Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
If Professor Wu and his assistants didnât speak out, no one would believe the decoctions were from a young doctor in a small village. Eventually, it would be Professor Wuâs credit. As his assistants, they would more or less benefit from it.
However, the assistant was thinking too much. It would never happen.
Professor Wu took the decoctions back to Lianshan Peopleâs Hospital and went inside the isolated room. He gave the patient Wang Yaoâs decoction to take.
âDoctor, to be honest, I donât want to take this decoction anymore.â Although the patient sounded reluctant, he drank up the decoction without thinking.
âDo you feel better?â Professor Wu asked.
âYes but still feel very nauseous,â the patient said.
âThat is normal.â Professor Wu looked at the nutritious fluid being injected into the patientâs body. âTake it easy. Donât worry.â
He left the isolated room after chatting with the patient for a short while.
âProfessor, here are the results of the blood test from this morning.â The other assistant who had stayed in the hospital handed the results to Professor Wu.
âThe bacteria is decreasing in his blood?â Professor Wu asked.
âYes, it is decreasing rapidly. Some of the blood samples have been sent to Ji to be analyzed,â the assistant said.
âGood, you should take a rest. Youâve been working the whole night,â Professor Lu said.
âIâm fine,â the assistant said.
Both assistants stayed in the observation room with their teacher.
The patient was getting better after continuously taking Wang Yaoâs decoctions. More and more doctors in Lianshan Peopleâs Hospital knew about it.
âThose specialists from Beijing are really amazing,â a doctor said.
Professor Wuâs assistant had heard such comments many times. However, for whatever reason, their guilty conscience was growing.
They were from Beijing, and they were amazing. At least the assistant who went to the village with Professor Wu thought so. However, this time, the key to making the patient better was the young doctor from the village and his decoctions.
They didnât really deserve the praise.
The village was still in a state of siege. All life necessities had to be transferred from outside. Everyone got what they needed. However, not everyone was happy.
Wang Zecheng was one of them. He hadnât worked for days, so he was worried.
âWhen are they going to let us out!â He was smoking anxiously.
âWhy do you want to go out so bad?â his father asked.
âNo reason. Iâm just bored at home.â Wang Zecheng put out the cigarette in his hand.
âDonât worry too much,â his father said.
âOK,â Wang Zecheng said.
Of course, he was worried. His father had taken almost all the decoctions. He needed to buy more from Wang Yao. One decoction costed $10,000. He hadnât worked for three days. He wouldnât get any commission this month and hadnât gotten paid from the other job. He didnât want to lose either job. However, he was not allowed to leave the village to get cash.
He knew understood important money was. It was easy to spend money but hard to make it.
I should go to see Dr. Wang. Maybe he will allow me to pay him later. My father canât stop taking the decoction. Wang Zecheng grabbed a jacket and went out.
Fortunately Wang Yao was still in the clinic.
âYou are still here,â Wang Zecheng said.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âYeah, take a seat,â Wang Yao said.
âWell...â Wang Zecheng was hesitant about speaking.
âSpit it out,â Wang Yao said.
âMy dad is running out of the decoction. Iâm a bit short of cash at the moment. I havenât gotten paid and couldnât take money out of the bank. Can I pay you later? I can sign a debt acknowledgement. I promise you Iâll pay you once I get money,â Wang Zecheng said.
âThatâs fine. Come back in the afternoon to get the decoctions,â Wang Yao said.
âReally?â Wang Zecheng was surprised..
âWhy would I lie to you?â Wang Yao asked.
A prodigal who returned was more precious than gold. Wang Zecheng had completely changed. He had picked up the conscience he left behind for a long time. He suddenly realized what a terrible person he was.
âThank you so much.â Wang Zecheng thanked Wang Yao repeatedly before he left.
On the same day, another person was deemed to be infected in the village. He was immediately taken away. Six people had been infected. They had all been transferred to isolated rooms in the hospital. None of them had come back.
