Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 61: Return
Bailingyu Village.
There was no ceremony. After a simple preparation of the body, the old man was placed in a pre-made coffin—in a remote, inaccessible mountain village like this, the custom of burial was still observed.
It took only half a day.
Everything was done.
The old man was buried on the hillside behind Baidingyu Village.
Wang Baimu, the chief of Shangwang Village, burned two packets of joss paper.
From that day on, Bailingyu Village truly became a ghost village.
"Doctor Li, are you coming with us? I can give you a ride to town."
Wang Baimu called out to Li Xu before he left.
"No, thank you. These cucumber and green bean seeds have sprouted, and I plan to plant them on the hillside."
"There’s no one left. What’s the point of planting anything?"
"Grandpa Zhou worked so hard to prepare this land. I made a special trip to town to buy these seeds. It would be a shame not to plant them."
"All right, suit yourself." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
Wang Baimu left with the young men who had come to help.
Li Xu went to the hillside alone with the seeds and planted them in the furrows that had been prepared the day before yesterday.
Then he filled a bucket with water and watered them carefully.
After a flurry of activity, evening had arrived.
He wouldn’t be able to go back today.
Li Xu wasn’t in a hurry.
The Qinling Mountains were a treasure trove.
Staying here meant the daily intelligence reports were always a pleasant surprise.
Back at the old man’s house, Li Xu made dinner by himself.
He was stewing pork ribs again.
The old man’s house didn’t have a refrigerator, so the ribs he bought yesterday had to be eaten quickly.
"Da Huang, Da Huang, time to eat..."
Li Xu called out twice, but the big yellow dog didn’t come.
’Where did he run off to?’
He couldn’t find him nearby.
A thought struck him, and he went to the hillside behind the village.
In front of the old man’s grave.
A big yellow dog was lying there.
’It can’t be...’
Li Xu had a bad feeling.
He walked over quietly.
Reaching the grave, he patted Da Huang’s head. "Come on, let’s go eat."
Da Huang looked up at him, then ignored him.
Li Xu grabbed Da Huang’s front legs, trying to pull him away.
WOOF WOOF WOOF~
Da Huang’s docile behavior from the past two days vanished as he suddenly started barking ferociously at him.
Just like when they had first met.
Da Huang bared his teeth.
Two days ago, Da Huang had barked at him for the foxtail grass that could treat the old man’s eye disease.
Now, Da Huang was barking to stop Li Xu from disturbing him.
’Just as I thought...’
Li Xu sighed.
He had heard that some dogs form very deep bonds with their owners.
After their owner’s death, they might become depressed or refuse to eat due to their long-term dependence, eventually following their owner in death.
Da Huang and the old man had been together day and night for seven years.
Their bond was incredibly deep.
Given Da Huang’s current state, there was no way Li Xu could get him to leave.
’Should I stay here with him for a while?’
Li Xu shook his head.
He had a clinic to run; he couldn’t possibly stay in the mountains for months to keep a dog company.
He let out a sigh.
It was a sound of resignation.
Li Xu returned to the old man’s house and ate dinner alone.
He ladled some of the pork ribs into the dog’s bowl and carried it to the grave.
There was still half a bag of flour left in the old man’s house.
Wang Baimu and his men hadn’t taken it.
Li Xu decided to knead it all into unleavened flatbreads.
He steamed them that evening.
He placed them all in front of the grave.
It was enough food for Da Huang for a few days.
If he finished it, there were plenty of small animals in the mountains. As long as Da Huang wanted to live, he wouldn’t starve.
But if the dog was determined to die... no one could stop it.
...
[Today’s Intelligence: A patch of wild woad grows on the summit of Yangtou Mountain. Effects: Clears heat and detoxifies, cools the blood and reduces swelling.]
Woad is a perennial herbaceous plant.
It grows in damp areas on mountains and at the edges of forests.
When withered, its stems and leaves turn blue or dark green.
Its rhizome is thick, and blue in cross-section.
