Chapter 63 Back then, she was still a naive and naive college student.

Chapter 63 Back then, she was still a naive and naive college student.

The old doctor noticed a young woman with strange gauze covering her face following him. He assumed she was just a curious girl joining in the fun and quickly waved her away.

"Go away, little girl, don't come here and cause trouble! This cholera is no joke; if you get infected, you'll suffer. Go back to a safe place right now!"

"Doctor, I'm not here to cause trouble, I'm here to help you."

Jiang Yutang stopped and said earnestly, "I know a little about medicine and how to take care of patients and differentiate symptoms. If you can't manage all by yourself, I can lend a hand."

The old doctor frowned and looked her up and down.

The girl in front of me looked delicate and frail, and didn't seem to know anything about medicine. So I said impatiently, "Do you know what cholera is? Do you know how to prepare medicine to stop bleeding? Don't waste your time here. If you really catch the disease, you'll be the one suffering!"

No matter how he tried to urge her to leave, Jiang Yutang refused to go, stubbornly standing aside and saying, "I will never cause you any trouble."

Seeing her resolute attitude, and considering that there were indeed too many sick refugees and he was overwhelmed by the situation, the old doctor stopped trying to drive her away. He simply said, "Don't blame others if something goes wrong," and then turned to check on the refugees' conditions.

Jiang Yutang immediately followed and quietly stood behind him to help.

He asked for a handkerchief, and she quickly found a clean one and handed it to him. He asked her to record the symptoms, and she memorized the number of times each patient vomited and their mental state.

When the old doctor examined her, he would casually remark, "This patient has sunken eyes and cyanotic lips, signs of severe dehydration; she needs to be rehydrated first."

"The vomit contained blood, the situation is dangerous, and it needs to be dealt with as a priority."

For a moment, she had the illusion of being back in college, when she was a clear-headed and naive college student, unlike the soulless beast she was now.

Jiang Yutang listened attentively, and occasionally the old doctor would ask questions such as "At what level of dehydration does emergency treatment need to be given?" and "How can we avoid infection during care?"

She could answer all of them accurately, and even add: "After vomiting, you should clean your mouth and nose in time to avoid leaving any vomit residue."

The old doctor was increasingly surprised as he listened, and his eyes showed more approval as he looked at her: "I didn't expect that you, young lady, would actually know so much. You're even more clever than the apprentices I taught before."

After examining all the sick refugees, the old doctor stood in the crowd, his face still serious.

The fat constable, who had been waiting impatiently, quickly stepped forward and asked, "Doctor, how are things? Can the medicine you brought cure us?"

The old doctor sighed and shook his head: "The medicine I brought can only relieve the symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea at most. It's okay for emergency use, but it's not enough to completely cure cholera. The most important thing for this disease is to ensure a clean drinking water source; you must drink plenty of water. To truly cure it, you can only go to the county town as soon as possible, where there is clean water and sufficient medicinal herbs, so that you can receive systematic treatment."

"Then please make the medicine quickly! Even if it only relieves the symptoms, it will be fine!" The fat constable stamped his feet anxiously, afraid that he would not be able to hold on if he was a second late.

The old doctor didn't say anything more. He bent down and opened the bamboo basket on his back, which contained several packets of dried herbs, including Coptis chinensis, Agastache rugosa, and Perilla frutescens. There weren't many herbs in total.

Jiang Yutang stood aside watching, shaking her head helplessly.

As the old doctor said, these herbs have limited effects, at most making patients feel more comfortable, more like a psychological comfort.

Besides, even if they wanted to boil medicine, they needed clean water. They didn't even have enough water to drink, so where would they get extra water to boil medicine?

Jiang Yutang walked slowly toward her family.

When Jiang Songzhi saw her return, he immediately wanted to go forward and ask what had happened, but he had only taken a few meters when she hurriedly called out to him, "Don't come any closer!"

She stood there and explained, "I've been with those infected refugees for a long time, and I might have caught their disease. Keep your distance from me so you don't get infected."

Hearing this, the family felt both sad and heartbroken.

With tears welling up in her eyes, Madam Yun could only offer her distant words of advice: "Then you must be careful and stay away from those patients. If you feel unwell, be sure to tell your mother."

Jiang Yutang nodded, feeling a warm glow in her heart.

She let out a breath, turned around and walked towards the cart, thankful that she had brought a bottle of disinfectant gel from the modern era.

He quickly rummaged through his bag and pulled out the gel, squeezing out three pumps into his palm. He then carefully rubbed his hands together, not even missing the gaps between his fingertips.

After disinfecting herself, she returned to her family, making sure to keep a distance between herself and her family to avoid close contact.

Jiang Sumin couldn't help but ask, "How's the situation over there? Is the old doctor's medicine working?"

Jiang Yutang shook his head, his tone heavy: "The medicine the doctor brought can only temporarily relieve vomiting and diarrhea; it can't cure cholera at all. To truly save lives, we must go to the county town as soon as possible; there's no time to lose."

No sooner had she finished speaking than the shouts of the yamen runners came from not far away.

"Everyone get up now! We're heading to the nearest town or county! Anyone who can't keep up is considered dead!"

The sick horse had long been abandoned by the yamen runners, and now that they had no means of transportation, everyone could only drag their tired bodies on foot.

The fat constable was panting heavily after only a few steps. He pointed at a few healthy vagrants and arrogantly ordered, "You lot, come and carry me!"

The refugees refused, because cholera is contagious, and if they were infected, they would die on the road.

“Sir, we can’t walk anymore, we really can’t carry you!” someone whispered in protest, but dared not look up at the yamen runners.

This fat constable had often made things difficult for them, and now even when they needed something, he used this commanding tone, which made everyone resentful.

Seeing that no one was willing to help him, the fat constable flew into a rage and brandished his leather whip, ready to strike someone.

But he was already ill and weak all over. He ran out of strength halfway through the whip and instead lashed his own leg with a "crack." He grimaced in pain, but he didn't even have the strength to curse. He could only kneel on the ground, panting heavily.

The journey was exceptionally long, the sun gradually set, and the temperature dropped.

Suddenly, they heard Yun's joyful voice: "Master! You're awake?"

Jiang Yutang quickly turned her head to look, and saw Jiang Shengan slowly open his eyes. Although his face was still pale, it was much better than before.

Yun excitedly handed him the water bag and carefully fed him two sips.

After calming down, Jiang Shengan learned that they were heading towards the county town, so he asked, "Third brother, how long until we get to the county town?"

Jiang Huaiyu leaned closer to her father, looked at the slowly moving procession ahead, and let out a heavy sigh.

“Father, Cheng Lanzhou and I rushed here as fast as we could, and it still took us most of the day. Now that the procession is moving so slowly and there are still so many patients, at this rate it will probably take us two days to arrive.”

These words silenced everyone.

In less than two days, more than a dozen people in the team have died one after another. If it is delayed for another two days, how many more people will fall on the road?

Jiang Yutang lowered her eyes, her fingertips unconsciously clenching the hem of her clothes, unable to help but think of the worst possible outcome.

At the time, there were at least forty refugees scrambling to drink the well water. Cholera was spreading rapidly, and given that everyone was already malnourished, it would be considered extremely fortunate if twenty of them made it to the county town.

Just then, a thought suddenly flashed through Jiang Yutang's mind. She looked up sharply, subconsciously lowered her voice, and whispered to her family members beside her, "Do you think... the Black Hawk Gang hidden in the group drank from that well?"