Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 18 Living Bodhisattva

Xingji County became bustling, and the news that Zhang Luan provided free medical treatment spread like wildfire.

But it is obvious that most people find it difficult to accept new things at first. Even if the government sets up herbal medicine growing sheds, few people come.

Huizhou Merchants’ House.

Xu Gong, a subordinate of Manager Qin, went there to check and came back to report the situation to Manager Qin.

"…Not many people went there, and most of those who went there first were those who had been in contact with patients and were supposed to be sent to the Yagu Temple for isolation. I heard that Mr. Zhang took people directly to the Yagu Temple, and he was responsible for planting medicine for everyone there. For ordinary people, it is definitely a dangerous place…"

Shopkeeper Qin listened for a while and frowned:

"This Mr. Zhang is quite responsible. He even dared to break into the Yagu Temple... Mr. Wang said he was a quack. It seems that he is biased."

Xu Gong said: "Well... Boss, should we also grow some medicine? I heard that there was a smallpox epidemic in Huizhou this autumn. If we can prevent it..."

Shopkeeper Qin waved his hands and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Even if Mr. Zhang is a student and has studied for a few days, should we trust Mr. Wang, a master of medicine who has been practicing for generations, or a poor scholar who doesn't even know the basics of medicine?"

"Ah... I am indeed ignorant... So, Mr. Zhang is just a name. If we let him do whatever he wants, I am afraid he will bring disaster to the local area. The city's epidemic prevention work was pretty good, but after all this, I am afraid..."

Xu Gong hesitated to speak.

Shopkeeper Qin nodded, "I understand. The local government is biased and what can we do? If I come forward to dissuade them, the local magistrate who is eager to make contributions will definitely not listen to me. It seems that I can only make suggestions to Hejian Prefecture, but the magistrate may not listen. However, there are some acquaintances in the local government. If they hear about it and report the matter to the court, it may be possible to avert a disaster."

"so……"

Xu Gong hesitated, "Will this make things worse?"

Shopkeeper Qin said, "The officials and people of Huizhou are loyal and devoted to serving the imperial court. We have never lacked courage and bravery. If we are afraid of causing great harm to ourselves and ignore the people's livelihood, how can we live in peace? I will write a letter and send it to the local censor. I think the local censor has heard the news. We are just telling the truth and are not wronging good people. We understand the good intentions of the local government... We are just worried that someone will take the opportunity to cause trouble."

"Yes Yes."

Xu Gong responded quickly.

……

……

Zhang Luan and his son Zhang Yanling went to the Yagu Temple. After they came out, they looked like two plague gods. Even the officials who had been accompanying them kept their distance from them.

The two were arranged to stay in an abandoned house near the Yagu Temple. They had to take care of their own meals. They were provided with rice and cabbage, and rarely a jar of salt.

The father and son ate salted cabbage and rice in the evening. The bland soup made Zhang Yanling realize the importance of wealth and glory.

The most urgent task is to solve the problems of food, clothing, housing and transportation. Otherwise, who can bear to eat bran and vegetables all day long in ancient times?

"Son, I'm not saying anything to you, but you insist on suffering along with me. What's the point?" Zhang Luan put some cabbage into his son's bowl with an expression of sympathy.

Zhang Yanling asked in surprise, "Didn't you and mother ask me to come here?"

Zhang Luan glanced at his son and said, "You were allowed to follow me into the city, but I didn't allow you to follow me to this dangerous place. If I die here, won't you have to die with me? This will be a big loss! If only your brother is left at home... Sigh!"

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Dad, what are you worried about? Are you worried that my eldest brother won't be able to support the family?"

"Humph!"

Zhang Luan rolled his eyes at his son, and with another chopstick, he stuffed the cabbage he had picked up for his son into his own bowl. He then shoveled the food into his mouth, and after a few bites, he said, "You are such a smart kid, I was really fooled and believed your lies. You must find that copy of Treatise on Febrile Diseases and show it to me later."

Zhang Yanling tactfully put some food into Zhang Luan's bowl.

"Eat yours. How could a father snatch food from a little kid like you?" Zhang Luan glared at his son.

Zhang Yanling smiled and said, "Dad has to plant medicine for people tomorrow. It must be very hard. How can I not be considerate as a son? I don't have a small appetite, so just eat a little."

"Oh! I really don't know... how to say it, I never thought you were so filial before. Well, the family can't count on your eldest brother in the future. He is uneducated and destined to achieve nothing. Fortunately, God has mercy on us, and our Zhang family finally has a good son..." When Zhang Luan said this, he changed his previous attitude towards his son.

Then the father and son passed food to each other.

"Dad, this dish doesn't taste good. I sent it to you because I couldn't eat it anymore. Do you want to fill me to death?" Zhang Yanling said.

"You little brat, I really thought you had changed your personality! If you don't want to eat it, forget it."

Zhang Luan was cursing but his face was full of smiles.

At this moment, both of them felt the strong father-son love.

……

……

After dinner, with the help of the tung oil lamp provided by the government, Zhang Luan took out the medical book from the medicine box and wanted to read it for a while to learn the basic medical knowledge in it, but found that he could not understand it at all.

"The patient with solar disease, fever, sweating, aversion to wind, and slow pulse is called a stroke... Oh, so this is called a stroke, but what does it mean?"

After all, Zhang Luan didn't understand medical knowledge, so reading this thing was like reading a book from heaven.

