Let's say that when Mingyan heard that Baoyu was asking this, he talked endlessly: "If you go back to the second master of Bao, it may not be very clear that you ask the little one, this matter, the little one follows from beginning to end." That day, the little one went out to buy some gadgets, and happened to meet a good buddy Wang Mazi outside.

The little one was going to greet him, and who knows, this kid suddenly fainted and fell unconscious. Just not far away is Doctor Liu's medical hall, the small three and two steps to carry him to the medical hall, Doctor Liu finished the pulse, couldn't help but shake his head, a little annoyed, said what to do with sending a dead man over, let him take it away and prepare for the future. Second Master Bao, guess what? ”

"You kid don't sell Guan Zi to the master, say it quickly!" Baoyu couldn't help glaring at him and said. Mingyan had no choice but to smile and said: "It just so happens that a Western devil with a beard and a beard claims to be the priest of the Yang Church in the capital, and said to let him see it." As a result, he came over and rolled Wang Mazi's eyelids, saying that he was not dead, so he put Wang Mazi flat on the ground, broke his mouth, blew a few breaths into his mouth, and kept pressing on his chest. ”

"Are you kid sure you don't have a master? This person is dead, can he be saved? Bao Yuqi said. My lord, you will lend me ten guts, and the little ones will not dare to basket you! Mingyan kept reassuring.

"This foreign devil is a little interesting, isn't it?" Baoyu muttered to herself. Baoyu hooked his finger at Mingyan, Mingyan leaned over, Baoyu whispered a few words to Mingyan, Mingyan walked out of Yihong Courtyard quickly, and went to busied.

The next morning, Baoyu hurriedly freshened up under the service of the attackers, ate some breakfast indiscriminately, went out of the Grand View Garden alone, and went to Ermen to find a famous cigarette, and said, "What I asked your kid to do is eyebrow-raising?" ”

Mingyan hurriedly saluted and replied: "My lord, you have something to do and let people pass me over, why did you come by yourself, what you explained, can you still not care about the little ones?" I inquired yesterday, the foreign church is in the western suburbs of the capital, from the house to the carriage over less than an hour away, that day to save people bearded Western devil heard that is a priest surnamed Tang, I am ready to drive, ready to set off at any time. ”

"So what are you waiting for? Let's go now! Baoyu couldn't wait for a moment, grass grew in his heart, and he couldn't wait to see this mysterious foreign priest immediately.

Baoyu walked in front of him quickly, three steps and two steps to the west corner gate, Mingyan chased behind, for fear that Baoyu would fall, and reminded vigorously: "My lord, slow down, don't fall, otherwise the small one can't afford it." ”

Walking out of the corner gate, a carriage was parked on the side of the street waiting, the coachman saw Baoyu and the two, immediately greeted and saluted, Baoyu got into the carriage with the help of Mingyan, Mingyan and the coachman sat in front of the car to lead the way.

Leaving nothing to mention all the way, after about an hour, the carriage stopped at a two-entry courtyard. With the help of Mingyan, Baoyu got out of the carriage.

The courtyard door was open, and no one watched the door, Baoyu and the two went straight into the courtyard, and a European-style building in the style of a spire castle appeared in front of them, and a Western woman dressed as a nun stood on both sides of the gate in the middle, about fifteen or sixteen years old, her skin was so white that there was no blood, and the complexion of the Chinese people was completely different, one was slightly thinner, and the other was more plump.

Baoyu looked surprised. When the two nuns saw someone coming, they asked in a stiff Chinese dialect: "Are you two here to worship?" ”。

Baoyu was stunned for a moment, but she didn't understand for a while. However, the famous smoker was clever, and he had heard about some Western churches, so he immediately stepped forward and said with gestures while talking: "We are from the Rongguo Mansion in the capital, and this is our Jia Gongzi, who came here to visit your Father Tang today." ”

It took a while for the nun to realize that she had come to find Father Tom, so she respectfully said to Baoyu's master and servant, "Please wait a moment. ”

About half a stick of incense, the fat nun saluted Baoyu and replied respectfully: "Master Jia, I've been waiting for a long time, Father Tom is invited." ”

Baoyu immediately returned the salute and said, "There is Sister Lao." Baoyu and the two followed the fat nun through the main hall of the church, came to the door of a side room, made a gesture of invitation to Baoyu, and Baoyu thanked the nun and walked straight to the room. Mingyan was about to follow up, but was stopped by the fat nun and said, "Father Tom said, I saw your son, please come with me to the side to rest." ”

Baoyu stepped into the door, looked around, looked over slightly, this wing room is about two zhang square, from the point of view of the utensils and furnishings, it is more like a medical hall: three sides against the wall are rows of medicine cabinets, the door is placed a bookcase, behind the bookcase is a bookshelf, the bookshelf is full of all kinds of medical books that have not been seen, the bookcase is also placed in a half-person high platform (operating table), four or five simple hospital beds, the room is filled with a smell of medicine.

