In the square outside Qingniu Medical Hall, a large banner was strung up reading: "Fighting Dysentery Germs in All Accents and Dialects." Huwa, wearing a "dialect champion crown" woven from chili peppers and garlic braids, held up a megaphone and shouted, "Gather round, folks from all over! Today we're spreading disease-prevention knowledge in our hometown tongues, and the winners get an all-you-can-eat garlic hot pot from Xiaotao Eatery!"
As soon as his voice trailed off, the scene instantly descended into a chaotic multilingual brawl. A Tibetan apprentice named Dawa rapped in Tibetan: "Want to stay safe, don't spit everywhere!" The bells on his yak's neck chimed to the rhythm as it sprayed a disinfectant mist scented with Tibetan medicine. A Silla apprentice named Kim recited the epidemic-prevention chants from the *Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art* in broken Guanzhong dialect: "One plus one means wash your hands with care; three plus four means spitting anywhere is rare!"
The garlic steamed buns also joined in the dialect competition. Huwa had fitted the buns with voice-changing micro-megaphones. Some shouted in Sichuan dialect, "My little darlings, eat this bun of mine, it's finger-lickin' fine!" Others cried out in a Northeast accent, "Brothers, take a bite of garlic steamed bun, and even the germs will turn and run!" One bun even blundered into Granny Wang's stall, praising her pickles in Shaanxi dialect as a "miracle anti-epidemic dish," which made the old woman…
Chapter 537