Seeing this, Li Yi and Jiang Xue’s hearts sank!
They had never seen Zhang Feng act so out of character in all this time, and immediately realized something was wrong.
With that thought, the two immediately rushed toward Zhang Feng.
The moment they met, before Li Yi could even speak, Zhang Feng exclaimed urgently, “Sister Meizi has fainted!”
Big Sister fainted?
Li Yi and Jiang Xue were startled once more, and they immediately ran toward the cafeteria.
On the way, Li Yi asked about Sister Mei’s condition. According to Zhang Feng, Sister Mei had been sitting on a stool feeding Little Ruirui some orange-flavored powdered drink when Little Ruirui saw Yunrui and Yunjin being held by their dad and started crying, demanding a hug from Grandpa.
The older sister stood up, ready to hand little Ruirui to his father, but just as she lifted the child, she suddenly collapsed to the ground!
Hearing this, Li Yi couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine.
Although he wasn’t a doctor, he knew that sudden fainting like this, aside from high blood pressure, high blood sugar, or low blood sugar, was usually caused by serious, difficult-to-treat illnesses.
Most importantly, his older sister wasn’t overweight or underweight, and she usually paid close attention to her diet. She definitely didn’t have any cardiovascular or cerebrovascular diseases—so how could she have fainted so suddenly?
With that thought, his pace quickened involuntarily…
When Li Yi returned to the cafeteria, he saw a crowd gathered around, and he could hear his little nephew Rui Rui’s cries coming from the center of the group!
As soon as the crowd saw Li Yi and Jiang Xue approaching, they immediately parted to make way.
When Li Yi and Jiang Xue reached the center of the crowd, they saw that his older sister had already regained consciousness, though her complexion looked rather pale.
At that moment, the village’s only unlicensed doctor—and the eldest member of the Li family, Old Man Li—was taking his older sister’s pulse.
Old Master Li was one of the few educated elders in the village; in his youth, he had studied medicine in the county seat for several years, and villagers would turn to him whenever they had a headache or a fever.
After a short while, Old Li finally let go of their eldest sister’s arm.
Li Yi immediately asked, “Seventh Uncle, is my older sister going to be all right…?”
Before Li Yi could finish his question, Old Li looked at his older sister and said, “Meizi, how long has it been since your period last came?”
My eldest sister thought for a moment and replied, “It’s been over a month, I think. But I’ve never been in the best of health—sometimes it skips for several months at a time…”
“Meizi, if I’m not mistaken, you must be pregnant!”
“P-pregnant?”
Both Li Mei and Li Yi froze upon hearing this.
“Seventh Master, how could my sister faint just because she’s pregnant?” Li Yi frowned.
To be honest, he didn’t quite… no, he didn’t believe Seventh Master’s diagnosis at all. banbanhaobang
It wasn’t that Li Yi lacked respect for his elders; it was simply that Seventh Master had only studied medicine for three or four years before the war broke out, at which point he enlisted in the army.
Unfortunately, he had joined the Song Dynasty’s Northwest Army, part of the Nationalist forces. Although he narrowly escaped death on the battlefield, he didn’t secure a single official post after the war ended. Instead, at the age of 40, he was repatriated to the village as a prisoner of war.
After that, Seventh Uncle stayed in the village, spending his days farming and treating patients.
Since his medical skills were limited, Seventh Uncle could only treat minor ailments like headaches and fevers. When treating patients, he relied on a few herbal formulas he was skilled at—ones that clear heat and eliminate toxins—as well as Anain (painkillers).
He couldn’t handle anything more serious, and even when he did manage to cure a patient, it was mostly by trial and error.
If Big Sister were to fall seriously ill, Li Yi really wouldn’t dare count on the old man.
Seventh Uncle paused to think for a moment, then said, “Meizi does indeed have a pregnancy pulse, but the fetus is still quite small, so the pulse is a bit weak.”
“As for why she suddenly fainted, it’s likely due to exhaustion from recent overwork. She shouldn’t do any work for a few days; with some proper rest, she should recover!”
