He tied on his face mask, then took out two more and handed them to the village chief’s wife and the sturdy man, saying, “Better than nothing. It will block whatever it can.”
The village chief’s wife had never seen consumption before. Crying, she asked, “Wen-ge’er, what does this mean?”
Song Wenqing replied, “What they have contracted is consumption. The kind that spreads to others.”
Upon hearing this, the village chief’s wife nearly lost her breath and fainted right onto the ground. After a long while, she spoke with a trembling voice, “Is that not just a plague then?”
He did not say much more. The manifestation of consumption varied from person to person.
Even when prescribing medication, it had to be categorized into general prescriptions and dialectical prescriptions. Dialectical prescriptions were further divided into heat syndrome, deficiency syndrome, and excess syndrome, and their corresponding clinical presentations were completely different.
“It is fine. Take me to see the village chief first,” Song Wenqing said, trying his best to sound relaxed.
It would still take some time for the medicine sent by Jishi Hall to arrive. Aside from the remaining medicinal ingredients in his own home and in Doctor Li’s medical clinic, the neighboring villages had no supplies left. If consumption truly spread throughout their village, it would be fine if the government found out and sent aid in time. His fear was that the government would believe there was no cure and completely seal off the village.
Hearing this, the village chief’s wife hurriedly led Song Wenqing toward her home.
They had long entered the dead of winter. The bone-chilling wind whipped against their faces, and Song Wenqing instinctively wrapped his clothes tighter around himself. The snow on the narrow path was incredibly thick. With every step they took, a crunching sound echoed beneath their feet, leaving a string of clearly visible footprints behind.
The sturdy man only snapped out of his daze once they reached the outside of the village chief’s house, quietly following behind the two of them.
Song Wenqing examined the village chief’s symptoms and let out a sigh of relief. Dipping his brush, he wrote down a prescription and asked the village chief’s wife to go to Doctor Li’s clinic to fetch the medicine.
Then, he hurriedly got up to head to the next household.
Just as he had imagined, most of the villagers had fallen ill. Forcing himself to stay energized, Song Wenqing called for Zhao Lin, Lu Hui, and a few others. Perhaps because they frequently went up into the mountains to hunt, their constitutions were robust, and they had not contracted consumption.
Seeing Song Wenqing’s brow furrowed with worry, Zhao Lin weighed his words carefully before asking, “Wen-ge’er, is there anything we can do to help?”
After he explained consumption to them, although their faces showed a hint of panic, they proved to be quite reliable.
Lu Hui said, “Wen-ge’er, just say the word. We brothers trust you.”
Only then did Song Wenqing continue, “There might still be a few people in the village who are ill but are not taking it seriously. I will have to trouble you all to make a trip around. If there are households where some members are not yet infected, especially the children, they must take strict precautions. They must also eat separately from the sick. Families who have stored mugwort can use it to wash their hands. Reduce your travel outdoors; I will personally go to their homes to treat them.”
Hearing this, Zhao Lin and the others felt a slight jolt in their hearts.
“Once you all finish your rounds, return home as quickly as possible. Do not loiter outside.”
Only after parting ways with them to carry out their tasks did Song Wenqing manage to breathe a sigh of relief.
Doctor Li arrived at some unknown point. Before Song Wenqing could speak, Doctor Li said, “Wen-ge’er, I am a medical practitioner as well. At any rate, I have apprentices helping out at the clinic, so coming here means I should be able to assist you to some extent.”
Although the weather was freezing cold, a rare warmth filled Song Wenqing’s heart.
He nodded and said, “Doctor Li, you must take care of your own health as well.”
“You too.”
The two looked at each other and smiled.
After a whole day, the quantity of medicinal ingredients turned out exactly as Song Wenqing had anticipated; it was not enough.
Some people in the village only received a single dose of medicine. Although it could be decocted multiple times, the more times it was brewed, the lower the efficacy of the medicine became, not to mention that some people’s symptoms had not even manifested yet.
When he returned home, Pei Jinrong was wearing a face mask, holding and spraying the alcohol that Song Wenqing had distilled a few days prior.
Seeing him standing at the doorway, the youth said in a flurry, “I heard you say a few days ago that this is called medical alcohol, and it can be used for disinfection.”
