BFDNS 051

Chapter 51: Emergency Medicine

In the following days, Xu Yi focused all his attention on making emergency pills.

Currently, most medical halls sold emergency powders that needed to be dissolved in water or decoction before consumption, which inevitably required time to prepare the medicine.

If Xu Yi wanted to make emergency medicine, he naturally needed to avoid creating remedies that required decoction. At the very least, they should be directly dissolvable in water. Otherwise, what difference would there be from prescribing regular formulas and having patients buy medicine at medical halls?

He wasn’t one to procrastinate. When he said he would do something, he would naturally see it through.

Moreover, with various trivial matters delaying him recently, these past two days had been relatively free, so Xu Yi shut himself in the kitchen.

The only trouble with making emergency pills was that he had no medical texts on hand. He could only rely on knowledge he’d learned before, combined with experimentation, to create them.

He poured out the medicinal materials he’d bought one by one, first taking out the musk he’d purchased from the spice shop.

This musk hadn’t been processed yet. There was an outer shell that needed to be peeled away. After removing the sac shell, he extracted the musk grains inside, then cleaned off the impurities. With this complete process, the musk was ready for use.

Since Xu Yi wanted to add it to medicine to make pills, he still needed to slice it and grind it into fine powder.

Many people’s impression of musk came from palace intrigue dramas, where concubines would place musk in their rival’s sachets to cause infertility or miscarriage.

In reality, musk didn’t cause infertility, that was a misconception. For musk to cause miscarriage in a pregnant woman required prolonged exposure; short-term contact was unlikely to produce such dramatic effects. However, since musk had properties that activated blood circulation, regulated menstruation, and induced labor, pregnant women should still minimize contact with it.

After extracting the musk grains, Xu Yi used a small knife to slice them into pieces, then tossed them into the versatile grinding trough to be ground into powder by the wheel.

This grinding trough was something Xu Yi had purchased at great expense back then. Made of ironwood, though not as effective as stone or iron ones, it was cheaper. At the time, he hadn’t had much disposable silver, so he’d decided to make do with this wooden one.

Who would have thought this grinding trough would work so well? Once he got used to it, he never thought of replacing it, planning to wait until it broke down before getting a new one.

Xu Yi sifted the ground musk into a jar, then processed the other medicinal materials one by one.

The huangqi needed to be roasted, white poria needed to be peeled, almonds needed to be peeled and bran-fried, gleditsia seeds also needed to be fried, and pinellia needed to be washed, ground to powder, made into medicinal paste with ginger juice, then fried…

Come to think of it, this was his first time making pills that required processing so many ingredients. It felt quite complicated.

As Xu Yi fried and fried, he felt his time wasn’t enough. He needed an assistant.

And…

The assistant he’d set his eyes on, Ah Xu, currently only knew a few hundred characters and hadn’t even finished reading the Three Character Classic.

Xu Yi: “…”

Was he going to employ child labor? He felt so guilty.

Servants were paid monthly wages, and Xu Yi held their indenture contracts, so theoretically speaking, having them work was perfectly justified. However, he was ultimately a modern person. Having them cook and sweep floors was fine, but making them do work-related tasks felt unethical.

Xu Yi suppressed this thought and continued with his work.

After all the medicinal materials were processed, the real work could truly begin.

He knew exactly how much of each medicine to use, but… the production process consumed too much time.

By the time he’d finished processing all the aforementioned medicinal materials, half a day had already passed.

Just then, Ah Jin came running in urgently, calling out as she ran: “Young master, young master.”

Xu Yi looked up to see her bouncing in like Little Huang, saying: “Young master, there’s a fishing elder outside selling fish. Brother asked me to come ask you, should we buy fish?”

Yanting County only had river fish. In the several months since Xu Yi had arrived, he’d barely eaten fresh fish a few times.

Hearing there was someone selling fish outside, he naturally wanted to go take a look.

Xu Yi said: “Come, I’ll go with you to see.”

Ah Jin happily called out “okay.” As her small hand was held by Xu Yi, her heart felt especially happy. “Young master, that fishing elder’s fish are so big, every one is alive. How is he so amazing that he can catch so many fish?”

Xu Yi smiled: “Everyone has their strengths. What others can do, we don’t necessarily need to envy. Instead, we can think about where our own strengths lie.”

Ah Jin tilted her head, asking puzzled: “Young master, what are my strengths?”

