Snake-Eye Furuncle

"Aren't you embarrassed to take his money?"

After listening to Su Ziyang's words, Fairy Li put down the measuring ruler in her hand and chuckled softly.

After Su Ziyang returned, he told Fairy Li about Song Li's offer to give him money.

"Yeah, I'm a little embarrassed." Su Ziyang nodded.

"Let me put it this way, these people are all opportunistic. Their generosity towards you is for a reason; they're not being nice to you for no reason. The fact that they're willing to give you such a large benefit means you're worth that much."

Fairy Li squeezed Su Ziyang's hand. "Let me put it this way. Of course, you're not short of money, I'm just giving you an example. If one day you're broke and you ask them for a loan, although they will definitely give it to you, they will definitely not ask for the money back, but the situation will be different then."

"So, we don't actively ask for any benefits, and we don't refuse what they give us, because it's better for them to give it to us voluntarily than for us to ask them for money later when we're short of it!"

After all, Fairy Li had much more life experience than Su Ziyang, and a few words from her made Su Ziyang understand the pros and cons.

"Zijun, you're amazing!" Su Ziyang said, playfully hugging Fairy Li's waist.

Fairy Li pinched Su Ziyang's cheek. "Go away, I'm busy. Go to the side!"

"I'll cook you two simple home-style dishes tonight! We'll eat at home. You're busy, I'll go buy the groceries!"

Su Ziyang was in a great mood and made arrangements to show off his skills to Fairy Li.

"Okay! Go ahead and do whatever you want. I need to finish this renovation plan, so I can't go grocery shopping with you!"

Su Ziyang bought some mutton and planned to make stir-fried mutton with scallions.

I also bought eggplant, green beans, and potatoes to make a dish called "Di San Xian" (a stir-fry of potatoes, green beans, and eggplant).

After returning, Fairy Li continued drawing, while Su Ziyang busied himself cooking in the kitchen.

Su Ziyang finished cooking, and Fairy Li was almost done with her work.

"Wow! Your 'Three Treasures of the Earth' dish is delicious! You can make it often!"

After taking a bite of the "Three Treasures of the Earth" (a dish of potatoes, eggplant, and green peppers), Fairy Li gave Su Ziyang a very high evaluation.

"That's a must!" Su Ziyang was quite proud of his specialty dish.

After the meal, Fairy Li busied herself as usual, while Su Ziyang practiced his martial arts, read books, and copied scriptures.

The next day, as soon as Su Ziyang opened the door at work, Han Jinkai suddenly called.

Are you on house calls today?

"Hey Brother Han, something's up?"

The friends Han Jinkai introduced last time came to Su Ziyang's place for herbal paste treatments, Su Ziyang had already made all the arrangements.

When the phone rang suddenly, Su Ziyang assumed it was because someone needed to make ointment again.

"That's enough! I'll be there in a bit!"

Han Jinkai hung up the phone immediately after saying just one sentence.

Su Ziyang felt something was off, and about half an hour later, Han Jinkai brought his wife into the house.

"Brother Han, your wife is here too!"

Su Ziyang quickly gestured for the two to sit down. Han Jinkai frowned and said, "Ziyang, quickly show your sister-in-law what that thing on her hand is!"

Han Jinkai's wife stretched out her finger; the tip of her index finger was red and swollen.

"Huh? Let me see!"

Su Ziyang stared at his finger for a while, then took out a cotton swab and pressed it on his fingertip.

"Pain!"

Su Ziyang pressed down with a cotton swab, and Han Jinkai's wife screamed.

"It started yesterday, but I thought I wouldn't bother you. I went to the hospital, and they said it was just an infection on the tip of my finger. They said I should take some antibiotics, and then wait until it gets infected and then they'll cut it open and drain the pus! For now, I just have to bear it!"

Han Jinkai said this with considerable anger, "Damn it, this person is in so much pain. They gave me some anti-inflammatory ointment, but it's not helping at all! It still hurts!"

"Brother Han, your wife's hand looks like a snakehead boil."

What does "snakehead boil" mean?

Han Jinkai was a little surprised by the name of the disease.

"This is a term from Traditional Chinese Medicine. 'Snake-head boil' means, you can also understand it as an inflammation of the fingertip," Su Ziyang explained to Han Jinkai. "It's usually caused by an infection."

"Sister-in-law, your finger must have been bitten by bugs these past few days! It shouldn't have suddenly become like this!"

After throwing away the cotton swabs he had just used for applying pressure, Su Ziyang asked...

"Ah! I was cleaning the house yesterday, and it must have been so warm in here that there were still mosquitoes at this hour. They bit my finger, and at first I didn't think much of it, but now it's swollen so much! It's throbbing and hurts!"

Han Jinkai's wife was in so much pain that she barely dared to move her fingers. She placed her hand on the table and said to Su Ziyang.

"Yes, this hurts. In Western medicine terms, it's called an acute purulent infection. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, it's said to be caused by external injury to the fingertip leading to the accumulation of toxins. It's okay, sister-in-law, wait a moment, I'll fix it for you, and it won't hurt in a while."

Su Ziyang reassured Han Jinkai's wife, then turned on the computer to prescribe the medicine.

Due to improvements in productivity, living standards, and sanitation, this disease is less common now, but it does still exist; it hasn't completely disappeared.

In traditional Chinese medicine, this disease is mainly divided into early, middle, and late stages.

In the early stages, the main symptoms are numbness, itching, and pain in the fingertips, followed by needle-like pain, swelling of the fingertips, increased skin temperature, and minimal redness. The swelling gradually increases.

In the middle stage, the distal phalanx of the finger swells into a snake-head shape, and there is severe throbbing pain when pus forms. The pain intensifies when the finger is lowered, and even a light touch on the fingertip causes severe pain. It is accompanied by symptoms such as chills, fever, and loss of appetite.

In the later stages, the pus is usually thick and yellow, the swelling gradually subsides, the pain disappears, and the patient tends to recover.

This disease is not difficult to treat. If it is detected and treated in time, there are generally no major problems.

But sometimes, when you're unlucky, your finger might rot, which is called a serious injury.

This is a rather serious situation.

Sometimes people ask, "Doctor, why did I get this disease?"

Leaving aside a person's living environment and personality traits.

All I can say is, you're probably a little unlucky.

Getting back to the main point, Su Ziyang got some realgar powder from the pharmacy, then went upstairs to find Daoist Master Xiao Yang and asked for some mung beans, and also brought an egg from home.

We had to piece together all the medications needed for this treatment.

Realgar is just powder; it doesn't need any processing.

Su Ziyang took a handful of mung beans, ran to the pharmacy and borrowed their medicine grinder, "crunch crunch crunch crunch" crushing the mung beans into powder.

"Brother, is this really that complicated? Look at you running back and forth!"

Han Jinkai felt a little embarrassed looking at Su Ziyang's busy appearance.

"It's alright, Brother Han. The medicine isn't complicated, it's just a little troublesome! That's good!"

Su Ziyang picked up the egg with a smile.