My family in the village is considered to be in good condition, my father is mediocre talent, did not inherit the mantle of grandmother, but accidentally found the business opportunities of medicinal herbs. He transformed several acres of the family's land into a medicinal herb greenhouse and planted the herbs Polygonum cuspidatum, ginger, and wei ling xian, which have a higher and more stable purchase price than crops.
My parents diligently planted medicinal herbs, relying on this to build a two-story building, but my grandmother is a bit disdainful of my father, who is only interested in earning money, and their relationship is a bit frosty, but my grandmother usually stays in the clinic at the east end of the village to see people, they basically do not meet during the day.
My grandparents are both surnamed Lin, said to be distant siblings, and the legacy of witch doctor was brought over by my grandmother from another Lin family. At first she intended to teach my grandfather, but he did not seem to be enlightened enough to learn. In the end, my grandfather continued to work as a farmer, while my grandmother treated people in the village, and she became famous for her skillful and effective medicine.
I grew up loving my grandmother for no other reason than she was good to me.
My parents were always too busy to breathe, their brows were always locked, and the dinner table was basically chattering about the family's expenses, trying to calculate the harvest and expenses, sighing that this year was bad again. For my occasional interruptions, my father always waved his hand impatiently and said, "Go go go, what do children know."
My grandfather is very cheerful and kind, but a bit of an old boy's endowment, especially love to tease me, as if teasing their own grandson is a matter of pride - grandfather tricked me to eat pickled vegetable roots, tricked me to stab a hornet's nest; once took me to pick mulberries, actually left me alone in a three-meter-high tree and ran away, and when I cried The first time I took me to pick mulberries, I was left alone in a tree three meters high and ran away.
The first time I was fooled, I was not a foolish elk, I did not like to play with him, and ran to my grandmother's clinic, pestering her to tell me a story.
Grandmother is always kind-hearted, as if there is an endless story in her stomach, told without repetition, often let me immersed in it, forgetting the time.
I often stayed at my grandmother's clinic from morning to night, and from time to time, I was mischievous, fighting with scorpions and cicadas, grabbing some herbs and pounding them to make "poison", and being found by my grandmother was a lesson, but she loved me very much, and her hand was always raised high and dropped gently to beat me.
Once, the village Wang Lao Han had a fever and was sent by his family to see a doctor, and I played on the side and casually said: "Drink Chai Hu Tang and sweat!"
The adults in the room were very impressed, saying that I was a smart kid who could see people!
My grandmother laughed: "He's just talking nonsense, ignore him. Let me check your pulse first."
After taking the pulse, my grandmother prescribed Chai Hu Tang, and the adults laughed and said, "The child is right.
After the patient left, my grandmother asked me who had taught me. I said proudly, "No one taught me, but when you see a patient, it's Chai Hu Tang for fever and Gui Zhi Tang for cold.
Grandma laughed heartily and stroked my head, "You're a smart little brain, but you can't generalize between a cold and a fever, they're not really diseases, they're symptoms."
I asked in confusion, "Grandma, what are the symptoms?"
Although I am young, but grandmother still very seriously told me some of the distinction between foci and diseases, finished speaking and asked if I understood.
I thought about it and nodded my head, "Yes, I understand! What is visible is the disease, what is invisible is the disease!"
Grandma looked at me and suddenly showed some surprise, did not speak for a long time, I have never seen her like this.
I never saw her like this before. I didn't expect this to reach my father's ears, and he came to the conclusion that my grandmother was teaching me bad things and instilling useless things.
He felt that this would delay the child's education and was going to enroll me in a private kindergarten in the county.
When my grandmother heard about this, she got very angry and scolded my dad with her cane, and in her anger, she also said that some of the herbs he planted were using ripening agents and were simply harming people.
My father also became angry and said some unpleasant things, and ended the argument with "my son doesn't need your control".
My grandfather told my father that "children going to school in the county are easily trafficked", and my father, who was not very educated, was not too concerned about where I was going to school, so he let it go.
So I still pestered my grandmother every day, listening to her stories, but the stories she told me changed style, no longer telling some strange anecdotes, and began to tell me stories such as Sun Simiao, the medicine king, the divine doctor Hua Tuo.
