Chapter 368 A Blood-Written Plea for Help!
She knew it all too well.
Su Yue found some scissors and cut along the seal.
There was no stationery.
What came out was a neatly folded white cloth.
The cloth was covered with dark red characters, densely packed, as if written with a finger dipped in blood.
There were also several black and white photographs, and a small bottle of murky liquid sample, wrapped tightly in cotton.
Su Yue unfolded the cloth.
"Dr. Su, I apologize for bothering you. I am Li Weiguo, a former educated youth from Hongxing Farm in Gansu Province. I heard that you cured Tiedan's strange illness. On behalf of all 130 brothers and sisters on the farm, I beg you to save us!"
"Six months ago, a strange disease began to spread on the farm. At first, it was just itchy skin and red spots. Later, the red spots turned black, ulcerated, and oozed yellow fluid. The rotten flesh looked like it had been burned, smelled bad, fell off, and finally exposed the bone."
"The health clinic said it was just a case of acclimatization, and prescribed some ointment, but it only made things worse. Three people have already died! The farm headquarters is blocking information and won't let us go out to see a doctor, saying it's an infectious disease and they're going to lock us all up here to die!"
"Dr. Su, I know you have a kind heart. Please, take a look at these photos. What disease is this? Is there any cure? If it's a plague, we'll accept it. But I'm not resigned to it! This disease came about so strangely!"
Su Yue picked up the photos.
Even in black and white photographs, the horrific scene is palpable.
The person in the photo has a large area of ulceration on their face, and what should have been facial features has turned into black holes.
Especially the last one.
It's a picture of a hand.
The finger joints were covered with cauliflower-like granulation tissue, the nails had fallen off, and the flesh underneath was black and charred.
Su Yue's pupils suddenly contracted.
These symptoms.
Unlike a plague.
It looks more like poisoning.
Moreover, it is chronic poisoning caused by heavy metals or some kind of highly corrosive chemical substance.
"Red Star Farm..."
As Su Yue murmured the name, the taut string in her mind suddenly snapped.
She remembered.
Lin Wan'er was initially sentenced for intentional injury, but was later sent to the Northwest for labor reform because of her "positive" behavior.
That place, I think, was called Red Star Farm.
Moreover, there was an abandoned mercury mine near that farm.
If Lin Wan'er were in that place...
Given that woman's ruthlessness and methods, the "strange illness" affecting more than a hundred people is definitely not simple.
"This is poisoning."
Su Yue slammed the photo on the table, her voice as cold as ice.
"Severe dermatitis caused by mercury poisoning, complicated by secondary bacterial infections. If the source of the poison is not blocked in time, these people will die from multiple organ failure."
Gu Beichen picked up the small bottle containing the sample and shook it in the sunlight.
"Man-made?"
"pretty close."
Su Yue sneered, "Can acclimatization really make someone rotten to the bone? Blocking the news and preventing it from spreading is clearly a sign of something to hide."
She looked at the letter written in blood.
Every word represents a human life.
Moreover, if Lin Wan'er is indeed behind this, then this is not a simple medical assistance program, but a life-or-death struggle.
Lin Wan'er was like a venomous snake hiding in a ditch.
If you don't cut off her head, she'll always be watching you from the shadows, ready to take a bite at any moment.
"I want to go."
Su Yue raised her head and looked at Gu Beichen.
Without hesitation or discussion, it was a decision.
The cicadas chirping in the yard were driving me crazy.
Gu Beichen didn't speak.
He looked at Su Yue.
This woman, who is clearly a millionaire, who could be sitting in an air-conditioned room counting her money, and who could be living a comfortable life with her child.
But she insisted on going to those poor, remote places.
"The road is long."
Gu Beichen put the small bottle back on the table and tapped his fingers on the surface twice.
"It takes three days by train and then two days by bus."
"I know."
"The conditions there are harsh; there's no water or electricity, and you have to deal with a bunch of desperados."
"I'm not afraid."
"The child is still young."
Su Yue looked into the courtyard.
Gu Ping'an was digging in the soil under the grape trellis with Gu Ningjing, their little bottoms sticking up high, carefree.
Her heart softened for a moment, then quickly hardened again.
"Precisely because the child is still young."
Su Yue's voice was soft, but it carried a fierce edge. "I can't let that kind of filth remain in this world. Who knows when it might bring trouble to us?"
"Besides, I am a doctor."
The 130 lives recorded in that blood-written letter weighed heavily on her heart, making it hard for her to breathe.
Gu Beichen suddenly laughed.
He reached out and tucked a strand of Su Yue's hair behind her ear, his rough fingertips tickling her earlobe.
"Go."
He spoke of it so casually, as if he had just agreed to buy her a bottle of soy sauce from the supply and marketing cooperative.
"I'm here at home. Huo Wenxuan is here at the factory. The sky won't fall down."
Su Yue was stunned for a moment.
She thought he would stop her, or at least weigh the pros and cons.
Aren't you worried?
"What's the use of worrying?"
Gu Beichen turned around, took a key from the drawer, and tossed it to Su Yue.
That was the key to the locked drawer in his study.
"There's a Browning rifle and two hundred rounds of ammunition inside. They were seized two years ago, not put into storage, and are still in good condition."
"There's also a letter of introduction, stamped with the military region's seal. It's blank; you can fill it in yourself."
He walked over and picked up the two children, one in each hand, who were still playing in the mud.
"Dad! Keep digging!" Gu Ping'an protested, kicking his legs.
"I'm not digging anymore, I'm going back to take a shower."
Gu Beichen slapped him on the butt and turned to look at Su Yue.
That gaze, deep and resolute, seemed to drape her in a layer of armor.
"Remember this sentence."
"No matter how big a mess they've made over there, even if they've made a hole in the sky."
"Come back, I'll make it up to you."
Holding the key that still felt warm from her body, Su Yue's eyes suddenly welled up with tears.
This is her man.
Without saying a word, he understood her ruthlessness, and he also understood her kindness.
That night.
The lights in the Gu family courtyard stayed on all night.
Su Yue is packing her luggage.
Besides a change of clothes, the box was filled with all kinds of medicines.
High concentrations of antibiotics, antidotes, surgical instruments, and several bottles of her newly developed "special medicine powder".
That's for bad guys.
The conference room of the military hospital was filled with smoke.
Commander Zheng sat in the main seat, with the blood-written letter that Su Yue had brought back and several shocking black-and-white photos in front of him.
On both sides of the conference table sat department heads and experts, each with a solemn expression, passing around the documents with their heads down.
"This isn't an illness, it's hell on earth."
Director Liao put down the photo, took off his glasses, and rubbed his temples. "Skin necrosis, tissue carbonization, nail loss... I've worked in the clinic for thirty years, and apart from mustard gas poisoning during wartime, I've never seen such horrific symptoms."
"If it's an infectious disease, why haven't we heard of an outbreak? If it's poisoning, where is the source of the poison?" another expert asked.
Su Yue sat at the end of the table, twirling the Parker gold pen in her hand.
“Whether it’s disease or poison, these 130 lives cannot wait.” She spoke, her voice not loud, but it instantly silenced the noisy conference room. “The higher authorities have already approved the formation of a joint medical team by our Qiongzhou Military Region General Hospital and Peking Union Medical College Hospital to immediately head to the Northwest.”
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