Li Dazhuang felt a dryness in his throat.
He understood the meaning behind Ye Tiancheng's words very clearly.
And if what Ye Tiancheng said was indeed true, then his family, at least his wife and his two youngest children, had already contracted that terrible illness.
Once afflicted with such a disease, it was normal for ordinary doctors to be unable to cure it.
For someone like Ye Tiancheng to discover the epidemic and then, in a short period, prescribe medicine that could provide some relief, he was already a remarkable physician.
Such news would undoubtedly be a huge blow to families like Li Dazhuang's.
Moreover, Li Dazhuang could better understand the reason why Ye Tiancheng said it was difficult to frankly explain this matter to the other villagers.
If an epidemic broke out, even a doctor like Ye Tiancheng could be in considerable danger.
Some people always felt that no matter what illness they contracted, doctors could perform miracles and surely save their lives.
But in this world, there were many things that left people helpless.
A doctor like Ye Tiancheng, who, knowing the situation, still chose to speak frankly and not flee, willing to face the poor people like them, was truly rare.
However, even so.
If an epidemic broke out, many people would not choose to always consider Ye Tiancheng's efforts and hardships.
They would only want Ye Tiancheng to save their lives.
And they would stubbornly believe that if he couldn't cure their illness, it was Ye Tiancheng's fault, without considering any other factors.
If Ye Tiancheng chose to stay at this time, the outcome would obviously be quite dangerous.
Li Dazhuang's expression was solemn.
Ye Tiancheng did not know what Li Dazhuang was thinking.
In any case, after a long while, Ye Tiancheng finally heard Li Dazhuang's answer.
After a long silence, Li Dazhuang suddenly looked up and said to Ye Tiancheng, "Doctor Ye, when something like this happens, no one wants it, and it is definitely not your fault."
"This might be the fate of people like us, but it is absolutely not worth you risking your life for."
"Doctor Ye, you are right. If it is indeed an epidemic, it must be controlled as soon as possible. I will go to the government to report this matter. As for you, Doctor Ye, with your excellent medical skills, you should at least be able to protect yourself and avoid contracting this illness."
"Why don't you take this opportunity to quickly leave the village, lest you be burdened by us."
"You have already helped many people in our village; you should not risk your life any further."
Ye Tiancheng had not expected to receive such an answer from Li Dazhuang.
He felt a sense of gratitude in his heart.
He knew that he had chosen to stay and help the people here, but others might not necessarily be grateful for it. However, Ye Tiancheng's choice not to give up was not for the sake of others' gratitude, so he did not care about these things.
It could only be said that this was a choice Ye Tiancheng made by following his heart.
If others did not understand him, or even were not grateful for it, Ye Tiancheng would not care, because he did not do it for these reasons in the first place.
However, receiving positive feedback was indeed something that could be moving.
At the very least, it made one feel that the choices they made were worthwhile and not in vain.
Moreover, it had to be said that the current situation was his good fortune.
It was also Ye Tiancheng's good luck to have met someone like Li Dazhuang, who was willing to reason and understood true principles. Such people were often rare, and meeting even one was a great fortune.
Therefore, after listening to Li Dazhuang's words, Ye Tiancheng, in turn, once again emphasized his determination to Li Dazhuang.
Ye Tiancheng said to Li Dazhuang, "My mind is made up."
"I actually understand very well what I am doing. Faced with such a situation, if I chose to ignore it, then I wouldn't be myself. This is not a choice I would make. When faced with such a situation, I cannot stand aside."
"And if I leave, how can I be true to my conscience?"
"So, Brother Li, you don't need to persuade me. I have truly made up my mind to stay and help you all."
"If, Brother Li, you really have a way to contact the authorities and control this matter, that would indeed be a good option. However, I wonder about the local government... I am truly worried that some governments do not share the people's worries and might instead adopt some rather crude methods upon learning of such a situation."
"If that is the case, then if there are any other slight possibilities, it is better not to report to the authorities first."
Li Dazhuang truly felt reluctant about Ye Tiancheng's insistence on staying and wanted to persuade him to reconsider.
However, Ye Tiancheng had truly made up his mind, and Li Dazhuang could not persuade him no matter what, so he could only sigh, thank Ye Tiancheng for his great kindness, and say nothing more.
As for the issue regarding the authorities that Ye Tiancheng raised later.
Li Dazhuang had something to say.
Li Dazhuang told Ye Tiancheng that regarding the authorities, their local county magistrate was a good official who truly cared about the people's worries and was not an official who would solve problems crudely as Ye Tiancheng feared.
Therefore, reporting the village's situation to the authorities would not be a problem.
When Ye Tiancheng heard this, he felt that his luck was truly extraordinary.
