Chapter One Blind Date

  Autumn tiger, at five o'clock in the afternoon of September, the sky is still very bright.

  In a small traditional Chinese medicine clinic, Li QIN shut down his computer. It was time to get off work and he had a blind date tonight.

  It's been many years since Li QIN graduated from college. He has transformed from a vigorous and spirited young man to an uncle who is about to turn thirty.

  Ding dong, the mobile phone in Li Qins pocket rang with a text message tone. He took out his phone and checked the new message, which was from the matchmaker reminding him not to be late for the blind date.

  Li QIN put his mobile phone back in his pocket. Tonight's blind date is a female master's degree holder who is currently pursuing her Ph.D. Her conditions are all good in every aspect. The matchmaker arranged for them to have coffee together, if they had a feeling for each other, the two would develop their relationship further; if not, after finishing their coffee, they would go their separate ways.

  He stood up, just about to take off his white coat, when he saw two people walking into the consulting room from outside. One was old and one was young, the older one was over fifty years old, while the younger one was a girl with a delicate appearance, with a few small pimples on her forehead, at most twenty-four or five years old.

  Li QIN took a glance and knew that the old man was the patient, and the girl had accompanied him. The old man looked haggard, with white hair and beard, appearing very weak. Li QIN sat back in his chair, took the medical records handed over by the girl, and said "please sit down".

  The old man sat down, and the girl stood beside him. Both of them stared at Li QIN, almost sizing him up from head to toe, making Li QIN feel somewhat uneasy.

  Li QIN opened the medical record, saw that there was no word on the page, and knew they were coming for the first time. Putting down the medical record, he turned on the computer again, waiting for it to boot up while asking the old man: "Where are you uncomfortable?"

  The old man said: "I have a backache. I've been to the big hospital and this is my test result." As he spoke, he pulled out two test results from his shirt pocket.

  Li QIN understood that after finishing the test in a large hospital, he found that the cost of medicine was too expensive, so he came to his own small clinic to try his luck and see if it could be cheaper. Now this situation is very common, even if you are looking at the same disease, the cost may vary greatly between different hospitals.

  For example, the most common cold, if you just buy medicine to eat by yourself, a few dollars or tens of dollars may be solved; if you go to the hospital, then dozens of dollars or hundreds of dollars for medicine is cured; infusion, observation in the hospital for a while, hundreds of dollars or even thousands of dollars, also cure. The difference in medical expenses is quite large despite being treated.

  Li QIN looked at the test results, two test results were opened by two large hospitals, but the results were the same. The old man didn't get a serious illness, nor was it difficult to treat, obviously the old man himself also knew this point, so he couldn't accept the expensive medical expenses and ran here.

  The old man said: "It's not a big deal, but now the medicine is too expensive, I'm a little heartbroken."

  The old man imitated the doctor's appearance, with one hand pretending to hold a pen and write, while the other hand covered up the writing, saying: "When I go to other hospitals, doctors always prescribe medicine like this. They first give me two weeks' worth of medication to see if it works, and if not, they'll change the medication. As a result, I end up spending several hundred yuan."

  The girl next to her said softly, "After two weeks, if it's ineffective, change the medicine. If it's effective, say you want to consolidate and prescribe another two weeks of medicine; after another two weeks, say you want to consolidate again and open a course of treatment; after another two weeks, say you want to go to the root and take another course of treatment."

  The old man patted his waist and said: "I spent several hundred yuan on medical treatment, but I don't feel any better!"

  Li QIN said: "The disease comes like a mountain collapse, the disease goes like drawing silk, your disease wants to be cured, indeed needs some time, but once several hundred yuan is exaggerated."

  "He continued: 'In traditional Chinese medicine, your illness is called waist pain caused by liver and kidney deficiency.' He paused for a moment, then said: 'You should also have the problem of nocturnal emission.'"

