The cargo ship transporting the medicine arrived at the dock at four in the morning.
This time, no one dared to cause trouble anymore.
Jiang Fuyue and Fan Sheng personally went to receive the ship, while Liu Sisi led a group of black-clad bodyguards patrolling around.
The whole process was calm and uneventful, so smooth it was unbelievable.
You ask where Huang Guiyu was?
Oh, Liu Sisi tied him up in advance while he was asleep.
Huang Guiyu: ?
At five o’clock, the medicine was completely unloaded.
Everyone transported it back to the camp in an orderly manner.
At this time, the advantage of the No. 2 site Jiang Fuyue had chosen became apparent, not only was it close to the dock, but the route back and forth was all flat ground, no need to climb slopes or steps.
The captain scratched his head and walked up to Jiang Fuyue. “Um… Professor Jiang, there are still some things in the rear cabin that haven’t been unloaded.”
There weren’t many people left, so Jiang Fuyue prepared to personally lead them in.
“Wait a moment.”
“?”
“You don’t have enough people. If possible, let some strong men come.”
“What exactly is it?”
The captain smiled. “…Pigs. About sixty of them.”
Jiang Fuyue: “……”
Everyone: “?”
“The original plan was to load 200, but considering this trip is mainly for transporting medicine, which has strict storage requirements, we didn’t dare bring too many.”
“This time, everyone make do first. Next time we’ll transport more.”
“……”
Thus, the team members who had just delivered the medicine to the camp all returned to the dock, uh, to herd pigs.
“Professor Jiang, these pigs are all alive. Do we have a butcher in our team?”
Jiang Fuyue paused, this was something she hadn’t considered.
She asked around, and everyone shook their heads.
“I can’t.”
“Never learned.”
“I’ve seen it before, kind of scary.”
“The legendary red knife in, white knife out?”
“Just thinking about it makes my legs weak.”
“……”
Fortunately, almost all the men on the island knew how to slaughter pigs.
Fan Sheng: “I’ll arrange manpower.”
In the morning, the orange-red sunrise spread across the land.
People who got up early to work stood on the hillside in a daze.
What did they see?
A line of plump pigs, one after another, neatly lined up, heading toward the medical team’s camp.
“Heavens! That must be dozens of them?”
“Each one so fat, the meat wobbling as they move.”
So what are they waiting for?!
Hurry up and line up to see the doctor!
The first fifty people each get five jin of pork cracklings, charge!
One by one, villagers dropped their hoes and rushed toward the camp at the foot of the mountain.
Pork cracklings, no, doctors! Here I come!
…
Outside the camp, it was already packed.
The bodyguards all came out to maintain order.
“It’s over, there are so many people ahead, definitely more than fifty. I’ll just go back and line up tomorrow.”
“Hey, wait!”
“What?”
“They just announced that people after the first fifty will also get something. It’s not five jin of pork cracklings, but it won’t be bad. Anyway, it’s free. Besides, even if you come tomorrow, you might not get into the first fifty. Might as well line up today.”
“That makes sense. Okay, I’ll stay.”
“……”
Several doctors nearby exchanged glances quickly.
“Professor Jiang really knows how to handle them, got them completely obedient in minutes.”
“Didn’t expect something the last medical team couldn’t solve even after bloodshed would be solved by a few jin of pork cracklings, tsk tsk…”
“The allure of pork cracklings! Incredible!”
“This is something I can brag about for a lifetime.”
“Don’t you think Professor Jiang seems very familiar with Duofu Island? She knows the terrain of every place, roughly how many people live there, and even their temperaments. She’s got it all figured out! Amazing!”
“They say Sister Yue’s brain is like a data analysis machine, high efficiency, high output, powerful, never crashes. Basically, she thinks more than us and processes faster!”
“Working under a leader like this is so easy. You don’t have to worry about anything, just do your part well.”
“Yes, you can always trust her!”
“As an old fan, I’ve followed Sister Yue for years, and she’s never failed. I even suspect she has some kind of protagonist buff.”
…
Under the powerful temptation of pork cracklings, the villagers all came out in full force, lining up before dawn to see the doctor.
For critically ill patients, especially children with weak immunity, Jiang Fuyue set up a special fast track, no need to line up.
“Then can we still get pork cracklings?” a pair of parents asked, worried but still remembering to ask.
