Chapter 26: Odd Jobs

On Tang Banxia’s first day at her new post, there were hardly any patients, so she busied herself tidying up the clinic. Calling it a “clinic” was generous—it was really just one large room. Inside, there was a single row of shelves and a table with chairs. Beyond that, it was empty.

Tang Banxia borrowed a broom and a cloth from the brigade headquarters next door and gave the place a thorough cleaning, inside and out. Just as she finished, the brigade leader arrived. She locked up, got him to write her an introduction letter, then went home to fetch the medicinal herbs she’d prepared for sale at the procurement station, and set out.

This time, she was on official business, so the village’s donkey cart was put at her disposal. The driver was once again Hu Jiaguo, who had a good impression of Tang Banxia since she’d given him steamed buns the last time. “Comrade Tang, congratulations on your new position,” he said warmly.

“Thank you, Brother Hu,” she replied.

Coincidentally, several village women were headed to the commune that day, so the donkey cart took them along as well.

“Comrade Tang, going to the commune?” one of the women greeted her.

“Aunt Wu, are you off to the procurement station?” Tang Banxia responded.

“I’ve saved up some eggs to sell for cash,” Aunt Wu said, pointing to her basket.

The donkey cart wasn’t very big, and with the women and their baskets, it was packed full. Tang Banxia simply set her basket at the front and held it in her arms.

“Comrade Tang, what business do you have at the commune?”

“I’m here to collect some Western medicine,” Tang Banxia replied, settling herself as comfortably as she could. The country roads were rough, and after a while, her backside went numb from the jostling.

Bumped and shaken all the way, they finally reached the commune. Tang Banxia took her paperwork and collected the medicine: a few tablets of penicillin, a big bottle of gentian violet, and nothing else.

“That’s all?” Tang Banxia asked in disbelief.

“You think that isn’t enough?” The staff member looked at her as if she were being greedy.

Tang Banxia could only accept it. She signed for the supplies and left quietly. She’d known that medical resources were scarce in the countryside, but every day as a barefoot doctor was a revelation.

Her next stop was the procurement station, where she brought a sample of the medicinal herbs she’d gathered, wanting to check the prices.

The staff there were used to people like her and directed her straight to the herbal procurement desk.

“Processed rhubarb, seven cents per jin. You have ten jin, so that’s seventy cents.”

“Dried schisandra, fifty cents per jin. Here you have seven liang, so that’s thirty-five cents.”

“Yellow root...”

“Honeysuckle...”

“Dendrobium...”

All told, she had several types of herbs, but even after selling them all, she only got three yuan and eighty-five cents—and that was for properly processed herbs. If they’d been unprocessed, the price would have been even lower.

“Your processing skills are quite good. Next time, you can try selling directly to the pharmacy—they’ll pay better,” the woman handling the herbs said.

Tang Banxia accepted the money and thanked her earnestly.

The old woman, pleased by Tang Banxia’s manners, handed her a leaflet. “These are the herbs the pharmacy collects; both processed and fresh. If you have any, you can try selling to them. The pharmacy also hires people to process herbs part-time. If you’re interested, you can take some home to work on—good practice for you.”

Tang Banxia read the list carefully and saw many commonly found herbs she could easily gather. The idea of part-time processing work intrigued her, and she thanked the woman once more.

The old woman just waved her off with a smile. Tang Banxia, knowing not to overstay her welcome, shouldered her basket and left.

With time to spare, she decided to check out the pharmacy the woman had mentioned.

There, she found only a few people selling herbs. Tang Banxia lingered for a while, observing, then approached the counter.

“Hello, I heard you buy medicinal herbs here?”

The man at the counter was young. Seeing Tang Banxia, his eyes lit up and he greeted her enthusiastically. “Yes! Do you have any herbs to sell, comrade?”

She nodded and took out a few specimens from her basket. “Could you take a look and see if these are suitable?”

The young man examined her herbs, and his attitude instantly changed from casual to respectful. “These are excellent. You have real skill—how much do you have like this?”

