Yun Jiao obediently took Ah Hu to stroll elsewhere.
After walking for a while, they saw a plump aunt sitting on a chair cutting dicine with a guillotine.
Yun Jiao took a glance, and the dicine the aunt was cutting was betel nut.
That is, the fruit inside the betel nut.
This is widely acknowledged as the hardest kind of dicine to cut. Betel nut is inherently hard, small, and round, making it easy to either miss the slice or cut your hand if not careful.
At first, Yun Jiao didn’t think much as she watched the aunt cutting the dicine. But when the aunt finished one and reached into a bucket on the ground to fetch another to continue cutting,
Yun Jiao’s eyebrows quickly furrowed. The bucket was filled with water, and the water had changed color.
So dicinal ingredients are hard to cut, so soaking them in water to soften them before cutting is a common practice.
But this dicine should not be soaked like this!
Yun Jiao imdiately said, "Auntie, this dicine can’t be soaked in water. Once soaked, its dicinal properties are lost."
The aunt glanced up at Yun Jiao, "Go, go, go, where did this little girl co from? Stop talking nonsense here."
Yun Jiao stood still, stubbornly saying, "What you’re doing is wrong. The dicine is losing its efficacy, and if patients buy it and don’t get the desired effect, that’s harming others, isn’t it?"
The quality standards for dicinal ingredients have been strictly passed down through their family for generations, otherwise, her grandfather wouldn’t have set up a special dicinal storage at ho, all in responsibility for the patients.
At this mont, several passersby who heard Yun Jiao’s words stopped to watch the commotion.
Among them was an elderly man with white hair and a goatee, which had also turned white. He was watching Yun Jiao with interest.
The aunt, hearing Yun Jiao accuse her of harming others, heavily laid down her knife and said impatiently towards Yun Jiao, "You little girl, are you crazy? How I cut the dicine is none of your business."
"Besides, everyone cuts betel nut like this. Without soaking it in water to soften, there’s no way to cut it!"
"What does a child like you know? Go back ho for milk!"
Several people nearby burst into laughter.
Yun Jiao pressed her lips tightly and shouted loudly, "That’s not true. There’s a thod to keep the dicinal properties intact while also softening the betel nut!"
The aunt ignored Yun Jiao, fetched another one from the water, and continued cutting.
At this mont, the white-haired old man spoke up, "Little girl, you say it’s wrong to soak betel nut in water, then tell us, what thod do you propose to keep its dicinal properties and soften it?"
Yun Jiao said clearly, "Take river sand and wet it with water, bury the betel nut in the wet sand until it softens, then rinse it clean with running water, and then cut it. This way, the dicinal properties are preserved to the greatest extent."
The white-haired old man stroked his beard, thought for a mont, and nodded slowly, "Makes sense; sand doesn’t absorb the dicinal properties, indeed better than soaking in water."
He then clasped his hands towards Yun Jiao, "I’ve learned sothing today."
"You truly live and learn until old age!"
He instructed the aunt, "Go call the Shopkeeper out."
The aunt stopped her work, reluctantly went inside.
In a while, the shopkeeper ca out from the shop, bowing towards the white-haired old man, "Elder Qin, what brings you here?"
Elder Qin pointed at the aunt, "Speak to him."
The aunt, seemingly wary of offending the old man, recounted what Yun Jiao had just said word for word.
The white-haired old man solemnly said, "Did everyone hear clearly?"
The shopkeeper nodded.
The white-haired old man widened his eyes, "Then what are you waiting for?"
"These ones soaked in water are not fit for use as dicine."
"From today on, all betel nuts in the dicine market are to be cut according to this young lady’s thod!"
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