It wasn’t that they were heartless, it was that they were too poor. They hadn’t had any meat for three months.
When survival itself becomes a problem, whether the illness can be cured doesn’t seem so important anymore, because in the end, they will die anyway.
The only difference is whether they die from illness or from hunger.
The medical staff, who had originally been furious and heartbroken for the child to have such parents, were all stunned.
Even the poorest among them had at least basic living security, they could eat and stay warm, and still had the chance to go to school.
But what about the people of Duofu?
They had never watched movies, never used electric lights, still wore coarse cloth, treated pork cracklings as treasure, had no proper schools, no usable hospitals, not even a simple clinic.
Not even as good as China in the 1950s or 60s!
In today’s society, such an isolated island still exists, completely cut off from modern civilization.
Everyone felt uncomfortable.
Jiang Fuyue: “Give them five jin of pork cracklings.”
“Thank you! Thank you!” The couple cupped their thin, dark hands and bowed repeatedly in gratitude.
The next day, the medical team began broadcasting through loudspeakers,
“Due to manpower shortage, we are now urgently recruiting workers. Requirements: healthy, hardworking, no troublemaking, no causing chaos. Eight hours of work per day. Payment: two jin of pork, paid daily.”
As soon as the news came out, applicants lined up in long queues.
Jiang Fuyue put Liu Weihua in charge of selection, strictly following hiring standards, not giving meat to whoever looked pitiful, but selecting through competition, choosing the best candidates.
The medical team was not a charity organization, they had no obligation to provide pork to villagers, but they could exchange it for labor.
Equal trade, each taking what they need.
But Liu Weihua knew clearly that although everyone was busy, it wasn’t to the extent that they needed to recruit workers.
In the end, Professor Jiang was kind-hearted.
Yet she disdained charity, not wanting these villagers to develop the bad habit of getting something for nothing, so she used the most equal method, giving them a way to survive while preserving their dignity as human beings.
Liu Weihua wrote in his diary:
“Beneath her decisive and forceful exterior lies the softest heart.”
Soon, the newly recruited workers reported for duty, starting to work at the camp.
Some were assigned to the kitchen, some to publicity work, others to handle medical waste, care for critically ill patients, and so on.
Each had their role, each used their strengths.
During this time, they saw things they had never seen before, like mobile phones, computers, and various unheard-of medical equipment.
They witnessed with their own eyes, a shot was given, and within two minutes, the child’s fever subsided.
An infant covered in lumps was placed into a medical chamber, and when taken out the next day, was completely healed, sleeping soundly.
Those symptoms like nausea, vomiting, shivering, alternating chills and fever, after taking medicine, within a couple of days people were lively again.
“Amazing.”
“I heard them say these things are everywhere outside the island, and everyone can use them.”
“And outside, every household basically eats meat every day. They even look down on pork cracklings, saying they prefer lean meat every meal, something about balanced nutrition…”
“And also! Every household has those big machines that can play movies, you can watch at home…”
“They don’t use kerosene either, all electric lights, just press a switch and it lights up.”
“Is the outside world really that good?”
For the first time, these long-isolated people began to ask this question in their hearts.
…
The malaria treatment lasted a full two months.
During this time, mosquito eradication was carried out in an orderly manner with remarkable results; after recovery, villagers with other chronic illnesses also came to the medical team for treatment.
Coincidentally, these doctors came from various specialties, surgery, orthopedics, neurology, respiratory, cardiothoracic, etc., each showcasing their expertise, curing long-standing ailments.
There were even women with difficult labor who, treating it as a last desperate attempt, came here to give birth, and in the end, both mother and daughter were safe.
Most noteworthy was the women’s health work.
Before this, most women on the island didn’t even know hospitals had departments specifically for treating women’s “dirty diseases.”
Yes, they called those unspeakable symptoms “dirty diseases.”
Some women had even committed suicide by jumping into the sea out of shame due to postpartum discharge or itching.
Men also looked down on it; if their own women had such illnesses, they would feel ashamed and disgraced.
This led to women not daring to speak up or seek treatment, fearing gossip, enduring it until they died without dignity.
Jiang Fuyue believed the first step was education.
Only when thinking changes can behavior improve.
Unlike the malaria education, this time men and women were separated.
On the women’s side, professional doctors first explained, then showed real cases to let them understand that many symptoms were just common gynecological diseases; 80% of married women have them. It’s very common, so there’s no need to feel ashamed.
