Chapter 132 Yang Xiaoxi felt better after taking the medicine
Yang Shunxin's story sold very well, and many of the little bits of knowledge in it were quietly put to use. Vendors who bought the same products based on the article sold like hotcakes. However, compared to the booming business in the surrounding area, the utilization rate of medical knowledge was really low, especially the prescriptions that required ingestion mentioned in the article, which no one dared to try.
Those harmless things can be used and that's fine, but how can you be so casual about things you put in your mouth? You still need to see a proper doctor.
Yang Xiaoxi's family thought the same way, but her younger sister Yang Xiaoyu's illness could not be delayed any longer. The family had no money to see a doctor, and they had tried all the folk remedies and folk prescriptions they could find. This prescription in the newspaper was their last hope.
"The seeds of Rangoon creeper, the bark of the Chinaberry tree, areca nut..."
Yang Xiaoxi, still worried, took the novel newspaper and asked a literate person living nearby to make sure that the things she had prepared were correct before hurrying home. Her younger sister was lying obediently in the corner of the straw mat, as thin as a little skeleton that had just crawled out of the ground. She clearly had difficulty even opening her eyes, but when she saw Yang Xiaoxi come back, she still struggled to greet her.
"elder sister……"
Yang Xiaoxi responded and coaxed her younger sister to continue sleeping. She washed the earthenware pot used for cooking with water, lit a small fire, and poured in the Rangoon creeper to stir-fry. The shadow next to her blocked the light, but Yang Xiaoxi's hands did not stop. When she looked up, she saw that it was her mother, Yan Sanjing.
Yan Sanjing was born in a place that was arid all year round. Many people dreamed of having money so they could dig a well in their own yard. Her name was a direct descendant of hers; her eldest sister and second brother were named Yijing and Erjing, respectively.
"Are we really going to use this prescription? Or should I go..."
Before the thin woman with a worried expression could finish speaking, Yang Xiaoxi decisively refused, her voice low but her tone intense.
"Our family needs to stick together to survive."
This isn't a consolation, but a realistic statement. Things are very chaotic here at Rolling Dragon's place. Everyone in the family has their own things to do, and if any one of them is missing, the whole thing will collapse.
Yang Xiaoxi's father was the only man in the family; he had to go out to earn money, and his very existence was an invisible deterrent to the household. Her mother, Yan Sanjing, could do housework, earn money by doing handicrafts that Yang Xiaoxi had found, and also take care of the family's belongings, including her younger sister's.
Yaoshui Lane is not a gathering place for kind-hearted men and women. If the Yang family dared to leave their younger sister, Xiaoyu, alone at home, she would be nowhere to be found when they returned. Whether she was dragged to do something bad or simply sold off depended on those people's plans.
As for taking his sister away... Yang Xiaoxi had personally witnessed someone rushing into an empty house to "pick up" things. At least there was an adult man in the Yang family, so it was unlikely to be an open robbery, but when no one was home, petty theft was hard to prevent.
If Yan Sanjing leaves, Yang Xiaoxi's vision will go dark just thinking about what she has to do. Not to mention that the handicraft jobs available now are all ones that she helped find when she went out to work. If she stays at home, that avenue will be cut off. Handicraft jobs are always in high demand and low supply. If she doesn't take the initiative, there will be plenty of people vying for them. It's a vicious cycle!
Besides, the White House is not a place for humans; she has never heard of a woman who goes in coming out alive!
To put it bluntly, even if she really goes in, 99% of the money her mother gets won't reach them. There are plenty of people in the creditors' homes who can't find work.
"Go to the hairdressing website first. You need to deliver the goods and collect payment tomorrow. I'll keep an eye on things here."
Yang Xiaoxi coaxed her mother back to do her handicrafts in a low voice, while she focused intently on the jar. The Rhizoma Quisqualis indica was gradually turning a little yellow as it was constantly being stir-fried, and a subtle aroma wafted out. Yang Xiaoxi remembered reading in the newspaper that this was the right heat, so she didn't dare to delay. She quickly scooped it out to cool and then busied herself peeling the bark.
The newspaper said that only the middle white layer of bark on the chinaberry tree is usable. When Yang Xiaoxi went to cut the bark, she was worried about the safety of her mother and daughter at home. To save time, she would just throw the whole piece into her basket. The tool she used to cut the bark was the only lethal weapon in the house: a kitchen knife.
