Chapter 62

Besides fish and milk, there were also eel, snails, and some river shrimp. These were the dishes for the restaurant’s customers for the day, and there were quite a lot. The fish, eel, and snails could be kept for later, but some of the fish needed to be eaten today.

So, Xu Qinyu made all the milk into milk buns, cut the fish into pieces, and stewed it. She also made a fish meat soup. The fish meat was minced and mixed with eggs, some minced pork belly, and mung bean starch she made herself. She added a bit of salt, then ginger and scallion water in three batches, stirring vigorously in one direction. Finally, she steamed it over hot water for half an hour until it was cooked.

These things couldn’t be finished in two days and couldn’t be stored. There were many disaster victims outside, and to help them recover quickly, they needed not only medical treatment but also nutritional supplements. Since they couldn’t finish the food, Xu Qinyu decided to cook it all and send it to the disaster victims and the doctors who were treating them outside the town. This would help the victims recover quickly, register their households, and allow the people of Yuanbao Town to return to normal life sooner so Xu’s Food Mansion could open its doors again.

While Xu Qinyu was cooking, Cheng Ge’er, Xu Feng, and the four children, along with Da Niu, watched from the side. It was clear they were willing to learn cooking from Xu Qinyu. Gong Ge’er, however, couldn’t stay still. Whether standing or sitting, he felt like ants were crawling on him after a while. He didn’t seem to have a talent for cooking, so he didn’t force himself and was happy to run errands and do odd jobs for Fourth Sister-in-law.

When Xu Qinyu was stewing the fish, she sent Gong Ge’er to the county office to inform the county magistrate that she had made breakfast and would have the yamen officers take it to the disaster victims and doctors outside the town. She also instructed Gong Ge’er to tell the county magistrate that the yamen officers should cover their mouths and noses while distributing the food to prevent the spread of disease.

The dishes and chopsticks used should be washed with water and then scalded with hot water. Anything that goes into the mouth must be clean and scalded with hot water. Additionally, after distributing the food, the yamen officers should clean her pots outside the town, scald them with boiling water, and return them to her.

The county magistrate was worried about the food for the disaster victims outside the town. Seeing that Young Lady Xu was willing to help, he was very grateful and asked Gong Ge’er to convey his thanks to Xu Qinyu.

As soon as Xu Qinyu finished making breakfast, the yamen officers arrived. She kept some milk buns, fish meat soup, and a pot of stewed fish for herself, and had the rest loaded onto a donkey cart to be sent outside the town.

Smelling the aroma, the yamen officers couldn’t help but swallow their saliva. They thought the disaster victims were lucky to be able to eat the breakfast made by Young Lady Xu. These yamen officers usually only came to Xu’s Food Mansion once a month to satisfy their cravings. But they knew the food was for the disaster victims, so they didn’t dare to eat it and immediately sent it outside the town.

The soldiers guarding the town gate smelled the aroma from afar and turned to see the yamen officers driving two donkey carts over. The carts were loaded with several large wooden basins and two large iron pots.

When the yamen officers drove the donkey cart to the town gate and told the soldiers that it was for the disaster victims outside the town, the soldiers let them through, eagerly eyeing the breakfast in the wooden basins and iron pots.

The yamen officers parked the cart under a wooden shed and had the disaster victims place their bowls several feet away, avoiding direct contact, and distributed the breakfast.

This time, Xu Qinyu made the milk buns larger than those sold in the restaurant, each about the size of two adult fists. They weren’t the kind that would collapse with a squeeze and could be stuffed into the mouth in one bite. The milk buns were thick and filling; one was enough to satisfy a child. However, considering that the disaster victims had been hungry for a long time and had large appetites, Xu Qinyu instructed the yamen officers to give each adult a bowl of fish soup and three milk buns while the children received a bowl of fish meat soup and two milk buns.

Besides the disaster victims, the two doctors under the wooden shed also perked up at the smell, eagerly looking at the wooden basins and large pots.

One of the doctors, in his twenties, whispered, “This smell seems like the milk buns and stewed fish from Xu’s Food Mansion. My wife has bought the stewed fish from Xu’s Food Mansion at the entrance and the breakfast milk buns, too. The taste is exactly the same, really fragrant.”

The milk buns were the cheapest item on the breakfast menu. His family was poor; otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken this risk for twenty tals of silver.

