Without any hesitation, Chen Huihong wrapped Hui Niang in a quilt, picked her up, and ran straight out, forgetting even to put on her cotton clothes.
At this time, some people were already awake. Seeing Chen Huihong running on the street in thin clothes, holding a quilt, they quickly brought their family out to watch: "The crazy lady is going crazy!"
Chen Huihong rushed straight to the pharmacy. The pharmacy opened early, and the attendant was cleaning while the doctor was sorting out the medicine. Seeing Chen Huihong carrying a quilt and running straight in, the attendant instinctively reached out to stop her but withdrew his hand halfway.
"Crazy lady, why aren’t you wearing cotton clothes on such a cold day? Why are you running with a quilt?" The attendant stepped forward to try to persuade Chen Huihong to leave, but was stunned when he saw someone wrapped in the quilt, "You wouldn’t have picked up a fainted person on the road and expect us to cure them, would you? We can’t cure this."
"She ate something bad for her stomach," Chen Huihong carefully laid down the quilt.
Only then did the attendant see clearly: "Isn’t this Hui Niang? Doctor Wang, please come quickly and take a look."
After speaking, the attendant went to close the door to prevent the cold wind from blowing in.
With white hair, Doctor Wang hurried over to feel the pulse. Under Chen Huihong’s gaze, Doctor Wang calmly asked, "Crazy lady, what did your maid eat yesterday?"
Afraid that Chen Huihong might not understand, Doctor Wang even mimed the action of eating.
"Moldy cornmeal, not properly steamed," said Chen Huihong.
Doctor Wang’s face changed instantly. He turned and asked the attendant, "Did Hui Niang go to the grain store on the west side to buy cornmeal yesterday?"
The attendant was still thinking when Chen Huihong directly said, "Yes, Hui Niang said the cornmeal was damp and moldy, selling cheap. She picked out the moldy parts and discarded them."
Doctor Wang didn’t even have time to ponder why the crazy lady was so sharp in her questions and responses. He sighed deeply and muttered, "It’s truly unconscionable, selling things that could kill people."
The attendant seemed to remember something: "Doctor Wang, wasn’t Li Er’s family killed by eating cornmeal yesterday?"
"I heard they said Li Er’s old mother was distressed about wasting food, didn’t discard the moldy parts, mixed them with other grains, and cooked porridge. Except for Li Er’s wife, who ate just a little and was okay, the rest of them were all gone, passing away last night."
"And it seems it wasn’t just Li Er’s family affected. There were more incidents on the west side; the grain store boss fled overnight."
"What do you mean by that? Does eating that cornmeal kill people?" asked Chen Huihong to the attendant.
The attendant hesitated and dared not speak.
Doctor Wang felt the pulse for a while, paused, and said, "Crazy lady, I trust you understand, so I’ll be frank."
"I’ll prescribe a dose of medicine first. Have the attendant brew it here and feed it to Hui Niang to induce vomiting. Then prescribe a fever-reducing dose. But I can’t guarantee survival. My medical skills are limited, and I’m only thirty percent confident with such a critical condition."
"You prescribe, I’ll find the money to pay you later," said Chen Huihong.
The doctor instructed the attendant to fetch the medicine, and after he finished, the attendant went to the backyard to boil the medicine.
Watching Hui Niang, still dazed and unresponsive, Chen Huihong asked, "If the medicine doesn’t work, will she die?"
Doctor Wang sighed: "We can only leave it to fate."
"I can only say if the fever-reducing medicine is administered, and the fever subsides before dark, there’s hope. If not, it might be hard to get through tonight..."
"Crazy lady, I know you’re kind-hearted. If you’re willing to spend, sending her to the Western Hospital in the inner city might save her. But the cost... is enough to buy ten new maids."
Chen Huihong was silent.
Twenty minutes later, the attendant had brewed the medicine and fed it to Hui Niang in batches.
The vomiting medicine worked, and after a few rounds of vomiting, Hui Niang gradually came to her senses. Knowing that Chen Huihong wouldn’t brew the medicine herself, Doctor Wang told her to take Hui Niang home to avoid catching cold and that he would send the brewed medicine over later.
Returning home with Hui Niang, Chen Huihong immediately started looking around for copper coins, even rummaging out unfinished candied fruits hidden in the cupboard.
"Sister, what are you looking for?" Hui Niang weakly asked from her half-lying position on the bed.
"Anything valuable, I’m taking you to that hospital," Chen Huihong answered.
"It’s very expensive; we can’t afford it," Hui Niang panted, "One visit there costs a lot of Da yang."
"But if you borrow, everyone will know you’re not crazy, won’t they?"
At these words, Chen Huihong’s hands paused in her search.
"Then you won’t be able to visit the inner city every day, nor eat the things you like, and everyone will discover you’re not human at all."
Chen Huihong squatted on the ground, not reacting, quietly looking up at Hui Niang: "When did you know?"
Hui Niang smiled: "Sister, I’m not stupid. I knew from the first day."
"Tree bark is definitely not eaten that way."
"But you still ate it," Chen Huihong said.
"Because I was starving, Sister, you might not know, but I hadn’t eaten for many days at that time. I didn’t dare eat dirt, afraid it’d be even more painful if it killed me, but I was so hungry I couldn’t even stand, only crawl on the ground."
"I thought I was going to die, but after eating that piece of bark you gave me, I suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore."
"Sister, you don’t look like someone fleeing from famine at all. Your complexion is so rosy, you’re so strong, you don’t search for food or drink water, and you don’t even have a water storage jar."
"And when I mentioned Lin County to you, you had no reaction at all. It was where we met; Lin County was ravaged by plague, everyone died, and the surrounding villages were deserted. People fleeing famine wouldn’t dare go there. I deliberately headed to empty places to avoid people."