Chapter 109 Plague A rat's tail A penny

Yao Xiaoyu didn't stay with Tao Jingu for long. They were good friends, but everyone had their own path to walk. Friendship was a beautiful note in the symphony, but their careers were the main theme. When they met, they would catch up on each other's lives and know that everything was going well, which was enough to make them happy.

After seeing Yao Xiaoyu off, Tao Jingu busied himself for a while. When he saw the paper on the table that had been repeatedly rewritten, the smile on his face disappeared like a withered flower.

She still didn't know what she was supposed to do.

Tao Jingu's career path was launched by a small fish. A newspaper article about Miao Youjin teaching her how to run a small business led her to follow the story and gradually expand her operations, making her life increasingly better. However, she fell into confusion, especially after seeing the ending of Miao Youjin's story—where she became a comprador—and almost completely lost her motivation to strive.

A person only has one stomach, one mouth, one quilt, and one coffin. She has no extravagant habits, so what use is so much money?

Is she striving to climb the social ladder just to be a dog for foreigners?

What's this—enduring hardship to serve those above you?

Tao Jingu remained lost until Miss Qiu's sequel was published. After seeing another path, he became enthusiastic about making money and wanted to transform from a middleman into a manufacturer, opening his own factory and gradually expanding it. This was not out of any patriotism or sense of accomplishment, but simply because if there were one more female worker in the factory, there might be one less person in the world who was desperate.

She has a talent for business and isn't particularly stupid. With a lot of hard work, effort, a bit of luck, and a bit of opportune timing, she has made some bumps along the way, but overall her progress has been relatively steady. She always thought she would have smooth sailing, but she got stuck at the step of starting a factory.

It wasn't that she lacked workers, land, or connections; it was simply that she couldn't decide what kind of factory to set up. At that moment, she envied Lan Shuangyu, who had focused on the wholesale fabric business and was now able to easily establish a garment factory. Tao Jingu had visited the factory a couple of days ago and found it to be on track, with female workers coming and going in the early morning.

Tao Jingu saw clearly that Lan Shuangyu had chosen her path—even when she was extremely exhausted, there was still light in Lan Shuangyu's eyes.

And what about her?

Which path should she choose?

Tao Jingu felt like she was standing at the center of a spider web, with paths everywhere she could take. She held wealth, power, and connections in her hands, but couldn't find the one that truly moved her.

***

After saying goodbye to Tao Jingu, Yao Xiaoyu and her companion first went to Maria Hospital to check on Shulan and make sure that she was in a good condition before going to find Maria.

"Contact a doctor?"

Maria looked at Yao Xiaoyu curiously, unable to understand her purpose, and Yao Xiaoyu did not hide anything:

"I want to collect some knowledge on this topic, write it down, and send it to a newspaper to earn some money."

She didn't keep her pen name a complete secret, but for various reasons, the fact that she was a small fish was still a secret known only to a few people. Although Maria thought Yao Xiaoyu's idea was a bit naive, she didn't hesitate to offer her help.

Maria gave Yao Xiaoyu a long list of names. Some of these people didn't have much contact with Maria, but with this favor, at least Yao Xiaoyu wouldn't be kicked out on the spot after revealing her purpose—medical clinics and hospitals are all about making money, who has time to slowly explain things to them?

Yao Xiaoyu walked out with the list of names on it, then turned and went to the editorial department of the Novel Daily. Pi Kangxiu warmly welcomed Yao Xiaoyu. If he hadn't asked if she had any manuscripts after the initial greetings, Yao Xiaoyu felt she might have been even happier.

"The manuscript is at home; I'll bring it to you later."

Yao Xiaoyu said irritably, and then asked him if he had any good doctors to recommend. Maria's network of connections was indeed extensive, but she certainly couldn't know everyone. After removing the overlapping parts between the two sets, the remaining names were all new.

"The protagonist of my next book is a doctor."

They still needed to be a little discreet with Maria, but Pi Kangxiu could just be direct with her. As long as there was still a market for even a small fish, Yao Xiaoyu's requests would be met as much as possible. However, Yao Xiaoyu rarely made her own requests before. After a brief moment of surprise, Pi Kangxiu quickly agreed, saying that he would try his best to find them and would give Yao Xiaoyu the list next time he received the manuscript.

Yao Xiaoyu nodded in satisfaction. The moment she left, Pi Kangxiu rushed to Editor-in-Chief Bei's office: He really doesn't have any connections in this area!

Yao Xiaoyu, who had just left the editorial office, was unaware of Pi Kangxiu's panic. She had originally planned to go to the post office to write to the volunteers who had left their addresses with her to ask for a list of doctors, but she decided to give up for the time being—she would first visit the people she had on hand.

The days that followed were peaceful. When Yao Xiaoyu returned and submitted her first manuscript, Pi Xiukang handed over the list. The day after Yao Xiaoyu accepted it, she started going to the nearest clinic. Because she had brought up the name of the introducer, the questions she asked were not secrets, and the information collection went smoothly. However, the long hours spent writing at the clinic during the day were a bit too much for her.

But before Yao Xiaoyu's patience could be tested, the plague swept through the entire city of Shanghai.

Infectious diseases existed during the Republic of China era, even reaching the point of major epidemics every year, such as typhoid fever, diphtheria, leishmaniasis, cholera, smallpox, and scarlet fever. Those with money might be able to save their lives, while those without money depended on luck. The scene of corpses strewn across the fields is an exaggerated depiction in modern games, but it was a reality in this era.

