Chapter 214: Cutting One on the Spot
In natural disasters, it is always the poor who suffer.
The thatched huts in the slum area on West Street all collapsed overnight.
Many people died.
The corpses were cleared out one by one and laid out in the town square.
When an Earthquake occurs in a place, the wealthy and powerful who have the means hurriedly leave the city, fearing aftershocks, and also because an Earthquake is usually followed by plague and disaster.
This Earthquake in Jingzhou was extremely severe.
With many dead and injured, and medical resources unable to keep up, combined with the summer heat, a plague could easily break out; such records are numerous throughout history.
Heaven shows no favoritism.
It will not spare your house from shaking just because you are poor.
It will not prevent you from getting injured just because you are sick.
Most people are merely consumables, just NPCs.
It is said that the Jiang Family also suffered heavy losses, because in addition to the Earthquake, large rocks fell from the sky, which could not be explained by science at all and could only be discussed in terms of theology.
At this time, rumors spread from street to street that it was because Commander Jiang destroyed Shangqiu Temple, and since Heaven has the virtue of cherishing life, retribution had arrived.
How could a human fight against Buddha? The masters of Shangqiu Temple were all acolytes under the Buddha’s seat and must not be offended.
Anyway, nobody knew where the rumors started, but they quickly spread through every street and alley.
The internal management of the Jiang Family was excellent.
With Great-Aunt in charge, these rumors did not reach the ears of Mianmian and Jiang Yu.
In fact, on the night of the Earthquake, Jiang Yu was also startled and immediately got up to pick up Brother Meng.
Meng Shaoxia, held in a bridal carry with his feet dangling in the air:…
He thought he had ascended to heaven.
He was scared out of his wits.
He hurriedly asked Little Yu’er to put him down; she was pregnant, and it was good that she hadn’t been frightened.
Jiang Yu then remembered that she was pregnant and shouldn’t lift heavy objects, so she hurriedly put Brother Meng down.
Perhaps because of this scare, she forgot about morning sickness and surprisingly didn’t keep retching.
This was a child who knew how to be considerate of others.
Jiang Yu touched her chubby belly; it didn’t feel like pregnancy, just like she had simply eaten too much and gained some weight.
Meng Shaoxia was truly terrified.
They had finally gotten married and were pregnant, so he was worried about any accidents.
If the capital learned the news of the Jingzhou Earthquake, Father and Mother would certainly be worried.
He hurriedly wrote a letter to report their safety.
Outsiders felt the Jiang Family suffered heavy losses, but in reality, only the backyard was hit; the house that was crushed was the guest room where Censor He lived, perhaps because it was near the backyard.
However, the financial loss was manageable. Since Qin Luoxia came from a life of hardship, she didn’t care for vases or jars; she only liked gold and silver. These durable items could be dug out even if they were crushed flat.
It was just that Censor He felt his scalp tingle at the size of the holes in the Jiang Family’s backyard; even a falling meteorite couldn’t create such a large pit. Did these holes exist beforehand?
They were intertwined like a maze.
After the Earthquake, the Yamen was very busy, needing to organize rescue efforts, settle the injured, and rebuild after the disaster, otherwise, there would be a wave of plague or rebellion.
Father, Elder Brother, and Brother-in-law were all busy.
School was suspended.
Jiang Mianmian thought she could have a few days off.
And lie flat at home.
But it turned out she had to go study with her new teacher.
At the age of seven or eight, an age when even dogs would find you annoying, Jiang Mianmian was dressed in a small robe, her hair tied in a round bun, wearing small boots. Tied to her waist was a small accessory—not a jade pendant, but a small sachet bag, which she used to keep Little Tree in.
Censor He looked helplessly at his little tail; he felt that Jiang the Second treated him a bit too much like one of his own.
It was one thing to make him listen to those rebellious, unspeakable secrets.
But now he was even dumping his child on him to look after at the Yamen.
Did he look like he had nothing to do?
Well, actually, compared to the local officials, he was slightly less busy.
Censor He’s main job was actually to evaluate officials; wandering around was his work.
