The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 708 - 697: Free Clinic (II)

Chapter 708: Chapter 697: Free Clinic (II)

The elderly woman hesitated before getting up and following Manbao inside. Manbao lifted her clothes to examine her and saw that her abdomen was protruding. When she pressed it, the woman started to moan with pain.

Manbao looked at her complexion and asked, "Does it hurt a lot?"

"Yes, it’s painful right here. Young doctor, what do you think is wrong with me?"

Manbao inquired, "How long has it been since you’ve had a bowel movement?"

The elderly woman: "Not long at all, I urinate a lot, needing to go about every half hour."

"I’m referring to the other kind of movement."

After thinking for a moment, the elderly woman shook her head, "I can’t remember. We haven’t eaten much, how could anything come out?"

Manbao frowned as she palpated the woman’s firm abdomen, and seeing her cry out in pain again, she asked, "Apart from abdominal pain, do you feel discomfort anywhere else?"

After contemplating for a while, the elderly woman tentatively said, "I feel pain all over my body, young doctor. Can you prescribe me more medicine?"

Manbao nodded and replied, "I think I understand."

Some people might feel generally unwell when they have discomfort in one area. Since the abdominal pain is more urgent, it should be addressed first.

Manbao said, "Stay here for a moment, I’ll write you a prescription. Try taking a dose of the medicine and then we’ll see how things go with an acupuncture session."

The elderly woman was taken aback and asked, "I’m not finished being seen yet?"

"I need to give you an acupuncture treatment, which will take about half an hour. Please wait a little longer."

The elderly woman quickly nodded in agreement.

Manbao then went out to write the prescription and handed it to Zhou Lijun, saying, "Lijun, go fetch these herbs and decoct them right away. The stove and firewood are just beside."

Zhou Lijun glanced at the open space next to the medical tent, nodded, and took the prescription.

Manbao smiled at the next woman who was standing by and said, "Please wait a little longer. I’m going to apply acupuncture."

Manbao was very skilled at acupuncture and quickly inserted several needles into the elderly woman’s body. Then, glancing at the water clock in the corner, she instructed the woman to rest on the wooden bed while she stepped out to see the next patient.

The next patient had a common cold, and seeing that she had a high fever and was shivering, Manbao said, "You should come inside too. I’ll give you an acupuncture treatment. After returning home, make sure to keep warm and avoid catching cold again."

The woman followed Manbao into the tent, stunned, and sat down on a stool. Then Manbao lifted her clothes and inserted needles in her back and chest, requiring her to sit without moving.

She felt a swollen sensation at the sites of the needles and soon began to feel drowsy.

Manbao took a look at her and suggested that she lean against the bed to rest with her eyes closed.

When Manbao went outside, the other doctors had arrived one after another. Doctor Ji came over first to check on her progress, asking, "How many patients have you seen?"

Manbao held up two fingers and briefly recounted the pulse diagnoses and prescriptions for both patients.

Doctor Ji nodded slightly, "Not bad. Come to me if you encounter any difficult cases."

"Yes."

Only then did Doctor Ji return to his own medical tent.

Manbao began calling the third patient forward, drawing on her substantial experience at Jishi Hall. She knew some patients required waiting to see the effects of the medication, so she managed the intervals between patients to avoid long waits for those following.

Zhou Lijun swiftly returned with a packet of herbs. Since no one else was yet preparing medicines, she was able to quickly gather the necessary materials using the prescription Manbao had provided.

Zhou Lijun went to cook the medicine while Manbao saw two more patients and wrote their prescriptions. Then a maid reminded her that time was up, and Manbao went back in to remove the needles from the elderly woman.

The needles were removed from her body, and only then did the old woman wake up in shock, realizing she had fallen asleep and, moreover, she could no longer feel the pain in her belly that had been aching persistently.

She looked at Manbao with surprise and delight, asking, "Young doctor, am I cured now?"

"Not yet, rest for a while, eat this medicine and see its effects, then I’ll take your pulse again and prescribe a few days’ medicine for you to take home."

The old woman nodded hesitantly.

Manbao went out to see other patients, and Zhou Lijun brought in the prepared medicine. When it cooled down, the old woman drank it all in one gulp and soon after, she ran out holding her stomach, asking, "Where is the toilet, the toilet?"

Manbao pointed with her hand, and the old woman hurried off clutching her stomach, showing no signs of her age.

Manbao continued to see the next patient, although the women patients in line were very skeptical of her age after seeing her.

But when they turned their heads and saw the long lines in front of the other medical tents, they didn’t have the courage to change places. They thought that after all, aside from this time, there was another chance; it wasn’t too bad to get a prescription here and then queue up at another tent for another consultation.

Those behind in the queue didn’t have time to run upfront to check out the doctors when they came to line up; they simply followed the flow of people, choosing the shortest line to join.

At first, Manbao’s area had very few people, but the men who ran over saw that those lined up were women and, after a slight hesitation, would go elsewhere.

Women, on the other hand, did the opposite, subconsciously choosing this medical tent when they saw other women in line.

Moreover, the servants sent by County Magistrate Tang were moving among the queues, saying there was a female doctor on that side who specialized in women’s diseases.

Because of this, women who had lined up elsewhere also moved to this line.

Manbao was quite fast at taking pulses and writing prescriptions—unless it was something special that required lifting clothes for examination or acupuncture, which could be handled outside the medical tent.

Occasionally, Manbao would roll up their sleeves to administer acupuncture, then have them sit and wait. Doctor Ji occasionally glanced over and saw that she was doing everything in an orderly fashion, nodding slightly in satisfaction.

Manbao went inside to remove the needles from the woman with cold-induced illness and reminded her, "A cold can be fatal, so you should take it to heart. Make sure not to catch cold again. I have prescribed you medicine for three days. If you don’t see improvement after three days, come back to me."

The woman took the prescription, agreed with a nod, and stepped back.

The old woman returned tremblingly after three-quarters of an hour. Manbao was startled and quickly asked, "Did you get diarrhea?"

The old woman shook her head, her face flushed as she said, "My legs went numb from squatting."

Manbao breathed a sigh of relief, took her pulse again, and felt her stomach, asking, "Does it hurt?"

"It still hurts a little."

Manbao nodded. "You’re old, and your diet isn’t steady, so I can’t give you too strong acupuncture or heavy medicine. Your medicine will predominantly focus on regulating your intestines and supplementation as an auxiliary. Take it slow. I’ll prescribe you medicine for three days..."

"Doctor Zhou, could you prescribe me two more days’ worth of medicine? What if I’m still not better after three days?"

"Indeed, you won’t be cured in three days, so after three days, you must come back to me, and I will give you another round of acupuncture and change the prescription."

The old woman, not entirely satisfied, said, "Why don’t you write down the changed prescription for me now?"

"That won’t do," Manbao replied. "I don’t know what your pulse will be like in three days. How can I write it for you?"

After taking her pulse, Manbao wrote out the prescription, then turned to the young girl who had been about to step forward and said, "It’s your turn."

The old woman held the prescription in her hand, hesitating to leave, until Zhou Lijun stepped forward to help her up, saying, "Grandmother, please don’t make things difficult for my niece. You see the servant walking around? Each doctor can only prescribe medicine for three days at most. Even if my niece prescribed you five days’ worth, you wouldn’t be able to get it filled."

It was the first time the old woman had heard such a rule, and with a sigh, she said, "This official has such a charitable heart, why couldn’t he be more generous?"

Zhou Lijun: ...

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