Chapter 159

In terms of effectiveness, it is true that the many medicinal soups that Father Qin drank before had such good effects.

However, they are all short-lived and return to their original state after one dose.

Shopkeeper Qin was also worried that Xu Yi's prescription would have the same result.

He asked thoughtfully: "Doctor Xu, are you still used to living in Zitong? I happen to know a real estate agent who has a house to rent out. If I ask, it can be rented cheaper."

Xu Yi said: "I plan to stay for a short time. If Shopkeeper Qin recognizes the agent, could you please help me make a connection?"

"It's easy to talk about." Shopkeeper Qin was overjoyed. It would be great if Xu Yi could stay in Zitong County for a few more days. .

After hearing this, Mrs. Qin's wife said with a smile: "Why bother? My sister-in-law's family has trouble, and the house on South Street is idle. If Dr. Xu doesn't dislike it, he can live in that house."

Naturally, there is no heaven these days. A good deal for nothing.

Although she said this, there was a reason. The house was supposed to be sold, but selling the house didn't mean it would be sold. No, it meant she had a few months to spare.

My sister-in-law came to see her a few days ago and mentioned this matter, so she said this about the Qin family's wife.

"That house is nice. As soon as you enter the house, it has a main room and a side room. Although it is small, it is well-equipped. It is no problem for a short stay." Seeing Xu Yi's interest, Mrs. Qin's wife added, "It's cheap to rent money. The place where you go to Yaxing will only give you two ounces of money a month. "

That is to say, two hundred cash a month.

The price is indeed not expensive. They stayed in the East Street Inn and spent dozens of cash per night.

Xu Yi said with a smile: "This rent money... will it be a heavy loss?"

The Qin family's wife said: "How come, this house is idle even if it is idle. If you rent it to Dr. Xu, you can get two more coins."

With that said, the Qin family's wife was about to call her son to go to her natal home to find her sister-in-law.

With such enthusiasm, Xu Yi couldn't shirk it.

Moreover, he deliberately planned to stay in Zitong County for a short period of time. Although he has a lot of money in his hands, he is not a person who spends it lavishly. If there is a cheap and good house, Xu Yi will not specifically refuse to take it.

"Then I'll trouble Madam Qin." Xu Yi bowed his hands and said in salute.

The Qin family's wife smiled and said, "Dr. Xu, you're

welcome. If you can cure my father-in-law's illness, our family will be very grateful to you." So they agreed, and Xu Yi didn't plan to stay any longer. He had made an appointment with the salesman he met in the morning to meet the old doctor in the countryside, but he was afraid that if he went late, the other party would think he had broken his promise.

After saying goodbye, Xu Yi took A Xu and the others back to the inn.

As soon as they arrived, the salesman from the back arrived with a half-empty load.

"Doctor Xu, I have sold out." The salesman wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked again and again, "Are you really just going to see the old doctor and nothing else?"

Xu Yi smiled and said: " "Well, I just want to pay a visit to the old doctor, nothing else."

The salesman said with relief, "Okay, come with me. The old doctor lives not far from the county seat. If you can, you can do it before dark." Come back soon."

Xu Yi nodded and said, "Dear brother, come with me to ride in the donkey cart, it will save some legwork."

The salesman didn't refuse. He ran for a long time without much rest. He could ride in the cart for free. Of course I am willing.

After waiting for a moment, he was slightly surprised when he saw a huge donkey cart parked in front of him.

After entering the carriage, I was even more surprised to see that there were incense burners, tea sets and books on a low table.

This couldn't help but make him cautious. When talking to Xu Yi again, he couldn't be as easy-going as before.

After Xu Yi signaled A Xu to drive, he poured him tea.

The salesman looked at the exquisite celadon teacup in front of him, moved his buttocks, and did not dare to pick it up.

If such a good teacup breaks, I will have to pay a lot of money.

At this time, Xu Yi asked: "Dare I ask my brother's name?"

The salesman was stunned and said that his name was Wang Sixi, and everyone in the village called him Wang Si. The name of Si Xi was given by the only old gentleman in the village who had read a book. .

It was purely a coincidence that Wang Sixi met the old doctor. At that time, he went to the mountains to cut firewood and met the old doctor who was carrying his grandson to dig herbs in the mountains on crutches.

The old doctor had difficulty with his legs and feet, but he was in good spirits. When he saw Wang Sixi at that time, he said that Wang Sixi had sprained his left arm and wanted to treat him. He just rubbed his hands for a while, and the pain in his arm soon disappeared.

Later, Wang Sixi often went to see the old doctor when he had time.