The white inner bark was torn off, and the unusable parts were not thrown away. Poor families have nothing that cannot be used; these things can be dried and used as firewood.
The sun, half-set, looked like a salted duck egg dripping with oil. Yang Xiaoxi gazed at the fiery clouds on the horizon and, for once, thought of the past.
She wasn't born into a family of bastards. Her father, Yang Shitou, was a farmer from Fujian. During a time when sworn brothers were rampant, he was fortunate enough to find a mother, Yan Sanjing, and have a proper family. Yang Xiaoxi was born the year after their marriage.
Her father, Yang Shitou, wasn't particularly sexist, but he didn't value her much either. When naming her, he followed the local custom and used the first thing he saw when he went out as his daughter's name. Their house was by a stream, so that's how Yang Xiaoxi got her name.
The younger sister, Yang Xiaoyu, was named in the same way. It was drizzling when she was born, and Yang Shitou got a little wet when he went outside, so the second daughter became Yang Xiaoyu.
Their life in Fujian wasn't exactly smooth sailing, but they had a house to shelter them from the wind and rain, fields to grow wheat and rice, and mountains to cut firewood and pick fruit. Of course, they couldn't afford a private school, but after paying all sorts of taxes, they could still eat their fill every day. During festivals, they could grit their teeth and buy some candy to appease their children, or some meat to enjoy. With two daughters, Yang Shitou never worried about the future.
It wasn't that Yang Xiaoxi was particularly capable, or that Yang Xiaoyu could see any great potential in her. The main reason was that in Fujian, although only one family out of a hundred would keep a baby girl, once she grew up, the choice would be reversed. If a family had a daughter, many families would want to marry her off. Even if they didn't marry into those unscrupulous families, the dowry would be enough for Yang Shitou and his wife to find a nephew to take care of them in their old age.
But natural disasters and man-made calamities followed one after another. Exorbitant taxes, military mutinies, and banditry came one after another. Yang Shitou's family had no power, no influence, and no skills. They had no way to stand up and could not find any support. As the family's situation deteriorated day by day, one night, Yang Xiaoxi was woken up by her mother. She put her sleeping younger sister in a basket, and the family took a boat north to make a living.
While staying at home may not be the best thing, going out is fraught with difficulties. After finally stabilizing themselves with the medicine, the money they earned could never keep up with their expenses. The protagonists in storybooks are always able to turn misfortune into good fortune, but the Yang family are just ordinary people. After going through a lot of trouble to get a temporary place to stay, Yang Shitou, who had been on edge, relaxed and immediately developed a high fever.
Calling a doctor is very expensive. Yang Shitou drank medicine for several days, which not only depleted the family's already meager savings, but also caused the Yang family to incur a lot of debt. If it weren't for Yang Xiaoxi getting a handicraft job, the family's situation would be even worse. Although things aren't much better now—people are watching the Yang family day and night, and every day, besides buying some food, the money they earn has to be used to pay back the creditors as soon as possible.
The Yang family was busy making money every day. By the time they discovered that their youngest daughter was getting thinner and thinner despite eating, Yang Xiaoyu's condition was already very bad. They couldn't borrow any money until they paid off their old debts. Yang Xiaoxi was already in despair when Dr. Xu, who was offering free medical consultations, came to Yaoshui Lane.
Dr. Xu took Yang Xiaoyu's pulse and said that she had worms in her stomach. The food she ate was eaten by the worms before it could nourish her body, which was why she was getting thinner and thinner. She needed to take deworming medicine.
However, Dr. Xu didn't know how to make deworming medicine, so Yang Xiaoxi had to buy it from other clinics. During a break from work, Yang Xiaoxi inquired around and found that the prices of deworming medicine sold in clinics varied, but those that were clearly effective were not cheap, and her family simply couldn't afford them.
But her younger sister couldn't go without her medicine, and Yang Xiaoxi was on the verge of despair. When she passed by a teahouse, she overheard Yang Shunxin's story about a prescription for deworming medicine. She rushed in and asked a lot of questions that she couldn't even remember herself. When she came to her senses, an old man surnamed Han stuffed a newspaper into her hand.
She begged someone who could read to her that the prescription for deworming medicine was clearly among the ingredients, and most importantly, all the ingredients were ones that Yang Xiaoxi could afford.
