Chapter 78

The needle worked, and Xu Yi knew that his dialectic was correct.

The eye disease that Grandpa Zhou suffered from is called malnutrition in the upper eye in Chinese medicine, also called malnutrition. In Western medicine, the disease name is corneal malacia.

When it comes to keratomalacia, the first thing that everyone thinks of is that only children under a few years old suffer from this disease. It is almost rare to see adults suffering from this disease.

But in fact, adults can also get it, but the probability is very low, very few.

When Xu Yi saw the symptoms of Grandpa Zhou's eye disease, he also doubted whether his judgment was wrong, but after the diagnosis, he was basically sure that Grandpa Zhou had malnutrition.

The medicine changes according to the syndrome. He also made additions and subtractions to the Shenfu Baizhu Powder he prescribed to Grandpa Zhou.

On the basis of Shenfu Atractylodes Powder, Xu Yi added Gallus gallus gallus gallinae and Shenqu, two medicinal herbs that can help digestion and appetite, and play a role in digestion and accumulation.

And he happened to have all these medicines.

Gallus gallus gallus gallinae is a rare medicinal material found in medical clinics in Yanting County, and there are not many prescriptions for digestion. After Xu Yi got this medicine, he wanted to try it and see how it worked.

He asked Zhou Fu to go back to Xu's house with him.

Zhou Fu nodded in agreement, and it was already midday when the two of them took the bullock cart back to South Street.

The two children at home prepared the meal and warmed it on the stove, waiting for Xu Yi to come back.

Xu Yi grabbed medicine for Zhou Fu and asked him if he wanted to stay for lunch.

Zhou Fu shook his head: "I have to go back."

Xu Yi did not persuade him to stay, he just stayed with him to eat out of courtesy.

Since Zhou Fu wanted to go back, Xu Yi thought about it and advised Zhou Fu to spend more time talking to the elderly at home.

Zhou Fu frowned slightly, as if he didn't understand.

"Why?"

Xu Yi: "You..."

He looked at Zhou Fu with a complicated expression.

There is a reason why Grandpa Zhou keeps talking to someone when he sees them.

He learned from Uncle Tang that both Zhou Fu's parents had passed away, and he and Aweng were the only ones dependent on each other. After Grandpa Zhou's eye broke out, his grandson stayed away from home all year round in order to earn money for medical treatment. Grandpa Zhou stayed at home alone with no one to talk to.

Over time, the left-behind elderly people may become rigid, stubborn, withdrawn and unapproachable. Or he would be like Grandpa Zhou today, speaking as hard as he can whenever he gets the chance, for fear that no one will listen to him.

The latter is because Grandpa Zhou is open-minded and can think broadly.

After a long while, Xu Yi saw that Zhou Fu really didn't understand what he meant, and sighed softly: "Zhou Zhang is old and not in good health. Brother Ah Fu, it's better not to go out too often in the past few years." ."

Zhou Fu was stunned and understood. He cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Doctor Xu, for informing me."

Seeing that he already understood, Xu Yi didn't waste any more words.

...

that night.

In the Pang family's study, Pang Boyi was in a good mood after reading the letter sent by Pan Wenji to the house, and called Uncle Pang who was standing guard next to him.

"Da Lang."

Uncle Pang stepped forward, tucked up his collar, and asked, "What did Pan Langjun write in the letter?"

Pang Boyi said, "Last time, the 'half-immortal' selling poison prescriptions was arrested. Stop it."

Uncle Pang was also happy when he heard this: "That's a good thing."

"It's indeed a good thing." Pang Boyi took a sip of warm tea and said to Uncle Pang, "Got it. If no one is caught in a few days, Wenji, the county captain, will not be able to do his job."

Uncle Pang smiled kindly, not daring to echo Pang Boyi's complaints.

The old man can say this, but he, an old servant, cannot.

He watched Pang Boyi take another sip of tea, his face moving slightly.

"Da Lang, it's very cold at night. Doctor Xu said it's hard for you to fall asleep. Don't drink too much tea after dinner." Uncle Pang reminded him and took away the tea in the study.

Pang Boyi didn't feel bad when he saw that the tea cup at hand was gone.

"You should listen to Dr. Xu now, and you are not afraid of my husband being angry." He waved his sleeves and sat back in front of the case.

Holding the wide sleeves with one hand, he studied the ink himself with the other hand.