Life after that was quiet until I was in sixth grade when my grandfather suddenly fell ill!
His condition was very strange, a cluster of flesh buds like mushrooms and ears grew below his neck, once touched, they would bleed more than once, and after the bleeding was stopped, they would keep flowing pus, and his whole body was painful and itchy, as if countless ants had crawled through.
Grandma decided that this was a dangerous contagious disease and packed up a clean room to isolate Grandpa inside.
Grandma built a small coal stove in the courtyard and used a casserole to decoct medicine, holding a worn-out fan in her hand, her wrinkled cheeks red from the fire, she mumbled something under her breath, which was talking to the herbs, called "wishing medicine", Grandma said that the blessed herbs could play better.
Whether or not this is a metaphysical trick, but grandma's concern for grandpa is genuine.
But after a month of continuous drinking, I saw that my grandfather was too poor to stay in the small room every day, and asked my grandmother anxiously why this medicine did not work.
Grandma sighed and said, "This medicine is not to deal with this disease, in fact, it can only prevent the spread of the virus, and at the same time strengthen the body, so that the disease will get better on its own."
I asked, "If you strengthen your body, will you get better?"
Grandma explained, "Using medicine is like using an army, many times it is not a direct attack. Now this move is called 'siege and attack' in the art of war, which is to keep the virus under control, cut off its supply, and slowly consume it."
I said in a daze, "That's impressive, there's still this way!"
It's true that my grandfather's condition did not deteriorate, even though he was not cured. However, by the third month, my dad gradually lost his patience, accusing my grandmother's medicine of not working and preparing to take my grandfather to a Western doctor, and if that didn't work, to have surgery.
He said irritably, "Mom, don't stop me, people in the village are now poking me in the back, saying that I left my old man sick and didn't care!"
Grandma poked him with her cane in anger, "Don't do anything! If you give up now, you'll lose everything! This is a contagious disease, and many people will die if you do anything wrong!"
My father, like a stubborn bull, said with a stubborn neck, "How do you know it's a contagious disease? Even if it is, who passed it on to my father? You don't have advanced equipment, you just say it's an infectious disease, you just know how to believe those stupid medical books in your house, you're really ignorant to the core! I'll take my father to the city tomorrow to see a doctor!"
Grandma shivered with anger and yelled, "I should never have given birth to you, you son of a bitch!"
I was so sad watching them fight, but I didn't know who to help.
This time, my dad was serious and was ready to take my grandfather to the city the next day, despite my grandmother's resistance. But when I went to pick up my grandfather, I found that the door to the hut where he was kept as an isolation ward would not open, and it was clearly unlocked!
My dad was desperate and went to get a sledgehammer to break down the door, when my grandmother arrived and stood at the door, her face dark and majestic, warning him, "Don't move, or you'll be the one who gets hurt!"
"I have to take my father away today, I don't believe this!"
With that, my father swung the hammer and smashed it, but the sledgehammer landed on the wooden door, but it seemed to have hit an iron plate and bounced back and out of the way. My father immediately fell to the ground, holding his leg and screaming in pain, his face turned red.
My dad, who was his own son, came over to show him his leg, but my dad shrank back, grimacing, and said, "Don't worry about me, I'll go to the hospital myself!"
Although my mother was trying to persuade him, my father forcefully refused to be treated by my grandmother to show his determination.
So, my mom had to call my uncle and use the tricycle that was originally intended to take my grandfather to the city for medical treatment to take my dad to the orthopedic department in the city to get a cast, which actually only required my grandmother to gently correct the bone and apply homemade ointment.
When my mom sent my dad to the doctor, grandma came to the wooden door and tore off a charm paper from the upper door frame, and the door opened by itself.
Grandma went in, and after a while I heard her whimpering inside. Grandpa's frail voice came out, but his voice was still warm, and he said, "Why, you don't blame the child, he is also anxious about my illness. Old companion, this disease I know in my heart, really God wants to take people, that can not be helped ..."
The grandmother, who has always been happy but not angry, cried even more, hiding in the window root