[Today’s Intel: Sunliu Villa. Sun Dahai enjoys collecting wild dicinal herbs. This autumn, he dug up so top-grade Banxia on a dry riverbed... His wife, Zou i, suffers from a parasitic infestation...]
Li Xu opened XX Maps and carefully looked up the location of "Sunliu Villa."
It was located in the Southern Suburbs of the City of Feng City. The map showed a lush, green area with a winding river, far from the pollution of the industrial district.
’The intel is correct,’ he thought. ’An environnt like this could indeed produce top-grade Banxia.’
The quality of dicinal herbs is inextricably linked to their growing environnt. A natural setting, far from pollution, is a fundantal condition for high-quality herbs.
He told Song Sisi, "I’m heading out for a bit."
He hailed a taxi and went straight to Sunliu Villa.
Along the way, the view outside his window gradually shifted from city skyscrapers to rural scenery.
The air grew fresher, carrying the scent of earth.
About an hour later, the taxi pulled into a quiet village.
In an open area at the village entrance, a few elderly n were basking in the sun.
Li Xu paid the fare, got out, and walked over to one of the old n. "Hello, sir," he asked politely. "I was wondering if you could tell if soone nad Sun Dahai lives in this village?"
The old man enthusiastically pointed into the village. "Sun Dahai? Oh, his house is right over there, under that big locust tree. Easy to find. Are you a relative of his?"
"No, I ca because I’ve heard of his reputation. I was told he’s quite knowledgeable about dicinal herbs."
Li Xu explained with a smile.
Following the direction the old man had pointed, Li Xu quickly found Sun Dahai’s ho.
It was a house of blue bricks and tiles, with a courtyard full of various flowers and plants, giving it a very elegant feel.
Li Xu knocked on the door. Soon, a lean, middle-aged man who looked to be in his fifties ca out.
"Hello, are you Sun Dahai?" Li Xu asked politely.
"I am. And you are?"
Sun Dahai asked, sizing up Li Xu with a puzzled look.
"My na is Li Xu. I’m a practitioner of Traditional Chinese dicine. I heard that Brother Sun is quite knowledgeable about dicinal herbs, so I ca especially to pay you a visit."
Li Xu explained his purpose with a smile. "I hope you’ll forgive the intrusion, Brother Sun."
When Sun Dahai heard he was here for herbs, a smile imdiately spread across his face. "Well, well, a rare guest! Please, co in, co in."
He warmly welcod Li Xu into the house.
The house was simply furnished, but the windows were bright, the surfaces were clean, and everything was neat and tidy.
Sun Dahai invited Li Xu to sit by the tea table in the main room, then called out loudly, "Honey, we have a guest! Hurry and pour so tea."
A mont later, a woman in her forties erged from an inner room.
She was on the thinner side with a sowhat sallow complexion. Faint pigntation was visible beneath her eyes, and there were a few inconspicuous spots at the corners of her eyes and on her forehead.
Though they weren’t obvious, they still made Li Xu’s heart skip a beat.
’This looks very similar to the "parasite spots" described in the intel.’
Zou i was wearing an ordinary down jacket.
While it wasn’t vibrant, it was very clean.
She brought over the teapot and poured Li Xu a cup of hot tea.
"Thank you, ma’am."
As Li Xu took the tea, his gaze swept over Zou i’s face, and his doubts grew.
Parasite spots were relatively common in the past when sanitation was poor, or among young children.
But in modern society, adults in particular generally have good hygiene habits, so it was rare to see such obvious symptoms of a parasitic infestation.
Moreover, Zou i’s clothes looked very neat, which seed to contradict common knowledge about the condition.
Li Xu observed Zou i discreetly.
She would occasionally frown unconsciously, as if enduring so kind of discomfort.
"Ma’am, you don’t look too well. Are you feeling unwell?"
Li Xu asked after so consideration.
Upon hearing this, Sun Dahai’s face filled with astonishnt. He turned to look at his wife, then back at Li Xu, and said in surprise, "Wow, Brother Li, you’re amazing! My wife has indeed been complaining about feeling unwell lately, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what was wrong. You saw it just by looking at her. That’s a real skill you have."
Zou i also looked at Li Xu with so surprise. She nodded, her expression tinged with helplessness. "Yes, I’ve just been feeling drained lately."
"How are your periods?"
"They’re irregular."
"Ma’am, if you’ll forgive my bluntness, this is more than just irregular periods." Li Xu’s tone beca more serious. "Looking at your complexion, it’s possible you also have a ’parasitic infestation,’ or what Western dicine calls intestinal parasites."
Hearing "intestinal parasites," Zou i subconsciously denied it. "Parasites? That’s impossible, isn’t it? I’m very careful about hygiene. I wash everything I eat thoroughly. How could I have sothing like that?"
She could admit to her irregular periods, but she found the words "intestinal parasites" hard to accept.
Li Xu understood her reaction.
After all, in modern society, such a condition sounded sowhat "disgraceful."
"Ma’am, I have no reason to deceive you."
Li Xu explained, "A parasitic infestation isn’t caused solely by poor hygiene. Sotis dietary habits, one’s constitution, and other factors can also lead to it. If you don’t believe , you can go to a hospital for a stool sample test. They can verify my diagnosis by observing the parasite eggs under a microscope."
He paused, then added, "Although I didn’t co here specifically to treat an illness, now that I’ve seen it, I can’t just ignore it. If you’d like, I can prescribe a few courses of dicine to help you regulate your body."
Hearing this, Sun Dahai quickly tried to persuade her. "Honey, Brother Li could tell you were unwell after just a glance. He’s clearly skilled. Let him take a look."
Zou i hesitated for a mont before finally agreeing. "Alright... I’ll be troubling you then, doctor."
To confirm the diagnosis more accurately, a further examination was needed.
"Ma’am, please stick out your tongue so I can have a look,"
Li Xu instructed.
Zou i did as he asked and stuck out her tongue.
Li Xu observed it closely: the tongue coating was thin and white, the tongue itself was pale with teeth marks on the edges. This indicated a weak spleen and stomach, as well as insufficient qi and blood.
Next, Li Xu had Zou i rest her wrist on the Pulse Pillow.
Her pulse was deep, fine, and weak, especially the chi pulse, which was even weaker.
This further confird his judgnt of qi and blood deficiency and a weak spleen and stomach.
Combining his observations of her facial complexion, tongue, and pulse, Li Xu added to his diagnosis, "Ma’am, besides all this, I see that your mood isn’t usually very good either. Do you often feel down and find it hard to be happy?"
Zou i was astonished to hear this.
"You... How did you know?"
The words tumbled out of her mouth. "I have been feeling really gloomy lately, with no interest in anything, and my spirits have been low..."
The last shred of doubt in her heart vanished completely, and she was now utterly convinced of Li Xu’s dical skills.
He could even see the emotional problems she kept hidden in her heart. This was sothing no ordinary doctor could do.
Li Xu explained the root of her condition: "Ma’am, your situation is a case of ’a deficient spleen and disharmonious stomach, where the source of transformation and generation is disrupted, both Ying-Qi and Wei-Qi are deficient, the Chong and Ren ridians are imbalanced, and there is a risk of parasitic infestation.’"
Zou i was completely bewildered. Although Sun Dahai knew a little about Chinese dicine, he could only grasp the general idea.
"Brother Li, could you explain that again in terms we can understand?"
Sun Dahai asked, a bit embarrassed.
User Comments
0 comments from readers