A three-year lockdown in modern times is unimaginable in this era. Government inaction led to public non-cooperation, and the shortage of medical resources resulted in a low recovery rate. In many cases, it was even unclear when or where the epidemic started. Compared to being one of the lucky few who survived, many people were prepared to die after the outbreak.

Yao Xiaoyu once read a news article in the newspaper about a cholera outbreak in a certain place. Local carpenters and literate people were doing very well: people were making wooden plaques with their information written on them and hanging them on their waists, afraid that if they fell to the ground when they went out, they wouldn't know their identity and wouldn't be able to find their family to collect their bodies.

Yao Xiaoyu didn't know the origin of this plague. She first heard the word at the old doctor's clinic. At that time, she was sitting in the corner, waiting for the old doctor to finish his consultation. She tried to bribe the old doctor with the braised pork knuckle she bought at the door to say some knowledge that it didn't matter if he was released. Then she heard the old doctor diagnose the plague on a patient with almond-sized red swellings on his neck.

It's no exaggeration to say that when Yao Xiaoyu heard that word, she went completely blank. Her feet left the clinic faster than her brain, and by the time she came to her senses, she was already on a rickshaw home.

There's a well-known modern cockroach theory that says if you see one cockroach in your home, it means there are so many cockroaches in dark places that they can't fit anymore.

While the cockroach theory isn't very applicable to humans, the fact that the person diagnosed with the plague had hair like dry straw, arms that were skin and bones, and clothes that were tattered and ill-fitting, and that he had scraped together silver coins and copper coins to pay for the pulse diagnosis, suggests that the environment he was in had reached a point that terrified him.

Yao Xiaoyu didn't want to think about the worst, but...

"I'm going to buy food, and I'm afraid I won't be able to go out for quite a while."

Yao Xiaoyu told her family about the plague. Zhou Chunhua had witnessed the great plague at the end of the Qing Dynasty. She was stunned for a moment before making a decisive decision. She knew all too well how contagious the disease was. She used to have a very successful uncle who had settled in the city. During the plague, his whole family was wiped out.

"I might not have enough money here, Xiaoyu. You can lend me some first, and I'll pay you back after this is over."

Zhou Chunhua deeply regretted repaying the money during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Although her burden was lighter, she was still in a difficult situation when she actually needed the money.

"OK."

At this point, Yao Xiaoyu didn't dwell on it. She hurriedly went upstairs to get her manuscript paper, went out with Zhou Chunhua, and then got into different rickshaws.

"I'll go and submit the manuscript."

Yao Xiaoyu ignored Zhou Chunhua's gaze. Her life was precious, but so were other people's lives. If Pi Kangxiu contracted the plague and died while picking up the manuscript, Yao Xiaoyu felt she would never be able to get over it in her life.

Moreover, most of the silver dollars she had were exchanged for gold. She wasn't usually short of money, but she didn't have much cash on hand and needed to exchange some for reserves.

"After submitting the manuscript, I bought everything I needed."

Yao Xiaoyu, sitting in the rickshaw, said to Tao Xiaoxiao that she was somewhat glad she hadn't been lazy while writing, otherwise she wouldn't have had any manuscripts to write.

The two rushed to the editorial office. Before Pi Kangxiu could even be happy about receiving the manuscript ahead of schedule, she was stunned by the recent news that there might be a plague outbreak. By the time she wanted to find out the details, Yao Xiaoyu had already disappeared with Tao Xiaoxiao – busy stockpiling supplies. It was already more than enough of her to remind them.

While Xiao Huangying and Xiao Bainiao were causing a stir, Yao Xiaoyu had already stocked up on goods once. Although she was still not very good at procuring things, it was much better than being completely clueless.

After checking off the last item on her mind, Yao Xiaoyu informed Manager He of the possible plague outbreak from Tao Jingu. Only after confirming that those she was relatively familiar with knew the news and that even those she wasn't very familiar with would receive the registered letter without a return address did she return home, exhausted.

When she notified everyone, she added the word "maybe." If she could, she would rather be scolded than let the plague get out of control. But things don't always go as planned. On the third day that Yao Xiaoyu stayed at home, the plague broke out completely.

The bustling city of Shanghai suddenly became deserted. The street vendors were nowhere to be seen. Every day, people would knock on the door begging for money or wanting a meal. Yao Xiaoyu could smell the pungent smell of vinegar even at home. She sat at home looking at the azure sky, but it was as if she saw the wings of death that covered the sky.

Newspapers reported on donations of money and supplies, and the government called on people to work together to overcome the difficulties. After thinking for a moment, Yao Xiaoyu placed an advertisement in the newspaper to buy up rat tails.

She didn't know much about the plague, only that it was called the Black Death in the West. But since the name contained the word "rat," it must be related to rats. She didn't have the courage to give out porridge and medicine, but exterminating rats was a way of reducing the source of transmission.

A rat's tail was worth one copper coin, and soon people who were short of money came to try it out. Once the first person received the heavy copper coin, the business quickly took off. At first, Yao Xiaoyu would have people bring the tails back the way they came. Later, when she found that some people were using the tails that had been exchanged for money to pass off as genuine ones, she would collect the tails, roll them in lime water, and temporarily bury them in a corner until the epidemic was over.

By the time the plague ended, Yao Xiaoyu had already distributed several hundred silver dollars.

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Author's note: Little Fish: Have all the rats in Shanghai been caught? Why are there so many tails?

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