Chapter 297: Chapter 297: Falling Ill One After Another
Before long, the two of them had finally made it back home.
Although they hadn’t eaten much, they didn’t feel hungry.
So they quickly embraced each other and drifted off to sleep.
It must be said that sleeping with someone is different—the experience is entirely unique.
Perhaps it’s really difficult to fall asleep alone, hard to truly enter the realm of dreams.
But with another person by one’s side, there’s a sense of much greater peace of mind.
The following day broke with the two of them hurriedly parting ways.
Naturally, they did not wish to separate, but everyone has their own matters to attend to; all adults, after all, cannot stay together all the time.
At that moment, Liu Zheng had finally returned to his clinic once again.
He hadn’t expected that, upon his return, he would find a large crowd of people waiting to see a doctor.
What’s more, everyone seemed to have similar symptoms.
Upon seeing Liu Zheng arrive, they all began speaking plaintively and endlessly.
"My goodness, Dr. Liu, you’re finally back. We have been waiting here for half the day, and we really feel awful."
"Yes, it’s strange. Just last night, I suddenly started to develop a fever, catch a cold, and have a runny nose."
"Right, and it seems that quite a few of us have the same symptoms now, no idea what’s going on."
"Ah, it’s truly unbearable. My child couldn’t even go to school today, showing the same symptoms as us."
"Me too, Dr. Liu, please take a good look and find out what’s happening."
Upon hearing their words, Liu Zheng gradually realized that something didn’t seem quite right.
He had never expected such a long queue.
On normal days, indeed there were many patients in his clinic with various minor ailments.
But today’s crowd was simply too large, which genuinely surprised him.
"Everyone, please don’t panic, I will open the door now, and then you can come in one by one, and we will see what’s wrong."
After he spoke, everyone nodded in agreement.
Quickly, he opened the door, and everyone filed in orderly.
Before long, they began to describe their symptoms to Liu Zheng.
"Last night, I suddenly felt very uncomfortable, and I kept throwing up, feeling this constant churning in my stomach."
"Yes, the same here, coupled with symptoms of a cold and a runny nose and sneezing."
"At the beginning, it was just me showing these symptoms at home, but soon after, others too."
"Right, right, I also heard people nearby starting to cough."
...
As everyone spoke one after another, Liu Zheng’s brows furrowed deeper.
If it were just one person, it might have been just a cold or some other condition.
But now there were so many people all exhibiting the same symptoms.
It was a little too strange.
Could it be influenza?
If not influenza, there was only one other possibility.
Poisoning.
As to what exactly was happening, he couldn’t be absolutely sure, so he began observing everyone’s condition, taking their pulse one by one.
"Please don’t worry, queue up slowly, one at a time. No cutting in line, and try not to panic."
Upon hearing him, how could they not know what to do? Although they were indeed very anxious, they would certainly maintain order and not cause a disturbance at this time.
Each person continued coughing incessantly, appearing to be in severe distress.
Moreover, there were children and elderly among the sick, with nearly every age group represented.
Seeing everyone in such pain, Liu Zheng observed them earnestly, hoping above all to treat them adequately.
After careful examination, he finally realized that they had indeed contracted the flu.
But it wasn’t clear where it had come from.
At that moment, he quickly began to write prescriptions for everyone.
The panicked crowd started asking questions, eager to know what was wrong with them.
"Doctor, what’s the matter with me? Why is my whole family like this?"
"Yes, it’s really alarming to have such an outbreak of illness in one night. It couldn’t be some major virus, could it?"
"Yeah, will we really be able to recover? I’m quite scared."
...
It was evident that there was a flicker of panic on everyone’s faces; they had never faced a situation like this before and did not know how to handle it now.
Soon, Liu Zheng began to reassure them.
"Everyone, please calm down. It seems to be a case of the flu this time. I have prescribed medication for all of you. In the coming days, remember to wear masks when you go out and keep your eating utensils separate from those who aren’t sick."
"In any case, you must take your medicine on time, and if possible, try to take time off to rest at home. Don’t go to work or school, because it might be contagious."
After he explained this, everyone finally understood what was happening.
At this point, they all nodded in agreement.
It seems that for now, they would have to put their work or studies on hold.
Lest their condition worsened, or they might risk infecting innocent people.
"Alright then, Doctor, when will we recover? I have an exam coming up, and any delays could impact my studies."
"Me too. I’ve just started a new job and it’s a busy period."
"Same here, when will we get better?"
After hearing their concerns, Liu Zheng could only shake his head helplessly and said,
"The situation doesn’t seem to be that simple. Since everyone’s physical constitution varies, the symptoms you experience will be different, which I believe you’ve already noticed."
Once he explained, everyone took a closer look and realized that indeed, this was true.
While everyone had some basic, common symptoms, there were other differences as well.
Thus, some might recover quickly while others more slowly.
