Zhou Jiaojiao shook her head. "That's not the case. If only one child is sick, it's fine. But I'm worried that other children will also start coughing and get sick. Then the adults nearby will be exhausted and their immunity will be at its lowest, so they'll easily catch a cold as well."
Chu San was smart enough to understand Zhou Jiaojiao's hidden meaning and was a little surprised: "Madam, can a cold be contagious? Could it be an epidemic?"
He also frowned.
Zhou Jiaojiao shook her head. "It can't be called an epidemic, but the cold is certainly contagious. However, the treatment of premature ejaculation caused by the cold isn't a big problem. Sometimes, if a person is strong, they can get over it, but an epidemic is not. The difference between the two is that an epidemic is more serious and critical, but it doesn't happen easily. The cold, on the other hand, happens quite often, but the condition isn't as severe."
Zhou Jiaojiao quickly made a decision: "Well, husband, go and call mother over."
Chu San obediently went over and called Chu's mother over.
After Mother Chu came over, Zhou Jiaojiao said bluntly, "Mom, I'm worried about a large-scale outbreak of cold. If I tell you now, the villagers will definitely be reluctant to use the medicinal materials, thinking I'm exaggerating and unwilling to make the medicine. If that's the case, we can't just watch our family members get sick. It's better to take the medicine early."
"I have a prescription here that can prevent colds, but it still requires some herbs. Could you please take some food and go exchange it with the villagers?"
Back in Xi County, Zhou Jiaojiao reminded every household to store some basic medicinal materials, which would come in handy at this moment.
When Chu's mother heard this, she was quite convinced of her judgment. She took a bag of food and went to the villagers to exchange it for medicine.
"Mrs. Chu, why are you changing the herbs?" someone familiar asked her.
"My third son's wife knows medicine, right? She's pregnant and is afraid of catching a cold. She wants to take some medicine to prevent colds in advance, lest if she really catches a cold, her whole body will feel uncomfortable and the baby in her belly will be affected." Mother Chu said this deliberately.
She didn't try to hide it, and sure enough, a woman sighed and said, "Your family is kindhearted, so you're willing to exchange food for medicinal herbs at this time."
"We are all family. You can't let me watch the children get sick or in trouble, right?" Chu's mother asked back.
The woman who was speaking also sighed: "Yes, they are all my relatives, how could I bear to leave them? But compared to that speculation, food is more important. We have come so far. Although we are still within the scope of Yuzhou, we are almost at the border, but we haven't heard any news of disaster relief from above. I don't know what to do in the future. If I don't save more food, how will I survive in the future?"
Most villagers share this idea.
Chu's mother asked them to exchange medicinal materials, and everything went very smoothly.
However, Chu's mother did not exchange much, only a little, enough for her own use, and said: "You should keep some too, in case you need it in the future. Don't be like last time, when you had to go to the county town to gather the herbs to save the person."
"Not really?"
Many villagers didn't believe it.
Shen Lin heard what Mother Chu said.
She had been having a hard time recently, and every time she suggested that Changliu might have left some supplies somewhere, the village chief refused. The reason was simple: they already had a lot of stuff, and if they had more, they might not be able to hold on to it, as it would simply be snatched away by refugees along the way.
It's not like they haven't encountered refugees who don't care about their lives and just eat flour raw.
If there weren't so many strong young men in the village with quick reactions, how could it have been resolved so easily?
What the village chief meant was that since food had been left along the Changliu River, it would be worth taking the risk after the whole village had consumed two-thirds of the food.
Chen Lin was really annoyed. Without this reason, she had a space full of food, but she could only steal it herself. She even restrained herself from giving it to her son, for fear of being discovered by other members of the Zhao family.
Even so.
In recent days, when her food rations were almost gone, the two elders of the Zhao family and the people from the other two families actually said in words and deeds that they did not have enough food and asked her not to have any ideas. Their words were extremely harsh.
Shen Lin couldn't stand it anymore.
She wants to go to the county town!
If she had known that stealing half of Zhou Jiaojiao's food cart would make the villagers so alert, she would not have done it. She could only endure not having enough to eat every day without making things difficult for herself.
At this moment, Chu's mother's words gave her inspiration. Yes, as long as everyone is sick and needs medicine, they must go to the county town, and the village chief will agree. She can also move out the big households by the way. You know, her space is not full yet. Seeing that some big households cannot move, she feels even more uncomfortable.
That afternoon, the village team continued to move forward.
The child who had a cough at the beginning did not walk after drinking the medicine prepared by Doctor Lin, but was carried on his father's back. Even after resting like this, he still did not get better.
Even at night, as soon as I found a forest to rest, I heard coughing one after another.
More children caught colds.
Zhou Jiaojiao asked Chu's mother: "Mom, how are Dabao and Erbao? And Dahua and Xiaohua."
"It's okay, it's okay. None of the four children are coughing, and they're dressed warmly. I told them to wear two layers of clothing, which is thick enough. Since we can't wash clothes while fleeing anyway, there's no need to worry about them getting worn out. Let's just get through this cold winter first. I just hope the weather will be good next year so we can farm. Otherwise, we might not get to wear these clothes again."
Zhou Jiaojiao nodded and asked them to make another bowl for everyone before going to bed. Not only children but adults should drink it as well.
Chu San was diligently making the bed next to him.
Zhou Jiaojiao originally wanted to go over and rest, but suddenly she saw Chen Lin moving around in her peripheral vision. She went to the homes of several children who were coughing. After she came out of these children's homes, she went to the homes of other villagers.
She became alert instantly, this person would not do anything in vain.
Zhou Jiaojiao simply called Chu's mother and Chu San and went directly to find the village chief.
The village chief's little grandson also started coughing.
When I saw them coming, I perked up and greeted them.
"What are you doing here?"
"Village chief, it's like this. I see everyone is starting to cough. I guess it's because we've been fleeing for the past few months and our bodies have become weaker, so a little wind can make us catch a cold. We have to take it seriously." Zhou Jiaojiao explained her purpose.
The village chief tapped his pipe and sighed, "I don't understand this, but there's nothing I can do. If we don't leave the village, we might all die of thirst. Now that we've solved our water problem, we have nowhere to stay. We can only keep moving forward, hoping the county town can provide disaster relief."
"Village chief, what I mean is that you can take medicine first to prevent the cold. As for the children who have already caught a cold, I can give them acupuncture. At least they should be treated first, otherwise a small cold will destroy their bodies and it will be too late to treat them."
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