Chapter 1895 - Rebirth
Rebirth
All wars must end.
As the weather gradually turned cooler, newly reported cases decreased daily. On November 10th, the daily report showed zero new cases for the first time. In the epidemic prevention command center, the health department workers who had toiled for months erupted in thunderous cheers.
A smile also appeared on Lin Motian's face. Before this, he had been constantly anxious, fearing that his "textbook" handling contained some flaw—after all, he had been neither an epidemic prevention professional nor had he majored in infectious disease studies.
All his measures were based on accumulated knowledge from memorizing textbooks in medical school, materials from the library, and a small booklet called Epidemic Prevention Basics that Ryan had compiled in Kaohsiung. This pamphlet could barely be called a book—essentially just whatever Ryan thought of when he wrote it—but for Lin Motian it proved invaluable. These were all practical, hands-on resources, distinct from theoretical book knowledge.
Though he harbored some private complaints about Liu San, overall he was grateful to all his colleagues in the health department. In the darkest days, when rumors flew thick, only the health department had given him unreserved, complete support. Whether in manpower or resources, they had given their all.
Among the Guangzhou Municipal Government personnel, the one Lin Motian was most grateful to was his clansman, Deputy Mayor Lin Baiguang. Not only had he fully supported his work, but he had also provided invaluable guidance on practical operations—experience that proved priceless.
"Don't slacken. The war isn't over yet," Lin Motian told the workers. "The smoother things go, the less we can slacken—the disease could return at any time!"
Lin Motian intensified his supervision work—epidemic prevention had now continued for over three months. Whether municipal government naturalized cadres, police, National Army soldiers, Epidemic Prevention Battalion members, or health personnel... all had been working continuously in a state where they had no rest except for sleep. Each person worked at least twelve hours every day. The high-intensity work had left them all in a state of extreme mental and physical exhaustion.
With the situation gradually improving, complacency could easily set in—and one moment of complacency could very well cause the epidemic to rebound.
"I know everyone is very tired, but no matter how tired, we must persist," Lin Motian said constantly to frontline workers during his inspections. "This is the final decisive moment!"
Even he himself felt he could barely hold on. For months on end, he had hardly slept a full eight hours. Most of the daytime, Lin Motian was outside inspecting—since their technical means were limited, even ineffective, the only solution was to rely on systematic management to cut off the epidemic's spread.
But this kind of systematic management demanded a great deal from personnel. Facing hastily assembled epidemic prevention workers of limited ability and quality, all Lin Motian could do was "lead from the front" and "lead by example." By constantly appearing on the front lines of epidemic prevention, he could both supervise whether their work was being properly implemented and boost morale through his presence.
Facts proved his approach effective. During the peak period when almost every day epidemic prevention personnel fell ill and someone died every three to five days, the morale of the epidemic prevention team remained high.
Now he had to grit his teeth and persist to the very last moment.
"Dr. Lin, Yu Qing won't make it. He says he wants to see you."
During his routine inspection of the Changzhou Island quarantine camp, the supervisor reported this to him.
Yu Qing had fallen ill not long ago. He had been extracting samples from corpses at the epidemic prevention station when he suddenly felt headache and fever. He was immediately confirmed to have contracted bubonic plague.
After being isolated in Zone Two of the quarantine camp, because he was a health worker and counted as Liu San's disciple, he was given refined sulfonamide. Though sulfonamide only had an inhibitory effect on plague bacillus, there had been clinical cases of successful treatment.
However, Yu Qing had suffered appendicitis about half a year ago and undergone surgery. His body was weak, and he finally couldn't hold on.
Lin Motian felt secret regret. Though this Yu Qing was Liu San's disciple and reportedly quite accomplished in traditional Chinese medicine, he wasn't at all resistant to modern medicine—in fact, one could say he studied it diligently. He had always been active on the front lines of epidemic prevention—an excellent candidate for cultivation.
"I'll go over right away." Since Yu Qing wanted to see him one last time, he definitely had to go. This wasn't merely to fulfill a dying wish—it was also a comfort to other naturalized citizen epidemic prevention personnel.
The dying Yu Qing was emaciated, his eyes tightly shut. He didn't open them until a medic quietly told him Dr. Lin had arrived.
"Chief Lin..."
"How's your health?" Lin Motian sat down on a bamboo stool beside him.
"I won't make it..." Yu Qing closed his eyes, seemingly gathering strength. "About to go... There are some heartfelt words I want to say..."
"Don't be so negative. Focus on getting well..."
Yu Qing smiled bitterly and shook his head slightly: "Chief, you don't need to comfort me... I'm at the epidemic prevention station every day... I know..."