Just as Song Wenqing was about to step forward, Pei Jinrong took a few steps back. “Don’t come over.”
He coughed a few times and asked, “Brother, am I going to die?”
As he spoke, the youth’s eyes welled with tears, rimmed in red. His thick eyelashes were dampened by the continuously welling tears, and strands of his hair clung messily to his face.
The corners of Song Wenqing’s lips curled up, and he let out a soft laugh. “You will not die. If you die, wouldn’t I have to live as a widow for you?”
Pei Jinrong was clearly unable to take any of it in. He said in a small voice, “I heard what you said to Doctor Li. I found a fresh set of bedding for you; I have already placed it in the side room.”
At this point, he became utterly choked up. Lowering his head, it took a long while before he said in a hoarse voice, “I cannot sleep with Brother anymore, I cannot eat with Brother anymore, I cannot hold Brother anymore.”
Song Wenqing was both exasperated and heartbroken. He said crossly, “Then brew your own medicine and drink it yourself.”
With that, he shut the door, leaving the bewildered youth inside the room.
After Song Wenqing finished bathing, he casually cooked some noodles to pad his stomach. Having not cooked in a long time, he nearly set the kitchen on fire. Pei Jinrong did not dare to step out of his room and could only fret anxiously inside, while Song Wenqing pretended not to notice.
After finishing his noodles, he lay in bed pondering.
Pei Jinrong’s words were not without merit; alcohol could indeed disinfect. If every household in the village possessed some, it would naturally be for the best.
However, he was also fully aware that he was no saint, nor did he have the silver to purchase enough raw materials. He could only go door-to-door tomorrow to ask for their opinions.
Fortunately, the villagers were understanding. Those who had liquor at home brought liquor, and those who did not brought silver. Song Wenqing, along with Zhao Lin and their group, busied themselves for several days and finally managed to distill a sufficient amount of alcohol.
The village worked together with one heart. Seeing that the medicinal ingredients from Jishi Hall were due to be delivered in just a few days, the thing Song Wenqing feared most happened anyway.
For reasons unknown, the government had somehow obtained the news. With three days left before the medicine was scheduled to arrive, they brought men and sealed off Yunhan Village.
They stated that no one was permitted to leave, nor was anyone from the outside allowed to enter. This truly brought hardship upon Song Wenqing and the rest of the villagers.
Early in the morning, before he had even eaten, Song Wenqing put on his clothes and walked outside.
To completely eradicate and cure consumption took at least three months, and at most half a year or even a year. During this period, the medication could not be stopped. If the medicinal ingredients truly could not be brought in moving forward, the entire village would likely be completely doomed.
“Officer, please show some mercy. There will be medicinal ingredients delivered in three days. When the time comes, I must trouble you to accommodate us,” Song Wenqing said with a placating smile, quietly slipping silver into the hand of the bailiff guarding the entrance of the village.
The bailiff, wearing a face mask, shifted even further away from him in disgust. “Scram, scram, scram.”
Hearing this, the smile vanished from Song Wenqing’s face, and his hands curled slightly.
“Officer, then I shall return tomorrow.”
Before Song Wenqing had even walked far, several bailiffs began to gossip among themselves.
“A plague village. How truly unlucky.”
“Is it not? In the end, they will all be dead anyway. Sooner or later, it will be burned to the ground. Buying medicinal ingredients from the outside right now is nothing more than stalling for time. What is the point?”
“I wonder how much longer we have to guard this place. If we get infected, I would not even know what to do.”
Song Wenqing exhaled, walking back home with an expressionless face.
Many people from the village had gathered in his courtyard. These were all individuals in good health who had long since come to view Song Wenqing as their core pillar of support. Seeing him enter, they all hurriedly asked, “Wen-ge’er, what did the officer say?”
Song Wenqing picked up a hand warmer to warm his hands, shaking his head as he said, “It will not do.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Hui said anxiously, “Then what do we do?”
Song Wenqing did not answer immediately. After thinking for a moment, he let out a cold laugh and said, “A barefoot man does not fear one wearing shoes. If the medicinal ingredients cannot be brought in three days from now, we will gather at the entrance of the village. Surely, they cannot claim they are not afraid of us infected ‘plague’ patients.”
The others nodded their heads heavily.