Chapter 223: Are doctors considered craftsmen?
The patch era for most people is coming soon.
This time, Wang Deming did not buy a lot of cloth and bring it back to the countryside in Changping. One reason was that the family already had plenty of clothes, and the other was that cloth was less important than food.

At the end of this year, Wang Deming will take the Chinese medicine qualification examination again, and he can finally upgrade his level from medical assistant to doctor.

It's really not easy
In the morning, Wang Deming was seeing patients in the orthopedic clinic in Dongsi with his master Xia Xiwu and his senior brother Wu Dinghuan. With two apprentices by his side, old man Xia Xiwu felt extremely comfortable.

Holding a teacup in his hand and a wooden box on the table, he listened to Peking Opera, sometimes nodding his head and singing along.

In his eyes, both Wu Dinghuan and Wang Deming could have been trained long ago, but Wu Dinghuan was his son-in-law, so after training, he would follow him and either see patients in the Dongsi Clinic or at home in the afternoon.

As for Wang Deming, with such a big business like the Chinese medicine factory, how could he not have a job? He could just learn from me and open a clinic. What's the point of teaching an apprentice to starve to death? He himself has no son, so the apprentices he takes in are like his sons. He hopes that the apprentices will surpass the master.

Uh. It seems to be better than blue?
Now when patients come to see him at the orthopedic clinic, Xia Xiwu mostly just talks, and only when he encounters a complicated case will he start to check and fix the bones? Doesn't he have two apprentices? What is the purpose of teaching apprentices?

Put on your reading glasses, pick up today's Masses Daily, cross your legs, and hey, this life is so beautiful!

Hmm. Has the socialist transformation extended to handicraftsmen?

Xia Xiwu read the news carefully again. "The policy for socialist transformation of handicraft industry is to take active leadership and make steady progress. The organizational form is from handicraft production groups, handicraft supply and marketing production cooperatives to handicraft production cooperatives. The method is to start with supply and marketing and implement production transformation. The steps are from small to large, from low to high."

“Organizing handicraft production cooperatives is the only organizational form for transforming the individual economy of handicraftsmen and helping them transition to socialism.”

As it happened, the last patient of the morning was seen off. Two of the disciples, Wang Deming and Wu Dinghuan, washed their hands and walked over while drying them. "Master, what are you watching the news so seriously?"

Xia Xiwu looked up at his two apprentices, took off his reading glasses, and handed the newspaper to them, with a hint of doubt, "I don't know if it has anything to do with you two?"

"Huh?" Wang Deming opened the newspaper and saw that the title was "The Third National Handicraft Production Cooperation Conference", and the details called for the establishment of handicraft production cooperatives.

Wu Dinghuan strained his neck to follow along and when he saw the title, he pouted his lips in disapproval and said, "Master, this has nothing to do with us, right?"

"This newspaper says it's a handicraft cooperative. Are we doctors also handicraftsmen?"

Xia Xiwu thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case. He stood up with a smile and told his two disciples, "Dinghuan, Deming, pack up your things and let's go home."

"Let's have dumplings for lunch today."

I put on my coat and covered my face with a scarf. As soon as I went out, the wind and sand hit me in the face. Winter is coming, and the sandstorm in the capital is coming too.

It was impossible to ride a bicycle in this kind of weather, as the whole sky was gray. Wang Deming and Wu Dinghuan each held one side of Xia Xiwu, and walked towards Baoyu Hutong staggeringly against the northwest wind.

A traffic policeman standing on a low stone pier at the East Fourth Intersection was blown all over the place by the wind and sand, but he still insisted on directing traffic.

In fact, there is no need for guidance. Pedestrians passing by can hear the "ding-dang, ding-dang" bell sounds and know that the north-south trams are passing by; and by the "di-di" horn sounds, they know that a car is passing by; or by hearing "wait! gee! whoops!" mixed with the "crackling" sound of whips and the "ring-ling" sound of horse bells, they know that a mule and horse cart is passing by.

As for the camel caravans carrying coal, there were also some very pleasant "ring-ring, ring-ring" camel bell sounds, but they were difficult to hear clearly in such windy and sandy weather. Moreover, the camel caravans were in rows, and the "ring-ring" sounds came one after another.

Of course, you can also smell it.

However, since the ring railway was put into use, the number of camel caravans coming from Mentougou has been decreasing; since the unified sales and purchase of grain and cotton, private grain stores have been closed and ceased to operate, and there is no need for camel caravans to help transport grain.

