Courtyard House: Rebirth of a Shopkeeper in 1937

Before they knew it, time had slipped away. It was nearly noon when the women from the inner room came out carrying the little ones who had just woken up. The little ones were much better after waking up, their big, bright eyes looking around. They were no longer crying or fussing, and their little faces still had a touch of childishness.

The master's wife quickly got up and went over to check each of the little ones' foreheads. A relieved smile appeared on her face—the children's temperatures had dropped significantly, and they were out of danger. She then carefully gave the women some instructions on daily care, such as feeding them plenty of warm water, keeping the children warm, and giving them another dose of herbal medicine on time to consolidate the treatment. The women nodded repeatedly, took note, and thanked the master's wife again and again while holding their children. They then said goodbye to Xingbao and Guixiang before hurriedly carrying their children down the mountain to go home.

The master's wife looked up at the sky and said with a smile, "It's almost noon. I'll go cook. You two siblings shouldn't just sit idly by; come and lend a hand." Xingbao and Guixiang quickly got up and responded. Guixiang took the initiative to pick and wash the vegetables, while Xingbao squatted by the wood-burning stove to add firewood and start the fire. As they worked, they listened to the master's wife continue to tell them interesting stories about their master's medical practice. The firewood crackled and popped, and the aroma of the food gradually filled the air. The kitchen was filled with a warm and harmonious scene, cozy and comforting, dispelling the winter chill.

Lunch wasn't ready yet when the master's gentle voice came from the kitchen doorway, cutting through the sounds of firewood crackling and laughter: "What are you all chatting about, having so much fun?"

Upon hearing this, Xingbao and Guixiang immediately stopped what they were doing, their faces instantly lighting up with joyful smiles. They exclaimed in unison, "Master, you're back!"

Gui Xiang ran quickly to the kitchen door, tugged at her master's sleeve, and chattered excitedly, "Master, we're listening to your wife tell stories about your past medical practice. It's so interesting!"

The master's wife also stopped what she was doing, turned around and smiled at her master: "You're back! You must be tired from your journey. Warm up by the fire first. Dinner will be ready soon."

Xingbao quickly got up to greet his master, carefully taking the medicine box from his shoulder and gently placing it on the stool in the corner. He then patted the dust off the box and said softly, "Master, please sit down. It's warm by the stove." Guixiang also took her master's hand and led him to a stool by the stove. She even placed a warm piece of roasted sweet potato in his hand, smiling as she said, "Master, try this, it's so sweet!"

Master chuckled as he took the dried sweet potato, brought it to his nose to smell it, took a small bite, and his brows and eyes relaxed as he jokingly said, "In a few years, Master won't be able to eat this dried sweet potato anymore! Where were you all talking about? I could hear you laughing so loudly from outside."

Gui Xiang immediately chimed in, "Master, Master, we were talking about how you learned medicine from your master back then! Your master's wife is telling us about the cases you treated!" Upon hearing this, the master's smile deepened. He put down the dried sweet potato and continued the conversation, deliberately choosing some simple and easy-to-understand cases, emphasizing the considerations of the principal, assistant, adjuvant, and guide herbs in the prescription. At this time, Gui Xiang and Xing Bao were still young, and the master had not yet begun to teach them the skills of observation, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation. Usually, he only focused on teaching them to identify, recognize, and memorize medicines. This arrangement was also meaningful—he was afraid that the two were too young and their temperaments were not stable. After learning some rudimentary diagnostic methods, they would not be able to control their tongues and would casually say that someone was sick if they saw that someone's complexion was slightly unwell, which would only cause displeasure and trouble.

The master's wife quickly prepared lunch, and the group sat around the wood-fired stove, eating simple food and chatting over warm rice porridge. They continued discussing the mundane matters of practicing medicine and recognizing herbs, filling the kitchen with a warm and harmonious atmosphere. After the simple and cozy lunch, the master's smile faded, and he began testing the siblings' knowledge. His questions ranged from the names and properties of common medicinal herbs to the formulation of basic prescriptions, asking detailed and organized inquiries. Fortunately, Guixiang and Xingbao had always studied diligently, and no matter what the master asked, they answered fluently and without any stage fright.

Seeing that the siblings had learned so well, the master was very pleased and couldn't help but praise them, his tone full of expectation: "Good, good, you two have indeed not disappointed your master, you learn so quickly and diligently." After praising them, the master took out several written prescriptions, spread them on the table, and began to explain in detail the role of each of the various drugs in the prescriptions, which were the principal drugs, which were the assistant drugs, and how the adjuvant drugs helped to harmonize the prescriptions. Xingbao and Guixiang listened intently, nodding frequently, afraid of missing a single key word.

Time flew by. Not long after Master finished explaining the prescription, several more people came to see him for medical treatment, mostly for common ailments like colds and coughs. Master was busy taking patients' pulses and writing prescriptions. Seeing this, Xingbao and Guixiang went to Master's wife and whispered, "Master's wife, let's learn how to dispense and weigh medicine from you. We'll learn more skills so we can help you and Master in the future."

Seeing the siblings' eagerness to learn, the teacher's wife was overjoyed. She quickly took out two small, exquisite copper scales, one large and one small, from a drawer next to the medicine cabinet and handed them to the two children. She patiently explained, "Guixiang, Xingbao, learning to dispense medicine isn't just about recognizing the herbs; you also need to be precise in using the scales. There's no room for carelessness. Look at these two scales I have here; they're called 'děng' scales, and they come in two sizes."

The master's wife held the large steelyard balance, gently shaking it as she demonstrated, and explained in detail, "This large one is mainly used for preparing general medicine prescriptions, with a weighing range between one qian and one jin. You see these markings; one dot is one qian, two dots are one liang." Then, she picked up the small steelyard balance, pointing to the tiny markings with her fingertip, and added, "This small one is different; it's mainly used for preparing prescriptions for some fine, precious, and toxic Chinese medicines, with a weighing range between one fen and one liang. One small dot is one fen, two dots are one qian."

Then, the master's wife taught the two how to hold the scale and grasp the medicine, speaking earnestly and meticulously: "You also have to remember the rules of weighing—when weighing, the scale rod should not go past the tip of your nose, and the weight should be hung on the tip of your little finger; when grasping the medicine, use the first three fingers of your right hand, and when weighing, place the scale rod on the middle finger and the web between your thumb and forefinger of your left hand, and use the extension and flexion of your left index and middle fingers to move the weight rope forward and backward, so that you can weigh accurately."

The master's wife, holding a large steelyard balance, demonstrated the entire process of dispensing and weighing medicine with practiced ease and fluidity. Xingbao and Guixiang, holding smaller steelyard balances, clumsily tried to imitate her, their fingers unable to grip the bars steadily, and the weights never quite settling on properly. It took them several attempts before they gradually got the hang of it. Xingbao secretly marveled. In his previous life, he had only seen such steelyard balances when buying medicine at pharmacies, never actually operating one himself. Now, after quietly calculating, he realized that the balance's precision reached 0.2 grams, almost comparable to the precision electronic scales of later generations. He couldn't help but admire the wisdom of the ancients.