Chapter 29

Xu Yi was not in a hurry to prescribe medicine to Mrs. He. In modern times, cervical spondylosis is not a serious problem and many young people who work have it.

Especially if you work in a sedentary job for a few years, you will experience discomfort in your neck, shoulders, and back. Some may be numb, some may be sore, and you may experience more or less discomfort in your arms and outer thighs.

Severe cases may include dizziness, nausea and vomiting, earache, tinnitus, and chest pain.

"Brother Qiu, Mrs. He's illness is not serious. If you prepare a few packets of medicinal soup, you should be fine." Xu Yi reminded.

Madam He stopped him and said, "I really don't need to take medicine. If it's not a serious problem, don't spend money on it. Didn't Brother Yi just say that walking around will make things better? Then I won't sit still and do embroidery for a while." Then get up and take a walk. "

Brother Qiu is now sixteen, and it will be too late if we don't finalize the marriage.

As a family, their annual income is not enough for expenses, so it is not easy for them to save two or three dollars. I heard that the money for marriage gifts in Pengxi County is getting higher and higher, and even Yanting County is also affected. If you want to marry a good girl, you can't do it without dozens of dollars.

In order to look good, many people resorted to selling things and wanted to offer a decent entrance gift.

Mrs. He was unwilling to say anything. He Linqiu, as a son, tried to persuade her several times to no avail.

In the end, He Linqiu thought that maybe his mother would be willing to listen to Xu Yi.

He pulled Xu Yi outside the house.

"Brother Yi, can you advise my mother, if she doesn't take the medicine, will she..." He Linqiu's red eyes had not gone away, and he looked at Xu Yi with a pair of eyes.

Xu Yi pondered and said: "There are some medicines that I can use at home. I will write down some medicines for you. You can go to the pharmacy and buy them for me. This way you can save some medicine money."

In this case, Mrs. He He should be willing to drink medicinal soup.

He Linqiu's eyes lit up and he thought this was a great idea. As long as it didn't cost so much money, his mother would definitely agree.

He immediately took Xu Yi back to the house.

Mrs. He had just had her pulse checked. She didn't dare to continue her embroidery work, so she wiped the table and door with a rag.

Seeing them coming back, he asked, "If you bite your ears, you have to go outside to say it."

"Mom, I do it for your own good." He Linqiu took the rag in her hand and asked her to sit down.

Then, he immediately told her what he had just discussed with Xu Yi, but he saw that Madam He's expression was not right, and He Linqiu looked a little more reproachful.

"You, I thought you went to get brother Yi's medical fee, but you went to take advantage."

He Linqiu was startled and then realized: "I didn't, I didn't expect this."

He patronized Mrs. He to agree.

Xu Yi appropriately spoke out to save the situation: "It's not Brother Qiu's idea, this is what I proposed. After I go up the mountain to dig up medicinal materials, I always keep some of them for later use. Now I just use the medicinal materials."

Madam He: "That's okay. You can't use yours in vain. The medicinal materials you worked so hard to dig up can earn dozens of cash from selling them in the pharmacy. How can you use them on me?"

Xu Yi glanced at her: "I dig medicines not just for selling money. "

In the past, my family would often arrange free medical clinics in the countryside, and the villagers did not need to pay a penny for examination fees and medicines."

This was true for people he didn't know, but for Mrs. He... Xu Yi would be unsure for a while.

Mrs. He has a strong temper and refuses to take advantage of Xu Yi. She also thinks that if she doesn't take the medicine, Brother Qiu will feel uneasy when he goes back to work, which is not good.

"That's all. I'll listen to you and just drink a few packets of decoction. You can't push me like this again later."

Xu Yi curled his lips and smiled: "Listen to Mrs. He."

Speaking of this, Xu Yi and He Linqiu Without further delay, Xu Yi first wrote the dosage of several medicines to He Linqiu and asked him not to go to Xinglin Pavilion but to another one on South Street.

He Linqiu was curious and asked why.

Xu Yi shook his head and said nothing.

Then he returned to his yard and found Sichuan Qiong, Angelica sinensis, Astragalus membranaceus, and Salvia miltiorrhiza among the medicinal herbs that had been picked and dried. He grabbed an approximate amount of money with his hands, divided it into five parts and placed them on the jute paper.

He took the correct amount of medicine, so if there was no one around, there wouldn't be any problem. However, I will still buy a small medicine scale in the future to avoid any criticism.