“They are…”

Xu Yi paused. They’d already reached the outer courtyard. He said softly: “Once you finish reading the Three Hundred Thousand, perhaps you’ll know.”

“Ah, that’s so long from now.” The little girl’s happiness faded, but seeing the fishing elder again, her eyes lit up once more.

Ah Xu was waiting outside. Seeing Xu Yi come out personally, he immediately called: “Young master.”

“Elder, how much are you selling this fish for?”

Xu Yi approached and asked the fishing elder standing nearby.

This fishing elder looked to be in his early sixties with a head of white hair, wearing old short brown clothing, yet appearing quite spirited.

Seeing it was a young gentleman, the fishing elder didn’t raise his price, saying only: “These are fresh carp I caught today, all alive. If you want them, young master, I can sell them to you for ten wen each.”

He opened his fish basket. Inside were several lively carp, each weighing about a jin.

Xu Yi was slightly surprised. Wild carp growing this large wasn’t easy. This fishing elder was quite skilled.

“Elder, where did you catch such plump fish?” Xu Yi asked curiously.

The fishing elder smiled kindly, saying: “Outside the city, ten li to the left, there’s a stream flowing down from the mountain gullies. There are many fish there, but they’re cunning and not easy to catch.” As he spoke, he became somewhat proud. “I have a good method to trick the fish into coming up. Others don’t know it.”

Xu Yi: “Elder, you’re truly a master.”

After chatting with the fishing elder for a few sentences, Xu Yi bought all the fish in his basket.

Seeing he wanted them all, the fishing elder said he’d give a discount and only charge Xu Yi forty wen. Xu Yi didn’t agree and had Ah Xu fetch fifty wen to pay him the original price.

Who knew how much effort it took to catch those fish, and then walk from ten li outside the city into the county seat.

Making money wasn’t easy. Seeing the fishing elder’s forehead and body covered in sweat, Xu Yi invited him inside to drink some tea.

“Elder, don’t be shy. This tea is good quality. Drinking a few more cups won’t hurt.” As Xu Yi spoke, he personally poured a cup of tea and handed it over.

The fishing elder was slightly surprised. Seeing his hands were a bit dirty, he casually wiped them on his clothes before reaching out to accept the tea cup Xu Yi handed him.

The fishing elder said: “I’ve been selling fish for so many years, and this is the first time a host has invited me inside to drink tea.”

The two drank tea and chatted for a few sentences. Xu Yi asked with a smile: “If you’re not in a hurry to return, elder, could you teach us how to prepare this fish to make it delicious?”

He explained that it was just him and two children at home, and they really didn’t know how to prepare the fish.

Ah Xu could cook, but he’d been exposed to too few ingredients. He was still in the exploratory stage. If someone could give him pointers at this time, it should help Ah Xu progress further.

Hearing it was such a simple request, the fishing elder immediately agreed.

“Easy, easy. This carp is very simple to make.” The fishing elder asked Ah Xu if he knew how to scale fish.

Ah Xu froze, then said somewhat shyly that he didn’t.

The fishing elder saw it was already noon and said: “If the young master doesn’t mind, I can make one for you master and servants to taste. Then this young servant will know how to do it afterward.”

Xu Yi was delighted. How could he possibly mind? He immediately had Ah Xu go out and buy some side dishes to accompany the fish, then invited the fishing elder to the kitchen.

When the fishing elder entered the kitchen and smelled the medicinal aroma, his expression grew strange as he swept his eyes around. He saw the kitchen was divided into two areas. One area was for cooking and storing firewood, while the other had several shelves displaying various medicinal materials, and in the corner against the back wall were several rows of ceramic jars.

“Is the young master a physician?” the fishing elder asked Xu Yi.

Xu Yi nodded, saying he was an itinerant doctor.

The fishing elder said: “The young master looks like a talented individual. This old man will show off his skills today and let you taste delicious river fish.”

Having the skill to catch fish, he naturally knew how to cook it. The villagers within ten li all thought his fish was delicious. He wasn’t at all worried that Xu Yi wouldn’t applaud after tasting it.

So the fishing elder selected two plump ones, one for braising and one for making yam and tofu carp soup.

There was no tofu at home, but the market had some. Ah Xu hurried to buy a block of tofu and brought it back.

Seeing all the ingredients were ready, the fishing elder taught Ah Xu how to scale fish.

“When you take this fish from the water, first knock it out with a mallet. With your lesser strength, hit it a few more times. Once it’s stunned, you can press here…”

The fishing elder spoke while demonstrating for Ah Xu.