Recently, he watched an old doctor teach his grandson how to make ointment for bruises, but his grandson is only nine years old this year.

Both of them were worried about such a young child selling medicine in the city.

Therefore, Wang Sixi took the initiative to take over this task and did not intend to charge a fee.

Wang Sixi said happily: "I was going to the city to sell goods. These ointments are not heavy. I just shouted a few words."

After getting to know the old doctor, he and his family members would go to him if they had any minor ailments. The old doctor sees a doctor, but the old doctor never charges money.

Xu Yi said sincerely: "Brother Wang has a true temperament. If this happened to me, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to do so well."

"Well, how can I have so much thought." After Wang Sixi said so much, he was no longer so reserved, " It's just a matter of helping me. I can't do it if it's really troublesome."

Xu Yi looked at him and sighed: "Yeah, I'll help if I can."

Their donkey cart came out of the city gate and headed towards the western suburbs. , at this time, Wang Sixi stopped sitting in the carriage and came out to show A Xu the way.

With him guiding the way, A Xu drove very slowly.

Not long after, they saw several houses, one of which had smoke curling out of the chimney.

Wang Sixi said happily: "We're here, brother, stop the car quickly."

"Huh--" A Xu shouted, pulling the rope around the donkey's neck.

The donkey's tail slapped its buttocks and slowly stopped its hooves.

When the vehicle stopped, Wang Sixi came down with the load, ran quickly to the outside of the fence, and knocked on the fence door.

Soon, a child wearing a cotton-padded jacket heard the noise and came out.

When he saw Wang Sixi, he happily ran to open the door and asked him impatiently: "Brother Wang, you are back. How is the sales today? Is there anyone buying ointment?"

"It's a good day today. I met a big customer and bought all the ointments." Wang Sixi said, glanced at Xu Yi, and said simply to the child, "This customer is coming to visit your grandpa. Your grandpa is at home." "Where?"

The boy looked at Xu Yi and others and said, "Grandpa is at home."

"Okay, then I will take someone to see your grandpa."

Xu Yi didn't say anything and smiled slightly at the child.

The little boy looked at him with big eyes, not afraid of life.

When Ah Jin came down from the carriage, she felt fond of him when she saw him. She poured two jelly beans for him in the brocade bag where the jelly beans were stored.

The child didn't answer, shook his head and ran back to the house.

Ah Jin's hand holding the jelly beans paused in the air. Wang Si next to him saw this and smiled and explained for the child: "He is very vigilant and will not eat food from strangers casually."

Xu Yi said: "This is a good habit."

After he finished speaking, he also told the two people following him not to eat anything handed to them by strangers.

A Xu and A Jin: "..."

Lang Jun, how old are they?

The child ran to the house to tell the news. When Wang Sixi led someone into the house, the old doctor already knew that there was a visitor.

He sat on his knees and smiled kindly towards Xu Yi and others who entered the room.

"I heard from Xiaoci that you came here today with a customer who bought ointment." He said, looking at Xu Yi with slightly old eyes, "Could it be this one."

Xu Yi saluted and introduced himself: "Old man Hello, sir, my surname is Xu Yi, and I am also a doctor. "

It turns out that I am a junior in the same field." The old doctor was stunned for a moment and quickly asked Xu Yi to take a seat.

He said: "My ointment is just a cover-up. I only used one or two drugs, so I can barely use it. Doctor Xu, you are here, but do you have any doubts?"

Xu Yi shook his head and expressed that he admired him very much. Just came to see you.

"Although this ointment for bruises only uses wormwood and nux vomica, I would like to ask my seniors how they came up with the idea of ​​using this recipe."

The old doctor stroked his gray beard. He was already in his sixties this year.

But his eyes are not cloudy. They look sharp and clear. It is difficult to tell how old he is just by looking at his eyes.

The old doctor laughed and said: "I came to this unexpectedly. Once, I saw a villager who was injured in a fall. He smashed the earthen wormwood and applied it on the sprained area. Within two days, the injured area was healed. It's all good."

At that time, he thought, if the common ointments used for bruises usually use several herbs, would he be able to make a good ointment if he only used this one? ?

After the idea came up, the old doctor began to experiment.

First, I dug a lot of fresh wormwood and came back, and then I took these wormwood to visit the countryside.

If someone in a family was injured by a fall, he would give that person a free consultation without using any other medicine, only using this soil wormwood.

Later, he discovered that eight out of ten patients who used artemisia compress were cured.

Only two of them had poor results. When he went for follow-up consultation, he found that the reason why these two patients had no results was not only because of injuries caused by falls, but also because of internal bleeding.

