Chapter 13 Manuscript

  "Go out and turn right, cross two streets, by the river there is a well with cool water, go there to fetch..."

  "Let's go back tonight, it's dark and can't be seen, be careful not to fall. Let's go again tomorrow morning. - Oh heavens, even the water carrier has been forgotten, what to do now!"

  "Sister, little brother has remembered a lot of things already, he will slowly recall them. Don't worry."

  Zuō shǎo yáng dā yìng le, duān qǐ jiǎo pén lái dào dà tīng, zhǎo le gēn xiǎo bǎn dèng zuò xià, tuō le xié wǎ xǐ jiǎo. Shuǐ hěn tàng, bù gǎn yí xià fàng jìn jiǎo qù, yī biān kàn zhe Liáng shì hé huì xiāng xǐ wǎn, yī biān shuō dào: "Wǒ gāng cái lù guò Huì mín táng, jiàn tāmen nà qiáo bìng de rén kě duō le, yào shi wǒmen yě yǒu zhè me duō bìng huàn lái qiáo bìng, jiù bù chōu jiāo bù shàng fáng zū le."

  Li said: "How can we compare with Huimin Hall? The big shopkeeper, I heard that in the previous dynasty, he was a doctor in the capital and even treated the king's prince and prime minister!"

  "Fame doesn't necessarily mean ability!"

  Huixiang said: "That's what they say, but the patients are all going for the fame and prestige. Father has no reputation at all, even if he cures people's illnesses, others won't care."

  "Maybe not, if Father can really cure Third Aunt's illness, I think she'll be delighted! Her illness is a lingering one that causes her a lot of suffering. If it's cured, she'll definitely be happy."

  "Yes, I hope she's in a good mood and can delay the rent for us until after the New Year. With all the illnesses that come with the change of seasons, it would be best to save up some money and pay part of the rent first. The only worry is if she gets angry and kicks us out before the 30th..."

  Just as Huixiang was saying this, a cold voice came from the left wing of the house: "What time is it now? Not sleeping yet, are you all full and bloated?"

  Angelica glanced at Zuo Shao Yang and stuck out her tongue.

  "Stop talking! Hurry back after washing, Hou Pu and the child are waiting for you to go back. You've been tired all day, so rest early!"

  "Oh!" Huixiang helped to finish washing the dishes and tidied up the house, while Xiao Shaoyang had already washed his feet and stood up with the foot basin, but didn't know where to pour it. Huixiang came over to take the basin, walked into the kitchen, poured out the water with a gurgling sound, came out and adjusted her clothes, saying in a low voice: "Mother, I'm going back now. Brother, you sleep in the outer room on the right side of the house, rest well. If someone comes for an emergency at night, remember to go and attend to them first, don't let Father get up, be careful not to let Father catch a chill in this cold weather."

  "Alright."

  Zuō Shǎo Yáng knew that his sister Huī Xiāng's home was next to the county government office, not far from here. He hastily instructed a few words, opened the door for Huī Xiāng, and saw her off into the distance. Only then did he close the door again.

  Li family reminded the left Shao Yang to go to bed early, and then went into the house to sleep. The left Shao Yang held an oil lamp and entered the outer wing room on the right side. Inside, the room is relatively large and can be divided into two parts, inside and outside. The outer half of the room is a processing room for medicinal materials, with several cauldrons for processing medicinal materials along one side, and tools such as choppers, water basins, copper pots, and mortars on the other side. Near the inner part is a small room, which holds various medicinal materials that are very cheap and have not been processed. The left Shao Yang was puzzled, his sister said to let him sleep here, but there is no bed, how can he sleep?

  Zuo Shaoyang held up the oil lamp and looked around, the light of the oil lamp was very dim, it was hard to see, originally on the inner side of the small half-room medicine warehouse, there was a horizontal small partition board, perhaps that was where he slept, but how could he get up there?

  After looking around, I finally found a wooden ladder next to the medicine warehouse. I brought it over and set it up, holding an oil lamp as I slowly climbed the stairs to take a look. Indeed, there was a bed, but it was particularly small - I estimated that even turning over would require care. The bedding consisted of a hemp mattress pad, with a thin quilt placed beside it. After feeling the mattress pad and flipping it open for a closer look, I discovered that it was filled with straw. As I climbed onto the bed, there were rustling sounds all around me.