Xu Yi and Ah Jin stood nearby, listening with great interest.

So there was so much knowledge in preparing a fish! Xu Yi felt today was a lucky day.

Though the fishing elder was over sixty, he was in robust health with quick movements. He only needed Ah Xu as his assistant, having him handle the seasonings for the fish.

During this time, he didn’t forget to teach Ah Xu how to remove the fishy and earthy smell.

“To eliminate the fishy smell, besides ginger and scallions, you need one more seasoning—the best yellow wine from our county.” The fishing elder continued: “After pan-frying in oil, you need to put ginger slices at the bottom of the pot, then add two spoonfuls of soy sauce and fermented black beans. The black beans add flavor, the soy sauce enhances freshness. When you see bubbles forming around the fish, you can add the yellow wine.”

“Do you have a wooden ladle?” After a pause, he asked.

Ah Xu nodded: “Yes, elder, please wait a moment.”

He fetched a wooden ladle for the elder. The elder blew on his beard and said with a chuckle: “Watch carefully.”

With that, he held the wine pot in one hand and the wooden ladle in the other. With a slight movement of his wrist, wine poured from the spout. The sweet fragrance of wine overflowed, drizzling down into the pot.

The fish smell wafting in the air instantly became different.

“Gurgle gurgle—”

The fire under the stove burned vigorously. The fishing elder said braised carp required high heat so the fish meat would cook tender and fresh.

While one pot was making braised fish, the small stove on the other side wasn’t idle either.

The tofu was cut into blocks and blanched, which he said would remove the bean smell and make the tofu more tender and smooth.

The fishing elder really had skill in making fish. He didn’t use many seasonings, only ginger strips, pepper, and salt. He first added yam to simmer in the soup, then chopped the carp into pieces, putting the head in first, then the fish meat.

The fish needed to be pan-fried until half-cooked. The fish soup made this way would be thick and white like sweet nectar, and the fish meat wouldn’t stew to pieces but could be picked up with chopsticks.

With each step, the fishing elder would explain the reasoning behind it. His speech was measured and his explanations clear and orderly. As Xu Yi listened, he felt this elder was not an ordinary person.

When both dishes were finished and brought to the table, Xu Yi inquired: “May I ask where you’re from, elder, and where you worked before?”

The fishing elder laughed nonchalantly and waved his hand: “The past cannot be pursued. Young master should just call me ‘elder.’ Besides, this old man is merely an ordinary farmer, not worthy of your curiosity.”

Xu Yi said: “You’re right, elder.”

He called Ah Xu to bring bowls and chopsticks, personally serving the fishing elder a bowl of fish soup, then distributing some to Ah Xu and Ah Jin.

Seeing this, the fishing elder couldn’t help but glance at Xu Yi a couple of times.

He watched as Xu Yi, after distributing the fish soup, happily began drinking.

After one taste, Xu Yi discovered the fish soup was truly delicious. Though only a small amount of seasoning was used, drinking it was sweet and fresh.

His eyes showed delight. It had been so long since he’d drunk such good fish soup.

Ah Xu and Ah Jin, the two children, ate even more enthusiastically. They’d never tasted such good food before. Suddenly drinking such delicious fish soup today, both of them buried their heads in their bowls and quickly drank down the entire bowl of soup.

Then, their eyes fixedly stared at the braised carp placed before them. Smelling the fragrance, their mouths watered crazily.

Xu Yi said: “Fish should be eaten hot. You two stop staring and eat quickly.”

He placed a piece of plump fish belly into the fishing elder’s bowl and spoke a few words of thanks.

Without him, they wouldn’t have been able to eat such delicious fish today.

The lunch ended amid deliciousness, and afterward, the fishing elder gathered his things and prepared to leave.

Xu Yi didn’t try to keep him. He handed over a package wrapped in oil paper containing dried rabbit meat. This dried rabbit meat had been braised and was still fairly soft and easy to chew. Then he poured a pot of tea for the fishing elder.

“If you’re thirsty on the road back, elder, you can drink some.” Xu Yi said.

Seeing his thoughtfulness, the fishing elder accepted and said: “Then I thank you for your kindness, young master.”

After he’d gone far, Xu Yi asked Ah Xu: “How much did you learn today?”

Ah Xu scratched his head, saying somewhat shyly: “Young master, I mostly understood everything I saw.”

