Chapter 28 Plague
As soon as Wang finished speaking, the expressions of everyone present changed drastically.
"Plague... plague!" Li Chongniang's face turned pale, and her body trembled uncontrollably.
Chen Yongxing immediately helped her up so she could stand steadily, and turned his head to ask, "Mother, is it really the plague?"
After a moment of silence, Wang slowly shook her head. "I can't be sure, but it looks very similar..."
She was born in a place that had also suffered from a plague, which is why she came to Lianhua Village and became the Chen family's child bride.
Back then, after the plague broke out completely, corpses littered the fields. Seeing villagers and relatives fall one by one, and the bustling village falling into deathly silence, Wang was deeply shocked, and she still cannot recall it in detail to this day.
But she remembered clearly that there was a flood before the plague, and the villagers began to have diarrhea, vomiting, and low-grade fever for no reason. It lasted for a long time, and even after seeing a doctor, they did not get better and even got worse.
The plague came silently and ended just as silently.
Seeing that Wang Shi's body was trembling and her face was pale, Wan Qiqi gently placed her hand on Wang Shi's shoulder and said, "Whether it is true or not, it is not for us to decide. Let's wait for the village head's news and do our own thing in peace."
“Yes, my wife is right,” Chen Yongnian replied.
Chen Yongliang was somewhat surprised but also appreciative of Wan Qiqi's calmness. He continued, "I also think that what you said is right. Although everyone is saying this, the village head hasn't said anything yet."
Through the earthen wall, Aunt Zhao overheard what these people were saying, and went back inside to bolt the door.
Seeing that the rain had stopped, Zhao Dahu planned to go out to play with his friends, but was stopped by Aunt Zhao, who was very unhappy. "Mom, why are you stopping me? I want to go out and play!"
"What are you playing? Are you out of your mind? There's a plague outside!" Aunt Zhao grabbed Zhao Dahu by the collar, preventing him from running around.
Zhao Dahu was lifted up and spun around in place. With a hiss, his collar was ripped open.
Aunt Zhao immediately let go, cursing, "Oh my god! Don't you know how to be careful? If it tears again, you'll have nothing to wear!"
She looked at the torn clothes and felt a pang of heartache.
Zhao Dahu pouted, "You're the one who made that up!" Then, looking displeased, he said, "Chen Pingping has new clothes, why don't you buy me new clothes, Mother!"
Aunt Zhao immediately flew into a rage upon hearing this, "Don't you know our family's situation? You're the one who eats the most and the best. If you want new clothes, go find that slut from the Chen family and ask her to buy them for you!"
Zhao Dahu muttered, "I'm not going!" He didn't want that wicked woman to be his mother!
But he really wanted new clothes!
That day he touched Chen Pingping's clothes and found them very comfortable, completely different from his own.
And Chen Pingping has new shoes! He wants them too.
"Hey, can you two just shut up? You're making so much noise!" Zhao Dagen sat up from the side, looking annoyed.
"Sleep, sleep, all you do is sleep! Can't you learn from the eldest son of the Chen family next door and be more diligent?" Aunt Zhao ignored Zhao Dahu and turned to Zhao Dagen, cursing him loudly.
After she finished cursing, she sat down on the ground and complained bitterly: "Oh dear, why is my life so miserable? Why did I have to be stuck with you and your son!"
Zhao Dagen was so annoyed by the noise that he slammed his fist on the table.
With a "snap," Aunt Zhao froze.
After a while, she finally realized what was happening, but before she could speak, she was stumped by a question.
"What did you just say? Plague?" Zhao Dagen vaguely heard Aunt Zhao say that word.
Aunt Zhao then realized what was happening, slapped her thigh, got up from the ground, sat down next to Zhao Dagen, and whispered, "I heard from the third son of the Chen family next door and Aunt Wang that Aunt Wang's village had experienced a plague before, right? This can't be a flu!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Dagen felt that it made sense.
If a plague were to break out in the village, it would be terrible; they would all suffer.
Thinking it over, Zhao Dagen hurriedly said to Aunt Zhao, "Quickly, pack up and find Dahu. We'll go to your mother's house to hide for a while."
Zhao Dahu had already disappeared during the brief pause in their conversation, bumping into Chen Lizheng and falling flat on his backside.
"Why is this child so clumsy!" Chen Lizheng said, reaching out to help Zhao Dahu up.
Zhao Dahu looked up and saw it was Chen Lizheng. He quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"
"Father, stop talking. Physician Sun said he has something important to attend to. Let's go!" Chen Sanyuan pulled Chen Lizheng away before Chen Lizheng could react.
Before long, they arrived at Dr. Sun's house.
Physician Sun paced back and forth at the entrance of the courtyard, his brow furrowed with worry, and he sighed several times in a few breaths.
The door behind him was tightly closed, and a strong smell of herbs wafted from the courtyard, with the occasional sound of vomiting also audible.
Chen Lizheng stood at the door for a moment before sensing something was wrong. "Doctor Sun, what's the matter?"
When Dr. Sun saw Chen, the village head, he seemed to see a savior and wanted to rush forward, but he stopped himself and placed a distance between himself and Chen before saying, "Village head, you should be prepared, the village... is plagued!"
He explained the symptoms of the patients who had come in the past two days to Chen Lizheng, saying, "Lord Lizheng, the well water at the village entrance can no longer be used. Moreover, many people in the village have drunk the well water and come into contact with the patients, so they may have been infected but have not yet shown any symptoms."
Chen Lizheng's face grew increasingly grim; what he feared had finally come to pass.
Last year's drought was followed by a locust plague, and this year's floods have been followed by an epidemic. Every year brings misfortune; this is going to cut off Lianhua Village's livelihood!
But as the village head, he couldn't admit defeat at this moment. "Doctor Sun, whatever you need—manpower and medicine—just name your name, and I'll find a way. Sanyuan, make the arrangements immediately. From this day forward, no villager is allowed to leave the village!"
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