Chapter 6 Chapter 6 A Needle in the Ghost's Foot
"Is Wang Suihua's husband called Xu Zhicheng?"
Shen Wanshan asked back: "Why? Do you know him?"
“No, no, no,” Shen Miao didn’t dare to say that she heard it from Aunt Zhou, so she hurriedly explained, “His mother wasn’t originally from our village, she only married to Chahe Village later. His grandparents were the village chiefs of our village before, have you forgotten?”
Fortunately, Aunt Zhou told her about Xu Zhicheng's mother's family, which allowed her to fool the matter.
Picking up the enamel cup on the table and taking a sip of the tea brewed in the morning, Shen Wanshan sighed faintly: "Alas, I am old, how can I remember so many things."
It was a rainy day and the weather was humid. When Shen Wanshan came back, there was a thin layer of water on the outside of the box, so Shen Miao opened the medicine box and took out everything inside to prevent it from getting moldy due to moisture after being kept for too long.
No wonder the box is so heavy. In addition to some medicines, there is also a battery and a mess of wires.
The battery is used for acupuncture. Compared with ordinary acupuncture, the treatment effect of electrified silver needles is better, especially for treating some long-standing diseases. The slight electric current can better stimulate the paralyzed acupoints.
This is what Shen Wanshan learned when he was invited to see patients in other places more than ten years ago and communicated with several local doctors while treating patients together.
At that time, technology was backward and they could only use batteries for power supply. Now, I heard that Chinese medicine hospitals in the city have professional electroacupuncture devices, which can not only control the strength of the current, but also connect multiple needles at the same time.
However, the electroacupuncture device is too expensive, and Shen Wanshan is reluctant to spend that money, so for all these years he has been using rechargeable batteries instead, which is cheap and saves money.
While sorting out the ball of copper wire, Shen Miao asked tentatively: "Grandma Li has been paralyzed for many years. Can electroacupuncture be used on her?"
"It's not for her, it's for Xu Zhicheng."
As he spoke, Shen Wanshan suddenly thought of something, so he walked over and took out the small notebook that recorded the medical records in the box, turned to the page with "△×成", thought for a moment, changed the dosage of several medicines, and added a few more at the end.
Although Shen Wanshan mostly used circles, triangles, squares and crosses when writing, Shen Miao, who had followed him to learn medicine since childhood, could easily distinguish which medicinal materials they were.
Polygonum multiflorum, dragon bone, Ganoderma lucidum...these are all medicinal herbs used to calm the mind and nourish the heart.
Originally, this "Tianwang Buxin Dan" was used to treat insufficient heart yin and insomnia. After adding these herbs, the effect will be more obvious.
Shen Wanshan: “You will arrest him according to this list tomorrow.”
"good."
Taking the small notebook, Shen Miao glanced at the diagnosis and analysis given by Shen Wanshan: Difficulty falling asleep after nightfall, often awakened by nightmares when sleeping, insufficient Qi and blood, excessive thinking and worry, Yin deficiency and insufficient blood…
“Master, I remember that electroacupuncture is not used to treat insomnia,” Shen Miao asked.
"It's to treat his foot," Shen Wanshan explained, "His foot is broken, and it hasn't improved after half a year of treatment. It still hurts from time to time, so I have to use electroacupuncture to adjust it."
Because Shen Miao would be on his behalf tomorrow, and in order for her to better understand the patient's condition, Shen Wanshan returned to the case and sat down, saying to her, "Come, I'll tell you something else."
Other...things?
"Why!"
Shen Miao responded and quickly pulled a chair next to him.
It's a rare occasion, but grandpa is finally going to share some of the gossip he has tasted!
But when she listened attentively, she realized that she was thinking too much...
Shen Wanshan: "When moxibustioning Sanyangjiao, turn up the electricity a little higher. Fuliuxue should be the first to be needled, but the electricity should be turned on last. The time should not be too long, little by little, and you have to pay attention all the time. Yanglingquan and Chengshan should be massaged with fingers for a while, and then the needle should be inserted..."
What he explained were all the “things” that happened during electroacupuncture.
That's right, given grandpa's tight-lipped personality, he would never talk about other people's family affairs.
Since Shen Wanshan didn't say anything, Shen Miao naturally didn't ask more questions. She just carefully recorded the details of the needle insertion. However, her curiosity was also not idle, and she kept thinking about a very strange thing.
Xu Zhicheng's leg was healed for half a year after it was broken. Logically, it should have recovered, so how could it hurt?
And he has trouble falling asleep every night... He can't really be "imitating the screams of a ghost", right?
"Do you remember everything?"
“Remember it,” Shen Miao repeated the details he had memorized to him again, “The first needle should be inserted into the Fuliu point, then…”
The technique of acupuncture was not difficult for Shen Miao, but what worried Shen Wanshan was the current and time required to energize the needles.
Usually, electroacupuncture was rarely used to treat illnesses. Although Shen Miao had personally performed it a few times, he was helping out most of the time. In addition, there were more electroacupuncture points this time, so he couldn't help but give a few more instructions.
After explaining it over and over again many times, Shen Wanshan was still worried, so he said, "Forget it, let's go together tomorrow and talk about it when you can get the hang of it."
Shen Miao: …
Why did she feel that her grandfather was not worried about his medical skills or that he might have inserted the needle in the wrong place, but was afraid that he would lose his medical ethics and would listen to gossip?
*
The next morning, after eight o'clock, the sky outside was still gloomy.
It has rained for several days in a row and the temperature has dropped a lot. You have to put on a coat when you go out.