“Perfect. Tomorrow you’ll prepare one, and we’ll continue eating braised fish.” Xu Yi thought of the delicious food he’d just eaten and felt he could eat braised carp for three days straight without getting tired of it.

That afternoon.

When Madam He learned that Xu Yi’s household had live carp, she asked if he could spare her one.

“Qiu’er has finally come home for a visit, but tomorrow he’ll have to leave again. I was thinking he hasn’t eaten fish in ages, he must be craving it.” Madam He looked at the carp swimming in the wooden basin, joy showing in her eyes. These fish looked very plump indeed.

However, she didn’t dare to insist, adding: “Brother Yi, if you can’t spare one, that’s fine too. I just wanted to ask which shop you bought from, to get such good carp.”

Xu Yi said: “It was a white-haired old elder who looked very robust. Have you seen him, Madam He?”

Hearing this, Madam He frowned slightly and shook her head.

She’d been on South Street for so long and had never seen any old elder selling fish.

“It seems my luck was good.” Xu Yi was also quite surprised, but seeing there were still three carp in the basin, sharing one with Madam He was no problem.

Hearing that Xu Yi was willing to give her one, Madam He happily went back to her room to fetch money for him.

Xu Yi gave the money to Ah Xu, then took out some more money and had him go buy fine yellow wine. Making braised carp required yellow wine, and they didn’t have much left at home.

…

After contentedly eating fish for two days, Xu Yi finished making one type of emergency pill.

This pill was the Musk Heart-Protecting Pill.

Xu Yi created it as emergency medicine because he’d thought of chest impediment and true heart pain.

Chest impediment and true heart pain were both Traditional Chinese Medicine diagnostic terms for coronary heart disease. Among the manifestations of chest impediment were angina and symptoms like pain in the back and sternum. Acute myocardial infarction was what Traditional Chinese Medicine called true heart pain. When it occurred, without timely treatment, one could easily be in mortal danger.

When taken early, the Musk Heart-Protecting Pill could prevent attacks and treat chest impediment and true heart pain. When taken during the initial onset, this pill could greatly preserve life.

Making the Musk Heart-Protecting Pill was troublesome. It consisted of seven medicines: besides musk, there was cinnamon, ginseng, storax, toad venom, and others. Among them, musk and toad venom were orifice-opening medicines with pungent aromatic and penetrating medicinal effects. They could refresh the mind and primarily entered the heart meridian. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, they were emergency medicines for treating unconsciousness.

Toad venom was toxic, so the dosage needed to be extremely careful. Xu Yi expended considerable effort to create the pills.

It also contained ginseng, a qi-tonifying medicine also commonly used in emergency remedies.

The ginseng Xu Yi had dug up was all used in making the Musk Heart-Protecting Pills. Over two days, he only managed to produce two bottles of pills.

Afterward, Xu Yi went to the medical hall and bought several ten-year-old wild ginseng roots back.

He ground this ginseng and added it to the prepared medicinal materials, rolling them into pills to create Ginseng Lung-Nourishing Pills.

The remaining ginseng powder couldn’t be wasted. He decocted it in water until the ginseng powder was almost dissolved, filtered out the residue, then added licorice, white poria, and kudzu root to create Ginseng Powder.

This Ginseng Powder was a medicine that greatly tonified primordial qi. When someone became dizzy from overexertion, taking it immediately could prevent shock and sudden death. If poisoned, taking a small amount could also detoxify. If not used as emergency medicine, it could also treat drowsiness, excessive sleeping, vexing thirst, and other ailments.

Xu Yi felt that using it as an emergency pill was also a good choice.

By the time he finished all this, a week had already passed.

Xu Yi thought of Zhang Tiegou, who had injured his leg, and decided to visit him.

He called Ah Xu to accompany him out. Before leaving, he instructed Ah Jin not to open the door for strangers while they were away.

After giving instructions, Xu Yi shouldered his medicine box and went outside the city, hired an ox cart, and traveled to Baili Village more than ten li away.

Baili Village was a small village with only a few dozen households.

When the ox cart entered the village, several households heard the commotion and came out to look.

Seeing the ox cart heading toward Zhang Tiegou’s house by the river, those households all looked confused.

“Hasn’t Zhang Tiegou not come out for several days?”

Among the villagers, someone asked.

The person beside them thought about it and suddenly realized Zhang Tiegou indeed hadn’t appeared before everyone for quite a while.

