Chapter 386: Source of Infection

Guan Daye laughed heartily; these words had truly touched his heart. Now that he could no longer count on his second son, heaven had sent him a grandson, which meant the Guan family line would finally have a successor.

Although Guan Xiaoguan was also a member of the Guan family, she was a woman after all. No matter how much Guan Daye doted on her, she could not fill the void left by a grandson; now, things could finally be considered complete.

Soon, Guan Tai brought Han Chunyan out to offer toasts. When Zhang Ping'an saw her, he was momentarily dazed. There was no other reason than that she truly looked too much like Lou Xiaoe, though her appearance looked a bit older than Lou Xiaoe's, and her temperament was different as well.

The current Lou Xiaoe was an overbearing career woman, while Han Chunyan was full of scholarly air; one look and you could tell she was an intellectual.

"Dad, don't you find it strange?"

"Strange how?"

"She looks so much like Lou."

Guan Xiaoguan looked over at this moment. The two of them had long known that Han Chunyan and Lou Xiaoe were similar, but they had never mentioned it at home, just wanting to see Zhang Ping'an's reaction.

"I know. They are distant cousins."

"Ah? There's this connection?"

"What? Weidong, are you trying to make a fool of your father? It seems we two need to 'spar' when we get back. I want to see if you've been slacking off."

"Dad, it's all a misunderstanding..." Weidong looked to Guan Xiaoguan for help, but Guan Xiaoguan turned her head away, feeling guilty.

"……"

"Xiaoguan, I think I need to have your mother increase the intensity of your Body Refining Technique training."

"Dad, I was wrong." Upon hearing this, Guan Xiaoguan's face immediately turned bitter, and she hurriedly admitted her mistake.

After Guan Xiaoguan and Liu Shujun finished their postpartum recovery, Wang Xiaoling had been guiding them in the Body Refining Technique; she knew the difficulty involved.

However, in order to hold onto their youth for a few more years, they were both very diligent, but increasing the intensity would truly be the death of them.

"Dad, Dad, it was all my idea, it has nothing to do with Xiaoguan."

"Hmph."

That afternoon, Zhang Ping'an returned home and said he would practice, so he practiced. Soon, Zhang Weidong was beaten until his whole body ached.

Zhang Ping'an felt refreshed all over; daring to make jokes about his old father was just asking for a beating. At the same time, he guiltily glanced toward the Back Courtyard, fortunately, his old man wasn't home.

Meanwhile, Zhang Weijun was skulking on the side, gloating.

"Big brother, how did you provoke Dad?"

"Cough, nothing, I was just sparring with Dad."

"Hehe~" Zhang Weijun saw his guilty expression and knew he was lying, but he didn't press further.

"Here, this is what Mom asked me to give you. Let your wife apply it for you."

"Oh, okay."

Inside the room, Guan Xiaoguan looked at Zhang Weidong's grimacing expression, feeling both heartbroken and amused.

"Brother Weidong, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. The old man knows how much force to use; applying the medicine will make it hurt for at most an hour or so."

"Then if I start exercising tomorrow morning, will Mom...?"

"No, Dad dotes on his daughters very much. Look at Wanqiu and the others; you are the same as them, Mom and Dad both treat you like a daughter."

"Mm."

Guan Xiaoguan also thought about how her father-in-law and mother-in-law had always been very good to her, both before she was married and now.

"Let's formally apologize to Dad tonight."

"Mm... okay."

Zhang Weidong thought about it; this really was their own mischievous prank, so he couldn't blame his father for beating him.

"Hiss, help me apply this."

"Oh, oh, okay."

……

Time slipped by until the end of March. On this day, Zhong Zhengguo ran over in a hurry to find Zhang Ping'an.

"Uncle, my grandfather has something to talk to you about."

"Alright, let's go then."

Zhang Ping'an had spent the last half-month in Sijiucheng looking for suitable places to open a supermarket and had already marked five locations; he was just preparing to go to Modu in a couple of days to take a look.

At the Zhong Family home, Zhong Yan was there as well, and Zhang Ping'an understood what was going on.

"Dad, Eldest Sister, what happened? Why so urgent?"

"Yan'er, you tell him."

