Chapter 202: Moratorium (7)

Chapter 202: Moratorium (7)

Mimi was transferred over to a regular hospital room. And on the second day... Nothing went wrong. Her breathing and heart rate was normal, and she ate and slept well. Zhi Xuan felt elated when she stared at Mimi’s tiny face scrunching as she slept, just like she did in the sterile room.

Zhi Xuan sat by the bedside and stared down at Mimi. The health of this mother and daughter was truly remarkable. The mother was a HIV patient, and the daughter had congenital immunodeficiency due to genetic modifications. Immunodeficiency had caused this mother and daughter a great deal of suffering.

“It’s nice to switch into a regular room, right?” asked Zhang Haoyu, Mimi’s doctor, as he stepped into the room.

“Yes, it’s really nice,” Zhi Xuan replied.

She smiled and softly rubbed Mimi’s forehead.

“It’s been a long journey. Thank you for your hard work,” Zhang Haoyu said to Zhi Xuan.

“You, too.”

Zhi Xuan bowed towards him.

“It’s almost over now, so don’t worry.”

“Doctor, I think I’m going to get the HIV cure,” Zhi Xuan said.

“Are you going to go to Beijing?”

“Once Mimi is discharged. I have this coupon now.”

Zhi Xuan held out and shook the envelope that the anonymous foreign scientist gave her.

“Take good care of it. It’s expensive,” Zhang Haoyu said, chuckling.

“I’ll take good care of it since it’s a coupon worth six thousand yuan, which is a lot of money for me.”

Zhi Xuan quickly put the envelope in her bag.

‘If they knew who that originally belonged to, I’m sure wealthy collectors would buy it for ten times that price.’

However, Zhang Haoyu didn’t feel the need to say what was on his mind.

“Mimi should be able to leave in about a month,” he said.

“A month...”

“She could just leave right now as well, but I think it would be better to observe her for a little longer.”

“Yes, we’ll do as you say. Thank you so much.”

“What are you going to do after Mimi gets discharged and you cure your HIV?”

“I’m going to breastfeed her,” Zhi Xuan replied instantly like it was already in her head.

“Great.”

Zhang Haoyu nodded like he felt bad for her.

Genetic modification, which resulted from a desperate attempt to avoid passing on immunodeficiency, led to another type of immunodeficiency.

And there was one more thing that pained Zhi Xuan, who was constantly blaming herself for being ignorant and stupid: she had yet to breastfeed her own baby.

“Babies receive their antibodies from the mother through the umbilical cord. After birth, they receive antibodies from the mother through breastfeeding. A newborn baby’s immunity is very low, and there are pathogens everywhere that are looking for an opportunity to get to the baby,” Zhang Haoyu said. “If you think about it, Ms. Zhi Xuan, it’s really fascinating. Since primitive times, mothers have not only protected their babies from external threats, but also from the invisible microworld—from bacteria and viruses.”

‘The paper was released yesterday, and the announcement of possibly curing the baby came out the day before, so he must still be here, right?’

—Jessie!

Samuel, the chief editor for Science, called her.

“Yes?”

—We got a hold of Doctor Ryu! He’s going to do the interview, I talked to him myself. Go do the interview! Hurry!

“Ouch... My ears hurt. Talk slower.”

—You can’t let Nature beat you!

“Don’t worry. I’m already at West China Hospital.”

—Why are you in Sichuan?

“Because Doctor Ryu was here until the other day. They said he was doing some research.”

—He’s in Guangdong now.

“Ah, crap...”

—He’s having a meeting about the mosquito extinction project. He’s testing it on two islands in Guangdong.

“He really is roaming around China like a runaway train... The people in his office are going to cry.”

—What?

“Nothing, never mind. Anyway, I have to go to Guangdong, right?

—Yeah. Get there as soon as possible.

* * *

A province in China was a large administrative division, roughly the size of a state in the United States. Guangdong Privoice was located in the southeastern part of mainland China, and it was the most populated province with a whopping one hundred ten million people. The reason for this was because it was China’s largest industrial area, and many people came here to find work. In addition, it was so humid and hot that it stayed around ten degrees Celsius even in the winter.

A large population in such a climate: as one could imagine, it was a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.

“During the height of the dengue epidemic, thirty thousand people were infected here. It wasn’t that the health authorities were slow or wrong in their response, but it still spread very quickly. It’s just that this region itself is vulnerable to mosquitoes,” said China’s health minister, who came to greet Young-Joon himself.

“Thirty thousand...”

“And this province has had the highest GDP in China for the past thirty years. It’s about ten percent of China’s total GDP, and it’s close to Russia’s total GDP as well.”

“That’s impressive.”

“The health authorities are always keeping an eye on it because that’s the kind of place this is.”

Guangdong was China’s most important economic core. And with this population and climate... Once a mosquito-borne disease broke out, it would spread like wildfire. If the health authorities hesitated in their response, even a little, it would spiral out of control. And because of its location, it would become a national disaster.

“I said that I was going to eradicate mosquitoes on the two islands in the east of Guangdong, right?” Young-Joon asked.

“Yes, you did,” the minister replied.

“Why don’t we target all of Guangdong?”