The yamen officers shouted from a distance, “Young Lady Xu said this is breakfast, and dinner will also be delivered. Don’t save your rations; remember to eat it all. Eating well will help you recover faster. Come and get your bowls. The fish pieces are for adults, and the fish meat soup is for children and seriously ill patients.”

The disaster victims quickly went to retrieve their bowls, still wearing the gauze masks distributed by the county magistrate, which were soaked in Huo Xiang water.

The doctors said that Huo Xiang could treat diarrhea, and Young Lady Xu also mentioned that it was best to soak the gauze masks covering the mouth and nose in medicinal water. So, the county magistrate had the two doctors outside the town boil a lot of Huo Xiang water for the disaster victims to drink, and the rest was used to soak the gauze masks. Ordinary citizens in the town could also buy some Huo Xiang to boil and drink.

The disaster victims returned with their bowls, swallowing hard, unable to resist taking a bite of the milk bun. Then, their eyes widened.

The children, already thin as bean sprouts, cautiously nestled in their parents’ arms, asked, “Mom, what is this food? It smells so good. Is it really for us?”

With tears in their eyes, the adults said, “Yes, children, eat quickly.” They fed their children the fish meat soup, bite by bite.

The children, unable to describe the taste, opened their mouths wide in surprise and said, “Mom, this is so delicious. Mom, this is so fragrant and delicious.” Even before the famine, they had never eaten such tasty buns.

These disaster victims saw that the breakfast provided was plentiful and consisted of fine white flour buns. On their journey of fleeing, they had never eaten such refined food, and it even had a milky aroma. They thought about saving it for later, but they couldn’t stop eating, bite after bite. Before they knew it, they had finished three buns and a bowl of fish pieces, savoring the delicious taste.

Some of the victims who had initially thought of running away even considered that if they could eat such meals for breakfast and dinner, it would be worth staying, even if they died here. They decided not to run away.

These victims were obedient. After eating, they fetched water, boiled it, and thoroughly cleaned their bowls and chopsticks.

The water was well water brought out from the town for their use.

The yamen officers also cleaned Xu’s Food Mansion’s wooden basins and iron pots, scalded them with hot water, and returned them.

After finishing breakfast with everyone at the restaurant, Xu Qinyu was making grape wine. These wild grapes had been washed to remove surface dirt, but the layer of white frost on them was left intact. This natural fruit frost could help ferment the wine to produce a better flavor.

After crushing the grapes, she placed them in a wine jar without oil or water and added a layer of rock sugar. In fact, making grape wine also required attention to the ratio of grapes to rock sugar. Otherwise, the taste of the wine would vary. Too much sugar would make it too sweet, while too little would make it bitter or sour.

Xu Qinyu had a natural sense for food and knew how much rock sugar to add without measuring. The wine jar should not be filled too full, or it would overflow during fermentation. The mouth of the jar should not be sealed too tightly. She made nearly twenty jars of grape wine, using a lot of rock sugar, almost depleting the sugar she had previously bought. She planned to sell the grape wine for profit, not too cheaply. Some would be kept at the restaurant, and the rest would be sent to Raozhou City to sell, where there were many wealthy merchants and officials.

Of course, this amount of grape wine would not be enough to sell. She originally planned to have Gong Ge’er and the others continue picking grapes on the mountain today to make more wine, aiming for one or two hundred jars. But now, they couldn’t go up the mountain. They would wait until the disaster victims recovered before going out of town. There were plenty of wild grapes, and they wouldn’t all ripen at once. Due to insufficient sunlight and rain, some would ripen more slowly.

In the evening, Xu Qinyu steamed bean rice with grass carp, braised the fish head, and made a thick, white fish soup with the fish bones. Not a bit of the fish was wasted. The fish soup only had some salt and scallions added, as there was no tofu. Tofu was usually bought at noon, but no one was selling vegetables today. Despite this, the fish soup was still very delicious.

Grass carp rice is made by slicing the fish body into pieces, adding ginger shreds, scallion segments, salt, Huadiao wine, soy sauce, and a bit of five-spice powder, and marinating for 30 minutes. When the bean rice starts to bubble and thicken, the marinated fish slices are evenly spread on top of the bean rice and simmered for less than 15 minutes until cooked.

She had previously made pork rib rice for her family but had never made fish slice rice. The taste was equally good, with the fish slices being tender and fresh. The bean rice was made with soaked beans and polished rice, each grain distinct. It absorbed the freshness and oil of the fish slices, making it shiny and incredibly fragrant.