In the past few years, he often used the ointment made from this wormwood to treat patients with bruises and injuries.

Over time, new recipes were also changed and Nux vomica was added. Xu

Yi stood up solemnly, raised his hands towards the old doctor, and bowed deeply: "Thank you, senior, for informing me."

The old doctor laughed dumbly: "What are you thanking me for? Didn't you already know what was used in this?"

Yi took a deep breath and felt that the cold autumn wind had become much gentler: "Although I know what medicine is used here, I don't know the reason why it is used in this way."

Yinchen can be matched with many medicines, why Use nux vomica instead of panax notoginseng? Not Eucommia ulmoides?

This is why some people know the same recipe but can't use it.

It's because I don't understand the pharmacology of this prescription and don't know how to use it. And only by knowing the purpose of each medicinal ingredient in this prescription can we grasp the essence of this prescription conveyed to the doctor.

Seeing that he was neither humble nor arrogant, but also respectful and calm, the old doctor became curious. When did Zitong County get such a young doctor?

When he asked, he found out that Xu Yi was from Yanting County.

"Yanting?" The old doctor thought for a while and said leisurely, "I went to Yanting more than thirty years ago and met a young doctor named Chen there who was about your age at the time."

Xu Yi raised his eyelids , asked: "But Dr. Chen of Miaoshou Hall?"

The old doctor nodded: "Exactly, I remember that he was still young at that time, and Miaoshou Hall was still in the hands of his master."

After he said it, he whispered softly, also I wonder if Doctor Chen is still in Yanting County after so many years.

"Doctor Chen has now given the management of Miaoshou Pavilion to his apprentice Wu Guanshan." Xu Yi said with a smile.

The old doctor sighed: "It's been so many years..."

Later in the conversation, Xu Yi asked hesitantly: "Senior asked Brother Wang to sell ointment in the city, but what trouble did he encounter?"

The old doctor said embarrassedly: "I Now that he is old and his grandson is young, the child has mediocre medical qualifications, but he loves to study, so he wants to save more money so that he can study in a private school in the city for a few more years. "

But when he was young, he was unruly and didn't bother to give to those. A wealthy family sees a doctor. For many years, I only treated poor people, and the money I earned was barely enough to survive.

Later, his son and his wife died young in an accident, leaving only an infant child.

The grandson grew up alone, and the old doctor didn't want him to continue on his old path.

In addition, the imperial court valued literati, so as long as his grandson had the opportunity to study, he could hope to obtain fame.

"Senior has also taken great pains for his grandson, but this ointment..." Xu Yi hesitated and looked at the gray-haired old man in front of him with reluctance.

The old doctor saw what he meant and asked Xu Yi to tell him the truth.

Xu Yi no longer hesitated and said solemnly: "Although this ointment is good, the prescription is easy to prepare. Senior, if you want to make money from this ointment, I'm afraid it won't work."

The old doctor looked at Xu Yi and sighed in a low voice: "I'll tell you the truth. , I can’t think of a good way. I didn’t think much about saving money when I was young, and I realized that it’s not easy to make money when I get older. “

What’s more, Zitong County has changed again and again in the past few decades, and it is no longer the one he was familiar with before. Zitong said.

Now when I go to the city, there are people buying and selling medicinal materials everywhere.

The medicinal materials he concocted were not of any interest to them.

Even if there are pharmacies that collect medicinal materials, they keep the prices extremely low. It’s not that the old doctor has never thought of changing places, but he is so old and it is really inconvenient for him to travel far.

Xu Yi understood and did not make any random ideas. He just asked him: "Senior, have you ever thought about selling this ointment to takeaways?"

The old doctor was stunned: "How do you say this?"

Xu Yi narrowed his eyes and said softly. He said: "I have a friend who is running a business and buying and selling pills..."

This friend is naturally Yu Qiulin.

Yu Qiulin felt sad and lost for several days since he knew he was leaving Yanting County.

However, Xu Yi did not let him be disappointed for too long. Before he left, he took Yu Qiulin to the Yamen to apply for a deed.

Xu Yi gave him the prescription of Chen's Xiaoshi Pills, but he could not disclose it and could only use it for three years.

With the prescription for Chen's Xiaoshi Pills, Yu Qiulin can come and go freely in the Xu family's pharmacy and prepare Xiaoshi Pills by himself in the pharmacy.

In this case, even if Xu Yi left, he would still have Xiaoshi Pills to buy and sell.

When Xu Yi wanted to help the old doctor, the first person he thought of was Yu Qiulin.

