Chapter 38: This medicine is miraculous; do you have any more?

“Deputy Captain, do you still have any of that cold medicine? Please give me another bottle—Xiao Zhang and the others have caught colds too.”

Ling Yulin had just returned to his temporary dormitory when team member Xiao Zhang hurried over, flustered.

Ling Yulin looked utterly baffled. They were asking him for cold medicine? He wasn’t a doctor.

“If you’re sick, see a doctor,” Ling Yulin replied offhandedly, thinking these kids must be joking.

Xiao Zhang scratched his head, puzzled. The medicine the deputy captain gave him worked better than anything the doctor prescribed. Wait—that medicine was given to him by the deputy captain himself, wasn’t it?

“Xiao Zhang, if you’re ill, see a doctor quickly. I’m the deputy captain, not a physician,” Ling Yulin emphasized, noticing Xiao Zhang still hadn’t left and was staring at him oddly.

“No, Deputy Captain, don’t you remember? A few days ago when I was sick, you came to see me and gave me a bottle of medicine. I took a pill in the middle of the night, and I got better right away. It’s been chilly these past few days, and several people like Xiao Zhang have fallen ill. They’ve been taking the meds from the team doctor, but they haven’t fully recovered yet. I just thought of that medicine you gave me, but I finished it, so I came to ask if you still have any?”

Xiao Zhang finally understood the deputy captain’s earlier words—it wasn’t that he didn’t get it, but the deputy captain himself was unaware. He hurried to explain, amazed that the deputy captain had such effective medicine but didn’t realize it. How could anyone not believe it when it came from him?

Medicine?

What medicine?

When did he ever give Xiao Zhang any medicine?

Ling Yulin furrowed his fine brows and seriously racked his memory. He hadn’t been to the infirmary or seen a doctor recently, had he?

Seeing the deputy captain deep in thought, Xiao Zhang realized he truly didn’t remember, so he tried to jog his memory.

“Deputy Captain, it was a bottle with white ceramic packaging. That day, you and the captain came back together. When you heard I had a fever and a cold, you came to see me and casually handed me a bottle. At midnight, feeling unwell, I took one pill, and soon after, my fever subsided.”

Xiao Zhang’s face lit up with excitement as he recounted the miraculous night. He had already taken the doctor’s medicine during the day, but the fever returned at night, leaving him miserable. He glanced over at the deputy captain’s medicine on the table, grabbed a pill, and swallowed it without hesitation—after all, medicine is medicine, right?

Within moments, the heat from his nostrils cooled, his forehead’s temperature dropped, his headache eased, and his throat stopped hurting.

Then he comfortably fell asleep, waking up completely recovered with no discomfort at all.

Xiao Zhang was convinced the midnight pill was the cure. Following medical advice, he took another pill after breakfast and one more at noon, finishing the bottle.

“You finished them all?”

“Yes.”

“But you were already better! Why did you keep taking them?”

“Deputy Captain, the doctor said three times a day.”

Blame him? The deputy captain finally recalled. However, Xiao Zhang felt a little wronged.

Ah, Ling Yulin remembered now.

That day, he and Lao Gu had just returned from the Lu residence when they heard a team member was sick. They went directly to visit.

Seeing Xiao Zhang burning red with fever and clearly uncomfortable, Ling Yulin recalled the medicine he’d brought back from the Lu family, reputed to be excellent medicine from the capital city. On a whim, he left a bottle with Xiao Zhang.

Then... he forgot all about it.

“Deputy Captain, do you still have that medicine? Xiao Zhang, Xiao Lei, and the others all have colds and fevers, but the medicine prescribed by the team doctor isn’t working as well as yours,” Xiao Zhang urged anxiously after explaining so much. He had already sung the praises of this miraculous medicine to his comrades.

Ling Yulin: “...I remember... the Lu family gave me a bottle.”

“I’m out—gave it all to you,” he admitted.

Was this medicine really that effective? It supposedly came from the capital city’s pharmacy—why hadn’t he known?

Xiao Zhang widened his eyes in disbelief. The deputy captain wasn’t going to check for more?

Ling Yulin still found it hard to believe. Could medicine from the Lu family really be better than that supplied by the team doctor? After all, the military only used the best medicines.

“How are Xiao Zhang and Xiao Lei doing now? What symptoms do they have?”

“They’re coughing, have runny noses, and sore throats,” Xiao Zhang replied, well aware from watching them cough nonstop all day and night, disturbing everyone’s rest.

