: Where Is Home?
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Professor Wu kept saying it.
âYou are too modest,â the Qi Provincial government leader said.
He knew he wasnât modest. Thanks to the young man in the village, the crisis caused by the disease could be controlled in a short period of time. Without Wang Yaoâs assistance, he didnât know when this would have been over.
The Health Department held a party to celebrate the success. All the key personnel in the Health Department of the county, city, and province came to the party. Of course, the spotlight was on Professor Wu, the specialist from Beijing.
People were chatting and drinking happily at the dinner table. Everyone seemed to enjoy the party very much. Even Professor Wuâs two assistants received significant praise. After a few drinks, the two young men started to feel lightheaded. They couldnât speak properly.
They often attended dinners and parties with their teacher and received flattery from the directors of big companies. It was different this time. As common folks, they were highly regarded by these senior officers from the local government. This made them feel better than liquor.
However, one person stayed calm throughout the party. He was the start of the party, Professor Wu. I have to speak to that young man!
He didnât want anything that didnât belong to him. He thought a lot that evening.
The clouds were accumulating in the sky. Wang Yao was looking up at the sky on Nanshan Hill.
It is going to rain tomorrow.
He then looked toward the west. Xishan Hill was not far from Nanshan Hill. It just stood there quietly. It was a bit higher than Nanshan Hill. The highest hill surrounding the village was to the north. The next highest was Xishan Hill. Nanshan was actually the lowest.
I canât see anything.
Given his current capacity, he still couldnât see the difference between Xishan Hill and the other hills. As for the so-called deadly aura, he couldnât feel it from Nanshan Hill.
Never mind! Wang Yao turned the light off since it was getting late.
It started to rain the next morning. Regardless of the weather, Wang Yao had a visitor.
Although the method of treating the horrible disease had been found with Wang Yaoâs assistance, and the decoctions were in production, the village was still in a state of siege. The alarm wouldnât be taken off for a while.
âHey, isnât he the specialist from Beijing?â A villager recognized the visitor.
âYes, heâs been here a number of times,â another villager said.
âI heard he found the way to treat the disease. People from Beijing are really different,â the first villager said.
âExactly. They threw a party for him last night in the city,â the other villager said.
âWhat is he doing here on a rainy day?â the first villager asked.
Knowing that the doctors had found a way to treat the disease, the police and medical officers in the village were no longer as nervous as before. No matter how horrible the disease was, as long as there was a way to cure it, it wouldnât be that bad.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âHey, I heard something from someone,â a middle-aged villager said.
âWhat?â his neighbor asked..
âThe local government gave him $1 million as a reward,â the middle-aged villager said.
âAre you serious?â his neighbor asked.
Professor Wu didnât hear their conversation. He went straight to Wang Yaoâs clinic and knocked on the door.
âPlease come in,â Wang Yao said.
He had received a call from Professor Wu in the morning, so he had been waiting in the clinic.
âHello, Professor Wu,â Wang Yao said.
âHello, Dr. Wang,â Professor Wu said.
Wang Yao began brewing a pot of tea.
âThank you for the formula and herbs. Theyâve started to grow the herbs in large scale,â Professor Wu said.
âGreat,â Wang Yao said.
âThe key is the formula. Iâve received an offer to purchase the formula,â Professor Wu said. âHowever, no one knows you provided the formula. Iâve made an application on your behalf.â
He didnât go into details. Actually, he had applied for a patent under Wang Yaoâs name.
âIâm ready to tell everyone the formula is from you,â Professor Wu said.
âJust announce that the formula is created by both of us,â Wang Yao said.
âNo, I did nothing to create the formula,â Professor Wu said.
âYou helped test and promote the formula,â Wang Yao said with a smile. He knew Professor Wu was a person with a conscience.
âThat was nothing,â Professor Wu said.
âAnyway, I prefer you not to mention my name,â Wang Yao said.
âOK,â Professor Wu said.
âYou donât look well. It seems you havenât had a good sleep for some time. I guess youâve been working too hard for this disease,â Wang Yao said.
Professor Wu looked exhausted. When a person was tired, they could easily get attacked by a virus or bacteria and become ill.
âYou are right,â Professor Wu said.
âYou need to look after yourself. Have some tea,â Wang Yao said.
âThank you,â Professor Wu said.
The tea tasted really good. Professor Wu felt very comfortable after drinking it. The tea seemed to have driven his exhaustion away.
âWhere did you learn medicine?â Professor Wu asked.
âGod.â Wang Yao pointed to the sky with a smile.
Professor Wu laughed.
They chatted for a long while.
âI would invite you for dinner if our village was not in quarantine,â Wang Yao said.
âNever mind,â Professor Wu said. âYou can also come to Beijing.â
It was still raining when Professor Wu left the clinic.
Wang Yaoâs parent asked Wang Yao about the disease during lunch.
âI heard the specialist from Beijing has created a medication to treat the disease,â Zhang Xiuying said.
âHmm, the medication was actually created by your son,â Wang Yao said.
âReally?â Zhang Xiuying asked.
âOf course,â Wang Yao said.
âDid it work?â Wang Fenghua asked.
âYeah,â Wang Yao said.
âGood. Thatâs good.â Wang Fenghua smiled and lit a cigarette.
...
In Dali, the Han brothers were going to visit the King Pharmacist for the fourth time.
âBro, how do you feel?â Han Zhigao asked.
