Chapter 241: Preventing Trouble Before It Happens

Previously, Gu Xixi, He Jinglan, and Shitou had already reached a consensus.

To avoid frightening Zhang Shen and Lao Langzhong, and to prevent any disturbance in the village,

the matter of today's home being broken into by a knife-wielding thief must be kept completely secret, and no details may be leaked to anyone.

(In He Jinglan's explanation to little Shitou, the organized, premeditated assassin turned into a robber solely after money.)

Shitou agreed to keep the secret strictly, and promised that even his closest friend, Gouwa, would not hear a word from him.

Gu Xixi originally thought the matter would just pass like that.

But right now, Lao Langzhong flared his nostrils, his brows gradually furrowed, as if he had sensed something.

Gu Xixi and He Jinglan exchanged a silent glance.

Their thoughts in unison: It's over!

Lao Langzhong turned to the two young ladies and said, "This place just now..."

He Jinglan sucked in a cold breath.

Gu Xixi forced a smile and replied, "I just swept the floor, saw it was hot, and sprinkled some water."

"Mugwort water?" Lao Langzhong said.

He raised his hand to smooth his messy white beard, nodded, and said, "I knew it—nothing can escape my nose!"

Gu Xixi was greatly startled.

What exactly had the master smelled? In the blink of an eye, she had already considered every possibility.

Medicinal smell?

Bloody smell?

Corpse smell?

But for safety's sake, before calling He Jinglan and Shitou back, she had already swept up the scattered poison and the blood‑stained floating soil.

Afterwards, to thoroughly eliminate the odor, she splashed water and swept twice, then finally sprayed mugwort water that dispels smell and impurity.

Could it still be detected after all that?

All those thoughts flashed through Gu Xixi's mind, yet in reality it was only a moment or two.

Only see Lao Langzhong's brow relax, and he actually smiled with relief.

"I originally wanted to come back today to talk about this matter."

"But you already have this awareness—that's very good."

Huh? Gu Xixi and He Jinglan looked at each other, puzzled.

He Jinglan silently asked, "What's going on?"

Gu Xixi shook her head, not knowing.

Lao Langzhong continued, "Malaria—our sect's founder long ago discovered that mosquitoes can transmit malaria between people."

"It might be due to the blood‑sucking process of the mosquitoes, but the exact cause… still needs investigation."

"Xixi, you sprayed mugwort water to repel mosquitoes; although the effect is slight, you having this awareness is exactly what the master had in mind."

Gu Xixi startled, "Malaria? Mosquito repellent?"

She suddenly realized, "Oh… right, in summer we should guard against mosquitoes."

He Jinglan also breathed a sigh of relief and asked curiously, "Why did Old Jiang suddenly think of malaria? Is there anything wrong with today's patient?"

Lao Langzhong said, "Today's patient is fine—just a summer stomach‑intestinal imbalance; two doses of medicine will cure it."

"But when I ate at his house, I heard his mother mention a relative from her natal village who should raise alarm."

"In the scorching midsummer heat, while others complained of the heat, he kept shivering, rummaging through chests and cabinets for thick quilts to wrap himself in. People were sweating and exhausted, yet he kept trembling, gradually unable to get out of bed, and died within a few days."

He Jinglan exclaimed, "Isn't that just chills and fever?"

She had also heard of this illness; those who suffer from chills and fever appear only in summer.

Some people regard this illness as demonic possession, dancing to shamans and drinking talisman water.

But in the end, eight or nine out of ten cases go untreated.

Lao Langzhong nodded, "From the symptoms I heard, it sounds like malaria."

"However, it's said that no one else in that village has contracted the same disease."

"Perhaps it isn't malaria, or perhaps we were lucky and it didn't spread from him to others."

Saying this, Lao Langzhong energetically declared, "I need to go prepare a mosquito‑repelling medicine; simply boiling mugwort alone is far from enough."

He Jinglan agreed, "It's not just about preventing malaria—mosquito bites are also annoying!"

Gu Xixi felt a faint unease in her heart.

She knew that ancient malaria had no specific cure, and historical records documented the grim scenes of malaria epidemics.

Yet it spreads through blood and mother‑to‑child transmission, with a very high mortality rate.

He Jinglan keenly sensed Gu Xixi's emotional shift and comforted her, "Xixi, don't worry—it might not really be an epidemic."

"Didn't you hear Old Jiang say that no one else in that village has been infected again?"

Gu Xixi smiled at her and said, "I'm fine."

Besides mother‑to‑child, malaria does not spread from person to person.

Compared to other infectious diseases that spread rapidly among humans, malaria is much more controllable.

Just as Lao Langzhong said, this disease might not cause a large‑scale outbreak locally.

However, Gu Xixi still felt she needed to take preventive measures to feel at ease—mosquito control should start at home.

As she calculated, she said, "The window screens at home need reinforcing. The mosquito nets are newly replaced, so there's no problem."

"All that remains is this gap at the doorway—only the door curtain isn't tight enough; we must make a few screen doors."

"In summer the house is hot; during the day people keep the doors shut tight, which would surely be unbearably stuffy."

A screen door can solve this problem; it keeps out mosquitoes and rodents without hindering ventilation.

At home we still have leftover material from the window screen we put up in spring.

Measuring dimensions, cutting wood strips, nailing the edge frame, installing hinges……

He Jinglan stood by to give Gu Xixi a hand, helping to hold and pass things.

As the first screen door was about to be finished, Zhang Shen returned home in the glow of the setting sun.

She still smelled faintly of alcohol, and she swayed a withered, yellow, bent little shoot in her hand.

"Xixi, could you take a look and see what's wrong with this?"

Gu Xixi looked up and said, "Buckwheat sprouts?"

Compared to the manual work she was doing, something in her line of expertise let her handle it with ease.

"This is buckwheat damping-off disease; it usually occurs after the shoots emerge."

Zhang Shen said, "It really is diseased."

"The buckwheat that Zhao Meipo planted—her seedlings suddenly turned like this; she saw the other seedlings also gradually turning yellow, and she kept saying they couldn't be saved, worrying that she wouldn't be able to eat buckwheat noodles this year."

"We were drinking this wine, and in the end I ended up keeping her company while she drank to drown her sorrows."

Gu Xixi understood, smiled, and said, "It can be treated."

Zhang Shen said delightedly, "Really?"

Gu Xixi nodded, "Except for the ones in your hand that are beyond saving, the others can still be taken care of."

Zhang Shen said proudly, "I'll just tell that old woman to let my Xixi take a look; maybe it won't come to total loss."

Gu Xixi lowered her head and continued hammering nails, "I still have the medicine I prepared earlier; I'll take a packet later and you can deliver it to her."

"Just mix it with water and it's ready to use; the directions and dosage are written on it."

"That Zhao Meipo can write the roster, so she must be literate, right?"

Zhang Shen laughed, "She's like me—she doesn't know many characters."

"The booklet was written for her by someone in the village who has had schooling."

"It's fine; she can just have that person read it aloud to her."

Zhang Shen still had a bit of alcohol in her system and now wanted to find someone to talk to.

So she sat down nearby and then sighed,

"Zhao Meipo values that half-mu of buckwheat the most, and there's a reason for that."

"Seeing her always laughing and going around making matches, who would have known she also harbors a bellyful of bitterness."

He Jinglan was very supportive, "Oh? There's a story behind growing buckwheat?"