“Could something have happened?”

“Him have an accident? I don’t think so.” Another person said. “Tiegou can go hunting in the mountains alone. As long as he doesn’t encounter fierce beasts, who could hurt him?”

As he said this, envy showed on his face. Having such good skills meant not worrying about food or clothing.

It was just that Zhang Tiegou looked a bit rough, and his physique was more robust than ordinary men. Combined with that fierce appearance, several households in the village with daughters didn’t dare betroth their daughters to him.

Otherwise, with his capabilities, how could he be over twenty and still not have a wife?

“Should we go take a look?”

“Go? Let’s go, let’s go.”

…

There was no farm work to be done now. After finishing work in their fields, everyone was idle. With few outsiders coming to the village, after a quick discussion, a dozen men, women, and children all chose to go watch the excitement outside Zhang Tiegou’s house.

At this moment, the ox cart happened to stop at Zhang Tiegou’s doorway.

Xu Yi and Ah Xu got off the cart and went to knock on the door.

“Coming.”

A rough voice came from inside the house.

Zhang Tiegou limped out from inside, slightly lame. Seeing it was Xu Yi, he asked joyfully: “Brother Xu, how did you come?”

Xu Yi said: “I came to see if you’re still alive.”

Hearing this, Zhang Tiegou laughed out loud directly: “Look at this leg of mine. Isn’t it almost completely healed?”

“It’s all thanks to the ointment you sent last time, Brother Xu. It’s really effective. Every time I apply it, the wound stops hurting.” As Zhang Tiegou spoke, he wanted to pull Xu Yi inside to talk.

“You must be tired from riding the ox cart. I’ll make you something good to eat. Oh right, Brother Xu, do you eat…” Zhang Tiegou’s voice paused. Only then did he notice a child following behind Xu Yi.

“This is…”

Xu Yi said: “This is Ah Xu, a child from my household.”

Hearing Xu Yi introduce him, Ah Xu stepped forward and bowed, saying: “My name is Ah Xu. I’m the young master’s servant.”

“Oh, oh, oh.” Hearing he was a servant, Zhang Tiegou instantly felt somewhat at a loss.

Having servants meant being from a large household. Looking at Xu Yi again, indeed, Xu Yi had an extraordinary bearing, no matter how you looked at him, he wasn’t from an ordinary family.

He scratched his head. If his and Xu Yi’s statuses differed too greatly, could he still treat Xu Yi as a brother?

Xu Yi asked: “What did you want to treat me to?”

“Ah.” Zhang Tiegou came back to his senses and said, “It’s sparrows I caught in traps. I plucked their feathers and roasted them on wooden sticks. They taste pretty good.”

Xu Yi: “…”

He shouldn’t have asked.

“Let’s go inside to talk first.” Xu Yi changed the subject. “I came today to see if your wound needs fresh medicine. Have you used up the ointment I gave you before?”

Zhang Tiegou walked ahead with his lame leg, saying: “There’s still some left. I can see the flesh is growing. These past two days it’s been very itchy. I always want to scratch it.”

Xu Yi said: “You can’t scratch it. It won’t heal properly.”

Zhang Tiegou laughed and said: “I don’t scratch it. I scratch the area next to where the flesh isn’t growing. Scratching there also relieves the itch.”

Xu Yi: “…”

They entered the house to talk. Zhang Tiegou went to pour water for Xu Yi. This time Xu Yi didn’t refuse.

Seeing him pour warm boiled water for himself, Xu Yi knew Zhang Tiegou had been following his medical advice and drinking boiled water properly during this time.

What they didn’t know was that shortly after they entered the house, a group of villagers came over in force.

Seeing the ox cart stopped not far from Zhang Tiegou’s house, with the cart driver covering his face with a straw hat and half-lying down to rest, they decided to go over and ask what was going on.

“Old man, old man.”

“Why are you here? Are you waiting for someone?”

The cart driver lifted his hat. Seeing so many people surrounding him, he was startled. He frowned and asked: “Who are you?”

The villagers said: “We’re all from Baili Village. What are you doing in our village? Why are you stopped outside Zhang Tiegou’s house?”

“Right, have you seen Zhang Tiegou? Has he come out?”

“Who are the people riding your cart? Why would they come looking for Zhang Tiegou?”

Hearing this string of questions, the cart driver’s mouth twitched. However, seeing they were curious about Xu Yi, he felt he could chat with these people about Xu Yi’s exploits.