Daily life of farming and supporting a family on the ancient Loess Plateau

Ji Yongling walked to the door, and seeing no response from outside, asked, "Who is it?"

Upon hearing the voice, Dr. Xu, who was standing at the gate, was taken aback. He looked up and glanced at the gate tower above the courtyard gate several times, wondering to himself why he thought he heard the voice of that girl from the Ji family.

"Dr. Xu—"

"The Ji family girl—"

Outside the courtyard gate, Ji Yongling and Dr. Xu stared in astonishment.

Ji Yongling hurriedly took the ox whip from Dr. Xu's hand and said, "Old Ji, what brings you here? How did you find my house?" As he spoke, he handed the ox whip to Ji Yongning, asking him to help tie up the oxcart, and then welcomed Dr. Xu into the courtyard.

When Madam Yang saw a neatly dressed old man enter the courtyard, she asked, "Ling'er, who is this? Is he here to see your grandfather?"

As Ji Yongling invited Dr. Xu to sit down, he said to Yang, "Grandma, this is Dr. Xu from the Xu Family Pharmacy in the county. People from our village all go to Dr. Xu for medical treatment when they go to the county. His medical skills are excellent."

Madam Yang beamed with joy and said, "So it's Doctor Xu! Quick, Yongzhou, go to the fields and call your grandfather back. Doctor Xu, please sit down, please sit down first, I'll go get you some water."

Ji Yongling pulled over a small stool, straddled it, and looked at Dr. Xu with a smile, saying, "Dr. Xu, what made you decide to come to my house?"

Dr. Xu rolled up his sleeves, looked around the courtyard, and asked, "Is this the place that sells insecticides?"

Ji Yongling nodded and said, "Yes, Mr. Xu, you know about this?"

Dr. Xu shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Why didn't you say so sooner, you little rascal! Oh dear, you've really made me suffer. Ever since I heard an old woman say that babies can have worms in their stomachs, I've been thinking about it every day, trying to find that old woman again to ask her for clarification, but I just can't find her. I always thought that this was just some swindler making up stories to cheat people out of their money."

Ji Yongling smiled and said, "What, Old Xu doesn't think I'm lying anymore?"

Dr. Xu sighed and said, "To be honest, although my family has been practicing medicine for generations and I have read a lot of medical books, I have seen records of worms in the human body in some books. But these were written by famous doctors in the south. In our small place, since my ancestors, we have never seen anyone with worms in their stomach. So I once thought that these things only existed in the south."

I'd been pondering this for a while, so I went back to my books. Just then, a young woman in the village behind the market complained of persistent abdominal pain, saying she'd taken a lot of herbal medicine without improvement. I wondered if she had intestinal worms, so I prescribed her 'Quisqualis indica' (a type of herb) to chew, as described in the book. And guess what happened today?

Ji Yongling opened her eyes wide in agreement and asked, "What's wrong?"

Dr. Xu, a little smug, stroked his beard and said, "She vomited six or seven long white worms this morning... You didn't expect that, did you... Well, even I didn't expect that there would actually be worms in a person's stomach."

I imagine that someone must have vomited or excreted worms before, only to have them secretly buried as unlucky objects. This woman lived near my shop and had taken my medicine, so her husband called me to see it as soon as it was light, which is how I learned what had happened. Ah, I am truly ashamed.”

Ji Yongling shook his head and said, "Old Xu, you don't need to blame yourself. As you said, the records of insect infestations all occurred in the southern region. There is more water in the south, and the water sources are more easily polluted, so insect infestations are indeed more common there than here."

Dr. Xu nodded and said, "Sigh, I thought before that the person selling the deworming medicine was definitely a charlatan, and I was going to find an opportunity to report him to the county government. I never expected this! After you left yesterday, someone from the village next to yours came to the shop and said that several kids from their village had bought medicine from you. When I heard that it was Niujiazhuang, it sounded familiar, but I really didn't remember it was your village."

Ji Yongling laughed and said, "I didn't expect that the liar you thought was me, did I?"

Old Doctor Xu glared at her and said, "You silly girl, you're getting all happy now! You've kept this old man up all day, unable to eat or sleep, just trying to find out what's going on. And you, you've been running to my shop so many times, like a saw-off gourd, why didn't you tell me sooner that you also sell deworming medicine?"

Ji Yongling got up and took the water that Yang brought, handing it to Doctor Xu with both hands, saying, "Doctor Xu, have some water and some fried cakes and pancakes, and rest a bit. You didn't ask, this deworming medicine isn't a big deal, unlike those herbs that can be sold to pharmacies."

Old Doctor Xu finished the water in his bowl in one gulp, but didn't eat the fried cakes or fritters. He said, "Your water is strangely sweet! Tell me, tell me everything you've learned. I'd like to be your apprentice and learn what it means to have worms in your stomach and what deworming medicine is all about. I'll feel really uneasy if I don't figure this out."

Ji Yongling took the empty bowl from Dr. Xu's hand, placed it on the table, and said, "Dr. Xu, do you believe that there are things we can't see in the water we drink, the food we eat, and even the air we breathe?"

Dr. Xu was somewhat puzzled, but after thinking for a moment, he nodded and said, "I believe it. It is said that there was a cholera epidemic in the Songjiang area caused by drinking water, and also, I heard that there is miasma in the Lingnan area that can cause death."

Ji Yongling's eyes lit up, feeling that the ancients also had a strong ability to learn and accept information. He continued, "There may be things that we cannot see in the soil beneath our feet and in the water we drink. Some of these things are insects or insect eggs."

Although we can't see them, the soil containing insects, the water containing insect eggs, or the vegetables watered with such water, when we eat them, can allow these insects or eggs to survive in our bodies. The eggs hatch into insects, the insects lay eggs, and they continue to multiply and grow.

Dr. Xu looked at Ji Yongling, frowned, and asked, "And then we'll experience stomach aches?"

Ji Yongling shook her head and said, "Not only that, if it goes to the intestines, it will parasitize our intestinal tract and damage it, causing us to have stomach aches; but it may also go to other places, such as the brain or bile ducts, in which case it will not only cause stomach aches, but also headaches and epilepsy..."

"Of course, even if we don't feel any pain anywhere, these worms will still rob our bodies of nutrients during their growth and reproduction, causing other illnesses..."

Old Doctor Xu clicked his tongue in amazement and said, "That makes perfect sense. It's a pity that I, an old man, am only hearing about these medical principles for the first time in my decades-long life. I'm truly ashamed. Thinking about it now, it's laughable. Just a few days ago, I was thinking about how to defeat this swindler who uses the lie of intestinal worms to fool the poor. Now, I'm like an ignorant child..."

Ji Yongru, who had been standing on the side pretending to play but actually staring at the fried cake, raised her head and asked softly, "Sister Ling'er, if I drink the deworming medicine, will I not be afraid anymore?"

Dr. Xu also looked at Ji Yongling with intense eyes.

Ji Yongling smiled and patted Ji Yongru's head, saying, "The deworming medicine you took works on many kinds of insects, don't worry. But you still need to wash your hands thoroughly, otherwise you'll get insects again."

Ji Yongru nodded obediently.