Qinghe Village is relatively close to Henan City. Compared with the dirt road that was bumpy when it rained ten years ago, the village has taken the lead in paving a cement road mixed with gravel.
Unlike other villages, although cement roads were also paved with the times, they had not been repeatedly crushed by large machines and had long been broken into pieces of stone slabs. They were repaired with cement from time to time like an old piece of clothing that had been patched repeatedly.
The roads were slippery on rainy days, and Chen Shansheng was worried that it would be unsafe for them to walk, so he took out the tricycle at home, which saved a lot of effort.
Shen Miao was pedaling in front, and Shen Wanshan was holding an umbrella behind. Along the way, he listened to him talking about the changes in various villages over the years. After about half an hour, they arrived at Chahe Village.
Butcher Li was going to the morning market in Yu City to sell pork, and his wife had to be busy taking care of the old lady all morning, so they went to Xu Zhicheng's house first.
"Is Xiao Wang home?"
Hearing that it was Shen Wanshan's full-bodied voice, two responses came from the courtyard one after the other.
"Why."
"Here I come."
The person who opened the door was a woman who looked to be in her early thirties. She was holding a cooking spoon in her hand. The yard was filled with the rich aroma of rice soup. A handful of green vegetables and an egg were their breakfast for the day.
"This is Miaomiao, right? I often hear Uncle Chen mention you. Wow, you look so neat!"
The dimples on Shen Miao’s face were full of shyness, and she took the initiative to say “Hello, sister-in-law” to her.
"Have you eaten yet? I'll cook something else so we can eat together."
"I've eaten, no need to work," Shen Wanshan waved his hand and walked into the house, "Is Zhicheng up yet? How is he?"
Hearing Shen Wanshan caring about himself, the man lying on the bed in the room also hurriedly sat up straighter: “Much better, much better already.”
Speaking of which, Xu Zhicheng's family is also pitiful.
Both sets of parents have passed away. He finally went to the city to work and hoped to live a good life, but he ended up breaking his leg. Not only did he not bring any money back home, he also spent most of his savings accumulated over the years.
Xu Zhicheng couldn't sleep that night, and his leg pain was difficult to cure. Although someone in the village had been introducing them to Shen Wanshan, they had never knocked on the door of Shen's clinic in the past six months.
Because I have no money.
They have borrowed money from all their relatives and are still in debt. They really can't afford to see a doctor, so they can only bear it.
When Shen Wanshan was seeing patients, he heard about his family's situation and not only took the initiative to come to his home to treat him, but also waived their medicine money.
After all, this medicine only costs a few dollars. If it can cure his disease and support his family, it will be worth it.
Shen Miao walked into the house carrying the medicine box on her back. The old furnishings and the sour and decayed atmosphere reminded her of her childhood. It was already 1996 when every household was striving for a better life, but their home seemed to be frozen in the abandoned 1970s.
"This is your brother Zhicheng, and this is your sister, whose nickname is Miaomiao." Shen Wanshan introduced them to each other, "Let her do your rehabilitation in the future."
Shen Miao: “Hello, Brother Zhicheng.”
"Okay, okay." The man nodded to her politely.
Xu Zhicheng has thick eyebrows and big eyes, and looks simple and honest. He looks like an honest man.
Unfortunately, the hemp rope always breaks at the thinnest part, and misfortune always finds the unfortunate people.
Shen Wanshan didn't waste any time saying any polite words. He casually sat on the bed and placed his hand on the Cun, Guan, and Chi parts of his left hand. While feeling his pulse, he asked, "How did you sleep after taking the medicine yesterday?"
Xu Zhicheng nodded: "It was fine in the first half of the night, but I still woke up in the second half. But my legs are much better, not as painful as before."
“Well, I added a few more medicines for you today. Try it after boiling it.” After changing his hand, Shen Wanshan asked again, “Except at night, do you usually have leg pain during the day?”
"Less now, maybe six or seven times a day."
Listening to their conversation, it seemed that Xu Zhicheng was not just suffering from insomnia, but was often awakened by nightmares, and his legs would begin to hurt after waking up.
This seems to be not only a physical illness, but also a psychological illness.
Shen Wanshan nodded and said to Shen Miao beside him, “Start moxibustion on him.”
Shen Miao: “Okay.”
He opened the acupuncture kit, lit the sterilized alcohol lamp, and connected the wires and batteries in advance. Then, Shen Miao took out a needle slowly, disinfected it, and inserted it into the Fuliuxue acupoint where his fingertips were pressing.
“Hiss, it hurts…”
As soon as the needle was inserted, Xu Zhicheng couldn't help but tremble.
"It's normal to feel pain, don't move, it will be gone in a while."
"It's not my leg," Xu Zhicheng stood up in pain, "It's my foot. My foot hurts."
foot?
Looking at the empty area under his right calf, Shen Miao was stunned for a moment: Isn't the foot gone? Where does it hurt?
“It hurts, it hurts so much! No no, it really hurts!”
He didn't seem to be pretending. After a short while, his forehead was in pain and cold sweat broke out. The hairs on his arms stood up. Fortunately, Wang Suihua and Shen Wanshan held him down in time to prevent him from struggling.
"Don't move."
Seeing that he was in more and more pain, Shen Wanshan casually pulled out a needle, walked over, aimed at his non-existent right foot, and stabbed it cleanly.
"Um."
The needle in Shen Wanshan's hand was clearly piercing the air, but Xu Zhicheng's body seemed to sense the force of the needle and shook.
This bizarre scene made Shen Miao dumbfounded.
Grandpa, did you...stab the ghost's foot with a needle? !
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