The Yao Emperor and His Human Doctor.

Chapter 38 - Infance

Su Ning was the eldest son of Su Wu and Su Xue and had two younger brothers. Su Wu was a blacksmith as peaceful as an ox, who lived with his family in a mountain village. His wife was the only doctor and midwife in the place, a woman with a laugh and an easy temperament. The two formed a duo very well liked by the residents and their children did not escape their parents' education.

Su Ning was born with somewhat fragile health and his height was a little smaller than other children. His mother concluded that he suffered from a fire deficiency in his stomach that caused a certain inappetence. Gradually, she took care of it herself and Su Ning became a little stronger, although her hunger didn't increase much more than that.

However, the boy was as hardworking and intelligent as his mother. In the morning he would look for his father to help him in the workshop and learn the trade. However, Su Wu had some intuition that her son was not cut out for this profession, just look at how he liked to accompany his mother to appointments. Even so, the boy forced himself to go to his workshop every day to deal with iron, fire and hot water.

He couldn't talk him out of it, so he allowed him to work with him in the morning and left him free to do whatever he wanted in the afternoon. As a result, Su Ning took the opportunity to learn about herbs, medicines, acupuncture, and illnesses from her mother. He helped take care of his brothers when his mother was attending and also learned to cook.

The two formed a much more synchronized duo than he and his father made up. Su Wu was not dissatisfied, as long as his devoted son was happy, he could be whatever he wanted. Suddenly, outbreaks of black fungus disease emerged from the central plains. The news spread like wildfire and people stopped buying and producing rice in many places.

After that, despite this control, the rate of contamination and deaths did not decrease and they assumed that the disease was contagious. Many villages were being destroyed and burned to try to contain the outbreak. The small mountain village soon cut off rice purchases. It had been many months since rice was seen in meals and Su Xue instructed the residents to consume other grains instead. The fear of the disease, however, ran through every heart in the village.

Even Su Ning, a child, felt apprehensive about this. He tried to ensure that his brothers did not eat rice and always watched over them. One night he heard his parents talking after dinner. Apparently, a nearby village had been contaminated and many people had died. The others fled, afraid of being killed to avoid contagion.

"With an enemy like that, who cannot be seen, smelled, touched or heard and people still look for excuses to find enemies." Su Xue vented. "I don't believe it is contagious, but how can I prove this? There must be some other way of spreading the disease."

Su Ning listened to them discuss the matter in secret and then went to bed thoughtfully. His mother's words were engraved in his heart. Diseases were the only enemies that existed. Everything else was excuses. An enemy that couldn't see each other, hear each other, touch each other... how could they overcome this? What chance did they have against something so powerful?

He knew that his mother was studying the fungus in secret, in a small cabin hidden high in the mountain. He was kept away from everything, and she left early in the morning to observe the behavior of the black fungus. She only confided this secret to her husband and son. The latter she took with him a few times so he could learn to identify the malicious specimen.

On top of the golden grain, a simple structure that resembled fine spider webs grew and released a fine black powder. Inside the hut they had to wear a cloth over their mouth and wash their hands before leaving. Su Ning watched the fungus grow like black lace over the rice. The fungus took two weeks to appear in this form and then the grains rotted and crumbled. This enemy was visible now that it was grown, before it was imperceptible and that's why people ate the rice and contaminated themselves.

That morning, Su Xue was working in the hut and Su Ning went back downstairs to get her father and brothers' breakfast ready. He, his father and brothers then went to the workshop. The two small children, a four-year-old boy and a two-year-old girl, played in front of the store while Su Ning lit a fire.

The morning passed quickly and in the afternoon a cold late autumn wind blew. Su Ning took the brothers home to wrap them up better. The two little ones ate jelly beans that their father bought from a vendor one morning along the way. Su Ning looked at them without appetite and refused. Ever since he had laid eyes on the fungus that morning he had felt nauseous at the sight of any kind of food.

At home, there was a note from his mother on the table. She had already had lunch and went out to see a pregnant woman from the village. Su Ning smiled upon seeing his beautiful handwriting. Feeling comforted, he went to bathe his two dirty brothers from playing in the dirt.
Diligently, he took care of cleaning the house afterwards and starting preparations for dinner.

Who knows, maybe there would be another child in the village soon, he thought with satisfaction. Then he felt a small hand tug at the sleeve of his robe.
"Gege... I don't feel well.."
Su Ning went to check on his younger brother, he was feverish. And the youngest too. The older brother put the brothers to bed and, using the herbs he had, prepared them a soft tea to make them sweat a little.

Even so, the fever continued to rise and he began preparing wet compresses to prevent them from convulsing. The hours passed and Su Ning began to feel apprehensive. Should he ask someone to tell mom or dad? No, it was probably the late afternoon cold that they got. His little sister started making strange noises like gurgling and vomited. He turned her on her side so she wouldn't swallow the vomit and choke. The other brother also vomited next to the bed.

Su Ning frowned and decided to look for herbs to make a concoction for nausea. Memories of him ended with him harvesting plants in the garden at home, when suddenly everything around him went dark and he found himself covered in clothes too big for him, in some kind of cave.
A snake yao stared at him perplexedly, then he asked:
"Ah... I'm sorry, but do you know what this place is?"

Author's Note

These are the memories that Su Ning kept when he was cursed. He must be a cute child 🥰.