Uncle Pang's expression did not change: "Young man can't act as recklessly as before, please put your health first."

When Pang Boyi heard this, he raised his eyebrows and smiled: "Okay, listen to Uncle Pang. Uncle Pang, you will come tomorrow I'm going to ask Dr. Xu to check my pulse and see if I've followed the doctor's instructions well these days. "

Uncle Pang didn't know what Dalang was thinking, so he sighed helplessly and agreed.

It was night, and Uncle Pang didn't let Pang Boyi stay in the study for too long.

After turning off the lights in the study, Uncle Pang held up a lantern to lead the way. Pang Boyi looked outside the corridor. The cold wind was blowing and the branches of the trees planted by the wall were swaying. It was cold all around, and he had a heater in his hand, but it was hard to resist the coldness.

"The wind is blowing?!" Uncle Pang shouted in surprise.

Behind him, Pang Boyi frowned slightly. The wind was blowing at this time, which was not a good sign.

...

On the other side, the Xu family.

Xu Yi heard a "pop-pop" sound outside the house, frowned and opened the corner of the window.

A gust of cold wind rushed in, stinging his face.

Xu Yi frowned, it was dark outside and there was no moonlight. It's not yet the light snow season, and the weather has suddenly cooled down at this time, which makes people feel vaguely uneasy.

History records that this time was still in the Little Ice Age. Xu Yi had only read about it in books before, but had never experienced it.

Some time ago, although the weather got cold quickly, it was still tolerable.

But the temperature suddenly dropped sharply again, and I'm afraid he wasn't the only one worried tonight.

He closed the window uneasily and went out to tell A Xu and A Jin to remember to add two more pieces of charcoal at night.

A Xu and A Jin rubbed their hands and nodded in agreement.

It was extremely cold inside and outside the house tonight. They added the charcoal basin an hour in advance, but they still felt cold in their limbs.

After entering the house, Ah Jin got into bed to warm up and whispered to Ah Xu across the curtain: "Brother, we are not afraid of the cold this year."

"Yeah."

A Xu pursed his lips, added a few pieces of charcoal to the charcoal basin, and placed the kettle on top.

In this way, Lang Jun and the others would have hot water to use when they woke up the next day.

Ah Jin added: "The bed tent in Lang Jun's room is very old. It's time to replace it with a new one. Tomorrow I'm going to the fabric shop to buy a few feet of fabric for the tent. I'll finish it in the next few days. You can put it on for your husband."

A Xu said, "I'm going to buy it. I'm short of salt. I want to go to the salt shop to buy salt."

A Jin's eyes moved and she said she wanted to go too.

"Lang Jun said that he should walk more and not stay in the house all day."

"Okay." A Xu did not insist and said to his sister, "Tomorrow I will go to Lang Jun's place to pay the money and buy some rice and noodles. "

Xu Yi likes to eat pasta. A bucket of noodles is more expensive than rice. Now A Xu buys it in the kitchen kitchen. He arranges it properly every time. When half of the rice and noodles are left, he will buy new ones. At home.

But the next morning, when they went to Xu Yi's place to pay money, Xu Yi said that he would go with them.

Before going to the grain store, Xu Yi went to He's house and asked Mrs. He if she wanted to buy rice and noodles.

"The weather is so scary. A strong wind suddenly started last night, and it was howling wildly all night long." Xu Yi said, changing the subject. "If it snows, the price of food will probably rise. We must first Let's stock up on some rice and noodles at home."

Mrs. He nodded: "It's time to remind Brother Yi."

She went back to the house, took out the money and gave it to He Qiulin, and asked He Qiulin to follow Xu Yi to the grain store.

The He family had a small cart, and He Qiulin pushed the wooden cart behind the ox cart driven by Uncle Liu. They walked two small streets and arrived at the grain store on South Street.

When they arrived, they found that there were more people queuing up to buy food at the food store today than before.

It seems that not only they want to collect food, but other people's homes are also coming to buy food.

Xu Yi and He Qiulin stood in line for a while and heard the people around them discussing.

"You heard about it. There are Qiang people in Maozhou who are violating and plundering. Several counties have been robbed of grain."

Xu Yi opened his slightly drooped eyelids and looked at the man who spoke.

The man continued with his companion: "I heard that Fucheng is sending grain to Maozhou. The price of grain in Fucheng has risen two days ago. It has increased by sixteen yuan per bucket."

