Chapter 18 Japanese Encephalitis Virus

After picking the vegetables, Grandma Mai went back inside and handed Qin Suisui a bottle of her homemade yellow lantern chili sauce. She thoughtfully instructed, "This is delicious with rice and stir-fries, but it's a bit spicy. If you can't handle spice, remember to use less!"

Qin Suisui hadn't asked the question she wanted yet, and feeling a little unwilling, she looked at the cleaned locust flowers drying on the winnowing basket and said, "Grandma, we eat locust flowers here too? When I was little, I often got a sore throat, and my mom liked to mix locust flowers and honey in water for me to drink. It was sweet and fragrant, and I loved it! There are also locust flower dumplings; all the kids in our area love them. I can eat more than twenty in one sitting!"

Sure enough, upon hearing Qin Suisui's words, Grandma Mai nodded without hesitation and chimed in, "Yes, my grandson also loves locust flower dumplings. These days, while the locust flowers are still in bloom, I'm making him a few meals. The rest will be dried and used to make tea. You like them, right? Wait here! Grandma will get you a bag to pack some to take home!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Suisui's eyes lit up. She quickly ran to her bicycle, took down a bag of Yunpian cake hanging on the handlebars, and handed it to Grandma Mai: "Grandma, this is a pastry I bought in Guangzhou. It's called Yunpian cake. It's soft and sweet. You can take it and share it with your grandson! I heard that children love to eat this!"

"Hey, where's the rest of your family? Did they go to work? Oh, by the way! When I came to the village today, I saw three thugs bullying a child in that grove over there. You should talk to your child and make sure they don't get bullied!"

Upon hearing this, Grandma Mai sighed. Perhaps she had already decided in her heart that Qin Suisui was someone favored by the sea god, or perhaps the concern in Qin Suisui's words touched her, so she didn't put up her guard: "My son is serving in the army outside, and he won't come back for hundreds of years! My grandson! Alas! When he was four years old, he had a high fever for several days and vomited for several days. When we took him to the hospital, the doctor said it was too late. Later, his right leg became weak, and his mind remained stuck at that time. Because of this, he was bullied by some children a few days ago and is still recovering at home. He's taking his medicine and sleeping in the room right now."

Qin Suisui was secretly amazed; the person's identity was indeed correct! He was also from the military, but she didn't know his specific rank. At this moment, she dared not ask any further, lest it arouse suspicion.

Upon hearing about Mada's condition, she frowned. High fever and vomiting were common symptoms of many infectious diseases, but the causes of Mada's condition were usually limited to a few specific types.

Thinking about the plot in the book, Mada was bullied by several children and pushed into the latrine, which did cause him serious injuries. Later, it seems that he went to the city hospital for treatment because of the infection of his wound. This was also the fuse that led to the "benefactor" putting pressure on the parents of those children who bullied him.

According to Su Yunyi, Zhou Zecheng rescued Maida the day before yesterday afternoon, and if the wound were to become infected, it would likely be within the next day or two.

Thinking of this, Qin Suisui leaned close to Grandma Mai's ear and whispered, "Grandma, I'm telling you this because you're so kind to me. My grandma was a traditional Chinese medicine doctor when she was alive. Although I didn't inherit her medical skills, I can still treat some basic ailments. If you trust me, I can go and help check on your grandson's injuries."

Qin Suisui's idea was simple. She couldn't stop Zhou Zecheng's protagonist aura, but she could use her existing resources to help Grandma Mai and Maida as much as possible. Even if she couldn't help them, she could at least build a good relationship with them. That way, when Zhou Zecheng wanted to use the power of "benefactors" to suppress Pei Jiuyan and the others in the future, he would consider this aspect and not go to extremes.

Hearing Qin Suisui say this, Grandma Mai's eyes lit up. She was indeed a girl favored by the Sea Goddess, bringing good luck to their family!

Without hesitation, she grabbed Qin Suisui's hand and pulled her into the inner room: "Quick, quick, young comrade, please take a look at my Ada. The day before yesterday, some damned kids pushed him into the latrine. He's covered in scrapes and abrasions. We took him to the clinic, and the doctor gave him some medicine, saying he might get an infection or something. I'm just an old woman, I don't know anything about this..."

Qin Suisui was led into a room by the window. The first thing that caught her eye was a portrait of a great man on the wall, next to which hung two small boat models made of coconut shells. Below the portrait was a half-person-high box woven from coconut husks, next to which stood a bamboo pole with two men's vests hanging from it, along with several bunches of half-dried mugwort and calamus. On the floor was a nearly burnt-out mosquito coil. Seeing these two items, Qin Suisui had a guess in her mind.

In the center of the bedroom stood a wooden bed frame covered with a hemp mosquito net. Mada, who looked to be about ten years old, was lying there, his round eyes staring intently at her.

Grandma Mai opened the mosquito net, helped Maida sit up, and said happily, "Ada, you're awake? Don't be afraid, this older sister has come to check your injuries!"

Maida nodded obediently, as if he had experienced this many times before, and mechanically curled up his hand, offering the back of his hand to Qin Suisui. His skin was dark, like all the children on Qiongtan Island, but Qin Suisui could see many marks left by needle pricks on the back of his small hand.

Qin Suisui felt a pang of sadness. She held Ada's little fist and gently squeezed it in her hand: "Ada, don't be afraid. You don't need a shot today. Let me take a look at your wound."

Ada was taken aback, seemingly confused. He turned to stare blankly at his grandmother, a countrywoman who, though doting on her grandson, didn't express much tenderness. Seeing her grandson's silly look, she laughed and scolded, "Silly boy! Your sister said she wants to see your wound, so hurry up and take off your clothes!" Then, annoyed by his slowness, she reached out and ripped off Ada's clothes.

