Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Karen Carpenter, a famous U.S. singer died of anorexia. It was such a shame that she was only 32 years old when she died.
Wang Yao had read a similar case in the Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases. However, the case described in the book was not as serious as this one. The patient in the book was a man. He vomited every time he smelled fish. Gradually, he developed anorexia. The treatment method was to keep him away from fish and prescribe him herbs to improve digestion. He finally fully recovered. However, he couldnât eat fish often since his body was highly sensitive to seafood.
This patient didnât want to eat at all.
Maybe I should just keep all the food from him.
Wang Yaoâs eyes brightened. Sometimes people smelled the sea before eating.
âSorry, I forgot to ask you if the smell of the food will make you uncomfortable or do you just dislike any food in general?â Wang Yao asked.
He thought about giving the patient some herbs to facilitate digestion. He thought hard and listed a few herbs, which could also be used as food. He wrote them down for the patient.
Wang Yao went home late in the afternoon. His parents had a guest. It was his youngest uncle from his motherâs side.
âHello, Uncle,â Wang Yao said.
âHello, Yao, finished working?â his uncle asked.
âYes,â Wang Yao said.
âDid you have a lot of patients today?â his uncle asked.
âNot really,â Wang Yao said.
His uncle told Wang Yao and his parents the purpose of his visit during dinner after some casual chatting.
His uncle wanted to change houses. He wanted to buy a bigger house. Wang Yao was not sure how his uncle heard about the house swap business in the village or his relationship with Sun Yunsheng.
âThe apartments are in a really good location and close to school,â his uncle said. âCan you ask if I can get a discount?â
âOK, Iâll ask for you,â Wang Yao said.
This was not a big deal for Wang Yao. As long as he asked, Sun Yunsheng would give him a building for free.
âIâll call you,â Wang Yao said.
âGreat, thanks,â his uncle said.
Wang Yao didnât stay long after dinner.
âDrive safely!â Zhang Xiuying didnât forget to remind her brother before he left. She also gave him two boxes of gifts, which they had been given by Wang Yaoâs friends.
âOK. Donât worry about me,â Zhang Xiuyingâs brother said. âIâll go to town tomorrow.â
âOK,â Zhang Xiuying said.
Wang Yao didnât need to speak to Sun Yunsheng, who had arranged for his employees to stay in Lianshan town center and left Wang Yao a contact number.
Housing was a big thing anywhere in the world.
Wang Yao drove to Lianshan town center the next morning.
As expected, the construction of the apartments had finished. Some owners had started to decorate their new apartments. Wang Yao bumped into several people from his village.
âHello, Yao.â One of them greeted Wang Yao.
âHello, what are you doing here?â Wang Yao asked.
âIâm decorating the apartment,â the middle-aged villager said.
âAll the paperwork has been completed?â Wang Yao asked.
âYeah, people in town are really efficient,â the villager said with a smile.
âOh, I see. I wonât bother you then,â Wang Yao said.
âThatâs fine. When Iâve finished decorating the apartment, Iâll invite you and your parents here,â the villager said.
âOK,â Wang Yao said.
He bumped into a number of familiar faces.
The apartments were ready for people to move in. The footpath in the complex had also been built. The contractors were still planting trees, but it didnât affect people moving into the new apartments.
Wang Yao went to speak to Sun Yunshengâs assistant, whom he had met once.
âHello, Mr. Wang.â The assistant remembered Wang Yao clearly. After all, Sun Yunsheng had asked him to satisfy all of Wang Yaoâs requests, even he wanted to have the whole building.
âHello, sorry to bother you again,â Wang Yao said.
âNo problem, please come in.â The assistant invited Wang Yao into his office. He made him a cup of tea with the best tea leaves he had, which he only used to serve the most distinguished clients.
âSo, is that it?â the assistant asked with surprise after learning what Wang Yao wanted.
âYes, can you help me?â Wang Yao asked.
âOh, of course,â the assistant immediately said.
It was easy. All Wang Yao had asked for was a discount on one apartment. It was piece of cake for him.
âActually, you donât need to come here in person,â the assistant said. âYou can just give me a call. Here is my card.â
He handed a business card to Wang Yao although Wang Yao already had his number.
âOK, thank you,â Wang Yao said.
âYou are welcome,â the assistant said.
He didnât expect Wang Yao to be so polite.
After the meeting with Sun Yunshengâs assistant, Wang Yao went to visit Wang Mingbao.
âHey, you donât need to stay at your clinic today?â Wang Mingbao slyly asked.
