Chapter 1
Chapter 1: The Medical Kit
1979, Ulan Maodu Grassland.
The Mergen River wound deep into the heart of the grassland, meandering toward the distant horizon.
This was the most magnificent and desolately beautiful golden autumn on the grassland.
Under the brilliant sunlight, Xie Changqing sat with a grass stem between his teeth, carefully sorting through a pile of belongings on the ground.
Beside the empty yurt, various items lay scattered in a messy heap.
His clothes, his sister’s shoes, his little brother’s underwear…
He sorted them by category, calling his younger brother over to help carry everything back into the yurt piece by piece.
The clothes were all dirty and would need a thorough washing before they could be worn again.
But he couldn’t bear to throw them away—these were all the possessions their family had left.
“Brother,” his sister leaned against him, clutching a piece of dried beef tightly in her hands. “Where’s Mama? I want Mama!”
Even though she wanted her mother, she couldn’t bear to let go of the dried beef—after all, someone else had given it to her.
She had cried too hard earlier, then gotten too hungry, and had been gnawing on the dried beef ever since. Only now did she remember to ask for her mother.
Xie Changqing sighed and ruffled her hair. “She’s busy right now…”
Xie Duoduo was only five years old. Malnourished, her teeth hadn’t even grown in properly yet, so she couldn’t really chew the dried beef.
Aside from covering it with drool, she hadn’t managed to cause any real damage to it.
Seeing that she was about to ask more questions, her mouth starting to quiver as if she might cry again, Xie Changqing quickly snatched the dried beef away and set it aside. “Come on, don’t just stand there.”
He stuffed a couple of pieces of clothing into her arms and put her to work carrying things. “Let’s see who’s faster, you or Batu!”
Children were naturally competitive, and Xie Duoduo was immediately distracted.
She forgot about wanting her mother and stopped gnawing on the dried beef, hugging the clothes and running toward the yurt. “Me! I’m faster!”
Hearing the commotion, Batu came running over. “Sister! I’m faster!”
“Good, good,” Xie Changqing replied absently, stuffing another piece of clothing into his arms. “Then you’d better hurry up.”
While sorting through the usable household items, he kept one ear trained on the voices of the group of people talking on the nearby hillside.
Practically everyone from the pasture who could come had come, asking Tana in disbelief:
“Dr. Xie… has Xie Yu really run away?”
“He didn’t take a single child with him, and all this stuff at home is gone?”
“He even took the production team’s medicine. We’re about to migrate, so what are we going to do with our livestock?”
Xie Yu was their pasture’s only veterinarian!
Clutching her youngest daughter tightly, Tana looked utterly despairing. “I don’t know either. I just got back…”
It was obvious that Xie Yu had planned this carefully.
While Tana was taking the children to visit her family, Xie Yu had gone out as usual to graze the sheep—only to sell the entire flock.
Talk about being thorough. Not only had he run away decisively, he’d also made off with all the family’s valuables.
The only things he’d left behind were this pile of miscellaneous items that were too heavy and worthless to bother with. Everything else of any value, he’d taken.
By now, he was probably already far beyond the grassland.
Xie Changqing’s mouth twisted wryly as he sighed inwardly.
After being bedridden for half a lifetime, who would have thought that when he opened his eyes, he’d become the fool brother in a herder’s family.
Not to mention that food, clothing, and shelter were all problems now—the most troublesome thing was this mess that Xie Yu had left behind.
But he was quite happy about one thing: this body was still healthy.
Thick eyebrows and bright eyes, strong muscular arms, even his calves were solid muscle.
The sense of power filling his body gave him an unprecedented feeling of novelty and anticipation.
Fortunately, the people from the pasture didn’t seem inclined to make things difficult for their family. Aside from a few who inevitably spoke harshly, none of them had gotten physical.
Finally, it was the old herder Uncle Qiaoba who stepped forward. “Even though Xie Yu ran away, this has nothing to do with Tana’s family. Xie Yu is the one who’s not human!”
He sighed and shook his head. “As for the medicine for migration… we have to have it. Come spring, the livestock need their vaccinations, and we can’t do without a veterinarian…”
Everyone knew this, which was why they’d always treated Xie Yu so well. These past few days, whenever people had free time, they’d even helped him tend the sheep.