  The old man coughed a few times, covering up the awkwardness, nodded slightly. The girl raised an eyebrow, showing a surprised expression, looked at Li QIN and then turned to the old man.

  Li QIN let the old man put his hand on the pulse, and then did a full set of routine checks before asking: "You look pale and have chronic cough; do you have symptoms of spleen deficiency diarrhea, like diarrhea?" Seeing the old man shook his head, he asked again: "Do you have symptoms of stomach cold, loss of appetite, chest tightness and phlegm?" He pointed to the old man's chest.

  The old man shook his head, and the girl beside him said, "No, none of these illnesses."

  Li QIN nodded and said: "It's good if there isn't any. This illness needs to be treated slowly, why don't you have a drink?"

  The old man nodded and said: "White wine twice a day, less than two liang per meal. Want to quit drinking?"

  Li QIN smiled and shook his head: "No need to quit drinking, the prescription I wrote is for medicinal wine. If you go to the pharmacy to grab the medicine, it's just over ten yuan, and you can drink it for a week."

  He picked up his pen and wrote a few lines, then asked: "Do you usually eat meat often? Can you eat big game like pork fat?"

  The girl replied on behalf of the old man: "My dad is a vegetarian and doesn't eat meat!"

  Li QIN crossed out the lard on the prescription and changed it to persimmon cake. After opening the prescription, he said to the old man: "Don't think that cheap medicine can't cure the disease, I'll explain it to you."

  The old man narrowed his eyes to look at the prescription, and the girl also lowered her head to take a look. On it were written many medicinal flavors: dried tangerine peel, angelica, raw rehmannia, mung bean, privet fruit, persimmon cake, longan pulp, and white wine.

  Li QIN pointed to the prescription and said: "Lycium barbarum, Ligustrum lucidum, and Pseudostellaria heterophylla nourish the kidneys and liver, improve hearing and vision, strengthen muscles and bones; combined with longan meat to supplement the heart and spleen, benefit qi and blood, and blacken hair. Rehmannia glutinosa and mung bean nourish yin and generate fluids, clear heat and detoxify, moisten lungs and stop coughing. The treatment of diseases should be tailored to the individual, according to your current symptoms and physical condition, using this prescription to make medicinal wine is exactly what you need."

  The old man frowned and said: "You've said a lot, but I haven't remembered any of it. As long as it works for the symptoms, that's all that matters."

  The girl said: "I remember, but what is the name of this medicinal wine and how should it be taken?"

  Li QIN smiled and said: "This medicinal liquor is called Xi Chun Liquor, which can strengthen the body, improve complexion, nourish heart and kidney, and has a very good effect on treating chronic cough in old age. Take 10-20ml three times a day, about a small cup, before meals."

  The old man said: "Thank you, doctor! You're very patient!" As he spoke, he looked up at the girl and she nodded slightly.

  Li Qin chuckled and typed out a medical record on the computer.

  The girl suddenly said: "Doctor, look at these pimples on my forehead. What medicine can I use to get rid of them? I've been writing papers for the past few days and stayed up all night."

  Li QIN looked up at the girl: "Let me take a look at your tongue coating, stick out your tongue... hmm, it's insomnia and fire. Many people who work in front of computers these days have this kind of problem, students also love to get small pimples on their faces before exams. I'll tell you about a tea drink that can clear the fire, it's good tasting and fire-clearing, once the body has no more fire, naturally there won't be any more pimples."

  He took out a prescription and said, "You didn't make an appointment, so this is like I'm giving you a free medical examination. Your physique doesn't seem weak to me, do you have spleen and stomach deficiency or cold syndrome?"

  The girl shook her head and said, "I have nothing wrong with me except for these few small pimples on my face."

  Li Qin nodded and said while writing: "Every time you make this tea drink, you need to use two aloe vera roots, 10 grams of coconut fruit, one red tea bag, and an appropriate amount of rock sugar. First, boil water to soak the red tea, then peel the aloe vera and cut it into small pieces. After five minutes, put the aloe vera and coconut fruit in and stir well, add rock sugar to taste, and that's it."