Today, the fish was completely used up. The stewed fish head was sent to the yamen to improve the meals of the yamen officers, while the fish slice rice and fish bone soup were sent outside the town.

The disaster victims were completely relieved to see that dinner had indeed been delivered to them. After eating the fish slice rice and drinking a bowl of fish bone soup, they felt dazed, wondering if they had already died. Otherwise, how could they eat such delicious food? Even in their dreams, they couldn’t imagine such tasty meals.

After eating delicious food for a day, even the two doctors staying under the wooden shed at the town gate were no longer listless. They were full of energy, diagnosing and preparing medicinal soups for the disaster victims. Even those who had not yet been infected were given some Huo Xiang water or other medicinal soups to drink.

The next day, Xu Qinyu prepared eel porridge and fresh shrimp porridge for breakfast. The grass carp, milk, eel, and river shrimp sent by Uncle He the previous day were all used up, leaving only some large field snails. She had Cheng Ge’er lead Xu Feng and the others to smash the snail meat, clean it, and make it into pepper-salt snail meat to satisfy everyone’s cravings.

In the evening, there were no ingredients left except for some live poultry and eggs.

At noon, Xu Qinyu went to find Butcher Tian, intending to buy some bone tubes. The bones with the meat removed were cheap and could be used to make soup. In the evening, she could cook some bone tube soup noodles for the disaster victims.

Knowing that Miss Xu was making food for the disaster victims, Butcher Tian didn’t charge her for the bones and said, “Young Lady Xu is kind-hearted. I don’t have many bones left. Young Lady Xu, please wait for half an hour. I’ll gather some from other butchers and send them all to Xu’s Food Mansion. Young Lady Xu, you can go back and rest first.”

These bones were already sold cheaply, and the butchers didn’t charge any money. So, dinner was bone tube soup noodles, with a poached egg and a few amaranth leaves on top, looking very appetizing.

In summer, there was plenty of amaranth, which was sold cheaply. Butcher Tian also bought it for Xu Qinyu.

Xu Qinyu had been busy for two days, and everyone else was also helping out by washing, selecting, and cutting vegetables and cleaning the kitchen.

Xu Qinyu returned after having dinner at the restaurant. She went back to Osmanthus Alley first, while Cheng Ge’er and the others cleaned up the restaurant before returning.

When Cheng Ge’er and Gong Ge’er were on their way back, they met some neighbors. Although everyone was staying at home, they occasionally opened their courtyard doors and stood at the entrance to look outside. Naturally, they saw Cheng Ge’er and Gong Ge’er returning with their mouths and noses covered.

The neighbors around Osmanthus Alley recognized the two boys and greeted them, “Cheng Ge’er, Gong Ge’er, why are you still running around outside?”

The two young boys scratched their heads and said, “We just came back from the restaurant. There are still some ingredients there. Fourth Sister-in-law thought that the disaster victims outside the town might not have any food, and she said that they need to eat well to recover quickly. Once the disaster victims’ diarrhea is cured, the people of Yuanbao Town can also resume their lives sooner. So, for the past two days, Fourth Sister-in-law has been cooking food at the restaurant and sending it to the disaster victims and doctors outside the town.”

The neighbors were a bit puzzled at first, but then they remembered that Young Lady Xu had always been kind-hearted. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have sold cheap fish and meat to them.

The neighbors thought they should help out too. They couldn’t let Young Lady Xu bear all the burden alone. So, they brought whatever they had at home: a bundle of firewood, a couple of vegetables, or a few handfuls of rice.

This news spread to a few nearby alleys, and everyone sent whatever they could. Some slightly wealthier families sent chickens, ducks, or a couple of pounds of meat, some white flour, and polished rice to Xu’s Food Mansion’s restaurant.

Not only that, but even the wealthy merchants from East Street and West Street, who often dined at Xu’s Food Mansion, heard about this and sent a lot of ingredients and rice to Xu’s Food Mansion, praising Young Lady Xu’s generosity. However, this happened two or three days later.

Xu Qinyu was no longer short of ingredients and even had some surplus. She planned to give the remaining rice and grains to the disaster victims once they recovered so they would have some food and could live better in the coming days.