Lin Motian felt sadness in his heart. He thought: If I just had one box of streptomycin, I could save his life! But I don't even have a single dose! A strong sense of powerlessness gripped his heart. He sighed. Yet he also felt somewhat surprised—after all, Yu Qing had no real connection with him. At this moment of departing life, shouldn't he want to see his savior and master Liu San instead?
Yu Qing seemed to have guessed what Lin Motian was thinking. He said slowly: "I originally wanted to see Master one more time... But Master is in Guangzhou, and even if he rushed over immediately, I couldn't wait for him... Fortunately you're the same, Chief Lin... You're also an Elder..."
This statement was peculiar. Lin Motian couldn't help becoming curious. "If you have something important to say, telling me is the same—I'll pass it on to Liu San afterward."
"I was originally from Shaanxi..."
"I know that."
"Actually..." he said, gasping, "I came to Guangzhou on orders..."
Lin Motian's eyelid twitched. "Shaanxi," "on orders"... He couldn't help standing up to ask:
"You're one of the Chuang King's men!"
Yu Qing nodded weakly, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
"I... originally came as a spy..."
"From Central China to here is thousands of miles. Even if you became a spy, what could you do?"
"I... am just one of the Chuang King's idle pieces... Such idle pieces, there are who knows how many..." He panted a few times and continued, "Use medical skills to establish oneself, cultivate connections with officials... wait quietly for change..."
"So that's how it is!"
He hadn't expected that shortly after arriving in Guangzhou, he would contract an abdominal illness and nearly drown. Yet by chance he was saved by Liu San. Not many days later, the Ming dynasty's Guangzhou Prefecture became the Australians' domain.
"So the Chuang King knows about the Elders' Council?"
"He's heard one or two things," Yu Qing said. "But he's seen quite a lot of Australian goods..."
"And why are you telling me all this?"
Yu Qing paused to catch his breath, then smiled slightly: "Since I became a disciple under Chief Liu, I've seen and heard quite a lot in Guangzhou... Since ancient times, countless heroes have vied for the realm, but... but like the Elders' Council, where everything is done for the common good, treating the people like one's own children... I've read a few books too... I've never seen the like..."
Speaking this passage had taken great effort. After finishing, he involuntarily closed his eyes. Only after a while did he open them again and say: "I followed the Chuang King in rebellion merely to find a way to survive in these chaotic times... I never thought rebellion could be like this... What a pity, what a pity, what a pity..."
He said "what a pity" three times, then paused before continuing: "I won't live to see... the realm... at peace..."
With those words, he passed away peacefully.
Lin Motian's heart was filled with mixed emotions. All the hard work, resentment, and grievances of these months were now released—justice existed in people's hearts!
We are stronger than all our enemies, not because of cannons, not because of warships and steam engines, but because we always know where our foundation lies! That is the common people—those whom the Elders' Council dragged out from the swamps of ages, prying open their eyes!
He rose and bowed to the body, instructing the epidemic prevention team members: "Send him for cremation. Make sure to record his name and history."
Two full weeks passed after his return from the quarantine camp before the Guangzhou Special Municipality Health Committee convened its final general meeting on fighting the plague. It announced that given new plague cases had ceased to appear and the mortality rate had remained zero for consecutive days, martial law would be lifted at 0:00 on November 20th, and military and police would dismantle all roadblocks.
The final document Lin Motian received was the list of personnel who had died on duty.
He quietly looked at each name. Some were naturalized citizen health cadres with bright futures. Some were medics who had just graduated from school. Some were epidemic prevention team members. Some were National Army soldiers on temporary assignment... Yu Qing's name was also among them... Though Lin Motian had never treated them equally as true comrades throughout the entire process of fighting the epidemic, he knew these people were worthy of being called heroes. They had placed almost unconditional trust in Lin Motian and the Elders' Council behind him. In the series of stringent requirements he had formulated—requirements that exceeded this timeline's conditions—they had marched forward resolutely, never to return.
Perhaps he could finally obtain what he had always wanted, but at this moment Lin Motian felt no excitement.
What he held in his hands was, after all, a list of lives that had once fought under his command. And he was ultimately still a doctor who retained a trace of reverence for life.
Though Lin Motian could comfort himself with reasoning like "if not for their sacrifices, many more people might have died," he knew that the martyrs on this list had, in a certain sense, died because of him.
Suddenly, cheers erupted outside, followed by the crackling of firecrackers. These were the cheers of citizens who had kept their doors shut and hadn't been on the streets for a long time. They surged onto the streets, jumping for joy. Police and epidemic prevention team members tore off the thick masks from their faces and joined in the celebration. The people celebrated the end of the plague with unprecedented joy and exuberance—and also celebrated this city's rebirth.
(End of Chapter)