82 Medical consultation
◎It is true that fools have good fortune.◎
Song Jinyi, who was secretly thinking about what to do, was startled by the sudden shout beside her.
Li He put his hands on his hips and said, "You profiteer, why don't you just rob me of the 100 taels?"
Looking at the "aggressive" Li He, Song Jinyi had wondered how Li He, who looked as timid as a rabbit, could be a sister of Chun Sanniang. Now... it does seem somewhat believable.
Li He had no shortage of food and drink at Song Jinyi's place, so she didn't have much idea about the amount of money. However, she knew that his favorite dish, sugar-roasted chestnuts, only cost ten cents per serving.
One hundred taels can buy one hundred copies, she thought, and couldn't help but say it out loud.
Yu Dongqing chuckled and corrected him, "It should be 10,000 copies."
Ten thousand copies!
Li He did not realize that the other party was mocking her arithmetic, but instead became more certain that the other party was a profiteer.
Yu Dongqing turned to Song Jinyi and said, "I didn't even need to ask, we all knew the patient was her, and—" He pointed to his head and continued, "There's something wrong here."
Seeing that Song Jinyi was worried but didn't say anything, he said casually: "She is a fool, what is there to worry about? She is afraid of illness and avoids seeing a doctor. Tell me all the symptoms so that I can diagnose and treat her."
"You're right, but..."
Before he could finish, he was interrupted: "When he was young, he suffered from a fever and had a high fever for several days. Although he recovered, his mind was damaged. He was like a child and had no understanding of human affairs. Is it okay for me to explain it to you?"
After hearing this, Song Jinyi couldn't help but be surprised. It seemed that this little brat had some skills. She nodded.
The other continued, "Don't think it's a big deal. Most cases of brain problems like this are caused by this. I imagine you've consulted more than one famous doctor. If it were treatable, you wouldn't have come all the way to see me."
Although Li He didn't understand the bunch of medical terms being spoken, she could tell from the other person's actions and some fragmented terms that he was calling her stupid.
She immediately refused, tugging at Song Jinyi's sleeve and begging, "Sister Jinyi, we won't see him anymore. He's just a quack doctor seeking fame and reputation. He asked for a hundred taels, so he might as well be a liar."
"Who are you calling a liar? You little girl."
"I'm talking about you."
…
Song Jinyi watched the two children arguing. Li He was fine, her mind was like that of a seven or eight year old, but Yu Dongqing was arguing with her like a child.
Song Jinyi wanted to stop the quarrel, but found that she couldn't get a word in at all.
Finally, the quarrel ended with the sentence "If you can cure it, we can talk about the money later."
"Alright, what's there to be afraid of? Isn't it just mentally retarded? I, Yu Dongqing, can handle you, not just others. I'm more than capable of handling you!"
Song Jinyi was stunned as she listened. She couldn't help but wonder: Is Li He really that stupid? Or is he just pretending to be stupid? He had solved the problem with all these twists and turns.
It is true that fools have good fortune.
Strike while the iron is hot, Song Jinyi quickly followed up and said: "Doctor Dayi, we will definitely not delay the payment of the consultation fee. When the ship docks, we will send someone to your home to collect the money."
Yu Dongqing realized belatedly that he seemed to have been tricked, but the other party was a fool and he couldn't get angry yet. Could he make him admit that he was even more stupid than the fool?
He pursed his lips, swung his wide sleeves in anger, and muttered, "Come in with me."
The courtyard was an ordinary two-story building. On both sides of the corridor were planted some herbs that Song Jinyi could not identify. There were three or four medicine servants tending to the herbs. When they saw Yu Dongqing, they bowed respectfully.
The group arrived at the main house, where a rectangular ebony table lay covered with pharmacopoeias, with scrolls precariously stacked around the edges. A faint aroma of Chinese herbal medicine could be smelled in the room, slightly bitter, but not unpleasant.
Yu Dongqing casually moved a chair, put his hands on the armrests, and said casually: "Find a place to sit."
Song Jinyi looked at the slightly messy room, and finally moved out only one chair for the patient to sit on, and the others stood behind.
After feeling Li He's pulse for a moment, Yu Dongqing said calmly, "It's just as I thought. Qi and blood have been stagnating in the brain vessels for a long time, blocking the brain vessels..."
