Zhao Xiaoyan drank two glasses of cool boiled water in one go before comfortably lying down on the kang (a heated brick bed).
Xu Xinghe pulled her up, "Go wash up first, wipe yourself down, otherwise you'll be all sweaty and get the blankets dirty."
"Okay." Zhao Xiaoyan got up wearily, took her toiletries, and went to the sink outside.
After washing up, the two crawled into bed.
After a long day of work and experiencing so much, both of them were exhausted, and soon the room was filled with the sound of even breathing.
Moonlight streamed in through the window, casting soft shadows on the ground, and the entire forest was immersed in the quiet night.
After an unknown amount of time, a series of urgent knocks suddenly sounded on the door. The thumping sound was particularly jarring in the night, as if it were pounding on one's heart.
Xu Xinghe was suddenly awakened from her sleep, her heart pounding wildly.
She slowly sat up, looked warily at the door, and asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"
A female educated youth's voice, trembling with tears, came from outside the door, urgent and panicked: "Li Juan, it's me, something's happened! Open the door quickly!"
Xu Xinghe recognized the voice as that of Lin Hong, a female educated youth living in the next dormitory, and his heart skipped a beat.
Lin Hong is usually very calm and never panics like this; something serious must have happened.
She quickly woke Zhao Xiaoyan, who was beside her, and said while getting dressed, "Xiaoyan, get up quickly, something has happened!"
Zhao Xiaoyan opened her eyes groggily, and only after hearing the words "something happened" did she come to her senses and quickly get up to get dressed.
Xu Xinghe opened the door and saw Lin Hong standing there, her face pale.
Her hair was disheveled, her eyes were red-rimmed, and her hands were trembling uncontrollably. When she saw someone, tears streamed down her face instantly. "Li Juan, something's happened! In our dorm... everyone in our dorm except me has been in trouble!"
"What happened? Tell me slowly!" Xu Xinghe held Lin Hong's arm to calm her down. "What's wrong with them? Are they sick or something?"
Lin Hong shook her head vigorously, her voice choked with sobs, her words incoherent, "I don't know, it just suddenly... suddenly they started vomiting and having diarrhea, some even foaming at the mouth, and now they can't move! I called them, but they didn't respond, I'm scared..."
Xu Xinghe's heart sank, and she immediately pulled Zhao Xiaoyan, "Come on, let's go take a look!"
The three of them ran quickly toward Lin Hong's dormitory. As soon as they pushed open the door, a foul smell hit them.
By the moonlight streaming through the window, Xu Xinghe saw the scene inside the dormitory and gasped in shock.
Several female educated youths lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), some curled up, foaming at the mouth, while others lay on the edge of the kang, the ground covered in vomit, their faces as pale as paper, their eyes tightly closed, no longer able to struggle, their breathing becoming weak.
Zhao Xiaoyan covered her mouth in fright, "What...what happened to them? They were perfectly fine during the day."
Xu Xinghe was also startled, but she forced herself to calm down.
This situation looks like poisoning, or that someone ate something poisonous.
"Get a doctor right away!" Xu Xinghe made a decisive decision and said to Lin Hong, "Lin Hong, you stay here and watch over them. Don't let them move around. I'm going to find my cousin and ask him to find a doctor! We're all women, it's too dangerous for us to go out in the middle of the night, even if we go together, it's not safe either. I'm leaving this to you!"
Lin Hong nodded emphatically, "I understand, you guys go quickly!"
Xu Xinghe pulled Zhao Xiaoyan along and ran towards the male educated youth dormitory.
Upon arriving at the location, Xu Xinghe pounded on the door, shouting, "Li Guowei, open the door! Something's happened!"
Soon, noises came from inside the room.
Jiang Linchuan put on his clothes, opened the door, and saw Xu Xinghe and Zhao Xiaoyan looking anxious. He frowned slightly and asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"
"Something's happened in the female educated youth dormitory! Lin Hong and the others in her dormitory are vomiting and having diarrhea, and they're foaming at the mouth. They're almost dead. It looks like they've been poisoned! You need to go find a doctor right away, or it might be too late!"
Jiang Linchuan's expression changed instantly. "I understand. I'll go right now. You guys go back and check on them first. I'll bring the doctor soon!"
After saying that, he turned around and went back to his dormitory to get a flashlight and money. He then ran quickly toward the forest farm clinic, his tall figure soon disappearing into the night.
Xu Xinghe and Zhao Xiaoyan didn't dare to delay and returned to their dormitory.
The condition of those female educated youths was getting worse and worse; some of them had even rolled their eyes back.
Xu Xinghe was anxious and didn't know what to do.
Suddenly, she thought of the spiritual spring water in the space.
It has a health-strengthening effect, which might temporarily stabilize their condition.
Xu Xinghe didn't dare to delay and quickly returned to her dormitory. Taking advantage of the absence of others, she entered her spatial dimension, took out a clean water bottle, filled it with spiritual spring water, and then returned.
"Xiaoyan, Lin Hong, I think they seem to have eaten something poisonous or unclean. Here is some clean water, give them some to drink first, maybe it can dilute the poison in their stomachs. Otherwise, judging from their condition, they may not be able to hold on until the doctor comes."
Lin Hong and Zhao Xiaoyan were completely disoriented and followed Xu Xinghe's lead, immediately helping to feed them the spiritual spring water.
Not long after drinking the spring water, the female educated youths gradually stopped vomiting, and their breathing became more stable.
"It works! It really works!" Lin Hong was overjoyed. Her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, could finally be put at ease.
On the other side, Jiang Linchuan, holding a flashlight, ran all the way to the clinic.
The path was full of potholes late at night, and one could easily slip and fall, but fortunately he had been trained and walked quickly and steadily.
Finally, the outline of a bungalow came into view.
The clinic's doors and windows were tightly shut, and the room was pitch black; clearly, the old doctor had long since fallen asleep.
Jiang Linchuan pounded on the door of the clinic, shouting, "Dr. Wang, open the door! It's an emergency, a matter of life and death!"
After taking pictures for a while, there was still no movement from inside the house.
He listened intently and could vaguely hear snoring coming from inside. It seemed that the old doctor was not only sleeping soundly, but also a little hard of hearing. There was no point in knocking anymore.
He looked at the low wall of the clinic, took a few steps back, took a running start, and flipped over, landing steadily in the courtyard.
He walked quickly to the front of the house and tried pushing the door; thankfully, it wasn't locked.
By the light of his flashlight, he saw the old doctor lying asleep on the kang (a heated brick bed), with drool still hanging from the corner of his mouth.
Jiang Linchuan stepped forward, grabbed the old doctor's arm, and shook it vigorously, "Dr. Wang, wake up, wake up quickly!"
The old doctor was shaken awake. He opened his eyes groggily and, seeing the unfamiliar young man in front of him, mistook him for a thief and was so frightened that he almost screamed, "Who are you? What do you want?"
"Dr. Wang, I am Li Guowei, a former educated youth from the forest farm." Jiang Linchuan explained, "Several female educated youths in our forest farm have suddenly started vomiting and having diarrhea, and are also foaming at the mouth. It looks like they have been poisoned. Please come with me to take a look, or it will be too late!"
Upon hearing this, the old doctor instantly sobered up. Forgetting about Jiang Linchuan climbing over the wall, he quickly pointed to the medicine box in the corner and said, "Quick, take the medicine box and I'll go with you right now!"
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