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墨書 Inktalez
Zhang Zhong's wife was in a coma, and the hospital didn't even have time to notify Zhang Zhong before a group of people in white coats hurriedly took her to the special ward.
Li Yan and Zhou Miao exchanged glances and turned to follow from another side. After spending considerable time in the space, their hearing, vision, and physical strength were much better than that of ordinary people. They followed the hospital staff to a building that was eerily quiet, with only occasional sounds coming from within the patient rooms.
"Another case?" a woman's voice asked.
"This is the sixth case of coma this month, Director Tian. What should we do? We can't keep dragging this out," a man's voice sounded anxious, tinged with genuine fear. "Moreover, several patients we admitted a few days ago..."
"Shut up!" A man in his forties, wearing a mask, shot him a warning look. "The hospital will find a solution to this matter. Until a decision is made, you all better remember this: if anyone dares to leak this information, think carefully about the consequences."
The others exchanged glances and immediately lowered their heads as they took Zhang Zhong's wife into a patient room, rather than the emergency room as they had mentioned. Once those people left, the nurses followed protocol and connected Zhang Zhong's wife to an oxygen tube, but that was all; they didn't even administer IV fluids.
The state of the hospital was generally seen as... giving up...
Li Yan and Zhou Miao, relying on their good physical condition, donned masks and entered. There were several guards at the entrance, but no one moved inside; the entire building felt unusually cold. Li Yan opened several patient rooms and found that most contained patients who were in comas.
Each one was swollen and had turned purple; one person even had wounds beginning to fester, with pus oozing out and emitting a terrible stench. That person seemed oblivious to it all, occasionally letting out cries that sounded like calls for family or loved ones...
When they emerged, both looked pale—not just from disgust at human selfishness but also from the terrifying state of those patients. If they had to describe it, it was akin to zombies in an apocalyptic world; the only difference was that zombies were emaciated while these people were grotesquely swollen, resembling rotting flesh.
"What do you think?" Zhou Miao asked with a serious expression.
"Let's head back first," Li Yan replied, already forming preliminary suspicions in his mind but needing further verification.
Outside, the villagers remained unaware of what was happening and continued waiting anxiously outside the emergency room. The attending physician dramatically emerged from the room to announce that Zhang Zhong's wife's condition was severe and that she was still being resuscitated. He told everyone to go home, stating that even if she survived, she would need a sterile room to rest and could not see anyone.
In the minds of ordinary people, doctors are sacred figures; their white coats inspire complete trust, and no one doubts the truthfulness of what they say. Except for Zhang Zhong, who insisted on staying for news, everyone else obediently went home. A few patients with milder conditions also requested to leave. The hospital was filled with patients, and they felt a sense of frustration.
Li Yan noticed that the doctor’s eyes flickered for a moment. Although it was just an instant, both Li Yan and Zhou Miao detected the doctor’s hesitation and concern. Nevertheless, the doctor agreed to the villagers' requests and prescribed a few common antihistamines.
By the time they returned home, it was almost evening. Yu Tian had already prepared dinner. Due to the hot weather, he made a pot of three delicacies with eggplant, potatoes, and meat, stir-fried a plate of green pepper mushrooms, and cooked a winter melon soup with ribs. He didn’t make rice but instead prepared a pot of century egg and lean pork congee, which had cooled down just as Li Yan and Zhou Miao arrived.
As soon as Li Yan and Zhou Miao got home, they immediately locked the door and went into their space to wash thoroughly. The hospital was rife with viruses, and they were worried about bringing any germs back to the two people at home. They used the water in their space to rinse off several times before coming out.
Li Ming was already hungry; he ate two bowls of congee from his special enamel bowl and had a small plate of mushrooms. With his round belly full, he happily went to watch television, where cartoons aired every evening at six o'clock.
Yu Tian ate a little less; many people in the village were experiencing allergies, which made him feel uneasy. “How did it go today? I sensed something was off when you returned earlier.”
“I think we might need to prepare for something,” Li Yan said after considering everything along the way. “Based on what we saw today, this illness is likely not as simple as an allergy. Moreover, the doctor agreeing to let the villagers go home indicates that the hospital currently has no solutions for this illness, and…”
Just as Li Yan began to think about the special ward situation, Zhou Miao kicked something under the table with enough force. Li Yan maintained a decent expression; after all, Zhou Miao was his sister-in-law's husband, so he couldn’t scare him too much. “Also, I believe someone will come down from above soon. We should take out those vinegar and disinfectants from our space; they might still be useful.”
