Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1336: It made the news, but then again, someone got infected (Bonus chapter for monthly votes)

Upon seeing this scene, Fang Yan and the others were stunned for a moment, then quickly helped the person up. They had encountered something similar earlier that day, where the person knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, sometimes several times before they even realized it.

"Get up! Get up! You can't do this!" Fang Yan grabbed the man's arm, and Yue Meizhong and Wang Yuchuan quickly stepped forward to help. Together, the three of them helped him up. The man's forehead was already red from kowtowing, and his eyes were still filled with tears. He kept muttering, "Benefactors! You are our family's benefactors! If anything happens to Xiulan and the child, I really can't live like this..."

Fang Yan patted his mud-covered shoulder and said earnestly, "This is what we should do. Treating the sick and saving lives is a doctor's duty. We can't accept such a big gift from you. Xiulan's condition is stable now. You should be happy. Please don't do this anymore. It's too much for us."

Yue Meizhong also chimed in, "Yes, we can't bear to see you kneel like that. We're doctors; as long as the patient gets better, that's all that matters. Take good care of Xiulan from now on, make sure she gets plenty of rest, takes her medicine and drinks her porridge on time, and the two of them will be safe and sound."

The man wiped away his tears, choked back sobs, and nodded: "Yes! I remember! I will definitely take good care of her! If you ever come to the village again, I will definitely bring you eggs from my chickens or vegetables from my garden when they ripen!"

"Don't say that, we're all doing this for their own good." Wang Yuchuan waved his hand with a smile, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the room. "Now that your wife and child are fine, and the other patients have also started taking their medication, everyone can finally get a good night's sleep tonight."

The old lady in the family watched with tears in her eyes and couldn't help but interject, "In a few days, I will definitely make you a pair of cloth shoes to thank you for saving my daughter-in-law and grandson."

Xiulan sat back on the kang, her eyes filled with gratitude: "Dr. Fang, Elder Yue, Professor Wang, and Li Hui, Xueling, and Chunsheng, you are all good people. I will remember this kindness for the rest of my life."

Then, glancing at Old Zhang and the other members of the epidemic prevention team standing at the door, she added:

"Oh, and the comrades from the epidemic prevention team too."

Old Zhang and the others laughed awkwardly; they really hadn't been of much help.

They didn't bring any medication; their work mainly consisted of statistical surveys and arranging quarantine.

Fang Yan glanced at the night outside the window and said to the family members of the patient's family, "It's getting late, we should go back to our temporary accommodation. If there are any other situations here, call us immediately. We're still at the factory, there are people there 24 hours a day."

Upon hearing the dialect, the man immediately agreed.

The man spoke in dialect:

"I won't sleep tonight, I'll stay here and keep watch."

“No need for that. The dangerous period has passed. I was just saying that to prevent any unexpected situations. If you feel any heaviness in your stomach or severe thirst at night, just call us,” Fang Yan said to him.

Hearing this, the man nodded:

"Hey, I get it."

Then everyone walked outside, and the man and the rest of his family followed to see them off. The village secretary was also waiting outside. The secretary originally wanted to invite them to stay for a meal at his home, but Fang Yan and the others refused.

He was simply told that if there was any emergency in the village, he should immediately go to the factory to find them, as there were many doctors there.

The village party secretary nodded in agreement, and then, together with other village officials, escorted Fang Yan and the others out of the village. They waved goodbye only after seeing them get on the truck.

After getting back to the factory in the truck, it was already completely dark, but the factory was still brightly lit. The factory was operating 24/7, with three shifts and two rotations, so production was not interrupted.

When Lao Hu saw Fang Yan and the others return, he immediately greeted them:
"How is it? Is it serious in the village?"

He said in dialect:

"It's alright. Including the family that came to call us, there are only six households in total. We've managed to control the situation quite well. If there were any more, we wouldn't have enough medicine with us and would have to call for backup."

Old Hu nodded and said:

"Alright, everyone, disinfect yourselves. The food has been delivered to your rooms. You can eat as soon as you get back."

Everyone agreed and then began the disinfection process. They were also provided with new work clothes to change into. Old Hu's factory is quite particular; the work clothes are all custom-made with good design and materials. After changing, everyone felt pretty good.

Old Zhang from the epidemic prevention team reported the situation over there to Xiao Wu, the person in charge of the epidemic prevention team. Xiao Wu immediately sent someone to report to Chen Jingshan. The commune's phone was broken, so they had to make a trip there.

Fang Yan and the others didn't concern themselves with the epidemic prevention team. After changing their clothes, they returned to their rooms and began eating their dinner.

After a busy day, they hadn't had a proper meal, so Lao Hu prepared six dishes, a soup, and big steamed buns for Fang Yan and the others.

There were also lights and a radio in the room.