Li He listened to these twisted and tangled words until she was about to yawn. She beckoned Song Jinyi over with her little hand and whispered softly, "He's fine, why can't he speak human language? I can't understand a word he says."
Yu Dongqing snorted coldly, "Becoming my patient has its conditions. First, you have to be obedient and cooperate with the treatment. Second, you have to be wealthy. My consultation fees are not cheap. Third, you have to know how to keep your mouth shut, like now."
Under the other party's half-smile, Li He was about to open her mouth to say something, but Song Jinyi quickly pinched her little mouth and signaled her to shut up with his eyes.
This child is usually well-behaved, but why did he have to argue with this doctor? They are really his enemy.
After Yu Dongqing finished examining Li He, Song Jinyi pushed Song Yunting forward and sat down, "Doctor, we have another patient here."
Yu Dongqing glanced at Song Yunting and said calmly, "It looks like he's just a little deficient in Qi and blood, but it's not a big problem."
"How can there be no serious problem? Don't think he's fine now. You have to check it yourself to know whether it's good or bad."
Seeing that she begged again and again, Yu Dongqing checked for her. As soon as his hand touched Song Yunting's pulse, his expression suddenly changed and his eyes darkened. He raised his eyes and glanced at Song Jinyi.
Song Jinyi happened to be looking at him at this moment. Seeing his serious expression, she was shocked. Could it be that Song Yunting's condition was more serious? Her round eyes were filled with uncontrollable worry. She asked hurriedly, "Is there something serious?"
He hummed softly, "No big problem."
He casually found two pieces of rice paper, wrote down two prescriptions in one go, and gave them to Song Jinyi, asking her to take them to the backyard to boil the medicine.
After leaving the room, Song Jinyi took the prescription and muttered as she walked, "Is it that simple?"
"Simple?" Yu Dongqing's voice came from behind her, with her usual indifferent tone.
Yu Dongqing had come out at some point and was leaning against the door frame. He said without emotion, "If you want to cure this old illness, you'll need acupuncture to detoxify it, which will take at least a year, and at most three years. Do you think it's easy, my lady?"
That really couldn't be simpler.
******
When Song Jinyi arrived at the backyard, she saw the whole yard filled with dark brown medicine jars, with black bubbles bubbling out of them. Five or six medicine boys were constantly changing positions to check on the boiling process, with a layer of sweat on their heads.
Song Jinyi muttered to herself, this market is pretty good.
Unlike the smell in Dongqing's room, the smell of the decoction here was strongly bitter, making people feel nauseous. Song Jinyi twisted her sleeves to cover her mouth and nose and asked, "Excuse me, is this where I get the medicine?"
A woman holding a palm-leaf fan said without turning her head, "Go to the small room next door. They get medicine there."
Song Jinyi turned around after hearing that and walked to the small room next door, which was a pharmacy. The walls were covered with medicine boxes with small white words written on them: Ginseng, Glauber's Salt, Dichlorobenzene...
Song Jinyi glanced around the room, then placed her eyes on the waist-high counter and asked, "Is anyone there?"
There was a clattering sound coming from under the counter, and then a girl about Li He's age stood up, holding a book in one hand and supporting herself on the counter with the other. She asked, "Is this Dr. Yu's patient?"
Her face was a little chubby, with two buns and a goose yellow hairband. Her voice was a little childish. She was younger than Li He, about eleven or twelve years old.
Song Jinyi nodded and handed her the prescription.
The girl glanced down at the prescription, deftly spread a row of reed paper on the table, opened the drawer and took out the appropriate amount of medicinal materials with ease, as if she had repeated the action countless times.
Song Jinyi looked at it for a long time. There were at least hundreds of kinds of medicinal herbs in this pharmacy. She was amazed that she had such abilities at such a young age.
The girl was lively and talkative at the time. As she dispensed the medicine, she said, "My name is Jin Huan, and I'm the pharmacist here. Are you from out of town?"
Song Jinyi replied yes.
"Have you found a place to stay? If not, my parents run an inn at the foot of the mountain. It has a nice environment."
Song Jinyi chatted with her casually: "Since your family owns an inn, why don't you stay at home to help out instead of coming to the mountain to do this?"
"Isn't this simple? I just like tinkering with these things. I don't like the mixed crowd down there. Brother Yu's place is quiet and comfortable, and I can learn a lot from him."
