Chapter 5 Tǔ Fāng Zǐ

  "The road is long, and at home there's no wine, just this bit of tea, will it do?"

  "Peel the garlic and put it in a bowl, then mash it into a paste. Then boil these tea leaves in water, don't add anything else, boil them thoroughly, I'll use them later."

  Li Anran actually wanted to help, but Zhao Er refused to agree, and could only instruct things to be done by moving his mouth.

  Mrs. Zhao, who had just brought the kids into the house, hastily took over the task of peeling garlic after hearing this. Except for the youngest one, the two older children also helped out together.

  Zhao Er then boiled the tea leaves, hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and ran out of the house door, following the winding path towards the village.

  It was just a few minutes later when Zhao Er came running back with a small black jar in his hands.

  "Dao Zhang, do you fancy this wine?"

  As soon as Li Anran saw that small black pot, he knew the other person was holding liquor. Although it wasn't necessary to have liquor, having it would naturally be better.

  It's just that Li Anran was a bit disappointed, the wine jar was not filled with white wine for future generations, but with yellow wine. Just by smelling it, you can tell that the degree of this wine is not high.

  "Set the wine aside for now, and after the garlic paste is ready, pour them together into a bowl and mix well. With this thing, the tea can be used later."

  Mrs. Zhao led her eldest daughter and second son to work together, and soon the garlic was peeled, then they used a wooden pestle to mash it in the bowl.

  When the garlic paste and that jar of yellow wine were mixed together to make a small bowl of garlic head old wine soup, Zhao Da, who had left earlier, also led in a deep brown cow.

  After seeing this cow, Li Anran suddenly understood why Zhao Da was deceived. No wonder, because this cow looks very sturdy on the surface.

  After circling the cow twice and taking a look at its hindquarters without showing any disgust, Li Anran nodded and instructed, "Zhao Er, you and Zhao Da together, pour this bowl of garlic head old wine soup into the cow's mouth."

  "Ah ah!"

  Zhao Er received the instruction and immediately continued with his elder brother to give the cow a mixture of garlic paste mixed with old yellow wine.

  The principle of this folk remedy is actually very simple: garlic has a bactericidal effect, while old wine serves to dispel cold.

  No matter whether it's a human or an animal, as long as they've got dysentery, this method is basically foolproof.

  Just drink three or four times, no matter how thin you pull, it can stop you.

  It's possible that this jar of yellow wine was borrowed by Zhao Erxian from the villagers, so Li Anran decided to use it in two ways. In addition to this bowl of garlic head old wine soup, that pot of tea soup will also be used later.

  The tannic acid contained in tea is a good remedy for diarrhea caused by unaccustomed water and food, although the tea leaves are native products, yet it was the English who first discovered this secret.

  So these guys went all out to steal Chinese tea varieties and try them out in various places, and after they succeeded, they boasted that "with one hand holding a teacup and the other hand holding a rifle, they conquered the whole world".

  Considering that tea is also expensive for Zhao Er and his family, Li Anran specially called Dog Egg and the two younger ones of the Zhao family to come over.

  Bring out the wormwood you just found near Zhao Er's house, and have the three little ones go get some more before dinner, specifically telling them to dig up the roots together.

  Dig up mugwort to cook, the principle is the same as cooking tea, both are to boil out tannic acid. Then match with some millet to cook into a porridge, also effective for symptoms like enteritis.

  This method is much cheaper than garlic head old wine soup and tea soup. Anyway, mugwort is everywhere, even if the effect is a bit slow, it's very suitable for the common people of the Tang Dynasty.

  It's unclear whether it was good luck or the fact that this cow's intestinal cramps weren't too severe, but after a bowl of garlic and old wine soup was administered, the cow quickly calmed down.

  It was when they were feeding the garlic head old wine soup earlier, Zhao Da and Zhao Er had a hard time. No way, this stuff is not for cattle, if you want it to drink it can only be forced.

  The cow looked more stable than before, and Zhao Er and Zhao Da's hearts also settled down a bit. They immediately led the cow to the cowshed in the backyard.

  Although Zhao Erjia's family didn't have any cows, the cowshed had been built long ago. When they needed to borrow a cow from someone else, it could be kept at home and taken good care of, so as not to cause any trouble.

  "Brother, you think this cow can be cured?"

  "Brother, if Dao Zhang says he can cure it, then he definitely can."

  "Alas... If it can't be cured, I'll just have to accept it. Greed is indeed a curse."

  Staring at his own brother, he still couldn't get through to him. Zhao Er had the urge to speak up, but thinking of someone's warning in the mountains earlier, he could only shut his mouth again.

  After settling the cow, Zhao brothers rushed to the front yard to pay their respects. Li Anran, who had been prepared for this move, directly pulled them up with one hand each.