“Even outside the island, there are male gynecologists.”
“Really? Men treating… that place… can that work? Won’t people gossip?”
Jiang Fuyue threw out the classic line: “In a doctor’s eyes, there are no men or women, only patients.”
The women were instantly stunned.
Then Jiang Fuyue told them many gynecological diseases were actually caused by poor hygiene in marital life.
“…So in this matter, unhygienic men are the real culprits.”
Their worldview opened again.
In Duofu, women’s status was not actually low. The problem was that, out of ignorance, they themselves felt ashamed of gynecological issues, which in turn led men to look down on them as well.
As long as they could learn to understand these matters correctly and approach them rationally from now on, the men in their households would likely follow suit, leading to a fundamental shift in attitudes.
It was said that after this educational session, some women went home that very evening and picked fights with their husbands.
Ahem, fight as in arguing, thank you very much!
“The doctor said men who don’t keep themselves clean don’t deserve to sleep in the bed.”
“If you won’t wash yourself, don’t even think about touching me.”
“Don’t come near me, old man!”
“Let’s be honest, this whole problem was caused by you men, and now you want to blame us women for it? Get lost!”
“…”
Fortunately, the men had also received some education on the subject during the day. They were mentally prepared for their wives’ outbursts that night, so most of them simply endured it and gave way.
Some of the more considerate husbands didn’t even wait to be scolded, they apologized first.
Overall, people were surprisingly receptive to the new knowledge.
…
During those two months, supplies were transported to the island several times. Some were allocated by the authorities, while others were purchased out of Jiang Fuyue’s own pocket.
Ship after ship arrived carrying live pigs, fat, round, and healthy-looking. The sight of so many plump pigs crossing the ocean was truly spectacular.
By the end of April, with the last malaria patient fully recovered, the team began preparing to leave the island.
“After staying here so long, I’m actually a little reluctant to go.”
“Honestly, after spending time with them, the people of Duofu don’t seem nearly as savage or frightening as everyone says. They’re just a bit rough around the edges and quick-tempered. But that’s understandable, they never had the chance to go to school.”
“The children here are genuinely adorable! One time they caught crabs and brought them to us. After setting them down, they hid nearby and peeked out at us, grinning. It completely melted my heart. Compared to those spoiled brats outside, these kids are thousands of times better behaved.”
“I hope the government sends people to improve the island’s infrastructure after we leave. Seriously, you should have seen it, elderly people with white hair walking more than ten miles just to come touch a light bulb at our camp. Watching them stroke it so carefully, unwilling to let go, was heartbreaking.”
“Yeah. When I get back, I’m going to make a post online and let everyone know that Duofu isn’t nearly as terrifying as people imagine. The scenery here is beautiful, honestly, it’s no worse than the Maldives. Maybe one day they can even develop tourism.”
“I’ve already taken tons of photos by the beach. Every single one looks like it came with its own filter.”
“The pickled vegetables here are incredible. Give me a small dish of them and I can finish three bowls of rice.”
“Have you noticed that the women on the island all have amazingly skilled hands? The silk cloth they weave is soft and smooth, with such a wonderful texture.”
“And Duofu fruit is delicious! The flesh is pink and tender. One bite and it’s sweet and fragrant.”
“…”
Everyone could list countless things they loved about Duofu.
“By the way, has Professor Jiang said exactly when we’re leaving?”
“Not yet, but probably within the next couple of days. The report has already been submitted. Once the higher-ups approve it, we’ll be heading home!”
…
Inside the prefab building, Jiang Fuyue was bent over her report, the rapid clatter of the keyboard making Huang Guiyu drowsy.
He couldn’t help wondering: Is that thing really so fun to tap on?
It was just a rectangular board with some buttons on it, wasn’t it?
Almost every doctor who came from outside had one. They would tap away on it whenever they treated patients.
He had asked about it before, and they told him they were keeping records.
But weren’t records supposed to be written with pen and paper?
You could just tap on this thing and the information would be saved?
After only a few months, Huang Guiyu felt as though he no longer recognized the world.
“…What do you need?” Jiang Fuyue asked after typing the final word and saving the file. Only then did she look up at Huang Guiyu, who had been waiting there for quite some time.
Compared to the fierce, intimidating man who had blocked the docks three months ago, he now wore a flattering smile.
