The Female Supporting Role Shows Out Chapter 145

Published at 11th of August 2022 07:31:23 AM

What happened in Xing Lin Spring had also been taken in by the medical practitioners and apprentices of Xuancao Hall. Everyone looked at each other in dismay, each with different expressions, but they could not look down on Lin Dan with that kind of like-mindedness as they did before. It should be known that in order to cure that patient with intestinal ulcers, they personally watched Zheng Zhe and Wu Xuancao repeatedly formulate and rescind operation plans. During the treatment process, they needed to open the abdominal cavity. This was already extremely difficult. Post-surgery nursing would require them to squander even more time and energy. As long as one segment went wrong, the patient might die, and the success rate was only forty or fifty percent.

To say something unpleasant – it was precisely because the patient's situation was hopeless and no cure existed that Zheng Zhe and Wu Xuancao would think of performing surgery. They were treating a dead horse as if it were a living horse, trying their luck. This was the common understanding. The patient's family knew it, Zheng Zhe and Wu Xuancao knew it, the medical practitioners and apprentices of Xuancao Hall knew it, and even the patient himself knew it. Once you had this disease, other than try your luck, what else could you do?

But now, this man who had been doomed to die was easily brought back to life by Lin Dan. The herbs she used were all worth very little. From start to finish, it didn't cost more than five taels of silver. The patient was sent in in the morning and could go home in the afternoon; the recovery speed was extremely fast, making everyone watching dumbfounded.

With his family member supporting him, the patient repeatedly bowed to Lin Dan with a very grateful expression. As he paid the consultation fee, his elder brother fell into a daze for a moment, then quickly ran to the door of Xuancao Hall and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Return my deposit of fifty taels! When you said that you were going to do surgery, in addition to the deposit, you also wanted to charge me another two hundred taels of silver and ask me to sign a contract that said that my brother was not guaranteed to be saved, making us take responsibility for life and death. But look, my brother was saved by little Physician Lin! From start to finish, it only cost five taels of silver and eight hours.”

He spat fiercely and his tone was very disdainful: “Bah, what “miracle doctor”? I think “quack doctor” is more like it! Charging me so much money but not even being able to guarantee survival, then saying that she can't treat it at the last minute and delaying my brother's illness for no reason! If it weren't for little Physician Lin's extraordinary medical skills and how quickly they took effect, my brother would have died today! From now on, our family will never come to Xuancao Hall for treatment again! Whoever comes is a fool!”

The apprentices and medical practitioners of Xuancao Hall had always attached great importance to protecting the shop's reputation. If anyone said a single sentence about how Xuancao Hall was no good, they would immediately rise to attack them. But this day, they actually started blushing and didn't dare to refute a word.

When the passers-by heard the man's words, they all showed astonished expressions and commented, “Good lord*, from start to finish it would have costed two hundred fifty taels of silver** to treat one illness, isn't this daylight robbery?”

*Literally, “my mother,” a common swear word.

*“Two hundred fifty taels of silver” is also a way to call someone an idiot. An emperor experienced an attempt on his life so he set a one thousand tael bounty for whoever turned in the assassin. Four different people turned themselves in, so the emperor bestowed each with two hundred fifty taels of silver, then executed them.

“Did you not hear him clearly? How much money it costed is the trivial part. The important thing is that they couldn't even guarantee that the patient will be cured at all. They even want you to sign a life and death contract to exempt them from taking responsibility! If this really was the case, then I would never have dared to undergo treatment. I would have run much earlier. They're accepting money to harm a life!”

“They wanted them to sign the life and death contract because they were afraid that if the disease wasn't cured, the patient's family would make trouble, right? It can be seen that Physician Wu's medical skills aren't all that. A disease that little Physician Lin could cure in two or three moves becomes opening the belly on her side, signing a life and death contract, making it seem like it's so hard to treat or something.”

“From this, it can be seen that although the two doctors are around the same age, there is still a big gap in their level of ability.”

