"You cured Xiaoxue?" Professor Wu asked after keeping silent for a moment.
"Yes," Wang Yao said.
"OK," Professor Wu said. "What do you need me to do?"
"I've tested the decoction on rabbits. It worked. I just need to test it on a human being." Wang Yao took out two white porcelain bottles filled with decoctions.
"Leave it to me." Professor Wu took the bottles. He had only come there because of the disease.
Wang Yao told him the dose and method of taking the decoctions.
Professor Wu didn't say much. He only stayed for a few minutes with his assistants.
He came in a hurry, and he left in a hurry.
"He's gone?" Wang Jianli asked with surprise. All the other people in the committee were also surprised.
"People from Beijing are so arrogant," a committee staff member said.
"I think he is just scared, so pretentious," another staff member said.
Wang Jianli looked at Professor Wu's back. "He's heading to Wang Yao's clinic. The sister and brother from Beijing also came for Wang Yao."
Wang Jianli felt he knew less and less about Wang Yao.
"Is this person reliable?" Wang Yao asked in his clinic.
"Absolutely," Chen Ying said.
She knew Professor Lu well. He had a good reputation in Beijing. It was not only because of his medical skills but also because of his ethics.
"That's good," Wang Yao said.
A car was traveling fast on the highway. Inside the car sat Professor Wu and his two assistants.
"Where are we going, Professor?" one of his assistants asked. Both of them were a bit confused. They were heading to Lianshan town center, according to the plan, but suddenly changed plans because of a phone call. They were instead going to go there a few days later.
"Lianshan People's Hospital," Professor Wu said.
The two assistants were silent.
Professor Wu didn't speak either. He kept staring at the two bottles in his hand. The decoction inside the bottles was still warm.
What is inside it to be able to treat such a dangerous disease?
He was doubtful. But, Wang Yao had cured Su Xiaoxue, who had such a horrible disease. No one in Beijing could make her better, not even the best doctors. He was sure Wang Yao was a fantastic doctor. However, this contagious disease had just appeared and the bacteria was new to everyone. No one could create a cure in such a short period of time. He was not convinced.
Unless! Professor Wu's eyes were suddenly wide open.
"No!" He shook his head. "This is his hometown."
The car soon arrived at the Lianshan town center. All the key personnel from the province, city, and county had also arrived. After all, Professor Wu was from Beijing and sent by the Central government.
"Let's get straight to the point," Professor Wu said. Whoever knew him well was familiar with his direct, practical, and efficient style. "Show me the notes for the patient."
"I've got it ready for you," the manager of Lianshan People's Hospital said.
Professor Wu and his two assistants started to work as soon as they arrived at the hospital. They read the notes, went to see the patient, and checked Chen Jiagui's body.
"This is awful," Professor Wu said.
Although he had read all the information on his way to Lianshan, he was shocked by what he saw, especially when he saw Chen Jiagui's body. The bacteria was monstrous. It destroyed all the tissues of a human body and released horrible toxins when reproducing at an astonishing speed.
There were five infected patients. Two of them were dead. One of them was in critical condition. The other one was in maniac status.
"Is there any infected patients here?" Professor Wu asked.
"Yes, they just brought in one this morning," a hospital doctor said.
"Take me to see him," Professor Wu said.
"OK," the doctor said.
He took Professor Wu and his assistants to the isolated room. A man in his 30s being isolated in the room had started to show symptoms.
He was from Wang Yao's village. He just had his second son. He was supposed to enjoy his life. No one expected this. He wanted to survive and conquer the bacteria. However, life could be really cruel sometimes. People didn't always achieve what they wanted.
"Let's start with him," Professor Wu said.
"What?" the doctor asked.
"I need to go inside," Professor Wu said.
"OK, please be careful. He has started to show symptoms," the doctor said.
"I know," Professor Wu said.
The door of the isolated room was opened.
The patient in the room looked up at the doctors wearing protective garments. He wanted to run away but decided not to take the risk. He still had some sense to control his impulses. His eyes were bloodshot. Both his heart beat and temperature were abnormal.
