The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2315 - 2290: A Single Poxule

The six were startled, wiping their tears and asked, "Then, how long can we eat this restorative meal?"

Manbao calmed down somewhat and said, "You’ve already eaten for two, no, three days. Continue for another seven days, then we’ll assess the situation. If your complexion improves, we’ll start inoculation."

She looked at their faces and couldn’t help but caution, "Don’t overthink. Let me tell you, when you have the will to live, your body resists better than those who don’t. Smallpox is a virus, the stronger you are, the less chance it has to defeat you."

Is there really such a saying?

Bai Shan added, "It’s true that healthier people recover more easily than those who are weaker."

This statement was easy to understand, so the six looked at the food on the table and immediately picked up their chopsticks to eat.

Seeing them eat so ravenously, Bai Shan and the others felt embarrassed to compete for the food, so they only ate half of their fill before putting down their bowls and chopsticks and going outside.

Manbao and Zhou Liru had already put their masks back on and were intently watching the oxen.

Bai Shan walked over and stopped a few steps away, asking, "The oxen haven’t developed any pustules yet?"

"No," Manbao replied, "so I’m inoculating for the second time today."

Manbao hadn’t inoculated the oxen before, only knew to inoculate via the nasal cavity. But three days after the first pustule was planted, the oxen were still healthy with no issues, leaving Manbao no choice but to inoculate a second time.

Hopefully it works this time.

Three days later, the three oxen were still full of energy.

Even the six soldiers couldn’t help but stand nearby to watch, but Manbao didn’t let them get too close. They were meant to be vaccinated with cowpox, not directly infected with smallpox.

So she chased them away.

Manbao was getting a headache but didn’t resort to increasing the dosage heavily, instead she added just a fingernail amount more than last time. She decided that if it still didn’t work this time, she would seek Teacher Mo’s help to test whether these scabs were still alive, wondering if the smallpox spores had died from being kept too tightly in Keke’s space.

Then, on the third day after she applied new scabs, one of the oxen finally developed a fever and pustules. Manbao almost couldn’t resist hugging it, crying, "Finally, pustules!"

The six people in the yard immediately grew tense, asking, "Lord Zhou, are we starting the inoculation?"

Manbao turned to look at them. With the mask on, they couldn’t see her expression clearly.

"Not so fast," she said, "Wait until all its pustules emerge, and after they improve and the scabs fall off, we’ll start."

She said, "This is human pustules inoculation, which is less virulent than naturally contracted smallpox. Humans can withstand it, so the oxen shouldn’t have any problem either."

Initially, if the first inoculation had been successful, the pustules on the oxen should be scabbing by now. Unfortunately, as they just emerged, it’ll probably take another five to ten days before starting the inoculation.

Manbao cautioned them, "Recently, don’t exit from the front yard, leave from the back."

In the Western Regions, it’s already getting colder, especially during mornings and evenings when there can be frost, and all six have old injuries, not really keen on going out.

They found it quite cozy staying indoors, but Lord Zhou required them to go out daily, walk around and get some sun, treating them like precious plants.

Manbao continued to carefully nurture the pustule-emerging oxen, and within two days, the other two oxen also developed pustules.

Manbao breathed a sigh of relief, and with Zhou Liru, happily gave them medicine and monitored their temperatures every day.

Even sick oxen moo, but the three sent by the Protectorate were fairly docile. Even during their worst times, they merely snorted, uneasily circling within the barn.

Because they had pustules, Manbao didn’t let them out to the prairie, only stood outside the barn daily to talk to them, hoping to cheer them up.

However, Zhou Liru didn’t think their mood would improve much.

Oxen were naturally stronger than humans; the first ox started scabbing four days after its condition began to improve.

Manbao was overjoyed upon seeing this.

She waited one more day, and once certain that they were indeed scabs, carefully collected a few from the ox.

That afternoon, after making a small cut on the inside of the arms of the six, she applied the scabs, then wrapped them with cloth before removing the scabs just before sleeping.

The six were somewhat trembling.

Though they had experienced life-or-death situations often, somehow they were terribly afraid of such a small injury at this moment. Even though it was just a little blood, ordinarily, it wouldn’t bother them.

Seeing their nervousness, Manbao comforted them, "Don’t be scared, I live right next door, call me if you feel uncomfortable."

She said, "We’ve prepared the medicine in advance, should the pustules become severe, we can immediately use medicine and needles."

The six swallowed their saliva, still very tense.

Being overly tense, they called for the doctor at night, feeling unwell, with stomach aches, headaches, back pain, even their missing limbs felt painful—all was in pain.

Bai Shan got up with Manbao in the night and went over to see them, hearing them complain for a long time, he couldn’t help but ask, "Is it just the tension?"

Manbao responded affirmatively and gave each of them two needles, causing them to drowsily fall asleep, and they soon hugged their quilts and drifted off.

Bai Shan almost couldn’t resist yawning but managed to restrain himself, holding a lantern and telling Manbao, "Let’s go back to sleep."

Outside the door, Bai Shan paused in the yard, looked back, and asked Manbao, "Do you think it will work?"

Manbao said, "Let’s wait. This time we wait seven days. If the pustule toxins are strong, they might emerge as soon as tomorrow."

But the next day, the six showed no abnormalities. Apart from being a bit nervous, they had no discomfort whatsoever, and the third day was the same. By now, even the six couldn’t help but question, "Lord Zhou, was it unsuccessful?"

Manbao reassured them, "Wait a few more days."

One of them couldn’t help but scratch his arm, saying, "The cut is already scabbing."

Not only scabbing, but about to fall off soon.

However, Manbao reacted quickly, grabbing his hand just as he was about to scratch his arm more, her eyes brightened, asking, "Why were you scratching your arm?"

"I—I felt a bit itchy."

Manbao examined his arm, noticing a pustule had emerged not far from the inoculation site, what he had been scratching was that pustule.

Manbao’s eyes lit up as she stared at it, "Did it just emerge?"

Soldier A couldn’t help but say, "Is—this a bug bite?"

Manbao reached out to touch his forehead, then checked the other men’s foreheads, "I think your temperature might be slightly high."

The others immediately felt one another, after a while, they said, "Probably not? Feels about the same."