After hearing this, Yu Tian nodded. The recent X Virus incident had caused quite a stir online with reports of many deaths; just thinking about it made Yu Tian feel uneasy. He figured that this situation might also be serious, so he let Li Ming take him into their space. Li Ming's little friend was eager to prove his worth and pulled Yu Tian along into the space.
“Hey, if you scare my wife, just wait until I deal with you,” Zhou Miao said playfully, his eyes full of mischief.
“Can you be any more shameless?” Li Yan found it strange how someone like him ended up with such a lowlife student when he was once an outstanding student himself. It seemed that back then he must have been naive and easily fooled by this troublemaker.
“Come on now; I’m just testing my skills here! I’ll let my wife see my shameless side; you don’t even think about it because I’ll charge you for that,” Zhou Miao boasted confidently.
Li Yan silently sent endless blessings and sympathy to Yu Tian in his heart; encountering someone like Zhou Miao would mean Yu Tian's life would be quite challenging from then on. “Alright, getting back to business—those left in the special ward must be severely ill patients.”
“I saw that too; I noticed some names crossed out at the nurse's station,” Zhou Miao said while stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Do you think this illness…?”
“Is contagious!” Li Yan stated emphatically without hesitation. From the conversations among those doctors to their attire, everything followed the pattern established during the initial outbreak of X Virus. Moreover, the hospital seemed to be trying to cover up this illness by abandoning severely ill patients there without care or concern.
"If that's the case, then Zhangjia Village is no longer safe," Zhou Miao thought for a moment and said. "This matter will eventually come to light. If that happens, Zhangjia Village and the nearby towns will become disaster zones, and it will be difficult for us to leave."
"I know, but I still think it's better for us not to leave just yet," Li Yan frowned, contemplating. "If we leave, where can we go? The recent Hypoxic Fish incident has reminded us that not only is the weather changing drastically, but our food is also no longer safe. If we leave, where can we go? The situation in the city won't be good this year either, primarily due to food shortages. The drought has caused many crops to die, and by winter, food supplies will be even worse. Even then, the water resource issue may still not be resolved. Moreover, the turmoil in the city has changed too much; it would be even less safe for us to return."
"But what if the disease cannot be controlled and continues to spread? What if all the villagers in this village get infected? We can't just leave four of us to guard the entire village; that would expose us," Zhou Miao disagreed with staying here.
Zhou Miao's concerns were valid, and Li Yan was momentarily undecided. The two discussed it and decided to wait and see how things develop. If the situation truly became uncontrollable, they would return to City A first.
By the third day, regardless of how serious the illness was, Zhang Agou insisted on harvesting the corn from the fields. Originally, the corn could have grown for another ten days or so, but harvesting now would result in significant losses. However, Zhang Agou insisted on this course of action and promised to take responsibility for any issues that arose. Li Yan felt sympathetic towards the elderly man and decided to set an example by helping with the harvest.
Some people complied while others did not; after a few days, only half of the villagers agreed to harvest. Zhang Agou could only sigh in resignation. He understood the concerns of those who disagreed with harvesting immediately but felt uneasy nonetheless. It wasn't just the weather that made him uneasy; even people's attitudes were causing him concern.
As it turned out, Zhang Agou's decision was correct because that very night after they harvested the corn, it started to rain. Those who had not harvested felt quite pleased at first, thinking they had made a better choice by listening to Old Zhang. They believed that after being washed by rainwater, their corn would grow even better.
However, after three or four consecutive days of rain, those people could no longer remain calm. After a week of torrential downpours, they were ready to jump up and down in frustration. Without saying a word, they braved the rain to start harvesting corn. After a week of heavy rain, many corn plants were flattened; entire stalks were submerged in water. When they finally brought their corn home and looked at their yield, it was shocking—their harvest was less than half of what others had collected.
Some people expressed their gratitude towards Zhang Agou by gifting him cigarettes and liquor; although not expensive items, their intentions were sincere. Zhang Agou rarely showed his yellowed old teeth in a smile. While some rejoiced, others were filled with sorrow as several families whose corn had been ruined ended up fighting among themselves. Zhang Agou tried to mediate between them several times but found that the root of the problem remained unresolved; he couldn't ask those who had good harvests to share their grain equally with others. After a few attempts at mediation, he stopped going out.
The rain hadn't stopped yet when devastating news swept through Zhangjia Village: Zhang Zhong's wife had died. At the same time, news about City Hospital broke out—many people had reportedly died there without any care from the hospital staff. Zhang Zhong collapsed onto the ground; his expression clearly showed his deep sorrow.
Yu Tian curled her lip; if only they had known this would happen earlier! Yet seeing Zhang Zhong's tears made her heart ache with sadness as well.
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