“Uh, u-uhh.”
“Am I right?”
“H-how, how, how does Dr. Choi know that?”
“I told you, didn’t I? If we run tests, everything comes out.”
Tap, tap.
Taesu lightly struck the notebook against his palm.
His gaze had already shifted to that notebook.
“What on earth is written in there?”
“The villagers’ blood test results.”
“That can tell you things like that?”
“Yes. Blood contains every bit of information, from what you do during the day to what you do at night.”
Taesu spoke confidently.
At that moment, as if he had heard some particularly sensitive phrase, Village Chief Jeon Nosik jumped.
“W-why would you say something like that?”
“In any case, even if you don’t tell me, the information contained in your blood tells me everything.”
After Taesu answered, Elder Wang looked at Village Chief Jeon Nosik with a meaningful smile.
“Village chief, is nighttime already too much for you?”
“Uncle.”
“You rascal. It’s not as if the children are here, so why are you flying off the handle like that?”
“That’s… still.”
Village Chief Jeon Nosik’s face turned even redder.
But Taesu’s expression, on the contrary, had settled heavily.
“This isn’t just your problem, Village Chief.”
“Hm?”
“Jeongmin, some of the symptoms I mentioned should apply to you as well.”
The moment Taesu finished speaking—
Swoosh.
Elder Wang and Village Chief Jeon Nosik’s gazes turned to Jo Jeongmin at the same time.
Perhaps because of the context of the conversation, Jo Jeongmin flared up.
“Not me.”
“Jeongmin, I wasn’t talking only about that problem.”
“Ah, the other issues may apply a little… But not that.”
Jo Jeongmin answered mildly, yet strongly objected to that specific part.
This was not the kind of conversation Taesu had wanted.
So Taesu changed the atmosphere first.
“Now, now. Let’s say everyone is healthy in that regard.”
“I told you, I’m healthy.”
“Yes. You’re healthy. All right?”
When Taesu answered clearly, Village Chief Jeon Nosik gave an awkward cough for no reason.
“Ahem.”
“Looking at the other problems, most of the villagers fall under them.”
“Most of them, you say. That must be the evidence I asked you for.”
When Elder Wang steadied the center of the conversation and asked, Taesu nodded with a grave expression.
“Yes. They’re all side effects from consuming large amounts of cooking oil over a long period.”
“Then is everyone the same?”
“No. There are differences in severity.”
“Severity, you say. What happens if the symptoms are serious?”
When Elder Wang asked with a grave face, Taesu explained honestly.
“Some people will feel lethargic even in daily life.”
“Who here is lethargic?”
Elder Wang showed strong doubt.
Only then did Taesu explain about endorphins.
“When people are overjoyed, they become energetic.”
“That’s true.”
“But that’s temporary. The fundamental problem remains as it is.”
“Mm. Since you’ve even gone and found evidence like that, I can’t very well say you’re wrong.”
“With the diet we’ve given you recently, they may have improved a little.”
When Taesu said something else, Elder Wang tilted his head.
“Why has your story changed?”
“Because the blood was drawn when we were out there getting hit by the cold dew.”
Taesu slipped in a bit of easy humor.
It was the best way to soften a stiff atmosphere.
It worked this time as well.
Elder Wang glanced at him and said, “Wasn’t that back when tigers smoked pipes?”
“That much time has passed.”
“Then?”
“In any case, fundamental treatment is necessary.”
“And if not, will it become a problem?”
At Elder Wang’s question, Taesu answered calmly.
“A weakened body is prey that countless diseases love.”
“Mm.”
“Some of the people I said were in serious condition are still in the early stages, but their illnesses are already progressing.”
When Taesu spoke seriously, Elder Wang also looked distressed.
“That won’t do.”
“If they continue to consume excessive amounts of cooking oil like this…”
As Taesu trailed off and hesitated, Elder Wang urged him on.
“Why stop mid-sentence? Go on.”