As soon as the radio was turned on, there was a slight static sound, followed by the announcer's calm and dignified voice:

"...Late-season rice is growing well in the southern regions. Working groups dispatched by the HUN Provincial Agricultural Technology Extension Station have gone deep into the fields to guide farmers on late-stage water and fertilizer management and pest and disease control. Sugarcane growers in the Pearl River Delta region of GD Province report that the sugar content of sugarcane is higher than in previous years. State-owned sugar mills have already conducted equipment maintenance in advance to ensure a smooth start to the crushing season. Rural credit cooperatives in various regions have also increased credit support for the autumn harvest and planting, providing farmers with timely loans for fertilizers, pesticides, and other production materials to fully guarantee a bumper autumn harvest..."

While listening to the dialect, I ate my food. They started by talking about agriculture, and then moved on to news about industry and the economy.

"...The Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and the State Construction Commission recently jointly organized a delegation of overseas Chinese businesspeople to visit China. It is understood that the delegation consists of more than 20 well-known overseas Chinese businesspeople from Southeast Asia, Europe and North America, covering multiple fields such as manufacturing, textiles, and food processing. They will arrive in the capital around October 1 to attend the National Day reception."

"The delegation will focus on visiting Guangdong, Fujian, Shanghai and other places to conduct on-site inspections of the investment environment in coastal open pilot areas and inland industrial bases. The head of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council stated that the country is actively creating favorable conditions to welcome overseas Chinese to return to China to invest and start businesses and participate in domestic economic construction. Relevant departments have formulated special policies to provide support and convenience for overseas Chinese-funded enterprises in terms of factory construction, raw material supply and product sales."

"Mr. Chen, a representative of overseas Chinese businesspeople from Singapore, stated in an interview before his departure that overseas Chinese always keep their motherland in their hearts. This trip back to China is not only to celebrate National Day but also to contribute to the development of their hometown. They look forward to seeking cooperation opportunities in the light textile and electronic components sectors. The delegation will also visit..."

This will be his next task; once he finishes quarantine and goes back home, that should be about it.

After eating for a while, local news broke:

"...According to reports, sporadic cases of scarlet fever have recently appeared in XX region. The local authorities have attached great importance to this and immediately activated emergency prevention and control measures. An epidemic prevention team has been organized to conduct thorough investigations in various villages to screen for patients. Meanwhile, medical experts from the postgraduate program of Capital University of Traditional Chinese Medicine have rushed to the front lines to provide treatment using traditional Chinese medicine methods tailored to the local situation. As of press time, XX patients with fever have been identified, all of whom have received timely treatment and their conditions are under effective control."

"The local commune has strictly implemented isolation measures, thoroughly disinfected the patient's living environment, and disseminated scarlet fever prevention knowledge through village broadcasts, reminding villagers to ventilate frequently, wash their hands often, and avoid gatherings. Currently, the epidemic has not spread, and the production and daily life of the people are normal. The Ministry of Health has allocated a batch of traditional Chinese medicine for clearing heat and detoxifying to support the local area and ensure sufficient drug supply."

This news was very official; it didn't mention any specific names, only their school.

If you were just listening to dialects at home, you probably wouldn't even pay attention. That's how official news is; everything is downplayed and not given much prominence. But to even mention traditional Chinese medicine as a treatment method is already quite an achievement.

Then came the international news, with a large portion of it focusing on events in the south.

There's not much else to say. The news has finished, and Fang Yan has finished dinner. He washed his lunchbox outside the room and put it in a basket outside the yard. Someone will come and collect it in a little while.

There wasn't much entertainment around. After finishing his meal, Fang Yan practiced his boxing for a while, did some standing meditation, and then washed up and went to bed. No one woke him up all night, and he slept until he naturally woke up early in the morning.

While he was practicing boxing in the yard, Xiao Wu and the other members of the epidemic prevention team started coming to their door to measure their body temperature.

"Director Fang, please stop for a moment, let me take your temperature," Xiao Wu said to Fang Yan.

While cooperating with their measurements, Fang Yan glanced at the notebook in Xiao Wu's hand and asked him:
Are there any infected individuals?

“Old Yue wasn’t feeling well. This morning, his temperature was 38.5 degrees Celsius, and he said his throat felt tight and his body felt hot. We quickly examined him and found that he had developed a few small red spots on his arm, which were exactly the same symptoms as those of patients in the village. He must have been infected,” Xiao Wu said.

"What?" Fang Yan suddenly stood up straight.

Xiao Wu spoke in dialect:

"He has already taken the medication himself, and now our epidemic prevention team is still counting other people."

"When we checked the other students' temperatures, three more had problems: Li Ran, Zhao Lei, and Sun Xiao. They all had low-grade fevers. Sun Xiao said that she felt a little itchy when she woke up in the morning. When we looked, we found that she already had a faint rash behind her ears."

