“Fengshui Town was named that precisely because it has so much water.”
Wei Wuya asked, “Sir, why do you ask? Is there some taboo, some clash with evil spirits?”
Feudal superstition ran deep in Da Kang, and mountain doctors, fortune-tellers, and astrologers had all once been the same profession.
Hearing Jin Feng mention stagnant water, Wei Wuya’s first thought was that Fengshui Town’s feng shui had gone wrong.
“No,” Jin Feng explained. “That master once told me malaria spreads through mosquito bites, and mosquitoes love breeding in stagnant water. That is why I asked if Fengshui Town has a lot of it.”
Wei Wuya stood thunderstruck, muttering, “No wonder isolating everyone still didn’t stop it. So it spreads through mosquito bites…”
He grabbed Jin Feng excitedly. “Did the master tell you how to treat malaria?”
“He only mentioned in passing that Changshan, Shuji, and the essence of Huanghuahao can all cure it,” Jin Feng said helplessly.
He knew artemisinin worked wonders against malaria, but Da Kang had no way to extract it.
Even Tu Youyou’s team back then had spent years and endless effort to succeed.
Artemisinin came mainly from Huanghuahao, in tiny amounts. Taking raw Huanghuahao by mouth barely helped, far less than Changshan or Shuji.
“I know Changshan, Shuji, and Huanghuahao, but what is the essence of Huanghuahao?” Wei Wuya asked.
“Er… it’s the refined essence extracted from Huanghuahao. Miraculous against malaria.”
That was all Jin Feng could tell him.
“Then how does one extract it?”
“The master didn’t say…”
“Where is this master now? Could sir introduce me?”
Wei Wuya refused to give up.
“The master wanders the world. Who knows where he went.”
What master? Jin Feng kept making it up.
“What a pity.”
Wei Wuya sighed with regret, then asked, “Did he mention dosages or combinations? Especially Shuji. It causes vomiting and harms vital qi. One cannot use too much.”
“This…”
Jin Feng scratched his head awkwardly, racking his brain for malaria and artemisinin knowledge.
In his previous life he had dated a medical master’s student, so he knew a little more than most, but only a little.
“I think he said mica and dragon bone could assist, preventing Shuji from harming qi. As for exact doses, I truly don’t remember.”
Jin Feng said helplessly, “You can research it when you return.”
“Mica benefits lungs and calms breathing. Dragon bone steadies the spirit. It should work.”
Wei Wuya nodded slightly. “Did the master say anything else?”
“Nothing more.” Jin Feng shook his head.
“Very well.” Wei Wuya looked disappointed but still saluted. “Thank you for the guidance. I won’t disturb sir further.”
He had come only because he heard Jin Feng made a fortune from soap and wanted to beg money for medicine. Instead Jin Feng gave him a huge surprise. He forgot all about fundraising, eager to rush back and test the prescription.
“Doctor Wei, wait.”
Jin Feng said, “You’ve reached the village entrance. Why not rest and eat something?”
He hadn’t mentioned food, but now Wei Wuya’s stomach growled loudly.
He had left yesterday afternoon, reached Black Wind Ridge at midnight, slept under the eaves of Jin Feng’s relay station, then set off again with merchants before dawn. He was starving.
But Wei Wuya shook his head. “Thank you for the kindness, Master Jin, but hundreds in Fengshui Town await my return.
Sir… could you spare this old man two steamed buns for the road?”
Clearly he had never begged before. His face flushed red.
Seeing Wei Wuya so flustered, Jin Feng felt both sad and moved.
Da Kang might be rotten, but heroes still existed.
Jin Feng knew he could never be so selfless, which made him respect the man more.
“Doctor Wei, I keep you not just for food. There’s more.”
Jin Feng said, “Malaria is hard to eradicate completely, so besides treatment, prevention is key.”
“Prevention?” Wei Wuya cupped his hands. “Please enlighten me, sir.”
“We’ll talk while we eat.”
Jin Feng said, “Big Liu, hurry back and have Runnian prepare food.”
“Yes!”
Big Liu sent a veteran running.
Jin Feng often worked late in the lab and missed meals.
To ensure hot food anytime, Runnian’s small kitchen always had stewed meat and warm porridge.
By the time Jin Feng brought Wei Wuya home, Runnian had set out a basin of stewed meat, several side dishes, a bowl of hot porridge, and steamed buns.
“Please help yourself, Doctor Wei!”
Jin Feng pointed at the table.
“Then I won’t stand on ceremony. Go on, sir.”
Wei Wuya washed his hands and grabbed a bun.
“When you return to Fengshui Town, quickly organise the locals to clear all mosquito-breeding stagnant pools around the village.”
Jin Feng instructed, “Every household must hang mosquito nets at night. During the day, wear long sleeves and trousers to avoid bites.”
“That makes sense, but…”
Wei Wuya sighed. “The people there are already poor. Now struck by this plague, they barely have clothes to cover themselves. Where will they find long clothes or nets?”
“Xiaorou, how many clothes and coarse cloth do we have in storage?”
The textile workers now wore uniforms. The warehouse always held plenty.
“Seven hundred and twenty-three sets of clothes, eighty-six bolts of coarse cloth.”
Guan Xiaorou answered instantly.
Besides making perfume, her greatest joy was counting stock. Each count gave her deep security.
“Pack all the clothes onto carts. When Doctor Wei leaves, send people to deliver them to Fengshui Town. Turn the cloth into clothes fast. Start with children’s sizes.”
Jin Feng said, “Also tell Dongdong to stop loom experiments for now and rush mosquito-net gauze.”
He had given Man Cang the loom designs long ago. Days ago Man Cang and the female apprentices finished two machines. They worked brilliantly, several times faster than Da Kang looms. Tang Dongdong was thrilled.
But Jin Feng said skilled workers could go even faster.
Hearing that, Tang Dongdong had eaten at the factory lately, testing maximum speed.
Half the eighty-plus bolts in storage came from the new looms.