Yu Qiulin would occasionally come to Zitong County to buy and sell medicinal materials. He could write a letter to Yu Qiulin and ask him to come to Zitong County.

"This friend of mine has good character. I have pills in my hand that he buys and sells." Xu Yi said, "If senior can trust me, let me bring him a letter and let him come and talk to you."

Old doctor I didn't expect such a good thing to happen.

He saw that Xu Yi was so sincere, so there was no way he could disagree, so he immediately agreed.

"I didn't expect that I have lived for most of my life and still have to rely on you, the younger generation, for support." The old doctor smiled ashamedly.

Xu Yi quickly saluted and said: "This is all thanks to the generous teachings of the seniors. It is better to teach people to fish than to teach them to fish. If it were not for the generosity of the seniors, how could the juniors have the heart to repay."

The old doctor's eyes were slightly warm. , thanked Xu Yi.

Xu Yi avoided it and agreed to wait until Yu Qiulin arrived in Zitong County before visiting the old doctor.

When Xu Yi returned to the inn, he wrote to Yu Qiulin as soon as possible.

...

at the city gate.

Erqing carried a tied pheasant and two hares, and led Xiao Huang to the tea shed.

The young man who said he would wait for him to come back from hunting was indeed still there.

When the young scholar saw him returning home with a full load, he was equally surprised. He stood up from his chair, looked left and right, and murmured: "It's weird, how on earth can you, a young man, use this bow and arrow to hit such a target?" "How many prey?"

The friend next to him laughed and teased him: "You think everyone is weak if your limbs are not diligent."

"How are you better than me?" The young scholar scolded him with an unconvincing smile, "Damn it, damn it. , I can’t think of anything good to say to you. It’s all because of your bravery, but I only remember your prey and forget about the sage books I’ve read.” Erqing

looked at him blankly: ...

his friend is talking nonsense. You twitch your lips, wanting to say something to see if others understand what you are saying.

He didn't follow his friend to continue making trouble. When he saw the young man's eyes blank, he said, "Little Orion, how do you sell the chickens and rabbits in your hands?"

Erqing came back to his senses and looked at them.

He has never sold prey by himself. His relatives in the small mountain village used to sell it for him.

Er Qing's eyes were dark. Now that he thought about it, they had stolen a lot of money from him.

He was very cautious and did not reveal his ignorance. He asked instead: "How much money are you two officials willing to pay to buy them?"

The two scholars didn't understand either. When they heard his question, they looked at the old man in the tea shed. .

The old man showed his black teeth and said with a smile: "I remember that the butchers in this city collected wild products. The pheasants were one hundred and twenty cents, and the hares seemed to be one hundred and thirty cents."

When Er Qing heard this, his eyes lit up instantly.

This was twice as much as the price those people told him.

The two scholars were not short of several hundred pennies. When they heard this price, they readily took out the money to buy the pheasants and hares from Erqing's hands.

Erqing carefully put the money he earned into his purse, and his empty purse became full again.

He took out some loose money, went to a meat pie stall, and bought two large meat patties.

He and Xiao Huang, one person and one dog, squatted next to the stall, wolfing down the cakes.

This trip to the mountain took a lot of effort, and Erqing was growing tall again. After eating the cake, he was still hungry. He looked at the meat cake stall and swallowed subconsciously.

Unable to bear it any longer, he took out five dollars and went to the stall to buy some cakes.

After eating the cake and returning to the inn, Erqing saw Xu Yi and others coming back.

Xu Yi saw him and asked him with concern how the hunting was.

Erqing finally showed a boyish smile of his age: "Well, we caught pheasants and hares."

"Oh, sold it?" Xu Yi asked when he saw that his hands were empty.

Erqing did not hide anything and told Xu Yi about the pheasants and hares he had bought from him by two scholars.

"I didn't expect them to really buy it." Erqing still didn't understand.

Xu Yi raised his eyebrows: "Maybe they are really bored for a while."

When they are bored, they always want to find something to do, or the two scholars made a bet on whether Erqing could hunt something after he left.

Of course, these are all imaginations and should not be taken seriously.

While Xu Yi and Er Qing were talking, the sky outside suddenly darkened.

The autumn sky is getting dark quickly, and it’s time for dinner in a blink of an eye.

When Ah Jin came upstairs to call them downstairs for dinner, Erqing's face suddenly turned red.

He ate two patties and was not hungry at all.

Xu Yi had long smelled the scent of meat cakes left on him and Xiao Huang, but did not expose him. He only said to Ah Jin: "Xiao Huang is not hungry, so there is no need to leave food for him."

