The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 506 - 495: Needle Handling

Chapter 506: Chapter 495: Needle Handling

In the entirety of Qili Village, the only patients who could cause Manbao such a headache, apart from her own family, were none other than Zhou Hu’s wife.

Of course, she had plenty of ideas, but when it truly came time to act, they were few and far between.

For instance, when Datou caught a cold and coughed, Manbao took his pulse and prescribed a medicine, but instead of using her own prescription, she had him take the prescription to the big market to find the old doctor.

The old doctor examined Manbao’s prescription carefully for a while, stroked his beard and asked, "Did you learn this by yourself?"

Manbao smiled at him.

The old doctor didn’t probe further, thought while stroking his beard, and finally, with a pen, altered two herbs in the prescription, saying, "I can’t say your prescription is wrong, but it is somewhat unsatisfactory..."

After looking at her for a moment, the old doctor said more, leisurely telling her that since it was his shop they had come to for the medicine, he changed these two herbs, whereas if it were Old Master Bai’s family coming for the medicine, he would have increased or decreased these few herbs...

If it were an adult, he would have adjusted which herbs; and if it were a younger child, he would have replaced which herbs...

Although Teacher Mo stood on the shoulders of thousands of years of history looking back, as a scholar with a research mindset, there were actually limitations in his practice of prescribing and administering medicines.

There were many details he couldn’t teach Manbao.

Manbao listened with great interest at the old doctor’s place.

Although he only made additions and changes to her prescription, Manbao learned a lot.

Yet the people of the Zhou family were dumbfounded; after one or two times, they realized that Manbao really had learned medical skills, and that the prescriptions she issued were nearly the same as the old doctor’s.

So, whenever they suffered from minor illnesses, they were reluctant to consult the old doctor and were very eager to have Manbao prepare their medicine herself.

Manbao couldn’t help saying, "The medicine I prescribe might be more expensive than the old doctor’s, and it may not necessarily be as good as his. I haven’t even completed my apprenticeship yet."

Old Zhou responded, "Then you should learn quickly and finish your apprenticeship as soon as possible."

But it was different with Zhou Hu’s wife, because the prescription was not concocted by Manbao alone, but in collaboration with Teacher Mo.

She provided the pulse diagnosis, and he came up with the prescription; it was said that he had even consulted quite a few colleagues, and they had come up with several prescriptions together.

Then, they would discuss these with Manbao.

Together, the teacher and apprentice deliberated and switched Zhou Hu’s wife to a different prescription.

In truth, if it weren’t for Manbao mentioning how poor Zhou Hu’s family was, and that they couldn’t afford ginseng to replenish their qi and nourish their blood as he had suggested, perhaps the first prescription might have been more effective.

Although he felt regretful, Teacher Mo thought he should sympathize with primitive humans, after all, the resources available to humans back then weren’t that plentiful, were they?

Meanwhile, Manbao was rapidly learning acupuncture and, after six months, during the Sanfu Days, she sneakily stuffed her acupuncture kit into a cloth bag and slipped over to Zhou Hu’s house.

She whispered to Ms. Chen for a long while, then Ms. Chen undressed and accepted Manbao’s acupuncture for the first time.

It wasn’t the first time Manbao had inserted needles into a living person because she had previously tried it on herself, even though it was only once...

But she had also needled several of her brothers.

However, this was her first time needling with the purpose of treating an illness, and there were some points she had only felt without having needled them on a living person before.

But at this moment, Teacher Mo was on the other side of the system, ready for action, and coupled with confidence in her own skills, Manbao had a face full of self-assurance as she pulled the needles out of her bag.

She first pressed her fingers on Ms. Chen’s acupoints to confirm their location, then she inserted the needles swiftly and accurately before staring at Ms.Chen’s face to ask, "Does it feel distended or painful?"

Ms.Chen considered for a moment, then hesitantly said, "It feels a bit swollen and painful."

Manbao: ...

She adjusted the needle and asked, "How about now?"

"Oh, very distended, and a bit sour..."

Manbao then pondered, stopped her hand, and looked at Ms. Chen to ask, "How about now?"

"Still distended."

Manbao then felt satisfied and began to insert needles into the next acupoint...

With each question and answer, Manbao finished inserting the needles and then sat beside with her chin propped up on her hand to wait for the time to pass, of course, Keke helped her with the timing.

After a while, Manbao went to manipulate the needles, and Ms. Chen suddenly said, "I feel a sensation as if there’s qi beneath the needle, like a bubbling spring, gurgle gurgle pushing up the qi, making the needle tremble."

Manbao beamed with joy and moved that particular needle asking, "Is it this one?"

Ms.Chen gave an "mm-hmm," and then asked, "Manbao, do you think sister-in-law will recover?"

Teacher Mo had said that the patient’s will was also a very important condition for healing, so Manbao nodded and said, "She definitely will."

Manbao encouraged her, "Sister-in-law, after the sun rises every day, to dispel the cold, you should also go walk around in the yard. Once you start moving, the circulation of your qi and blood will quicken, and you’ll feel more spirited."

Ms.Chen’s current health condition was even worse than Ms.Qian’s had been; she had been bedridden for the past two years and seldom able to go outside.

She would break out into a cold sweat and feel dizzy in front of her eyes, experiencing discomfort for a long time after just a little walking.

She didn’t want to walk, but she took Manbao’s words to heart and decided she would try it the next day.

When the time was up, Manbao collected the needles, carefully observing Ms. Chen’s complexion and taking her pulse to confirm she was alright before heading home.

Eldest came in carrying Sanshou on his back and upon seeing Manbao, he grinned, "Manbao, you’ve come to see my mother again?"

Ms.Chen couldn’t help but say, "You should call her auntie."

Eldest grinned sheepishly, "Auntie Manbao, look at Sanshou, he can already call for his brother."

Sanshou, a little over two years old now, was frail. Though he could talk, he was still unsteady on his feet. Sliding off his brother’s back, he gripped Manbao’s arm and mumbled, "Manbao, Manbao..."

Manbao was delighted and advised Ms. Chen, "Sister-in-law, give him a bowl of egg drop soup every day, and he’ll surely grow stronger. I was raised that way from a young age..."

Ms. Chen recalled how Manbao had once been like a little kitten, not much better off than Sanshou, and therefore felt this home remedy might indeed be good, so she nodded, "Alright, I’ll have his father get some eggs later."

Manbao immediately said, "You can trade with our family for them, we have plenty of eggs, and my little farm has lots, too."

Manbao wasn’t wrong, the Zhou family had many chickens now, thanks to a goose guarding them in the hills, they weren’t worried about weasels or rats stealing the chickens.

Thus, their household had about seventy to eighty chickens, which, in the heat of the moment, were keen on laying eggs.

Not to mention their little farm, which housed over a hundred chickens, so Manbao wasn’t lacking in eggs at all.

Ms.Chen, who had also heard about the village affairs from Zhou Hu, smiled and nodded, "Alright, later his father can go trade with your family for eggs."

Manbao then left contentedly, and after that, she visited Ms. Chen daily to administer acupuncture.

She and Teacher Mo designed a set of acupuncture methods specifically for Ms. Chen, referencing many literary sources; this set of acupuncture points was not completed in one day but across three days.

After completing a round, they would take a two-day break, and then begin again.

Not sure whether it was the acupuncture that worked or the newly adjusted prescription, but Ms. Chen’s health actually started to improve gradually.