Chapter 37: I weave autumn orchids to make a pendant for you

  Zuo Guidao said: "Don't worry, I'll give you some laxatives, and once it's out, everything will be fine. Remember to take the medicine as instructed by the doctor in the future, don't overdo it."

  "Yes, yes, thank you, old man." The old woman smiled all over her face and nodded repeatedly.

  Zuo Gui said to Zuo Shao Yang, "Give the child a few pills of hemp seed."

  "Oh!" Zuo Shaoyang responded, thinking to himself that his father, Zuo Gui, used Ma Zi Ren Wan to moisten and unblock the bowels, which could help expel the paralyzed worm bodies, but it was impossible to achieve a deworming effect without combining it with an anthelmintic.

  If the farmer's wife is allowed to increase the dose of Lei Wan, it can indeed achieve the effect of expelling parasites, but Father has already said that this thunderbolt pill is toxic, and the farmer's wife absolutely dare not use it again, so she must change her medicine.

  What medicine is used?

  Ku Lian Pi? No way, this medicine is very bitter and smelly, kids especially don't like to take it. More importantly, it's toxic, if not careful, it's easy to get poisoned. Better not use it.

  Is this the medicine for you? This medicine is not bad, and it's fragrant and tastes good, and it's very safe. The only shortcoming is that its effect is slow, and it needs to be taken continuously for three or four days before it takes effect. It's too slow to drive out worms. However, he couldn't find this commonly used deworming medicine at his own pharmacy or the medicine stall just now. Presumably, it hadn't appeared in the Tang Dynasty yet. Because the use of Muxiangzi as a medicinal herb first appeared in the Song Dynasty, and it was first recorded as a medicinal herb in the medical book "Kaibao Bencao" of the Song Dynasty.

  He thought it over in his mind and decided that it would be better to use Lewiston, the child had taken it last night, but the old woman wouldn't agree, so he had to think of a way.

  The solution was soon thought of, which is to use Praziquantel first to calm the worms. Praziquantel is also an anthelmintic that can paralyze the worm's body and thus has a calming effect on the worms. After calming the worms, the child's stomach naturally doesn't hurt much anymore. Then increase the dose of Levamisole to let the child take it, kill the worm body, at the same time, Apricot kernel pill can moisten and help expel the killed worm body out of the body, avoid being absorbed by the human body and produce adverse effects.

  This idea is troublesome to say, and it's just a moment of communication. Zuo Shao Yang took some balsam pear and mixed it with hemp seed pills for the child to take. The peasant woman said: "You pay attention to observe the child, if his stomach doesn't hurt anymore, he needs to come over and take medicine again when you finish selling vegetables and are about to leave. If the child wants to go to the toilet, you need to follow him and see if the child has passed out the worm. If the worm is passed out, don't eat the medicine again, otherwise it's not good for the body."

  The peasant woman thanked him repeatedly and paid six cents for the consultation fee.

  Not long after, the child's stomach didn't hurt anymore and was very happy. He ran over to tell Zuo Shao Yang, who took out a sufficient amount of thunderbolt pills and had the child take them together with hemp seed pills. The administration of the medicine was all taken care of by Zuo Shao Yang, as Zuo Gui never interfered, so Zuo Shao Yang smoothly gave the child the medicinal pills.

  In the late afternoon, when the farmer's vegetables were almost sold out, the child said he wanted to go to the toilet. The farmer hurriedly followed Zuo Shao Yang's instructions and took her son to the toilet. After a while, she came out with a smile and told Zuo Gui: "It's out! There are many worms! Your medicine is really effective!"

  Zuo Gui stroked his beard with a smile, feeling pleased that the medicine had worked again, but unaware that it was actually Zuo Shao Yang who had adjusted the dosage. This is a later story, and will not be told for now.

  Going back to what happened at noon, after the old woman took her son to see a doctor and left, Left Shao Yang finally saw that dark-skinned girl from afar, carrying a large bundle of firewood to Wa City.

  "Miss, you're here!"

  The girl saw him, smiled, and walked past him with a bundle of firewood on her shoulder. She stopped in an empty space among the vendors selling firewood, took a deep breath, turned around, and glanced at him again, smiling sweetly.

  Zuo Shaoyang hurried over and said: "I was just thinking about you, why didn't you come to sell firewood? Maybe you wouldn't have come by the end of the year, but coincidentally you came."

  The girl's big eyes sparkled as she asked, "Do you want to buy firewood?"

  He wanted to say yes, but he couldn't make the decision. Tomorrow they didn't even know if their Guizhitang could still operate, and it was a time when they were short of money. Buying such a large bundle of firewood would only enrage his parents. He shook his head apologetically: "No, I'm here with my father to sell medicine and diagnose illnesses in Wasteland City. Coincidentally, we're right next to you." Zuo Shaoyang took out the small squirrel from his pocket: "Look, the little squirrel has opened its eyes. I fed it pine nut kernels, and it smelled so good!"