âI came here for some small business. Then, I thought about you,â Wang Yao said with a smile.
âHave some tea,â Wang Mingbao said.
âThank you,â Wang Yao said.
âI just got back from Sun Yunshengâs apartments and bumped into a lot of people from our village,â Wang Yao said.
âIâm not surprised. A lot of them came to buy decorative materials here,â said Wang Mingbao, who ran a decoration store. âThey were too scared to continue to stay in the village.â
Those who came to buy materials in Wang Mingbaoâs store often had a chat with him. A number of villagers had expressed their concerns or complained about the life in the village to Wang Mingbao. Some of them wished they could exchange their old house for two apartments. There always were greedy people around.
âHow about you? Have you asked for one apartment?â Wang Mingbao asked.
The villagers could swap their old houses for new apartments, as well as purchase a new apartment with a discounted price. Considering Wang Yaoâs close relationship with Sun Zhengrong and Sun Yunsheng, it would be easy for him to get whatever he wanted.
âNo, I donât want to live there,â Wang Yao said.
He had bought an apartment in Lianshan town center some time ago and never lived inside it.
âDo you need to go back for lunch?â Wang Mingbao asked.
âNo,â Wang Yao said.
âWould you like to have lunch together?â Wang Mingbao asked.
âSure,â Wang Yao said.
Wang Mingbao also invited a few other friends to lunch. Everyone asked Wang Yao about what had happened in his village.
...
In a Beijing laboratory, several people were focusing on something.
âWhat do you think?â Professor Wu asked.
âThese insects did carry the vital bacteria,â a laboratory specialist in his 50s said. He was wearing glasses and was slightly overweight.
âReally?â Professor Wu was surprised.
âWhere did you find these insects?â the laboratory specialist asked.
âWhy do you ask?â Professor Wu asked.
âThese are a different form of mole cricket. So far, I donât have any record of these kind of insects,â the laboratory specialist said.
âAnd, youâve never seen this before?â Professor Wu asked.
âMaybe you can find it somewhere else, but definitely not in the records. Where did you find them?â the laboratory specialist asked again.
âI didnât find them. A friend of mine did. He found them in a big rock,â Professor Wu said.
âIn a rock?â the laboratory specialist asked.
âYes, the insects lived in a large rock. They emptied the whole rock, which looked like a honeycomb,â Professor Wu said.
âGee!â The laboratory specialist frowned. âMole crickets live in soil. I know they can dig holes in soil, but I never heard about them digging holes in a rock. This is unbelievable. Did he find anything else apart from these insects?â
âA mouse. You know mice and insects are often together,â Professor Wu said.
âThat is strange. Mice eat mole crickets, so they wouldnât live together. I canât explain this,â the laboratory specialist said.
âYou can look into that later. First, tell me how these insects got the bacteria in them?â Professor Wu asked.
âItâs hard to explain. It might be due to metamorphosis,â the laboratory specialist said.
âBy the way, does mole cricket eat meat?â Professor Wu asked.
âNo, they only eat plants,â the laboratory specialist said.
âThese insects eat meat,â Professor Wu said.
âReally?â the laboratory specialist asked with shock. âFetch me some meat!â
One of the other assistants quickly brought in a small piece meat. The laboratory specialist put the meat into the glass jar. The insect jumped on the meat and started to eat.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âThey do eat meat,â the laboratory specialist said with surprise.
âAre you sure they are a type of mole cricket?â Professor Wu asked.
âYou donât believe me?â the laboratory specialist asked.
âProfessor Lin, someone is on the phone for you,â one of the assistants said.
âWait here. Donât leave. Letâs have lunch together.â Professor Lin went out to take the phone call, leaving Professor Wu alone in the laboratory staring at the insects chewing on the piece of pork. It was like they hadnât eaten for days.
âMole cricket?â Professor Wu murmured.
Both the insects and the mouse carried bacteria. This was a serious issue.
Professor Lin came back a moment later. âLetâs go to my office.â
âOK,â Professor Wu agreed.
The two went to Professor Linâs office and shut the door.
âThe government officers are impressed by the way you handled the outbreak of that contagious disease in Lianshan,â Professor Lin said.
âI donât need to impress them,â Professor Wu said.
âYou havenât changed, have you?â Professor Lin knew his old friend well. âWould you like to do something really significant this year?â
âWhat do you mean really significant? I just want to know why those so-called mole cricket had metamorphosis and find out where the bacteria is from,â Professor Wu said.