CHAPTER 57: CHAPTER 57: DO YOUR BEST AND LEAVE THE REST TO FATE

Yi Chichi felt helpless about this, especially after arriving at the pigsty, when the team leader said—

"Yi Zhqing, help us take a look first."

Yi Chichi was bewildered. Not that she could even handle people, why did the team leader think she could handle pigs?

"Uncle, I can’t do it."

"I know, just take a look."

Yi Chichi realized that the team leader asking her to look at the pigs was fake, they just wanted to use her as a mascot to put their minds at ease.

"Alright, I’ll take a look."

As a result, with one look, she did find a problem in the pig trough.

"Uncle, do you usually feed the pigs moldy corn and sprouted potatoes?"

"No, that’s impossible, we only feed them regular corn. Potatoes are even more impossible, there’s barely enough for people, how could we feed them to pigs."

"Then what’s the deal with this moldy corn and sprouted potatoes?"

She pointed to the corn and sprouted potato chunks in the pig trough and looked at the team leader and the others.

Suddenly, the crowd surged forward all at once.

Aunt Ma, unfazed by the dirt, grabbed the corn from the trough and after examining and smelling it, said with a heavy heart, "It’s really moldy."

Without waiting for a reaction, she took out a potato piece and frowned deeply.

"Where did the potatoes come from?"

No one could answer this question.

The pigs were being raised by Ma Yong with a few of the village’s orphans and widows, and they were responsible for the pig feed.

"Can pigs not eat moldy corn and sprouted potatoes?"

The team leader was anxious but knew that now wasn’t the time to dwell on the source of the corn and potatoes; the urgent task was to find out the cause of the pigs’ diarrhea and find a solution.

"No, they can’t."

"Why not?"

The team leader and the others were puzzled. Pigs have quite a diverse diet and eat almost anything.

Corn and potatoes are great food for humans and should be the same for pigs, so why were they causing problems?

"Moldy corn and sprouted potatoes alone can cause fungal poisoning in pigs, manifesting in various symptoms, including diarrhea, and when consumed together..."

She sighed and pointed at the two pigs already collapsed on the ground, "In short, these two are in the worst condition."

The team leader and the others followed her gaze and felt the sky was falling.

These two big pigs, one is the village’s New Year’s pig, and the other is the task pig, and if they die...

"Yi Zhqing, find a way to keep them alive until the vet arrives."

The village secretary spoke with a tone full of pleading and his eyes full of worries.

Yi Chichi wanted to refuse, but before she could, Aunt Ma and the others also started begging for her help.

"I can’t handle pigs."

Upon saying this, the crowd’s faces showed disappointment.

"However..."

Was there a way?

Instantly, the spiritless crowd perked up and asked eagerly, "What is it?"

"There is a way that’s like treating a dead horse as a live one. I can’t guarantee the results."

In other words: whether they can hold out until the vet comes depends on effort and fate.

"Let’s try."

At the crucial moment, the team leader steadied the situation and almost immediately after Yi Chichi finished speaking, he made the decision.

Yi Chichi emphasized again, "If they can’t hold on, don’t blame me. I can only try."

"Got it, we won’t blame you, don’t dawdle, get on with it."

Alright, with the team leader’s assurance, that was enough.

"I need salt and hot water."

The team leader, sweating from anxiety, responded resolutely when he heard this.

Soon, Aunt Ma and the others left in a hurry to prepare salt and hot water.

Yi Chichi called out, "Prepare more."

Pigs are big; a small amount wouldn’t be enough.

"Got it."

The voices of Aunt Ma and the others came from afar as Yi Chichi entered the pigsty to check the pigs’ feces.

Kao Shan Village had a total of six pigs, two big pigs, two medium-sized pigs, and two piglets.

The piglets, perhaps due to being too young and small, couldn’t compete for food against the big pigs, consumed less, and had the mildest diarrhea, with the stools being only slightly runny, not a big problem.

They could definitely hold out until the vet arrives.

The two medium-sized pigs were in worse condition but had not yet reached the watery stool stage.

Only the big pigs that had collapsed were already excreting watery stools.

"Is there anyone who knows how many times they have gone today?"

After examining the two big pigs, Yi Chichi looked at the villagers with anxious expressions.

"Many times."

An elderly man in a patched-up cotton-padded jacket emerged; this was Old Man Zhang, one of the village’s orphans and widows.

Also one of the pig keepers.

Upon hearing Yi Chichi’s question, he detailed the situation.

"We got up in the morning, and they began to go, as for these two..."

He rambled on, and Yi Chichi extracted the key points from his words.

"So these two pigs have gone more than ten times?"

"Yes."

"Did it become watery starting from the fifth time?"

"Seems like it."

The two went back and forth, and upon hearing this, Yi Chichi’s face turned grim.

The team leader and the others, initially full of hope watching Yi Chichi, felt their hearts sink at her change in expression. Was there no hope?

The village secretary looked nervous, "Xiao Yi, are the pigs beyond saving?"

"...I don’t know."

Salt and hot water can be quickly absorbed by the body and can increase digestive motility, having some anti-inflammatory and bactericidal effect.

It has some effect on diarrhea.

But for mild diarrhea. For severe diarrhea like watery stools over ten times a day, saltwater loses its effect, and timely medical attention is needed.

"If the vet arrives in time, these two big pigs might still be saved."

Upon hearing this, the crowd felt desperate.

Bai Chen and the others were no exception; they had a stake in these pigs too.

Though during New Year’s pig slaughter, they received less meat compared to the villagers, they still got a share.

"Uncle, I’ll ride to see where Uncle Ma and the others are."

Bai Chen couldn’t sit still and volunteered to go to the commune to find the vet.

The team leader twitched his lips, "Can you ride a horse?"

Without waiting for Bai Chen’s reply, he turned to the village’s young man Yang Tiezhu, "Tiezhu, you go."

"Okay."

Yang Tiezhu nodded, turned, and quickly left the crowd.

"Go hurry the hot water and salt, bring as much as you can."

"I’ll go."

"Get two people to tidy up the pigsty."

"We’ll do it!"

Soon, everyone was bustling around under Yi Chichi’s instructions.

Just then—

"The water and salt are here."

The fastest runner in the village, known as ’Flying Legs’ Liu Yichang, came running with two thermos flasks.

Behind him was Liu An with a basin and salt.

"Give it to me."

Yi Chichi rushed over, grabbed the thermos flasks and basin from their hands, and busied herself.

"Isn’t this just mixing salt in hot water?"

The watching villagers, who initially thought she would use some sophisticated method to save the pigs, were surprised to see she was making saltwater, and began to discuss it in confusion.

Yi Chichi ignored these voices as she mixed the saltwater according to the ratio and, holding the basin, said, "Two of you, come with me into the pigsty."