Chapter 47 Who was so bold as to dare to make such changes...?
Xiaozhuang is the newly appointed administrative unit of Qinghe Ancient Town.
She was originally from Anping County. After graduating from university, she returned to Qinghe City and worked as a clerk in the city. After two or three years of this, she felt bored and quit her job to travel around Northwest China. After that, she stayed home and did nothing.
Her family was well-off, one of the wealthiest in the county, and could easily support her. But her parents couldn't stand seeing young people so lifeless, so when they heard that Qinghe Ancient Town was hiring, they made her apply. To keep her monthly allowance, Xiao Zhuang drove her 600,000 yuan BMW to apply for an administrative specialist position that paid 4,000 yuan a month.
Fortunately, after joining the company, I found that the boss was easygoing and generous, the colleagues were not troublesome, and the location was close to home, so I could manage to keep the job.
Rich second-generation student Xiao Zhuang has restarted his happy life as a cowherd.
But perhaps because she had gotten used to staying up late and having a disordered sleep schedule when she was lying down, Xiao Zhuang developed insomnia after working for a while. Even if she put down her phone early, she would toss and turn until 1:30 or 2:00 a.m. before she could fall asleep, and she would wake up again at 5 or 6:00 a.m.
Xiao Zhuang felt miserable because he could only get less than seven hours of sleep a day.
"I might not be suited for working..." she said, somewhat dejectedly. Deep down, she knew that working would make her life more regular and better for her health, but not being able to sleep every night was really exhausting.
"Let's go see Dr. Zhang!" A young woman from the finance office came over. "Look at the boss, her dark circles were so bad a few days ago, but now she looks radiant. I heard she went to Dr. Zhang for treatment. I think her sleep quality must be very good."
Another colleague chimed in, sharing his experience: "I went yesterday too, and Dr. Zhang is truly amazing. He could diagnose my condition pretty much just by taking my pulse. No wonder the boss invited this miracle doctor!"
After hearing this, Xiao Zhuang immediately made up his mind: "Okay, then I'll go see Dr. Zhang after get off work."
To be honest, she doesn't really trust traditional Chinese medicine, feeling it's slow to take effect and the medicine is bitter. Normally, she'd choose Western medicine over traditional Chinese medicine whenever possible. But this time, Western medicine didn't seem to be very effective for her insomnia; they just prescribed a bottle of melatonin.
The colleague chuckled and said, "Then you'll have to go to the clinic entrance early tomorrow morning to queue up and get a number. Dr. Zhang only sees three patients a day."
Xiao Zhuang was shocked: "Is business that good?"
She remembers the ancient town hadn't opened for business yet, right?
"There are people in our office building, the repair team, and workers from other companies..." a colleague counted on his fingers, "That's quite a few. Oh, and the boss is going to expand the cafeteria, you know?"
"That's normal, there are more and more people, and the small courtyard in Zone 4 can't hold everyone anymore..."
"I heard that other construction teams will be coming in next week."
Xiao Zhuang chatted with them casually, but made up his mind to go and get a number first thing tomorrow morning.
......
“These young people nowadays…” Zhang Zhongjing shook his head as he ground the medicine powder. “Although they look tall and strong, they are all weak inside.”
Li Bing sat in a rocking chair, a blanket covering his legs despite the heat. His legs had been constantly submerged in water in his youth, and now that he was older, they couldn't take it anymore; even in the sweltering summer, he felt little warmth, let alone in winter.
Therefore, after the fish-mouth water-dividing structure at the mouth of the bottle was completed, he retired from his official post and handed over the remaining work to his son.
He held the "Commentary on the Waterways Classic" written by Li Daoyuan in later generations in his hand. Upon hearing this, he shifted his gaze from the book and said leisurely, "If we're talking about being tall and imposing, the people of Qin are in no way inferior. Your Majesty has an elite personal guard, each of them a man of eight feet tall, majestic and powerful."
Zhang Zhongjing chuckled: "It is said that His Majesty the First Emperor was eight feet six inches tall, is that true?"
"Eight feet six inches?" Li Bing was taken aback, then chuckled and shook his head. "While Your Majesty is indeed tall, eight feet six inches is a rather exaggerated figure."
He narrowed his eyes and sighed: "Shortly after His Majesty ascended the throne, I retired from my official post, and I only saw His Majesty's face two or three times."
Li Bing regretted that he did not live to see the glorious moment when the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms.
