As Xu Yi stepped into the main hall with his front foot, his back foot immediately saw that the previously clean and tidy hall was now in disarray. The flat floor was covered with a puddle of sticky mixture. Undigested bean cakes combined with gastric fluids and water. The entire room was permeated with a sour, foul smell.
The uncle and another able-bodied young man were frantically attending to Ping’er, whose face had turned from white to bluish-green.
Hearing footsteps behind them, they looked up to see Xu Yi entering and immediately called out for help.
“Doctor Xu, please come quickly and see what’s wrong with Ping’er!” The uncle’s voice trembled as he spoke, his worry visibly apparent.
Xu Yi didn’t stand on ceremony. He stepped forward to grasp the little boy’s wrist and supported him against his own chest, using the pad of his thumb to rhythmically press and knead the philtrum point below the nose.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the philtrum point is a crucial acupoint for emergency resuscitation. It can be pressed to awaken people who have fainted from shock, fear, heatstroke, or poisoning, though it shouldn’t be used for those unconscious from cerebral hemorrhage. Moreover, one shouldn’t pinch with the fingernails, as this won’t achieve the emergency treatment effect. The pressing and kneading force must be appropriate.
After pressing for about the time it takes to brew a pot of tea, the little boy awakened. His complexion still looked poor, and the corners of his lips were bluish-purple.
This indicated not only eating unclean food but also symptoms of vomiting from external heat illness.
Xu Yi’s gaze darkened. Looking at the awakened little boy, he said to the uncle, “Uncle, gently massage this acupoint. This is the Yintang point from the ‘Rejuvenation Method,’ it can clear the spirit.”
“Yes! Yes!” The uncle grabbed the child in alarm and, following Xu Yi’s instructions, carefully used his calloused fingertips to gently massage the Yintang point between the eyebrows.
Seeing that the little boy’s physical condition hadn’t worsened, Xu Yi quickly went out to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, the little girl was guarding the stove while anxiously waiting.
Seeing Xu Yi return, the little girl asked urgently, “Young sir, how is my brother?”
She still wasn’t accustomed to changing how she addressed him, still calling Xu Yi “sir.”
Xu Yi said, “He’s fine. Let me check if the medicinal decoction is ready.”
He used a cloth to lift the lid and check the medicine pot, seeing that the decoction had reduced to about five-tenths, he removed the pot and poured it into a bowl.
“Do you remember if your brother ate anything else after the bean cakes and water?” Xu Yi asked her.
The little girl pressed her lips together, thought for a moment, but still shook her head.
They hadn’t brought much food from home. Besides the bean cakes, they’d previously had some steamed buns, but those were finished first. For the past two days, only bean cakes remained.
However, the little girl was still too young. She’d only thought of this and hadn’t considered more details.
Knowing it was useless to ask her, Xu Yi sighed, picked up the medicinal decoction, and told her to follow him back to the main hall.
In the main hall, the little boy lay weakly in his grandfather’s arms. The young man beside them paced back and forth. He wanted to leave early but couldn’t bring himself to say it.
Just then, he happened to see Xu Yi return.
“Doctor Xu, doesn’t this child have that… cold and heat dysentery? Why does it look like… like…” He didn’t dare say it plainly.
In the countryside, there were many children who suddenly became like this. First unable to bear the stomach pain, then vomiting and having diarrhea, and within a few days, they died of illness.
No one knew the cause. Some who knew a bit about medicinal herbs would go to the mountains to dig them up and eat them. Whether the child could be saved depended on their fate. Others who were willing to spend money to see a physician found that not every child could be saved.
His family lived near the uncle’s family, and he knew their situation. They’d already lost two children who died young. If this Ping’er also died young, what a terrible blow that would be.
Xu Yi said calmly, “First, have him drink the medicine.”
“Yes, yes, yes.” The young man nodded repeatedly and told the uncle to hurry. “Ping’er is a blessed child. How could this small difficulty trap him? He doesn’t have the face of someone going there.”
Xu Yi glanced at him, silently withdrew his gaze, and urged the uncle to administer the medicine. The uncle didn’t dare delay and fed the little boy spoonful by spoonful.
Even suffering to this extent, the little boy remained obedient without crying or fussing, only groaning painfully when the discomfort became unbearable.