"Mm, Ping'an, a tricky patient has come to our Hospital. A woman, she has a severe venereal infection, what is commonly called a dirty disease."

Although Zhong Yan was a doctor, it was still a bit awkward to explain in this era, but she couldn't just ignore it.

"We used standard penicillin injections, but unfortunately, the effect was minimal."

"The onset of this illness hasn't been short, I'm afraid?"

Zhang Ping'an knew that this woman was most likely Zheng Zhiming's wife. He figured they had already guessed it was because of Zheng Zhiming, but since Zhong Yan didn't say it, he wouldn't ask.

He would just act like it was very difficult when treating her later; being able to cure Zheng Zhiming's wife was already his limit.

"Right, it's been over half a year."

"Let's go, let's take a look. I can only say I'll do my best."

"This..."

"Eldest Sister, you don't think I can diagnose illnesses remotely, do you? This will at least require taking the pulse first."

"Oh, oh, okay, let's go." Zhong Yan said awkwardly; she had thought Zhang Ping'an would need to look at the affected area like they did, which was why he was in a difficult position.

When Zhang Ping'an arrived at the hospital ward, he saw a woman whose face was wrapped tightly.

After Zhang Ping'an put on disposable gloves and took her pulse, his brows furrowed. This wasn't half a year; it had been a year at least.

"How is it, Ping'an?"

"Sigh, this illness has lasted at least a year; it has been dragged out for too long."

"This..."

Zhong Yan also looked at the woman, but saw that she was only crying silently; it was clear that what Zhang Ping'an said was true.

"I only have less than a forty percent chance of success, and it will take a relatively long time."

"Give it a try, sister; at least there is some hope."

"Wuu wuu... mm."

Zhang Ping'an deliberated and wrote out two prescriptions.

"Big sister, these two prescriptions are for internal consumption and external washing respectively. Also, find a female Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner to give her two acupuncture treatments every day; I have already marked the acupoints."

"Good, good, good, I will arrange it right away."

The two prescriptions Zhang Ping'an wrote were both modified ancient formulas; naturally, there were people in ancient times who frequented brothels, and the women in the pleasure houses surely contracted this disease as well.

Once they received guests, everyone in the trade would be infected, so people eventually researched this venereal disease, and gradually, methods to suppress it were developed.

Half a month later, the condition of Zheng Zhiming's wife had not worsened and even showed signs of improvement; Zhong Yan also breathed a sigh of relief.

This day, Zhang Ping'an was called to the Hospital by Zhong Laotou again. Zhong Laotou did not say much, just pointed to a ward, where a man with his face covered was lying inside.

"Is there still any saving him?"

"The poisonous evil has entered the body, invaded the internal organs, and the whole body is festering; there is no saving him. This person has had the disease for at least three or four years; what were they doing earlier?"

Zhong Dingbang sighed softly and said nothing more. Zhang Ping'an could not even cure the one who had been ill for over a year, let alone this one whose illness had reached the vital organs.

"Let's go, let's go outside to talk."

Zhang Ping'an and Zhong Laotou walked out of the Hospital building side by side; Zhong Laotou's body seemed to have hunched over a bit more.

"That is Zheng Zhiming."

"What? How is he... then who was that woman from before?" Zhang Ping'an feigned surprise.

"Correct, it is that scoundrel's wife. In the end, harming others only harms oneself. I have also failed the trust of an old friend."

"Dad, this is Zheng Zhiming's own doing. You don't need to be like this; I believe that if Zheng Lao knew in the afterlife, he wouldn't blame you."

"If only he had gone to the Hospital the moment he discovered the signs, he wouldn't have implicated others, let alone brought about his own death."

"Indeed, it is just hard on the child Zheng Xiangnan. Forget it, this is all fate."

It was true; Zheng Xiangnan had sent off the old man last year, and this year he had to endure the white-haired burying the black-haired. If things went poorly, he might completely collapse.

Zheng Xiangnan was a good man, a big shot in the Ministry of Public Security, upright and selfless. It was a pity he happened to have such a son.

He and his wife were both busy with work, so their son had always been looked after by his grandparents. He paid little attention to him, never expecting that he would grow up to have such a lawless temperament.