When He Linqiu came back with the medicine he bought, Xu Yi took the package, opened it, divided it up again, and wrapped it in jute paper.

"Brother Yi, how much are those medicines of yours? I'll give them to you."

Xu Yi calculated in his mind and said, "Fifteen cents." He

Linqiu was a little surprised: "So cheap?"

The medicine cost him thirty-six cents. It seemed that the amount of medicine was not as much as Xu Yi used.

"Different medicinal materials, earthworms are expensive. One earthworm costs three cents in a medical clinic. If you have five here, it costs fifteen cents." Xu Yi said.

Dilong has the effects of clearing away heat and calming wind, unblocking meridians and activating meridians. It is used in prescriptions for treating cervical spondylosis and has a good effect on areas with blocked areas.

He also added peach kernels and safflower to the prescription. Both of these medicines have the effect of removing blood stasis. In "Lin Yi Gai Cuo", there is a blood stasis removing decoction in which these two medicines are used.

After listening to Xu Yi's explanation, He Linqiu also knew that medicines were expensive and cheap, so he no longer worried about whether Xu Yi had overpaid.

He took out fifteen dollars and gave it to Xu Yi. Then he belatedly remembered that Mrs. He had told her not to pay Xu Yi the money for the consultation.

Xu Yi had thought about the issue of consultation fees before and only charged two cents.

I received a total of seventeen articles, which were heavy in my hand and quite weighty.

He quickly went out and called Xianhan and brought him two portions of food, as well as a plate of mutton, boiled and eaten with dipping sauce.

Boiling sliced ​​mutton is very similar to steaming white meat. The whole hind leg meat is placed in a clay pot and simmered over low heat. After it is cooked, cut it into thin slices, with fat and soft boiled skin. It has no taste if you eat it without dipping sauce. You can only taste the original flavor of the mutton. It is not oily or greasy, and it is quite delicious. .

Xu Yi ate it once and thought it tasted very good. Xiao Huang also liked it very much.

There are only a dozen slices on a plate, and if one person and one dog share it, there won’t be much left to share.

Along with other meals, Xu Yi was satisfied with the meal.

This time. The smell of medicine came from the He family next door, and He Linqiu fried the medicine in the kitchen.

Mrs. He felt very distressed when she found out that these medicines cost dozens of yuan, and she was afraid that He Linqiu might destroy the medicines due to his clumsiness.

"Brother Qiu, you go and have a rest. I'll be here." Taking the cattail leaf fan in He Linqiu's hand, Madam He urged him to get up.

"Mom, I'm not tired." He Linqiu shook his head. He worked at the master's house and did more work. He had to do it for several hours every day before resting. He could do this job well.

His mother still treats him as a child of several years old.

"Then..." Mrs. He thought for a moment, "I'll make noodles with toppings for you. You said you wanted to eat them last time, and there happened to be wheat at home."

Noodles were also one of the important staple foods for people in the Song Dynasty, but they ate less in the south and ate rice. , chestnut, and beetroot are more. Therefore, there are not many wheat farmers in Yanting County. If the He family wants to eat pasta, they have to go to the grain store to buy it. A bushel of wheat costs twenty-one cents.

One kilogram of wheat can produce half the amount of flour, which can be made into pasta, which can be eaten by the wife and son for a day.

...

in the inn.

Mrs. Qian was sitting at the coffee table in the room uneasily. The food brought by the waiter beside her had cooled down, and she didn't even think of lifting her chopsticks.

Last time the Wang family came to the Xu family to send condolence gifts, they only sent their housekeeper.

The Wang family was in the wood carving business. Grandfather Wang had the foresight to buy a house in the county town. Later, when the family grew, he bought two mothers in Renya to do chores and hired a housekeeper.

When the uncle of the Wang family came to Yanting County to work, he met Xu Yi who was studying in a private school. Seeing that this boy had a tough mind and studied hard, he felt that this person was a potential stock.

After inquiring about the information, I thought that my family background was a bit poor, but if I studied hard and passed the exam, I would be able to become a minor official, so I decided to marry my youngest daughter Mei Jieer.

Who would have thought that such a big thing would happen in just two years? The Wang family regretted it instantly.

This is why there is such a thing as a money lady.

Mrs. Qian regretted it. She would not have accepted this job if she had known it earlier. She thought she could get a lot of benefits, but now she is lucky, and Xu Xiaozi has defeated her.