After the six kings were defeated, the world was united.
Even just imagining the scene stirred his usually calm and unmoved heart. Therefore, he only read the beginning of the "Ode to the Epang Palace" before stopping.
What do you mean, "Qin Dynasty only lasted two generations"? Hmph, as long as he doesn't look at it, it won't affect his mood.
Now in his eighties, Li Bing is very willful and carefree.
Besides, why bother with such details? This is clearly not the Qin Dynasty, and even the people who came here with him are from different dynasties.
He's old, and he's come to terms with life and death, let alone the changing of dynasties. Wouldn't it be better to let the homeland in his memory remain the same as it was: "The valiant Qin people, united in the face of national crisis, fighting until their blood runs dry, never ceasing their battle?"
So, Li Bing spent the last few days not reading historical records or materials, but only studying professional books like the *Commentary on the Waterways Classic*, and mostly resting. He wanted to regain his strength so he could visit the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, which he had built single-handedly.
Zhang Zhongjing handed the ground medicine powder to Zhang Ying, who was standing beside him: "After it dries in the shade, put it into a sachet."
Zhang Ying, this young girl, had been helping him brew medicine. Now that his clinic had opened, he asked her if she would like to come and help. Zhang Ying was overjoyed and naturally agreed immediately.
They are making a sachet.
In the past few days, he noticed that most of the young people who came to see him were physically weak and suffered from insomnia and irritability. So he decided to make some Chinese herbal sachets, which he believed could calm the mind and promote sleep.
As a physician, Zhang Zhongjing keenly observed the differences in physical constitution between ancient and modern people. The Ming Dynasty artisans who came to him for treatment mostly suffered from deficiency of both qi and blood, and depletion of body fluids, likely due to previous hunger. Modern people, on the other hand, primarily suffered from emotional distress and excessive heart and liver fire—diseases considered diseases of affluence in ancient times.
For minor illnesses associated with affluence, he often wouldn't choose decoctions, but rather milder dietary therapies and the use of incense. This was a discovery he made later in his medical practice, which he hadn't yet compiled into a medical book. However, after arriving here, he discovered that this field had made significant progress over the past thousand years, and he gained much inspiration from recently read medical books, modifying his previous prescriptions accordingly.
......
Xiao Zhuang took the sachet from Zhang Ying, and the young girl specially delivered it to the office building.
A few days ago, she went to see Dr. Zhang at Huichuntang in District 2, and it was indeed amazing. The four diagnostic methods—inspection, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation—were just simple procedures, taking only a few minutes. Dr. Zhang asked her if she had been suffering from severe insomnia recently, and then if she was constipated.
Every single symptom matched.
Dr. Zhang said she doesn't need to take medicine for now. He will send her a Chinese herbal sachet in a few days to place by her pillow, and she will get better after a while.
These past few days have felt like an eternity for Xiao Zhuang; he's just waiting.
"How much?" she asked Zhang Ying.
Zhang Ying answered crisply, "Fifty yuan."
She was worried that the young lady would find it too expensive, so she added, "Dr. Zhang said that the herbs in each person's sachet are different, so it's more complicated and therefore a bit more expensive."
In fact, Dr. Zhang was not sensitive to prices and did not understand the current currency and market conditions. The price of the sachet was calculated by Miss Lu.
"Expensive?" Xiao Zhuang exclaimed, her eyes wide. It was clearly very cheap! She had thought it would cost a hundred or two yuan. Moreover, the consultation fee was charged to the company account, which she was very satisfied with.
This company is worth staying at.
She carefully placed the sachet beside her pillow when she went to sleep.
"Does it really work?" Xiao Zhuang muttered to himself before going to take a shower.
She went to bed promptly at 11 p.m. For the past few weeks, she had been forcing herself to avoid using her phone to correct her sleep schedule, but she couldn't fall asleep no matter how much she tossed and turned. This time was no different, except that there was a faint scent of medicinal herbs present.
It wasn't the kind of sweet or strange aromatherapy scent. Closing her eyes reminded her of her childhood, when it was too hot to sleep, and her grandmother would move the bamboo bed to the yard outside and use a palm-leaf fan to swat away mosquitoes.
It seems that this faint, warm scent, once inhaled for a while, seeps into one's heart and soul.
With his eyes closed, Xiao Zhuang suddenly felt his agitation gradually fading away, and he became calm.
Hmm... I think I'm getting a little sleepy.