A bucket of grain has increased by sixteen yuan. For one stone, one hundred and sixty dollars will be added.

The news immediately exploded in the crowd.

"How can one live at this price?"

"When I bought it yesterday, a bushel of rice was already 48 cents, which was six cents more expensive than in the middle of the month."

"I didn't expect it to continue to rise. Maozhou has been robbed of food. Why should our prefecture provide food? Aren't we short of food? "

"That's right. If the price continues to rise like this, who will be able to afford food?"

"..."

There was discussion around . It went on and on, but no one left. They continued to wait for the food store to open.

Xu Yi and He Qiulin looked at each other and saw worry in each other's eyes.

Every winter, food prices rise.

This is not surprising.

The strange thing is that the price of food has risen so fast, which makes people panic.

Especially with the price of food rising and so many people queuing up to buy food, the situation was worse than Xu Yi thought. Perhaps outside Yanting County, in places Xu Yi didn't know about, there were already food shortages in some places.

If this is true, it will not only increase food prices.

Xu Yi glanced at the people queuing up. From these people, he could see that there were many people traveling around doing business. They were better informed, and when the grain store opened the door, they carried the grain out stone by stone.

When it was Xu Yi's turn, half of the grain in the grain store had been sold.

The busy shop boy looked at Xu Yi and asked calmly: "How much do you want?"

Xu Yi said: "It's five stones."

As soon as he finished speaking, the shop boy had a new reaction, buying five stones was a lot of food.

The first few people who bought like this were all businessmen, and they planned to take the grain to those places where the grain price was more expensive and resell them, taking the opportunity to make money.

However, when he saw the young man wearing a green robe in front of him, he didn't look like he was running around doing business. He didn't have that sleek and cunning air about him.

The shop boy quickly tapped his fingers on the abacus, and after calculating, he said: "Today's grain price, one stone of rice is five hundred and twenty-seven cents. To buy five stones, it costs two cents and six cents and thirty-five cents. There is no credit."

Xu Yi. Nodding, he took out an ingot of broken silver from his purse.

The shop boy took the broken silver and weighed it. It was twenty or eight cents. After converting it into copper coins, he strung two strings of small coins and gave them to Xu Yi eleven loose coins.

The value of this silver is higher than that of ordinary copper coins. When converted into loose coins, it can sometimes cost more than a dozen dollars.

After calculating the money, the strong man carrying the grain in the grain shop moved a stone of grain to the bullock cart that Xu Yi was riding.

He Qiulin watched Xu Yi buy five stones of grain with envy in his eyes.

It's a pity that Mrs. He only gave him a lot of money, and she couldn't even buy two stones of rice.

So, He Qiulin bought a stone of rice and a stone of beans.

The two bought food, and on the way back they met several neighbors who wanted to buy food.

Xu Yi pulled them and asked what happened.

When the neighbor who was being pulled saw that it was Xu Yi, he said patiently: "I don't know where the news came from, saying that there was a disaster in the north a few days ago. The grain stores in the county got the news and gave their prices to them one after another. If they don't buy it, many people are worried that it will continue to rise.

"Huh? Doctor Xu is back buying grain?" Another person asked in surprise when he saw the bullock cart that Xu Yi was sitting in.

Xu Yi said: "I went to the grain store to sell grain today. I saw that the price of grain had risen high, so I bought more and stored it."

The man smacked his tongue. He had only heard of buying grain when it was cheap, but had never seen the price increase. It was only at that time that grain was collected.

However, he had no time to think too much. After saying goodbye to Xu Yi and the others, he hurried to the grain store a little quickly.

He Qiulin next to him looked at Xu Yi worriedly: "Brother Yi, do you think there is really a disaster in the north?"

Xu Yi shook his head slightly: "I don't know."

He was also worried in his heart.

He Qiulin said nervously: "If there is really a disaster, the price of food will go up."

"Yeah." Xu Yi frowned, feeling unhappy and sitting in the car with He Qiulin back to the door.

The two of them unloaded the grain from the oxcart one after another, and asked Uncle Liu to collect more grain.

Uncle Liu sighed and said: "I have food at home. I have saved a few stones of rice and a few stones of rice harvest in the autumn. But I have eaten a lot, so I still have to go to the grain store to buy some."

Today he heard that the price of grain has increased. If so, everyone is in panic.

