The “new rice” produced by the Shi family appeared on Shi Liaoliang’s dining table the very next morning during breakfast.
Though not a doctor himself, working in a hospital had given him some familiarity with various illnesses. Sometimes, to pass inspections from higher authorities, regardless of whether one was medical staff, the hospital leadership required everyone to memorize certain pathologies and symptoms—just in case they were randomly questioned during inspections.
Lin Fang, whom Chairman Chen jokingly called a “memory machine,” naturally hadn’t forgotten the dangers of moldy rice.
When rice becomes moldy, it produces aflatoxin. Consuming rice contaminated with aflatoxin can lead to aflatoxin poisoning, which is extremely toxic—far surpassing the toxicity of cyanide, arsenic compounds, and organic pesticides. It is ten times more toxic than cyanide and 68 times more toxic than arsenic, second only to botulinum toxin, making it the most potent known mycotoxin.
High intake of aflatoxin can cause acute poisoning, leading to acute hepatitis, hemorrhagic necrosis, fatty degeneration of liver cells, and bile duct proliferation, with mild lesions also appearing in the spleen and pancreas.
Chronic low-level intake of aflatoxin can result in chronic poisoning, growth disorders, and fibrotic lesions, causing fibrous tissue proliferation. The main pathological changes include chronic liver damage, such as degeneration of liver parenchymal cells and cirrhosis.
Aflatoxin is also the most potent known carcinogen, capable of inducing tumors in a wide range of animals, including fish, poultry, livestock, and primates. Its carcinogenic potency is immense—10,000 times stronger than that of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH). It primarily induces liver cancer but can also cause stomach cancer, kidney cancer, lacrimal gland cancer, rectal cancer, breast cancer, ovarian and small intestinal tumors, as well as birth defects.
Aflatoxin is heat-resistant and cannot be destroyed by ordinary cooking temperatures. Its decomposition temperature is 280°C. It has low solubility in water but dissolves in oils and certain organic solvents like chloroform and methanol, though not in ether, petroleum ether, or hexane.
Though Shi Liaoliang might not have known as much about the toxicity of moldy rice as Lin Fang, he was certainly aware of its harmful effects. For starving disaster victims, already weakened, consuming even a single bowl of moldy rice porridge would be akin to taking poison. Shi Liaoliang, disregarding countless lives, was so detestable that even the kindest person would loathe him—let alone the Lin family, who had such deep grievances against him.
Before noon that day, Shi Liaoliang developed acute abdominal pain, vomiting incessantly. The doctor diagnosed him with a cold and prescribed medicine to dispel the chill. After drinking the decoction, he felt slightly better but remained weak, with no appetite, lying in a daze.
The Shi family servants who had slipped away earlier didn’t leave Lin Town immediately. Instead, they hid and watched as the Lin family guards handled the porridge distribution at the theater. Upon returning, they reported everything to Shi Liaoliang, who, furious at their incompetence, still wanted to scheme against Lin Dalang—but now lacked the energy.
After a day and night of lethargy, Shi Liaoliang regained some clarity and immediately sought to undermine Dalang. With the official announcement of the town head appointment just two days away, delaying would make it harder to remove Dalang from the position. But shortly after breakfast, his abdominal pain returned, this time worse—accompanied by a low fever. The servants hastily prepared medicine, but it had no effect. His fever gradually worsened, becoming persistent.
Lady Shi ordered the steward to summon the same doctor from the day before. After careful examination, the doctor declared that Shi Liaoliang’s illness had progressed from a common cold to typhoid fever—a highly contagious disease. He urged immediate isolation, warning that without it, the entire Shi household could be at risk.
Since no effective treatment for typhoid fever existed at the time, the doctor’s words caused panic. No one wanted to approach Shi Liaoliang, not even his closest attendants. This gave Lady Shi an opportunity to discipline the concubines who had used their charms to manipulate Shi Liaoliang against her. She forced them into his room to care for him.
