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13. Conclusion
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THIRTEEN ~ Conclusion 1 Shortly after young Tao's departure for university, the remainder of the family (Tao, Su Qun, and Granny Tao) moved back to Nanjing. But had Tao not wanted to strike root in Hongze? The decision, however, was no longer up to him. He was now extremely feeble. Su Qun felt that he would get better medical treatment in Nanjing, so in spite of his protests she decided that they should move. Tao was transferred from Hongze Hospital directly to Nanjing Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine. Su Qun and Granny Tao moved in with relatives for the time being. Immediately after Tao was admitted, the Nanjing doctors diagnosed him with advanced liver cancer. Su Qun was the only one of the family who knew Granny Tao was completely gaga, and even if she had been told, she would not have understood. And Su Qun kept the bad news from her son. Instead, when she wrote to him, she told him the good news: they were now in Nanjing, and she and his father had been given their old jobs back. Best of all, Tao had been given back his party membership. His father's health was still poor, and he was being treated in the Hospital of Chinese Medicine (this she did not hide from her son), but "it's a much better hospital than Hongze." Young Tao believed that his father had suffered another attack of emphysema, and he had seen enough of this not to worry too much. With regard to Tao himself, Su Qun's lips were even more tightly sealed. She talked to relatives, friends, and senior colleagues who visited him in the hospital, and they all agreed that for the time being he should not be told. Accordingly, Su Qun was a model of cheerfulness at Tao's bedside. Perhaps she even overdid it. But her 227 spirits sank as she went home every day, and privately she shed many tears. The only person she could tell at home was her fatherin -law, Grandpa Tao. "Tell me what I should do," she begged him. "If Peiyi is really going to die, what should I do?" Of course Grandpa Tao was unable to answer her, and for the same reason it was also not in his power to reveal the truth to his son. Right up until Tao died, Su Qun avoided talking about his liver cancer to her husband. In fact she never even mentioned the word. Tao believed he was suffering from another attack of emphysema. He demanded that the doctors give him penicillin, but they flatly refused. He asked for it several times, until a doctor said impatiently , "It's the penicillin that has damaged your health!" Tao asked again, but the doctor refused to say anymore. Su Qun and the doctor agreed to keep it a secret from the patient. The doctor called Su Qun into his office and asked exactly how long her husband had been injecting penicillin and how much. His reaction, on hearing about doses of eight million units, was, "Barbaric ! Absolutely barbaric! That doctor was no better than a vet!" He explained to Su Qun that the function of the liver was to make blood and filter out toxins. Eighty percent of the body's toxins were expelled through the liver. An overuse of penicillin put too much of a strain on the liver, toxins built up, and pathological changes occurred. Su Qun remembered, and mentioned to the doctor, the two hundred sleeping pills Tao had swallowed ten years previously "No wonder," he said, nodding. "That's like a two-pronged attack on his body The cancer was almost inevitable." One wonders whether Tao really remained in complete ignorance about his illness. After he died, a book entitled Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Liver Cancer was found under his mattress. No one knows how it came into his hands or why, but the book tells its own story He obviously hid it to keep his knowledge from anyone else, especially his wife. I have mentioned what a happy face Su Qun put on at his bedside , perhaps even too happy Tao was the same: he was cheerful about his stay in the hospital, perhaps even too much so. Dejection usually overcame Su Qun after she left the hospital. Tao too, when left alone, was forced to reflect on his future. But when they were together, it was nothing but happiness and good cheer. 228 Han Dong...