Chapter 120

Li Yao frowned, and said sternly, "Then you should isolate yourself immediately."

What? Isolate what?

"That is, you stay alone in a room and don't have contact with others," she added.

"No need," said Wang Jia Gui, "I didn't go to the refugee camp."

"Just in case." Li Yao turned her head and instructed her son, "Third son, go find Village Head right away. The school will be closed these days. Tell everyone not to go out."

Wang Jia Gui was isolated alone. Li Yao let everyone wash their hands with soap, then began to check on Wang Yuanbang’s condition.

High fever, at least forty degrees.

Rapid breathing, flushed face.

The wound was on his right arm, now inflamed and suppurating, apparently a severe infection.

Li Yao had Wang Xueshi lower his temperature first physically, then grabbed a prescription of herbs for Shen Shi to decoct.

But Wang Yuanbang's condition was severe. He recovered slowly with medicine. They had to find a way to reduce inflammation quickly.

But now it was impossible to produce penicillin in time. That would require a long time of experimentation and extraction, and also require manpower and equipment.

"Use white medicine first," she said.

Li Yao went home to find the necessary medicines. After grinding them into powder according to the ratio, it was almost the same as authentic white medicine, and through her many years of use, the effect was even better than white medicine.

After cleaning Wang Yuanbang’s wound, she applied a layer of medicinal powder.

Before long, Wang Yuanbang's condition improved somewhat, and he no longer looked so agonized.

"Change the medicine every hour," Li Yao instructed. "Squeeze out the pus each time, disinfect with liquor, and apply more medicine powder at the end."

"Got it."

With careful nursing, Wang Yuanbang soon regained consciousness, and the family breathed a long sigh of relief.

Thanks to Li Yao this time, otherwise Wang Yuanbang might have gone to see King Yama early.

But misfortunes never come singly. Wang Jia Gui, who was isolated, soon began to cough and had a persistent high fever. After examining his symptoms wearing a mask, Li Yao diagnosed it as a kind of flu.

Fortunately, he was the only one in the village who caught it. Thanks to the timely isolation, there was no cross infection or viral mutation. Although the symptoms were severe, he could recover quickly by taking medicine on time and paying attention to hygiene.

When Village Head Wang Jiafu learned of this, he strengthened patrols in the village and urged everyone to wash their hands with soap according to Li Yao's instructions.

The villagers admired Li Yao tremendously, so they naturally obeyed very much. Plus, no one came in from outside, and surprisingly no one was infected with the flu.

But Li Yao knew that while He Wan Village was safe, other villages in Baichuan County might not be so lucky.

The herbs she had stockpiled before could come in handy now.

So she called up a few able-bodied young men, put on thick masks, and transported a batch of soap to Baichuan Market in an oxcart.

...

"Sir, there really are no more medicines!"

In the county government courtyard, the gathered doctors were all in a terrible mess.

After two days of treatment, all the medicines in the drugstores had been used up, but the refugees and villagers outside kept getting infected with the plague.

Some of the weaker ones could barely hold on. She heard that several had already died.

"Sir," Zhang County Captain came back from outside, his expression also very solemn, "I checked the neighboring counties, their situation is worse than ours. They don't care about the refugees at all, just letting them live or die." I heard that hundreds of people had already died."

County Magistrate Song's brows furrowed tightly, his eyes full of anxiety.

Could it be that there really was no way out?

"Sir, Mistress Li is here!"

Li Yao?

For some reason, when Song County Magistrate heard that Li Yao had arrived, it was as if he saw a ray of light in the endless darkness.

"Please come in quickly!"

Seeing Li Yao wearing a mask, Song County Magistrate and his group were a little puzzled.

They wondered why she had to cover her mouth and nose with cloth when it was already spring and the temperature had warmed up.

"This is called a mask and can effectively prevent infection."

"Huh?"

The doctors were taken aback. A piece of cloth could prevent plague infection?

This was probably the biggest joke they had ever heard.

"Mistress Li," a doctor named Ma shook his head, "Although you are very capable, I think we know a little more about the plague."

The other doctors nodded. For seeing patients, they should still trust professionals.

Li Yao ignored him and went straight to Song County Magistrate: "Sir, I happened to collect some herbs before. I wonder if they could be used?"

"There are herbs? That's great, where are they?"

"In the shop at the market."

Before long, Zou Boss and the shop assistants pulled several carts full of herbs over. Song County Magistrate was so excited he almost bowed to Li Yao.

"This is only 10%. The rest can be taken at any time."

"Good, great!"

Song County Magistrate was excited, his complexion flushed.

This Mistress Li really was a savior!

"Doctors, now that there are medicines, please hurry and make prescriptions."

"No need," said Li Yao. "I've already written the formula, just have people decoct it directly."

Dr. Ma sneered when he heard this: "I didn't expect that Mistress Li would actually understand medical theory. Then why did the county magistrate need us to come?"

Song County Magistrate was at a loss for a moment.

In principle, he should listen to the doctor in this situation.

But experience also told her that when there was a problem, listening to Li Yao was absolutely right.

"County Magistrate, the situation is urgent now, so don't delay," Li Yao said. "In addition to giving medicine to everyone, severely ill patients must also be isolated for treatment. I also brought 100,000 bars of soap. County Magistrate can have people cut them into small pieces for distribution. Everyone must wash their hands with soap every day to prevent infection."

Soap can also prevent infection?

Dr. Ma laughed when he heard it.

"Mistress Li, you wouldn't be trying to take advantage of the national crisis for profit, would you?"

Li Yao didn't want to pay attention to this person. But since he kept making sarcastic remarks, she wouldn't be polite.

"Do you think I'm a sick cat just because I haven't lost my temper for a long time?" Li Yao's face sank, her manner overbearing. "If you keep blathering in front of me, watch out or I'll hit you until your own mother can't recognize you."

Dr. Ma had never seen such a fierce woman before, and was so frightened he didn't dare continue speaking. That's right, Li Yao used to be the number one shrew in Baichuan County.

"Cough cough," Song County Magistrate gently coughed. "Do as Mistress Li said."

Li Yao had the clerks and shopkeepers wear masks and start boiling medicine outside the city. She had everyone drink it. Each person also received a small piece of soap and was urged to wash their hands at all times.

She also requisitioned all the cotton cloth from the cotton shops to make several hundred thousand simple masks for distribution.

The refugees naturally didn't want to catch the plague and die, so they all obediently washed their hands, wore masks, and lined up to receive food every day according to the rules.

Those who began to develop fevers were all transferred to another empty field, strictly guarded, and examined one by one by the doctors from the market, who then prescribed medicine for treatment.

Song County Magistrate also sent some herbs to each village, and strictly implemented the measures formulated by Li Yao.