The concubines, who had only competed for favor to secure a better life, had no intention of dying with their master. Trapped in the room, they desperately sought escape, neglecting Shi Liaoliang entirely. Within a day, they too developed symptoms—abdominal pain, vomiting, fever, and eventually unconsciousness.
Witnessing the rapid spread of typhoid, the Shi household grew even more fearful. Lady Shi packed her valuables and fled to the capital, where her son Shi Binhua was studying. The once-powerful head of the Shi family was abandoned in his own home, left to starve to death.
After being taken in by the old monk, Lin Fang stayed at the temple. The monk explained to her parents that her frail condition required quiet cultivation before the Buddha to recover. Dalang and Li Cuimei agreed and, at the monk’s request, had several sets of bright red clothes made for her.
Liu Ma, always eager to help the sixth young miss, enthusiastically followed the monk’s instructions, repeatedly telling Lin Fang that the red garments would ward off evil and protect her. Though skeptical, Lin Fang reluctantly complied, allowing Liu Ma to dress her in the new clothes.
When Lin Fang saw the old monk directing other monks to replace nearly everything in her quarters with red items—even hanging red cloth on trees, walls, and door handles—she teased, “Old monk, isn’t Buddhism supposed to be simple and plain? Why does my courtyard look like a bridal chamber?”
Instead of laughing, the monk grew serious. “Fang’er, this is no joke. The color red prevents energy loss, slows your illness, and blocks external evils. Do not take it lightly.”
Though doubtful of its efficacy, Lin Fang respected the monk’s efforts to prolong her life. With her declining strength, she decided to stay quietly in the courtyard, easing the worries of those who cared for her.
When Tan Liu reported Shi Liaoliang’s death, Lin Fang was surprised. “So soon?”
“Yes, Sixth Miss,” Tan Liu replied regretfully. “I had hoped to make him suffer, but he died before we could act.”
Lin Fang inwardly sighed in relief. With Shi Liaoliang gone, her father would face fewer obstacles. Though challenges remained, he could finally unleash his talents without restraint.
Still, she couldn’t shake her unease. Shi Liaoliang was dead, but his son remained. Based on her encounters with Shi Binhua in Liangping Town, she believed he wouldn’t let things rest. Their paths would cross again.
When she shared her concerns with Tan Liu, he assured her the Qi family would handle it.
Shi Liaoliang had consumed chemically treated moldy rice. Initially, the small dose mimicked a cold, but a careful diagnosis would have distinguished it from aflatoxin poisoning. However, Tan Liu had tampered with the doctor’s judgment, ensuring the misdiagnosis.
With no appetite, Shi Liaoliang went without food or water for a day, allowing the initial symptoms to fade. But the next day, his rice was entirely replaced with moldy grains, and the increased dosage worsened his condition, resembling early-stage typhoid.
Typhoid fever, caused by Salmonella typhi, is an acute digestive tract infection characterized by systemic mononuclear-macrophage proliferation, particularly in the ileum’s lymphoid tissue. Symptoms include persistent fever, relative bradycardia, apathy, splenomegaly, rose spots, and leukopenia, with complications like intestinal bleeding and perforation.
Early typhoid presents with gradual fever, chills, fatigue, and abdominal discomfort, worsening over time. In severe cases, high fever, delirium, coma, hepatosplenomegaly, and rose spots appear.
Aflatoxin poisoning, meanwhile, causes fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, and appetite loss, progressing to liver damage, jaundice, ascites, and organ failure. Late-stage patients often suffer massive hemorrhaging.
In the Shi household, only Shi Liaoliang and his son were entitled to the finest provisions. When the concubines were confined to his room, the servants, too distracted to cook separately, served them the same “best rice,” leading to their similar symptoms.
Tan Liu’s only regret was that Lady Shi abandoned her husband so quickly, denying him the chance to make Shi Liaoliang suffer as planned. His swift death left Tan Liu unsatisfied.
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