Huanglian tastes bitter. After adding other medicinal ingredients, the decoction that resulted was thick, both bitter and sour, yet he obediently drank the entire bowl.
After drinking, the uncle asked Xu Yi, “Doctor Xu, now that he’s drunk the medicine, will he be better?”
“Not that quickly.” Xu Yi shook his head and said to him, “Judging from the symptoms, your grandson doesn’t only have cold and heat dysentery. His pulse is weak and slippery, the onset was sudden and acute. After vomiting, he developed a fever, with symptoms of summer dampness and heat stagnation.”
In plain terms, not only had he eaten unclean things and drunk raw water causing bacterial infection, even the vessel holding the water might not have been clean enough. Based on the sudden violent vomiting, abdominal pain, acidic vomit, fever, and confused consciousness, these were manifestations of summer heatstroke.
Huanglian could detoxify and purge fire. After this decoction, the little boy’s condition would improve significantly.
However, complete recovery wouldn’t happen yet. He’d need to drink at least two more doses of medicinal decoction.
Xu Yi made this clear, then his gaze fell on the vomit.
Perhaps because his gaze was too direct, the uncle came to his senses and said with an embarrassed face that he’d clean it up immediately.
Half a shichen later, Xu Yi observed the little boy’s pulse again and found it wasn’t as weak and slippery as before. He also examined his eyes.
The little boy had his eyelids held open and instinctively rolled his eyeballs. His spirits had also recovered.
“Brother, how are you?” The little girl beside him anxiously pulled his hand and asked.
The little boy shook his head, touched his sister’s hand, and said quietly, “I’m much better. I made you and Grandfather worry.”
“Wuwuwu, you scared me just now. Big Niu next door was like this before, and then he never woke up again.” The little girl had held it in for so long, and at this moment, she finally couldn’t help but bury herself in her brother’s arms and cry.
Watching from the side, the uncle said somewhat awkwardly to Xu Yi, “Making Doctor Xu witness this. These children have a good relationship. I… I was also frightened.”
Xu Yi smiled. “It’s fine. Children are naturally pure and kind. This is a good thing.”
After the little girl stopped crying out of embarrassment, Xu Yi asked, “Ping’er, does your stomach still hurt badly?”
“It doesn’t hurt as much anymore.” The little boy answered obediently.
Xu Yi asked, “Where does it still hurt?”
The little boy showed Xu Yi where it still hurt. The area where the stomach connects to the small intestine. Xu Yi reached inside his clothing and gently pressed that area, discovering some bloating inside, slightly warmer than other areas.
“Doctor Xu, does he still have a problem?” The young man beside them couldn’t help but inquire.
Xu Yi nodded and said unhurriedly, “The greatest taboo in treating illness is giving up halfway. Though he looks much better now, the heat dysentery and summer dampness haven’t fully healed. He still needs continued medicinal decoction treatment.”
The uncle looked at Xu Yi, now trusting him greatly. After all, his grandson’s life had just been saved by him.
He quickly said, “Doctor Xu, I’ll listen to you.”
“Uncle.”
Hearing this, the young man’s expression changed slightly. He hurriedly pulled the uncle away from the main hall to the courtyard to talk.
“Uncle, I see Ping’er looks fine now. He doesn’t need to take more medicine. This medicine isn’t cheap. We came here today and don’t even know how much money we’ve spent. If we get more medicine, who knows how much more we’ll have to spend.”
Though the young man appeared to be thinking of the uncle, he had his own thoughts. What money did the uncle’s family have? Spending money on medical treatment. If they couldn’t produce the money, wouldn’t they have to borrow from him?
Borrowing money is easy; repaying it is hard. With the uncle’s family circumstances, who knew when they’d be able to pay back the money!
Hearing this, the uncle’s expression became uncomfortable for a moment. Having lived to this age, how could he not hear the implication in the young man’s words?
But thinking of his grandson’s frightening appearance, his gaze became resolute. He said, “Nephew, I understand what you mean, but Doctor Xu said that Ping’er hasn’t fully recovered and still needs to continue drinking the medicinal decoction.”
The young man didn’t understand. With their family circumstances, why waste money?
He was about to say something when he saw Xu Yi emerge and say to them, “Ping’er needs to use the toilet. Uncle, please take him there.”