  Zuo Shaoyang found a long wooden board on the head of the bed, with several books placed on it. He put the oil lamp on the board and took over the books to observe them. They were all handwritten copies, with small characters, neat and tidy, and the same handwriting as the sign above the door of his family's pharmacy, the peach symbol couplet on both sides, and the prescriptions written by his father Zuo Gui. It must have been copied by his father Zuo Gui from somewhere and given to his son for medical study. Before the Tang Dynasty, due to the limitations of printing technology and other conditions, the spread of medical books was basically relying on hand copying or oral transmission, and modern books were rarely seen.

  Upon closer inspection, these medical books are all formula books that record the indications for various prescriptions. Some of these formulas come from pre-Tang dynasty medical classics such as "Ming Yi Bie Lu" and "Shang Han Lun", interspersed with some disease-related passages from pre-Tang dynasty medical classics like "Su Wen", "Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing", "Huang Di Nei Jing" and "Shang Han Lun". These are all medical classics, but the main passages on left lesser yang syndrome are incomplete and contain many errors.

  Apart from some familiar prescriptions of the Left Shao Yang, there were also some unfamiliar ones, possibly some empirical formulas from the early Tang Dynasty that had been lost over time. He secretly rejoiced, thinking that he might be able to learn some lost ancient formulas from this little book, and so carefully flipped through several handwritten medical books.

  But after carefully examining the indications and composition of the prescriptions, he was somewhat disappointed. From the composition and indications of the prescription, the indications are all common colds and fevers, the medicines used are all commonly used, and the compatibility is mediocre and unremarkable, some are even questionable, and a few are obviously problematic. It's not hard to understand that these are handwritten copies, which may have been passed down with errors, and more importantly, they haven't undergone official review and verification by authoritative organizations, so there must be mistakes. Many of the prescriptions are empirical formulas, which are often unreliable and untrustworthy.

  After flipping through it, he found that there were many mistakes on it, and he couldn't help but shake his head secretly, thinking that Lao Tzu used such a medical book to treat illnesses, no wonder the pharmacy's business was not good, and even the rent could not be paid. Seeing that these few small books had some places that were incomplete, it was clear that they had been read by people for a long time. If it was Lao Tzu himself who had looked at them after passing them on to his son Zuo Zhong, then it would still be understandable. But if they were newly copied and given to Zuo Zhong, and Zuo Zhong studied hard and flipped through them until they became like this, then Zuo Zhong's studies were indeed diligent. However, following such medical skills, no matter how diligent one was, it would be difficult to achieve anything.

  The weather was freezing, and the padded jacket he wore wasn't warm enough. His fingers were numb with cold, but he persisted in flipping through these few handwritten booklets. After sighing in admiration, he placed the booklets on the shelf, knelt on the bed to spread out the quilt. The quilt was very thin, with a modern down-filled quilt-like grid pattern sewn with needles, and when he touched it, the middle layer felt stiff and uneven, like some crumpled strips of cloth. He couldn't believe this could keep him warm.

  Listening to the distant sound of the watchman's rattle outside, he secretly asked his sister Huixiang and learned how to listen to the watchman's voice. He found out that it was only one o'clock now, which is equivalent to 8 or 9 o'clock in modern times. As a night owl, he had never slept so early before, and having just crossed over into ancient times, he was still feeling curious. At this moment, he had no intention of sleeping, so he thought about going out for a stroll nearby. He had already heard Huixiang say that there would be a curfew after the second watch at night, but since he was only strolling around near his home, he would return home as soon as the second watch arrived, and it should be fine.

  Zuo Shaoyang held the oil lamp and went downstairs, first looking around his own room, especially the tools for processing medicinal materials, feeling very simple and humble. He quietly walked out to the main hall, holding the oil lamp to the kitchen. The kitchen was even simpler, with a large earthen stove, two iron pots of different sizes on top, covered with wooden lids. When he lifted the lid, the pot was empty. There were two bamboo steamer baskets placed on the stove, also empty when opened. Next to the steamer basket was a bamboo sieve, which actually had something in it - the mulberry bark and white skin that he and his sister had dug up from the mountain in the afternoon, washed clean and cut into strips.

  Next to the stove, there is a large water vat with a lid on it. Beside the vat are placed a pair of water buckets. Against the wall stands a low wooden cabinet, which has been opened to reveal a small cloth bag inside. The bag feels soft when pinched, and upon opening it, a small amount of black flour is found inside. In the corner of the kitchen, some firewood is stored.

  Zuo Shaoyang held up the oil lamp and looked around, discovering a small door with a bolt on it inside. He walked over to it, carefully pulled out the bolt, and opened the door a crack. A gust of cold wind blew in, and the oil lamp went out with a puff. The room was suddenly plunged into darkness.