“Not much. I gather them in my spare time. I actually wanted to ask if you hire people to process herbs part-time. How is the pay calculated?”

The young man scrutinized her herbs further, clearly impressed. “With your skills, you could be an apprentice here, let alone work part-time. For the part-time jobs, you buy the raw herbs yourself and, once you’ve processed them, the pharmacy buys them back at a higher price.”

At first, Tang Banxia frowned at the arrangement, but she soon understood. “Would there be a contract? What if I buy the herbs and you end up not buying them back?”

Her question made the young man appreciate her all the more. Many people balked at having to pay upfront, but few were as clear-headed as this young woman.

“Of course. Wait here, I’ll draft one now.”

He quickly wrote up an agreement, signed his name, and even brought out an ink pad to stamp his fingerprint. “Take a look.”

Tang Banxia read it carefully and was reassured. The contract was thorough, clearly spelling out that she’d buy the herbs, process them, and then resell them to the pharmacy at a set price—no loopholes for the other side to exploit.

Satisfied, she signed and stamped her own name, and the part-time agreement was settled.

Afterward, she marked a few types of herbs on the inventory sheet, paid for them, and left contentedly.

Only after she left did the young man close the pharmacy door, return to the back room, and address the old woman from the procurement station. “Grandma, what do you think?”

The old woman inspected the herbs Tang Banxia had sold. Without looking up, she replied, “She’s a promising one. Let’s watch her a bit longer.”

The young man stepped forward to help his grandmother sort and check the herbs.

Meanwhile, Tang Banxia rode her exclusive donkey cart back to the village.

As soon as she returned, before she could even get off the cart, Liu Hongfen spotted her and dragged her off at a run.

Tang Banxia was startled. “Wait, slow down! My shoe!”

She watched helplessly as her black cloth shoe spun through the air in a perfect arc and landed squarely on the donkey’s eyes.

The donkey had been munching grass peacefully when, suddenly, a shoe fell from the sky.

With a startled bray, the donkey reared up in alarm—it was under attack! It couldn’t see!

It whinnied and thrashed, calling for help as if the end was nigh.

Hu Jiaguo was still on the cart. Seeing the commotion, he scrambled down, trying to retrieve the shoe from the donkey’s face. But the donkey, now spooked, kicked and bucked so wildly that it managed to break the cart apart.

Liu Hongfen was dumbfounded. Tang Banxia, embarrassed, shifted her left foot behind her, hiding her gaudy socks from Hu Jiaguo’s tearful gaze. This wasn’t her fault! She was a victim here, too.

The commotion at the entrance to the village quickly drew a crowd. Old Accountant Hu, a spry little man, rushed over, shouting, “Don’t hurt the donkey! You can’t afford to pay for it!”

“Uncle Accountant, never mind that—help us first!” Hu Jiaguo cried, nearly getting kicked by the donkey.

Just then, a foot came out of nowhere and struck the donkey on the head, startling it enough to drop the shoe. The donkey, its vision restored, quickly calmed down, eyed the villagers warily, and, realizing resistance was futile, quietly stood by the cart, waiting to be hitched up again.

On the other side, Wen Mubai, who had delivered the well-placed kick, picked up the shoe, walked over to Tang Banxia, and slipped it onto her foot. “Be careful,” he said gently.

Tang Banxia could only mumble in embarrassment.

“Xiaobai, you...”

Wen Mubai smiled sweetly. “I was just worried the donkey would hurt you, Banxia. I don’t know what came over me—I just acted. Are you alright? Did it scare you?”

Tang Banxia shook her head.

Wen Mubai looked relieved and quickly changed the subject. “Comrade Liu, you seemed in a hurry to find Banxia. What’s wrong?”

Called by name, Liu Hongfen snapped back to reality. “Oh, right! Something happened—Liu Liyun was beaten by Xu Guiming. She’s hurt pretty badly, bleeding and all. I came to get Comrade Tang to take a look.” She spoke as if in a daze.