“Ahem. In this village, you won’t hear babies crying anymore.”
“Mm?”
In that instant, Elder Wang’s brows twitched sharply.
Then he demanded a proper answer with his eyes.
Taesu immediately got to the heart of it.
“Even looking at the current situation, there are almost no children younger than Seolji.”
“That’s true.”
“Just from that alone, you should be able to picture what this village will look like ten, twenty years from now.”
“……”
Without a word, Elder Wang’s gaze turned back toward the work site, where work had resumed.
On the other hand, Village Chief Jeon Nosik’s expression became extremely serious.
“That can’t happen.”
“That’s assuming things are left as they are.”
“Then… what are you saying we should do? Throw it all away?”
“If that’s what we have to do.”
“Rajkumar said he wasn’t sure we could secure food, didn’t he?”
When he showed genuine concern about survival, Taesu said, “Let’s set aside extreme ideas for now. We’ll give you the liver-function recovery medicine we have.”
“If we take that, we’ll get better, right?”
“You won’t get better right away.”
At Taesu’s words, Village Chief Jeon Nosik tilted his head.
“But it’s medicine.”
“It took a long time for your bodies to break down. Wouldn’t recovery require just as much time?”
“Hmm. I suppose so.”
Village Chief Jeon Nosik answered bitterly, and his gaze also turned to the work site.
There were clearly many elderly and middle-aged people.
The fact that something he had thought was merely a natural phenomenon was actually a physical problem seemed to have come as a shock to him.
Taesu, who had said it, also felt bitter.
What was certain was that among everything he had explained, not a single word had been a lie.
They did not ask whether it was true either.
That much trust had now more or less solidified.
Apart from that trust, the dark clouds now hanging over the village seemed to weigh heavily on their hearts.
In the end, each of them fell into their own thoughts, and the conversation petered out.
Before they dispersed, Elder Wang gave a request.
“For now, let’s keep this from the others.”
“Keep it from them?”
“Even if someone is sick, if they don’t know it themselves, it hurts less.”
At Elder Wang’s profound reasoning, Taesu immediately accepted it.
He was right.
“Then we’ll tell them the medicine we have is a nutritional supplement and hand it out.”
“It’s a medicine good for everyone, isn’t it?”
“It’s a medicine with absolutely no issues even for children.”
“Then do that. Now, everyone go do what you have to do.”
Elder Wang even added a wave of his hand.
Then he, too, slowly headed toward the work site.
Taesu watched his back intently.
What he had just said was not something that could simply be called the wisdom of age.
He definitely knew a certain amount about illness and hospitals.
Did he have bad memories of hospitals?
Elder Wang was the only one who had not had a blood test.
Taesu had tried to persuade him several times.
They had even argued, raising their voices at each other, but in the end, he had not gotten it.
Not only that, he had not allowed even a basic examination.
Taesu knew he had lived on one leg for a long time.
There was no way his body was healthy.
That continued to bother him.
“Hmm.”
With a bitter heart, Taesu let out a low sigh.
Before he knew it, break time seemed to have ended, and work began again.
Grrrk. Crack.
The villagers’ lively movements continued as well.
And Jeong Minsu and Kim Hyeokgwon had returned to Taesu’s side.
Jeong Minsu immediately asked, “How did it go?”
“I barely managed to tell them.”
“Hm.”
Taesu summarized the conversation he had shared with them as much as possible.
“…That’s what we decided to do.”
“Then for now, the focus is on medication.”
“That period won’t last long. Probably until the ranch is completed.”
Taesu answered calmly.
At that moment, Kim Hyeokgwon asked, “Then what medicine should we prepare?”
“First, an anthelmintic. And…”
“Wait, wait a second. Let me at least understand why you’re suddenly talking about something else.”
Kim Hyeokgwon looked at him with a face full of bewilderment.
But it was Jeong Minsu, not Taesu, who explained the reason.
“Most of those people are thin. But if fatty liver is suspected, people usually tend to gain weight.”