They never expected to raise such an ungrateful wolf.
“Forget it. Here’s what we’ll do… I’ll set out tomorrow and make it to Pasture Seven before migration starts, see if I can get some medicine back.”
It would be best if he could also put in a request to see if they could find another veterinarian willing to come to their pasture.
Things had come to this point. Though the others were indignant, since Uncle Qiaoba had already spoken, they could only let it go.
If they kept arguing and Uncle Qiaoba decided not to go, what would they do then?
The group dispersed dejectedly, all lacking energy as they headed home.
Tana came back holding her youngest daughter, sitting in front of the yurt in a daze for a long time, looking lost and helpless.
She had actually been quite excited about this trip back.
Xie Changqing had developed a fever that lasted three days and nights without breaking.
Xie Yu had told her to take the children back to her family’s place to gather a certain medicinal herb, brew it for Changqing to drink, and he’d recover after sweating it out.
Sure enough, not only had the fever broken, but Changqing’s mental disability had been cured too.
Before, Xie Yu had most enjoyed teaching Xie Changqing to recognize medicinal herbs and understand their properties, but he’d always regretted that Changqing was too simple-minded to be taught properly. Xie Yu had been quite disappointed.
She’d originally thought that when she came back this time, Xie Yu would be overjoyed. Maybe he’d even be able to teach Changqing properly and turn him into a veterinarian too.
But now Changqing was better, and Xie Yu had run away…
“Mama.” Xie Changqing had finished tidying up everything with his siblings and had also baked some flatbread.
He walked over and handed her a piece of flatbread. “Everything in the house has been sorted out. As for the cattle and sheep… I don’t know about those.”
“Oh, I’ll go take a look.” Tana snapped back to reality. Without time to feel sad, she quickly placed her sleeping youngest daughter on the felt blanket and hurried outside.
Even if they didn’t have good cattle and sheep, if there were just a few old, weak, or sick ones left for them to slaughter for meat, that would be better than having nothing at all.
Xie Changqing followed behind her as they walked toward the livestock pen.
When they reached it and looked inside, both of them sighed.
All the sheep were gone. Not a single one remained.
Tana watched the gradually setting sun, unable even to cry.
They were herders—all their hopes lay in these livestock.
Now their family had nothing left. If she hadn’t taken the ox cart with her, they probably wouldn’t even have a single horse remaining.
Migration was about to begin. They had to travel from here to the winter pasture.
The biggest problem was right in front of them: they only had one horse to pull the ox cart, and it was old and couldn’t travel that far.
Migration took three to five days total, covering more than ninety kilometers.
When the journey was urgent, traveling thirty-plus li in a day was not uncommon.
The route from autumn pasture to winter pasture was not only long but also had complex and varied terrain.
Sometimes they had to cross mountains and rivers, sometimes wade through streams. They had to take care of the cattle and sheep while also dealing with various unexpected situations.
Under these circumstances, there was absolutely no room for anyone to hold back the group.
And they had a baby who was only six months old and couldn’t walk yet, plus two five-year-old children. How could they keep up with the migration group using just their own feet?
“What should we do? What should we do?” Tana leaned against the wooden fence, feeling utterly desperate.
If it were spring or summer, she might be able to find work. She could help others tend sheep, then buy lambs and slowly build up a flock again…
But now it was autumn, when the pasture grass was at its richest, so that approach wouldn’t work either.
She had prepared a lot of dried meat for winter, but now it was all gone too.
Their remaining food was just the dried provisions she’d brought back from her family’s place—enough for two days at most.
Xie Changqing opened his mouth, wanting to say that he could actually treat livestock too. After all, when he’d been bedridden before, he’d read quite a few medical books.
At first, he’d been looking for ways to cure himself. Later, when he realized there was no hope, he’d turned to studying veterinary medicine and had even experimented on quite a few lab mice…
But you can’t make bricks without straw.
Right now he had no needles, no medicine, and couldn’t even find herbs to prepare his own treatments…
Just as he was deep in thought and Tana was feeling anxious, Batu came running quickly from the house. While still far away, he was already shouting loudly: “Mama! Brother! Uncle Qiaoba and Uncle Sangtu are here! They say they’re bringing a medical kit!”