Chapter 17- A risky mission

 Zhang Yi prepares three different flasks, all with the new mixtures that may work. Ding Qi brings a full set of clothes very similar to his own, but a bit bigger as Zhang Yi is taller:

-Hey, here we have, Zhang Yi. I think they will fit you nicely, but this outfit is tight, not loose as the one you use.
-No problem. I used to wore this kind of clothing when doing experiments, as my long sleeves could accidentally drop something inside my lab and create a mess.

Zhang Yi takes the set and changes in the bathroom. Meanwhile, Yu Lexuan and Ding Qi chat:

-Zhang Yi is so talented, Yu Lexuan... I hope my counselours had one-tenth of the talent he has...
-You may have to change them in the future. 
-I'll definitely do it, they are so unruly to me. I have no problem if they have different opinions, but Zhang Yi said something so sensible, so obvious...

After about a minute, Zhang Yi returns from the bathroom, now using the set Ding Qi has given him:

-You look even better using these new clothes, Zhang YI! - Yu Lexuan moves around him.
-A good fit!- Ding Qi smiles.
-Yes, I liked your clothes, they are tight but also very comfortable to wear. 
-You can ask me if you want to keep this set for you, take it as a gift- Ding Qi gets closer to him.
-Thank you majesty, I surely will accept it. I'll kindly take my leave. 
-Take care!- Yu Lexuan hugs him from behind- And I loved the way this outfit makes your curves more prominent - He whispers on his right ear and smiles.

Zhang Yi giggles and takes the flasks with him. As the hospital is less than a li away, he dismisses Wang as no directions are needed.

He puts on a face covering and gets to the hospital pretty quickly. He then asks one of the attendants:

-Hi, I suppose your majesty has asked you about sending him some information about people currently under treatment. I need to have a talk with a physician.
-Yes, I'll ask him to get there.
-Please, no need. Simply give some directions.
-Right, you just have to walk straight all the way until the end of the corridor, then you will find a small room. You should look for Zhang Xiaofan.
-Zhang Xiaofan... right, thank you. 

Zhang Yi follows the directions until he arrives in the room he wanted. Inside it, a relatively young man was filling some letters. He knocks on the wooden column:

-Hi, are you Zhang Xiaofan?

Zhang Xiaofan stops writing and looks at Zhang Yi:

-Hello, yes, this is my name. How can I help you? Do you have an appointment?

Zhang Yi smiles and enters the small room:

-No, I'm not here to get treatment, but to ask you some questions. I am Zhang Yi, health minister of Zhejiang, and we are investigating a new disease that was found in your city. Ding Qi probably requested a report from you about a day ago, didn't he?

Zhang Xiaofan raises an eyebrow:

-Right... what would you want?

Zhang Yi takes some of the flasks he brought out of a kind of purse:

-Inside these flasks, there is a solution that reacts to some pathogens. I have already tested the river water, and it was contaminated by a new pathogen. This also tells me how deadly or how fast the pathogen spreads. I need to test at least two people that are ill to confirm if the test is accurate. 
-That's a great invention! We have lots of ill people here, including people from the staff. Some have even died. We only managed to identify it as a kind of flu but is much stronger. Our medicine was unable to cure most of the cases, but we observed a time window of about 15 days when most people recover on their own. But they say that, although able to function normally, they lost some senses. Some even lost vision in one eye. The range of long-term effects seems to be quite large.
-Interesting... Please, let me test at least two patients that are ill, preferably one that has a light form of it, and another that is severely ill.
-Sure, let's get to the upper floor.

Zhang Yi accompanies Zhang Xiaofang upstairs until they get to the first patient, a 15-year-old male that was experiencing sickness and strong headaches:

-Zhang Xiaofan, please, get a drop of blood out of his finger. 
-Sure.

Zhang Xiaofan takes a very thin needle and pricks one of the patient's fingers. Zhang Yi positions the flask so the drop falls inside it.
As soon as it impacts the solution, it turns red in the same way it turned with the contaminated water. Zhang Xiaofan is impressed:

-This is like magic, so quick! 
-Yes, I have been perfecting it in the last decade. This patient is contaminated with the same disease I found in the river. Now, let's test one that is severely ill.

They walk to another room. The other patient is a 46-year-old male, who is also overweight. They repeat the same procedure, and Zhang Yi finds the same result:

-This definitely works.  
-We need it, Mr. Zhang! It will help us a lot!
-You will get it, plenty of. Now I know that it works. My work here is done. I thank you for helping me, Zhang Xiaofan.
-It was my pleasure to help you.
-Bye!

Zhang Yi returns to the guesthouse but waits outside. Ding Qi goes to meet him, and as Zhang Yi sees him, he gestures, asking for him to keep some distance:

-Please, Ding qi, do not get close to me, my clothes are infected.
-What can I do?

Put my clothes, a towel, and a bottle of detergent in a paper bag. I'll go to a nearby waterfall and change there. I can't get in contact with you, neither with my clothes, so keep the bag well sealed.
-Right, I'll bring it to you.

Ding Qi runs and does what Zhang Yi told him to. He leaves the paper bag on the floor, so Zhang Yi can take it safely:

-Thank you, I'll be back soon.

Zhang Yi moves to the woods and finds a small waterfall. He removes all the clothes, buries them, and goes under the waterfall. He spreads the detergent all over his body and waits for a couple of minutes:

-This will probably work well. No pathogen usually survives exposure to any kind of detergent.

He then washes and dries himself off, putting back his usual garment. He walks back to the guesthouse, and is welcomed by Yu Lexuan:

-Are you ok?
-Yes, and I have good news: my test actually worked! 
-That's nice!- Yu Lexuan celebrates.
-A great achievement, Zhang Yi!- Ding Qi also cheers up. 
-We now only need to make a larger amount of it and start testing. I think we should test the gatekeepers first, after that, the staff of the hospital. And then everyone else, especially the ones closer to Ding Qi. Fortunately, the amount needed to test each people is very small, so I'm pretty sure we may get almost half of the population tested. 
-That's excellent, Zhang Yi. We need to talk about it tomorrow so my counselors may change their minds.
-I'll try my best.

Yu Lexuan smiles while thinking:

-Feng Long will not believe in the amount of progress we have made here in such a short time... Zhang Yi, you are the best!

...

◄Previous chapter                  Next Chapter►