Zhang Yanling saw Zhang Luan's confused and curious look, as if he saw his younger self in his previous life. When he saw medical terms he didn't understand, he would ask his grandfather about them, and his grandfather would patiently answer his questions every time...

"More than 20 years have passed before I knew it..."

Zhang Yanling couldn't help but sigh.

"Son, what's wrong with you again? Come, let your father take a look at you."

Zhang Luan happened to have no one to practice with, so he grabbed his son's arm, felt his pulse for a long time, then felt his own pulse, and finally murmured, "This probably means a slow pulse."

Zhang Yanling was surprised: "Dad, my pulse is so strong, how can you say it is a slow pulse? I have a high stroke volume... You can actually associate a young man's pulse with illness! What a shame."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Do you know this?"

As soon as Zhang Luan frowned, horizontal lines appeared on his face.

Zhang Yanling thought, let alone whether it works or not, being your master is definitely enough, and he immediately said, "Dad, if you feel the pulse, it's like this...thump, thump... It feels slow and weak, and sometimes it's so weak that you can't feel the pulse, then it's a slow pulse, and a stroke cannot be determined by the pulse alone, it mainly depends on other symptoms."

The father and son discussed medical principles seriously.

But basically it was just the son talking to his father, and the father had a silly look on his face, it was almost like he was listening to a foreign language.

Zhang Luan didn't take it seriously, thinking his son was just bragging, with a lot of far-fetched stuff. In the end, he actually laughed out loud: "You only understand the meaning of the text, how can you apply it in practice? It's interesting, it's rare that you know a few more words than your brother, and you can fool people well."

Zhang Yanling was speechless.

Just as the father and son were about to rest, a voice came from the door.

"Dad, it seems like there is someone outside... Look, there is a fire." Zhang Yanling pointed at the crack in the door.

"Go out and have a look."

Zhang Luan stood up and was about to go out.

Zhang Yanling pulled him aside and said, "Aren't you afraid that the villagers will think your treatment is useless and come to cause trouble for us?"

Zhang Luan said righteously: "I treat patients and save lives, regardless of life or death, and they still dare to cause trouble? Do you have a conscience?"

Zhang Yanling thought, it’s best not to talk about conscience between doctors and patients, especially since your treatment methods are so unconventional, it can easily cause hatred.

But Zhang Luan was a down-to-earth man. He ignored his son's advice and went straight to the yard and opened the door to welcome the guests.

……

……

When he saw the person coming, Zhang Yanling realized that he had been overly suspicious.

A village head brought hundreds of neighbors to give Zhang Luan gifts and to beg him to treat their illnesses.

Zhang Luan said, "Mr. Li, you are embarrassing me. The county government has already set up medicine sheds in various places in the county to grow medicine. Why do you have to come here in person? Tomorrow morning, I will grow medicine for you in the city. There will be no delay."

The head of the village surnamed Li said helplessly: "Mr. Zhang may not know, since the smallpox epidemic broke out in the city this year, people around the Yagu Temple are not allowed to even leave the alleys, and some families have run out of food..."

"The year is coming to an end and now is the winter season. If we don't go out to make a living, I'm afraid most families won't survive the winter. Especially since it's already the end of the year, many families haven't completed their corvée service this year yet, and they will have to do it again after they go out. It's extremely difficult for poor families to make a living!"

Zhang Luan sighed, "Everyone has a hard life, please understand."

After hearing what Li Lizheng said, Zhang Luan felt the same way, because his own family was almost too poor to have food to eat. If he had not gone to the city to borrow money from a wealthy family, the subsequent series of events would not have happened. Although his wounds had healed, he had not forgotten the pain.

"So I want to ask Master Zhang to plant the medicine on all the able-bodied men here."

Li Lizheng said, "Before, the neighbors didn't believe you and thought you were just trying to attract attention. But when they learned that you had been to the Wang family and that you came to the Yagu Temple to save people today, they all admired you and knew that you were dedicated to saving the people and risked your life. You have a noble character and are worthy of the trust of the people!"

Zhang Luan waved his hands hastily: "I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it, I'm just following the government's orders to grow herbs to treat illnesses."

Someone nearby said respectfully, "Mr. Zhang, you are too modest. Who in the city doesn't praise you? They all say you are a living bodhisattva who brings blessings to thousands of families... We are just ordinary people who can only rely on selling our physical labor to earn a little capital for survival. We are not like scholars like you who have a large family and a great business."

Only then did Zhang Luan realize that in the eyes of outsiders, he, a student with a lot of fertile land at home and no worries about food and clothing, even came out to personally heal illnesses and save lives. He was simply a great philanthropist who saved all living beings.

They were not aware of Zhang Luan's current family situation, nor did they know Zhang Luan's original intention of coming forward to treat the disease.

Zhang Luan said, "Well, since you are all here, I can't just sit there and watch. I will plant the herbs tonight. The sooner we plant the herbs, the better. Everyone, please line up first and don't be chaotic! Let's plant the herbs overnight. In this way, after ten days or half a month, you can go wherever you want like ordinary people."

"well."

Li Lizheng was very moved and even began to wipe away tears. Life was very difficult for someone like him who had a certain status and position, let alone ordinary people in the city.

Then the stall was set up.

The small courtyard is no longer just a temporary shelter for Zhang's father and son, but has also become a medical clinic for curing illnesses and saving lives.

Those who came to Zhang Luan to grow herbs were orderly and did not fight or compete with each other. After the herbs were planted, they were all grateful.

(End of this chapter)