Censor He asked Jiang Mianmian, “What do you want to do today?”
Jiang Mianmian thought for a moment and said, “Let’s distribute medicinal soup. I heard that after a major Earthquake, especially in summer, it’s easy for a plague to break out. Let’s boil some medicinal soup to prevent disease.”
The main thing was that if everyone else got the plague, her family wouldn’t be able to escape it either.
Human-to-human transmission is quite fast.
Censor He thought about it.
Very good.
So, accompanied by his Page Boy Jizi, and with Jiang Mianmian bringing Pang Ya and some servants, they went to a square near their home, set up a large pot, lit a fire, and boiled the medicine.
Father had worked at the Herb Preparation Bureau, so keeping various herbs in the house had become a habit.
The herbs were put in to boil, and rice was added. In fact, what was cooked could be considered medicinal porridge; although it was thin porridge, it could still fill stomachs.
Jiang Mianmian remembered that when she was little, her family was very poor, and getting enough food and clothing was a serious problem.
Most people were the same.
Once the large pot was ready, there was no need for advertisement; as soon as it was said that porridge was being distributed, people lined up, and then more and more people came.
Page Boy Jizi distributed the porridge, and Pang Ya maintained the order of the queue.
Jiang Mianmian thought for a moment and had the servants send a bucket to the Yamen so Father and his colleagues could have some too.
There were many people in line, and one pot wasn’t enough, so another one was set up.
Mianmian stood by the newly set-up pot, adding medicine and rice, while the servants added water and lit the fire.
Slowly, the fragrance of medicine began to fill the air.
The line of people grew longer and longer, and the end of the queue could no longer be seen.
Censor He sighed in his heart; this was Jingzhou, which was already a place where people lived relatively well. If it were elsewhere, it would likely be even worse.
Jiang Mianmian also set up a stall on the side.
She displayed a sign with the four characters “Treating Illness and Saving Lives.”
She thought that since there was an Earthquake, many people must be injured, and she could treat them.
Usually, people were unwilling to be treated by a little girl, always feeling that a doctor should be older to be reliable. But after the Earthquake, medical resources would certainly be tight, so perhaps patients would come to her, which would be a chance for her to practice.
Jiang Mianmian wasn’t having a saintly moment; her family’s medicine and food hadn’t fallen from the sky.
Distributing medicinal porridge was to attract people.
She had a small pot on the side where she was boiling her medical instruments.
After fussing with it for several years, she had barely managed to put together a set of usable tools, but without antibiotics, sterilization had to be done well.
The current tools were still a bit crude; she wondered if the meteorite iron in the backyard could be used to forge a more refined set.
Even though she had hung up the sign.
She was too young.
Although those who came to receive porridge were grateful, no one walked up to her station to see a doctor.
She was not in a hurry.
She spread out a clean white cloth, placed a wooden box, and earnestly boiled her instruments, preparing herself.
Censor He sat on the side, looking quite like an old doctor, and people would come to ask about their illnesses from time to time.
In the end, Censor He had to stand up; he really didn’t know how to treat illnesses.
As for his student, he felt she wouldn’t know either.
But she had come out so earnestly to distribute porridge, and Censor He felt he couldn’t dampen her spirits.
Her actions were good and deserved affirmation.
Jiang Mianmian sat at her station, waiting for a long time, but no one came.
There were many people receiving medicinal porridge, and there was an exceptionally strong person in the queue whom Jiang Mianmian noticed had already received it for the third time.
However, she didn’t expose him, because with that physique, he would definitely need to eat a lot to be full; even three bowls of medicinal porridge wouldn’t be enough.
She watched as the whole morning passed.
By noon, Father Jiang Changtian came to see his daughter, bringing with him a person whose finger was bloody.
It was a Yamen Runner whose finger had been chopped off. Jiang Changtian remembered that Mianmian was good at stopping bleeding, so he personally brought the man over.
Jiang Mianmian was very excited; finally, a patient had come.
Although it looked like Father had personally chopped it off and brought him over…
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