In the following days, Xu Qinyu became even more creative in cooking for the disaster victims. She used the wild mushrooms she picked from the mountains. Some were kept for her family, and the rest were ordinary mushrooms that couldn’t be poisonous. She stewed them with chicken to make mushroom chicken soup. She was worried that the disaster victims might recognize the mushrooms and go to the mountains to pick them, risking picking poisonous ones.

So, she tore the mushrooms into small pieces and stewed them in the chicken soup until they were soft and mushy, making it hard to tell what they were. But the taste was exceptional. The chicken soup was rich and delicious, and the chicken was tender and melted in the mouth, not dry at all. The disaster victims ate it in a daze, forgetting that they were infected with the plague and might not have long to live.

The disaster victims outside the town had been living like this for two days. The two doctors found that they were still healthy and had not contracted the diarrhea disease. They were overjoyed and cried, realizing that the preventive measures suggested by the county magistrate were effective. They believed that the diarrhea disease could be controlled, and there was no need to burn the disaster victims to death.

Seeing that the two doctors outside the town had not contracted the diarrhea disease, the doctors and residents inside the town were very surprised.

Hearing about Young Lady Xu’s righteous deeds at Xu’s Food Mansion, several old doctors felt ashamed and decided to go outside the town to help treat the diarrhea patients.

With the addition of several old doctors, they took preventive measures, diagnosed the patients, and prescribed new medicines for the seriously ill patients.

These patients were placed under a grove of trees. The southwestern summer was not very hot, and the trees provided shade, so it was not too sunny. The disaster victims and diarrhea patients just ate and slept, and slept and ate, without any worries during this period. With more doctors, they took their medicine properly, followed the county magistrate’s instructions, covered their mouths and noses, and washed their hands frequently. Initially, there were about twenty diarrhea patients, and in the past two days, seven or eight more appeared. These were likely already infected but showed symptoms only after two days. No new cases appeared.

There were about a hundred disaster victims. After another two or three days, there were still only twenty-seven diarrhea patients, and the doctors felt more at ease.

In such cases, diarrhea disease among disaster victims usually spreads rapidly, infecting everyone. But this time, it seemed to be under control.

The disaster victims also realized they had hope and became more optimistic. They eagerly awaited their meals, looking forward to dinner after breakfast.

After another two or three days, several mild diarrhea patients had fully recovered, bringing great joy to the disaster victims, who saw hope.

However, some diarrhea patients were particularly severe, including the woman Xu Qinyu first saw being carried by a man. She was almost always in a semi-comatose state, with a deathly pallor. Her husband had to force food into her mouth, and she mainly consumed soups and liquids. After a few days of eating, the woman was more awake and could eat milk buns, bean rice, and vegetables. Another seriously ill patient was a ten-year-old girl. Her family had never given up on her, carrying her all the way. Initially, she could only drink soups and liquids. Once she could eat solid food, she ate voraciously, and her condition gradually improved, surprising even the doctors.

Others didn’t know, but these patients were motivated by the delicious food, which ignited their will to live. They didn’t want to wait for death; they wanted to live well and continue enjoying such divine delicacies.

So, the severely ill patients gradually improved, except for one elderly person who couldn’t hold on. After drinking medicinal soup for a few days, he passed away in the morning. His family didn’t cry or make a fuss. They even thought that their father was fortunate to have eaten such delicious food before he died. Following the county magistrate’s instructions, they collected some firewood, burned the body, and placed the ashes in a jar, planning to bury him once they found a suitable place.

Seeing the patients improve day by day, not only did the doctors cry with joy, but even the soldiers guarding the town gate were excited.

Despite this, the disaster victims and the doctors did not relax. They covered their mouths and noses daily, washed their hands and bathed frequently with boiled water, and soaked their clothes in boiling hot water every day. Even the disaster victims’ belongings were scalded with boiling water daily.

After about half a month, except for the elderly person who didn’t make it, all the diarrhea patients were cured.

The county magistrate was overjoyed and cried with happiness. He even wanted to bow to Young Lady Xu because this showed that the plague could be controlled with these methods and that in the future, even more difficult-to-cure plagues could be prevented from spreading, giving people a chance to survive instead of waiting for death.

With the patients cured, the grove where they lived was also burned with strong liquor.

Since the disaster victims had recovered, Xu Qinyu had the county magistrate distribute the surplus food to them so they could cook for themselves.