“Yes, yes, I’ll go right away.” The uncle glanced at the young man and ran to the main hall without looking back.
Xu Yi nodded at the young man as a greeting, then went to the kitchen to look at the medicinal dregs in the pot and continued to add water and decoct.
When he finished decocting the medicine and came out of the house, he only saw the three: grandfather and grandchildren. The young man was nowhere to be seen.
The uncle explained that he had matters to attend to and left first.
Xu Yi didn’t care about this. After saying “I see,” he told the uncle, “I’ve finished decocting the medicine. Take this medicinal decoction back with you and give it to Ping’er in two shichen (four hours).”
Having said this, he asked if he wanted to prepare two more doses of medicine to take back.
This time, the uncle didn’t hesitate.
Xu Yi didn’t know what the two had discussed in the courtyard, but it wasn’t hard to see that this uncle doted on his grandson.
Xu Yi wrapped two doses of medicine in yellow hemp paper, then went to the courtyard to pick some mint leaves, dividing them into two portions. He told the uncle that on the second day back, he should decoct the new medicine, and when decocting, add the mint.
The uncle accepted the medicine, licked his lips, and asked Xu Yi, “I wonder how much the consultation fee and medicine cost today?”
Xu Yi said, “The consultation fee is five wen. The medicinal ingredients are sixty-seven wen total. These two doses are forty wen, while the dose just taken was twenty-seven wen.”
Xu Yi clearly explained each medicine cost.
After hearing this, the uncle was dazed. This consultation fee was completely unexpected. Before leaving home, he’d brought the two strings of cash mentally prepared to spend it all. In the end, it didn’t even cost one qian of silver.
How could he not know what the situation was at outside medical halls? Nowadays, even a small prescription cost over ten or twenty wen.
The uncle and his two grandchildren gratefully thanked Xu Yi.
Before leaving, Xu Yi also reminded them to drink less raw water in summer.
Summer was the season for pests and bacteria to breed. Insect eggs eaten into the stomach could also cause this kind of epigastric pain and vomiting with diarrhea. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, all of this could be classified under the category of “cholera.”
Severe cases were even contagious. The main source was people drinking water contaminated with animal feces, and the residue from diarrhea infecting another person…
Thus forming a closed-loop environment, some epidemics that appeared in ancient times were produced this way.
“The vessels for holding water should also be washed clean. If there’s residual dirt, this situation can still occur.” Xu Yi spoke impartially, only stating the facts.
The uncle and his family all carefully committed this to memory. Today had been too frightening. Thinking back on it still made him tremble with fear.
–
After seeing the three off, Xu Yi returned to the house and rinsed the main hall floor once.
Though he wasn’t certain about anything, disinfection was still necessary.
After finishing this, Xu Yi went to the kitchen to take stock of how many medicinal ingredients remained on the shelves.
After several months of unremitting effort, there were now over fifty types of medicinal ingredients available at home, basically all common medicines with wide applications that many prescriptions would use.
But considering that illnesses weren’t limited to common diseases, there were also difficult and complicated cases, acute illnesses, etc.. Having only these medicines wouldn’t suffice.
There were too many difficult and complicated cases to prepare medicine for. He could write prescriptions for patients to buy medicine themselves. Acute illnesses required emergency medicines. As a physician, how could he not have one or two types of emergency medicine pills on hand?
In the “Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Cabinet,” there was the Three-Substance Emergency Pill. It was also a commonly prepared medicine pill in ancient households. Though called a medicine pill, more correctly speaking, it should be described as a powder.
People of this era didn’t have tools as advanced as modern times for making medicine pills. Basically, they ground them into medicinal powder. When taking them, they’d dissolve them in warm water. If the patient couldn’t open their mouth, they could even use nasal feeding to administer the medicine.
But compared to medicines that needed decoction, this type that didn’t require decoction could indeed be used as an emergency medicine pill.
The Three-Substance Emergency Pill targeted constipation, abdominal pain with obstruction and blockage, and difficulty urinating. It was a powerful emergency medicine.
If today’s little boy had gone to see a doctor at an ordinary medical hall, perhaps this would be the prescription they’d write.
It contained three medicinal ingredients: rhubarb, dried ginger, and croton.
The first two were fine, but croton was acrid, hot, and highly toxic. It couldn’t be eaten lightly unless for acute illness requiring powerful medicine.