When the price of food rises, it is the most painful thing for them. With a family of more than ten people, the food they consume every day is a huge sum.

He was lucky to have a few kilo of food stored at home. But most of them have no extra grain at home, especially those with small families. After paying taxes on the grain they grow, there is not much left to chew.

Everyone went home in a heavy atmosphere.

...

Near lunch, Xu Yi received a patient in the clinic who was suffering from cold and diarrhea.

After the consultation, he did not write a prescription, but just grabbed a handful of kudzu root and astragalus and wrapped it in jute paper, and asked the patient to boil it and take it.

The patient took the medicine and left. Xu Yi got up and walked around, and saw Uncle Pang coming towards Xu's yard with his hands in his sleeves.

Uncle Pang came to invite Xu Yi to Pang Mansion.

Thinking about the agreement he made last time, around this time, Xu Yi took the medicine box and followed Uncle Pang to see Pang Boyi.

At this time, Pang Boyi had already asked the boy to prepare the stove, and asked the idle man to buy some delicious snacks from Yanting County.

In winter, people in Yanting County love to eat deep-fried pasta, which is coated with a layer of icing sugar. It is crispy when eaten and makes a "clucking" sound when chewed. Except that it is not elegant enough, everything else makes Pang Boyi very satisfied.

The boy asked the kitchen lady to make hot red date tea, then brought it over and put it on the stove to warm.

Then I added a pinch of agarwood powder to the incense burner. After a while, the whole room was filled with the elegant and light woody fragrance of agarwood. Moreover, cardamom, angelica, poria, etc. were added to the incense blended by Xiangpo. This fragrance was fragrant. , makes people feel relaxed and the food tastes delicious.

When Xu Yi arrived, he was a little surprised when he smelled the fragrance.

He took a slight sniff of the aroma lingering in the room and smelled several medicinal herbs that were too familiar to be familiar with. He knew that Pang Boyi was using health-preserving medicinal fragrance today.

This health-preserving medicinal fragrance is rare. It is prepared by Xiangpo according to the requirements of the customers. It can be said that it is unique.

Of course, this kind of preparation is based on adding flavor to the basic incense. Occasionally, it fails, and the resulting incense is full of spices and has an unpleasant smell.

Xu Yi put down the medicine box, saluted to Pang Boyi, and said with a smile: "Pang Guanren's energy and blood have improved a lot after three days of separation."

Pang Boyi waved to him and asked him to sit down and talk.

"I asked Uncle Pang to invite you here today because I have good news to tell you."

Xu Yi sat down and asked thoughtfully, "Is it about the poison recipe?"

"Yes."

Pang Boyi's reaction to him Very satisfied, he said, "Wen Ji sent a letter to me yesterday, saying that the thief was caught in a village twenty miles away and has been brought back for questioning. New news will spread in the near future."

He can be caught . People couldn't be nicer.

Xu Yi asked happily: "Did this man explain anything? For example, is there anything else in the prescriptions he sold?"

Pang Boyi saw that he was so anxious and said with a smile: "This matter can't be rushed. You Wen Ji Guan will not let this person go lightly. As long as he can explain honestly, we don't have to worry about what bad things he has done."

After hearing this, Xu Yi knew that he was too eager.

However, he still had a goal when he came here today, which was to diagnose Ping'an pulse for Pang Boyi.

Pang Boyi was very cooperative. When Xu Yi asked him to stretch out his hand, he stretched it out to show him.

After making sure that his pulse was normal, Xu Yi retracted his hand with peace of mind.

He explained a few things to pay attention to later, and asked Pang Boyi not to sit in the wind to avoid recurrence of the disease.

Then, the two chatted for a few words.

Xu Yi seemed to have thought of something and said casually: "Today I went to the grain store to buy grain. When I went there, I realized that the price of grain had increased a lot. I heard that there was a disaster in the north, but I don't know if it was true or not."

He just finished speaking. , Pang Boyi's gentle brows frowned deeply.

He said with a heavy face: "There is something about this. It has not spread yet, but I think it will spread to Yanting County in a few days."

He did not hide Xu Yi. A few days ago, the west of Yanting County A sudden heavy snowfall fell in Chong County, which destroyed many grain crops and affected hundreds of households.

……

at this time.

Chen Erwang next door has not shown up for a long time. This time he heard the increase in food prices in the house, but did not come out.

Didn't it just increase by a few dollars? Doesn’t it rise like this every year?