The moment Jiang Fuyue finally acknowledged him, he perked up.
“It’s like this, Mr. Zhong would like to invite you for a cup of tea.”
“Mr. Zhong?” Jiang Fuyue raised an eyebrow. “The witch doctor?”
“Yes, yes! Him!”
Strangely enough, during these three months Jiang Fuyue had repeatedly expected him to cause trouble. Yet he never made a move.
Logically speaking, the arrival of modern medicine on the island should have been the biggest threat to his authority and status as the island’s witch doctor.
She had been fully prepared for a confrontation.
Yet in reality, he remained quiet and unobtrusive the entire time.
Even Huang Guiyu had stopped leading villagers in protests.
This differed greatly from what Jiang Fuyue had expected.
And it made her curious about this so-called witch doctor.
…
Hidden among green trees and flowering plants stood a small bamboo house. A hillside rose behind it, while a stream flowed in front. The salty scent of the sea mingled with the fragrance of flowers and herbs, creating a unique aroma.
Standing there, Jiang Fuyue felt as though she had stepped into a secluded paradise.
Huang Guiyu rubbed his hands together.
“Hehe… Beautiful, isn’t it? Aside from the chief’s residence, this is the nicest house on the whole island!”
Jiang Fuyue looked around and secretly nodded.
Whether in terms of layout, furnishings, or feng shui, the design of this little building was exceptional.
Elegant.
Dignified.
Grand.
Refined.
Whoever built it was clearly an expert with remarkable aesthetic taste.
When Old Fu had served as the witch doctor, he had certainly never lived in such a lovely bamboo house.
Huang Guiyu chuckled.
“Mr. Zhong built it himself. Impressive, right?”
Jiang Fuyue: “…”
After passing through flower beds and medicinal gardens, they stopped before a bamboo door.
Huang Guiyu pushed it open for her but did not enter.
“Mr. Zhong is inside.”
Jiang Fuyue stepped in.
The first thing she saw was an ink-painting screen.
Behind it sat a figure upright at a low table.
His face was hidden, but from the outline of his silhouette, his back was straight and his bearing calm and composed.
Fan Sheng had said that the man came to the island eighteen years ago to study medicine under Old Fu. That would make him somewhere between forty and fifty years old.
“Miss Jiang, please sit and have some tea.”
The man spoke slowly.
His voice was light and calm, and he spoke standard Mandarin without the slightest Duofu accent.
Jiang Fuyue sat cross-legged. A cup of freshly brewed tea had already been placed before her.
Separated by the screen, they could vaguely make out each other’s figures, though neither could clearly see the other’s face.
“You know medicine?” Jiang Fuyue asked.
“I am the island’s witch doctor.”
“Then did you study traditional Chinese medicine or Western medicine?”
“Both. But when treating people here, I generally follow the principles of traditional Chinese medicine.”
“Then you should know that this epidemic was malaria.”
“I suspected as much.”
“Then why didn’t you tell everyone and ask them to seek help from outside the island?”
The man sighed.
“The will of the people cannot easily be defied. Some things are beyond the power of one person to change.”
Jiang Fuyue fell silent.
He was right.
If she hadn’t arrived with a medical team, security personnel, and shiploads of supplies, who would have listened to her?
Huang Guiyu would probably have driven her away before she even reached the docks.
There was no such thing as pure luck.
She had simply come well prepared, with people and with money.
Had Jiang Fuyue been even slightly weaker, the island would never have changed so dramatically.
“Do you know astrology?” the man suddenly asked.
“…What?” Jiang Fuyue blinked.
“Astrology.”
“You mean… horoscope readings?”
“You could think of it that way.”
Jiang Fuyue frowned, unsure why he had suddenly changed the subject.
“I can do a reading for you.”
“You can tell fortunes too?”
A low, pleasant laugh came from behind the screen.
“I can.”
Something flashed through Jiang Fuyue’s eyes. After a brief pause, she nodded.
“Sure.”
A small window in the middle of the screen opened, revealing his table.
Three crystal dice sat upon it.
Unlike ordinary dice, these were perfect twelve-sided polyhedrons.
Each face bore a symbol representing either a planet, a zodiac sign, or an astrological house, for a total of thirty-six symbols.
“Can you tell me your birth time?”
Jiang Fuyue answered honestly.