Now that the diarrhea disease was cured, the county magistrate still couldn’t easily arrange for the disaster victims’ resettlement. They had to stay outside the town temporarily because their diarrhea disease needed to be reported to the prefect. So, the county magistrate wrote a letter and sent it urgently to the prefect’s office in Raozhou City.

The prefect of Raozhou City, Zhu Wenyin, was already fifty years old. His hair was mixed with white, but his complexion was rosy, and he was still relatively healthy. Half a month ago, he received a letter from the county magistrate of Yuanbao Town, informing him that there were disaster victims there, and even cases of diarrhea disease among them. Prefect Zhu took this matter very seriously.

Plagues were a major issue, and even though he had decision-making power, he still needed to report to the court. So, he wrote a memorial and prepared to send it urgently to the capital.

However, Prefect Zhu calculated that it would take two or three days to rush from Raozhou City to the capital, and another two or three days for the court to send a reply. This round trip would take six days. The county magistrate’s letter stated that as long as the source of infection was controlled and the doctors treated the patients, the diarrhea disease could be cured in about half a month.

Prefect Zhu knew what the court’s secret letter would say: to kill all the disaster victims to eliminate the source of the plague.

Prefect Zhu stayed up all night, thinking it over, and decided to trust the county magistrate of Yuanbao Town once. This county magistrate, Yang, was a good official who cared for the people. He decided to give him a chance to see if the diarrhea disease among the disaster victims could be cured. If it could, this preventive method would be a great act of kindness for the people and could be used to better deal with plague sources in the future.

So, Prefect Zhu’s memorial was sent to the capital five days ago, giving the patients time.

Before receiving the court’s secret letter, Prefect Zhu first received a letter from County Magistrate Yang, delivered by Officer Xu. The letter stated that the disaster victims had recovered. After implementing the preventive measures, out of 113 disaster victims, only 27 contracted diarrhea disease, and no new cases appeared. After half a month of treatment, only one seriously ill patient died, and the rest were cured.

After reading the letter, Prefect Zhu said “good” three times, very excited, and asked Officer Xu, “Who came up with the methods of covering the mouth and nose, washing hands with strong liquor, eating cooked food, and washing frequently?”

Officer Xu had received instructions from the county magistrate. Even though he knew it was Young Lady Xu’s method, he only said, “It was Lord Yang. He accidentally saw it in a travelogue before. I don’t know the details.”

Prefect Zhu smiled and said, “Lord Yang is a good official who cares for the people. He will surely be heavily rewarded when the court learns about this.”

In fact, not only in Yuanbao Town, but there were also disaster victims in three other villages under the jurisdiction of Raozhou City. After receiving the letter from County Magistrate Yang half a month ago, Prefect Zhu immediately sent people to the villages to diagnose the disaster victims. Indeed, there were diarrhea patients, and now all three villages were completely sealed off, treating and preventing the disease according to these methods.

However, the disaster victims in Yuanbao Town did not enter the town, so the impact was not significant. They only needed to treat these disaster victims. The two villages had more people, so it would definitely take longer.

Now, seeing that the patients in Yuanbao Town were completely cured, Prefect Zhu finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had been eating and drinking poorly these days, fearing that the disease could not be controlled and would spread diarrhea throughout the southwest. Fortunately, the patients in Yuanbao Town gave him hope.

Prefect Zhu told Officer Xu, “Go back and tell Lord Yang that these disaster victims can temporarily stay outside Yuanbao Town. Set up some oilcloth shelters for them. There is a water source nearby, and if food is not a problem, let them stay there for now. We will discuss further once the court’s letter arrives.”

Officer Xu nodded in agreement.

After he left, Prefect Zhu couldn’t help but sigh.

In the memorial he sent to the court, he also mentioned the methods suggested by County Magistrate Yang to prevent the spread of diarrhea. However, he feared that the person in the palace would not listen and insisted on killing all the disaster victims. He had already heard that a few days ago, diarrhea appeared among the disaster victims heading to the capital, and none of them survived. They were all killed outside the city by the new emperor’s order.

But these events happened at least a month ago, before these methods were known. Now that the methods were effective, Prefect Zhu wrote another memorial and sent it urgently to the capital, hoping that the new emperor would see these methods, be more compassionate, think more about the people, and be willing to try these methods instead of killing all the patients and disaster victims in various parts of the Great Sheng Dynasty.

The next day, the imperial envoy and the secret letter from the court arrived in Raozhou City.