She yawned.
I don't know exactly when I fell asleep. The last time I checked the time was 12:30, but when I woke up I already heard my alarm clock.
Holy crap! Xiao Zhuang sat bolt upright in bed, completely bewildered. Had he slept all night?
Although she didn't fall asleep until after 12:30, she didn't wake up all night and didn't have any complicated dreams. This was the best sleep she had had in a while!
This sachet is something special!
Xiao Zhuang beamed with joy, picked up the sachet beside her pillow, and kissed it. This was her savior!
After a few days, Xiao Zhuang's sleep improved significantly, and everyone noticed the change in her complexion. Upon learning that it was just a small herbal sachet that had made the difference, everyone wanted to buy one.
"My mom has been suffering from insomnia for a long time, I'll buy one and give it to her."
"I want one too! I want one too! Let's go together!"
"Don't rush off yet," Xiao Zhuang said quickly. "Dr. Zhang said that everyone's situation is different, and the medicine he prescribes for each person is different. So it's best if you take the patient to see him in person so he can take their pulse."
"That's really great value for money." My colleague was incredulous. "It's like a custom-made sachet, and it only costs fifty yuan. That's such a steal!"
She also had some concerns: "Can people from outside come in?"
Chen Yingying recently hired a security supervisor, a retired soldier, and also recruited some security guards from Anping County. Now, the security guards in the ancient town no longer need to be from Xiangjia Village, and the security work is on track. All staff members need work permits to enter and exit the ancient town.
"Since the boss has opened this clinic, he should allow it, right?" Xiao Zhuang guessed. "Let's ask the boss later."
"OK."
Just then, a male colleague who had overheard their discussion came over, looking quite excited: "Let me tell you, Dr. Zhang is truly amazing. My situation is the exact opposite of Xiao Zhuang's. She suffers from insomnia, while I'm constantly sleepy and lack energy, feeling very heavy. Dr. Zhang prescribed me a medicine, and after taking it for three days, my bowel movements have become regular! It feels so good!"
The girls looked disgusted: "Ugh~~~~"
"And I really don't feel that tired, sleepy feeling during the day anymore." My male colleague chuckled. "Dr. Zhang is truly a miracle worker!"
"So the things passed down from our ancestors are still useful."
"I've always believed in traditional Chinese medicine, but I feel that good TCM doctors are too hard to find. Only experienced TCM doctors like Dr. Zhang are truly reliable."
The group chattered on and on until their boss came in, at which point they quickly scattered like birds.
After Xiao Zhuang went back, he told his parents about it and then patted his chest, saying, "If you want to go see it, my work pass can take you in!"
She felt a surge of triumph. Before, when she stayed home, her parents constantly nagged her; after starting work, they mocked her for only earning four thousand yuan a month. Hmph, so what if it's four thousand? One of her colleagues is a miracle doctor!
Xiao Zhuang's father clicked his tongue twice and looked her over carefully: "I said you looked much better these past few days, and I thought you had finally come to your senses and found a boyfriend."
Xiao Zhuang rolled his eyes.
Xiao Zhuang's mother beamed with joy: "That's great! I've been experiencing severe night sweats lately, and I'm also catching colds frequently. Western doctors can't understand these ailments, so I was just thinking of asking around to find a good traditional Chinese medicine doctor."
Xiao Zhuang made the decision: "Then let's go see Dr. Zhang, he's absolutely reliable."
As a result, two days later, before Xiao Zhuang's mother could go, she came to the door with a neighbor aunt.
Xiao Zhuang's mother said, "Isn't this because I told you that a very skilled traditional Chinese medicine doctor came to the ancient town? Your Aunt Meiling wanted to come and ask him about it."
The neighbor aunt wasn't asking on her behalf, but on behalf of her daughter, who is in her second year of high school.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke of her daughter's condition: "Xiao Zhuang, to be honest, if things continue like this, Jiajia will be ruined! Now she hides at home every day, afraid to go to school, and she's almost developing severe depression!"
Xiao Zhuang was somewhat surprised: "What happened?"
In her memory, Wang Jiajia was a very cheerful younger sister, so how could she be associated with depression?
"Six months ago, she fell ill..." the neighbor aunt recounted, her face turning hateful as she finished speaking, "Those classmates of hers are no good either. If they hadn't bullied Jiajia, things wouldn't have come to this!"
......
Zhang Zhongjing carefully took the pulse of the timid young girl in front of him.