“Deputy Captain, why don’t you go back and see if there’s any medicine left?”

Xiao Zhang held onto a glimmer of hope, urging him to check—it wouldn’t hurt.

“All right, wait here. I’ll have a look,” Ling Yulin agreed. He remembered there were several bottles of medicine besides the one he gave away. Maybe there was one that matched their symptoms.

He rummaged through his cabinet in the dormitory, where everything was neatly stored.

“Medicine for rheumatism and leg pain, diarrhea medicine, painkillers, cough and phlegm medicine...”

He found it.

This cough and phlegm medicine should work, right? It fit the symptoms.

Ling Yulin examined the bottle, opened it, and sniffed. It smelled strongly of traditional Chinese herbs. The question was whether it could be taken safely and if it would be effective.

“Deputy Captain, did you find it? Is there more?”

Xiao Zhang stood anxiously at the door, sensing Ling Yulin had found the medicine.

“There’s one bottle of cough and phlegm medicine. Not sure if it’ll work.”

“It definitely will. Xiao Zhang and the others have been coughing nonstop.”

Xiao Zhang’s eyes blazed with certainty, fearing the deputy captain might refuse to give them the medicine.

Ling Yulin remained silent.

Finally, Ling Yulin took the medicine and went with Xiao Zhang to the comrades’ dormitory. Xiao Lei, Xiao Zhang, and the others were all there, coughing incessantly.

“Xiao Zhang, Xiao Lei, I brought medicine from the deputy captain.”

“Xiao Zhang, don’t take medicine recklessly. Go get the team doctor.”

Ling Yulin still felt uneasy and sent Xiao Zhang to fetch the doctor to avoid any accidents from taking unknown medicine.

The team doctor arrived quickly. After hearing Xiao Zhang’s description, inspecting the pills, and sniffing them repeatedly, he couldn’t reach a conclusion.

He was a Western doctor, not familiar with traditional Chinese medicine.

However...

“It should be safe to take. From what Deputy Captain Ling said and based on Xiao Zhang’s experience, there’s no problem, but the effect is uncertain.”

“Generally, traditional medicine works slower than Western medicine, but it’s hard to say.”

The doctor considered and gave this cautious opinion. He wasn’t worried about toxicity but uncertain about possible side effects.

Better that than poison.

As long as it’s medicine and not poison, it must be taken.

Xiao Zhang had testified that the medicine worked wonders, with just one pill showing immediate effect.

So Xiao Zhang, Xiao Lei, and the others each took a pill without hesitation.

There were only five pills in the bottle, black in color.

After swallowing, Xiao Lei and Xiao Zhang immediately felt a coolness in their throats and sudden relief in their nasal passages.

Ling Yulin and the team doctor closely monitored them. After only a few minutes, Ling Yulin couldn’t help but ask:

“How do you feel now? Any discomfort?”

The doctor said nothing but glanced at Ling Yulin. What medicine could work this fast? He’d stayed only to ensure the medicine wasn’t toxic.

“Deputy Captain, my throat doesn’t itch anymore.”

“My throat feels quite comfortable now.”

“Me too, I suddenly don’t feel like coughing.”

Xiao Lei, Xiao Zhang, and the others felt the urge to cough had vanished, much better than before taking the medicine.

Was this real?

The effect was astonishingly quick.

Even the doctor was amazed.

“Open your mouths for me to check.”

The doctor had brought his medical kit along to examine the patients.

Five minutes later.

“Hmm, it seems this medicine is really effective. Their throats have improved significantly,” the doctor said, surprised by their rapid recovery. He had to admit those dark herbal pills were quite potent.

“Yes, I haven’t coughed for a long time now.”

“Right, my runny nose stopped too.”

“I’m not coughing anymore either.”

Xiao Zhang and Xiao Lei were both astonished and delighted. These cold symptoms had tormented them for two days—poor sleep, poor appetite, constant coughing and runny noses, and endless laundry for their handkerchiefs.

“See, I told you the deputy captain’s medicine works,” Xiao Zhang boasted, proud to be the first to discover its effect. Now everyone believed him.

“Deputy Captain Ling, do you have more of this medicine? During the change of seasons, everyone catches colds easily.”

The team doctor also found it incredible. If the medicine truly worked, they should use it for everyone.

Ling Yulin: “...”

You ask me, I ask who?!

Wait, he could ask Lao Gu. After all, this medicine was sent by his wife.

...

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