Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 178 Four Little Classics
After dinner, Chen Fan went back to his room to rest, while the Jiang sisters took care of cleaning up the dishes.

When Chen Fan woke up, he washed his face with the hot water from the charcoal stove and immediately felt refreshed.

He first grabbed two large roosters given to him by students from the chicken coop, then went to the room where miscellaneous items were stored and took a small charcoal stove that had just been lit the day before. He picked out a load of charcoal and prepared to go to work at the brigade headquarters.

Why isn't today Tuesday?

If today is Tuesday, I don't have to go to work this afternoon!
Because radio stations across the country take a break on Tuesday afternoons for equipment maintenance, broadcasters nationwide are not required to work on this afternoon.

Filled with resentment, Chen Fan walked to Jiang Lili's door, knocked, and said, "Little Jiang, I've lit the charcoal stove in the room. Why don't you take your sister to my room? You can listen to the radio there."

Last time, Zhu Hao helped him get the wires and sockets, and after he came back, he took some time to install them, and the radio worked properly.

Jiang Lili stood up, about to speak, but then turned back to look at her sister.

Jiang Tiantian immediately said, "No need to trouble yourself, we can stay here."

Chen Fan pointed to his room and laughed, "It's snowing outside right now, and the temperature is probably below 0 degrees Celsius. I've already lit the stove over there, so it would be a waste if you didn't go. Besides, we burned the charcoal ourselves, so it didn't cost us any money. There's no need to be so stingy."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Today is Lunar New Year's Eve, no one will come over. Even if someone does come in, you can warm yourselves by the fire in my room, no one will say anything."

After saying that, without waiting for them to speak, he waved his hand and said, "I'm going to work now, see you later."

He then put on a straw hat, but without a raincoat or wooden clogs, and strode into the wind and snow carrying his load.

Watching Chen Fan disappear through the door, Jiang Lili turned back to look at her sister.

Jiang Tiantian pursed her lips, looked at her helplessly, and asked, "If I'm not here, will you come over?"

Jiang Lili tilted her head and thought for a moment, then frowned and said, "If you hadn't come, he probably wouldn't have even lit the stove, let alone invited me over."

Because it's unnecessary. If her sister hadn't come, she and Chen Fan would both be busy with their own things, so there would be no need to light a stove.

Hearing her words, Jiang Tiantian breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "In that case, let's go sit over there and not waste his good intentions."

Jiang Lili immediately beamed with joy.

The two sisters are only three years apart, but their personalities are quite different. The older sister is composed, while the younger sister is lively. However, after experiencing several changes, Jiang Tiantian rarely smiles now, her thoughts have become more profound, and she only shows a smile in front of her parents and younger sister.

Jiang Lili's transformation was even more dramatic. She no longer dared to smile or speak in front of strangers, and kept her head down all day long.

At this moment, only the two sisters were in the courtyard, and with no outsiders around, they began to reveal some of their true nature.

Sitting in Chen Fan's room, with the door half-closed, enjoying the warmth from the fireplace, they didn't turn on the radio. Instead, they whispered among themselves, occasionally letting out bursts of soft laughter, seemingly talking about something amusing.

……

Chen Fan rushed to Team 5, but instead of going directly to the brigade headquarters, he turned into a small alley and went to Lu Siye's thatched hut at the back of the village.

As he entered the courtyard, he saw that the gate to the thatched hut was closed. He called out, "Fourth Master, are you home?"

Immediately, Master Lu's voice came from inside, "I'm here, come in."

Chen Fan was practically his student, so there was no need for him to be polite; otherwise, Master Lu would have come to open the door himself.

"okay."

Chen Fan responded, first placing the load at the door, then pushing open the gate and carrying a basket of charcoal, along with the chicken and the small charcoal stove, inside.

He then said, "Fourth Master, I'm here to wish you a Happy New Year."

Upon hearing this, Master Lu burst into laughter, "It's only New Year's Eve today, what kind of New Year's greetings are you offering?"

Happy New Year!

Chen Fan placed the things in the corner, shut the door to keep the wind and snow out, and then turned around with a smile and said...

"It's snowing heavily today, and I was worried you'd catch a cold, so I brought you a basket of charcoal and a small charcoal stove. It can be used to burn charcoal and also to warm water. It's perfect for this cold weather."

And that chicken, it was a gift from my veterinary students. I'll take this opportunity to present it to them. I'll make you a braised rooster in soy sauce later, and after I get off work, we can have a drink together—that'll be a way of celebrating the New Year.”

He pointed to the things in the corner, "That's all. I'll just consider this an early New Year's greeting. You can also consider this my New Year's greeting. I'll come back on the second day of the New Year without bringing anything. Is that alright?"

The custom in Yunhu is that on the first day of the Lunar New Year, one should not visit outsiders but only the family with the highest seniority. For example, if the family has separated, one should visit the grandparents' or parents' home; if the family has not separated, one should visit the maternal grandparents' home. One should not visit any other families.

Starting from the second day of the Lunar New Year, it is time to visit relatives and friends to exchange New Year's greetings. Especially on the second day, married daughters usually return to their parents' home with their husbands and children to pay New Year's respects to their parents. Hence the saying that on the second day of the Lunar New Year, sons-in-law visit their fathers-in-law.