Song Jinyi learned from her that the herb shop originally had three apprentices learning medicine from the master. The one with the most talent stayed and became the owner of the herb shop. The other two were required to travel down the mountain to practice medicine and were not allowed to stay at the herb shop.
Yu Dongqing is so young, yet he is the owner of this medicine shop?
Perhaps someone with the same doubts as Song Jinyi had asked this question before, so Jin Huan said without surprise, "Don't look at Brother Yu's young age, but he could read at the age of four, recite medical books at the age of five, and diagnose illnesses at the age of seven or eight.
He had few hobbies, and disliked fine silks, poetry, songs, and dances. He could only read medical books and play with medicinal herbs. The more he learned, the more profound his knowledge of pharmacology became, and there was no disease he could not cure.
When the herbs were almost collected, Song Jinyi asked about the accommodation and food expenses at the inn run by Jinhuan's parents, and made a decision in her mind.
Song Jinyi paid for the medicine and took Xie Wuyang and others down the mountain to find a place to stay.
Jinhuan's parents were both friendly businessmen and easy to talk to. After negotiating with them in the front hall, they rented two rooms for a long time, one for Song Jinyi and Li He, and one for Xie Wuyang and Song Yunting.
She went upstairs to pack up her things first, and then asked Xie Wuyang to go to the kitchen to boil medicine.
When the medicine was boiled out, it was pitch black, like ink.
Song Yunting took his medicine and drank it with a frown on his face. But Li He was a little difficult to deal with. She refused to drink it no matter what. She looked at Song Jinyi with tears in her eyes and said, "Sister, do you dislike me?"
Song Jinyi couldn't bear it, but knew she couldn't condone it, so she passed this difficult task to Xie Wuyang.
Xie Wuyang was much more direct. He didn't have Song Jinyi's gentleness and patience. He placed the bowl in front of Li He and said without any emotion, "Do you want to drink it yourself? Or do you want me to pour it for you?"
Li He wanted to seek help from Song Jinyi, but found that she had slipped away without knowing when. Li He had a mournful look on his face, and took the medicine bowl with trembling hands, his brows furrowed like cotton linen.
She wanted to do something, but she heard a cold voice say, "If you knock over this bowl, I will pour it directly into your mouth next time."
After hearing this, she didn't dare to do anything more. She closed her eyes, made up her mind, and drank the medicine.
It’s so bitter!!!
Oh my God! She had never drunk anything so awful before. The sticky, bitter liquid turned into a sharp attack on her mouth. The smell made her head ache and she cried in grievance.
When she thought about having to take this medicine every day, she cried even louder and her nose was full of snot.
Xie Wuyang took the bowl away with disgust and walked aside.
Song Jinyi was walking steadily with two plates of preserved fruit when she heard Li He's howling from afar. She trotted over, panting slightly. She glanced at Li He, then at Xie Wuyang, and scolded, "Why did you bully her?"
Xie Wuyang pleaded innocent, "I didn't do anything. She started crying after drinking the medicine."
Song Jinyi turned around and asked Li He softly, "Is that so?"
Li He was afraid of him, so he didn't dare to say no and nodded timidly.
Song Jinyi handed over the candied fruit she had just bought, "Just eat something sweet and press it down."
Li He grabbed a handful of candied fruit and swallowed it as if he had found a life-saving straw. The sweetness was sweet at first, but later it became so greasy that it made people feel sick.
Her expression changed, and she spat out the remaining candied fruit. "This candied fruit is so disgusting."
"Really? I happened to see someone selling it outside, and thinking that it would be bitter in your mouth, I bought a pound of it directly. I haven't tasted it yet." Song Jinyi also picked up one. It was a bit sweet and greasy. If an ordinary person ate it, they would only eat one or two at most.
The person who just drank the Chinese medicine is feeling nauseous in his stomach. If he takes this, won’t he vomit it all out?
After all this trouble, Li He, who usually had a good appetite, couldn't even eat dinner.
After leaving the room, Xie Wuyang took a quick step and stood in front of Song Jinyisheng. "Sister, you threw a difficult task at me, and then wrongly accused me without any reason. Don't you have anything to say to me?"
【Author’s words】
Lay the groundwork for a little emotion, and then there's a big one [sunglasses]
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