Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 122 is too easy.
Chen Fan took the bundle, placed it on the cart, and opened it. Inside was a thick stack of books.

He really didn't expect there to be so many veterinary books.

At the very top is a set of "Military Horse Textbooks" published by the "PLA Veterinary University" in 70, which includes textbooks on internal medicine, surgery, infectious diseases, veterinary pharmacology, obstetric diseases, and foal diseases, a total of five books.

Upon seeing this set of books, Chen Fan knew that the little pony could be saved.

He simply couldn't believe that even a common case of acute gastroenteritis wasn't mentioned in these books.

Putting this set of books aside, below it is a two-volume trial edition of "Common Diseases of Military Horses" published in September 1970.

Then there's "Basic Veterinary Textbook" (trial edition), "Selected Prescriptions of Veterinary Chinese Herbal Medicine", "Veterinary Herbal Medicine", "Introduction to Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine", "Prevention and Treatment of Poultry Diseases", "Traditional Chinese Veterinary Therapy" for treating diseases in horses, cattle, donkeys and pigs, and a set of "Internal Medicine of Livestock" published in the 60s.

Holding the stack of books, which were worth less than 10 yuan, Chen Fan felt as if he had embarked on a golden road.

If I can read through this set of books, will I be able to activate my veterinary skills? Will I be able to level up to level 5 or higher?
Without a doubt!

With this skill alone, he's the coolest guy in the entire Nanhu Commune!
I'll go back and thoroughly study the "Barefoot Doctor's Manual" in the brigade's archives, so I can heal people with my left hand and treat animals with my right.

Good heavens, even if I can't dominate the surrounding villages, it shouldn't be too hard to get the same treatment as Master Liu, right?
I dare not even think about those good days!
Just as Chen Fan was envisioning the future, Master Liu asked in a low voice, "How is it? Is there any hope?"

Chen Fan snapped out of his daze and replied, "Let me take a look first."

Pick up the textbook "Military Horse Obstetrics and Foal Diseases" and quickly search through the table of contents to find the content on gastrointestinal diseases.

I glanced at it briefly, and then flipped through the textbooks "Internal Medicine of Military Horses", "Common Diseases of Military Horses", and "Internal Medicine of Livestock".

After finishing reading, he looked at Master Liu with a strange expression and asked in a low voice, "Master Liu, can I ask you a question?"

Seeing his expression, Master Liu felt a pang of anxiety. "Go on," he said.

Chen Fan coughed lightly, "I just want to ask, how do the veterinarians at the veterinary station treat livestock?"

"Oh, you mean this?"

Master Liu gestured as he spoke, “As I just said, they learn from their master, first identifying the animal’s illness and then treating it with the appropriate remedy. Sometimes they feed the animal herbs directly, and sometimes they boil them into a decoction and administer it.”

Furthermore, veterinarians are much more advanced now than before. Some medications are pre-prepared, just like human pills. They have special feeding tubes; the tube is inserted into the animal's mouth, the medication is placed at the back, and the contents go directly into the throat through the exit.

After he finished speaking, he paused and looked at Chen Fan, asking, "Why are you asking this?"

Chen Fan held up the book in his hand and said blankly, "They haven't read these books?"

If you just read through this set of books, you won't be unable to cure this little colt, right?
Upon hearing this, Master Liu couldn't help but chuckle twice, then said in a low voice, "What kind of people do you think veterinarians are?"

Chen Fan's eyes darted around slightly. "I remember there was a veterinary program at the school, right? Is it a vocational school or a university program?"

"You think beautiful!"

Master Liu pursed his lips and said in a low voice, "Vocational schools and universities all have veterinary programs, and the prefectural committee even has special veterinary training courses. And then what?"

Chen Fan blinked, puzzled.

Master Liu chuckled, "I'm not afraid to tell you frankly, it's not that we don't recommend people to go to university, but from the time we started recommending students until now, and going back more than ten years, not a single person has studied veterinary medicine."