A pair of clean, slender hands picked up the dice and gently cast them.
The three crystal dice rattled crisply across the tabletop, spun rapidly, and then came to a stop.
“Mercury, Virgo, Fifth House.”
Jiang Fuyue looked at him.
“So what does that tell you?”
“Miss Jiang, your life will be smooth and successful. Your career will flourish, your family will be happy, and everything you desire will come true.”
Jiang Fuyue looked at the crystal dice on the table and suddenly smiled.
“Why did you only say the second half?”
The other man froze.
She examined the symbols on the faces of the dice.
“Let me see… The first half should be: Dreams turn to nothing. Strength invites ruin. A falling star, a doomed fate. Death is inevitable.”
A sharp intake of breath came from behind the screen.
“You know astrology too?!”
“A little. My former archenemy loved waving around a deck of cards and babbling about astrology, fortune-telling, and peering into heaven’s secrets. I figured that to defeat your enemy, you first have to understand them, so I looked into it myself.”
Looked into it?
Someone who had merely “looked into it” could casually recite the interpretation of the dice?
Who was she trying to fool?
Silence fell for several seconds. Then the man took a deep breath, as if steadying his emotions.
When he spoke again, his voice had returned to normal.
“So, do you believe astrology can predict destiny?”
Jiang Fuyue shook her head, then nodded.
“I didn’t used to. I used Marxist materialism to argue with that archenemy until he practically exploded. But now I believe in it a little. Just not in the same way he does.”
“Oh? How is it different?”
“He said astrology is fortune-telling and the ability to glimpse heavenly secrets. I think it’s more like scientific astrology and materialist fortune-telling.”
“…What does that mean?”
“To me, astrology is basically a massive database of destiny-related information. An astrologer’s job is data analysis. First, gather information. Then identify patterns. Finally, draw conclusions. When applied to an individual, you account for personal differences and analyze the specific circumstances.”
The other man chuckled.
“This is the first time I’ve heard anyone connect astrology with science.”
Jiang Fuyue calmly shot back,
“Perhaps that’s because your knowledge is limited.”
“Then by your logic, astrologers can be scientists too?”
“I don’t know whether astrologers can become scientists, but many scientists were astrologers. For example, Isaac Newton. Or Johannes Kepler.”
“…”
The conversation seemed to hit a dead end.
Jiang Fuyue took a sip of tea.
The initial taste was sweet and delicate, followed by a crisp aftertaste. A few seconds later, a slight bitterness lingered on her tongue.
Such rich layers of flavor did not come from the tea leaves themselves.
They came from the skill of the person brewing them.
And this taste,
It was strangely familiar.
Her eyes flickered.
“Regardless, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Speaking of which, my archenemy was just like you. He liked inviting people to tea and then reading their fortunes.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. The two of you are very alike.”
“…”
“And, coincidentally, his surname was Zhong too. Funny, isn’t it?”
“…Sorry, my surname isn’t Zhong. My given name just happens to contain the character Zhong.”
“Oh? Then what is your surname?”
Jiang Fuyue raised her teacup and inhaled its fragrance casually.
“Fu. My name is Fu Suizhong.”
Jiang Fuyue curled her lips into a smile and slowly set down the cup.
“Names can be changed. Faces, on the other hand, don’t lie.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she suddenly stood and shoved over the screen.
A startled face appeared before her eyes.
Jiang Fuyue frowned.
Not Zhong Cheng?
Yet the tea, the way he read fortunes, it was exactly like that man!
But the face before her looked no older than twenty or thirty.
Far too young.
Seeing Jiang Fuyue suddenly spring into action, the man’s face still carried traces of panic he had not managed to hide.
And that expression could never have appeared on Zhong Cheng’s old fox-like face.
“W-What are you doing?”
Jiang Fuyue strode forward and grabbed his collar.
Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Fu… Suizhong?”
“…Huh?”
“You’re Duofu’s witch doctor?”
The man nodded.
“…I am.”
“What’s your relationship with Zhong Cheng?”
Confusion flashed across his face.
“Who’s Zhong Cheng?”
Jiang Fuyue frowned.
“Um… could you let go first? We can talk this out, okay?”
She ignored him and changed the question.
“Who taught you astrology?”
“N-Nobody. I learned from astrology videos online.”
“…”
“Really! And astrology books! I have an entire wall full of them!”
