Chapter Sixty-Six: The Whole Story

Xie Qingtang gazed at the crowd standing at the entrance, aggressive and full of anger, her heart riddled with confusion. She had only been away from the Hall of Kindness for a single day, yet something had happened to provoke such a commotion at its doors.

Moreover, during this time, the patient suffering from schistosomiasis in the backyard had never left the Hall, so why did the onlookers speak as if several new cases of schistosomiasis had appeared in the city?

Determined to unravel the sequence of events, Xie Qingtang instructed Zhou Jinfan to close the Hall’s door and followed him into the backyard.

“What on earth happened? I was gone for only a day—what occurred? Has schistosomiasis begun to spread in the city?” Xie Qingtang asked, her brows slightly furrowed.

Zhou Jinfan nodded quickly, but then shook his head, swallowing to moisten his throat, hoarse from earlier shouting. He finally replied, “There have indeed been a few new cases of schistosomiasis in the city. The patients have been admitted to Gu’s Hospital, but there hasn't been widespread transmission yet. And somehow, news got out that we have a patient with schistosomiasis here in the Hall’s backyard.”

“These ignorant bystanders believe the disease originated from our Hall and have come to cause trouble for us. It’s both foolish and infuriating.”

Listening to his account, Xie Qingtang’s brow creased further. She had previously suspected that Yun Niang’s elder brother contracted schistosomiasis from swimming in a contaminated pond.

But city dwellers would never swim in such filthy waters, so how could there be new patients infected with schistosomiasis?

Could there be another source of infection? This possibility made Xie Qingtang feel a surge of unease. Schistosomiasis was easily treated if caught early, but if people realized too late, the consequences could be grave.

At that moment, Yun Niang emerged from her room, her head lowered, an odd expression on her face. She glanced at Xie Qingtang and Zhou Jinfan, who were deep in discussion, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

“Yun Niang, what’s wrong? Is there something you want to tell us?” Xie Qingtang paused and turned to her.

Yun Niang twisted the faded hem of her dress, then raised her head, her face flushed with embarrassment. “Doctor Xie, I’m so sorry. It seems I’m the one who let it slip.”

Her words cast a chill over the entire backyard. Xie Qingtang’s brows drew together; she had already suspected as much, but needed confirmation. “What do you mean?”

“I told them my elder brother was staying in the Hall’s backyard.” Yun Niang’s shame was so profound she couldn’t meet their eyes; after all, the crowd outside the Hall was there because of her careless words.

It turned out that after Xie Qingtang left the day before, Yun Niang, seeing Zhou Jinfan overwhelmed, helped him in the front hall once her brother was resting.

The patients came to collect their medicine and, unfamiliar with Yun Niang, asked why she was there.

Naturally open and friendly, Yun Niang explained that her elder brother had schistosomiasis and was being treated at the Hall.

She never imagined that this news would spread like wildfire through the nearby neighborhoods, leading to the scene Xie Qingtang returned to that morning.

To make matters worse, Gu’s Hospital had just admitted several patients with schistosomiasis. The residents assumed that Xie Qingtang had secretly treated a patient and hidden the fact, resulting in the outbreak.

With the truth revealed, Zhou Jinfan was momentarily at a loss, looking to Xie Qingtang for guidance.

“Doctor Xie, I truly apologize. Had I known a single careless word would cause such trouble for you, I’d never have spoken it. It’s all my fault for not thinking before I speak,” Yun Niang said, her remorse so deep she slapped her own mouth.

Xie Qingtang stepped in front of her, silent for a long moment, then spoke: “Those who act in ignorance bear no guilt. The fault is not yours, but theirs, for their lack of understanding. Go back inside and take care of your brother. I’ll handle what happens outside.”

“Doctor Xie, thank you. I truly don’t know what to say.” Yun Niang, forgiven, still felt a lingering guilt as she returned to her room.

Zhou Jinfan approached, his brows knit. “So that’s how it happened. No wonder. But what about those new cases in the city? It’s impossible they were infected by her brother.”

“Of course not. It seems there are other sources of infection in the city. Let’s go outside. These rumor-mongers won’t listen to us anyway. Close the Hall’s doors—I have more pressing matters to attend to.” Xie Qingtang’s thoughts lingered on the forbidden grounds, leaving her little patience for this disturbance.

In the end, the truth would emerge, so she was in no hurry. Zhou Jinfan closed the Hall’s doors, which only led the neighbors to suspect guilt and secrecy.

Across the street, Gu’s Hospital was overwhelmed by the influx of schistosomiasis patients. The disease, highly infectious, required that all patients be isolated for individual treatment.

“Mr. Gu, those troublemakers have blocked the Hall completely. Should we help Miss Xie?” Li Zhao asked, standing behind Gu Xiujin.

Gu Xiujin, holding a book, turned a page and replied indifferently, “Did she ask for our help?”

That simple question left Li Zhao speechless. He thought to himself, Mr. Gu certainly holds grudges—he must still remember Xie Qingtang’s earlier words, telling them not to come to the Hall if they refused her medicine.

At that moment, Xie Qingtang was not at all flustered as people expected. Instead, she followed her previous experiments to prepare a powder that could resist the poisonous miasma of the forbidden grounds.

To ensure absolute safety, and uncertain how severe the toxins within might be, Xie Qingtang prepared ample medicine, packing it carefully into her bag.