After eating it, one would vomit and have diarrhea, expelling the accumulated food in the stomach and feces in the intestines, thereby resolving violent acute abdominal pain caused by warm summer heat evil.
But its medicinal properties were severe and could easily cause other problems. Moreover, it caused great damage to the body, hence the saying “unless urgently administered, this formula cannot be effective.”
Xu Yi didn’t intend to change contemporary people’s view of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Being too prominent wasn’t a good thing. He didn’t necessarily need to hide his abilities, nor did he necessarily need to be a maverick.
But after encountering this little boy today, it still gave him some ideas. If his home didn’t have medicine and he needed to go to a medical hall to buy it, in such urgent circumstances, it would easily cause delays.
If it wasn’t an emergency situation, that would be fine. But if in an emergency there was a lack of medicine for treatment, the consequences were obvious.
Therefore, the emergency prescription he wanted to prepare wouldn’t be this type of powerful medicine.
Having thought this through, Xu Yi changed out of his long robe and put on cotton short clothes, then tied a cloth around his head, disguising himself as a servant.
Next, Xu Yi returned to his room and pulled out the agarwood stored in a chest. He cut off a thumb-sized piece, wrapped it carefully in a silk handkerchief, and tucked it into his bosom.
…
Xu Yi had heard that brokerages in the Song Dynasty could act as consignment agents, conducting commodity appraisals and transactions.
This piece of agarwood in his hand could be determined to be top-grade, but he didn’t know the current price. Rashly going to medical halls to inquire about prices might invite inconvenience.
The brokerage was a good choice. If he went inside dressed as a servant to ask for details, the brokers would only think he was a servant from some wealthy household selling good things for his master. They wouldn’t associate it with a small physician.
Leaving South Street, Xu Yi’s image and temperament changed greatly. His shoulders drooped slightly downward, his back curved a bit, and he walked down the street with lowered brows and compliant eyes, making no sound.
If an acquaintance passed by at this moment and didn’t look carefully, they wouldn’t recognize that this was Xu Yi for quite some time.
It was truly because Xu Yi was usually so composed and self-possessed, his gait steady, warm and courteous. Compared to this submissive demeanor, there was no similarity whatsoever.
He quickly passed through the marketplace and arrived at Yanting County’s brokerage.
The brokerage wasn’t a single house or courtyard. Entering through the somewhat aged vermilion wooden door, there was a long bluestone walkway.
On both sides were small open doorways, furnished like main halls. Though the light inside was dim, when your eyes looked over, you could see what business each one operated.
In the brokerage, there weren’t only commodity transactions and property and land transactions, but also human trafficking.
This being Xu Yi’s first visit, he inevitably walked more slowly.
He walked and stopped, sometimes standing outside the broker rooms, listening to the negotiating voices inside. Then he heard that for just a few strings of cash, one could buy a young able-bodied slave to work at home. One could also spend a few taels to rent a concubine. And those five or six-year-olds who couldn’t work yet were even cheaper. One or two taels could buy them.
Xu Yi felt his back go cold, profoundly realizing that this wasn’t modern times. This was a feudal society that devoured people without spitting out bones.
Here there were only people above people. Lower-class people had no human rights and could be beaten, scolded, and sold at will. As long as one held the indenture contract, they could sell people to those unspeakable places. Xu Yi even saw impoverished families with adults personally bringing their children to the brokerage, wanting to sell their own children to wealthy households as maids and servants. And some good-looking boys and girls were selected by old matrons and taken to brothels…
Looking at those emaciated, expressionless, barely clothed people…
Xu Yi didn’t dare listen or watch anymore.
He feared his own impulse, yet lacked the capital for impulse.
He couldn’t save those who were selected like lambs, treated as goods for comparing cost-effectiveness, these suffering people.
He touched his wildly beating heart. Sure enough, what was shown in TV dramas, that time-traveling could change the world, was an extremely laughable lie.
Taking a deep breath, Xu Yi averted his eyes and hurriedly passed several human trafficking broker rooms.
Before long, he stopped outside an imposing broker room. This room handled second-hand commodity trading and could act as an agent broker, responsible for helping sell goods or having someone buy goods on their behalf. They only extracted profit from it as an intermediary fee.
