The next morning, without eating anything, everyone packed their luggage and set off.
The weather is getting cooler, and even at midday, the sun is no longer so scorching, so people walk a little faster.
Apart from the wolf meat they had eaten the night before, Wang San and his men had no other food on them. So, around noon, he led a group of people to find wild fruits to fill their stomachs.
Watching them leave, Zhang Xiu'e turned to Qin Xiaoniang and asked, "Where are they going? Aren't they coming with us?"
Qin Xiaoniang looked at her speechlessly: "Wang San's baby boy is still with us. Where could they go? Don't they want their own child?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiue stopped talking and continued walking forward with her head down.
After about half an incense stick's time, the children started crying and fussing, demanding food.
"Mother...I'm hungry..."
"I want to eat something, I'm so hungry!"
Seeing them crying and making a fuss, Song He'er went to Zhang Xiu'e's side and advised, "Third Aunt, why don't we stop and make something to eat? The children are hungry and their stomachs can't take it."
Zhang Xiu'e thought for a while and then nodded in agreement, "I was thinking of eating it tonight, after all, our food rations are running low..."
"As long as there are eggs, the chicken is still alive!"
"There are eggs, but these chickens also need to be fed. If we don't feed them one day, how can they survive?"
This is indeed a problem, and Song He'er has thought about it as well. But this is a desert, not a plain; you can't just dig something up for no reason...
Just then, a crying sound came from the side. Li Qiang's wife's daughter and Nian Jie'er were rolling on the ground, clutching their stomachs.
"What happened? He was fine just now!" Li Qiang's wife rushed over to ask.
"Nian'er, don't scare your mother! What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
"Mother, I... my stomach hurts... my stomach hurts!" Nianjie cried out, her face pale.
Zhang Xiue was momentarily confused, always thinking that it was because she hadn't cooked that her child had become so hungry.
"Nian'er, are you hungry? It's all my fault, I'll go cook some porridge right away..." she said, getting up to boil water.
But as soon as she left, Nianjie cried even more bitterly.
"Mother, don't go! Waaah~ My stomach hurts, my stomach hurts!"
Qin Xiaoniang sensed something was wrong and came over carrying Huan Ge'er. "He doesn't look hungry. We've gone through a lot of hunger on this journey. When have we ever been like this? I think he might have eaten something bad..."
As they were talking, Su Yu's wife's two children also squatted on the ground and started crying. They were in the same situation as Nian Jie'er and the others, suffering from severe stomach aches.
"Waaah~"
The surroundings were instantly filled with the cries of children.
While rubbing Nian'er's stomach, Zhang Xiu'e tried to recall what she had eaten. "We haven't cooked anything today, we haven't eaten anything!"
After pondering for a while, Qin Xiaoniang asked again, "If it wasn't eaten today, then what did you eat yesterday?"
What did I eat yesterday...?
Song He'er suddenly remembered that yesterday Zhang Xiu'e and the others shared a wolf leg. Of all the people, only Chun Di, Chun Rao, Qin Xiao Niang, and a few others did not eat it; everyone else ate the wolf meat.
"Third Aunt, didn't you eat wolf leg yesterday?" Song He'er asked.
Zhang Xiue suddenly remembered, wiping away her tears as she nodded, "Yes, yes, it's that wolf leg! Could it be that those people poisoned us! I... I'm going to fight them to the death!" With that, Zhang Xiue started to run forward.
Song He'er chased after her and pulled her back, "Third Aunt, don't be in such a hurry. The matter hasn't been clarified yet. Are you going to go and fight with them now?"
"What can I do? The children are all poisoned now. I have to demand an explanation and the antidote from them, or I'll fight them to the death!"
Song He'er breathed a sigh of relief and patiently explained to her, "Third Aunt, if it really was poison, all of you adults would have eaten it too. Why is it that only the children have stomach aches, while you are fine? Could it be that you didn't eat meat from a wolf's leg?"
Upon hearing Song He'er's analysis, Zhang Xiu'e immediately fell silent.
"So...so what?"
"I don't know for sure right now. We'll have to go back and observe her carefully. Nian'er's stomach is hurting badly. We should boil some water to warm her stomach instead of going to argue with someone!"
After calming down, Zhang Xiue felt that what Song He'er said made a lot of sense, so she composed herself and turned back to Nian Jie'er's side.
The children were in so much pain that they had no strength left, and their foreheads were covered in beads of sweat.
Huan Ge'er fell asleep at this time, so Qin Xiaoniang placed him next to Chun Di and asked her to watch over him, while she started boiling water.
Song He'er was completely baffled by the symptoms of the children. Although she had studied modern medicine, she really didn't know where to begin with this kind of sudden stomach pain, except that the laboratory could find out what virus was causing it.
Qin Xiaoniang sterilized the handkerchief in boiling water, and after taking it out and waiting for the handkerchief to cool to a suitable temperature, she put it on the children's stomachs.
Although this method is effective, it can only provide temporary relief; the children are still crying and screaming in pain.
Song He'er made an excuse to hide to the side, pretending to look for something, and then took the opportunity to take out her ever-present book "Traditional Chinese Medicine Treatment" from her spatial storage.
After reading it carefully, you can roughly guess what's going on.
Song He'er ran to Nian Jie'er's side and gestured for her to open her mouth so she could check the coating on her tongue.
"White coating on the tongue..."
Zhang Xiu'e was completely confused. "He'er, what did you say?"
Song He'er ignored her and went straight to Hua Hua's side. She looked at Hua Hua's tongue coating and then at everyone else's tongue coating. The conclusion she came to was still exactly the same.
The book states that those with excessive cold and dampness in their bodies will have a white tongue coating, or those with spleen and stomach disharmony suffering from enteritis or gastritis will also have a white tongue coating.
Enteritis indicates that eating unclean food has led to an imbalance in the gut microbiota, which in turn triggers a viral infection.
Furthermore, children's immune systems are far weaker than adults', so while Zhang Xiu'e and the others were fine after eating wolf leg meat, it was not a good thing for young children with delicate digestive systems.
"He'er, did you notice something?"
Song He'er pretended to be clueless and replied, "Third Aunt, is that even a question? It's because the children couldn't digest the wolf leg meat. Adults can eat this meat without any problems, but children can't!"
"Then...what do we do now? How about...inducing vomiting?"
Song He'er almost cried at her stupid idea. "Inducing vomiting? Third Aunt, everything we ate last night is now mush, how can we induce vomiting?"
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