Chen Erwang thought to himself, wrapped in quilt and unwilling to move. It was too cold today. In order to save charcoal, he only put two or three pieces of charcoal in the basin and was reluctant to add it.

This little bit of charcoal couldn't keep him warm at all. He could only hide in bed all day long to avoid freezing.

And a small wooden house in the eastern suburbs.

Mrs. Chen's cheeks were slightly rosy and she was standing at the mouth of the stove to light the fire.

After leaving the Chen family that day, Madam Chen rented this small wooden house from an old woman in the eastern suburbs with the money she brought with her.

When the old woman saw that she was alone and had no brothers or sisters by her side, she felt sorry for her and cut the rent in half.

This act of kindness finally allowed Madam Chen to recover over the past few months.

In the past few months, she had been running to the county town every day, helping the kitchen ladies of wealthy families who hosted banquets, or taking over embroidery work. She was busy with other things during the day and embroidered by night.

I saved penny by penny until I had enough money, and with the money I brought out, I bought an iron pot.

With the iron pot, she can do food business.

The weather is cold in winter, so it would be great if you could eat something warm to warm yourself up.

Mrs. Chen was thinking about some kind of business that would make a profit without losing any money. Within a few days, she actually found it.

She found a fungus as big as a fist in the eastern suburbs. Madam Chen didn't know the name of the fungus, but she only knew that it was edible.

This fungus can be found before heavy snowfall in winter.

Mrs. Chen dug up all the fungi she could find, and went to the butcher to buy pig bones that others didn't want.

Boil the pig bones, scrape off the foam, and simmer over low heat until the soup turns thick white. Then you can put the washed and torn mushrooms into pieces and cook them in an iron pot.

When the smell of mushrooms comes out after cooking, you can add salt and ginger slices.

Mrs. Chen scooped out a bowl of fungus soup and sent it to the old woman.

"Old lady, it's cold today. I made mushroom soup. I added ginger slices to it to ward off the cold. Can you still taste it?"

Mrs. Chen lowered her posture and held the bowl in front of the old lady.

When the old lady saw that it was a bowl of soup that looked good, she took it away and said, "Why are you still delivering the soup to me with all your hard work? Don't be so polite in the future. Stay where you should." "Don't worry, I will drive you away."

Mrs. Chen covered her mouth and smiled: "The old lady is kind-hearted, so I'm not afraid of it. It's just a worthless thing. I'm afraid that you won't like it."

"Look. " It tastes good. I'll let you know whether you like it or not."

The old lady didn't say anything. She took a small sip with a spoon. After drinking it, she felt that the soup was very delicious. After drinking it, she felt warm in her heart. She could drink a bowl in winter. , the body is warm.

"This soup..." The old lady was surprised. She knew that Mrs. Chen had been working since she lived in her house, but she didn't expect that her craftsmanship was quite good. Mrs. Chen took the opportunity to ask: "Old lady, do

you think it would be feasible if I could sell this soup in the county?"

Few people buy it."

With her words, Mrs. Chen felt reassured.

She came back with an empty bowl, poured the pot of ginger fungus soup into the jar, and closed it tightly with a wooden lid.

Then he put the pottery pot in the bamboo basket, took a few clean pottery bowls and put them in the wooden bucket, and then carried the bamboo basket and wooden bucket into the city.

The first thing she did when entering the city was to go to the Xu family to find Xu Yi.

On this day, Xu Yi was sitting next to the charcoal basin, reading a medical book in his hand.

Before I finished reading a few pages, someone knocked on the door.

A Xu went to open the door and shouted in surprise: "Ms. Chen."

Hearing this, Xu Yi's eyebrows lit up with joy and he happily led her into the house. Seeing that she was cold, he immediately said: "A Xu, go and get Chen Madam, please pour a bowl of chicken and ginger soup for warming up.

"No need, Brother Yi. I'm here today to tell you and Madam He that what I said last time was not false. I really want to come to the city to do food business." ."

Mrs. Chen was embarrassed to let Xu Yi spend money, so she put the things she brought on the ground.

The pottery pot in the bamboo basket was heavy. Although the journey was not far, it made two marks on the clothes on her shoulders. She rubbed her shoulders and told Xu Yi that she came to the county town to do some business.

Xu Yi listened and asked Ah Jin to go to the He family next door and ask Mrs. He to come over.