Chapter 23: Heart Bleeding

"You wandered around for ages just to buy some corn grits?"

Seeing Li Yancheng return with a cloth bag in hand, Zhou Guotao opened it, took a peek, and asked with some surprise.

"I also picked up two catties' worth of meat coupons."

Li Yancheng lowered his voice, sounding as furtive as a thief. It made sense; collecting ration coupons was, after all, much like being a thief. Zhou Guotao cast an amused glance at the four half-catty meat coupons.

"Then why aren't you scrambling to spend them? Planning to keep them as souvenirs for when you go back?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Li Yancheng was baffled. Souvenirs? What on earth was he talking about?

"My friend, look closely. These are Yishun County meat coupons. Once we return to the city, they'll be useless. Or were you planning to take a bus all the way back to Yishun County just to buy two catties of meat?"

*What?!*

Hearing this, Li Yancheng hurriedly held up the four coupons. Only then did he notice the bold print on them: *Yishun County Exclusive Meat Coupons*. Once outside the county, these things were essentially waste paper—too small even to be used as toilet paper.

No wonder that person had sold them so cheaply; the price for a catty of coupons was the same as a catty of meat. He had recalled that in the city's black market, a catty of meat coupons usually sold for one to 1.2 yuan, so he had mistakenly thought he’d found a bargain.

Thinking of this, he shook his head, feeling a mix of amusement and frustration. "I didn't even check; I just assumed they were city coupons."

As he spoke, he placed the coupons onto Zhou Guotao’s desk. "Here you go, Brother Zhou. Why don't you take another stroll and see if anyone will take these for two catties of meat?"

The two pork vendors at the market were selling on behalf of their villages and didn't require coupons at all. If he wasn't careful, these four slips of paper really would end up as souvenirs.

"I don't have the skill to spend those," Zhou Guotao refused without a second thought. The meat stalls in town were already packed up for the day, and there was nowhere left to use the coupons. He had already walked enough; it was freezing outside, and he wasn't about to go back out.

"Get up early tomorrow and go buy the meat. If that fails, ask Old Liu or Old Ma if they want them. By the way, how much did you pay for them?"

"Seven mao a catty."

"One yuan and four mao. Hmm, that’s not too bad. Later, see if those two want them. Just give them to one of them for a yuan."

Li Yancheng felt like crying. That was four mao gone right there—a significant loss. He had been so pleased with himself a moment ago, and now his heart was bleeding.

Was four mao a lot? It was quite a bit. He had bought five catties of corn grits for just a yuan. In this day and age, people who sold grain were rare; most didn't have enough to eat themselves, let alone surplus to sell. At most, you’d find people taking fine grains to the black market to trade for coarse grains, where one catty of fine grain could fetch two to three catties of coarse. Four mao could buy two catties of corn grits, which, paired with some wild vegetables, would sustain a family of three laborers for a full day. If Li Yancheng had to eat it all himself, it would last several days. How could he not feel the sting?

He had been transmigrated for nearly a month now and had learned to accept this era and think with its logic. He no longer looked at prices like he had in those first few days, thinking everything was dirt cheap. Of course, he wasn't a miser by nature; he couldn't master the extreme penny-pinching of someone like Comrade Old Jia. So, after a brief moment of annoyance, he let it go, especially since a patient had just arrived.

The patient was a woman in her sixties. She wasn't a rural resident, but one look told you she had spent her whole life in toil. She was brought in by her youngest son and daughter-in-law, who were both town officials working at the livestock station.

The old lady lived with her eldest son in the county seat. Six months ago, while doing chores, she had reached for a bowl, and with a "clatter," it slipped and shattered on the ground. The eldest son, who happened to be home, rushed over to ask what was wrong. The old lady said she might just be tired; her fingers felt weak and numb, and she couldn't grip anything. When her son looked closer, he saw her fingers trembling violently, so he took her to the hospital for an examination. They prescribed a lot of Western medicine, but after half a year of treatment and a significant amount of money spent, there was no improvement.

They had come to town because the youngest son and daughter-in-law weren't taking leave for the New Year, and the old lady wanted to visit her grandson. Seeing her fingers trembling even more severely, the daughter-in-law suggested they bring her in for a checkup. She didn't expect a cure; she just wanted to do her part, as even the doctors in the county hadn't been able to help.

Hearing that she had already seen Western doctors without success and lacking any diagnostic equipment here, Zhou Guotao let Li Yancheng handle the case.

Li Yancheng had been observing the woman since she walked in. He noticed her pale complexion and a slight tremor in her head. After taking her on as a patient, he inquired further and learned that she often suffered from heart palpitations. Even her voice trembled as she spoke.

"Alright, ma'am, please open your mouth."

"Ah..."

He examined her tongue while carefully feeling her pulse. The tongue was red, the coating white, and the pulse thready.

*Blood deficiency leading to internal wind.*

Li Yancheng quickly reached his diagnosis. Through the tongue, pulse, palpitations, and pale complexion, it was clearly blood deficiency. Having worked hard her entire life, how could she not be blood deficient? This was especially true for women in their fifties and sixties. Decades of menstruation, followed by kidney essence depletion and a weakened spleen and stomach in middle age, meant their blood was far less sufficient than before. Add in the stress and toil of life, and blood deficiency was almost inevitable.

Blood deficiency leads to many problems, and physical discomfort is one of them—things like finger tremors, numbness, and fatigue. This condition required nourishing the blood and promoting circulation.

Following standard practice, he started with acupuncture to treat the ailment and boost the confidence of the patient and her family, while also promoting blood circulation and unblocking the meridians. Fifteen minutes later, he removed the needles and wrote out a prescription: Rehmannia, white peony root, angelica, Szechuan lovage, gastrodia, uncaria, scorpion, and earthworm.

Rehmannia nourishes the blood, angelica promotes circulation, white peony root replenishes blood, and Szechuan lovage moves it—these four herbs would improve the blood deficiency. Gastrodia and uncaria calm the wind, while scorpion and earthworm unblock the meridians. By doing this, he was treating both the root—nourishing and replenishing the blood—and the symptoms—calming the wind and unblocking the meridians.

In fact, by the time he removed the needles, the youngest son and daughter-in-law were already stunned. The old lady hadn't noticed, but the two of them saw it clearly: her fingers had stopped trembling.

*This... no wonder he was sent here for medical support. Despite his youth, he really has skill. Are doctors from the city all this capable?*

"Come back tomorrow and the day after for two more acupuncture sessions. Take this medicine for three days. Make sure the old lady does less work and gets more rest."

"Yes, we understand, Doctor. We don't let her do much, but she just can't sit still," the son explained, worried the doctor might think they were mistreating her.

"She can't just 'not sit still.' Ma'am, do less work from now on. Taking good care of yourself, staying healthy and free of illness, is the greatest help you can give your children. Look at you now—you're ill, they have to worry about their work, and they have to worry about you. There are children at home, too; it's just endless worry. It's exhausting, isn't it?"

"Yes, yes, you're right, Doctor. I'll remember that."