Xu Yi entered and saw inside a thirty-something-year-old broker dressed respectably, sitting with his legs crossed drinking tea.
Broker Huang heard footsteps. Looking up, he saw a delicate-featured servant boy about ten-some years old. Without any surprise, he spoke in a neither cold nor warm tone, asking what business brought him.
Xu Yi then said he was running errands for his master. After asking the broker’s name and learning that this broker had some reputation in the brokerage, he was quite well-known.
Thus, Xu Yi continued, “My master happened upon an item. It’s a good thing. Broker Huang, could you speak with this humble one inside?”
The good thing Xu Yi spoke of was naturally the agarwood in his bosom.
Oral claims were no proof. He moved closer and took out the handkerchief from his bosom, opened it, and presented it before Broker Huang.
The handkerchief carrying a faint fragrance paused before Broker Huang for two seconds before Xu Yi put it away.
Broker Huang: “!!”
He’d seen quite a few good things. Yanting County produced silk abundantly, and thousands upon thousands of bolts of silk had been bought and sold through his hands. Not only this, but various items that couldn’t circulate in outside shops. He’d also bought and sold some.
The agarwood this servant held belonged to the category of aromatics.
Wealthy families were fond of aromatics, and agarwood was one of the three great precious aromatics. As a broker, how could he not recognize it?
Immediately, he invited Xu Yi into the inner room to talk.
Broker Huang’s face wore a smile as he asked, “May I examine this item carefully?”
Xu Yi said, “Naturally. My master is counting on Broker Huang to sell it for a good price. If this is suitable, my master has a half-jin piece. It’s truly of fine quality.”
He spoke naturally, having fully adopted the servant’s identity.
Agarwood was a good thing, but keeping it on him wasn’t safe. His home didn’t even have a place to hide things. If people knew he had agarwood at home, within a few days, his home would probably have many uninvited “guests.”
Being the case, rather than this, while wanting to make life-saving emergency medicine pills, he might as well exchange part of this agarwood for money to buy those precious medicinal ingredients.
Hearing that there was still a half-jin piece of this agarwood, Broker Huang was even more delighted.
He held the handkerchief up to the light for detailed examination and quickly confirmed this piece of agarwood was top quality among top quality.
Wanting to sell such fine agarwood couldn’t help but make Broker Huang suspect whether this household had encountered some trouble, which was why they were having someone sell the agarwood.
However, those in their line of business emphasized reputation and credibility.
Broker Huang didn’t ask Xu Yi about his master’s surname. He only said, “Your master wants to entrust me to sell this agarwood. It happens that several households have asked me to help them buy it. There’s no worry about lacking buyers.”
Hearing this, Xu Yi raised his eyebrows. “Then this humble one thanks Broker Huang on behalf of my master. I must also trouble Broker Huang not to speak of this humble one.”
Having said this, he lowered his brows and said quietly again, “My master is selling this agarwood behind my mistress’s back. He doesn’t want others to know. After all, this isn’t anything glorious. If word got out, my master wouldn’t be able to stay in the county town.”
Hearing this, Broker Huang immediately showed an “I understand, I understand” expression.
He’d seen too many who secretly sold things behind their family’s backs. Those young masters from wealthy families. Which of them didn’t love spending money? When they had no money, didn’t they have to find ways to get it?
Look, those who set their sights on this. There were too many.
Broker Huang also wasn’t worried this matter would involve him. Brokerages doing business had to pay a security deposit. Moreover, there were specialized legal provisions. Completed transactions all had signed contracts. They couldn’t allow people to come to the brokerage and make trouble.
If there was trouble, it would be at someone else’s home.
After settling this, Xu Yi gave Broker Huang over twenty wen for tea money and left the thumb-sized piece of agarwood behind so that Broker Huang could contact potential buyers and negotiate the price.
Broker Huang said directly that if the deal was made, he’d take ten percent profit. In other words, of the selling price, he’d take ten percent.
This price wasn’t low. After Broker Huang finished speaking, he stared at Xu Yi’s face.
Xu Yi fell silent. After a long while, he showed an expression of gritting his teeth in hesitation, considered for a long time, then finally nodded heavily in agreement.
Seeing him nod in agreement, Broker Huang breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. Such good business. He couldn’t let other brokers snatch it away.