"Hello," Professor Wu said.
"Hello," the patient said with surprise. He didn't expect one of the doctors would greet him.
"How do you feel?" Professor Wu asked.
"Not well," the patient said.
He was confused and agitated. He wanted to scream, run, and hit someone. However, he knew once he showed any maniac symptoms, he would be tied up and one step closer to death.
"Do you have faith in me?" Professor Wu asked.
"I want to live," the patient said without hesitation.
"Good. This is the medication. Drink it." Professor Wu poured some decoction into a small bowl. The decoction had a stimulating smell. It looked brown.
Without hesitation, the patient drank it all up.
"As long as he is alert, don't take these off." Professor Wu pointed at the devices on the patient's body that monitored his temperature and heartbeat.
"OK," the hospital doctor said.
Professor Wu left the isolated room.
"That was it?" another doctor asked.
"What's going on? What did he give the patient to take?" another doctor asked in in low voice.
"It looks like an herbal decoction," the other doctor said.
"Are you serious?" a doctor wearing glasses asked.
A few doctors who had witnessed the whole process were gossiping. They stopped talking as soon as Professor Wu walked out of the isolated room. Professor Wu didn't leave. He was observing the patient in the observation room.
"Is this gonna work?" a doctor asked.
"I doubt it," another doctor said.
The doctors were still talking. Professor Wu didn't hear their conversation, but one of his assistants overheard. He frowned. To be honest, he didn't quite understand why his teacher gave the patient herbal decoction.
They left Beijing in a hurry, but he remembered everything they brought with them. Professor Wu only brought a pack with books and paperwork. He didn't bring any herbal decoctions. Therefore, the herbal decoction had to come from the village. He believed his teacher went to see someone in the village, and the person gave his teacher two bottles of herbal decoction.
An hour passed.
"His heartbeat and temperature have become stable," a hospital doctor reported.
"What?" Professor Wu asked. "It worked?"
Although the patient's temperature and heartbeat were still abnormal, they had not gotten worse.
"Open the door." Professor Wu went back to the isolated room.
"How do you feel?" he asked the patient.
"I feel sick," the patient said.
He truly felt sick. Something went up to his throat. He tried his best to suppress it.
"Drink this," Professor Wu said.
He gave the patient another bowl of decoction. He then went out of the isolated room to monitor the patient's data from the observation room.
Hmm!
At the moment, the patient felt extremely uncomfortable. It was as if two armies were fighting inside his body. It was not only in his stomach. He felt uncomfortable all over his body. He felt very sick.
Ew! He suddenly opened his mouth. A black fluid spewed out of his mouth. It had an unpleasant smell.
"Clean the room. Take a sample of what he vomited for testing. Check his heartbeat and temperature," Professor Wu said without hesitation.
"What? Now?" a doctor asked.
Professor Wu gave that doctor a serious look.
One of his assistants went into the isolated room first.
"How do you feel?" Professor Wu asked without looking at the black fluid on the floor.
"I feel better after vomiting," the patient said. He felt less agitated.
Professor Wu nodded. He then squatted down to check the black fluid on the floor.
The nurses came to clean the fluid and took a sample for testing.
"Gee! What the hell is this? It smells horrible," a nurse said.
The patient was still stable after two hours.
Professor Wu went into the isolated room a third time to give the patient a dose of decoction. The patient had drunk all the decoction from one of the bottles.
Professor Wu went back in to the observation room.
It started to get dark.
"Professor Wu, we've prepared dinner for you. Would you like to eat now?" a hospital doctor asked.
"I'll eat later." Professor Wu shook his head.
"OK," the doctor said.
Another two hours passed. The patient's heartbeat and temperature started to drop unexpectedly.
"Oh my god! The decoction worked!" Everyone in the observation room was excited.
"Maybe it's just a coincidence," Professor Wu calmly said. "Continue to give him the herbal decoction."
He only had a quick dinner in the observation room. This really impressed the hospital's medical staff.