Jiang Fuyue pressed on.
“And how do you explain this tea?”
“The tea? What’s wrong with it? I think it tastes pretty good.”
“Who brewed it?”
“I did.”
“That’s impossible!”
“I spent ages learning from Old Fu! If you don’t believe me, I can brew another pot right now!”
The furrow between Jiang Fuyue’s brows deepened.
Her gaze became sharper and sharper, as though she intended to see straight through his soul.
Under that scrutiny, Fu Suizhong instinctively shrank back.
His Adam’s apple bobbed nervously.
The mysterious, immortal-like aura he had displayed earlier vanished completely.
Only one word remained:
Coward.
After what felt like an eternity, Jiang Fuyue finally released him.
She withdrew her gaze and slowly straightened up.
“Hey! You can’t just smash my screen and leave like that, can you?! I heard you have a lot of pigs. Could you spare me two? One would work too! Actually, two would be better, a boar and a sow, so they can have piglets…”
Jiang Fuyue quickened her pace and walked away.
Fu Suizhong pouted.
“Not even one pig. Stingy.”
Then he smoothed out the wrinkles in his collar where she had grabbed him.
Sigh. It’s all creased now.
He was unhappy.
Very unhappy.
He drained the rest of the tea from the teapot in one gulp, then stormed upstairs.
“Master!”
The moment he pushed open the door, the man inside turned around.
He stood tall and straight.
Moments earlier, he had been standing by the window with his hands clasped behind his back.
Now he revealed a face covered in wrinkles.
Black hair streaked with white.
Judging by his physique alone, he appeared to be in the prime of his life.
Yet his face was aged beyond belief, like that of a man in his eighties or nineties.
“Master, do you think your friend suspects me?”
“Yes.”
“Then what do we do? Did I mess up the act?”
Fu Suizhong scratched his head apologetically.
“It doesn’t matter. She may be suspicious, but she has no way to prove anything.”
Based on his understanding of her, she would never jump to conclusions under circumstances like these.
“Master, there’s something I don’t understand.”
“What is it?”
“You obviously wanted to see her. That’s why you had Uncle Huang brought her here. And she almost recognized you too. Even though she keeps calling you her archenemy, there wasn’t the slightest hint of killing intent in her eyes. If that’s the case, why won’t you reveal yourself?”
He had noticed the flash of disappointment in Jiang Fuyue’s eyes the moment she pushed aside the screen and saw his face.
And when he claimed not to know who Zhong Cheng was,
She had looked even more disappointed.
“Master, she wanted to see you.”
That was the conclusion Fu Suizhong reached.
The man merely smiled and shook his head.
“I can’t see her. And I mustn’t.”
In this lifetime, as long as she was alive and he could catch one more glimpse of her, that was enough.
As for this face…
The man turned his head. Reflected in the glass was his aged appearance.
Better not let her see it.
He had his pride, after all.
“Master…”
“Don’t you want pigs? Have Old Huang ask her. She’ll give them to you.”
“Really?” Fu Suizhong asked skeptically.
That woman was beautiful, sure, but fierce, quick to use her hands, and looked extremely difficult to deal with.
Would she really be that generous?
The man nodded firmly.
“Really.”
She was strong, yet soft-hearted.
As long as it was within her power, she could never bear to see people suffer.
“Tell Old Huang to make your situation sound as miserable as possible.”
“…”
Before leaving the room, Fu Suizhong stopped and asked one last time:
“Master, I heard the medical team is leaving the island in a few days. Are you really not going to see her?”
Once she left, she might never return.
But the man showed no sign of wavering.
His answer remained the same.
“I won’t.”
“…All right.”
Fu Suizhong could only sigh.
He felt sorry for his master.
The man so clearly wanted to see her. He had even hidden upstairs, secretly watching her…
To earn the islanders’ trust in her and make them willing to let her treat them, he had personally spoken with tribe members, persuading them to believe in Western medicine.
He had even damaged his own reputation to do it.
When a few herbal prescriptions from him would have been enough to stabilize their illnesses…
And there was also the matter of sending Uncle Huang to act as the sacrificial lamb, letting Jiang Fuyue establish her authority by making an example of him.
He had planned everything behind the scenes, painstakingly arranging every detail.
Yet in the end, he didn’t even get to meet her.
What was the point?
Hmph!