âIâm fine with the trip.â The youngest brother was able to speak well inside the wrap.
âLetâs go then,â Han Zhigao said.
âOK,â the sick brother said.
A few hours later, they arrived at the small village in south Yunnan and saw the King Pharmacist. He hadnât changed. He looked serious as he stared at Han Zhigao and his brother.
I wish I didnât have to meet this man anymore, Han Zhigao thought.
âJian, come here,â the King Pharmacist said.
âYes, Master,â Jian said.
It was still Jian who applied the decoction on the sick brother. He gently removed the gauze so that the skin was exposed. A large amount of scar tissue dropped off. Everyone could see new skin on some part of the body.
The brothers were thrilled to see the change in their youngest brother.
Jian moved slowly to apply three big jars of ointment onto the youngest brotherâs body. He then wrapped his body with special gauze.
âCome back in 20 days,â the King Pharmacist said.
âSure, thank you,â Han Zhigao said.
âWait, I need to ask you something.â The brothers were stopped by the King Pharmacist as they were about to walk out.
âSure,â Han Xing said.
âWhere is the person who made the three decoctions?â the King Pharmacist asked.
âWell, heâs from Qi Province up north,â Han Xing said.
âQi Province?â The King Pharmacist frowned. He had lived in Yunnan for decades. Although he had traveled, he had never been north. âNever mind, off you go.â
âOK. Goodbye for now.â Han Xing and his brothers quickly walked out of the building.
âMaster, do you want to meet that person?â Jian asked after the brothers left.
âYes,â the King Pharmacist said. âI have studied the three decoctions for nearly a month, but I still canât figure out their components.â
âI can ask my colleagues to look into it,â Jian said.
âOK. I havenât come across anything so interesting in a long time,â the King Pharmacist said with a smile. A person who didnât have a counterpart often felt lonely.
...
Time passed quickly. It was just a blink of the eye from winter to spring. The trees had turned green, and the flowers were blooming. Spring brought life to the earth.
The test of Wang Yaoâs decoction was successful in Lianshan Peopleâs Hospital, especially to those who were at the initial stage of the disease.
Professor Wu had said something unexpectedly during a media interview. He said the formula, which could cure the disease, was not developed by him. It was developed by a traditional Chinese Pharmacist whose surname was Wang.
People watching the interview had no idea what a traditional Chinese Pharmacist was or this Wang person was. However, some people knew what Professor Wu was talking about, like the villagers who watched the interview by accident.
âA traditional Chinese Pharmacist whose surname is Wang? Is he talking about Fenghuaâs son, Yao?â a villager wondered.
Since the antidote was in production, quarantine was no longer strict in the village. However, there were still policemen around. It was arranged by the government from the city and county. Although the antidote had been developed, the disease was highly contagious and the death rate was still high, so people were still cautious.
One day, Professor Wu came to the village. âIâm here to say goodbye.â
âYou are going back to Beijing?â Wang Yao asked.
âYes. I think things are getting better here. Iâve got other business to attend to,â Professor Wu said.
He stayed in the clinic for a long while having a good chat with Wang Yao. They talked about medicine, as well as other things.
âI didnât expect you to be so acknowledged as a young doctor,â Professor Wu said.
One could often get the whole picture by seeing only one spot. Professor Wu could get a good idea of Wang Yaoâs expertise and medical skills just by discussing a medical case with him.
âWhen will this place stop being a quarantine?â Wang Yao asked.
âAt least a month. Sorry. I canât make a decision on that,â Professor Wu said.
âI donât like going out anyway. I just donât want the villagers to think too much,â Wang Yao said.
He was afraid there would be more people leaving the village after the quarantine was over. He knew the construction of the apartments developed by Sun Zhengrongâs company were almost finished. A number of people already wanted to move out. The crisis this time had caused more than 10 deaths in a village with a small population. Wang Yao didnât think many people would want to continue living in the village.
This small village, which used to be safe and quiet, could no longer offer a sense of security to its residents. It was barely their home anymore. Plus, not many people had a strong attachment to their hometowns anymore.
People became more cowardly when they were close to their hometown because they didnât have to miss their family so much. However, young people nowadays didnât really care about family.
Time passed by as the villagers continued to be anxious about their future.
Meanwhile, more people were found to be infected and sent to the Peopleâs Hospital in town. In addition to humans, some rabbits, sheep, and dogs were also infected. It seemed like the whole village was about to get infected.
âCan we move all the residents out of the village?â one of the town leaders suggested. âOf course, Iâm talking about those who havenât been infected.â
âItâs gonna be a huge task,â another leader said.
They had to find a suitable place to accommodate all the residents of the village. Since there were a lot of people involved, they had to build temporary accommodations for them. It would take a long time to get those things done.
âWe need to think about it,â the leader said.
They needed to further discuss the issue. However, the villagers had started to take action and butcher and burn life stock. They wouldnât have done that in the past. Life stock meant money to them. Now, they wouldnât take any risks. If they got bit by an animal, they would have to go to the hospital. The worst case scenario was they could die. Money was nothing compared to life.
âAye!â The villagers felt hopeless and sad.
There were too many uncertainties. They were depressed. A lot of people got sick with either a headache or diarrhea. Some of them couldnât sleep at night.
They couldnât get out of the village, so they all went to see Wang Yao.
He was very patient. He saw them one by one and provided effective treatment. He knew all these health issues were caused by emotional distress.