H South L County, the hometown of the "Red Flag Canal", which is famous for the huge water conservancy project at the foot of Taihang Mountain, has long been well-known to people. The mountainous areas here are arid and barren, and there are few fresh vegetables, and the common people have the habit of eating pickled vegetables, and they have been eating with pickled vegetables for many years. Drinking is prevalent, liquor is also made by the people with dried potatoes, corn and other grains, and the fresh vegetables such as cabbage and radish grown by themselves are collected, loaded into a large vat for pickling, and eaten when they come, this pickled vegetable contains a lot of nitrite. In order to overcome this problem, in 1959, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences organized the research cooperation on the prevention and treatment of esophageal cancer in four provinces and one city in North China according to the national plan for the prevention and treatment of malignant tumors, and then established a national pilot base for the prevention and treatment of esophageal cancer in L County, H South Province. At the same time, the Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Beijing Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the H South College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the Ayang District Hospital also formed a medical team to be stationed in L County to carry out multi-disciplinary research on the comprehensive prevention and treatment of esophageal cancer. After several years of rapid development, L County has accumulated a lot of advanced experience in the prevention and treatment of esophageal cancer.

Shi Dayong's cab is small, and there are only three people at most, he originally wanted Ruimin to take care of his father with him, but Sun Xiufang was not at ease, Ruimin was not a person who did the work, and it was better to let Ruimin take care of it himself, so to put it mildly, Sun Xiufang followed. Along the way, Shi Dayong drove fast and steadily, and just after noon, he had already arrived at the urban area of L County.

Entering the city, Shi Dayong first inquired with passers-by about the location of the research base, it was easy to find, in the county hospital, Shi Dayong led his parents to find a small hotel nearby to live in, and then went outside to find a restaurant to fill their stomachs, after eating, a little rest, the three of them came to the county hospital.

The hospital buildings everywhere are roughly the same, the color tone is basically white, and it is the same here, a small white building, about three floors, there is a big red cross in the middle of the roof, and there are several plaques on both sides of the door, the plaque on the left reads L County People's Hospital, the plaque on the right reads L County Esophageal Cancer Prevention and Treatment Institute, and there are a few signs next to it that say what, Shi Dayong didn't pay attention to it.

Shi Dayong carried his father into the gate, the building was full of people, a long corridor ran through the left and right, and there was a gate in front of him that led directly to the backyard. Shi Dayong walked around left and right, there was a window on the east wall, with four red letters, registered payment, he put Shi Youtian on a connecting chair, and discussed with Sun Xiufang: "Mother, you accompany my father to sit for a while, and I will go to register first." ”

Since her eldest son came home, Sun Xiufang seemed to have a backbone, and she didn't worry about anything, as long as she listened to her son's arrangement, she agreed at the moment: "Medium." ”

After sitting in the car for more than three hours in a row, although there is no need to walk, it has exceeded the body's capacity for a critically ill patient, even if he took a nap at noon, he still did not rest, and at this time, he could only lean on Sun Xiufang's arms tiredly, panting weakly.

His father's state made Shi Dayong anxious, but fortunately, he had already come to the hospital, and he only hoped to find a doctor as soon as possible to relieve his father's pain.

Shi Dayong took out his wallet and leaned to the window: "Comrade, please register me."

"What's your name? What department to hang? ”

What department? Isn't this the Institute of Esophageal Cancer, why is it still a department, but after thinking about it, this is still a cancer hospital, and it won't be a hospital that specializes in only one disease, so he said at the moment: "I took my father to see esophageal cancer, and my father's name is Shi Youtian." "Oh, a dime a penny." The registration clerk heard that Shi Dayong had a foreign accent, and while handing out the medical record book, he kindly reminded: "The first room on the left turn of the corridor is, go ahead." ”

There were not too many patients in the afternoon, there were four or five people in front of Shi Dayong, and after waiting for only half an hour, they had already been lined up, Shi Dayong held his father's arm, and waited for him to sit firmly at the doctor's table, before he took out the medical records he carried and put them in front of the doctor: "Doctor, we are from Shandong, and it is not good to check the esophagus over there, please help me take a look." ”

The doctor is about fifty years old, wearing black-framed glasses, a little crow's feet at the corners of his eyes, dots of white on his sideburns, and a ** plaque pinned to his left chest, which reads: Attending Physician Liang Ruiyuan

Liang Ruiyuan has been engaged in esophageal cancer research for more than 20 years, and he has seen too many esophageal cancer patients in the past 20 years.

Liang Ruiyuan first picked up the medical record and read the contents, and then carefully looked at Shi Youtian's face, his eyes were calm and kind, which invisibly made Shi Youtian feel a sense of dependence and trust.

"Comrade, how are you feeling lately?" Liang Ruiyuan smiled, his tone was friendly, he reached out and touched Shi Youtian's neck, and the touch at the bottom of his hand told him that the lymph nodes were swollen, which was a bad phenomenon, and if the patient had a malignant tumor, it meant that the lesion might metastasize.

Shi Youtian pressed all his hopes on the doctor in front of him: "It seems that it is better than at the beginning, but it is still not good to eat,"

Dysphagia, this is expected, judging from the film brought by the patient, the patient's condition is not optimistic, Liang Ruiyuan wrote in the medical record book, and took the prescription and opened a checklist: "Comrade, don't worry, I'll give you a few lists, don't eat tomorrow morning and come to the hospital for an upper gastrointestinal contrast and gastroscopy, and then take a little tissue for a test, and I'll take a look at the results when they come out." ”

Although the patient brought pathology reports from other hospitals, Liang Ruiyuan was still not at ease, not because he wanted to make money for the hospital, but mainly because the medical equipment in his hospital would be more advanced and accurate than that of other hospitals, and he hoped that the patient's disease would be benign.