Did that woman really think she had won over those stubborn islanders through her own efforts alone?
…
Meanwhile, Jiang Fuyue was pondering the very question she had subconsciously ignored.
The people of Duofu had always been notoriously hostile to outsiders.
So how had they been persuaded so easily?
After returning to camp, she casually stopped two islanders who had come for treatment.
“What kind of person is Witch Doctor Zhong?”
“Huh? Mr. Zhong? His medical skills are excellent, and he’s a wonderful person. He can even communicate with the gods and receive warnings for the island. In short, he’s an incredibly good and respected man!”
Jiang Fuyue asked, “I mean his appearance. Have you seen him?”
“Of course! We’ve all seen him! Mr. Zhong is really young, fair-skinned, and very handsome! Lots of girls on the island want to marry him!”
Jiang Fuyue: “…”
Had she really overthought everything?
Perhaps this “Zhong” truly wasn’t that Zhong.
The next day, approval arrived from the authorities allowing Jiang Fuyue and her team to leave the island.
The news spread quickly, and everyone was delighted.
“We can finally go home!”
“I’ll miss this place, but my parents, husband, and children miss me too. Going home is still the best. If I get the chance, I’ll bring my whole family back here someday!”
“After everything that’s happened, I’m sure the government will improve the island’s infrastructure. Development can’t be far off now! In three or five years, when Duofu becomes a tourist destination, shall we come back together?”
“Absolutely!”
“Then it’s a deal!”
“Deal!”
…
The day they left, the sun was as merciless as ever.
The sea was calm and windless.
When they had arrived, five cargo ships had been packed to the brim.
Now, only a small amount of supplies and several dozen people remained aboard.
The giant iron pots, steamers, projector, screen, generators, electric lights, the prefabricated housing they had built, and even the dozens of pigs that had not yet been slaughtered,
Jiang Fuyue left all of it to Fan Sheng to manage.
The islanders came voluntarily to the docks to see them off.
“Doctor Jiang, you’re a good person! We were… very wrong about you in the beginning!”
Compared to “Professor Jiang,” they preferred calling her “Doctor Jiang.”
“Thank you all! Have a safe journey!”
“These are wild chicken eggs! Take them home and eat them, they’re very… nutri… nutritious! Yes, nutritious!”
“This is freshly harvested rice from my family. It smells wonderful…”
“And cassava flour! Some of the girls on your team love it. They said it can be used to make that pearl… pearl milk tea?”
“Take this bag of Duofu fruit too. If you get thirsty on the journey, one bite will fix that right away!”
Not only did everyone bring gifts of grain and food, many of them were crying.
Jiang Fuyue had no choice but to tell the captain to set sail quickly.
Otherwise the entire deck would end up piled high with gifts.
“We’re leaving now. Take care of yourselves.”
One by one, the five ships departed from the harbor, gradually disappearing into the vast ocean.
“Goodbye, uncles and aunties! Goodbye, big brothers and sisters!”
Children jumped and waved toward the departing ships.
At that very moment, atop the highest hill on the island, Zhong Cheng stood silently, gazing out at the sea.
He watched the ships grow smaller and smaller.
He had seen it.
After her rebirth, she was radiant, healthy, and dazzling.
Therefore, everything he had done over the years had been worth it.
“Master…”
“Let’s go back.”
…
Two hours later, the ships were moving steadily through the sea, and everyone’s feelings of parting had gradually settled.
“Yes, we’ve already left the island. We’re expected to dock at Zhizhou Bay in three days.”
Jiang Fuyue was reporting to her superiors from the communications cabin.
The old leader’s voice came through, full of relief and excitement.
“Good! I wish you all a smooth voyage! I’ll be waiting at Zhizhou Bay to welcome you home in triumph!”
“Thank you.”
Just as she was about to end the call…
BOOM!
A tremendous explosion erupted across the sea.
The ship lurched violently, as though it might capsize at any moment.
Jiang Fuyue was thrown hard to the floor.
The communication equipment shattered into pieces.
The old leader’s anxious questions were cut off abruptly.
Moments later, screams erupted from the neighboring cabins.
Fear.
Panic.
Chaos.
Everyone was thrown into turmoil.
Jiang Fuyue scrambled to her feet, grabbed a radio, and contacted the bridge.
“Captain, do you copy? Please respond! What’s happening?!”
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