Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1242 The Illness Stabilizes, Wild Realgar (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

The person who opened the door was still Wang Huiyuan's husband, Comrade Lao Zhang.

He was a little surprised to see Fang Yan and the others when he opened the door.

Then he realized what was happening and said to Fang Yan and the others:

"Oh dear, why did you come so suddenly? Wasn't there a Ministry of Health conference today?"

He said in dialect:

"I came over after the meeting. There happens to be a colleague here who came back from XJ. His family has a long history of treating brain tumors, so I thought I'd take a look at Aunt Wang."

Upon hearing this in dialect, Comrade Zhang quickly greeted him:

"Comrade XJ is back? Come inside, come inside!"

His eyes swept across the faces of the group and he quickly spotted Tao Guangzheng, a complete stranger. There was only one like him, so there was no need to guess; it had to be him.

After everyone was welcomed into the house, Comrade Zhang said to Fang Yan:

“With Master Haiteng’s two disciples here helping to take care of her, she has been taking the medicine according to the prescription you left behind, three times a day, on time. Huiyuan herself said that she has been feeling much better these past few days.”

"Now he can eat and drink, and he no longer has a coma or epileptic seizures. He can even get out of bed and go to the toilet by himself."

She said she could go back to work in a while.

Seeing Old Zhang's delighted expression, Fang Yan didn't dampen his spirits. Instead, he happily said:

"I knew Aunt Wang was blessed with good fortune!"

"Now it seems I was right."

Old Zhang was also very happy and led Fang Yan and the others into the bedroom.

"Huiyuan! Fang Yan, Mr. Hu, and Secretary Huang have come to see you."

"He also brought an expert who had just returned from XJ."

There was a scent of mugwort and herbs in the air of the bedroom.

The window was drawn with a semi-transparent gauze curtain, and the afternoon sunlight outside shone through the curtain onto Wang Huiyuan's face, revealing a faint flush.

She was leaning against the headboard, with a quilt behind her, wearing a white nightgown with the sleeves rolled up, revealing her wrists.

But it seemed a bit more lively than when the dialect came last time.

Her daughter, Zhang Li, was keeping watch here, while Master Hai Deng's two disciples sat to the side.

Hearing Lao Zhang's voice, she turned around and immediately greeted Fang Yan and the others:

"Oh, you've arrived."

His voice was stronger than before, and he could at least speak clearly.

Fang Yan smiled and nodded in agreement. She noticed a small blue-and-white porcelain bowl on the bedside table, with half a bowl of millet porridge left inside. Next to it was an apple with a smooth peel, clearly freshly washed.

"Aunt Wang looks much more energetic." Fang Yan smiled as he approached, his gaze sweeping over her face. Her previously sunken eye sockets were fuller, and her lips had regained some color, no longer that frightening pale white.

Wang Huiyuan raised her hand to tidy up the stray hairs on her forehead; the movement was slow, but very steady.

"Thanks to you, I've been feeling much better these past few days. Master Hai Deng's apprentice comes to give me acupuncture every day. The needles don't hurt much, but they make me feel very sore and numb..." She smiled. "Yesterday I even went to the living room and sat for a while by myself."

Tao Guangzheng stood behind Fang Yan, silently observing her expression.

Fang Yan was also observing Wang Huiyuan. Her breathing was still relatively even when she spoke, and although her eyes looked a little tired, they were not as unfocused as before.

Then, Fang Yan introduced Tao Guangzheng, who had come over, to Wang Huiyuan.

They said this was an expert who had just returned from XJ, and that his family had a long tradition of treating brain diseases.

Hearing this, Wang Huiyuan became even more enthusiastic towards Tao Guangzheng and said to him:
"Dr. Tao, you've worked so hard. You came to see me as soon as you got back. I'm so grateful to you."

Tao Guangzheng hurriedly waved his hand and said:
"It's alright, doctors are here to treat illnesses."

After saying that, he asked:

"By the way, how are you feeling now?"

