Qu Jing carried her schoolbag and went to school.
Her schoolbag was made for her by Qu the Hunter using floral fabric, sothing unique within a ten-mile radius. The floral fabric, which is usually only worn by brides on their wedding day, was turned into a small bag by Qu the Hunter to hold Qu Jing’s books.
Anyone who saw it would remark that although Qu Jing, this child, suffers from an odd illness and doesn’t grow, Qu the Hunter truly has nothing but fine words for his granddaughter.
Qu Jing didn’t go directly to school but instead went to the village chief’s house to find Gou Dan. A few years ago, Gou Dan was just a child who drooled over sweet potatoes, but in the past two years, he had grown to be the sa age as Qu Jing.
Seeing Qu Jing co looking for him, Gou Dan was delighted and ran to the door with a sweet potato in hand, asking, "Qu Jing, are you here to wait for to go to school together?"
Initially, when the village chief persuaded families to send their children to school, many who enrolled had already stopped attending. So were too old, like the village chief’s eldest daughter, who was already 13 when she started school; after finishing the second grade, learning a few words, and doing a bit of arithtic, she beca known as the literate one in the villagers’ eyes and then stopped attending to get married.
More often, they couldn’t bear the cost of tuition; sending children to school not only required money but also ant they couldn’t help with work at ho, leading so families to alternate between schooling and breaks every other year. By now, only Qu Jing and Gou Dan had smoothly progressed to the fourth grade and were about to go to middle school in the town.
"I’m not going to school today. Can you help ask Teacher Li for leave? I have sothing to discuss with Grandpa Village Chief," said Qu Jing, taking out an egg from her pocket, "Here, eat this."
Gou Dan ecstatically accepted the egg and shouted at the top of his voice, "Grandpa, Qu Jing is looking for you!"
The village chief ca out with a bowl in hand, "Jingjing, is Old Qu taking you to the provincial capital hospital to get so... see a doctor again? I’ve already made inquiries, and there is a truck from the county going to the provincial capital. I can arrange it for you; riding this is fast, saving you from spending more than half a month traveling back and forth like before!"
Qu Jing shook her head, "It’s not ."
The village chief imdiately beca worried, "Old Qu? Did sothing happen to your grandpa? Did he fall into a trap and hurt his leg? I’ll go get help right now! We can’t delay this. The old hunter died after injuring his leg and lying at ho for half a month, and I’ll find an ox cart to take your grandpa to the health station now."
"No, it’s not that." Qu Jing hurriedly stopped him, "Grandpa Village Chief, I’ve noticed Grandpa’s mory has not been too good these past few months."
The village chief sighed in relief, "mory not good? That’s normal. He’s over 50 years old, and as you get older, you tend to forget things."
"I forget things too; last ti the county called for a eting, and I forgot about it."
Qu Jing shook her head, "Not like that, I’ve noticed Grandpa seems to be forgetting recent things."
The village chief didn’t quite understand but still comforted her, "Jingjing, let tell you, don’t be fooled by your grandpa’s strong appearance; in his early days hunting on the mountain, he suffered a lot of injuries. Look at ; my hair is just a bit white, but your grandpa, who’s not much older than , has a head almost all white."
"I know you’re a sensible and good kid; take good care of your grandpa, and don’t let him go up the mountain too often. If there’s really a need to hunt wild boars, the village will organize people to do it together. He knows the paths well and can lead the way, and your family will not miss out."
Qu Jing asked, "Can going to the hospital cure this?"
The village chief laughed, "This isn’t an illness; what’s there to cure? Before, the old master from the landlord’s house was so muddle-headed he didn’t recognize anyone, but he still lived over 70 years; as long as there’s soone to take care of him, that’s enough."
Qu Jing didn’t give up. She had asked Gou Dan to help her request leave; after leaving the village chief’s house, she went into town using credit, taking an ox cart.
The doctor at the health station couldn’t provide any useful diagnosis and comforted Qu Jing, saying that it’s normal for older people to beco a bit muddled with age. Considering Qu Jing’s peculiar ailnt, the doctor skillfully issued a prescription for so soybeans, instructing Qu Jing to go back and cook them for Qu the Hunter to nourish him.
Qu Jing gave the soybeans to the cart driver as paynt, and the driver happily packed the soybeans away, marveling that within ten miles and eight farms, only Qu Jing seed able to acquire soybeans from the hospital easily. Many locals pretended to be ill to get soybeans, yet the doctors ignored them.
After returning, Qu Jing began to pay closer attention to Qu the Hunter. On any day Qu the Hunter went up the mountain, she would ask Gou Dan to help excuse her from school, following behind him up the mountain.
Qu the Hunter was indeed getting old.
Four years ago, when Qu the Hunter found Qu Jing on the mountain, it was because Qu Jing couldn’t maintain the sa position after standing behind a tree for too long, stepping back slightly. Qu the Hunter could hear the noise and sharply locate the tree where Qu Jing was hiding.
Now, Qu Jing followed behind Qu the Hunter like a little tail while heading up the mountain, yet Qu the Hunter was completely unaware.
Qu the Hunter’s condition progressed rapidly.
Previously, at Yunzhong Restaurant, Uncle Wang suspected he had Alzheir’s Disease and consulted Qu Jing. To ease Uncle Wang’s mind, Qu Jing had provided a systematic explanation, which Qin Huai had also overheard a bit of.
Typically, Alzheir’s Disease could develop from mild to severe in 7-10 years, with the more aggressive cases possibly becoming severe within 5-8 years. However, people don’t get sick as per textbooks, and the fastest progressing case Qu Jing knew of took only a year from showing symptoms of forgetfulness to not recognizing anyone at all.
Patients would first forget recent events.
When Qu the Hunter ntioned for the third ti how Mr. Wang, once a private tutor, had co from the town to teach in the village with dedication and asked Qu Jing to take the rabbit caught yesterday to Mr. Wang, Qu Jing didn’t correct him. She smiled, nodded, and brought the rabbit to school to give it to the later Teacher Li.
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