Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Charity Diagnosis_l
Translator: 549690339
Yingbao was also busy preparing medicinal pills for her father.
These pills were actually made by steaming date paste, red bean paste, and wheat flour, kneading them into small balls roughly the size of bird eggs, and mixing in wu ding zhi.
She made fifty in total, enough for her father to consume one every day, and even to spare some for her uncles.
On the day they started working, before the break of dawn, the villagers picked up shovels, hammers, and baskets, some shouldering yokes, came to Jiang Sanlang’s house and called for him to join them.
Jiang Sanlang also shouldered a yoke, put his tools and bedding on it, and blended into the crowd with his elder and second brother who were shouldering the same loads.
Yingbao got up early to stand with her mother at their courtyard to see her father off.
“Mother, where is father going to do the river work?” asked Yingbao.
Chunniang, holding her daughter’s hand, returned inside the house: “I’ve heard they’re headed to Simen Town a few dozen miles away.” She wasn’t sure about the exact location.
The specific location of the river construction wasn’t determined. A river section could stretch from one end to another for dozens of miles, and workers had to dig river channels on both banks, carry river mud, and clear up the blockages.
Once a section of the river was finished, they would move to another part.
“Baobao, you can sleep a little longer.” Chunniang said: “It will be a while before daylight.”
“Ok.” Yingbao climbed onto the kang, took off her cotton-padded jacket, and snuggled into her mother’s quilt.
The cotton bedding was indeed warm, she didn’t want to get up once she was under it.
At this moment, her two younger brothers were sleeping in another quilt, snoring lightly.
Being able to sleep with her mother today made Yingbao very happy.
Chunniang lay down on the kang, held her daughter in her arms, and said, laughing: “It’s been a long time since I’ve been this close to Baobao.” Yingbao snuggled up to her mother: “Because Baobao has grown up.”
“Yes, my Baobao is almost four in a blink of an eye.” This referred to her actual age; by nominal age, Yingbao would turn five after the New Year.
The mother and daughter snuggled up and fell asleep unknowingly.
The next morning, Yingbao still had to go to school.
Erni and Huzi came to call her.
“Yingbao, that Chen Zhao didn’t come to school yesterday.”
Lately, Erni was fond of discussing all sorts of gossip, “Our teacher said she won’t be coming anymore.”
Yingbao was not surprised at all.
When the Han Family suddenly sent Chen Zhao, they harbored ulterior motives. Now that their hopes have been dashed, they certainly will not let Chen Zhao attend school anymore.
Such a shortsighted woman, besides wanting to bear sons all day, her mind was filled with nothing but ruthlessness.
But she never thought herself ruthless. On the contrary, she felt wronged, as though everyone owed her and everyone was wronging her. She believed her children deserved a beating when they annoyed her.
“Also, big brother is to be engaged.” Erni kept babbling as she walked.
Yingbao blinked, “Which family are you talking about?”
“I think it’s from the Chu Family in the neighboring village.” Erni said: “I heard from auntie that big cousin will go see her tomorrow.”
Jiang Cheng was going to be sixteen after the New Year, so it was indeed time for him to get an engagement.
When they arrived at the school, Erni and Huzi went to the neighboring classroom. Yingbao was still taking classes with Sister Wen Shu. However, today, there was an additional student, Wen Hengyin.
Wen Hengyin had already read books at an early age, but because he was unwilling to study seriously, his parents intentionally put him in the B class to receive primary education with the children who just started school.
But lately, he became motivated. So Mrs. Wen called him back to Class A to study medical classics with Yingbao.
“Now that we’ve finished the inner classics, we’ll do some free clinic for the villagers today, which will let me see what you’ve learned.”
Xiu Zhenniang said: “I have informed the village leader. He will call the villagers to come for check-ups. We can set up a table under the thatched pergola at the door. After taking their pulses, I have some decoctions here that can be given for free to those who come for a checkup.” Upon hearing this, Yingbao’s eyes widened.
She was actually going to take patient’s pulses now?
