Warm the Menses Decoction

"It's okay, relax. I'll register your information. Then we can talk about seeing a doctor, okay?"

Seeing that the girl was sitting there without saying anything, Su Ziyang once again used a gentler tone to signal her to relax.

The girl then nodded and completed the registration.

Su Ziyang knew the girl's name was Zhang Yan, she was just 22 years old, and she came here to work.

After a few casual words, Zhang Yan seemed to relax, and Su Ziyang then learned about the cause and nature of Zhang Yan illness.

Zhang Yan got a boyfriend, and the two moved in together. But in a very dramatic and cliché way, Zhang Yan's boyfriend disappeared after finding out Zhang Yan was pregnant.

Zhang Yan met this boy online, and she came to this place secretly by herself. She had no relatives or friends there, and she hadn't received her salary for this month.

Lacking money, Zhang Yan went to a small, unregulated clinic and spent several hundred yuan to have an abortion.

After the miscarriage, there was only slight bleeding at first. Since Zhang Yan worked in an electronics factory, where she had to sit at her desk for 12 hours a day, Zhang Yan was afraid that the factory would not pay her wages. So, instead of resting at home after the miscarriage, she insisted on continuing to work.

Prolonged and strenuous work directly led to increasingly heavy bleeding that could not be stopped.

According to common sense and logic, in this situation, one should go to the hospital.

Seeing the continuous bleeding, Zhang Yan became frightened and rushed to the city hospital.

After arriving at the hospital, the doctor said she needed to have another D&C procedure. Considering the total cost of the D&C and all the necessary tests, Zhang Yan silently left the hospital.

If she had money, she wouldn't have gone to an unlicensed private clinic for an abortion...

Zhang Yan came today because she heard that traditional Chinese medicine was much cheaper than a D&C procedure, so Zhang Yan found the nearest TCM clinic and went to Su Ziyang's office.

After learning the cause of the illness, Su Ziyang had a general idea of the direction of treatment.

"Let's drink some herbal medicine; it'll help you recover faster."

After Su Ziyang made the suggestion, Zhang Yan nodded in agreement.

Su Ziyang began typing the prescription on the computer. This prescription came from the second volume of "Synopsis of Prescriptions of the Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet," specifically the chapter 22, "Miscellaneous Diseases of Women."

The formula is called "Warm the Menses Decoction," and there is a mnemonic verse for it:

Warming the meridians with Ligusticum striatum, Paeonia lactiflora, Angelica sinensis, and two liang each of cinnamon bark and peony bark.

Use half a pint of Pinellia ternata and double the amount of wheat, along with three ounces of ginger and dogwood to complement the chief ingredient, Chenpi.

Evodia rutaecarpa (15g)

Angelica sinensis (10g)

Chuanxiong (10g)

Peony root (10g)

Ginseng (10g)

Cinnamon twigs (10g)

Donkey-hide gelatin (10g)

Ginger (10g)

Moutan bark (10g)

Raw licorice root (10g)

Ginger-processed Pinellia (15g)

Ophiopogon japonicus (19g)

7 pay

This formula has several benefits.

The first and most important use is to treat menopausal women (around 50 years old) who often have diarrhea, fever at night, hot palms, and dry lips.

This condition is caused by a previous miscarriage or similar event, resulting in blood clots in the uterus.

The second function of this formula is to treat female infertility caused by cold uterus.

The third function is to treat metrorrhagia.

The fourth function is to treat menstrual problems. It can regulate menstruation in two ways, treating both amenorrhea and prolonged menstruation.

That's why Su Ziyang chose this prescription.

Since Zhang Yan had been bleeding for quite some time, Su Ziyang used this prescription, and overall, it seemed to be very suitable for Zhang Yan.

After writing the prescription, Su Ziyang carefully checked the medicine again.

"Doctor, I can't decoct medicine where I live."

After hesitating for a long time, Zhang Yan finally spoke.

"Oh, it's alright. Our pharmacy can prepare the medicine for you. We'll make it into individual packets, and you can just heat it up with hot water when you get home. But be careful not to drink cold medicine! And try to eat as little raw, cold, or spicy food as possible."

After giving the doctor's instructions, Su Ziyang noticed that Zhang Yan kept glancing at his computer screen. Su Ziyang assumed that Zhang Yan wanted to look at the prescription, so he gently tilted the computer screen towards Zhang Yan.

"You should take a look at the prescription. You can take a picture of it with your phone. The pharmacy will also print out a prescription for you after they dispense the medicine, and it will have the prescription on it."

Su Ziyang chuckled, and Zhang Yan blushed again, hurriedly waving her hands. "Doctor, no. I don't know anything about traditional Chinese medicine. Why would I look at a prescription? I... I just wanted to see how much it costs."

"Oh~" Su Ziyang finally understood, and then opened the total amount on the system.

"This medicine contains a few relatively expensive herbs, so it's a bit pricey. There are 7 doses in total, costing 432.67."