"Hmph. I'm so angry." Mrs. Qian gritted her teeth. No, she had to write a letter back to the Wang family immediately and let the Wang family's eldest brother make the decision.

Mrs. Qian got up and left the room, and asked the waiter: "Do you know where I can write letters and deliver letters?"

After receiving the answer, she went out with a heavy heart, hired a small sedan at the door of the inn, hurried to the inn, and paid the money. I wrote a letter and had it delivered to Pengxi County.

Two days later, someone from Pengxi County finally came over. It was the housekeeper, bringing a welcome gift from the Xu family.

When Mrs. Qian saw that it was him, she knew that there was nothing to be gained, and asked without giving up: "Er Lang didn't come?"

"The second master went to Exi Town and couldn't come over, so he asked the younger one to come, and told him that Xu If the family wants to take back the door gift, then let him take it. The Wang family will not squander this gift money."

Madam Qian's eyes twitched: "..."

The housekeeper seemed not to notice and asked her: "Second Madam, we are. When will we go? The uncle is still waiting for news. "

It's late. He's worried that the Xu family will regret it and the trip will be difficult."

"Don't worry, I bought a lot of things in the past few days. You also know that I don't know much about reading. Please help me organize the post and see if I have remembered the wrong things." Madam Qian laid out the music and drank tea slowly.

The housekeeper couldn't help it. After taking the post, he read the things written on it one by one, and the sky turned dark.

Mrs. Qian said that she would go to the Xu family tomorrow and ask the housekeeper to deliver the post today.

...

In the past two days, Xu Yi sent Xiaoshi Pills to Jishitang and asked the medicine boy if he had any saltpeter. When he heard that there was, he decisively bought dozens of kilograms of saltpeter.

I almost emptied the medicine cabinet of saltpeter.

The medicine boy was surprised, which made Doctor Yan wonder, why did he buy so much?

How many auxiliary medicines should be used in the prescription before the medicine is used up?

"Doctor Xu, this saltpeter is a medicine for attacking poison, reducing swelling, and diluting water and diarrhea. Don't use too much." Doctor Yan reminded.

Xu Yi nodded: "Thank you, Doctor Yan, for your kindness. I understand."

He bought so much saltpeter not to use it as medicine, but to try how to make ice.

When he was studying, he learned about the use of saltpeter and did experiments on making ice with saltpeter, but it was a long time ago and he couldn't remember the recipe at that time.

Thinking that saltpeter is not expensive, I bought a few dozen kilograms and tried it first to see if it worked.

Besides, the summer in Yanting County is so hot, how can we do without ice?

If he couldn't afford it, he would make it himself.

Xu Yi, who was very confident, carried a bamboo basket with dozens of kilograms of saltpeter on his back, walked around to a pottery shop, and bought two pottery pots with lids of different sizes.

Xu Yi was worried that the clay pot would leak, so he chose one with better sealing, which was several cents more expensive. When I got it, I thought it was worth it. The big one can hold ten kilograms of water, while the small one can hold four kilograms.

Then, he also bought a copper medicine scale from a scale shop in Bei City.

It is not easy to make a medicine scale, and the workmanship is exquisite and careful. It requires a master craftsman to make a medicine scale with accurate money counting. Xu Yi tested the accuracy on the spot and asked if the price could be negotiated. After confirming that the price could not be negotiated, he readily paid for it.

Once you go out, you will spend several taels of money.

The speed of making money could not keep up with the speed of spending money. It was not that Xu Yi felt sorry for the money, but that at this rate, how could he open a medical clinic?

After almost buying all the things, Xu Yi went home carrying a bamboo basket on his back.

Just when I reached the intersection of Shijing Lane, I met He Linqiu who was also returning home with food. He Linqiu walked over quickly and said hello: "Brother Yi, are you back from work?"

"Yes, you went out to buy food. Is it there?" Xu Yi glanced at the oil paper bag in his hand and smelled the aroma of food.

He Linqiu said with a smile: "My mother asked me to buy it, and I planned to send it to you later. I happened to meet you, so I didn't have to make another trip."

"I bought it myself." Xu Yi carried the food He raised his arm to signal He Linqiu to look.

"Fei Pozi's rice wine meatballs, Xu Ji's rice crackers, and I also bought five salted chicken eggs. I was just going to ask you if you want to eat them?"

He Linqiu shook his head quickly. He was going to deliver food, but why did he become so many? Yi asked him what to eat.

