Chapter 335 Free Clinic
"Go back and wash your hands with warm water, dry them with a clean cloth, and then apply this ointment twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening."
Did you remember that?
Li San Niang spoke to the woman who was holding a child with frostbite on his hands. When the woman nodded, Li San Niang took a wooden stick with a red tip used for getting medicine from the table and gave it to her.
As soon as the person in front left, the person behind followed closely behind.
The woman led a little girl of about seven or eight years old to sit down, and Li San Niang asked, "Who is feeling unwell?"
Li San Niang assumed that the woman had also brought her child with frostbite to see a doctor. Because the temperature had dropped sharply in recent days and it had snowed, the wealthy households in the city were still able to buy charcoal or firewood.
But poor households can't even afford to eat, so where would they get the money to buy fuel for heating?
So, the first few people who came to see the doctor were children with frostbite.
After all, children have lower immunity in this kind of weather and are not as resistant to the cold as adults.
However, the Imperial Medical Bureau was experienced, and they had prepared plenty of frostbite ointment. Li San Niang only needed to prescribe medicine according to the age and size of the wound.
"Female doctor, my child has something growing on his face. Can you take a look and see if you can remove it?"
Li San Niang was surprised, not expecting to encounter such a patient, but she didn't say much, only saying, "Let the child look up so I can see what's wrong?"
Upon hearing this, the young girl hesitated and refused to raise her head, keeping it lowered. Enraged, the woman raised her hand and slapped the young girl across the back.
"And here you are, I practically begged to bring you here, and now you're all shy!"
"Quickly look up and let the female doctor see you. There are hundreds of people waiting behind you; don't waste time here."
Li San Niang was startled by the loud slap and quickly said, "Oh dear, don't hit the child, no need, I'll just go over and see, it'll be the same."
As Li Sanniang spoke, she stood up from behind the examination table, walked over to the little girl's side, and squatted down. "Come on, lift your head and let me see what's wrong."
Upon hearing Li San Niang's soft question, the young woman slowly raised her head.
Then Li San Niang saw that on the little girl's left forehead, near her temple, there was a dark birthmark about the size of an infant's palm.
Then there was the little girl's stubborn, tearful eyes, which softened Li San Niang's heart.
"Female doctor, you're the female doctor who opened the school, right?"
I know you. The most learned woman in my alley said you're capable and a good one among our women.
"Take a look at my child, can you cure him?"
"I want to touch it, don't be afraid," Li San Niang whispered to the young girl.
"Oh, what are you afraid of? Female doctor, feel free to touch me."
The woman watched as Li San Niang washed her hands with cold water in the basin next to her, dried them, and then touched them.
This behavior made the woman think that no matter what the female doctor was like, her cleanliness was a good thing.
Li San Niang gently touched it a few times and activated her X-ray vision again. It has to be said that this cheat is really useful.
"It can be cured, but it's a bit complicated. I'll give you a sign. Go wait in the tent over there. I'll explain it to you in detail when the boss is resting at noon."
When Li San Niang said she could cure it, the little girl's eyes lit up. This was the only doctor the woman had ever seen since she was a child who said he could cure her.
After giving them the green-tipped slips, Li San Niang called for the next person.
“Your father needs to rest well for this cold. I’ve written a prescription for you. Take it and get the medicine over there. Go home quickly, brew it up and drink it. Get a good night’s sleep and rest for three days. If you still don’t get better, I’ll still be here. Just come and find me.”
"Oh, thank you so much, doctor. I'll take the medicine and go home now."
The man carried his father on his back, and the young man beside him bowed after receiving the red token from Li San Niang before leaving.
This free clinic lasts for half a month, aiming to help poor people get medical treatment and take medicine as winter approaches, so that they can get through the winter.
Otherwise, every year after winter and when spring arrives, large numbers of poor people die.
Because Emperor Wu established the rule of providing free medical consultations twice a year a few years ago, many people were indeed able to live to see the spring.
This became a standard practice at the Imperial Medical Academy and was included in the assessment criteria of the Medical Alliance.
This was the designated time in Chang'an, while in other parts of the Tang Dynasty, the local governments arranged the times themselves, mostly during the hottest part of summer and the approach of winter.
As noon approached, the weather turned quite cold, and snowflakes began to fall.
Hearing the constables pacing back and forth, banging a small gong, and loudly announcing, "The clinic will be closed for rest at noon, and will reopen at 3:45 PM."
Qili also ran over, saying that the Imperial Medical Bureau had notified everyone to go to the restaurant on the street for lunch.
Li San Niang wrote out the prescription for the woman who was watching, gave her a red slip, then put away her pen and ink, got up and walked to the consultation seat of Tang Mingyue, the head of the department above her.
As she walked along the road, Li San Niang had a clear idea of what was going on.
Perhaps it was because Li San Niang was dressed in red today, but nine out of ten of the people she saw that morning were women and children.
When I came over this time, I saw that all the other doctors' booths were occupied by men, and there were very few women. I guess they were all assigned to Li San Niang's booth.
"Dr. Li, how is it?"
When asked by Manager Gao, Li San Niang replied, "Manager Gao, these are all common illnesses, with only one or two being rare conditions."
Since most of the people who come to my clinic are women, I was thinking if I could have an extra curtain so that it would be easier for me to treat patients.
It was a very cold day, and since it was a young woman, it wouldn't be appropriate to lift her clothes to check on her in the street.
Before Manager Gao could answer, Li San Niang heard a familiar voice behind her.
“Mrs. Li is right. I’ll talk to the manager and see if we can add a tent for everyone. After all, it’s started snowing today, and who knows if it will snow heavily.”
Turning around, Li San Niang saw Xu Jingzhen, who still looked like a true gentleman, wearing a round-necked official robe and a black official hat.
"Young Master Xu, it's been a long time. You still look as dashing as ever."
Xu Jingzhen looked at Li San Niang, who was dressed in bright red, with a righteous face, and stood confidently among a group of men without being inferior to them. She smiled and replied, "Li San Niangzi, it's been a long time. You are still as charming as ever."
After saying just one sentence, Xu Jingzhen pointed to the group of more than a dozen people behind him who were obviously from the Western Regions and said, "I have official duties to attend to, and I also need to take these people to find a doctor."
Xu Jingzhen's departure after bowing did not stir Li Sanniang's thoughts. However, the familiar relationship between the two made Manager Gao and the others look puzzled, especially the winking between Tang Mingyue and Qili, which made Li Sanniang find it somewhat amusing.
"We met by chance, there's not much to say, you two should be more serious."
Qili didn't want to eat the candy anymore, and she even tried to tease me.
Qi Li quickly bowed and begged for mercy, "The snow is falling heavily. Come, I'll lead the way. It's the restaurant just around the corner. I heard it was booked by a large merchant guild in Shengping Ward."
"Let's hurry, or we'll be late and there won't be any seats left."
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