In the blink of an eye, two days passed.
After work that day, Xu Damao went to see Lin Zhen again and brought two bottles of liquor.
Lou Xiao'e had happened to take the children out, so Xu Damao had no reservations and got straight to the point.
"Master Lin, I really can't go on like this. Ever since that bastard Silly Zhu scared me once, I haven't been able to perform. And every morning when I get up, my stomach hurts. I can't stand even the slightest chill. Do you have any other remedy?"
Lin Zhen could not help but laugh. "If you really can't, then rest for a few days. What are you in such a hurry for?"
Xu Damao said with a miserable look, "Now I'm not only worried about whether Jingru can have twins. I'm even more worried about that."
Lin Zhen nodded and pretended to suddenly understand. "Oh~ so that thing of yours doesn't work anymore!"
"Yeah! Isn't that why I hurried over to ask you?"
"It's no use asking me. You need to go to a big hospital."
"No, no. It'd be too embarrassing to get that checked at a big hospital. Don't you know medicine? Take a look at me."
"But I'm only an unlicensed amateur. You should go to a pharmacy instead."
"Don't say that. Check my pulse properly first. As the old saying goes, folk remedies cure difficult and complicated illnesses."
Lin Zhen shook his head with a helpless smile. If this were a few decades later, you'd definitely be looking for those old Chinese medicine ads on utility poles.
Fine. Checking his pulse would do no harm.
Lin Zhen placed three fingers on Xu Damao's wrist.
He found Xu Damao's pulse thin and floating, rapid, urgent, and chaotic. It was a sign of depleted yin and yang, of a spirit unable to settle.
The cause was congenital weakness compounded by later overexertion, with a large part of it stemming from fright and shock.
As for curing him completely, with Lin Zhen's max-level medical skills, it would have been as easy as turning over his hand.
But Lin Zhen did not feel like being so charitable right now. After all, part of the reason this man had no heirs was because he himself had been too immoral.
Just because he was not disrespectful now did not mean he would not be in the future.
Especially when the times changed, there was no telling whether he would report his own wife, Lou Xiao'e, behind their backs.
Xu Damao was a genuine villain. He had to be guarded against.
Everything would have to wait until that time came. After seeing Xu Damao's true behavior, Lin Zhen would decide whether to lend him a hand.
Lin Zhen asked thoughtfully, "Damao, have you been feeling your heart race these past few days, breaking out in cold sweats at the slightest thing, and waking up startled in the middle of the night?"
Xu Damao nodded repeatedly.
Lin Zhen asked again, "When you eat or drink, can't you tolerate anything even slightly cold?"
"That's amazing! Exactly!"
"Do you also feel top-heavy and light-footed, like you're floating when you walk? Are your lower back and knees weak and sore? Do you get dizzy and see stars if you squat for too long?"
"You're a miracle doctor, Master Lin! You have to prescribe me some medicine today!" Xu Damao looked as if he had grabbed a lifeline, his eyes shining.
Lin Zhen said blandly, "Your racing heart, cold sweats, and nighttime palpitations are from depleted heart yang and weakened gallbladder energy. Silly Zhu scared it out of you."
"That fucking bastard Silly Zhu! I'm not done with him!"
"Not only that, but both the yin and yang of your kidney energy are depleted. Your kidney water has dried up and can't enter the Pool of Splendor, which is why you plow the field but no seedlings grow."
"Ah, those are all medical terms. I don't understand any of it. Just tell me how to treat it."
Lin Zhen sighed. "It can't be treated. Have Qin Jingru prepare your funeral arrangements."
"What?!!!"
Thud!
Xu Damao collapsed onto the floor in fright, trembling all over.
"Don't! I'm only in my twenties! My parents are still back in the countryside! I haven't even had children yet! I... I..."
Xu Damao's face went pale, and cold sweat instantly covered his forehead.
"All right, stop crying. I was just teasing you!"
"Huh?! Th-then, Master Lin, don't scare me like that! You scared me to death!"
"I wanted to scare you again. Otherwise, you'd keep moping around."