Xu Yi smiled. Because of the memory in his mind, he had a good impression of this very filial young man. He said, "You're welcome. This salted chicken is delicious. You and Mrs. He can try it one by one."

He stuffed two salted eggs into He Linqiu's hands and continued home with the food in hand.

Xiao Huang was waiting for him obediently at home. When he saw him coming home, he came around with a cute smile.

Xu Yi gave it some meatballs and threw in two rice crackers. Seeing that it had eaten them all, it wagged its tail at him after eating, obviously not full.

Looking at Xiao Huang's physique, he has grown up again.

The little native puppy, which is almost four months old, weighs more than ten kilograms. Its plump and cute look has disappeared, replaced by a well-proportioned figure.

In just two months, people and dogs have changed dramatically.

Xu Yi enjoyed the joy of petting the dog. After dinner, he planned to try making ice with saltpeter.

There are many ice-making methods recorded in ancient books, but the probability of success is not high. Xu Yi had only seen the experiment back then, but had never really tried it. Now that he is actually going to make it, he feels quite uneasy.

He first poured well water into a large clay pot. The well water just picked up from the bottom of the well was ice cold. Xu Yi untied the sack containing saltpeter and took out pieces of saltpeter the size of his fist.

The saltpeter at this time has not yet been purified, and the color looks slightly yellow with a little orange-pink.

It doesn't smell like anything, but when burned it produces smoke, a pungent gas similar to firecrackers. If you taste it, it has a salty and spicy taste with a refreshing feeling. Don't eat too much as it is slightly poisonous.

Put the crushed saltpeter into the jar and let the water slowly dissolve it. Then, fill the small clay jar with eight-tenths of the water, seal it, and put it into the large clay jar.

Xu Yi moved them to the shade of the room and stirred them at an even speed with a wooden stick.

Feeling the temperature outside the pottery pot dropping rapidly, his eyes showed joy. When the saltpeter was completely dissolved, Xu Yi stopped stirring and sealed the larger pottery pot together.

It was already getting late this time.

Xu Yi got up and went to light the oil lamp. Just as he was about to come for dinner, he heard someone knocking on the door. When he came out, he found a familiar stranger.

He was in his forties, with a small beard, a blue square hat, and a satin gown of the same color. He was holding a box of snacks in his hand and smiled when he saw Xu Yi.

"I'd like to say hello to Mr. Xu Xiaoguan. I'm here to send a greeting note to my second wife. I'm thinking of coming over for a visit tomorrow. I wonder if Mr. Xu is free?" The housekeeper finished the question slowly and took out the note in his arms. Hand it over.

Xu Yi was waiting for someone from the Wang family to come, so it didn't matter if it was the housekeeper, so he closed the post.

As for the snack, he wouldn't be short of it.

The next morning, when Xu Yi woke up, the first thing he did was no longer drink water and practice boxing, but ran to the corner to look at his two clay pots.

After cooling overnight, the outside of the clay pot felt very cold to the touch, with a layer of white frost hanging on it, which turned into ice water when touched.

Xu Yi couldn't wait to open the lid and took out the clay pot soaked in it. After carefully opening the lid, he looked at the scene inside and fell into a daze.

Didn't turn into ice?

Did he use too little saltpeter?

Thinking that he had used almost half of the saltpeter, but the result was like this, it inevitably made him doubt. Was it because his memory was wrong, and the person who did the experiment before was not saltpeter? But something else.

It shouldn't be, his memory is not that advanced, the proportion must be wrong.

Xu Yi did not believe in evil, so he crushed the remaining saltpeter one by one, dissolved it in a small amount of water, and then poured it into a clay pot and stirred it.

Soon, the temperature in the clay pot dropped again, and Xu Yi seemed to see hope. He only had a few bites of breakfast, then came to the clay pot again, and repeatedly looked at the small clay pot inside to see how it was freezing. No more.

For a moment, he felt like he was back in middle school, with expectations for new things in his eyes and in his heart.

Waiting left and right, the clay pot has not yet frozen. Madam Qian and the housekeeper of the Wang family arrived first. Behind them were two idle men carrying things.

Coming in such a large formation soon attracted the attention of other residents in Shijing Lane.

"Who are these people?"

"It seems that I have picked out a lot of good things. Could it be that Xu Xiaolang has made friends with some rich family?"