The passers-by shook their heads and dispersed. Henceforth, such an impression was left in their hearts – although Wu Xuancao's medical skills were high, after all was said and done, she couldn't compare with Xing Lin Spring's little Physician Lin. Little Physician Lin could even drive Miracle Doctor Zheng away. Her medical skills were probably far superior to those of the other two.

As a result, Xing Lin Spring's business became more and more prosperous. Many doctors were attracted by its reputation and became resident doctors, treating patients on the one hand while following Lin Dan to learn medicine on the other. There was no need for her to deliberately impart any secret skills. As long as they stayed by her side and watched how she applied acupuncture and medicine, everyone benefited quite a bit. Her method of treating patients was very unique, focusing on speed, stability, and efficiency, leaving contemporary physicians far in the dust.

By evening, the story of her curing a patient with intestinal ulcers had already been spread by passers-by, and her prestige started to faintly overtake that of Wu Xuancao.

After Xue Boyong left the barracks, he never returned to Xue Manor, but went directly to Xing Lin Spring. As soon as he entered the rear courtyard, he said, “I heard that you cured a case of an incurable disease today?”

“Intestinal ulcers don't count as an incurable disease. My ancestor was good at treating acute diseases. In his lifetime, he encountered twenty-two cases of intestinal ulcers and cured them all. I drew on the experience of my ancestor, so my techniques were naturally better than those of ordinary doctors. I'm just taking advantage of my family inheritance.” Lin Dan was scrubbing the sheets, her hands turning red from cold.

Those who had dealings with the clinic were all patients. This one vomited a mouthful of blood, that one was incontinent, and so on, making the sheets into a huge mess. They had to be cleaned and replaced every day.

Xue Boyong rolled up his sleeves, took over the sheets as if it were natural, and said gently, “I'll wash it, you've worn yourself out a whole day now, so go take a rest.”

Lin Dan shook her head: “I only need to sit and diagnose when practicing medicine. But you, on the other hand, have to go through a lot of training* in the barracks. When all is said and done, who's the tired one?”

*Literally, “touch, crawl, roll, hit,” referring to the physical training.

Xue Boyong chuckled softly: “We're both tired. Why don't we just hire a few servant women. They can also take care of you.”

When Lin Dan heard these words, she immediately wiped her hands, went back into the room and fetched a small notebook, pointing each line out for him to read: “Our clinic has only started to make money this month. In the first few months, we have to buy herbs and pay rent. It's really not an insignificant sum of money. We finally made some money this month with great difficulty, but I used it to hire apprentices and resident physicians. When there are more patients, more herbs are consumed. Expenditure in this area is inevitable and the flow of money is very large. We must ensure that we have five hundred taels of silver in our purse at all times for this…… Brother, you do the math. Where do we have any spare money to hire servants with?”

She said “we” each time she opened her mouth, as if she had already regarded this place as the shared home of her and her Brother. There was little alienation and much intimacy in her words, which made Xue Boyong cheer up instead. He looked at Lin Dan with tenderness in his eyes and sighed, “Since that's the case, I'll come back a little earlier and help you do the chores.”

Lin Dan was not polite with him. She pointed at the basin and said, “Let's work together to wring out the sheets. Then, you go chop wood and I'll go cook. Brother, don't you worry. Xing Lin Spring's business will only get better and better. When I have money, we can hire a few more servants and you will never be asked to do chores again. Brother, these days, it's been really hard on you.”

In Xue Manor, Xue Boyong never had to do chores, but when he came to her place, he had to do laundry, chop wood, and cook, making him cut a sorry figure from head to toe. Xue Boyong deigned to do it all because of her, how could she not be grateful? She originally wanted to refuse him, yet she had to admit that if a family didn't have a man to support it, merely depending on herself, she would really be too busy to do everything.

Xue Boyong could totally have paid out of pocket for Lin Dan to hire a few servants, but he didn't do that. He liked to hurry back every day to help her with chores. In this way, he could slowly integrate into her life and become an indispensable part of this home. He and Lin Dan each held one end of the sheet, slowly wrang it out, then hung it on the clothesline. Together, they poured out the basin of dirty water. One of them chopped firewood and the other went into the kitchen to cook. The division of labor was very clear.

