The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 629 - 618: Prescribing a Medicine

Chapter 629: Chapter 618: Prescribing a Medicine

Jishi Hall was an established traditional pharmacy, naturally attracting a multitude of patients seeking treatment. In this world, there are two types of shops that will never lack customers—one is the grain shop, and the other is the pharmacy.

And the time from morning until noon is usually the busiest for pharmacies.

People also want to get their medical consultations early.

Due to the number of people waiting, Manbao’s speed in seeing patients had increased significantly, and she took even less time to record the pulse diagnoses.

After watching several of the old doctor’s prescriptions, she’d given up trying to decipher his handwriting and resigned herself to just record her own pulse cases.

By the time the last patient was seen, it was already past lunchtime. Zhou Lijun had been starving for a while and considerately went to buy some flatbread and soup dishes from the street. Once the consultations ended, she immediately invited Doctor Ji and the shop assistants to have lunch together.

Doctor Ji nodded gently, his expression softening, and led them to deliver the food to the backyard to eat.

Only then did Manbao realize that there was a courtyard behind the pharmacy, where many racks were set up, drying herbs, and the air was filled with bursts of medicinal fragrance.

Seeing Manbao’s gaze fixed on them, Doctor Ji chuckled and sat down on a stool before asking, "What, have you never seen so many herbs before?"

Manbao nodded blankly, while in her mind, Keke’s chimes kept sounding off. With a particularly clear electronic tone, Keke announced, "Discovery of ancient plants... discovery of scarce plants... finding the remains of unrecorded animals..."

If Keke were capable of emotional experiences, it would certainly be rolling around in delight right now. It knew that the host would definitely gain something as her interaction with the outside world increased.

Isn’t the study of medicine related to the plants and animals of the world, after all?

Nowadays, people have grown weary of synthetic drugs and prefer to return to natural remedies, and ancient Chinese medicine was just that.

Seeing Manbao lost in thought for so long, Doctor Ji couldn’t help but look up at her and asked, "How many types of herbs can you recognize?"

It took Manbao a while to come back to her senses, and she said, "I have only memorized the names of herbs; I haven’t seen many of them."

Doctor Ji slightly furrowed his brows, "You haven’t identified herbs before?"

Shouldn’t one start learning medicine from this?

Apprentices in their pharmacy began by recognizing herbs, then moved on to dispensing them at the counter, and had to learn how to sort and manage the herbs as well.

By the time they had mastered all this, two or three years would have passed. If stuck with a master reluctant to teach, it could even take five or six years.

Only after fully recognizing all the herbs would they start learning medical texts, and finally proceed to taking pulses and prescribing treatments...

Without ten years of hard work, they couldn’t dream of becoming masters.

Even if one started as an apprentice at eight, they would only become a master at eighteen, and those with less aptitude might even spend seven or eight years dispensing herbs at the counter before they could start feeling pulses and prescribing treatments.

And here she was, claiming she hadn’t even started learning herbs?

Doctor Ji’s brows came together with concern as he asked, "If you don’t recognize the herbs, how do you write prescriptions?"

"I’ve memorized all the herbs and their properties," Manbao said, "and I’ve also memorized quite a few prescriptions."

Doctor Ji blinked, "You memorized the properties but didn’t identify the herbs?"

"I don’t have that many herbs."

Doctor Ji was skeptical, "Your teacher doesn’t have them either?"

Manbao just quietly looked at him.

Zhou Lijun glanced around and then smiled saying, "Doctor Ji, let’s eat first, then talk after we’ve had our meal."

Doctor Ji thought for a moment, then nodded, "After we finish eating, recite the herbs and their properties that you’ve memorized for me, along with those prescriptions."

Manbao’s face turned somewhat bitter, "How long will that take? I promised Teacher that I would go back to reading in the afternoon."

Doctor Ji said nothing.

Manbao knew there was no room for negotiation and felt a little dejected.

The herbs that Manbao had memorized were half from the medical texts she found with Mr. Zhuang and the Bai Family, which included the names and properties of the herbs; the other half were organized by Teacher Mo, which were more detailed and organized, and easier to memorize.

She had been memorizing for several years.

Some of the drugs organized by Teacher Mo only existed in books, while others were being continuously perfected over time.

The records of drug properties from where they came were more comprehensive and thoroughly researched.

So Manbao thought it impossible to memorize so much information in one afternoon.

And some memories were too distant; she simply could not remember them unless someone mentioned the name of a drug, which could prompt her to recite its properties from memory.

Not to mention that this included prescriptions as well.

Manbao sighed and after eating, stood and recited the herbs and their properties for Doctor Ji while pacing beside the table.

After sipping tea, Doctor Ji listened with half-closed eyes. After three quarters of an hour, his expression became increasingly serious.

Zhou Lijun handed her young aunt a bowl of water which Manbao gulped down before continuing her recitation. Another half hour passed, and Manbao reached for water again.

By this time, Doctor Ji was sitting up straight. After she finished drinking, he said, "You don’t need to recite the herbs anymore, just recite the prescriptions you remember."

Thinking it over, Manbao started with the very first one, "Wuhu Decoction, for treating wind-heat obstructing the lungs, body heat, cough, asthma, and excessive phlegm. Ephedra seven parts, almonds, peeled, ten grams, licorice four parts, slightly roasted fine tea eight grams, gypsum fifteen parts..."

As Manbao recited slowly and steadily, Doctor Ji’s mouth slowly dropped open. It took a long time before he covered his chest, trying to stand, but realized he’d been sitting too long and his back had grown numb.

Zhou Lijun, completely oblivious, watched her young aunt with stars in her eyes. She knew her young aunt was self-studying medicine and was aware of her abilities, but she did not realize just how formidable her young aunt was.

To read so much and memorize many medical texts was truly impressive.

Manbao, looking down, poured herself another bowl of water to drink and cleared her throat to continue reciting. Only then did Doctor Ji manage to rise from his chair, intending to tell Manbao to stop, when he suddenly saw Shopkeeper Zheng standing at the entrance.

It was uncertain how long he had been there.

Shopkeeper Zheng too was staring blankly at Manbao, but upon noticing Doctor Ji’s gaze, he came to his senses, nodded at him, and after giving Manbao another look, he turned and left.

Only then did Doctor Ji stop Manbao, who was still trying to recall prescriptions, "Alright, I know you’ve memorized a lot of prescriptions."

Manbao breathed a sigh of relief; if she had to continue, she wouldn’t be able to recall anymore—what was the prescription after Dahuang Fuzi Decoction again?

After swallowing, and with a pull on her sleeve from Zhou Lijun, Manbao barely returned to her senses and earnestly tried to make eye contact, "Doctor Ji, should I start by getting to know the herbs?"

But Doctor Ji, without even looking into her eyes, sat back down and stated, "Indeed, you should start by getting to know the herbs. Being able to recite them isn’t enough; you also need to be able to identify them. Come back tomorrow, and after the morning consultations, stay a bit longer, and I will teach you how to recognize the herbs."