Wang Huiyuan said to Tao Guangzheng:
"I feel a little short of breath, my mind is still a bit hazy, and I don't feel as steady as before when I walk. I'm also afraid that I will lose my balance and fall."

"But it's much better than before. Before, I was always in a coma."

Tao Guangzheng nodded. After glancing at Fang Yan, he said to Wang Huiyuan, "Let me take your pulse and see how your recovery is going."

Wang Huiyuan nodded and gently placed her wrist on the edge of the bed.

Zhang Li moved aside so that Tao Guangzheng could take her pulse.

After Tao Guangzheng sat down, he reached out and put his hand on it.

"Hmm, your spirits are lifted." He let go of her hand, gesturing for Fang Yan to try as well.

Fang Yan leaned down, his fingertips resting on her genitals. He closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, his brows furrowing slightly. But when he noticed Wang Huiyuan looking at him, he forced his expression back to normal.

Then he switched to his other hand, applying slight pressure with his fingertips to carefully discern the subtle changes in the pulse. After a long while, he straightened up and gave Tao Guangzheng a look.

Tao Guangzheng smiled at Wang Huiyuan and said in a gentle tone, "Your pulse is more stable than I expected. With your heart and energy restored, your body will have a stronger foundation. Shortness of breath and unsteady gait are common during the recovery period. Just like parched land that has just seen rain, it takes time to recover."

He then looked at Lao Zhang and Zhang Li and continued:

"Director Fang's previous prescription was accurate and helped to stabilize the vital energy, which is a great thing."

"Next, we'll adjust it slowly. I'll add a few more herbs to promote blood circulation and clear the blockage in the brain. Maybe then you'll be able to walk more steadily."

Wang Huiyuan nodded repeatedly, her eyes brightening slightly.

"Hearing Dr. Tao say that makes me feel at ease. You're experts, I trust whatever treatment you give me." Old Zhang rubbed his hands together, his face crinkling into a wide smile.
"That's right, that's right! With you all here, our whole family feels at ease! If you need any medicinal herbs, just let us know, we'll sell everything we own to scrape together the money!"

Tao Guangzheng waved his hand:
"Don't worry, Comrade Zhang, the institute has a full range of medicinal herbs."

"Please remember to tell Comrade Wang to avoid raw or cold foods; that's more important than anything else."

He gave a few more instructions on diet and daily life, every word of which was very practical, and Old Zhang and his daughter agreed repeatedly.

After only a few words, Wang Huiyuan was already feeling tired.

She yawned, a little embarrassed. Seeing this, Fang Yan told everyone to quietly retreat to the living room.

Only Zhang Li remained inside.

Even two of Master Haiteng's disciples came out.

At this moment, Wang Huiyuan, sounding somewhat tired, reminded her husband, Lao Zhang, in the room:

"Don't forget to make tea for the guests!"

Upon hearing this, Old Zhang finally came to his senses and hurriedly said he would go to the kitchen to boil water and make tea.

They also offered fruit to Fang Yan and the others.

After he left, Tao Guangzheng's smile faded, and he lowered his voice to say to Fang Yan:
“Director Fang…this pulse looks steady, but it’s actually weak and superficial. When you take a deep breath, it feels very rough, like touching a rough stone. The tumor hasn’t moved at all.”

Fang Yan frowned and nodded:
“I felt it just now too. The surface ‘qi’ has been raised, but the ‘stagnation’ inside hasn’t dissipated at all.”

Hearing the conversation between the two, Secretary Huang, who had been watching the whole thing, was taken aback.

These two are pretty good actors; he didn't notice anything amiss at all.

Tao Guangzheng said:
“She can eat and walk now, all thanks to the previous prescriptions that kept her alive. It’s like painting a dead tree with green paint; it looks fresh, but the roots are still hollow.”