Xu Damao asked in surprise, "Scaring people can cure illness too?"
Lin Zhen smiled faintly. "Sometimes, yes. Since you brought two bottles of liquor, I'll prescribe you another dose of medicine to regulate your deficient heart yang and leaking gallbladder energy."
"And that kidney water and Pool of Splendor thing you mentioned—treat that too."
"You're too weak to take tonics. Are you trying to go play chess with your brother-in-law Jia Dongxu?"
Xu Damao immediately shook his head. "No, no. You have the final say. What medicine should I get?"
"Go buy a big rooster and stew it. Eat it all. Don't plow any fields for a while. Get some rest."
"Will that really cure me?"
"Yes. A rooster greets the first ray of yang energy every day. It drives away evil and calms fright. It's the most effective thing for you."
Xu Damao left in complete belief.
He had really just overworked himself too much these past few days. If he ate something nourishing and rested for a few days, he would recover.
Lin Zhen's words were a reassurance, essentially a form of psychological suggestion.
After being frightened and then comforted just now, the spirit Silly Zhu had scared out of Xu Damao slowly returned.
After all, Xu Damao had voluntarily brought two bottles of liquor, and his attitude had been extremely respectful.
So Lin Zhen gave him a little guidance. As for having children, the time was not right yet.
Xu Damao headed straight to the market after leaving and bought a big rooster.
Yu Li was washing clothes in the front courtyard. Seeing Xu Damao carrying a big rooster home, she asked with a smile, "Oh? Xu Damao, who are you nourishing with that?"
"Jingru and I are both having some. Aren't we trying to have children? We can't neglect our stomachs. Lin Zhen suggested it, and what he said made sense."
After Xu Damao went back to the rear courtyard, Yu Li took his casual words to heart.
These past few days, Yu Li had also noticed that she was not pregnant.
Although she and Yan Jiecheng were not as loud and showy as Xu Damao, shouting about learning from Lin Zhen and having twin sons, they also cared deeply about having children.
Since she had not conceived this month, Yu Li felt a little unhappy.
She knew more than Qin Jingru and understood that pregnancy involved both the man and the woman, and that mood and diet also played a major role.
Yet ever since she married into the Yan family, they had lived with their belts tightened.
As for food, they could not compare to Lin Zhen's family at all. They were only slightly better off than Qin Huairu's family.
Every night, her father-in-law sat with an abacus, clacking away as he calculated. Every penny spent was recorded in the ledger.
It was infuriating. How could she possibly be in the mood to prepare for pregnancy?
Yu Li thought it over and felt they could not keep living like this.
She went inside and said to Yan Jiecheng, "Yan Jiecheng, I need to talk to you about something."
"What is it?"
"Let's figure out whether it's more worthwhile to eat with your parents or split off and live on our own."
Yan Jiecheng said in surprise, "Why are you suddenly coming up with this? Of course it's more worthwhile to eat with our parents. Even if we split households, we won't split the kitchen. Dad earns more than both of us combined. Don't think about anything else. Just go eat when it's time."
"Look at Xu Damao. He's spent plenty of money trying to have children, and he just bought a big rooster. You tell me, how can the two of us compare when we eat coarse grain with your parents every day and still don't get enough? What if Qin Jingru gets pregnant and I don't, then your parents blame me?"
Yan Jiecheng smiled. "They won't. What are you thinking? Come on, let's go eat now."
Third Mistress had not finished cooking yet, while Third Master Yan Bugui was inside calculating accounts.
When he saw his eldest son and daughter-in-law come in, he pointed at the stools beside the table.
"Sit first."
The moment the two sat down, Yan Bugui began settling the accounts.
"Jiecheng, you've received your wages for this month, haven't you? Do I still need to chase you for them?"
Yan Jiecheng smiled awkwardly. "I was just about to bring them to you. But is my little bit of money worth using both a ledger and an abacus? It's not even enough to cover the cost of paper and ink."
Yan Bugui said coldly, "Indeed, it isn't. Both your wages and Yu Li's wages have to be handed over. Otherwise, my monthly pay can't support seven people."
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