The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 711 - 700: Charitable Clinic (4)

Chapter 711: Chapter 700: Charitable Clinic (4)

Manbao let her into the inner room to undress for examination.

It was said to be on her chest, but it was actually below the chest, in the middle area that had been scratched open. Perhaps she realized that scratching only made it worse, but the blisters had already spread to both sides.

After a careful examination and taking her pulse, Manbao asked a few questions, then said, "This is due to damp-heat obstruction and excessive fiery toxins. You should have come to see me earlier."

The patient hung her head, speaking softly, "I thought it was insect bites, and with it being in such a place, how could I let others see it?"

Manbao knitted her brows in thought, then after a while said, "Stay here for now, I will give you acupuncture in a bit."

She thought for a moment and realized there was no applicable medicine in the prescription list to apply topically.

Moreover, as it was her first time encountering such a case, Manbao opened her personal notebook on pulse records, wrote down the patient’s details, and drew a circle around them before proceeding to prepare a prescription.

Manbao took the prescription inside to the patient and said, "I’ll give you acupuncture, and you’ll need to come again tomorrow. Come early or after lunchtime, there’s no need to queue, just come find me directly."

The girl was very anxious and asked, "Little Doctor, is my ailment incurable?"

Manbao smiled and replied, "Don’t scare yourself. Your disease is treatable. I will needle you to dispel wind, disperse heat, and remove stasis, and couple that with the internal medicinal treatment, it won’t be difficult. However, I have a few instructions for you."

Manbao said, "You can try to use cold water for compresses, avoid using too hot water for cleaning, and keep your clothes clean..." She didn’t bring up anything about softness, for even mentioning it would only trouble the patient, who couldn’t afford it.

After giving her the acupuncture, Manbao went out to have Zhou Lijun keep track of the time.

As lunchtime approached, the custodian brought her lunchbox over. Manbao glanced at the clock, bowed her head to write a prescription for another patient, and then grabbed the sign to hang outside before going to eat.

Lifting the curtain, she saw all the people outside raise their heads to look; Manbao glanced at the adjacent medical tent and saw Doctor Ji had already put up his sign, with patients waiting in front of his tent sitting on the ground.

She was about to hang her ’resting’ sign when she saw the patient at the very front turn pale and sway. Manbao instinctively stepped forward to support her.

Then she caught a faint whiff of the scent of blood from her.

Manbao frowned, handed the sign to Zhou Lijun, who had come out, and helped the patient into the medical tent, asking, "Where do you feel unwell?"

Glancing at the registration booklet in her hand, Manbao said, "Gao Clan?"

"Yes," said the woman from the Gao Clan in a soft voice: "I have had prolonged lochia since childbirth."

Manbao asked, "Have you seen a doctor?"

"I have, I took some medicine for several days, but it’s been of no use."

Manbao helped her sit on a stool, checked her pulse, and asked with a frown, "How long has it been since you gave birth?"

"I have already been through the sitting month."

"Specifically, how many days?"

The Gao Clan woman’s eyes reddened, "Thirty-two days."

"How many days did you take the medicine, and when?"

"Three days," she said somewhat guiltily: "Around the beginning of September I started the medicine. At that time, the lochia was heavy, and I was a bit scared, so my family took me to see a doctor once."

"Do you have the prescription?"

"Yes, I do." The Gao Clan woman quickly took out the prescription to show Manbao.

She had taken good care of the prescription, and upon Manbao’s review, she nodded slightly, "This prescription is not wrong. You should have continued taking the medicine for a few more days."

The Gao Clan woman cast her eyes down in silence; if there had been money, she could have continued her medication, but without funds, how could she afford it?

Manbao put down the prescription and had her lie down in the inner chamber’s bed for further examination, "I can give you acupuncture, but for the first three days, you will need continuous treatment, and after three days, every other day. You can come to Jishi Hall to find me."

Manbao paused then added, "I won’t charge you for the acupuncture."

The Gao Clan woman’s eyes lit up, and she quickly asked, "Could Doctor Zhou perhaps prescribe me medication for several more days?"

Manbao shook her head, "There’s a limited supply of medicine here, I can only give you enough for three days, that’s the rule."

The Gao Clan woman pleaded, "Please, Doctor Zhou, help me. My family really can’t afford to buy medicine anymore. Or could you increase the dosage so that I can take half the prescribed amount each day to make it last longer?"

Manbao: ...

She pressed down on the Gao Clan woman, asking her to lie still and then took out needles from her bag. After two insertions, the woman began to feel drowsy and her eyelids heavy, falling silent soon after.

Manbao was satisfied and lifted her clothes to insert the needles.

Her ailment was something Manbao was very familiar with, as it was the same deficiency that had afflicted her mother, Ms. Qian, and Ms. Chen, the mother of her second son.

Naturally, each person’s pulse was different, but there were always similarities. Among them, Ms. Chen’s condition was most similar.

Manbao had given Ms. Chen acupuncture for a whole year, and now she was able to do chores.

Therefore, Manbao was very confident with this ailment; her needling was both stable and quick. She checked the water clock, told Zhou Lijun to monitor the time, and then went out to write the prescription.

With unclean postnatal discharge, it was not only necessary to replenish deficiency but also to dispel stasis and regulate qi. Acupuncture was primarily for dispelling stasis and regulating qi, but medication could not be neglected.

Knowing she could only get three days’ worth of medicine for free, Manbao furrowed her brows and ran through the list of herbs in her mind, then carefully composed her prescription.

After writing it down, she went to fetch her lunchbox to eat.

With no windows in the medical tent, Manbao preferred to sit outside in the open air to have her meal. She had just sat down with her food when someone approached, startling her.

Zhou Lijun quickly shielded her aunt with his body, frowning at the dirty elderly woman who had appeared and asked, "What do you want? If you need medical attention, you have to queue."

"Little Doctor, don’t you recognize me? I am the woman from yesterday," she said.

Peering out at her, Manbao nodded after a moment, "I remember, you are the old grandma who had a stomachache."

"Exactly, exactly, Little Doctor has a great memory."

Manbao, seeing the old woman looking even dirtier and blacker than the day before, found it difficult to speak, "You, how did you get like this?"

The old woman casually waved her hand, "I just went to receive relief grain, and I fell a couple of times, but it’s nothing serious, thankfully I didn’t lose my stuff."

From her bosom, she brought out a small jar, opened it to show Manbao, and said cheerily, "Little Doctor, look, this is the pickle I made myself, it’s very tasty and great with rice, I’m giving it to you."

Manbao glanced at it, thinking it was not as good as what her elder sister-in-law made, so she hesitated and did not reach out, instead pushing it back and saying, "You should keep it for yourself, we don’t accept gifts."

The old woman’s expression hardened, "Little Doctor, you think my pickles are dirty, don’t you?"

"Not at all, pickles always look like this, and we have some at home, so you better take it back and enjoy it yourself," Manbao replied.

"No, I’ve already brought it, and having it at home is one thing, but this is my token of appreciation." Insistent, she kept trying to push the jar into Manbao’s hands, and, unable to refuse any longer, Manbao accepted it.

The old woman, with a smile, asked, "Little Doctor, do you have time now? My stomach still hurts a bit, the same as before. Maybe you could give me more acupuncture?"