“Exhaustion?”
Li Yi glanced at his older sister and asked, puzzled, “Sis, have you been very tired lately?”
“Well… I guess so!”
After a moment’s thought, she added, “Actually, I am a bit tired!”
“Is it because of the kids?”
“No… it’s almost fall, and I want to make a few pairs of embroidered insoles for your brother-in-law and you guys…”
Hearing this, Li Yi couldn’t help but furrow his brow. When his older sister mentioned making shoe pads, she was referring to the kind where you first sketch a design onto a pre-made pattern, then stitch it out thread by thread with colored thread—much like the embroidery found in southern China.
The insoles made this way were exceptionally beautiful and sturdy, but they were incredibly labor-intensive—no wonder she felt so exhausted.
“Sis, how are you feeling now? Why don’t I take you to the county hospital?” Li Yi asked.
“No need. I feel much better now. Let’s not go to all that trouble…”
“You should still go get checked out. If there’s something wrong, we can treat it; if not, we’ll just consider it a physical exam—it’ll put our minds at ease, won’t it?” Jiang Xue urged.
“How about tomorrow, then? I already ate breakfast this morning—it might interfere with the exam!”
Then the eldest sister continued, “Besides, dinner’s about to be served. Let’s not spoil everyone’s mood…”
Before she could finish, Li Yi said, “It’s fine. We have a car; we’ll be back in no time!”
With that, before the older sister could say another word, Li Yi helped her to her feet and headed toward the exit of the cafeteria.
Seeing this, Zhang Ziqiang and Zhou Wen immediately followed them out.
Jiang Xue wanted to go too, but Li Yi stopped her, telling her to stay home and look after the little ones…
……..
Worried that the older sister might actually be pregnant, and with the road conditions being quite poor, they didn’t drive very fast on the way there.
As a result, by the time they arrived at the county hospital, it was already noon.
If they had arrived just a few minutes later, the doctor would have already clocked out.
Just in the nick of time, they managed to catch Dr. Chen from the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department before she left for the day.
“Dr. Chen, my older sister suddenly fainted just now. The village doctor said she has a ‘pregnancy pulse.’ Could you please take a look?”
Dr. Chen had a very clear impression of Li Yi; she had previously examined Jiang Xue.
She immediately opened the examination room door, motioned for Li Yi to bring his sister inside, and then asked him to wait outside.
After quite a while, Dr. Chen finally called Li Yi into the examination room.
“Dr. Chen, my older sister…”
Before he could finish, Dr. Chen said with a smile, “She is indeed pregnant—probably about two months along!”
“Then why did my older sister faint?” Li Yi asked, a hint of concern in his voice.
“It was likely due to overexertion!”
Dr. Chen continued, “After becoming pregnant, a woman’s progesterone levels change, making her prone to excessive fatigue or insomnia. If the physical strain is too great, it can even lead to fainting.”
“What should we do?”
“Generally, she needs to get plenty of rest, avoid overexertion, and maintain a positive mindset!”
“Do we need to prescribe any medication or something?” Li Yi asked.
“No, just get plenty of rest!”
“Alright, thank you!” Li Yi said, his voice tinged with a hint of excitement.
“You’re welcome—it’s our job!”
Then Dr. Chen added, “By the way, during my examination just now, I also noticed that your older sister’s blood pressure is a bit low, but it’s not serious. She should eat more foods that boost energy and nourish the blood to replenish her strength—things like red dates and pork liver. In any case, it’s nothing to worry about!”
“Alright!”
After expressing his gratitude repeatedly, Li Yi finally left the county hospital with his older sister.
Afterward, Li Yi didn’t head straight home. Instead, he took his older sister to the supply and marketing cooperative, where they bought a good supply of tonics before returning to the village.
However, to Li Yi’s surprise, when they returned to the school, they discovered that everyone had been waiting for them and hadn’t eaten yet!
Deeply moved, Li Yi immediately told Feng Kai and the others to get everyone ready to eat.
And so, the gathering in Nianzishan Village officially began…
………..