In fact, encountering an epidemic, facing reasonable villagers, and then encountering a truly caring official was a rare occurrence. There were many cases of thankless efforts, and Ye Tiancheng was truly extremely lucky.
After learning the truth from Ye Tiancheng, Li Dazhuang was no longer in a hurry to take Ye Tiancheng to any medical clinic.
On the contrary, reporting the outbreak of the epidemic in the village to the authorities as soon as possible was the most urgent matter.
Li Dazhuang drove his carriage, bringing Ye Tiancheng into the city, and then drove his carriage towards the location of the government offices. Ye Tiancheng looked at the city's scenery, and a sense of incongruity suddenly arose in his heart.
It wasn't that he found the current scene too unfamiliar or anything like that.
He didn't feel like he had never seen such scenery before. It was just that Ye Tiancheng always felt that the place where he had lived for many years did not seem like this, and might even be more convenient and different.
Even Ye Tiancheng could feel it.
Although he had lost his memory, he had retained some inexplicable habits.
Ye Tiancheng could not remember the reasons behind his habitual actions, nor did he know what those actions meant or what he was originally going to do. However, he could guess that these habits must have an inseparable connection with his past life.
After thinking about it, Ye Tiancheng still retained this part of his doubts.
Although thinking about the past was also extremely important for Ye Tiancheng, at this moment, there were more important matters that made Ye Tiancheng temporarily put aside his thoughts.
His personal matters were indeed important.
But in the current situation of a spreading epidemic, his personal matters became trivial in comparison.
Ye Tiancheng sighed softly in his heart.
Li Dazhuang took Ye Tiancheng to the government offices to meet the county magistrate. When a farmer came to report something mysteriously without being able to explain it clearly, the magistrate was surprisingly willing to meet Li Dazhuang and Ye Tiancheng.
Because Li Dazhuang said it was an urgent matter, the other party took it seriously.
However, it was understandable that if Li Dazhuang lied, he would surely pay a price. But this county magistrate, who was a parent to the people, probably truly worried that something major had happened, and thus chose to listen to what others had to say before making a judgment.
Upon meeting the county magistrate, Li Dazhuang also requested that all attendants be dismissed.
After all, to speak of an epidemic outbreak was indeed not something that should be widely publicized from the beginning, otherwise, it would surely cause panic to spread.
The county magistrate complied.
Only after the county magistrate dismissed the attendants did Li Dazhuang explain the situation in their village to the county magistrate in detail.
When the county magistrate heard that there seemed to be an epidemic outbreak in the nearby village, he immediately took it seriously and began to inquire carefully with Li Dazhuang about the entire situation and how it was discovered.
Li Dazhuang did not hide anything and dared not be negligent, so he explained the whole story to the county magistrate in detail.
Li Dazhuang said to the county magistrate, "Your Excellency, this matter is no small matter. At first, it did not attract attention. It was just that our villagers, perhaps due to the change of season, or whatever the reason, everyone at the time thought that due to the change of season and the sudden drop in temperature, some villagers contracted illnesses similar to the common cold."
"For families like ours, minor illnesses and ailments do not attract attention, and it is also because of poverty. If it is not a serious illness, we do not have the money to afford a doctor."
"However, some people were indeed very ill, including my wife. Because of her illness, she was bedridden all day, and it was inconvenient for her to even work in the fields, so we had to invite a doctor to see her."
"As a result, many doctors saw her but could not cure her. The illness was not a rare one, but according to their past experience, they could not cure it."
"Your humble servant was also extremely worried."
"Until a few days ago, a doctor, the Doctor Ye beside your humble servant, passed through our village and asked to stay at my house. Upon learning that my wife was ill and could not be cured, he said that as a reward, he agreed to help my wife see what was going on."
"After Doctor Ye examined my wife and prescribed medicine accordingly, my wife's condition improved somewhat. However, Doctor Ye said that he only felt that my wife's illness was unprecedented and he had not found a cure, only able to prescribe some medicine for relief, and then see what happens."
"Later, when other villagers heard that Doctor Ye had improved my wife's condition somewhat, and they also had people in their families who could not be cured, they thought of inviting Doctor Ye to see their family members as well."
"Doctor Ye is a good person and is willing to see patients like us poor people, working tirelessly."
"However, after examining them, and coupled with the fact that Doctor Ye noticed that I had two younger children who also showed some mild symptoms, after some consideration, he strongly suspected that this unprecedented illness might be a contagious epidemic."
"If that is the case, this matter is no small matter. He dared not conceal it and told me directly. He wanted to help, but he also knew that this was not something that one or two people could handle, so he decided to report it to the authorities."
Li Dazhuang sighed as he spoke.