"I don't know, let's go, we will find out if we go up and take a look."

"..."

Almost When Xu Yi opened the door, several familiar neighbors gathered outside Xu's courtyard.

Seeing Xu Yi coming out, some asked in a familiar manner: "Xu Xiaolang, what's the good thing about this?"

Last time they watched the Xing family deliver furniture, but today they looked at it and it seemed to be different.

Before Xu Yi could speak, Mrs. Qian said with a smile: "Of course it's a good thing. I came to see Xu Xiaolang earlier and asked how he was doing lately. It's a pity that we were destined to have nothing to do with each other. When we talked about it later, she actually gave up the previously settled marriage. Retreat. My Wang family is also thinking about Xu Xiaolang. Now the Xu family has to live by themselves first. If they get married, they will not be able to survive on an empty stomach."

She said it beautifully, but every word was sarcastic to Xu. The family is now in ruins.

The neighbors were all confused and looked at each other. I don't know how the Wang family could tell that the Xu family was not going to survive.

He even wanted to call off the marriage!

You know, even if Xu Xiaolang doesn't study, he is still popular in Shijing Lane. Many families with daughters want Xu Yi to be their son-in-law.

"Are you, the Wang family, confused? You are thinking of breaking off the engagement despite such a good marriage?"

"Yes, yes, why did you break off the engagement?"

"Could these things be the gifts that the Xu family carried out back then? It's a gift, right? It's quite a colorful gift. Why don't you look down on it?"

"..."

You still don't need to say anything.

Xu Yi looked at Madam Qian with a calm expression and her face turned red. Although he didn't know what she was thinking, there must be nothing good going on.

He cupped his hands and invited Mrs. Qian and Butler Wang into the room.

The two idle men carried the gift into the house, asked Butler Wang for money, and left this place of right and wrong.

The people gathered outside to watch the excitement did not disperse and were still discussing in low voices.

None of this had anything to do with Xu Yi. He nodded at the gifts brought by the Wang family, and found that they were all good. Then he said, "In order to treat my father and mother, I pawned the gifts brought by your Wang family. This is my gift." Please take a look at the edited post.”

He handed him the post first, and then continued calmly: "The Xu family will not owe the Wang family anything. I have converted these gifts into silver coins, totaling eleven taels and eight coins. Here are two jiaozis worth 50 taels. There are still eighteen coins here."

Butler Wang took a look at the post and saw that it was written with beautiful calligraphy, full of energy and extraordinary talent.

He was just hired to be the housekeeper of his master's family, and he didn't intend to get involved in the family's grudges. He still couldn't help but wonder if he had done something wrong if he wanted to break off the engagement with the Xu family.

Like those people discussing outside, their demeanor and words, this Xu Xiaolang is not like Mrs. Qian said, a small profit, a hypocritical villain.

"These are all correct. I would like to ask Xiaoguan Xu to remember it so clearly without any flaws." The housekeeper closed the post and showed it to Mrs. Qian for review.

Mrs. Qian didn't recognize so many words. After a few glances, she felt dizzy.

She put down the post with a cold snort and said: "Now that the gifts have been delivered, shouldn't it be time to take out the marriage document in Xu Xiaolang's hand?"

Xu Yi said lightly: "Where is the marriage document from the Wang family."

The marriage document was in duplicate, with the following written on it: The content is reversed, first a good story, and then the identity is revealed. In Xu Yi's hand, there are words such as "The Wang family has a good daughter, and the Xu family is willing to have a good relationship."

It is written on silk that is not easily damaged. It is expensive for a small piece, and it can be said that it is full of sincerity.

Such sincerity has disappeared over time and no longer exists.

They exchanged marriage certificates, and Xu Yi burned the thin piece of silk into ashes in front of the other party with no expression on his face.

No matter how arrogant Madam Qian was, she was still shocked by Xu Yi's behavior.

He...he...

how dared to humiliate the Wang family like this? Aren't he afraid that the Wang family would reveal the breakup of the engagement and make him lose face? !

Butler Wang was also surprised. He thought today's negotiations would be troublesome. In fact, the other party didn't even want to say extra words to them.

After burning the silk, Xu Yi asked them to leave the Xu family.

After walking out of the Xu family's yard, Mrs. Qian looked back at the shabby little thatched house, still wondering how Xu Yi dared.

Xu Yi had no interest in their ideas.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s the Wang family or the Li family, he’s going to see if his ice is ready!