“Moreover, she just said that her head felt heavy and she was unsteady on her feet, which are signs that the tumor is compressing her nerves.” Tao Guangzheng clenched his fingers. “I didn’t dare to say it earlier, but this situation is much more troublesome than the benign tumors recorded in the medical records. The blood stasis and toxins have already become entangled with the blood and qi. If we try to clear it up too hard, we are afraid of damaging her vital energy, and if we try to regulate it slowly, we are afraid that it will grow too fast.”

Secretary Huang, who was listening nearby, asked in alarm:
"Then... then all the improvement before was fake?"

"It can't be said to be fake," Fang Yan sighed. "At least it pulled her back from the brink of death, but it's still a long way from a complete cure."

Tao Guangzheng stroked his chin and nodded, saying:

"The pulse is still somewhat strong when taken, but becomes hesitant and sluggish when pressed deeply, as if something is blocking it... This is a case of 'deficiency with excess'."

Then he asked in dialect:

"Dr. Fang, how did you treat them before?"

Fang Yan then briefly explained the process. Tao Guangzheng was quite impressed when he heard that Fang Yan and his team used ancient methods to revive people, and then Fang Yan used another method to stabilize the person's condition to this point.

Little did he know that the formula used to stabilize the dialect was one he would use more than a decade later.

Now I only feel that the prescription in Fangyan is very ingenious and exactly what he wanted.

He nodded repeatedly, praising the dialect:
"Director Fang's prescription seems to be quite effective. Even if it can't cure the patient, just using it can extend the patient's life by many years. I'm truly impressed!"

Fang Yan, without blushing, said to Tao Guangzheng:
"Let's not be shy now, why don't you tell me what you're thinking?"

Upon hearing the dialect, Tao Guangzheng said:
"Let me think about it..."

Fang Yan thought that if all else failed, he should just call for help!

However, Tao Guangzheng thought for a moment and said:

“I plan to add a few more herbs to your prescription and try them out. They are all anti-cancer herbs, so maybe they will work.”

Upon hearing the dialect, his eyes lit up immediately—this was exactly the same idea that Tao Guangzheng originally had in history!

So he quickly said:
"Okay!"

"So what are you planning to do?"

Tao Guangzheng opened his mouth, but then stopped himself from speaking.

Fang Yan thought it was a secret recipe and said:
"If it's a secret recipe that's inconvenient to disclose, you can figure it out yourself; you don't need to show it to me."

Tao Guangzheng shook his head and said:

"No, the main thing is that we need to use one ingredient... wild sal ammoniac."

"Wild sal ammoniac?" Fang Yan was taken aback.

Wild sal ammoniac is a natural halide mineral, mainly composed of ammonium chloride. It usually exists in crystalline form and is mostly found near salt lakes and salt springs in arid regions. It is distributed in northwestern my country, including Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Gansu.

Among them, the wild sal ammoniac from Altay, Xinjiang, is well-known for its unique quality, and to some extent, this is the authentic producing area.

In traditional Chinese medicine, sal ammoniac is regarded as a mineral medicine with strong medicinal properties.

Its flavor is salty, bitter, pungent, warm, and toxic. It enters the liver, spleen, and stomach meridians. It has the effects of eliminating accumulations and softening hard masses, breaking up blood stasis and dispersing nodules, and promoting tissue regeneration. Historically, it has often been used to treat masses and accumulations, which are space-occupying lesions such as tumors and cysts in Western medicine, as well as carbuncles, boils, and pterygium in traditional Chinese medicine.

However, due to its high toxicity, its clinical use requires extremely strict processing and dosage. It must be processed in special ways, such as soaking in vinegar or milk, to reduce its toxicity, and it must be used under strict control.

It belongs to the type of mineral-based Chinese medicine that traditional Chinese medicine practitioners would avoid using if possible in their previous lives, based on local dialects.

Fang Yan rubbed his face and asked:

"Is it mandatory?"

"Can other medications be used as alternatives?"

Tao Guangzheng said:
"This is a method from my family's secret recipe; I've never seen an alternative."

P.S.: I got 100 more monthly votes, so the balance is now even after this chapter. Please keep voting!

(End of this chapter)