Several bodyguards hid outside the door and craned their necks, but did not dare to go in. They found the general sending a meaningful look in this direction, so they immediately left. After leaving Xing Lin Spring, they sighed and said, “Why do you think the general bothers with all of this? He doesn't act like a proper noble heir. Instead, he comes to Miss Lin's place to be a laborer. It's like he's addicted.”

“This is something you don't know. When you do chores for your sweetheart for a long time, you will naturally become a family. The general is using strategy. At first, Miss Lin even told the general to return to Xue Manor and said not to worry about her, but now, if the general doesn't come the entire day, she has to go to the barracks to find him. Don't you see that she can't be without the general anymore?”

“So that's the case. I hope the general's efforts will come to fruition earlier rather than later.”

A group of people laughing as they discussed, obviously very optimistic about this couple.

Lin Dan's days became better, but Wu Xuancao's days became much more difficult. Without Zheng Zhe residing, it was difficult for her to support Xuancao Hall alone. If the people who came for treatment were commoners, she could still say that she was studying and could not come, pushing them onto the other medical practitioners for treatment. However, if she encountered someone whose identity was high, she had to go personally or else risk offending them.

Just a single sentence from one of these people could destroy Xuancao Hall in one day and ruin Wu Xuancao. She couldn't hide and she didn't have the guts to hide.

What could go wrong, would go wrong*. On this day, the Marchioness of Wu'an, who had some connections with her, came to seek treatment, saying that her right upper limb was cold and numb, sore and weak, and that she often experienced symptoms such as headache, convulsions, and fainting. She used to be a woman with a full figure, but now she was so thin that only a handful of bones remained. If it wasn't for the support of the two maids on her left and right, she would probably topple over at any time.

*Literally “whatever she was afraid of, that was what came.” I translated it to Murphy's Law.

The Marchioness of Wu'an fainted on the street two months ago, and it was Wu Xuancao who promptly administered first aid and finally brought her back. Naturally, she trusted the other party completely. Walking into the inner hall, smelling the strong scent of medicine, she immediately felt much more at ease and asked softly: “Xuancao, my disease is not hard to treat, right?”

“Let me check your pulse for you before we say anything.” Wu Xuancao had already learned to check a pulse and was calm at this time, but the next moment, when she put her fingertips on the Marchioness of Wu'an's wrist, her complexion changed.

“Xuancao. Why do you look like this? Is it because my illness is very serious?” The Marchioness of Wu'an's eyes were red and her face was desperate. In fact, she had seen many imperial physicians and taken many medicines, but there was no progress, so she personally came to Xuancao Hall for a consultation. If even Wu Xuancao couldn't cure her illness, then she really didn't know who else to turn to.

Wu Xuancao shook her head and did not dare to speak. She tried harder to feel the pulse, but found nothing. The Marchioness of Wu'an was sitting in front of her, alive, but she couldn't feel a pulse. What kind of disease was this? Before transmigrating, she was only a general surgeon. It would be absolutely impossible for her to claim to be able to understand and cure all diseases.

Why was there no pulse? A lot of options appeared in her mind at once. It might be a problem with the aorta; it might also be a deficiency of blood or qi; it could even be a heart disease. Arterial problems were then split into many types, such as sclerosis, dissection, thrombosis, and so on and so forth. There were even more types of heart diseases; it was impossible to say them all in one breath.

*Aortic valve sclerosis is a thickening of the aortic valve. Aorta dissection is a tear in the inner layer of a weakened area of the aorta and is also known as an aneurysm. Aortic thrombosis is a blockage in the aorta, often due to a blood clot or plaque.

For these diseases, the simplest and most efficient treatment was undoubtedly surgery. Either removing emboli*, grafting the aorta, dilating blood vessels; or bypass surgery, replacement, or even a heart transplant. These treatment methods did not even have the prerequisites for implementation in this backward era. Even if they could be implemented, Wu Xuancao didn't have the skill.

*Emboli are blockages.

The Marchioness of Wu'an's illness, she had no way to treat it!

Chapter end