"No, not anymore, I’m already so old. Besides, I haven’t even gotten married..."
"Finish taking this course of medicine and come back. I’ll prescribe something to adjust your health; you can still marry and have children without any problem."
"No, Miss Xiao, can my body really allow me to marry and have children?"
When he was young, he had an accident at work, and the doctor said he could never marry or have children, destined to live a solitary life.
At first, he felt a bit regretful and helpless.
But gradually, he got used to it, thinking if it’s not meant to be, then so be it.
What is fated to be will be, what isn’t fated shall not be forced.
He had reached the age of acceptance, and suddenly, this young girl asked about it, leaving him with mixed emotions and countless thoughts.
"Of course, you can, with the right treatment." Chun Nuan focused on writing the prescription: "You’re still young, why give up so easily?"
"Young lady, if I can truly marry and have children, I’ll owe you a great debt of gratitude."
"That’s not necessary," Chun Nuan said, "Right now, I am just a doctor."
If you really want to thank me, then tell me some of the inside stories you know.
Chun Nuan didn’t explicitly say this.
After prescribing Qian Yuanli’s medicine and giving some precautions, as Qian Yuanli was about to leave, someone suddenly burst in shouting: "Chun Nuan, Chun Nuan, quick, come save us."
It was Aunt Zuo.
"Aunt Zuo, don’t hurry, first tell me whose life needs saving and what happened?"
"It’s my family. My mother and my younger brothers and sisters are all vomiting and having diarrhea; the whole family is sick and unable to get up."
Vomiting and diarrhea?
"Did they eat something?"
"I don’t know, I asked them, and they said they don’t know either. So I came to seek your help to save them."
"Let’s go."
Aunt Zuo’s family was in the neighboring village, and she led Chun Nuan, practically running to her family home.
Fortunately, Chun Nuan was in good health and walking fast was no problem. She was able to keep up with Aunt Zuo’s pace.
When Chun Nuan and they arrived, the whole village was gathered at their doorstep.
"Make way, make way, the doctor is here."
Someone recognized Chun Nuan, and everyone was quite surprised.
"Isn’t Miss Xiao only able to treat women’s illnesses? Can she handle this kind of illness?"
Chun Nuan didn’t mind the chatter, people’s words were often exaggerated.
How did this misunderstanding about her being only able to treat women’s illnesses come about?
"Miss Xiao, please take a look, you see this situation..."
Aunt Zuo’s family had the surname Hu; all nine members were weakly slumped on the chairs in their hall or on their beds inside.
Each had a face as pale as earth, with several pools of vomit in front of them.
Chun Nuan took their pulses one by one and asked what they had eaten.
"Nothing unusual, just some cold dishes like we usually make."
"What kind of dishes?"
"Shredded white radish."
"Is there any left?"
"There should be some left, we didn’t finish it."
Under Aunt Zuo’s guidance, Chun Nuan went into the kitchen, took out half a bowl of cold shredded white radish from the dim cupboard.
She smelled it but didn’t find any strange odor.
Chun Nuan took it outside to examine it closely and couldn’t help but frown.
"What did you put in this?"
"Just ginger, garlic, and chili, like always."
"No, it’s different."
Chun Nuan had figured it out: "Where did your ginger come from?"
"Sanwazi dug up the wild ginger from the back hill; it has a peculiar smell indeed."
"Is there any more?"
"Yes, it’s under the small wooden table in the kitchen."
Aunt Zuo immediately went to retrieve it.
After seeing it, Chun Nuan was certain what the problem was.
"Don’t worry, you didn’t eat much. Just drink more water, it will be flushed out."
What?
"This isn’t wild ginger, it’s Huang Jing (Polygonatum), eating it raw can lead to diarrhea," Chun Nuan explained. "You mistook one thing for another, but consider yourselves lucky for only suffering this much."
Huang Jing is sweet-tasting, and has the ability to replenish qi and nourish yin, enhance the spleen, moisten the lungs, and benefit the kidneys. It’s used to treat fatigue, dry mouth, lack of appetite, lung dryness cough, tuberculosis, hemoptysis, weak waist and knees, premature graying hair, internal heat thirst, etc., but it’s not suitable for everyone, and certainly not to be eaten raw.
The Hu family had eaten it by mistake, resulting in the vomiting and diarrhea.
Finding the cause made the solution simple.
It was frightening; many people said the Hu family must have done something wrong and were being punished by the gods.
There were all sorts of rumors.
But as soon as Chun Nuan saw it, she realized where the problem lay.
Aunt Zuo was extremely grateful to Chun Nuan.
However, Chun Nuan was more interested in what they mentioned about the Huang Jing from the back hill.