âThey are all dead!â
âThe disease is incurable!â
Rumors were spreading in the village. People felt the threat of death. The state of siege was nothing compared to a life-threatening disease. The villagers thought those who got infected were dying. They believed they would also die if they got infected. They would never come back to the village again. It was really scary.
Some villagers wanted to escape.
âYou wanna escape? Where are you going?â a villager asked his brother.
âAnywhere. I just donât want to be here. There have been six people infected. They are all dead,â his brother said.
âI can escape, but what about my family?â the villager asked.
âWhatever, you have to take care of yourself before taking care of your family,â his brother said.
âHow can we escape?â the villager asked.
âWe can escape from the hills. They blocked the road but didnât block the mountain. We can follow the paths on the hills to get out of here,â his brother said.
âThe paths on the hills?â the villager asked.
The paths on the hills could lead them anywhere.
Previously, a lot of villagers preferred to go through the paths on the hills before the main road was fixed. It was more convenient and took less time.
âLet me think about it,â the villager said.
âHey, stop hesitating,â his brother said.
âI said I need to think about it,â the villager said.
The patient who had been taking the decoctions from Wang Yao remained alert in Lianshan Peopleâs Hospital.
âHow do you feel?â Professor Wu had asked him a number of times in the isolated room.
âI feel much better,â the patient said.
The uncomfortable feeling was fading. Although his body still hurt and he was still nauseous, he felt much better. At least, he was full of hope that he would be cured. Nothing was more important than his recovery.
âThe results of the blood test suggest you are getting better,â Professor Wu said.
âThank you,â the patient said.
âI am not the person you should thank,â Professor Wu said with a smile.
âWho should I thank?â the patient subconsciously asked.
âI canât tell you now. Youâll know one day,â Professor Wu said.
He didnât leave until after the patient told him in detail how he felt.
âIs there any updated test results?â Professor Wu asked.
âWait a second,â a doctor said.
The latest test results were soon delivered to the observation room. The blood test, electrocardiography and ultrasound all suggested that the patient was getting better.
âHello, which one is Professor Wu?â One of the leaders of the hospital came into the observation room.
âI am Professor Wu. How can I help you?â Professor Wu asked.
âOh, we have arranged dinner tonight to thank you for your hard work here. I really hope you can attend,â the leader said.
âWell, thank you for inviting me, but I have to work tonight,â Professor Wu said.
He was not keen on attending social activities. He would rather stay in the hospital studying the disease and the decoctions from Wang Yao.
âBut, weâve also invited the leaders from the local city and province government. What do you think?â the leader asked.
âFine, Iâll go,â Professor Wu said.
He was invited to dinner every time he went to a local hospital. It had become a routine.
In the village, Zhang Xiuying asked about the disease during dinner.
âHave those infected people died?â Zhang Xiuying softly asked.
âWhere did you hear that?â Wang Yao asked with surprise.
âEveryone in the village was talking about it. They said once you are infected, you die quickly,â Zhang Xiuying said.
She had heard the rumor from a number of people.
âIâm not sure about that,â Wang Yao said. âBut, itâs possible.â
He knew Chen Jiagui was dead. If the infected patients didnât have access to his decoctions, they would probably end up the same way Chen Jiagui ended.
âAye!â Zhang Xiuying sighed. âWhen is this going to be over?â
âSoon,â Wang Yao said.
He went to the hill on the west side after dinner. Those areas on the hill remained the same. They were all sterilized .
The deadly aura is still here. Wang Yao could still feel the depressing aura when he was standing in those places. The crisis hadnât been resolved.
What caused the deadly aura?
He decided to spend some time studying it. Once he knew the cause, he would figure out where the bacteria was from.
The night passed peacefully. Professor Wu came to the village again next morning.
âHow is the patient?â Wang Yao asked.
âHeâs getting better. Your decoctions worked. Can you answer my question this time?â Professor Wu asked.
âDo you know how all of these started?â Wang Yao asked.
âI heard from someone that it started from a villager here,â Professor Wu said. He had read through the history of this disease spread.