It was one of the raw materials for making blue dye in ancient times.
It also has a more well-known name: Banlangen.
For the intelligence to specifically point it out, its effects must be extraordinary.
Yangtou Mountain was a mountain right next to Bailingyu Village.
The old man had told him about the surrounding mountains and forests while they were chatting the day before yesterday.
One of the mountains looked like a ram’s head.
Hence the name Yangtou Mountain.
Li Xu gathered half a bag of the wild woad.
He came down the mountain and hitched a ride to Jiushan Town.
From there, he took a rural bus to the city.
After that, he still needed to take a long-distance bus back to Feng City.
...
"COUGH COUGH COUGH..."
Wang Jun coughed.
His wife brought him a cup of hot water, set it in front of him, and joked, "What’s with you? How did your body get so weak?"
Wang Jun glared at her. "You keep the air conditioner on so low at night. How could I not catch a cold?"
His wife said, "Alright, alright. From now on, I’ll set it to 26 degrees, okay?"
As they spoke, their son, Wang Zhibao, came out of his bedroom. After quickly washing up, he started wolfing down his food.
"Slow down, slow down."
Wang Jun’s wife fussed over their son. "Honey, have you noticed? Our son’s complexion has gotten much better lately."
Wang Jun took a serious look at Wang Zhibao and nodded in agreement. "You’re right, it really is much better. And he didn’t even catch a cold this time."
In the past, whenever someone in the family caught a cold, Wang Zhibao would invariably come down with a fever right after.
But this time, he wasn’t infected.
It was a miracle.
"Honey, it looks like the doctor at that clinic is really skilled. Why don’t you go see him too?" his wife suggested.
Wang Jun thought for a moment, then quickly shook his head. "It’s just a common cold. No need for medicine, it’ll pass in a couple of days. I have to go to the provincial capital for a conference tomorrow. Remember to take our son to get another seven-day supply of his medicine."
"Don’t worry, I won’t forget."
...
In an alley off Construction Road.
After Aunt Li finished sweeping the street, she was chatting with a few neighbors.
Seeing a young woman hurry downstairs with a child in her arms, she called out, "Mrs. Haoyu, isn’t Haoyu better yet?"
Wang Ruiying looked worried. "We’ve been to the hospital several times, but he still has a bit of a fever."
"Did he get an IV drip?"
"No, but he got a shot. If he doesn’t get better, we’ll have to get the IV."
"If you ask me, you should go to Li’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic. Say what you will, but Li Xu is amazing at treating colds," Aunt Li advised.
Wang Ruiying sighed. "I’ve heard, but the TCM clinic has been closed for several days. We want to go, but we can’t find him."
She hurried away as she spoke.
Aunt Li complained to the others around her, "That boy. He finally makes a bit of a name for himself, and instead of staying at the clinic, he’s running around all day. I really don’t know what he’s so busy with."
...
It was already past 3 p.m. when Li Xu returned to the clinic.
He called Song Sisi. "I’m back. We’ll be open for business tomorrow."
Song Sisi’s voice was full of lament. "Sigh, if you hadn’t come back soon, I wouldn’t have been able to work with you for much longer."
"What’s wrong? Are you on your deathbed?" Li Xu said with a laugh.
"Tch..."
Song Sisi was in no mood for jokes. "In a couple of days, I have to go back to school for my graduation thesis defense. Thank you for taking care of me all this time."
"Don’t say that, you make it sound like we’re strangers," Li Xu said. "Don’t forget to come in tomorrow."
"Of course not. You haven’t paid me yet," Song Sisi said.
After hanging up, Li Xu saw that Miaoli had sent him a message.
It said she had recommended him to the District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, but the director had not agreed.
Li Xu shook his head. ’The District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine?’
Even if the director had agreed, he wouldn’t have gone.
The medical standards at a district-level TCM hospital were average at best. Even if he got in, it wouldn’t be of much help to him.
He would only consider the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
