Fearing that he might collapse her stove, Zhang Dalang moved to another spot to dig some more. Gu Yunjiao weighed the soil in her hand, dividing it into several lumps of reddish-yellow earth.
She then handed the soil to Mrs. Qin, "Use one lump at a time, wrap it in clean cloth, and boil it in water like you would with herbs, two bowls of water boiled down to one. Then have Mrs. Guihua drink it."
"Twice a day, morning and evening, and she’ll be fine after two days."
Mrs. Qin held the small lumps of soil, her mouth twitching, "This, this is just dirt. Can eating this be useful?"
Several onlookers also said, "Little girl, don’t mess around. Though eating dirt won’t kill anyone, it won’t cure illness either."
Mrs. Chen hesitated to speak, having lived for decades without ever seeing soil used to treat illness.
Gu Yunjiao smiled, "Just follow my instructions, madam."
"This stove soil is actually a medicine called Fulonggan, which warms the middle and stops bleeding, can cease vomiting and diarrhea, exactly suitable for Mrs. Guihua’s symptoms."
Upon hearing the name, everyone suddenly thought it sounded sophisticated, though the words coming from a teenage girl seemed doubtful.
Yingzi listened beside them and suddenly ran back to her mother’s room.
She recounted the soil-digging incident to Mrs. Guihua, mimicking Gu Yunjiao’s words, and Guihua thought for a moment before saying, "Go tell Grandma Qin, and say that I’m willing to take this medicine."
Guihua figured that eating a bit of dirt certainly wouldn’t kill anyone, so it wasn’t a big deal.
Moreover, she somewhat trusted Gu Yunjiao’s medical skills. Quite a while now, she hadn’t felt like vomiting, and her stomach felt a lot better, all thanks to the Golden Needle.
Anyhow, she had no money for medicine; dirt was fine.
Yingzi ran back to the kitchen, relaying Guihua’s words, and Mrs. Qin reluctantly said, "Alright, if your mother is willing to take it, I’ll brew it for her. Just don’t blame me if it doesn’t work."
She then called Da Lang, "Get some soil to repair the stove, lest it collapses later."
Gu Yunjiao smiled, "Madam, I’ll head back now. If anything happens, come call me at home."
Mrs. Qin, holding that little bit of soil, smiled apologetically, "Doctor Gu, thank you for your trouble. You didn’t even charge for the consultation fee. Later on, once Guihua recovers, we’ll have her thank you."
Gu Yunjiao smiled and left with Mrs. Chen.
The onlookers muttered in the kitchen for a while, talking lengthily about Gu Yunjiao’s nonsense, shaking their heads as they left.
Mrs. Qin honestly wrapped the soil in cloth and brewed a bowl of water for Guihua to drink.
It was completely dark when Mrs. Qin finally returned home, instructing Yingzi on her way back, saying to find her if anything happened.
The next morning, Mrs. Qin came to help Guihua brew medicine again.
With the medicine on the stove, she went into the room to ask Guihua, "Feeling better?"
Guihua nodded repeatedly, "A lot better, after you left yesterday, I only had one bout of diarrhea, and no vomiting."
Mrs. Qin wondered, "Could the soil really be effective?"
Guihua nodded, "It works, I feel it works. Perhaps Doctor Gu’s medical skills are even better than the old doctor’s, treating illnesses without charging money."
Back then when she was pregnant with Yingzi, it was the old doctor who attended to her, charging a fee of twenty coins. Googlᴇ search 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✦𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✦𝓷𝓮𝓽
Free treatment is definitely better.