People in Dongdan District usually go to Meipu Hutong to buy coal, which is on Dongzhimen North Street, near Paoju Hutong. People in Dongsi District usually go to Meizha Hutong, near Xiaowei Hutong, because there is an iron foundry here, which has a lot of coal slag, and poor people often go there to pick up coal cores.
At Xia Xiwu's home in Baoyu Hutong, as soon as the three men came in, the pregnant sister-in-law hurriedly patted them with a towel and helped to dust off the dust, saying, "I saw a halo around the moon last night, so I knew it would be windy and sandy today, but I didn't expect it to be so windy today!" "It was as dark as night this morning, and the window paper on the window edges was blown through a lot."

"Haha!" Wang Deming joked, "When the sandstorm stops, won't the sky be clear and bright?"

"You're the only one who knows how to talk! It's windy like this and the road doesn't even need sweeping, how can it not be clean?" The sister-in-law rolled her eyes at him. Shao Qing was about to get a basin with warm water for the three of them to wash their hands and faces, but was stopped by Wang Deming who rushed to get the water.

"Sister-in-law, I'll go. You can go for a walk if you have nothing to do. Don't do any heavy work." Wang Deming nodded to his senior brother Wu Dinghuan, "Why keep such a grown man here?"

"Oh my," said Master's Wife Huizhen, with her hands on her hips and eyebrows raised, "How dare you!"

"If the neighbors knew about this, your brother wouldn't have a good word for me, either. Especially those kinship masters in our family, who might say behind my back: Aren't grown men supposed to have everything they want? What's wrong with an old woman being pregnant? How dare she not work when she's pregnant?"

"Haha." Wang Deming laughed out loud at the last sentence of his sister-in-law, which was very interesting and sarcastic. After a while, he said, "Sister-in-law, next time someone says that, tear off one of the posters promoting comrades on the street and put it up at their house."

"I guarantee that the Women's Federation will come to our house the next day to persuade and educate us, and they may even bring two policemen with them."

The sister-in-law curled her lips in disdain, "How can we live like that? We fight at the head of the bed and make up at the foot of the bed. Why do you want to involve outsiders?" She glanced at Wang Deming up and down and suddenly said, "No wonder you have several wives and I haven't heard of any unrest in your family. You have to support your brothers and sisters!"

Wang Deming's eyes widened and his mouth half opened. How could this be linked to me? He rolled his eyes around, shrugged helplessly, and said, "Sister-in-law, can't your brothers and sisters be more sensible?"

"Haha." Xia Xiwu slapped the back of his head in annoyance, "Hurry up and eat."

The dumplings were stuffed with mutton and green onions. As soon as the three of them sat down at the table, the master's wife and her sisters-in-law skillfully brought out the bowls and chopsticks, and brought out garlic sauce, aged vinegar, and pickled cucumbers. Then several plates of steaming dumplings were brought up, and then they sat down to eat together.

But the mother and daughter only ate a few and then stopped.

Seeing this, Wang Deming pushed the dumplings in front of him towards his sister-in-law and master's wife, "Master's wife, sister-in-law, you should eat more. Especially sister-in-law, you need to strengthen your nutrition at this time."

The mistress smiled and stepped back, "Don't dare to eat too much. We don't do any heavy work at home. It's good to eat a few to taste the flavor. Besides, simple food is more nourishing. Your sister-in-law doesn't dare to eat too much either. What if the baby in her belly is too big and both mother and daughter will suffer during the birth."

"Sister-in-law, doesn't she always go to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of Union Hospital for checkups?" Wang Deming asked doubtfully. "Besides, Dr. Yan Runming, a disciple of Mr. Zhao Shuping, is a famous gynecologist. We have someone there."

"Okay, eat your food! You don't understand how women give birth." Xia Xi took a sip of wine and stopped Wang Deming from continuing to talk about gynecological issues.

"Well, how about asking Brother to go to Yongkang Hutong every day and bring back a bowl of bird's nest for Sister-in-law? Then put it on my account."

"No," the sister-in-law quickly refused, "People like us who work hard can't stand that kind of stuff. You should just make money from foreigners and rich people."

Wu Dinghuan also interrupted and said, "Deming, if the doctor says your sister-in-law is malnourished, I will definitely ask you for help. My master and I are the only ones who earn money in our family, and we dare not ask your sister-in-law for help."

"OK then"

After finishing their meal, the master's wife and his wife stopped Wang Deming who wanted to help, made tea for the three of them, and talked about today's news. "I guess, since the handicraft industry has established a cooperative, it will be soon for doctors like us to open clinics at home, right?"

"Socialist transformation can't possibly miss us, right?"

　I found that I am actually good at writing about family matters, but I always want to write something. I am always frustrated. Either the work I write is put in a black box or I cannot publish it.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)