  The girl looked at the little squirrel and smiled slightly, without saying a word.

  "Right, miss, we can be considered to have a predestined relationship. You saved me and even gave me this lovely little squirrel. Can you tell me your name? I'm Zuo Zhong, by the way. I live in Guizhitang Street up ahead. And what about you?"

  The girl glanced at him and lowered her head, saying in a crisp, silvery voice: "My name is Miao Peilan."

  "Is it Pei Lan? Pei Lan, what a nice name! The orchid that Pei Lan refers to is a commonly used medicine for clearing heat and dampness, and it also has a refreshing fragrance that touches people's hearts. That's why Qu Yuan said in 'Li Sao' that girls like to 'wear autumn orchids as ornaments'. Although the girl didn't wear an orchid on her chest, the faint scent of orchid on her body couldn't be waved away, and it smelled even better than others who wore orchids!"

  Miao Peilan's big eyes sparkled, and she subconsciously tilted her head to sniff, seemingly not sensing any smell on herself. This was naturally due to the reason that she was in this mountain. Her pretty face turned red as she glanced at Zuo Shuangyang, then quickly lowered her head.

  This shy look made Zuo Shaoyang's heart flutter, and he lightly coughed twice to cover it up. He put the little squirrel in his palm and asked Miao Peilan, "Miss Peilan, what do you think we should name this little squirrel?"

  Miao Peilan thought for a moment, stretched out her hand to stroke the small squirrel's golden yellow smooth fur, and smiled slightly: "Its fur is golden yellow, curled up with its big tail when it sleeps like a ball, or else, let's call it Huang Qiu (Yellow Ball) instead. Children's names can't be too nice-sounding, they will be envied by the gods, and suffer many disasters and illnesses, so calling it Huang Qiu is better for its well-being."

  Zuo Shaoyang heard that she was raising a small squirrel as her child and burst out laughing: "Alright, let's just call it that then."

  Miao Peilan took out a package from behind the firewood, opened it, and took out a small bag of things to hand over to Zuo Shao Yang.

  Zuo Shaoyang was very curious, took over and opened it, saw that it was a small half bag of pine nuts, and exclaimed: "Great! This little guy has no teeth, can't bite the pine nut, must use the pine nut to make juice to feed it. Pine nuts are expensive, I almost used up all the ones I picked from the mountain last time, and I was worried that there was no place to find pine nuts in the city. But fortunately you sent some over. Thank you!"

  Just as he was speaking, he suddenly heard his father, Lao Guizi, calling out from behind him: "Zhong'er, what are you doing? Hurry over, someone is ill!"

  Zuo Shaoyang turned his head and saw a middle-aged woman, with her sleeves rolled up and her neck shrunk in, sitting in front of Old Father's desk. She hastily replied to Miao Peilan: "I'm going to help Old Father see the doctor. I'll find a bag to pack this pine nut and return it to you later."

  Miao Peilan nodded.

  Zuo Shaoyang ran over and sat down beside her. Zuo Gui asked the woman, "What's wrong with you?"

  A middle-aged woman said: "Coughing, afraid of cold, body has no strength, slightly moving and sweating profusely. I'm a cloth seller in the market, look, carrying goods from home, not even exercising, but already drenched in sweat, tired like pulling a bellows. Then I feel my body has no strength, start coughing. Seeing your medicine stall, I'm watching the stall and have no time to go to the pharmacy, so I came to find you."

  "Alright, let me take your pulse then."

  After feeling the pulse, he asked to take a look at his tongue and said: "It's nothing serious. It's cold outside and you've been working hard carrying things and sweating, so you caught a chill and got a cold. Just take two doses of medicine and you'll be fine."

  "That woman said: 'Old husband, why am I so prone to catching colds? In the past, my body wasn't this weak. Not to mention carrying things like this, even if it was something heavy, I could carry it and walk without even panting when I put it down. But in the past half year, I've been constantly ill. If I'm not careful, I get sick again, and once I do, my whole body aches, I have a fever, cough, sneeze... all sorts of illnesses come out. Old husband, help me take a look, take a good look, what's wrong with me?'"

  Zuo Gui thought that it was because of her age, but when he took a look at her, she seemed to be only in her early thirties, so he swallowed his words.

  Zuo Shaoyang asked casually, "So did you take medicine when you were sick before?"

  "I'm still very fond of my body, I won't drag it down. People say 'hiding debt leads to bankruptcy, hiding illness leads to death'. This illness can't be endured by force, if you're ill, you have to take medicine. So, whenever I have a headache or fever, I go to Hui Min Tang to buy medicine and eat it, their pills are very effective, one dose and I'm fine."

  Zuo Shaoyang's strange path: "Medicine ball? What medicine ball?"

  "Like what's 'Guizhi Add Ge Gen San', 'Chaihu Guizhi San', 'Sang Ju Wan', 'Ge Gen San', 'Chai Ge Wan' and so on, there are many!"