Ada remained seated there, seemingly oblivious to what had happened, which allowed Qin Suisui to clearly see the wounds on his back, arms, and legs. Most were abrasions, likely from being pushed over; some wounds were deep enough to expose bone, far more serious than the injuries she had sustained when Zhou Zecheng bumped into her. Many other areas were not broken, but contained dark red bruises beneath the skin.

The abrasions appeared to have been treated at the hospital previously. The injuries were in relatively good condition, with only a few areas showing redness and swelling that had spread and some oozing, indicating a possible infection.

Qin Suisui touched Ada's forehead again. Fortunately, he didn't have a fever and his body temperature was normal.

So she turned around, reached into her small cloth bag, and, using the bag as cover, took out a small porcelain bottle of medicine powder, a small glass bottle of medicine oil, a roll of gauze, and a small bottle of iodine.

She cleaned the oozing area with iodine, sprinkled on the medicine powder, and wrapped it with gauze. For any bruising, she gently massaged it with medicated oil. Then, she said to Grandma Mai, "Grandma, do you see? I've left these medicines here. From now on, please change Ada's dressing every day as I just did." She then took out a packet of fever reducers and handed it to her, saying, "If he has a fever, give him one pill; otherwise, you don't need to. I'll come back to check on him in about three days."

The medicine my grandmother left behind is very useful; abrasions usually heal in about three days, and her injury is already almost completely healed.

Grandma Mai accepted the medicine with relish, silently praying to the Goddess of the Sea for protection. She could tell from the touch that these porcelain and glass bottles were high-quality items and would definitely be helpful for Ada's injuries! With hope in her heart, she looked at Qin Suisui expectantly: "Young comrade, you're so capable, can you cure our Ada's disability and this?" She pointed to his head.

Qin Suisui shook her head, but still asked, "What caused Ada's high fever back then?"

Grandma Mai sighed, "We don't know either. He just suddenly developed a fever. We went to the city hospital for a checkup, they drew a lot of blood, and the doctor said it was caused by mosquito bites. Isn't that a joke? In the summer, we don't have much of anything on this island, but mosquitoes are the most abundant. Who hasn't been bitten by mosquitoes? Why is it that only our Ada is unlucky?"

Qin Suisui realized she was right. Based on Ada's symptoms and aftereffects, and seeing the mosquito prevention measures the Mai family had taken, she knew it was most likely caused by Japanese encephalitis virus. Japanese encephalitis virus is mainly transmitted through mosquito bites, and children, with their weaker immune systems, are more susceptible to infection. The mosquito that bit Ada might have just happened to be carrying the virus.

Wait! Japanese encephalitis virus! Fever and vomiting?

Qin Suisui suddenly recalled some plot points from the original book: a contagious epidemic would break out on Qiongtan Island this summer, mainly affecting children. Where did it originate?

A cowshed! Yes! It's a cowshed!

Because the hygiene conditions in cowsheds were relatively worse, and many children who had been sent down to the countryside with their parents lived there, their health was poor due to lack of food and sleep, making them highly susceptible to viral infections. In the original book, due to the scarcity of resources in that era, some adults with weak immune systems also contracted the virus.

The original protagonist, Zhou Zecheng, also proposed a mosquito repellent formula because of this infectious disease outbreak. After it was proven effective, it was adopted, and Zhou Zecheng began to receive attention from higher-ups. This was the first step in his growth.

As far as she knew, Zhou Zecheng did not understand pharmacology, let alone medical books, so how could he have proposed a traditional Chinese medicine prescription?

Knowing that Qin Suisui was in a hurry to go back, and seeing that she had taken out such precious medicine for Ada, Grandma Mai didn't know how to thank her. She took a cloth bag she had sewn herself, filled it with all the dried locust flowers on the winnowing basket, handed it to her with a small bamboo basket of vegetables she had just picked, and even went to the kitchen to get a few mackerel that she had mentioned before and handed them to Qin Suisui. After thinking for a moment, she felt it wasn't enough, so she stuffed five yuan into her hand: "I don't know how much this medicine costs, is five yuan enough?"

Her son sends back a few dozen yuan of his salary every month. The old lady lives in the countryside with her grandson and doesn't spend much money, so she has extra money and is particularly generous when it comes to buying medicine for her grandson.

Qin Suisui quickly took the vegetables and pushed the money back: "Grandma, no need for money. I've taken so many vegetables and fish from your house, and I haven't paid you yet! Besides, those medicines were made by my grandma herself, they didn't cost much, and I'll be coming back to exchange vegetables with you in the future! If you insist on paying me, I'll be too embarrassed to come back!"

Qin Suisui spoke with great conviction, and Grandma Mai smiled broadly: "You little comrade, you're really quick-witted! Alright, alright! Grandma won't give you money, but remember to come next time. Whatever you want to eat, just come to Grandma's!"

Qin Suisui nodded, hopped on her bicycle, and said, "Alright! I'll be going now!"

After saying that, she waved to Ada, who was peeking out of the window, and said, "Ada, I'm leaving now! I'll come see you again next time and bring you something delicious!"

Ada shrank back like a startled rabbit.

It was almost five o'clock when Qin Suisui came out of the Bright Summit Brigade. She pedaled hard. So much had happened that day, and before she knew it, it was already this late.

Back in the residential compound, I could see a little black-faced guy squatting in front of my house, drawing circles on the ground with a small stick.

"Zan Zan? What are you doing squatting here?"

Hearing Qin Suisui's voice, Zanzan sniffed and looked up. Only then did Qin Suisui see that the little guy still had tears in the corners of his eyes, his nose was red from crying, and his shoulders were still heaving.