The group chatted and laughed on the way. By afternoon, Wan Yunting suggested everyone get some rest.
It wasn't until 8:30 PM that the bus and the van entered the town of Xuwen, located at the southernmost tip of Zhan City.
Wan Yunting had already booked a hotel there, arranging for everyone to stay for the night.
Meanwhile, three representatives from the Xuwen County Medical Association, tasked with welcoming Wan Yunting and his group, had contacted him and arrived early to wait at the hotel entrance.
Then, the bus and the van slowly pulled up and stopped at the hotel's main entrance.
Wan Yunting and Li Chengde helped Jiang Yichun, while Gu Luotang, Qi Miaomiao, Song Sinan, and the others also alighted.
“Are you Elder Jiang?”
The three people approached. The middle-aged man who greeted Jiang Yichun was named Chen Minxue. He was not tall, wearing a striped shirt, suit pants, and a pair of worn leather shoes. With a broad smile, he grasped Jiang Yichun's old hand. "The leaders above mentioned you were coming down to provide support work. On behalf of our Xuwen County Medical Organization, I welcome your arrival."
"Thank you."
Jiang Yichun clearly knew Chen Minxue. He introduced Wan Yunting beside him. "This is Vice Chairman Wan Yunting of our Lingnan Traditional Chinese Medicine Association."
"Ah, Chairman Gu mentioned you."
Chen Minxue was very enthusiastic. He also shook Wan Yunting's hand and said with a laugh in his imperfect Mandarin, "Vice Chairman Wan, my name is Chen Minxue. I am the person in charge of receiving you. For any work-related matters, I will be your guide."
"Good. I will have to trouble you a lot, Director Chen," Wan Yunting replied politely, nodding with a smile.
Chen Minxue released his hand and said with a smile, "How about this? You go inside the hotel and settle your luggage first. I've booked dinner at a nearby food stall. We can all go eat together then."
"Okay, thank you, Director Chen."
Wan Yunting and Jiang Yichun thanked him with smiles, then called out to Gu Luotang, Song Sinan, and the others, "Alright everyone, grab your luggage. We'll go into the hotel first to arrange our accommodation, and then we'll follow Director Chen for dinner."
"Alright..."
Everyone responded, then took their luggage from the bus. Wan Yunting and Li Chengde arranged for them to get their pre-booked room cards at the hotel's front desk. The rooms were allocated with two people per room.
Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao were naturally in the same room, as were Song Sinan and Zhang Xiaoyu, and Wei Renxin and Lu Xinque. Everyone was assigned a roommate. They then took their room cards and headed upstairs to their rooms.
There was only one room for three people, which Wan Yunting, Jiang Yichun, and Li Chengde would share.
After putting their luggage in their rooms and tidying up briefly, everyone came down to gather in the hotel's first-floor lobby.
Wan Yunting, Jiang Yichun, and Li Chengde were already on the first floor, chatting with Chen Minxue about the local situation. Once everyone had come down, Chen Minxue and his companions led Wan Yunting's group on foot to a distinctive mutton congee food stall about two hundred meters away for dinner.
It was already 9:30 PM, and it was unclear if it was dinner or a late-night snack. Chen Minxue had already instructed the stall owner. Over thirty people occupied three tables.
"Are we eating lamb? I thought we were having seafood."
Qi Miaomiao looked around the food stall. She didn't see any seafood. Instead, a faint scent of lamb permeated the air.
He Xinghai, who disliked lamb, whispered to others, "If we had known we were coming to eat lamb, we would have found food outside ourselves..."
However, Chen Minxue said with a smile to Wan Yunting and the others, "We haven't opened for seafood yet in our area, so seafood is very scarce and expensive."
"But this lamb is a specialty cuisine here. It's made by boiling our local black mountain goats directly in water, and we also make lamb soup and congee. Especially in autumn, eating lamb is the best."
"Yes, thank you for your trouble, Director Chen," Wan Yunting replied politely.
Seeing this, the others no longer debated whether to eat seafood or lamb.
"It's no trouble."
Chen Minxue waved his hand and smiled, "If anyone is troubled, it's us. You've come all this way to do support work. We should be the ones thanking you."
"Ah."
Jiang Yichun waved his hand and said with a smile, "What we are doing is to strengthen our medical organization and benefit our people. So, this is work that our group must undertake."
"Yes..."
Qi Miaomiao and Wei Renxin, sitting at the same table, echoed his sentiment.
Chen Minxue and his companions nodded and sighed, "Actually, the medical care in Xuwen County is not the worst in the country. However, hospitals and health clinics in townships and villages are still backward."
"Minor colds and small illnesses are not a problem. But once there's a car accident, or perhaps a serious illness, the township hospitals are completely unable to receive patients and can only transfer them to the larger hospitals in our county."
"But our Zhan City region is very vast, especially the remote townships. They are fifty to sixty kilometers away from our county town, and the roads are not good. Therefore, when encountering patients requiring emergency medical treatment, the patients often pass away on the way. This is the biggest problem here!"
"Mm..."
Wan Yunting, Gu Luotang, and the others nodded. Jiang Yichun pointed with his finger and said, "So, our main purpose in coming here is to improve the medical standards of township hospitals, provide you with the most advanced equipment, and protect your traditional Chinese medicine culture so that it can be passed down better."
"Excellent, excellent. On behalf of our Xuwen County Medical Organization, I thank you for your arrival."
Chen Minxue and his companions were very excited. They cupped their hands in thanks, knowing that their arrival was to support their township and village medical institutions.
"Lamb and lamb congee are here..."
Then, the stall owner and the waiters brought out the lamb, lamb congee, and other local specialties.
"Come, come, Elder Jiang, Vice Chairman Wan, please try this lamb congee and lamb..."
Chen Minxue and the others immediately beckoned. Wan Yunting and Jiang Yichun did not stand on ceremony. Gu Luotang and Qi Miaomiao stood up and served lamb congee to everyone. After taking a sip, they were immediately captivated by the taste of the congee. "This is delicious! It doesn't have the strong lamb smell I expected. Although there's a little, it has a special fragrance."
"Mm, this lamb is also delicious. It doesn't have a strong gamey flavor, the meat is juicy and very tender and smooth. Delicious..."
At that moment, even those who disliked lamb were stunned by the deliciousness of the local black mountain lamb and lamb congee and praised it repeatedly.
"Not bad, not bad..."
Wan Yunting and Jiang Yichun nodded and praised as they ate. Chen Minxue beckoned, "Please eat more if you like it. Later, we'll have lamb offal and lamb trotters. Anything edible from a sheep, we have it here."
"Director Chen, do you have sheep testicles?"
Suddenly, a person named Zhang Nong from the next table called out.
Everyone was momentarily stunned, even Chen Minxue. It was the stall owner who replied, "Yes, we have roasted sheep testicles. How many do you want?"
"You really have them?"
Zhang Nong's eyes widened in surprise. He then chuckled, "No, boss, I was just asking out of curiosity. If others want them, serve them..."
"Get out, get out, we don't want them..."
The male comrades sitting with him cursed. Zhang Nong, the fool, always stirred up trouble.
"Hehehe..."
This made the ladies' pretty faces blush. They covered their mouths, too embarrassed to laugh...
As it turned out, Jiang Yichun laughed and said, "Sheep treasure is good for nourishing the kidneys and strengthening essence. It does have some effects. If you want to eat it, you can have more and don't need to be embarrassed."
"Haha..."
Suddenly, Wan Yunting and Wei Renxin burst into laughter, while Gu Luotang, Qi Miaomiao, Zhang Xiaoyu, and the others also covered their mouths and laughed.