Chapter 192 Fake Rescue to Cover Up Crimes

Chapter 192 Fake Rescue to Cover Up Crimes

A sudden suspicion arose in Jiang Yutang's mind, and she asked, "Are there many people asking about fever reducers?"

Yun recalled, "Many! At least seven or eight people came to ask every day, and they all looked quite unwell."

“Something’s not right.” Jiang Yutang put down the list in her hand, her brows furrowing deeply.

She's been too busy lately, and she also has to be wary of Gu Wenxiao, so she hasn't really paid much attention to the store's customer flow and the situation of the people.

Logically speaking, people with colds and fevers shouldn't be gathered in such large numbers at this time of year.

As she was pondering, a frantic cry suddenly came from the shop entrance: "Mrs. Cheng! Please, please help! Save my child!"

Upon hearing the sound, Jiang Yutang quickly went out and saw a woman with a pale face, her forehead covered in cold sweat, tightly holding a child in her arms, slumped on the steps at the entrance of the shop, crying anxiously.

"Don't rush, let me take a look."

Jiang Yutang quickly stepped forward and said to Madam Yun, "Mother, close the shop door first, and don't let any irrelevant people in."

After saying that, she took a medical mask out of her pocket and put it on.

She crouched down and asked softly, "What's wrong with the child? When did he start feeling unwell?"

Seeing that someone was willing to help, the woman grasped at a straw and said, choking back tears, "My child was feeling unwell a few days ago. I thought it was just a cold, so I went to the pharmacy to get some medicine, but it kept getting worse. This morning, he suddenly developed a high fever and was so sick he was almost listless!"

Jiang Yutang reached out and gently touched the child's forehead; the burning temperature made her heart sink.

She took a thermometer from the drawer, inserted it under the child's armpit, and took it out a moment later. The mercury column was clearly pointing to 39 degrees Celsius.

"This is not a common cold with fever."

Jiang Yutang said with a serious expression, then looked up and asked the woman, "Are you feeling unwell?"

“Yes! My symptoms are similar to my child’s.” The woman nodded quickly.

However, the range of symptoms was too broad, and Jiang Yutang was at a loss for what to do.

The symptoms resemble a cold, but are also somewhat different, and the fact that they occur in concentrated episodes is even more unusual.

As she was wondering, her gaze inadvertently swept over the child's exposed arm, where there were several small red bumps, like mosquito bites.

"Look at these bumps on the child's arm, how did they get there?" Jiang Yutang asked, pointing to the marks.

"It started a few days ago, but I thought it was just a mosquito bite and didn't pay attention," the woman said blankly.

"Do you have similar marks on your own body?" Jiang Yutang pressed.

The woman quickly checked her arm and indeed found several similar small bumps: "Yes! Our village is near the mountains, so we never paid much attention to mosquito bites in the past."

She paused, then added, "Recently, almost every household in the village has someone with this disease. Could this be the reason?"

"not good!"

Jiang Yutang suddenly stood up, a terrible thought surging into her mind.

"This isn't a cold, it's malaria!"

Danzhou has a hot and humid climate, which makes it easy for mosquitoes to breed. If malaria were to spread, the consequences would be unimaginable!

"Malaria?" The woman was taken aback when she heard this. She saw that Jiang Yutang's expression was solemn and his face turned pale instantly.

She knelt down with a thud, clutching Jiang Yutang's trouser leg tightly, tears mingling with sweat as she pleaded hoarsely.

"Madam, please, you must save my child! My life is worthless, I don't care if I die, but my child cannot be harmed!"

Seeing this, Madam Yun hurriedly stepped forward with a worried expression, took Jiang Yutang's arm, and asked in a low voice, "Tang'er, can this illness be cured?"

Jiang Yutang fell silent.

In this era, malaria was almost synonymous with an incurable disease, and without a specific cure, the mortality rate was extremely high.

After a long pause, she knelt down, gently helped the woman up, and comforted her, "Don't panic. This disease isn't transmitted from person to person; it's mainly spread through mosquito bites. Is this the first time something like this has happened in your village?"

The woman quickly wiped away her tears and nodded vigorously: "This is the first time! I've had mosquito bites before, at most a few bumps and a few days of itching, but nothing like this has ever happened..."

At this point, the woman suddenly realized: "It was a few days ago when officials led a group of people to dig up the swamp in the area behind our mountain. Not long after, some people in the village started to have fevers and shivering, which is why they got this strange illness!"

"Excavate the swamp?"

Jiang Yutang frowned, a terrible thought suddenly rising in her mind.

Swamps are breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Could it be that someone deliberately dug out swamps?

Suppressing her fear, she pressed on, "Do you know who spearheaded the development of the swamp?"

The woman hesitated for a moment and then nodded: "I only heard the villagers talking about it, saying that it was an order given by a man surnamed Gu."

"The one surnamed Gu?"

Jiang Yutang gasped. She held her forehead and gently closed her eyes, forcing herself to calm down, but her fingertips still trembled slightly.

It really was him!

This was not an accident at all; it was an epidemic deliberately created by Gu Wenxiao!

The woman looked troubled, and her eyes reddened again.

“This illness has been circulating in the village for several days now. The government has already sent people to set up a relief station in the village, but there has been no improvement. Most of the villagers are reluctant to spend money, thinking that the government can provide free treatment, so they keep putting it off. If I hadn’t been so worried about my child, afraid that he wouldn’t make it, I wouldn’t have dared to sneak out to find you!”

Jiang Yutang gritted his teeth, and instantly understood.

This was a backup plan that Gu Wenxiao had prepared in advance!

First, they deliberately dug up the swamp to create an epidemic, and then they pretended to set up a relief station to win people's hearts. They not only covered up their evil deeds, but also gained a good reputation. They really played a good game!

She stood there helplessly for a moment, then, after regaining her composure, she knelt down and solemnly addressed the woman.

"No medicine will work for you now. Go back to the village immediately and tell all the villagers to leave the area near the back mountain and stay in dry, well-ventilated places to avoid mosquito bites. This is the most important thing right now!"

In two days, she will be able to travel back to the modern era to get antimalarial drugs. The most important thing now is to stabilize the villagers and prevent the epidemic from spreading further.

She took a deep breath and looked at the woman with a determined gaze: "You go back first, I'll go to the village to check on the situation in a little while."

Looking at her determined eyes, the woman nodded heavily, got up, wiped her face, and quickly ran out of the shop.

Jiang Yutang turned to look at Yun Shi: "Mother, hurry up and take out all the mosquito coils I brought earlier. I'll go find Doctor Xu first and ask her to come with me to the village to check on the patients. I'll come back later to get the mosquito coils and other usable epidemic prevention supplies."

Seeing her serious expression, Madam Yun didn't dare to delay: "Okay, I'll go get it right away!" With that, she quickly walked towards the backyard.

Jiang Yutang turned around and quickly left the shop, heading towards the private school.

Dr. Xu is a skilled doctor, and with her help, we can better deal with the situation in the village.