After hearing this, Ah Jin said nothing. Asked, he answered and ran downstairs to find the waiter, refusing to let him leave any food.

Xu Yi looked at her running away and said to Erqing, "Will you still go out tomorrow?"

Erqing nodded heavily: "Yes."

He wanted to earn enough money to leave with Xu Yi and the others, so that he would not be a burden.

Xu Yi didn't know that he had made a decision, but he respected his idea and still asked him to help take care of Xiao Huang.

Erqing agreed without thinking.

After this day of close contact, he fell in love with Xiao Huang more and more.

...

In a small courtyard on South Street, Father Qin drank another bowl of dark, steaming medicinal soup before going to sleep last night.

After the medicinal soup was taken down, shopkeeper Qin asked him hurriedly: "Dad, how do you feel?"

Dad Qin laughed: "How can it take effect so quickly."

Shopkeeper Qin: "..." Yes, he is too Anxious.

So he asked his father to have a good rest and he would come back tomorrow.

Not long after shopkeeper Qin left, Father Qin was lying on the bed, covered with a thick quilt.

In the past, when he was covered with such a thick quilt, his knees and below were cold and uncomfortable.

But it was different tonight. Not long after Father Qin lay down, he felt that his legs were so warm that he actually felt warm.

Father Qin stretched out his legs from the bed quilt. After a while, he retracted them due to the cold.

The next morning, he woke up from his sleep.

Father Qin opened his eyes, saw the bright light coming from the window, frowned and thought, how long has it been since he had a good night's sleep?

This night, it gave him a good sleep.

"Knock, knock."

There was a knock on the door outside.

Shopkeeper Qin shouted from outside: "Dad, are you awake? I'm coming in." After that, he opened the door and went inside to look for his father.

Seeing his father waking up and lying in bed in a daze, he asked, "Dad, how are you feeling?"

Father Qin said: "..."

He held up his arms to get up, but shopkeeper Qin quickly stepped forward to support him, and continued without forgetting. Ask again: "Dad, are you feeling better today?"

"A lot better. These legs were not sick last night." Father Qin told his son truthfully.

Shopkeeper Qin became even more happy after hearing this.

He said: "I discussed it with Su Niang at night. Today I will go to the inn to talk to Dr. Xu about renting a house. Su Niang's sister-in-law's family is willing to rent the house out for the two ounces of money Su Niang said."

The other party did not raise the price. , it can be regarded as giving face to the Qin family and trying to please a favor.

Shopkeeper Qin didn't intend to tell Xu Yi about this favor, otherwise it would turn sour.

It was too early to eat, and shopkeeper Qin hurriedly came to the inn to look for Xu Yi.

Xu Yi didn't go out and was waiting for him in the inn room. When A Xu came to report, he was still reading the travel notes.

Pang Boyi asked Uncle Pang to compile a total of twelve travel notes.

Each book is two centimeters thick. Xu Yi will pick up books whenever he has free time, except that he cannot read when he is on the road.

Even so, he has only read one book in the past few days.

Shopkeeper Qin came, and Xu Yi had no choice but to put down his travel notes and get up to greet him.

The two of them didn't chat much. After a brief greeting, they went out to look at houses on South Street.

As the Qin family's wife said, this house is small but well-equipped. In addition, it has not been idle for a long time, and the tables and chairs are not very dusty. It can be occupied by simply cleaning it.

Xu Yi was very satisfied with the house and paid the money without saying anything.

After that, he didn't go to the dental shop to hire a roughneck. He only called A Xu and A Jin and planned for the three of them to clean up the house.

A Xu and A Jin didn't let him clean up. They simply packed up the main room first, then took down the tea set and stove from the carriage, boiled water to make tea, and ordered Xu Yi to sit in the main room and drink tea and read.

Xu Yi: "..."

Xu Yi watched them clean up the house skillfully and quickly, and sort out the luggage moved from the carriage.

Seeing how fast he was doing his own housework, he stopped thinking about helping.

In less than half a day, they packed up the house and moved in.

After moving in, Xu Yi started to resume his old business and planned to open a clinic in Zitong County.

Of course, this is not Yanting. If you hang a sign for medical consultation at home, the patients will come to see you.

Xu Yi thought about it and ordered A Xu to find a fabric shop in the city and order a sign.

He entered the house with a sign and called A Jin Yan Mo.

Following the signs hung by practicing doctors, Xu Yi wrote on the left "Specializes in treating difficult and complicated diseases" and on the right "Cures diseases and sells raw and cooked medicines".

After writing and drying, he began to look forward to the days ahead.