Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside
Chapter 75 - 075: Gathering Medicinal Herbs

Chapter 75: Chapter 075: Gathering Medicinal Herbs

"How awful!" Doctor Du, thinking of the scene where his family and kin were killed, covered his face and cried bitterly.

Third Grandpa comforted him, "It’s all in the past now. You still have grandchildren to take care of. For their sake, you cannot dwell too much on the past. You need to move forward and raise them well."

Hearing this, Doctor Du finally stopped his sobbing. "Brother Gu is right. For their sake, I must not allow myself to be overwhelmed by joy or sorrow."

Excessive joy or sorrow could harm one’s health. He needed to live well and raise his grandchildren.

He wiped away his tears and smiled, "Fortunately, from now on, I will be the sitting doctor here. My livelihood is not a problem."

Doctor Du was a refugee fleeing from famine. Logically, no clinic or pharmacy would dare to employ him. However, as a medical craftsman registered at the government office, he possessed an official badge and documents from the office.

This badge and documents were his proof, recognized by clinics all over Great Chu, and that was why Xuanhu Fang dared to employ him.

"Although I spent ten silver taels to get this badge and documents, looking at it now, those ten silver taels were well-spent!" Without spending that money, it would be impossible for him to find work as an outsider.

Aside from strict household registration, the government offices of Great Chu also regulated medical craftsmen.

And in Great Chu, a medical craftsman referred to a genuine doctor. As for those barefoot doctors who only knew a bit about herbs and had a few local remedies, even if they wanted to spend money to register at the government office and obtain documents and a badge, it wouldn’t be allowed.

As he spoke, Doctor Du then thanked Doctor Wu, "It’s all thanks to Doctor Wu’s kind heart. If it were another clinic or pharmacy, they probably wouldn’t dare to employ someone like me, a refugee fleeing from disaster."

Great Chu had the practice of guilt by association. Without a local clan connection, even if you had the skills and documents, few people would dare to hire you. They feared making a mistake and employing a bad apple who could bring trouble to everyone.

Elder Wu said: "Why mention all that, everyone faces hardships. Besides, medical registration at the government office is recognized by all the major pharmacies. Since it’s recognized and you have the documents and badge, we at Xuanhu Fang lack a doctor, it’s only natural to employ you."

Doctor Du was still very grateful. Elder Wu providing him this job was akin to saving the lives of his entire family.

Unable to stand Doctor Du’s repeated thanks, Elder Wu quickly pointed at Gu Jinli and said, "Young lady, go check your herbs."

Gu Jinli quickly got up, brought over an empty round sieve, opened the sack containing dried herbs, took out bundles of dried herbs, as well as several dried bamboo tubes, and placed them on the round sieve.

Elder Wu saw the dry bamboo tubes and asked, "Are those also filled with herbs?"

Gu Jinli nodded, picked up a dry bamboo tube, removed the cloth-bound wooden stopper, and poured out the sliced herbs for Elder Wu to see: "Grandpa Wu, these are Dipsacus. They have already been processed, please have a look."

Dipsacus is a versatile herb widely used for nourishing the liver and kidney, securing pregnancies, treating sores, carbuncles, joining sinews, and mending bones, among other effects.

Elder Wu picked up a slice of Dipsacus and noticed the herbs were well-preserved and not damp at all. He nodded slightly, brought the herbs up to his nose to smell them, and then chewed on a piece, saying, "The processing temperature is just right, definitely a top-grade herb."

Upon hearing this, Gu Dashan’s eyes crinkled with a smile as he joined in, "Xiao Yu processed them herself following the instructions from the medical texts."

"Oh, you processed these herbs yourself?" Elder Wu looked at Gu Jinli in surprise. This thin young girl who looked no older than ten had processed herbs herself and even knew how to read.

Gu Jinli nodded and smiled with the corner of her mouth lifted, "During the famine escape, I met an elder surnamed Bai who knew medical skills. He told me a lot about medicinal herbs and, on his deathbed, he gave me a medical book. I used to read it when I had nothing to do. There are illustrations of herbs in there, pretty easy to recognize. When my family members fell ill with colds on the road, I found the herbs mentioned in the medical book and tried to decoct them for my family to drink, and it actually cured them."

Doctor Wu’s lips twitched as he instructed Gu Jinli, "In the future, don’t randomly prescribe medicine to people. These herbs require proper pairing and dosage. If you get the dosage wrong, or mix the wrong herb, it can lead to serious consequences."

Gu Jinli earnestly responded, "Mhm, the junior has remembered. From now on, I’ll just dig up herbs to sell and not recklessly prescribe them. My medical skills aren’t good; I could harm people."

In reality, her medical skills were quite good, but given the young age of this body, and the fact that she did not come from a noble family of medicine, if she really began prescribing recipes for treatment or discussing various prescriptions and illnesses with Doctor Wu, the people here might burn her as a demon.

The ancients really believed in these things. Third Grandma and Old Mrs. Yan didn’t have any issues praying to God for protection, so she had to take things step by step, gradually letting everyone accept that she not only knew how to prepare herbs but could also cure illnesses.

Doctor Wu nodded with satisfaction, "The child is teachable indeed."

Doctor Wu checked all the herbs in Gu Jinli’s sack, sighing inwardly: This young lady has gathered a wide variety of herbs like Rehmannia, white hellebore, angelica, thorny red flower, Peony, thorny elm, catalpa, ephedra, and so on...

Doctor Wu was dazzled as he picked up a dry bamboo tube and actually poured out some dried centipedes.

"You even dared to catch these." Doctor Wu was somewhat fond of Gu Jinli, the young lady. Ordinary people wouldn’t dare to catch centipedes lightly.

Gu Jinli laughed, "We’ve been running through mountains and plains on our escape. We saw a lot of these creatures, so whenever we saw one, we just killed and dried it. It wasn’t difficult."

She then handed another dry bamboo tube to Grandpa Wu, "Grandpa Wu, this contains dried snake gall bladders."

Doctor Wu took it and looked at it, nodding, "Not bad. Now it’s winter, and many people’s rheumatism and coughs are acting up, it’s just the right time to need this."

Gu Jinli seized the opportunity to take out another sack and pointed at it, "Grandpa Wu, there are forty-three hibernating snakes inside this sack."

Doctor Wu’s eyes lit up and he asked, "Do you have the swollen-necked snakes? Their gall bladders are good stuff."

Gu Jinli replied, "There are three."

The swollen-necked snake is the cobra; the entire cobra is valuable, and it is particularly effective in treating rheumatism and gout.

Upon hearing this, Doctor Wu couldn’t wait to find a pair of iron tongs, opened the sack, and used the tongs to pinch the head of a swollen-necked snake as wide as two fingers, pulling it out of the sack, "The snake skin is shiny, and the fangs are clean. Very good, very good."

"We’ll take all your herbs." Doctor Wu spoke and then called out, "Zhu Ron, Mu Tong, come here, weigh these herbs, and calculate the price for the Gu Family at the rate of top-grade herbs."

"Coming, Master." Doctor Wu’s two apprentices ran to the back courtyard and began to count and weigh Gu Jinli’s herbs.

Doctor Wu looked at the snakes in the sack, picked out the rarer and more useful ones, clamped them out and placed them into a wooden barrel, covered it with a lid, and secured it with stones, carrying it inside the house.

These snakes were precious, and he wanted to extract the snake gall and venom himself. As for the common snakes: "Xiao Liu, come and work."

Snakes, toads, deer, and many other animals are medicinal materials, so every pharmacy raises a person specifically to slaughter animals and extract the medicinal parts.