Saying goodbye to the doctor, the three of them walked to the small hotel, and regretted Shi Youtian as they walked: "Alas, I knew that I wouldn't eat at noon, if I didn't eat just now, I could do a check-up directly, you see, waste an extra afternoon, let's stay here for one more day, and spend a lot more money on food and accommodation." ”

"Dad, you can't say that, since we've come out, we can't go hungry again in order to save two dollars." Shi Dayong turned his head to Shi Youtian, and the hot breath exhaled by Shi Youtian sprayed directly onto Shi Dayong's cheeks: "I said Dayong, you still won't live, we will have to pay a few yuan for a night of accommodation, this money can buy several bags of fertilizer, but if you don't buy fertilizer, what you buy doesn't taste good, and you give it to others for nothing, if you want me to say, it's not cold now, what kind of hotel do you live in, just sleep in your car for two nights." ”

"Dad, you see what you think, can you sleep in the car like a hotel? It's not good to sleep in the car, or else, Dad, Mom, we'll be fine in the afternoon anyway, or I'll drive the two of you out for a walk? I heard that there is a Grand Canyon here, not too far from here, how about it, shall we go and see it? ”

As soon as Shi Dayong's words fell, Shi Youtian immediately objected, and his breath was a little hurried: "Don't go, do you see if I still have the strength to go shopping, I have to let you carry these two steps, and then go to the Grand Canyon, I have to exhaust the two of us to death." ”

"If you don't go, you won't go, don't worry." Seriously, Shi Dayong just said that if you really let him go to the Grand Canyon with his father on his back, he wouldn't have that energy.

There was nothing to say all night, and the next day, Shi Dayong carried Shi Youtian to the hospital early, paid the money, did all the tests that should be done, and asked when the results would be obtained, and the family returned to the small hotel to continue waiting.

Shi Dayong has a good habit, but whenever he goes to a new place that he has never been to, he will take a turn, take a look, and more or less buy some souvenirs for Wang Ying and the children.

Shi Youtian tossed all morning was very uncomfortable, and when he returned to the hotel, he yelled to sleep, Sun Xiufang was not at ease, and kept staying by Shi Youtian's side, Shi Dayong first accompanied Shi Youtian for a while, and saw that his father was asleep, and he had nothing to do, so he simply came out to walk on the street.

said it was a visit, it was really a visit, Shi Dayong knew that his father would pass, if he bought something for his father to see, wouldn't it be a blockage for his father. It is said that the millet here is good, and at the end of the walk, Shi Dayong also bought a few catties of millet to go back, millet nourishes the stomach and is nutritious, and it is just right to use this to cook porridge for his father.

In the afternoon, Shi Dayong went by himself, and as soon as he got a few results, he went directly to Liang Ruiyuan: "Doctor Liang." ”

Liang Ruiyuan raised his head, pushed the frame that had slipped off to the bridge of his nose, saw the thing in Shi Dayong's hand, and said, "The result is out?" Show it to me."

Shi Dayong hurriedly handed over the results in his hand one by one.

Liang Ruiyuan looked at them one by one, he looked at them very carefully, the tighter his brows became, the tighter his brows, the more nervous Shi Dayong became, and cold sweat soaked in the palms of his hands.

After a long time, Liang Ruiyuan raised his head, "Comrade, your father's illness, the hospital in your hometown is not wrong to give a conclusion. ”

"What?" Rao was already mentally prepared, Shi Dayong's heart still couldn't help but sink violently, and his lips trembled a little: "Doctor, is there any salvation?" Can't I have surgery to cut off the bad part? ”

If he could, Liang Ruiyuan didn't want to see this expression of his family, this was an expression of dashed hope, "Comrade." He comforted: "Don't be too sad, your father's condition has reached an advanced stage, the cancer has spread, with the current medical means, even if the surgery is done, it will not help, what we can do now is to minimize the pain of the patient in the days to come." ”

Shi Dayong stared at Liang Ruiyuan tightly, his eyes were full of indescribable sadness and pleading, "Doctor, I beg you, you can think of a way, no matter how much it costs, as long as you can save my father......"

"I can understand your feelings, it's not about money now, comrade, it's too late, if you can find it two months earlier, there may still be a glimmer of chance, it's too late to say anything." Liang Ruiyuan shook his head and sighed, whenever he encountered such a patient, his mood would be depressed for several days.

Shi Dayong looked at Liang Ruiyuan straight, tears overflowed his eyes unconsciously, and little by little he washed out the hope in his heart, until the washing was clean, he was unwilling, and asked again: "Doctor, is there really no way?" ”

Liang Ruiyuan shook his head: "I'll prescribe some medicine for you, when the medicine is almost over, people are estimated to be ......."

Shi Dayong hung his head and walked back with the test results and a large bag of medicine in frustration, under the autumn sun, Shi Dayong walked alone, obviously it was still a warm season, but he felt cold all over his body, and his mind was a mess, he wanted to figure out the clue and find a reasonable explanation, how to tell his father about it.

It's too difficult, although my father sometimes says that he is dead, but his eyes clearly have a desire for life, and now he wants to strangle his father's hope from his mouth, Shi Dayong can't bear it.

Seeing that the hotel was in front of him, Shi Dayong paced at the door again and again, smoking cigarettes one after another, at that time, in order to see a doctor conveniently, Shi Dayong specially found the hotel closest to the hospital, he now complains a little about himself, why didn't he find a little farther away at that time, he hasn't thought about how to say it, how to get to the place so quickly.