Chapter 63.1

At the end of November 2002, while Jiang Rou was watching the news, she suddenly heard the female news anchor mention that there had been multiple cases of fever and headaches in F City recently. The public was advised to pay more attention to staying warm to prevent influenza.

Jiang Rou was not sure if it was SARS, but to be on the safe side, she immediately asked An An’s school teacher for leave, saying there was something happening at home and the child needed to take a leave for over a month.

In the kindergarten, where the parents’ work schedules were unpredictable, Jiang Rou was most worried about An An.

Fortunately, the kindergarten was not very strict, and taking leave was quite easy.

Li Xiao glanced at her and couldn’t help but ask, “Is it serious?”

Jiang Rou was unsure how to explain and felt anxious, but she still said, “I just have a bad feeling. Be careful yourself, avoid socializing recently, and make sure your factory employees stay indoors, including Zhou Jian.”

Li Xiao paused for a moment, nodded, and did not ask further.

Meanwhile, An An was very happy, knowing that she didn’t have to go to school. She smiled and said, “I want to go to the amusement park tomorrow.”

Jiang Rou patted her head and said, “Be good. Let’s try to stay home as much as possible for now, and I’ll make it up to you later.”

The next noon, after Jiang Rou finished lunch in the cafeteria, she went out to find a public phone booth. She made an anonymous call to the mayor’s hotline and the local disease prevention agency, alerting them that the recent cases of fever did not seem to be simple influenza and needed attention.

The staff on the other end of the line said they would report it to the higher authorities.

Jiang Rou was unsure if what she did would be effective, but she didn’t know what else to do.

After making the call, Jiang Rou went to a pharmacy and bought a lot of medical masks, medical alcohol disinfectant, and hand sanitizer. To avoid drawing attention to buying too much, she went to several pharmacies.

When she brought the items back home, she went to the market after school that afternoon and bought many vegetables to store in the refrigerator.

Jiang Rou also made a special trip to the neighboring Zhou family, informing them that the flu was not normal recently. She advised them to stay indoors as much as possible, buy more masks to keep at home, and always wear a mask when going out.

Although Mother Zhou found it odd, she thought that Jiang Rou, being a medical professional, must know something others didn’t. She hurriedly asked what was going on.

Jiang Rou couldn’t explain clearly and only mentioned what the teacher had told them. She said the flu mentioned in the news recently was very dangerous, potentially deadly, and highly contagious. She advised them to stay indoors as much as possible.

When she got home, Jiang Rou called Li Xin at the school and Aunt Wang back in her hometown, urging them to be extra cautious.

She even thought that if it were confirmed to be SARS in a few days, she would ask Li Xin to come back home.

In the afternoon, when Li Xiao came back, he was stunned to see the sofa piled with masks. He was carrying groceries and was about to put them in the refrigerator, only to find it already full.

Not seeing anyone at home, Li Xiao asked An An to watch TV while he tidied up the masks on the sofa and put them into the cabinet.

After finishing, he went to the kitchen to cook. After frying two dishes, Jiang Rou returned home with four large bags of masks. With so many masks, it would be enough for the whole family to use for six months.

An An looked back and happily said, “Mommy—”

Although she was happy not to go to school today, she was also quite bored. Seeing her mother, she dashed over.

Jiang Rou patted her on the head.

Li Xiao came out of the kitchen with a spatula and glanced at the items she brought back. He didn’t say anything but said, “You should rest for a while. It’ll be ready soon.”

Jiang Rou nodded.

At dinner, Jiang Rou, ignoring An An’s pout, switched from the cartoon channel to the news broadcast, hoping to see any updates on SARS. However, there were none that day.

But Jiang Rou was still uneasy. Although she had no clear memory of SARS, she was deeply affected by the pandemic that had caused global panic. Their school was on a closed campus, which was better, but ordinary universities had even switched to online classes.

Seeing Jiang Rou so anxious, Li Xiao also felt uneasy. The next day, he had the factory thoroughly disinfected and set up several sinks at the cafeteria entrance for employees to wash their hands before meals.

One advantage of their factory was its relatively remote and enclosed location. It could meet employees’ basic needs, and aside from weekends, employees hardly went out.

Li Xiao wasn’t foolish. Although he didn’t ask anything directly, he guessed from Jiang Rou’s reaction that something serious might be happening. Using the excuse of approaching the end of the year, he had employees work overtime on weekends, with overtime pay doubled. Even though the employees couldn’t go out, they were quite willing to do so.

Zhou Jian was also unsure of what Li Xiao was hinting at, but he still followed his instructions and made sure to wear a mask whenever he went out and met people.

It wasn’t long before schools and various organizations received notifications about the severe flu at the end of the year, reminding everyone to take precautions.