Even though she knew this was just a simulated session, such an opportunity was rare. She needed to make good use of it and gain more practical experience.
The trio excitedly carried tables and chairs to the entrance of the schoolhouse, under the grassy shed.
The shed was now surrounded by cloth as wind and cold protection, leaving only one entrance and exit.
After arranging the items needed for pulse diagnosis, the three children sat behind three tables in a row, quietly waiting for “patients” to come in.
Within a quarter of an hour, the greetings between the Clan Leader and Lady Wen could be heard from outside, followed by a few people entering.
Lady Wen led the way, followed by the Clan Leader and Chen Cunzheng, and behind them were several older villagers.
Yingbao was a bit nervous, and together with Wen Shu and Hengyin, they stood up to greet the newcomers before resuming their seats to take the pulses of each of them.
Before taking a patient’s pulse, Yingbao would observe his complexion, then examine the whiteness of his eyes and the color of his lips and tongue coating, and check for any swelling in his cheeks and eyelids.
If all these were normal, it meant that the person did not have any serious health problems.
Then it was time to take their pulses.
The first pulse Yingbao took was the Clan Leader’s.
She felt the pulse with three fingers. The pulse was smooth and round, unhurried and moderate, soft yet strong. This was a normal pulse, indicating the Clan Leader was healthy.
Yingbao would write the pulse findings down after checking. Then she moved on to Chen Sanyou, the village leader.
His pulse was taut like a string, straight and long, strong and hard, rising and falling squarely. This was a string pulse.
People with this sort of pulse often suffer from excessive liver qi and weak stomach qi.
Yingbao wrote this down faithfully, and at the end said, “Grandpa Sanyou, do you have a bitter taste in your mouth every morning? To be healthier, you should eat less sweet foods and rice, and drink more tea.’
Chen Sanyou froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. “Our little village doctor is indeed impressive. How did you figure this out? You’re right, I love sweets, and I always find the bitterness unbearable every morning.”
Yingbao said seriously, “Eating too many sweets harms the spleen and stomach. If you keep it up, your liver fire will become more vigorous, your meridians will become harder, causing a stroke finally.”
Chen Sanyou nodded, “I’ll heed the advice of our little doctor Yingbao. I will eat less sweet and greasy foods.”
Recently his son had planted a lot of jelly ears which he often boiled and ate, adding maltose in it. As a result, his bitterness had worsened and sometimes he even felt numbness in his fingers.
Lady Wen rechecked Chen Sanyou’s pulse and found it similar to what Yingbao had written, she nodded in approval.
Following that, Yingbao diagnosed several other people. They all had minor issues, but nothing too serious.
Before long, the morning had passed. Those who had come to watch the fun and get a diagnosis began to leave. The three young doctors also packed up and This free clinic session provided Yingbao with tremendous learnings, more than what she had gained even from reading the entire Classic of Questions.
Therefore, a doctor cannot always rely only on books, they must apply their learnings, combining it with their own experiences to diagnose diseases.
Unfortunately, she had not yet learned about prescriptions and did not know how to treat diseases.
Wen Shu and Hengyin also gained a lot from this experience. The three chatted about the pulses they had encountered and speculated about the diseases that these people might have.
Returning home at noon, Yingbao was completely immersed in her thoughts about pulse diagnosis, oblivious to a person sneakily spying from behind the haystack.
Erni and Huzi accompanied Yingbao back home before returning to their uncle’s home for a meal.
As soon as Yingbao entered the courtyard, she saw her two younger brothers running towards her, showing her a few pages of characters they had scrawled.
“Well done, you two are really smart. Later, sister will take you to ride deer.” Yingbao stroked the top of their heads in praise, saying, “You write better than sister when she first started.’
The two young brothers grinned with delight, carrying the sloppy and scrawled characters, they ran back to the room joyfully.
They wanted to write it a few more times for their sister to see.
Yingbao rubbed her eyes and sighed.
Ah, educating her younger brothers is a weighty responsibility and a long journey ahead..
