A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

Village Chief Zhao said apologetically, "There's nothing I can do. These past two days, using the methods you taught us, we've managed to kill off too many rats."

"You have to be careful when walking at night, otherwise you might accidentally step on something..."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Gu Xixi saw a bloody, mangled dead rat in the torchlight.

Despite seeing it more often recently, she still couldn't help feeling uncomfortable and somewhat nauseous.

Village Chief Zhao said solicitously, "Let's go to my house first; my wife has prepared a meal."

Gu Xixi countered, "Is Village Chief Zhao so certain that we will definitely come?"

Village Chief Zhao smiled sheepishly and said truthfully, "It's only natural that people are driven by self-interest. But you gave us the rat extermination prescription and method directly, without holding anything back, and you didn't try to take advantage of the situation in a crisis."

"This alone is enough to make many people look up to you. I thought you must be kind and generous people. As long as I sincerely ask, you and the old man will agree."

"So it turns out we were the ones who got tricked," Gu Xixi said half-jokingly.

Village Chief Zhao chuckled again, "Walk this way, watch your step."

In the main room of the village chief's house, Zhao Niangzi served the meal: steaming hot wheat porridge, tender green spinach, and glistening red sausage. With meat, vegetables, and rice, it was considered a very high-class meal at this time.

But Zhao Niangzi then brought out a black earthenware stew pot. When the lid was opened, it turned out to be a pot of clear stewed chicken.

The old doctor wrinkled his nose. "The village chief and his wife have gone to too much trouble."

Zhao Niangzi said softly, "I'm just doing a little bit, it's nothing."

"Your help in exterminating the rats is already a great kindness."

"If you are asked to come here again today and we are not even satisfied with the food and drink, my husband and I will be truly ashamed."

Village Chief Zhao asked, "Are the eldest and second eldest still outside?"

Zhao Niangzi nodded, "There are dead rats everywhere, so someone has to go and collect them. Before we rest at night, we also have to replenish the honey bait in various places."

A slight smile forced a smile onto her worried face. "Husband, please have dinner with the guests. I still need to tidy up the granary."

"I just went to check our granary, and thankfully there are no rats left."

Gu Xixi thought to herself, "Even the village chief's child has to go outside to exterminate rats, which shows how serious the rat infestation is in Stone Village."

The old doctor pondered for a moment and said, "Village Chief Zhao, could you please inform the whole village immediately to avoid direct contact when picking up rats? Tools such as hooks, skewers, or shovels will suffice."

"In addition, you should find a cloth at home to cover your face, and you must also cover your mouth and nose."

He paused, then said solemnly, "Even if it wasn't the plague, we should have taken preventative measures earlier."

Village Chief Zhao was taken aback. "Alright, I'll go and inform everyone right away!"

He left in a hurry, not even bothering to eat.

Gu Xixi and the old doctor quickly ate a few mouthfuls of food and then asked Zhao Niangzi to lead the way to find the person with the fever.

Zhao Niangzi said in a panic, "But the chicken soup hasn't been touched yet."

The old doctor chuckled, "Keep it; we can eat it when we get back."

There were two households. In the first household, the person with a fever was an eight-year-old boy.

The old doctor told Zhao Niangzi to stay outside, but Zhao Niangzi had already stepped into the courtyard first.

"Of course I will accompany our distinguished guest."

The woman who opened the door looked somewhat familiar to Gu Xixi.

When she went inside to the light and looked closely, Gu Xixi suddenly remembered.

When she first came to Stone Village to see the old doctor, she asked this woman for directions.

At that time, the woman was cursing at the old doctor, saying that the old doctor had stopped her child and insisted that the child was sick.

Gu Xixi's gaze fell on the kang (a heated brick bed). Could it be him?

The boy lay flat on his back, his cheeks flushed, his eyes closed.

There were two little children playing on the kang (a heated brick bed), a boy and a girl, and nothing seemed amiss.

The woman wiped away her tears, saying, "I gave him medicine twice today, but he's still burning up."

"I think he's delirious from the fever; he's been sleeping since this afternoon and hasn't woken up yet."

The old doctor sat crookedly on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) as he took the boy's pulse.

Zhao Niangzi pressed down on the woman's shoulder, signaling her not to speak.

After a moment, the old doctor solemnly loosened his fingers, saying, "This child's illness has been delayed."

"Ah?" The woman's body went limp, and she swayed as if about to collapse.

Madam Zhao supported her, her lips also turning pale. "Could it really be a rat... a rat..."

She ultimately couldn't utter that word.

The room was as quiet as a graveyard at night, as if an invisible sword was hanging over everyone's heads.

The old doctor lifted the boy's eyelids and pried open his mouth to take a look.

"There's no mistake, I've seen this child in the village before."

He asked the child's mother, "Does the child have a thick, white tongue coating, a worsening appetite, always complain of a bloated stomach, occasionally say that his stomach hurts, and have an unpleasant odor when he speaks?"

"Have you been experiencing these symptoms for at least three months, and have they been getting worse over time?"

Hearing this, Gu Xixi felt a little relieved and whispered to Zhao Niangzi, "Master said three months, so it's not the plague."

Zhao Niangzi nodded, clutching her chest and letting out a huge sigh of relief.

The woman thought for a moment in a panic and said, "Yes, I have them all!"

With tears welling up in her eyes, she asked, "Could it be some serious illness? My husband is still out catching mice. Should I go and call him back?"

The old doctor said, "It's not a serious illness right now, but if it continues to drag on, things might get complicated."

Hearing a glimmer of hope, the woman knelt down with a thud. "Old sage, save me! I was blind and disobeyed you. I've harmed my child. Please don't hold it against me, please save my child!"

Without her master needing to speak, Gu Xixi, together with Madam Zhao, helped the woman up.

The old doctor explained the illness, "This child probably ate too many wild fruits in the summer, and at the wrong time, they twisted into bezoars in his stomach."

The woman exclaimed, "You mean my son has stones in his stomach?! How can we save him?"

The old doctor said, "Although this stone has been formed for a long time, it is not as easy to dissolve as it was when it was first discovered."

"Let me write you a prescription. Take it consistently for a while, and with some dietary adjustments, you will get better."

Upon hearing that the medicine would cure her, the woman wept with joy, exclaiming, "Thank you so much, old sage!"

After leaving the prescription, Gu Xixi and her group went to the second house.

Before knocking on the door, Zhao Niangzi clasped her hands together and looked up at the sky, praying, "May God protect us so that this time we'll escape danger."

"Please, please don't let any epidemic break out in our village!"

The homeowner and his children had also gone out to exterminate rats. The elderly couple and their eldest daughter-in-law opened the door.

The one with the fever is the elderly couple's youngest son, who has just turned nineteen and is not yet married.

His symptoms also included a burning fever, but he was conscious and was just talking to his family.

Unlike the boy before him, he had a severe cough.

Before Gu Xixi and the others even entered the house, they heard bursts of violent coughing and wheezing.

The old doctor's expression suddenly changed, and he stopped and asked Zhao Niangzi to take out the few pieces of cloth she had brought.

The three of them covered their mouths and noses.

The old doctor told the family, "Open the window and come out; don't leave anyone inside."

The family looked at each other, bewildered, not knowing what was going on.