Fang Yan's brows were furrowed tightly. Last night, he was analyzing the illness and listening to the news with Grandpa Yue. The old man was in good spirits, but he got infected just like that.

He took a deep breath to calm his anxiety and asked, "Besides the fever and tight throat, does Mr. Yue have any other symptoms? Does he have palpitations or chest tightness?"

"Not for now, but I'm a bit listless and feel weak all over," Xiao Wu said.

He paused and then said:
"Yesterday you went to the village and were in close contact with patients. Although you took precautions, this disease is highly contagious..."

He said in dialect:

"Old Yue is getting on in years and his resistance is not as good as that of young people, so we need to keep a close eye on his pulse, especially to prevent the heat evil from damaging his vital energy; those classmates are young and should have mild symptoms, but we still can't let our guard down."

Xiao Wu nodded. After a few minutes, the mercury column in the thermometer had stabilized. Xiao Wu reached out and took the thermometer; it read 36.8 degrees Celsius, which was normal.

Fang Yan wiped his face and said to Xiao Wu, "Register me. My temperature is normal. After you finish decocting the medicine, take it to Old Master Yue first. I'll go check his pulse after breakfast and adjust the prescription. I don't trust the prescription he wrote himself."

Xiao Wu didn't make Fang Yan stay here and follow the rules. His superior, Chen Jingshan, had already instructed him that Fang Yan could leave whenever he wanted, and that he just needed to cooperate with whatever Fang Yan wanted to do. Of course, he couldn't stop Fang Yan from going to see Yue Meizhong.

“Okay, let’s go together then,” Xiao Wu said to Fang Yan.

Fang Yan then walked outside, not far from Yue Meizhong. Soon, Fang Yan arrived at Yue Meizhong's courtyard. Outside the room, members of the epidemic prevention team were helping to brew medicine. Yue Meizhong wasn't lying in bed; he was standing outside wearing a mask. Seeing Fang Yan arrive, he asked:

"Hey, what brings you here?"

Fang Yan quickly went to greet her, his gaze first falling on Yue Meizhong's face. The old lady's face was flushed from illness, and there were faint dark circles under her eyes. Although she was wearing a mask, it was still clear that she was much less energetic than last night.

He reached out and gently supported Yue Meizhong's arm, his voice tinged with urgency: "I heard from Xiao Wu that you have a fever and a rash. How can I sit still?"

Yue Meizhong waved her hand and laughed self-deprecatingly: "Hey, getting old makes me weak. I was too close to Xiulan when I took her pulse in the village yesterday, so I must have caught some evil spirits. When I woke up this morning, my throat was dry and sore, and when I touched her pulse, it was very rapid and weak, so I got myself two kinds of heat-clearing medicine to suppress it."

"Where's the prescription you wrote yourself? Let me see." Fang Yan said, glancing into the room. Sure enough, there was a piece of paper with the names of the medicines written on it on the table.

He picked it up and saw that honeysuckle, forsythia, and cicada molting were among the ingredients listed. These are all commonly used medicines for clearing heat and relieving rashes, but the dosage was too strong and lacked the ingredients for protecting qi and nourishing yin.

“Your prescription is too strong,” Fang Yan said with a frown. “It’s fine for young people, but you have a weak constitution. You were busy all day yesterday, and the heat evil has depleted your vital energy before it subsided. No wonder you feel weak all over.”

The old man stubbornly insisted:

"Well, I think it's alright..."

He changed his mind halfway through his sentence:

"Then, in your opinion, how should it be adjusted?"

Fang Yan said, holding the list:

"Reduce the dosage of Forsythia by two grams, add three grams of Astragalus to protect the spleen, and add two grams of Ophiopogon japonicus to promote body fluid production. You don't need to aggressively clear away the pathogenic heat now, but rather to 'strengthen the body's resistance and expel the pathogenic factors.' First, stabilize your body's foundation so that the rash can emerge smoothly. Otherwise, you'll collapse before the pathogenic factors are completely cleared."

Just then, the medicine pot on the stove started to gurgle. The members of the epidemic prevention team quickly lifted the lid, and a rich aroma of medicine wafted out.

Fang Yan walked over and said to the team members, "Don't pour it yet. Let me go back and get two medicines to add in. It will be ready in a quarter of an hour."

After saying that, he turned to Elder Yue and said:
"Please rest here, wear a mask and avoid the wind."

Then he said to Xiao Wu:

"Comrade Wu, you keep an eye on Elder Yue here. If he feels palpitations or chest tightness, call me immediately."

Xiao Wu quickly replied, "Don't worry, Director Fang!"

PS: I've gained another 100 monthly passes. Time to use them now and pay off my debt.

(End of this chapter)