Chen Fan was all alone here, so it wasn't convenient for him to visit on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Therefore, he would pay his respects to his "mentors" on the second day, namely Xiao Liewen and Master Lu. One taught him martial arts, and the other taught him literature. Although they hadn't formally become disciples, their relationship was real, and he should respect them and treat them with courtesy.

Upon hearing Chen Fan's words, Fourth Master Lu lectured him, "That doesn't count. Filial piety is filial piety, and New Year's greetings are New Year's greetings. If you don't have anything good, go to the field and pick a radish to bring me. That will show your good intentions. You can't come empty-handed!"

Chen Fan clicked his tongue, "Alright, you're really particular."

He then patted his thigh and laughed, "Alright, I'll bring you a big radish the day after tomorrow, I guarantee it'll be the biggest one in the vegetable patch."

Whether it was bringing a radish or offering an early New Year's greeting, it was all a joke. Even if he's poor, he's not short of New Year's gifts; he can just rummage through the gifts his students give him.

He was just teasing the old man.

Master Lu was a clever man; he saw through his little scheme at a glance and told him a joke.

While chatting, Chen Fan got to work, taking the small charcoal stove to the window on the north wall, right next to the earthen stove. He then went outside and found a few sections of bamboo tubes, used a stick to hollow out the bamboo joints, mixed mud with some wood ash, and connected the bamboo tubes to the smoke outlet, extending them outside through the window paper.

After finishing these tasks, he opened the door of the small charcoal stove, took out a brazier filled with charcoal, lit a fire to ignite the charcoal, and then put it into the charcoal stove.

This design makes it easy to handle charcoal ash. Afterwards, you can fill Master Lu's kettle with water and place it on the charcoal stove to boil water while keeping warm.

After Chen Fan finished his work, Master Lu asked, "Why did you need to connect a small chimney?"

After washing his hands, Chen Fan came back and sat down, laughing, "Burning charcoal produces carbon monoxide. If the smoke isn't properly handled, prolonged exposure in a closed room can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning, and in severe cases, it can be life-threatening."

Master Lu suddenly realized something, his eyebrows lowered, and he seemed to be thinking about something.

After a while, he opened his eyes, looked at Chen Fan and said, "You studied veterinary medicine, why not medicine? I mean, medicine to heal the sick and save lives."

In the eyes of the older generation of scholars, veterinarians were a lowly profession, while practicing medicine and helping the sick was a noble profession on par with studying. Coupled with Chen Fan's words about safety just now, he asked this question.

Chen Fan looked up and smiled. "It's not that I don't want to learn. I've read the barefoot doctor's manual, and I can even memorize a lot of the content. I'm confident I can take the barefoot doctor's certificate exam now."

However, while this medical book is very useful in emergencies, it has significant limitations. The medical skills learned from it only provide a superficial understanding of what is being done, not the underlying principles.

At this point, Chen Fan spread his hands and laughed, "Since that's the case, it's better not to learn it. Otherwise, even if you learn it, you'll just have one more 'Doctor Zhang'."

He guessed that this might be the reason why his medical skills had not been activated. How could he be considered an entry-level practitioner if he hadn't even figured out the situation?
Only by "understanding the principles, comprehending the meaning, and knowing the methods" can one be said to have mastered a skill.

This skill board is quite well-organized!

Upon hearing his words, Master Lu pondered for two seconds, exhaled a long breath, and said softly, "As Fan Xiwen once said, 'If you cannot be a good prime minister, then be a good doctor.' You are a scholar, so if you are interested in medicine, I can give you some pointers."

Chen Fan blinked at him, still wondering who Fan Xiwen was.
Master Lu thought he was waiting for him to continue, so he said, "I don't understand Western medicine, so I won't talk about it. If you want to learn traditional Chinese medicine, you can start with these four books: 'Medical Three-Character Classic,' 'Binhu Pulse Study,' 'Medicinal Properties Rhyme,' and 'Prescription Rhyme.' These four books are known as the Four Minor Classics and are the foundation of all traditional Chinese medicine."

After completing the first book, read "Acupuncture and Moxibustion", "Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica", "Huangdi Neijing", "Treatise on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases", "Golden Chamber", "Nanjing", and "Treatise on Epidemic Diseases". If you can understand the whole book after reading it, you can be considered to have entered the door.

Further up the hierarchy are the secret classics of various schools and sects, but that's still a long way off, and it's too early to talk about those.

By progressing step by step in this way, once you have a certain foundation, you will gain a different understanding when you look at the barefoot doctor's manual.

"By then, I'll find you a teacher to teach you how to take a pulse, perform acupuncture, diagnose, and prescribe medication. With your aptitude, you should be able to master it in about ten years."

Chen Fan's mouth was open, and his vision was a little dizzy.

ten years?

Is learning traditional Chinese medicine really that difficult?

Then he closed his chin and said, "But these books aren't sold in bookstores."

Master Lu pointed at him, bent over and chuckled softly, "What a coincidence, I have some here."

He then went into the room, rummaged under the bed, and pulled out a few books.

He returned to the outer room and handed it to Chen Fan, saying carefully, "Hide it well, and whatever you do, don't let anyone see it. If someone does see it, you can't say that I gave it to you."

Chen Fan took it and looked at it; it was indeed the "Four Little Classics" that Master Lu had just mentioned.

It's still a thick, vertically printed format.

Look at this material, this printing quality, could it be woodblock printing?

(End of this chapter)