She saw a large patch of chinaberry trees when she went to pick wild vegetables. Before leaving, Doctor Xu gave her a few betel nuts, saying that Xiaoyu should try eating them to see if they could expel some worms. She gave Xiaoyu a small portion of them, but when she saw that they didn't work, she gave up. However, she didn't throw them away, but kept them at home. Although the quantity was not large, it was enough to make deworming medicine.
Quisqualis indica seeds are the hardest to find. Yang Xiaoxi hadn't seen any of them since arriving in Shanghai, but before leaving her hometown, she took with her the Quisqualis indica seeds she had picked while playing around—these things are everywhere in Fujian.
The story of the little girl Yang who shares the same surname with her mentions that these three medicinal herbs are the most crucial. The rest, such as honey, licorice, and wheat flour, are actually just for sweetening and binding. Since she couldn't afford honey, Yang Xiaoxi cut her hair and exchanged it for a small piece of golden maltose. Dr. Xu had casually mentioned while reading the newspaper that pills could also be made with maltose.
After roasting and cooling, crush the seeds of Quisqualis indica, crush the bark of the neem tree, crush the areca nut, sift out the finest powder repeatedly, carefully pour it into the maltose, knead it repeatedly with clean hands, then roll it into a long strip like making steamed buns, pinch off small pieces, and roll them into balls of the same size.
Yang Xiaoxi was worried that the pills would stick together when she put them away, so she rolled them in soybean powder again before carefully putting them into a small earthenware jar. She then asked her mother to cook porridge tomorrow and leave a bowl of rice water for Yang Xiaoyu. She said that the pills would be most effective if taken on an empty stomach, and since the stars were already in the sky today, she might as well start tomorrow.
Yan Sanjing still felt that the prescription in the newspaper was unreliable, but now she had no other choice but to put all her effort into making the rice porridge as thick and delicious as possible, hoping that the pills would really expel the worms from her daughter's stomach. Both girls were flesh and blood of her body, but she didn't want to go to the White House unless she had no other choice.
"Be good, little sister. Take these three pills. They will kill the worms in your stomach and cure your illness."
With red eyes, Yang Xiaoxi coaxed her younger sister. Xiaoyu was very obedient. Although her face was scrunched up from the bitterness, she still managed to swallow the pill. Yang Xiaoxi then brought her some rice porridge and let Xiaoyu drink half a bowl while it was still hot. She remembered that the story said that eating Quisqualis indica might have some adverse effects, but drinking hot rice porridge would make it alright.
Yang Xiaoyu drank the rice porridge and fell asleep again. She didn't wear any formal clothes on the first day. On the second morning, she took three pills and complained of stomach pain at noon. After rolling around for a while, she said she wanted to go to the toilet and then she passed a lot of worms, both alive and dead. Some of them were even stuck in her... Yang Xiaoxi wrapped her hand with a leaf and pulled them out.
That evening, Yang Xiaoxi made Yang Xiaoyu eat more. After taking the medicine for the third day, the number of worms was no less than the second day. Yang Xiaoxi's scalp tingled at the sight, and Yang Xiaoyu cried in fright, but they could only temporarily stop the medication.
Every medicine has its side effects. As Yang Shunxin said in the story, after taking it for three days, you have to stop for at least seven days before you can continue. Fortunately, the white spots on her sister's face have decreased a lot, and she no longer complains of an itchy nose, which makes Yang Xiaoxi feel a little relieved. She plans to kill the worms for her sister again in seven days, and she also asks Yang Shitou to buy back Yang Shunxin's story as much as possible: maybe it can save her life someday!
By the way, once Xiaoyu is almost fully recovered, her family should also take some medicine pills. The article mentioned that nine out of ten people have worms in their stomachs these days, it's just a matter of how many and how big they are.
The matter should have ended there, but after Yang Xiaoyu was able to go out and greet people, someone came with a child who looked just like Yang Xiaoyu, begging for medicine. Yang Xiaoxi repeatedly told him that the method was in the newspaper, but the person just shook his head sadly. Finally, Yang Xiaoxi couldn't stand the nagging anymore, so she had someone swear a solemn oath that he would bear all the consequences himself, and then sold some of the remaining medicine to the person.
After that person's child also passed worms, a second and a third guest arrived at Yang Xiaoxi's house...
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