Secondly, even if there are veterinary graduates in the county, they all become cadres and work in offices within the county. Who would want to come to the commune veterinary station?

He paused for a moment, then sighed and said,
"It's not true to say there are no good doctors willing to come to the grassroots level. There are doctors who treat both people and livestock, but it depends on luck. Our Nanhu Commune is one of those with average luck."

Why is it described as "average luck" rather than "bad luck"?
Because our Nanhu Commune's veterinary station still has a few old guys. In addition to the herbal medicine treatment methods they learned from their master, they also go to the county for training courses every year. So we can be considered to have people here, and their level is not low.

In some places, there might only be one or two veterinarians in the entire commune, and they might even be mediocre. That's what you call bad luck.

However, what our experienced doctors learned in the county training courses was nothing more than what new drugs were available, what diseases they could treat, and then they would follow the prescriptions, take the medicine as prescribed, get injections as needed, and if it worked, great; if not, that was it.

After he finished speaking, he pointed to the books in Chen Fan's hand, "These things were distributed by the county's veterinary training class. After they brought them back, they were put in the archives and basically untouched."

It's not that they don't want to read, it's that they can't even read all the characters, how can they read?

After saying all that, Master Liu suddenly realized something, pointed at the book, and asked, "Is there a method for curing diseases in there?"

Chen Fan nodded. "I've read three books. Xiao Ma's illness is very similar to the description of acute gastroenteritis."

Master Liu's eyes widened. "Can it be cured?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "As long as we have the medicine, there shouldn't be any problem."

The book already specifies which medicines to use and how to control the dosage. You just need to follow the prescription to get the medicine. It's that simple.

Master Liu immediately waved, "Let's go to the veterinary station and see if they have any medicine."

The old man had dealt with livestock his whole life, and he was ruthless when cracking the whip, but he also felt heartbroken when he saw the animals get sick.

Especially since this is a rare and excellent horse, I can't wait to cure it.

Without hesitation, Chen Fan packed up the books and other things and put them on Master Liu's cart, which only carried ponies. He sat on one side and let Jiang Lili sit on the other side, driving the donkey behind Master Liu towards the town.

They waved and greeted acquaintances and management staff along the way. After leaving the market square, they entered Shengli South Street.

Driving to the crossroads, Chen Fan turned right and headed east. Only then did he realize that this was indeed the town's "commercial street," no wonder it was called Jianshe Road.

Less than 20 meters from the intersection, there is a drab supply and marketing cooperative store.

There are no conspicuous signs, no goods displayed outside the door that obstruct the road, except for the entire street-facing side that is open, the "冂"-shaped display cabinets inside, and the words "Supply and Marketing Cooperative Store" in black lettering on a white background above the door. It is almost indistinguishable from the residential houses on the left and right next to it.

Three rooms away from the supply and marketing cooperative was the Xinhua Bookstore. Chen Fan glanced at it and decided to come and buy books tomorrow.

There is a state-run restaurant across from the bookstore.

Don't misunderstand, it's not that the restaurant is state-owned, but that the restaurant's name is "State-owned". The restaurant's main entrance has "Hard Work and Struggle" and "Self-Reliance" written on either side, and the two half-closed glass doors have four characters on them: "Open All Day".

Chen Fan scratched his head, not understanding why there was an agricultural supply store next to the state-run restaurant.

That stuff contains pesticides!
Anyway, he wouldn't dare to eat here.

Continuing forward, we saw a gate that was clearly the perimeter of a work unit's compound. As we got closer, we realized it was the commune's health center. Peeking through the gate, we saw only two rows of single-story buildings. We didn't know if surgery could be performed inside.

Then he heard Master Liu let out a "whoosh," and Chen Fan quickly looked ahead. He saw that the roadside where Master Liu had stopped was also a small courtyard, and there was a wooden sign hanging on the wall.

"Nanhu Commune Veterinary Station"!
Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly. It didn't seem wrong to have the opposite of the way people were treated and the way livestock were treated.
(End of this chapter)