After Su Ziyang read out the amount, Zhang Yan's expression changed immediately, and her face was filled with embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry, doctor. I've troubled you for so long, but I don't have that much money. I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble."

Zhang Yan stood up and bowed repeatedly to Su Ziyang. After speaking, she quickly left.

Su Ziyang watched Zhang Yan's retreating figure, his mind suddenly went blank. "Don't go. Let me replace a few of the medicines inside for you and see if I can get a discount. The prescription will definitely work, but it might not be as effective."

Upon hearing Su Ziyang's words, Zhang Yan immediately stopped and turned back. "Doctor, can it be changed?"

Su Ziyang nodded in acknowledgment, and then began to replace the two main, expensive medicines inside: ginseng and donkey-hide gelatin.

Ginseng was replaced with Codonopsis pilosula, and donkey-hide gelatin was replaced with donkey-hide gelatin beads. With just two of these changes, the overall prescription cost nearly half the price, becoming 245.6 yuan.

"I've replaced these two medicines for you. See, they're much cheaper than before, but the effects definitely won't be as good."

Su Ziyang gestured for Zhang Yan to look at the amount displayed on the computer. Zhang Yan hesitated for a moment after looking at the price, then took out a black wallet from her backpack.

Su Ziyang watched as Zhang Yan sat on the stool fiddling with her wallet.

Zhang Yan sat there holding her wallet for a full five minutes, counting the coins.

He held a handful of banknotes, plus two one-yuan coins, one fifty-cent coin, and five one-cent coins.

Zhang Yan carefully searched her wallet twice and found a total of 193 yuan.

Zhang Yan counted again, unwilling to give up: one hundred yuan note, one fifty yuan note, one ten yuan note, two five yuan notes...

After counting it over and over, it's still 193 yuan.

As she finished counting, Zhang Yan sighed... Sigh...

"Doctor, I'm so sorry, I really don't have that much money. Please take my pulse, I have to go now, I'm so sorry. It wasn't intentional!"

As Zhang Yan spoke, she picked up the paper tickets on the table and put them in her wallet. Then she put the coins in her wallet. Perhaps Zhang Yan was nervous, because her hands were shaking a little, and several one-cent coins and a one-yuan coin fell directly to the ground.

Coincidentally, the few one-cent coins bounced twice on the ground and landed in the same spot, while the one-yuan coin rolled under Su Ziyang's examination table.

The examination table was only an inch or two off the ground. Zhang Yan bent down to reach the coin, but unfortunately, her hand couldn't fit inside.

Embarrassed and nervous, Zhang Yan's face flushed red. Su Ziyang's heart skipped a beat when he saw Zhang Yan reach for the one-yuan coin.

In the same spot, Zhang Chunyi opened her handbag, inside which were thirty to forty thousand yuan in red bills. Yet this young and beautiful girl blushed with embarrassment over a one-yuan coin.

"Get up, I'll use this to dial it out!"

Su Ziyang walked over with a broom from behind the door.

Seeing that Su Ziyang was about to help, Zhang Yan Su Ziyang snatched the broom from his hand and squatted down to sweep under the examination table...

But life seemed to be playing a joke on her; Zhang Yan scanned the coin ten times but couldn't find it.

At this moment, Zhang Yan's face turned even redder, appearing even more embarrassed against her pale cheeks caused by excessive bleeding.

"I'm so sorry, doctor. I've troubled you. I don't need it. Just take it with you when you sweep the floor; it'll be convenient for taking the bus or something."

Zhang Yan, head down, holding a broom, was about to walk out when she finished speaking.

Su Ziyang waved his hand, signaling Zhang Yan not to rush, then took the broom from Zhang Yan's hand and swept it forcefully under the examination table, and the coins were swept out.

"Here you go." Su Ziyang picked up the coin, wiped the dirt off it with a tissue, and handed it to Zhang Yan.

Zhang Yan took the one-yuan coin and was about to run away when Su Ziyang stopped her again.

Zhang Yan, unsure of Su Ziyang's intentions, asked somewhat fearfully, "Doctor, I didn't mean to take up your time. I really have no money left, as you can see. It wasn't intentional. Please let me go!"

"Uh... hahaha"

Upon hearing Zhang Yan's words, Su Ziyang immediately laughed.

"No, I didn't mean anything by it. Your bleeding is so severe, you need to get treatment as soon as possible. Don't you want to die? Dragging this out will only make things worse. I thought of a cheap remedy, do you want to try it? Don't worry, it won't cost much, you'll definitely have enough for your subway and bus fare home!"

Upon hearing Su Ziyang's words, Zhang Yan's eyes suddenly lit up. "Really? That's wonderful! Thank you so much, Doctor. You've really gone to so much trouble!"

As he spoke, Su Ziyang gestured for Zhang Yan to sit back down at the consultation table. He then opened the computer system, deleted the medication he had just prescribed, and prepared to prescribe a single-herb remedy for Zhang Yan. Su Ziyang felt it would be effective, but he wasn't entirely sure.