Chapter 15: Without virtue, even if you have skills, you will cause more harm to others

in the afternoon.

Wang Mengde was sitting in the living room, reading a copy of "Golden Chamber" intently.

Since traveling to this era, he found that his memory and comprehension abilities had become very good. He could remember the contents of a book after reading it two or three times. Not only did he understand the contents, he could even draw inferences about other situations by citing classics and extensive references.

More than an hour later, there was a noise in the bedroom. Wang Mengde closed the book, put it on the long table, and then went into the bedroom.

Wang Yuanchao and Wang Weiguo had already sat up, and the two little guys were rubbing their eyes.

"We have woken up from our sleep by aiding Korea and defending our country," Wang Mengde said with a smile.

"Brother." Wang Yuanchao yawned loudly, muttered something, then got out of bed and put on his shoes.

Wang Weiguo followed suit.

I went to the living room, helped them wash their faces, and then watched them sitting on a bench in the living room playing the "horse riding" war game.

At this time, a shout came from outside the yard: "Repair the umbrella."

In this shout, the first two words were high and loud, with a long tone in the middle, and the last two words came from the throat and gradually became lower.

Wang Mengde suddenly remembered that there was a hole in the umbrella of his oil-paper umbrella, so he quickly took the umbrella down from the cabinet, said something to his mother, and hurried out.

When I came out of the yard, I saw an umbrella repairman in his early forties, carrying a carrying pole and shouting as he walked.

"Master, please fix the umbrella."

Wang Mengde called out, and when he saw the umbrella repairman turned around, he waved the oil-paper umbrella in his hand.

"Okay, wait a moment."

The umbrella repairman smiled happily when he saw the business coming to him.

He came closer, put down the carrying pole on his shoulder, took the oil-paper umbrella from Wang Mengde's hand, opened it and examined it while asking questions.

"What's wrong with this umbrella?"

"The ribs of the umbrella are all fine, there's just a hole in the umbrella cover." Wang Mengde said, pointing to the damaged area.

"Okay, I'll start repairing it now."

The umbrella repairman wiped the area around the damaged umbrella clean, then took out tung oil and a brush from the round basket at one end of the carrying pole and first applied a layer of tung oil around the hole.

Then take out the umbrella paper from the round cage at the other end, cut out a piece of almost the same size, stick it on the damaged area, and then brush a layer of tung oil on it, and the paper will stick firmly to it.

It didn't take long to repair the umbrella.

"Please check if there is any problem."

"Thank you, Master." After a careful inspection, Wang Mengde thanked him and paid the money.

He was about to turn around and go into the yard with his umbrella when he saw someone selling firewood in the alley. Thinking that the firewood was almost used up at home, he spent another thirty cents to buy ten pounds of firewood. The coal briquette stove at home needed it every time they lit the fire.

When they got home, Ran Xiaomei had already started kneading the dough. When she saw him, she said, "Xiaozhu, wash your hands, and then go chop the pork into stuffing."

"Okay, Mom."

Wang Mengde put away the firewood and umbrella, washed his hands carefully, and then put the piece of pork on the chopping board. He first cut it into several pieces with a knife, then cut it into slices, then cut it into shreds, and finally cut it into dices.

Soon, the living room was filled with the sound of mincing meat. Wang Yuanchao and Wang Weiguo came over curiously to watch, but were also driven away by him. After the minced meat was chopped, Ran Xiaomei put the shepherd's purse, minced ginger and other condiments that had been prepared long ago together, and then beat two raw eggs and stirred them evenly.

Next, Ran Xiaomei was responsible for rolling out the dough and Wang Mengde was responsible for wrapping it. After a while, dumplings in the shape of "ingots" appeared on the cover made of the sorghum pavilion.

Since there is not much filling, the dumpling skin is rolled a little thicker so that the whole family can have enough to eat.

When the dumplings were almost done, Wang Mengde opened the stove door and added enough water into the pot. Looking at the sky, he thought his father would be back soon.

Sure enough, just as the water in the pot boiled, Wang Hao walked into the house on time.

Because of his job, he usually doesn't smile and looks serious.

Maybe it is because of his long years of martial arts training and his good maintenance, he is already 42 years old this year, but he looks like he is around 37 or 38 years old. What's more, he is also handsome, so he really looks good.

Seeing her husband coming back, Ran Xiaomei started to make dumplings. After boiling, she splashed cold water three times and then started to serve them on a plate.

She even packed a dozen of them and asked Wang Mengde to deliver them to He Yushui. This afternoon, thanks to He Yushui's protection, the two little guys were spared from a slap in the face.

Wang Yuanchao and Wang Weiguo were young, so they only packed eight dumplings each. They even counted the number of dumplings in front of them and in the other's plate. When they found that there were the same number and about the same size, they calmed down with satisfaction.

Wang Hao sat at the top. He picked up the chopsticks but did not eat immediately. Instead, he glanced at Wang Mengde inconspicuously.

Wang Mengde was very smart and understood it instantly.

He quickly got up and took out a bottle of Red Star Erguotou from the cupboard.

In 1949, more than a dozen old distilleries in Beijing were incorporated to form the Beijing Winemaking Laboratory. The process adopted was to take the middle section of the wine flowing out of the second distillery, which was called "cutting off the head and tail and taking the middle section", so it was commonly known as "Erguotou".

This became the capital’s “signature wine” thereafter.

When Ran Xiaomei saw her son taking out the wine, she just rolled her eyes at the father and son and said lightly, "No more than three taels per person."

Wang Hao was overjoyed after receiving the "imperial decree". He finally put his mind at ease. He smiled and said, "Yes, yes, just three taels. I won't drink more."

As he said this, he put the two porcelain cups on the table aside to make it easier for Wang Mengde to pour wine.

After eating and drinking, Ran Xiaomei cleaned up the dishes, while Wang Hao and Wang Mengde sat there drinking tea.

"Meng De, you are now in the steel mill hospital. Have you encountered any difficulties in your work?"

"Dad, Dr. Zhang who took care of me was very good to me and always gave me opportunities to practice." Wang Mengde first talked about the situation in the factory, and then took the opportunity to ask for advice: "I just had some doubts when I was treating patients."

So he talked about the doubts and uncertainties that had accumulated over the years.

Wang Hao is worthy of being an old Chinese medicine practitioner who has been practicing medicine for more than 20 years. He has answers to various questions at his fingertips. A lot of his knowledge cannot be learned from books. Wang Mengde benefited a lot from listening to him.

If he were to figure these out on his own, he would have to take many detours before he could figure them out.

The father and son chatted for almost an hour, and it was already dark, so it was time for them to go back.

Through the conversation just now, Wang Hao is very satisfied with his son's progress. With another two years of accumulation, he will be able to practice medicine independently.

"Meng De, what you lack now is practice. There is no shortcut in Chinese medicine. It all depends on learning more and practicing more."

After a pause, he added with concern: "By the way, as a doctor, you must have medical ethics. There is one sentence that you must always keep in mind."

"You cannot practice medicine without moral integrity. If you don't have moral integrity, even if you have skills, you can only do more harm to others."

(End of this chapter)