was in too much pain, my brain wasn't working right."

"I think your brain isn't working right now," said the woman taking care of the old man. "Your stomach doesn't even hurt anymore, yet you're still shoving a tube up your nose; isn't this just asking for trouble?"

Ji Xiang smiled; so this was what Empathy felt like this time. He looked the patient's caregiver in the next bed up and down and asked, "What illness does the Old Man have?"

"They say it's Intestinal Obstruction, and they gave him a tube of medicine. The name of the medicine sounds indecent," the patient's daughter replied.

Her tone and expression conveyed her attitude, especially the words "indecent," as if the attending Doctor had just committed sexual harassment.

"What medicine did they give?" Ji Xiang asked.

"Something called Jieda."

"Glycerin Enema, that's a perfectly good medicine."

"You know everything!" The patient's daughter sniffed and said disdainfully, "Just a moment ago you were telling us that the doctors don't know a damn thing, and that since your stomach doesn't hurt anymore, they only insisted on admitting you to the hospital to make more money."

Did I say that? Ji Xiang scratched his head and decided to take the blame.

"It was just that the pain was too severe earlier, my mind went blank, and I couldn't remember anything," Ji Xiang explained. "I'm much better now, so I'll just do whatever the doctor says."

The patient's daughter looked at Ji Xiang with a strange gaze, wondering why he had suddenly changed into a different person.

"He's always like this," Ji Xiang's "partner" scolded. "When we were young and first met, he loved to brag, talking big, but when it came to doing things, he was as cowardly as a dog."

"Hahaha." The patient's daughter in the next bed laughed out loud.

"One day, I don't know what kind of anger he had suffered outside, but he came home slamming things around and pointed at my nose asking what was for dinner. Does this lady look like I'd put up with his foul temper? I knew he was just itching for a beating, so a few scoldings were enough."

"In the end, as long as I gave him a beating, he would sneak off to cook a few minutes later."

As Ji Xiang's "partner" spoke, she gave him a triumphant look.

"Heh." Ji Xiang didn't feel embarrassed. He had to experience Empathy for all sorts of strange people; if he felt embarrassed or ashamed over such a trivial matter, then there would be no point in experiencing Empathy.

Immediately, Ji Xiang asked, "Have you used the Jieda yet?"

"Why are you being so polite? Did the doctors scare you silly today? It's fine for me to scold him a few times, but what right do they have to scold you!" Ji Xiang's "partner" asked suspiciously.

"No," Ji Xiang said. "The doctor treated me well, and we had a kind and friendly communication."

He only explained that one sentence before staring fixedly at the patient in the next bed.

"We didn't use it. At first, they said they wanted to do an enema, and I didn't understand, so I thought, fine, let them do it. I happened to pass by the Treatment Room and saw the nurse preparing things to give another patient an enema. Such a thick tube, they say it has to be shoved into the anus!"

The patient's daughter in the next bed gestured with her hands. Ji Xiang frowned slightly; neither a cleansing enema nor a laxative enema required a tube that thick.

Exaggeration, this must be "appropriate" exaggeration.

It belonged to a type of rhetorical device.

"My dad won't suffer that kind of torture!" After the patient's daughter in the next bed spoke vividly for a full 3 minutes, she gave a definitive answer.

Ji Xiang was also helpless; he had no idea why the patient's daughter in the next bed would feel such fear.

There are countless Clinical treatment measures, and some are indeed hard to accept, such as long-term stomach tubes, urinary catheters, tracheal intubation, or Auxiliary breathing with an Anesthesia Machine, etc.

But an enema... the level of pain can only be described as moderate.

"Then what do you plan to do?" Ji Xiang asked.

"I called people back home and asked, and they said there's a folk remedy," the patient's daughter in the next bed said with a hint of pride. "This thing is just dry stool, you just need to lubricate it."

It actually made some sense; in fact, the principle of an enema is similar, Ji Xiang thought to himself.

"People back home said that when you encounter a situation where you can't poop, just eat two plates of fatty pork slices."

"..."

"I've already prepared it, and it just so happens that my dad likes to eat meat."

"The doctor said, no eating or drinking," Ji Xiang said very seriously.

"The doctor said, the doctor said, everything is what the doctor said, as if they're worthy. This group of people are just hoodlums, they don't even compare to the Barefoot Doctor my dad had when he was young! The doctors back then were single-mindedly focused on curing illnesses and saving lives, now they're just here to make money!" the patient's daughter in the next bed said with disdain.

Ji Xiang sighed in his heart.

Although it was only Empathy, just a bizarre experience created by some code or other black technology, in Ji Xiang's eyes, the old man in the next bed was still a Patient.

He couldn't help but want to say a few more words, until the look in the eyes of the patient's daughter in the next bed carried a blade.

Ji Xiang was helpless; after nagging a few times and seeing it provoke even greater resentment from the Family Member, he had no choice but to shut his mouth.

With the nagging of his "partner" in his ears and the grumbling of the patient's daughter in the next bed, this experience of Empathy was not good.

Plus, Ji Xiang didn't really like having a stomach tube inserted.

When the tube passed through the nasal cavity and pharynx, Ji Xiang would reflexively tear up. Although he had to endure it for the sake of treatment, constantly wiping his tears significantly lowered Ji Xiang's experience.

An hour later, the patient's daughter in the next bed returned carrying a thermal bucket sent by her family.

She began to prepare the meal.

It was braised pork made at home, with almost no lean meat, all of it was fat.

With a slight movement, the fat wobbled and shimmered, oily and glistening, greasy and smooth.

The Old Man was in high spirits after seeing the fatty meat, unlike Ji Xiang, who was already nauseated just by looking at it.

Let alone eating it, just looking at it made Ji Xiang feel a bit sick.

The patient's daughter in the next bed prepared minced garlic and soy sauce, and after seasoning it, she served the Old Man to eat.

The Old Man clearly loved eating it very much; he picked up a piece of fatty meat, the edges of the meat trembling, dipped it in the garlic sauce, and put it into his mouth.

"Slurp~"

Ji Xiang vaguely heard the sound of the fatty meat being "sucked" into his mouth.

At the same time, saliva secreted in Ji Xiang's Stomatology, and Ji Xiang subconsciously swallowed a mouthful of saliva; the stomach tube rubbed against the pharyngeal wall, bringing a wave of pain and discomfort.

The nerve reflex reached the lacrimal duct, and Ji Xiang cried while swallowing saliva, as if he had been tempted to tears.

"I'm eating too." Seeing the Old Man eating with such relish, Ji Xiang's "partner" seemed hungry too, and took out a thermal lunch box to prepare to eat.

Countless waves of malice shrouded him from all sides, especially the aroma of meat and the fragrance of food lingering in the air; Ji Xiang felt as if he were being targeted by this world.

The more Ji Xiang "cried," the sadder he became.

For a Patient who has a gastric tube inserted and cannot eat or drink, the fragrance of food can truly be ranked as one of the ten great tortures.

No wonder so many patients are disobedient and insist on eating; Ji Xiang swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

The swallowing motion pulled on the gastric tube, causing another wave of pain, and tears streamed down.

(End of this chapter)