Chapter 3 Chapter two

Dr. Saunders yawned.It was nine o'clock in the morning, and the day had just begun, but he had nothing else to do.Several patients have come today.There should be only a few of them.There was no doctor on this small island before. After he came, the islanders seized this rare opportunity and flocked to ask him to see a doctor.However, such a small place can't produce any intractable diseases. The diseases he diagnoses and treat are either chronic diseases that doctors can't do anything about, or some insignificant ailments that can be cured with some simple medicines.Dr. Saunders has been practicing medicine in Fuzhou for fifteen years. He has excellent medical skills in treating eye diseases and has won a good reputation in the Chinese circle.This time I came to Takala Island to perform cataract surgery for a wealthy Chinese businessman.Takara is a small island far away from the Malay Archipelago, and far away from Fuzhou, so Dr. Sanders didn't plan to come here in person at first.The rich Chinese businessman is Cheng Jin, a native of Fuzhou, and has two sons, both of whom are in Fuzhou.Cheng Jin and Dr. Saunders are old acquaintances. He always goes back to Fuzhou once or twice regularly, and sometimes he asks the doctor to treat his eyesight which is getting worse and worse.Cheng Jin had heard the legend of this doctor, and knew that he could turn decay into magic and make blind patients see again.So when his condition developed to the point where he could only distinguish day and night, Cheng Jin made up his mind to ask Dr. Saunders to perform cataract surgery to ensure that he could see again.Dr. Saunders had advised Cheng Jin to go to Fuzhou for surgery if he developed certain symptoms.But Cheng Jin delayed the timing of treatment because he was afraid of the scalpel.Later, his condition deteriorated to the point where he could not distinguish things, but because he was afraid that he would not be able to complete the long journey, he told his son to persuade Dr. Sanders to come to Takala to perform surgery on him.

Cheng Jin was born as a coolie.When he was young, he had a lot of experience, coupled with his tenacity, courage, and fate (of course, fraud and unscrupulous methods are indispensable), he finally accumulated a huge wealth.Now in his seventies, he owns large farms on several islands.He owned several schooners which he used to gather pearls, and his main business was a large-scale sale of all things in the archipelago.For the sake of their father, Cheng Jin's two middle-aged sons went to visit Dr. Sanders.They are not only the doctor's patients, but also friends.Every year doctors are invited to have a feast with them.The routine is bird's nest, shark's fin, sea cucumber and other delicacies, as well as expensive dancers to accompany the dancers, and everyone will be drunk in the end.

Chinese people in Fuzhou like Dr. Saunders very much, because he can speak Fuzhou dialect fluently, and unlike other foreigners living in "settled areas", he lives in downtown Fuzhou.Dr. Saunders lived there for many years, and the local Foochow people were familiar with his habits, knew that he smoked big cigarettes, although not a lot, and knew everything else he liked to be known.In the eyes of Chinese residents, Dr. Saunders is a rational person.The foreigners in the community always treat him coldly, but this has not affected the love of the Chinese residents for him.The doctor never went to the club; when the postman came to deliver the mail, he was always looking at the papers.The other foreigners never invited him to supper, they had their own English doctors.Dr. Saunders is only called in when their doctor is on vacation.However, if eye diseases are involved, these foreigners will put away their dissatisfaction with Dr. Sanders and go to his clinic for diagnosis and treatment.

The doctor's home is on the other side of the river, a shabby little Chinese house, surrounded by the stench of the city, but the doctor himself enjoys it.His living room was his consulting room, and the foreigners sat there looking around in disgust, degrading themselves.The room was furnished in Chinese style, with only two pieces of Western furniture: a rolltop desk and a pair of badly worn easy chairs.On the faded wall, there is a Chinese painting scroll presented by the patient, and an eye chart made of thick cardboard with letters of different sizes printed on it. The two are hung next to each other, which seems out of place.In the eyes of those foreign patients, the room is always filled with a faint smell of opium, pungent and choking.

But Cheng Jin's two sons didn't notice this.Even if they notice, they don't show it.After exchanging a few pleasantries, Dr. Sanders took out a cigarette from a small green tin can for the two brothers to smoke, and then got to the point.Cheng Jin asked his sons to tell Mr. Saunders that he was old and blind and could not come to Fuzhou in person, so he begged the doctor to go to Takala Island to perform cataract surgery for him.And this surgery should have been done two years ago.How much will it cost?The doctor shook his head.He had many patients in Fuzhou, and he couldn't get away, even if it was only for a day or two.And he didn't think Cheng Jin couldn't come to Fuzhou.Cheng Jin could come here on his own schooner, and if that didn't work, he could also hire a rejuvenating surgeon from Makassar City.Cheng Jin's sons gushed that, in his father's eyes, only Dr. Saunders could restore his sight, so he was determined not to let any other doctor touch him.The sons also expressed that if Dr. Sanders is willing to go to Takala Island, then Cheng Jin is willing to pay twice the price to compensate for the lost consultation fees during his departure.The doctor is still shaking his head.The two brothers looked at each other, and then the eldest took out a large, battered black leather wallet from his inside pocket.The wallet was bulging, and it was stuffed with promissory notes from Standard Chartered Bank.He unfolded these promissory notes one by one in front of Dr. Sanders.One thousand dollars, two thousand dollars... Dr. Sanders watched Cheng Jin's eldest son take out one promissory note after another, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and his sharp and bright eyes shone with excitement.The two brothers smiled flatteringly while keenly capturing the expression of the man sitting across from them. Suddenly, they smelled a change.Although the brothers were sure that the greed in Dr. Sanders' body had been ignited, the strange thing was that the doctor still didn't respond, and there was no expression of the two brothers' patient flattery in his eyes.Cheng Jin's eldest son stopped and cast an inquiring look at the doctor.

"I can't walk for three months. What about the patients?" Dr. Sanders said, "Let Cheng Jin hire a Dutch doctor from Makassar or Ambona. There is a very good doctor in Ambona." Cheng Jin Kim's eldest son did not answer, but continued to take out papers from his wallet and put them in front of Dr. Sanders.This time it was a hundred dollar bill.There are ten stacks, one stack next to the other, a total of ten stacks.The originally bulging wallet suddenly shrunk a lot. "Enough," said the doctor, "that will do."