River Crab

After the fifteenth day, Lu Yuan officially became an apprentice in the town’s medicine shop. The shopkeeper of the medicine shop was a fat man with a face that looked like a meat dumpling. He was so fat that he had to close his mouth when he opened his eyes, and his eyes narrowed into a slit when he opened his mouth. Especially when he smiled, his eyes narrowed, which was very easy-going.

Because he was familiar with Su Huai, the shopkeeper took good care of Lu Yuan. Although he was called an apprentice, he was actually just asked to help dry the medicinal materials, pack and move the goods, which was quite leisurely. Despite this, Lu Yuan still felt very sleepy when he lay down all day. In addition to the problem of poor stomach and vomiting after eating a few days ago, he had a new problem of frequent urination recently. He took the medicine Su Huai gave him on time, but not only did it not get better, but it became more and more serious. Lu Yuan really doubted Su Huai’s medical skills, but he was a western doctor, and also an obstetrician and gynecologist, so naturally he didn’t know how to look, smell, ask, and feel. It was impossible for him to feel his pulse…

Lu Yuan wanted to find another doctor, but the shopkeeper said that there was a doctor in the pharmacy, but he had to go back home recently for something, so Su Huai took over and came here for two days every month.

“This doctor Su is strange. Generally speaking, people in this village like to go to the town, and people in the town want to go to the city. He is the opposite. He stays in the small village, and I only see him once a year. When I asked him to be a doctor in the past, he refused to come… I don’t know why recently, I heard that when the original doctor left, he took the initiative to tell me that he wanted to come…” The fat boss was full of the smell of rough medicine. While talking, he fiddled with the abacus beads boredly: “In a few days, Doctor Su will come to the clinic. Xiao Yuan, you have been here for half a month. You should miss your brother, right?”

Tilting his head, Lu Yuan realized that he was only interested in the novelty of coming to the town, and didn’t really think about Su Huai. Moreover, there was a strange old man who came to the pharmacy to talk to him every day, asking about his family, his birth date, and other questions. He was fully focused on dealing with this perverted old man. The rest of the time, apart from feeling uncomfortable, going to the toilet, or vomiting, he had no time to think about Su Huai.

Of course, when sleeping at night, he felt a little cold in bed.

“Xiao Er, prepare the medicine!” Just as he was daydreaming, a customer came to get medicine. Lu Yuan waited for the waiter to get the medicine from the cabinet, and then he quickly wrapped it into a small bundle with kraft paper, tied it with a hemp rope and handed it over.

 Working in the pharmacy, Lu Yuan also wanted to learn something. Every time he packed the medicine, he would ask what it was used for. This time was no exception. After Lu Yuan received the money, he turned around and asked, “What is this medicine for? What Chinese medicine is used? Brother Xiao Er, tell me!” Wrinkling his nose, Lu Yuan always felt that the taste of this medicine was very familiar.

“This is a medicine for preserving pregnancy. There are cooked rehmannia, white peony, wolfberry, knotweed, donkey-hide gelatin, silver bupleurum, ground bone bark, dog spine, and wild teasel…” The brother Xiao Er was enthusiastic. Seeing Lu Yuan’s admiring look, he felt more comfortable. He introduced it generously and opened the drawer of the hundred-eye cabinet for Lu Yuan to see the medicinal materials.

Looking over, Lu Yuan carefully identified the medicinal materials, but some of them looked familiar… Why do they seem to be similar in the medicine that Su Huai prescribed for him?

 But Su Huai prescribed medicine to nourish the body, spleen and stomach. Why did he also prescribe Chinese medicine for pregnancy? Is this man’s medical skills reliable?

“I say, little brother, are these medicines specifically used to protect the pregnancy?” Lu Yuan asked with a frown.

“Chinese medicine is a thing that uses many herbs to treat diseases. It’s hard to say whether a single herb can protect the pregnancy.” Seeing Lu Yuan so active, the little brother was a little surprised: “Xiao Yuan, are you interested in medicines for pregnancy?”