Perhaps because of his calm expression, Wang Jiajia's initial fear and shame gradually subsided, and the blank expression on her face regained some of the liveliness that a girl her age should have.
Her mother, Chen Meiling, was also very nervous, constantly wringing her hands: "Doctor, can this disease be cured? We've been to the hospital, and they said it's irritable bowel syndrome, but there's no organic lesion."
This condition isn't actually serious; it's a bowel disorder caused by stress and emotions, and the doctor said it's not life-threatening. The problem is that Wang Jiajia happens to have irritable bowel syndrome with flatulence.
"She just keeps farting all the time." Chen Meiling described her daughter's condition with some difficulty, "She can't hold it in."
After hearing her mother's words, Wang Jiajia couldn't help but shudder again.
Xiao Zhuang, who was standing beside her, looked at her neighbor with some pity and sympathy.
This symptom might sound funny, but a closer look reveals just how painful it is for the patient. Wang Jiajia has been under immense pressure and suffering lately. For a teenage girl, uncontrollably passing gas, sometimes in bursts every few minutes, is a nightmare.
“I tried, but I just couldn’t control it. Even when I tried to hold it in, it would still…” Wang Jiajia said softly, tears welling in her eyes. It was a shameful thing for her to talk about these things. “It would still leak out without her realizing it.”
Then, she always had a faint odor all over her body.
Her classmates distanced themselves from her and pointed at her.
Wang Jiajia also felt it was her fault. She started wearing perfume and bought many small gifts to apologize to her classmates. However, all the gifts were thrown into the trash.
Some people even egged on the students who accepted her gifts, mocking them: "You still dare to accept her gifts? Aren't you afraid they'll stink from her farts?"
"What gift? I think she deliberately poisoned it, hahaha."
Her deskmate asked the teacher to change seats, and in front of the whole class, she loudly proclaimed, "I don't want to sit with this shitty person, she stinks!"
Everyone burst into laughter.
From then on, "fart person" and "shit person" became her nicknames. Even when she was walking home from school, people would mischievously call out this nickname from behind and then quickly run away, leaving behind a string of strange laughs.
Everyone who mentions her says, "Is this the scumbag in your class?"
Teenagers can act maliciously without any reason.
If Wang Jiajia's life before the age of fifteen was colorful, then after she was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome at fifteen, her world turned black and white. She began to resist going to school, her face lost its smile, and she locked herself in her room every day, refusing to even come out to eat. Her parents were very worried about her, wanted to transfer her to another school, and took her to see many doctors.
"Those medicines are useless!" Chen Meiling became agitated. "No matter how much they take, it doesn't help!"
The later prescriptions were all for treating depression.
But the root of the problem lies in the intestines!
Zhang Zhongjing had already accurately diagnosed Wang Jiajia's pulse. After a moment's thought, he said, "This illness is indeed related to emotional imbalance, but that is only the trigger. The root cause that will worsen the condition is not here."
He asked Wang Jiajia, "Before you got this disease, or in its early stages, did you feel hot in the upper body and cold in the lower body?"
Wang Jiajia looked bewildered: "Huh?"
Zhang Zhongjing smiled and offered a more colloquial explanation: "For example, you often feel dry mouth and sores in your mouth, but at the same time you often feel cold in your lower abdomen and hands and feet?"
Wang Jiajia was in a daze and unresponsive, while Chen Meiling nodded excitedly, "Yes, yes. Back then, she often had mouth ulcers, her feet were always cold, and she also had menstrual cramps!"
Wang Jiajia then remembered that she had just entered the first year of high school and was facing the class division. She missed the top class by one or two points, which made her very anxious, and then she gradually began to experience the situation her mother described.
“That’s it. Upper body heat and lower body cold appearing in the same person at the same time, the mixture of heat and cold leads to gastrointestinal problems.” Zhang Zhongjing chuckled and stroked his beard. “This is due to emotional imbalance, which causes the Qi of the spleen and stomach in the middle Jiao to become disordered, resulting in the heart fire not being able to descend and warm the kidneys, and the kidney water not being able to ascend and nourish the heart, all of which are blocked in the intestines and stomach.”
The heart is hot and the kidneys are cold, so the essence is to regulate the spleen and stomach, so that the body's hot and cold energies can circulate and balance.
Once the balance is achieved, the problem will naturally be solved.