“Then are you saying there are some kind of worms in their livers?”
“They’re called parasites. And they may be not only in the liver, but also in the stomach or intestines.”
At Jeong Minsu’s explanation, Kim Hyeokgwon showed not understanding, but doubt.
“Then shouldn’t we have given it to them in advance?”
“We only became certain at dawn today.”
“Anthelmintics aren’t bad, are they? No, wait. You said I should stop thinking all medicine is automatically good, didn’t you?”
Kim Hyeokgwon recalled something he had heard once and understood.
Taesu nodded at those words.
“If they’ve stayed away from medicine for a long time, it may be too strong and cause side effects.”
“But they’ve been eating nutritious meals all this time, so they should have gained the strength to resist it.”
“Yes. So please distribute the anthelmintic together with medicine containing ursodeoxycholic acid.”
“Somehow, the moment I hear that medicine’s name, I get the feeling its effects will go straight to the liver.”
When Kim Hyeokgwon roughly guessed from the drug’s name alone, Taesu answered lightly.
“It’s a medicine made for the liver.”
“I suppose that’s what it was made for.”
Kim Hyeokgwon was taking it in with his usual easygoing attitude when—
Clang, clang, clang.
A dull metallic sound came from somewhere.
Hearing that sound, the villagers brightened greatly and shouted.
“It’s time for breakfast.”
“Let’s eat and gather again.”
After they shouted a few times, work immediately stopped.
Then the villagers gathered in twos and threes and headed to their respective homes.
Seeing that, Kim Hyeokgwon frowned sharply.
“It’s already breakfast? I’d better hurry over and get the medicine first.”
Tap, tap.
Since Kim Hyeokgwon had just received an order, he moved briskly.
At that moment, Jeong Minsu said to Taesu, “Let’s go. We need to eat too.”
“Yeah. But…”
“Why, all of a sudden?”
Jeong Minsu looked at him curiously.
Then Taesu raised his hand and pointed behind Jeong Minsu, toward the mountain.
“Look over there.”
“They’ve gathered tree branches over there?”
“They mixed thick branches and thin ones together.”
“You’re saying they just threw them there? People who even gather every little twig?”
Jeong Minsu pointed it out sharply.
Taesu held the same doubt.
As they stared at the tree branches—
Even at that moment, the villagers were passing in front of the two of them.
“Dr. Choi, you need to eat.”
“Please go on ahead.”
“I heard the two of you worked hard yesterday. You did well.”
“We’ll try even harder.”
Good-natured, warm conversation passed back and forth.
But then it happened.
From far away, a conversation that caught their ears drifted over.
“Nanju. Are you all right?”
“Wheeze. Wheeze, yes, wheeze.”
The sound of air leaking was mixed into her breathing.
The instant they heard it, Taesu and Jeong Minsu’s eyes flashed at the same time.
Breathing meant the lungs, in other words, the domain of thoracic surgery.
Taesu and Jeong Minsu reacted instinctively.
Rustle.
They quickly scanned the people.
In Taesu’s eyes, he spotted a woman whose face was slightly pale and covered in sweat.
Gang Songhui’s mother, Kim Hyeongyeong, was supporting her.
Of course, he knew the woman with the pale complexion as well.
Her name was Hong Nanju, and she was in her early thirties.
What was noteworthy was that she was Chinese, and he had heard she had come here nine years ago, following her husband, Lee Manseok.
He knew that Lee Manseok had settled here late after spending a year delivering food to the village while it was being reclaimed.
Hong Nanju also spoke Korean quite well.
In appearance, she looked so similar to a Korean that one could not tell the difference from the outside.
Even Taesu had only learned she was Chinese after hearing it from Lee Manseok.
The moment her figure caught his eye, he called for Jeong Minsu.
“Minsu, Nanju at seven o’clock.”
“Yeah. I just saw her.”
Jeong Minsu’s expression stiffened at once.