BXBX NOVEL Chapter 248 - 248: Vaccination
Yang Xiaodou glared at him. “That’s better than waiting for death.” Old Yang
and the other tamily members hurriedly went up to pull him back. “Xiaodou, don’t be silly. Put down the knife.”
Old Yang asked his youngest son to hold his eldest son and apologized to the scribe. “Master Tu, don’t lower yourself to this child’s level. You said that Master Zhou’s teacher has found a prescription and is looking for a medicinal primer. Are you really not lying to us?”
Scribe Tu raised his hand and said, “Brother, I swear I’m not lying to you. Be careful these few days. Take your medicine on time and don’t interact with the people next door. There’ll be news in six or seven days at most.”
Seeing that the scribe had raised his hand and sworn, Old Yang believed him a little. “Lord Tu, don’t worry. We will take the medicine on time and wait for the good news.”
“Alright, I’m still busy delivering medicine to the other two families.” The scribe turned and walked out of the house, closing the door and locking it. After walking through the surrounding families, he took off his cloak and placed it in the bamboo basket.
Tu Hui rode back to East Street and told the scribe what Mr. Wen had said about having to put away the cloak he had worn. He looked at the cloak in the bamboo basket and said, “Don’t worry. I made a separate bamboo basket and placed it there. Have you found the sick cow?”
Tu Hui shook his head. “We didn’t find any sick cows from those that were brought over from a few villages. We can only wait for those villages further away to bring the cows over.”
Scribe Tu nodded and sighed. “I don’t know which immortal our Qingchuan has offended. We’re always in trouble.”
Tu Hui recalled the past and smiled. “That’s still better than the past two years! It’ll get better and better.”
Li Yu asked Ruyi to return to the manor and get someone to peel some thin bamboo sticks. At home, she brought Xiaoyu and Aunt Zhang along and tore the cotton into a pot to boil before drying it. After scrubbing it clean, she squeezed out the water and laid the sticks on the bamboo board to dry. She was making a pile of cotton sticks to use when applying the vaccine.
At night, Mr. Wen returned home with a tired expression. Li Yu went up and asked, “Sir, did you find a sick cow with smallpox?”
“Sigh!” Mr. Wen sighed. “We didn’t find any in the dozen cows we brought today. We’ll just have to see if there are any cows we brought from a distant village tomorrow. ”
Li Yu comforted him. “Don’t worry, there will be. I got someone to make your favorite braised pork. Go wash up first. We’ll eat.”
Ruyi went to the front office and invited Zhou Jia back. The family sat down for dinner. Zhou Jia carried the awakened Yangyang and walked around the courtyard. The father and son chatted happily, making Auntie Zhang and Xiaoyu purse their lips and laugh. Li Yu asked in amusement, “Xiao Xi, what did you say to your son?”
Zhou Jia smiled and said, “Who knows what this little rascal is talking about? If
I don’t answer him, he’ll cry. I’ll just follow what he says!”
At night, Zhou Jia told Li Yu about the illness of two more people. He sighed and said, “Sir is also anxious. He sighed that he knows the method but can’t find the sick cow.”
“We’ll find it. Go buy some lime for those families to scatter or we can use vinegar.” Li Yu suddenly thought of the vinegar jar in the backyard. “Let’s use vinegar! I was afraid we would be unable to finish the vinegar we received from Yangyang’s birth.”
Zhou Jia looked at his sleeping son and smiled. “Alright, I’ll get someone to haul it tomorrow.”
The next day, Li Yu handed the wrapped cotton swab to Tu Man and brought it to Mr. Wen. Scribe Tu got someone to pull two vats of vinegar to East Street and asked more than ten families near the Zou family to boil the vinegar and put it in their houses to smoke away the virus.
When those people saw that the government office had sent the gifts received by the county magistrate’s family to disinfect them, the dissatisfaction they felt after the government detained them was alleviated. Old Yang said gratefully to the clerk, “Master Tu, you and the county magistrate are good officials who love the people unconditionally.!”
Scribe Tu laughed and said, “I’m not even an official yet! Don’t worry, everyone. The county magistrate is thinking about everyone.”
It was only afternoon that Mr. Wen and Tu Hui found an afflicted and emaciated cow. Mr. Wen looked at the sick cow with glowing eyes and laughed with joy as if he had seen a golden cow. He danced around and shouted, “Found it, found it. Ah Man, bring the porcelain bottle.”
Mr. Wen’s laughter infected Tu Hui. His initial impatience dissipated. He ran happily to Mr. Wen’s side and looked at the cow lying on its side. Its bony stomach was covered in transparent blisters the size of soybeans. Tu Hui said, “Is this how cowpox looks like?”
“Yes, that’s it. It’s usually the skinny cows that get hemorrhoids after giving birth. The sturdy bulls will heal on their own after a few blisters.”
With Tu Hui in tow, Mr. Wen carefully squeezed out the pus and placed it in a small porcelain bottle. Tu Hui looked at the sticky pus and felt nauseous. When he turned his head and saw Mr. Wen’s serious and happy expression, he suddenly felt ashamed. He looked up into the distance and took a deep breath. He suppressed his disgust and focused on squeezing the pus.
After more than an hour, Mr. Wen happily took the porcelain bottle filled with pus and said to Tu Hui, “After you finish squeezing the pus of this cow, continue to look for infected cows. I’ll go to East Street to vaccinate those dozen families.’
Tu Hui no longer felt disgusted and sad. He smiled happily and said, “Don’t worry, sir. Leave this to me.” Mr. Wen praised Tu Hui in relief. “Young man, you’re a good person.”
Mr. Wen arrived at East Street with a happy expression. The scribe went forward and asked, “Old Master, how’s the search going?”
Mr. Wen waved the porcelain bottle in his hand and smiled. “We’ve found it. Please prepare a pot of strong wine, Mr. Tu. I’ll plant the vaccine for them.”
“Alright!” Scribe Tu went to get the wine. Mr. Wen asked, “Mr. Tu, did you make it clear to those families?”
Scribe Tu smiled. “Yes! I said you’ve found a way to treat smallpox and are still looking for medicine.”
Mr. Wen looked at Scribe Tu and pointed at him. “Aiya! You didn’t make it clear to them at all! It’s my fault too. I didn’t go into detail with you. I’ll tell you how smallpox is treated… Do you understand?”
After Scribe Tu figured out how to plant the virus, he hesitated. “Will they be willing to be treated like this? Why don’t we ask them first?”
“Let’s go! I’ll go with you.” Mr. Wen led the way to the Zou residence. Scribe Tu followed him and ran to open the Zou residence. The two of them entered the courtyard.
Scribe Tu called the Zou family out and said to them, “Mr. Wen has found a way to treat smallpox. Everyone, listen.” The Zou family looked at Mr. Wen in surprise.
Mr. Wen told them about planting the virus. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “This is the best way for now.”
The old man from the Zou family sighed and said, “What’s there to be afraid of? It’s just a last resort! If we don’t do it, we’ll just wait for death. There might just be a way out..”