Chapter 63: Ginseng Whiskers

On the way back, Shaoyang taught Peilan how to give the herbs their first processing and how to store them. Properly prepared raw materials fetched more, kept more easily and retained their medicinal action.

At her house, her mother greeted him urgently.

“Master Jia’s steward has been looking everywhere for you. Your father says you’re leaving after lunch.”

Shaoyang hastily shouldered the medicine chest to take his leave.

“I’ll come down to town with you,” Peilan said eagerly. “I want to see what these herbs will really fetch.”

“Good!”

“I’ll wait at the village entrance.”

“No hurry. We still have to eat. Have your own lunch first, and use the time to try processing the herbs the way I showed you.”

She agreed, and he ran back to the Jia house.

His father’s face darkened at the sight of him.

“Where have you been?”

“Just… walking about. Are we leaving?”

“Leaving? We must examine the young master and Auntie Li again and dispense their medicines first. How could I do that with you carrying the chest away?”

“Oh.”

Master Jia sent the steward to ask his wife to bring the child. Soon she arrived with him and sat down.

Zuo Gui opened the boy’s clothes to examine the eruption. The spots were faint, their colour considerably lighter. His breathing was almost normal, his mind clear and the convulsions gone. He could answer questions. His forehead was still a little hot, but the fever had dropped markedly since last night.

“When a prescription works, don’t change it,” Zuo Gui told Shaoyang. “Use the same one, with two qian of cicada slough added. Two doses for now. We’ll examine him again the day after tomorrow and adjust according to the pattern.”

Shaoyang understood that cicada slough would further disperse wind-heat, relieve spasms, free the lungs and bring out the rash. He agreed, then suggested adding forsythia fruit too. A common medicine for clearing heat and toxins and dispersing wind-heat, it could help heat reach the exterior while clearing it internally.

After consideration, Zuo Gui nodded.

The Jia family was delighted. The boy had improved after Huimin Hall too, but they now knew that clinic had treated symptoms without finding the cause, allowing the illness to return that night. Without father and son, the outcome might have been disastrous.

Only now did they know it was measles. They had heard of many children dying of convulsions when measles was treated poorly or too late and the fever would not subside. Remembering it chilled them and deepened their gratitude.

Master Jia wanted them to stay several more days. But Zuo Gui explained that his son-in-law’s family was visiting that evening, while only his wife remained at home. He could not press them further and ordered a feast prepared.

While it was being laid, Zuo Gui took Shaoyang to Auntie Li’s.

She had improved again since morning. Even the fingers on her paralysed right side could move a little. Pleased, Zuo Gui told Shaoyang to continue dispensing the medicine.

According to her improvement, Shaoyang omitted the Storax Pills. He removed immature bitter orange from Phlegm-Cleansing Decoction and replaced it with three qian of winter white atractylodes and two qian of ginseng rootlets, to strengthen the spleen and support healthy qi.

Ginseng rootlets were the fine roots broken off during processing. Even these were expensive, and Guizhi Hall stocked no such precious ingredients. Yet they were needed to strengthen her spleen and restore healthy qi.

Shaoyang thought for a moment, then spoke quietly to his father.

“She is very weak. Could we ask Master Jia for a little ginseng rootlet to help her recover faster?”

Zuo Gui considered it and agreed. He knew she would benefit from ginseng, but the family could never afford it. That was why every shop in town had refused her. Asking Master Jia for whole ginseng might be difficult; a few rootlets might be possible, and would help her greatly.

He nodded slowly.

Shaoyang dispensed the medicines. The family, delighted by her obvious recovery, thanked them profusely. They scraped together the full fee, but Zuo Gui allowed his son to accept only the ingredients’ cost.

Back at the Jia house, the feast was ready.

Once the wine had put everyone in good spirits, Zuo Gui tactfully mentioned that Auntie Li needed a little ginseng rootlet. Master Jia readily agreed and had a box of ginseng brought, inviting him to take whatever he needed.

Unwilling to take much, Zuo Gui pulled off just a few fine roots and said that was enough. Master Jia sent the steward to deliver them personally. Zuo Gui warned that they should be decocted separately and the liquid added when taking the other medicine, not boiled together, lest the precious ingredient be wasted.

The steward agreed and took them to Auntie Li’s.

After the meal, mildly warmed by wine, father and son prepared to leave. Master Jia had the steward bring a large cloth bundle. Opened, it revealed two bolts of silk and two silk-floss quilts.

“You have worked hard coming to our mountain village at New Year,” he said. “And you saved my son. I cannot thank you enough. Please accept this small gift.”

Zuo Gui hastily waved it away.

“The fees you gave twice already are more than sufficient. You cannot give us money and goods every time. I would be ashamed to accept, and would not dare come again.”

“Those were medical fees. This time I am offering none. The silk and quilts are a little New Year gift in appreciation of your difficult journey. Enough for a couple of sets of clothes. As you travel from village to village, you ought to dress warmly. We can’t have you falling ill before you treat anyone else!”

Only then did Zuo Gui bow.

“Thank you for your kindness. In that case… I accept with gratitude.”

Shaoyang put the bundle on his back and followed him out. Near the village entrance he saw Peilan waiting under the old scholar tree, her basket beside her.

“She’s gathered herbs to sell in town, Father. She would like to walk down with us. May she?”

“Of course. Why not?”

In an excellent mood, Zuo Gui even greeted her first. He had been cool at their previous meetings, so this unexpectedly warm treatment left her rather overwhelmed.

Seeing the medicine chest on Shaoyang’s back and the large bundle over his shoulder, she waited until his father walked ahead with the banner. Then, blushing, she took the bundle and set it on top of her basket.

He knew her strength. He had been worrying about carrying so much down the mountain; a fall might soil the silk and floss. He thanked her repeatedly.

“What for? You taught me to gather herbs, and I haven’t thanked you. Carrying a little bundle is nothing.”

“Miss Peilan, may I ask a small favour?”

She looked sideways at him.

“We know each other now, and we’ll be growing herbs together. Must we stay so formal? Could I call you Peilan, and you call me Brother Zuo?”

A blush rose on her dark cheeks. She glanced quickly at him, then nodded openly.

“Yes, Brother Zuo.”

“Peilan!”

Talking, they set off downhill.

Halfway down, the snow thickened. Peilan carried the herb basket with the large bundle of silk and quilts piled high on top, yet walked steadily. Shaoyang slipped several times, and each time she caught him, almost as though she knew in advance.

Without her, he was certain he would have reached the foot of the mountain plastered in mud.

Going down was harder than climbing up, especially on a steep, muddy path. Keeping to his pace, they took nearly two hours to reach the bottom.

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