  After finishing the tea recipe, he added a sentence: "Coconut fruit belongs to fermented products, you must choose those without added colorants, white or milky white. This tea drink is not only delicious but also detoxifying and can quickly remove acne."

  The girl smiled at Li QIN, folded up the paper and put it in her pocket, said thank you to Li QIN, and went out with the old man.

  Out of the consulting room, they didn't immediately go to get the medicine. The old man asked the girl: "How is it? Does it look okay?"

  The girl nodded: "Yeah, he's quite steady and patient, looks pretty good."

  The old man smiled and said: "Let's find a decent place to meet up, don't just drink coffee or something, let's have dinner and watch a movie."

  The girl nodded and took out her mobile phone: "I'll send him a text message, let's change places to meet."

  In the clinic, Li Qin took out his mobile phone to read a message. It was from an unfamiliar number and said that it was his blind date partner who wanted to change the meeting place and meet in half an hour.

  Li Qinchao hummed and said, "Isn't the new place just next to the clinic? Is the blind date object nearby?"

  Since it was half an hour later that they would meet, and in the vicinity, Li Qin decided to calm down first, then go on the blind date, giving the soon-to-be Ph.D. a spirited and full impression.

  In a daze, I actually fell asleep...

  ****

  At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Ling ruled, in the northwest of the empire, Liangzhou.

  Liuzhou is also known as Xiliang, meaning: located in the west, often cold and cool.

  The east produces strategists, the west produces generals. Ban Gu, who wrote "Hanshu", once said that since Qin and Han dynasties, famous brave generals such as Bai Qi, Wang Jian, Li Guang and others all came from Guanzhong. There is a saying: The great horses of Liangzhou, galloping across the world.

  Liangzhou, Beidi County, Fuping County.

  Fuping, where wealth and peace are located. Fuping County was originally a land of happiness, but by the end of the Han Dynasty, due to its proximity to the grasslands, local residents were repeatedly harassed by Hu thieves, and the government's suppression was ineffective, unable to guarantee the safety of the people. As a result, many wealthy households moved away, leaving behind mostly impoverished residents, weakening economic strength, and the government was powerless to lend seeds, farm tools, and livestock to the people, resulting in large tracts of land being abandoned.

  People from other places came to make a living and reclaim the land, but due to drought and natural disasters, the land was barren and their lives became even more impoverished. Many barbarians also took advantage of the situation and moved south, leading to conflicts between different ethnic groups. Furthermore, many outlaws and powerful men who had committed crimes in the Central Plains escaped to this border region to avoid capture, making what was once a rich and peaceful land neither prosperous nor peaceful!

  Outside Fuping County, ten miles north, there is Fu Jiao Village. The poorest place in Liangzhou is Beidi Prefecture, the poorest place in Beidi Prefecture is Fuping County, and the poorest place in Fuping County is this small village of Fu Jiao.

  In the village, there was a fifty-year-old farmer named Li Tian. Because he could recognize a few characters, he was elected by the villagers as the head of the village. Li Tian's home was located on the north side of the village. Although he held the position of head of the village, his life was not better than that of other villagers. His house was surrounded by an earthen wall, with three rooms made of mud and grass in the middle. There was no kitchen, only a stove set up in the courtyard, on which was placed the family's most valuable possession - an iron pot.

  An old woman, He Shi, Li Tian's wife, was squatting in front of the stove, boiling water. She kept adding firewood to the stove and turning her head to look inside the house, where her injured son, Li Qin, was lying.

  The son has been in a coma for several days, only occasionally waking up, but when he wakes up, his eyes are confused, as if he doesn't recognize his parents or this home. This situation makes her anxious, but the family is poor and can't afford to see a doctor or buy medicine, so she can only pray to heaven to open its eyes and save her son!