  "This cow, to be thoroughly cured, will need at least two or three days. I'll teach you both the method of treating this illness later, so next time you won't have to suffer like this."

  "What? Tao...Tao Chang, you want to give this method to us?"

  "Yes, actually it's not that hard to teach, you've all seen this already, except for a few small parts, I believe you should all know how by now."

  "I didn't see it!"

  "I didn't see it either!!"

  ……

  For Li Anran, these two folk remedies for treating constipation are nothing in the eyes of later generations. But who would have thought that they would become a big deal now?

  In Zhao Er and Zhao Da's view, if they could learn the method of treating cow disease, it would not only be able to treat their own family's cows but also others' cows.

  To tell you the truth, although the method of treating constipation is relatively simple, it's still a skill that doesn't mind not making money.

  At the current cattle price, a strong cow can be sold for thirty taels. If any family's cow gets intestinal obstruction, which is a fatal disease, they will definitely be willing to spend some money to cure the cow.

  At that time, don't be greedy, just cure one cow and charge one or two yuan, or even higher, I believe someone will be willing to pay, after all, the value of a live cow is much higher than that of a dead cow.

  Li Anran still didn't quite understand why he had to teach the method of treating cows, and why the Zhao brothers in front of him reacted so strongly.

  After listening to Zhao Er's explanation, I finally understood that unintentionally, I had given away a way to make money. However, I still didn't take it to heart.

  This time's crossing was quite sudden, and I couldn't be like those protagonists of crossings who either brought corn and potatoes or knew how to make glass and smelt steel.

  But for Li Anran, following Master Li Guizhen all these years, apart from doing rituals, he has many abilities that can make himself worry-free about food and clothing.

  Even if this time through did not bring the family's medical box together, relying on the medical knowledge learned from following old master Li Guizhen since childhood, it is no problem to make some Chinese patent medicine, let alone treat diseases and save people.

  Apart from this, the family has been running a business of brewing their own wine for generations. White wine, yellow wine, rice wine, clear wine, and even grape wine made by Li Anran himself are all quite famous in the surrounding areas.

  As for the start-up capital, it's not a problem. Even if this trip through time was completely unprepared, that three-foot green sword used specifically for Taoist rituals could still be exchanged for two coins.

  At first, for this sword, Li Anran spent nearly 2,000 yuan, whether it was the scabbard or the material of the sword body, they were all top-notch, and in today's era, it is a divine weapon.

  In addition to that three-wheeled vehicle and those Taoist ritual objects in the sidecar, at the very least, I can continue to make a living as a Taoist priest.

  Li Anran hastily comforted, "Alright, alright, meeting each other is fate. Moreover, Zhao Er has a debt of gratitude towards me, it's just two country bumpkins, nothing to make a fuss about."

  After advising for two sentences and finding it useless, Li Anran finally had to stiffen his face before Zhao Da and Zhao Er, the two brothers, would calm down.

  In the next lesson, one teaches carefully and the other listens attentively. After a short while, the methods of making garlic head old wine soup, tea soup, and grass porridge will be taught.

  As Li Anran said, they are just three simple earth methods, nothing difficult at all. If not for the effort spent on explaining in language, it would be even faster to learn.

  After Zhao's wife and eldest daughter joined in the kitchen, they will finish teaching the method of treating the cow and prepare dinner.

  Compared to adults, those little ones who are still in their innocent years have already swallowed a lot of saliva due to the strong aroma of food in the air.

  After checking on the cows in the backyard, it was found that they had started to be able to eat and no longer had diarrhea after eating like before. Zhao's expression suddenly looked much better.

  Li Anran, who couldn't bear the enthusiasm of the Zhao brothers, could only sit at the head of the table with a stiff upper lip. On the table, there was a sumptuous feast laid out in large bowls and plates.

  The Huangjiu from before was just enough and hadn't been used up, so in front of Li Anran and the three old men, another bowl of wine that they usually wouldn't dare to drink appeared.

  The difference is that Li Anran's bowl was full, while Zhao Da and Zhao Er's bowls only had a small half.

  However, no one had any objections to such obvious differential treatment, including the wives of the two Zhao brothers.

  It's just that Li Anran was a bit speechless, in this era, there is still the custom of not letting wives and children sit at the table.

  The whole table was just myself and Zhao's two brothers. As for the two wives and a crowd of children, they could only eat in the kitchen.

  Li Anran glanced at the dishes on the table and knew that most of the meat dishes were placed here, if not carefully looked for, no signs of division would be found.

  Facing this situation, Li Anran, who was hungry in his stomach, sighed silently and didn't say much. He picked up the wine bowl and invited Zhao brothers to start eating.