However, since the flu was severe every autumn and winter, many people did not take these reminders seriously. Even though Jiang Rou had seriously warned her classmates and Dong Mingming, they only responded with brief acknowledgments and did not pay much attention.

It wasn’t until January, when local news began to report more about SARS, that people started to take notice. At that time, the internet was not very developed, and Jiang Rou, who watched the news every morning and evening, noticed an increase in reports about the flu. Since SARS resembled the flu—fever and cough—many people had difficulty distinguishing between the two and treated any symptoms like headaches and fever as ordinary colds.

As more cases emerged, people began to notice the differences. Jiang Rou was currently interning at a hospital, preparing for her graduate school entrance exams. Her supervising traditional Chinese medicine doctor had not assigned her many tasks, allowing her to help occasionally and read during her free time. During lunch in the cafeteria, she encountered Ning Xin, who informed her that many patients with fever and unconsciousness had recently been admitted to the hospital.

Ning Xin, who had a boyfriend in his third year of medical school—two years her senior and specializing in respiratory medicine—said, “My boyfriend said that the hospital wards are almost full, which is terrifying. Two people even died last night. Now, the hospital has isolated all the medical staff who had contact with those patients and called me to be careful. He advised me to wear masks and use disinfectant when going out. You should be careful too. It’s really frightening.”

Jiang Rou’s face tightened upon hearing this.

Ning Xin’s face also showed concern, unsure if her boyfriend might be in danger.

—o—o—o—

In the following days, Jiang Rou noticed that the traditional Chinese medicine respiratory department downstairs had many more patients than usual. This was unusual as the department rarely had so many visitors. Jiang Rou was in the traditional Chinese medicine obstetrics and gynecology department, where her supervising traditional Chinese medicine doctor specialized in women’s health, gynecological issues, and infertility.

Their department had not seen many patients recently and was even quieter than usual. She wondered if the increased news coverage about SARS had led to fewer people going out.

Even Li Xiao, who initially took a more relaxed attitude, had become very cautious in recent days, frequently reminding Jiang Rou to be careful when going to the hospital.

Just as Jiang Rou was feeling uneasy, Dong Mingming suddenly called her. With the year-end approaching and being in her senior year, Dong Mingming had hardly come to school. The students in their major had been assigned internships at large companies, and Dong Mingming herself had a company. Although it was a small company her father had casually given her, it was now starting to make a profit under her management.

Dong Mingming was highly capable and had become much more adept at navigating social situations. She maintained good relations with several major shareholders’ children from her father’s company. Her father could no longer control her as much because, no matter what her father did, she would find out through other means. She even bought birthday gifts for her father’s child from another relationship, maintaining a harmonious relationship.

Whether out of guilt or some other reason, her father had become very accommodating towards her and even arranged a general manager position for her at the main company.

While Jiang Rou was taking a break to read, she answered the phone without much thought, “Mingming?”

After a brief silence on the line, and as Jiang Rou wondered if Dong Mingming had accidentally dialed her, she heard Dong Mingming’s somewhat restrained voice, “Jiang Rou, my father is ill.”

Jiang Rou had not heard Dong Mingming refer to her father in a long time. Usually, she would refer to him by name. It felt strange to her, but she still asked, “What’s the matter? How serious is it?”

“It seems quite serious. It’s the flu you warned me about earlier.”

Jiang Rou was shocked and stopped writing, unsure of what to say. “This…”

She quickly asked, “Are you okay? I told you that this illness spreads rapidly. Make sure not to come into close contact.”

Dong Mingming paused, “No, it’s my dad’s assistant who called my mother. He’s unconscious now and is being treated. My mother urgently called me to see if I knew anything.”

“He tricked my mother into thinking he was abroad for a conference, but he’s been staying at that small house outside. I don’t know how he got infected. I haven’t let my mother go, and I’ve remembered what you told me before.”

Jiang Rou fell silent for a moment, struggling to find words, “Try not to go. It’s quite dangerous.”

Dong Mingming suddenly let out a light laugh. “Didn’t you say that this illness has a high mortality rate? Isn’t this some sort of retribution? I’ve endured so much, thinking I’d have to put up with it for a long time, but unexpectedly, these tough days are finally coming to an end. I told my mother that there are people I know at the hospital, and I’ll sign the family agreement for her. In truth, I don’t want to go at all, nor do I want to provide any treatment. In my heart, he’s better off dead.”

Jiang Rou was left speechless.

Dong Mingming sighed. “Never mind, I can’t say these things to my mother or my boyfriend. I’m just telling you.”

Jiang Rou advised, “If you go to the hospital, make sure to take proper precautions. Don’t just wear a mask; you should wear medical protective clothing. This illness is really severe.”

Dong Mingming: “Mm.”

After hanging up, Jiang Rou remained worried.