He explained in great detail, and although some of the terms were a bit awkward, Chen Meiling and Wang Jiajia both understood.
Chen Meiling pressed on, "Dr. Zhang, this can be cured, right?"
“It’s not a very serious problem.” Zhang Zhongjing picked up his brush. “Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll prescribe you a course of Banxia Xiexin Decoction for about half a month. After half a month, whether you feel better or not, you can come back to see me again and I can adjust the prescription.”
Chen Meiling thanked her repeatedly.
Wang Jiajia, however, became gloomy again.
She'd seen traditional Chinese medicine doctors and taken Chinese medicine before, but it hadn't worked either... Could this doctor really be that effective? And if there's no improvement after two weeks, why would she come back?
Xiao Zhuang saw through Wang Jiajia's thoughts and patted her on the shoulder: "Jiajia, don't worry, Dr. Zhang's medical skills are superb, he'll definitely be able to do it!"
Wang Jiajia forced a smile.
Holding the prescription, Chen Meiling was somewhat confused: "Dr. Zhang, isn't this where you get your medicine?"
Zhang Zhongjing: "...The pharmacy is not open yet. You can take the prescription to the pharmacy in the county to get the medicine."
Chen Meiling was somewhat surprised. A large part of the profit from traditional Chinese medicine clinics comes from the sale of medicinal herbs, yet this person was directly pushing it away, seemingly not caring at all. Moreover, her consultation fee today was only one hundred yuan.
She was filled with awe, feeling that she had truly encountered a miraculous doctor this time, and her expectations for the prescription grew even higher.
Before leaving, Xiao Zhuang asked Zhang Zhongjing, "Dr. Zhang, could you please introduce some universally suitable versions of sachets? Many of my friends want to buy them, but some of them live in other places and can't come here."
Thanks to her promotion during this period, her entire circle of friends knew about that magical sachet and were all asking to buy it.
"There are so many people suffering from insomnia these days, and all sorts of people are listless..." Xiao Zhuang clasped his hands together, "Please, please."
Zhang Zhongjing, unable to resist her nagging any longer, nodded: "Alright, alright, I'll consider it."
Xiao Zhuang then left with a grin.
Dr. Zhang is such a good person. He has excellent medical skills but is not aloof at all and has a very good temper.
Can you make sachets that everyone can use?
Zhang Zhongjing pondered, perhaps this was a good idea... He came from a prominent family and had even served as a prefect. He practiced medicine simply because he was interested in it and had the ambition to heal the sick and help the world. It was never for worldly things like money. He also frequently provided free medical consultations and distributed medicines to ordinary people.
However, now that we're here, it doesn't seem like a bad thing to have a lot of mundane things.
On the other side, Chen Meiling, Wang Jiajia, and Xiao Zhuang said goodbye and went straight to the traditional Chinese medicine clinic in the county to get their medicine.
When the pharmacist saw the prescription she handed him, he couldn't help but mutter, "Why are there so many people coming in with prescriptions to get medicine lately?"
Five or six people came in just a few days. Before that, their family mostly had their own patients come to get medicine. After all, there were only a handful of traditional Chinese medicine doctors in the county, and the county hospital didn't have a traditional Chinese medicine department.
Chen Meiling said, "They probably all came here after seeing a doctor in Qinghe Ancient Town. There's a very good doctor from there." She said it casually and then realized that it seemed a bit inappropriate to praise his colleague in front of the young man, so she smiled awkwardly.
Is he a new TCM doctor?
The pharmacist had a sudden thought, and couldn't help but recall the strange old man who had come here a few days ago.
Could it be him?
The doctor sitting next to him, who was also the father of the pharmacist, glanced at the prescription and immediately recognized it: "It's Banxia Xiexin Decoction."
This is a classic decoction formula from the "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases," which is still frequently used clinically by many traditional Chinese medicine practitioners today, and it is very effective in treating gastrointestinal diseases. However, something seems a little off about this formula.
"Why only two grams of Coptis chinensis?" he frowned. "But you increased the amount of dried ginger by half?"
In addition, two of the medicinal herbs were removed and one was replaced.
The doctor on duty was displeased: "This... Banxia Xiexin Decoction in the Treatise on Cold Damage is already a classic formula. Minor modifications are one thing, but how can such a major change be allowed? Isn't this playing with the patient's health?"
This is a prescription from Zhang Zhongjing! Does this person think he is even more capable than the Sage of Medicine?
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