A man dressed as a Western devil, wearing a white coat, more than a head taller than Baoyu, could not tell the specific age, about forty years old (Westerners are older), standing with his back to the door, tall and straight, holding a medical book on the bookshelf and looking through it.

Baoyu looked at it, bowed down and clasped his fists and saluted the foreign devil priest, and said respectfully: "Lord Priest, the kid took the liberty to come to disturb, please forgive me for the inconvenience." Father Tang turned around and said with a fluent Beijing accent and said with a smile: "Childe is polite, don't be polite, just call me Tom, please take a seat." "The voice is just soft and soft, which makes people feel like a spring breeze.

Only then did Baoyu take a closer look at this foreign devil, Father Tom, with a full head of curly blond hair with a shawl, a high nose bridge, a snow-white complexion, a well-proportioned figure, and a taller skeleton than most Chinese people, but it looked quite heroic.

To Baoyu's surprise, this Father Tom was able to speak fluently in Beijing films. Father Tom seemed unimpressed by Baoyu's surprise, and explained with a slight smile: "I am from the Kingdom of England, I have been preaching in China for more than ten years, and I am very interested in the culture of your country. ”

Baoyu was shocked from the beginning, but quickly calmed down, and bowed his hand and said: "In the fourth generation of Xia Rongguo Mansion, Sun Jiaying, nicknamed Baoyu, you can call me Baoyu, I came today to admire the priest's superb medical skills, and I came to visit and ask for advice." ”。 Then, Baoyu retold the story of "the miracle doctor who came back to life" that he heard from the famous cigarette.

Father Tom couldn't help laughing after hearing this, and said with a smile: "Rongguofu, I have some impressions. Jia Gongzi, how can the hearsay rumors in the neighborhood be believed. I did save someone that day, but that person didn't die at all, just temporary breathing and heartbeat were very faint and imperceptible, and I happened to happen to meet him, and if it was later, I couldn't do anything. ”

Baoyu suddenly realized, but admired Tom's honesty and brilliant medical skills. Then, Tom briefly explained to Baoyu some superficial principles of Western medicine, although Baoyu has not studied medicine systematically, but he usually has some research on Chinese medicine, which is refreshing and fascinated.

The two chatted together for a long time, and talked about poetry and songs for a while, and the two chatted excitedly, and soon called themselves brothers, and there was a tendency to hate each other. At the end, Tom saw that Baoyu wanted to speak and stopped, so he smiled and said, "Brother Bao, there is nothing wrong with talking. ”

Baoyu saw that Tom was straightforward and generous, not pretentious, and did not beat around the bush, so he directly explained the meaning and explained the ins and outs of Daiyu's old illness. Tom listened carefully, not letting go of a trace of clues, and asked some questions from time to time, and Baoyu answered them one by one.

After asking, Tom closed his eyes and pondered for a while before saying: "Judging from the symptoms described by Brother Bao, your sister's disease should belong to a kind of bronchial asthma, which is a chronic disease, mainly based on general maintenance, supplemented by drug treatment, although it is generally not fatal, but when the symptoms are severe, there will be life-threatening conditions, I have a fast-acting medicine for an attack, you can take it back and try it, and give you a notebook, which has detailed treatment methods and precautions for this disease, which should help you somewhat. There are a large number of cures for this disease, and the sooner it is treated, the better the chance of cure. ”

Baoyu was naturally grateful to Father Tom. After explaining, Tom took out his pocket watch and looked at the hour, and hurriedly apologized to Baoyu: "It is said that Brother Liubao should have eaten here at noon, but there is really something that can't leave for a while, and I am out of company!" There will be a period later! Baoyu hurriedly said that he didn't dare to bother.

Before leaving, Tom gave Baoyu some medical books on the principles and common diseases of modern Western medicine, as well as a collection of Shakespeare's works, which made Baoyu happy for a while. After leaving Father Tom, he returned to Yihong Courtyard before noon with a famous cigarette.

As everyone knows, these books not only benefited Baoyu a lot, but even influenced his life, of course, this is a later story.