With a laugh, Lu Yuan thought to himself. He’s not interested in medicines for pregnancy, he’s more interested in what mess Su Huai, the plague god, gave him to eat!

 “No… well, I have a medicine and I want Brother Xiao Er to help me see what it does, okay?”

“Oh, then bring it here.”

After getting the promise, Lu Yuan went to the residence behind the shop to get the medicine. Su Huai asked him to take a dose of this medicine every three days, and now there is just the last packet left. As he was walking into the shop with the medicine, Lu Yuan suddenly heard someone calling him. He turned around and saw that it was Ganzipao who came to find him in the backyard. He held a bowl in his hand, which was steaming.

 “Xiao Yuan!” Ganzi looked at Lu Yuan and greeted him warmly: “You are in for a treat today. The shopkeeper’s family has a son. The shopkeeper invites everyone to eat good food. Look, this is seafood, which is not available in this season! I kept it and brought it to you!”

Since he came to the town to work, Ganzi really treated Lu Yuan as his brother and took care of him. He would send Lu Yuan anything delicious and fun. He would also urge Lu Yuan to see what was going on in the town. Even Lu Yuan, who was so thick-skinned, felt a little embarrassed.

“What good thing is it? You treasure it so much?” Lu Yuan smiled and grabbed the bowl when he saw Ganzi approaching. At first glance, Lu Yuan laughed a little.

In the palm-sized bowl, there was a dry river crab.  In modern times, Lu Yuan felt that sea crabs were not filling enough to fill his teeth. Such a small thing is regarded as a treasure here.

Thinking so, Lu Yuan didn’t want to offend Ganzi, so he gave in and said, “Brother Ganzi, you can keep the good stuff for yourself. I have a bad stomach recently, and I will vomit after eating. It’s a waste.”

“Xiao Yuan, what are you talking about? Why are you being polite to your brother Ganzi!”

“Who is being polite to you? I’m just too lazy to peel the shell! Let me see… Look, these crab legs belong to me!” Lu Yuan laughed and pulled the crab legs off: “Wait, I’ll go find ginger and vinegar.”

“Ginger and vinegar?” Ganzi was stunned.

 “You have to dip crabs in ginger and vinegar, don’t you know?” Lu Yuan was also stunned, thinking that the ancients really didn’t have good food, and pulled Ganzi to the kitchen: “Anyway, just trust me. This way of eating will satisfy you!”

In the kitchen, they made ginger and vinegar, then ate crabs, and took some pancakes to eat. Soon they filled their stomachs. Seeing Ganzi’s unsatisfied look, Lu Yuan found it very funny and couldn’t help but laugh at him. The two sat there chatting casually. After a while, Lu Yuan remembered that he had agreed with Brother Xiao Er to look at the medicinal materials.

Slapping his forehead, Lu Yuan took the medicine bag and was about to leave. Who would have thought that when he stood up suddenly, there was a black spot in front of him.

Pah——

A bag of medicinal materials fell to the ground.

“Xiao Yuan!” Ganzi was startled and hurried over to help.

 Lu Yuan was also scared. Normally, he had some symptoms of low blood pressure, usually in the morning, or when he stood up after squatting for a long time. Today, he was not only dizzy, but also had a cramping pain in his lower abdomen…

Could it be food poisoning? But why was Ganzi fine?

“I’m fine, I’ll be fine after a rest…” Lu Yuan wanted to stand by himself, but he had palpitations, his stomach was also aching, and cold sweat flowed down his spine…

“Xiao Yuan, your face is so pale. I’ll go find someone to check it out!” Seeing Lu Yuan like this, Ganzi was still young after all, and had never experienced anything big, so he panicked at the time. He helped Lu Yuan to stand up and hurried out to find someone, but this movement stunned Ganzi.

“Xiao… Xiao Yuan! Why are you bleeding!”