Back to 1980: Please Love Me Again

Chapter 214 Old Chinese Medicine

Pingyang County, Zhao Wenmu's home.

Zhao Wenmu recalled the smell of mouse droppings in his previous life, and listed a series of ingredients on the paper.

Sweet and sour with a slightly refreshing taste, the main ingredient must be tangerine peel.

The so-called tangerine peel is actually orange peel that is dried in the sun or at low temperature.He originally wanted to make some tangerine peels by himself, but he couldn't compare to later generations. There are almost no out-of-season vegetables and fruits at the moment.

In the scorching summer, fresh oranges cannot be bought on the streets of Pingyang County in the north.

So I had to go to the pharmacy and buy ready-made tangerine peel.

"There should be hawthorn, or some plums, like dark plums."

He thought about it again, maybe Wumei could not be bought, but fortunately, hawthorn was enough.

As for some other ingredients, considering the strangeness of rat droppings, and considering that there is no technology and hard work in this era, Zhao Wenmu naturally thought that it should be some traditional Chinese medicine.

I had to go back to the pharmacy again and discuss it with the elderly Chinese doctor.

"You want to use Chinese medicine to make a snack?!"

The old Chinese doctor was surprised, but after he stroked his beard and thought about it, he said happily:

"It's not impossible, it's delicious and has some health benefits."

The two discussed with great interest. Zhao Wenmu introduced the taste he wanted, and the old Chinese medicine doctor prescribed some Chinese medicines for him.

"Glycyrrhiza, sweet in taste, beneficial to qi, invigorating the middle, eliminating phlegm and relieving cough."

"Mangosteen, sweet in taste and cool in nature, has the effects of clearing heat and moistening lungs, relieving throat and opening tone, smoothing intestines and defecating."

……

Combined with the tangerine peel and hawthorn that Zhao Wenmu had already chosen, and considering that there would be starch as an auxiliary material, the old Chinese doctor made a list and approximate proportions for him.

"These medicines can be increased or decreased, or not added at all. You can use it according to your taste."

Zhao Wenmu dared to try boldly with this experienced old doctor of Chinese medicine.

Otherwise, how can medicine be taken casually?

"This small snack has the effects of clearing away heat and nourishing the lungs, invigorating the stomach and eliminating food. It is suitable for all ages. It is very good!"

The old man praised sincerely, and then asked:

"What are you going to name it?"

"Mouse shit."

Zhao Wenmu replied without thinking.

The corner of the old man’s mouth twitched, but considering how these things would look like when they were combined together, he said helplessly:

"It's also very vivid."

Only then did Zhao Wenmu come to his senses, and he quickly explained:

"I'm always joking with you, let's call it the Monkey King Pill, the elixir that the Monkey King stole from the Taishang Laojun."

Hearing this, the old man was about to stroke his beard and praise "very wonderful", but he heard Zhao Wenmu muttering:

"I guess everyone will still call it mouse shit."

……

Back home, Zhao Wenmu put these materials into a stone mortar and ground them into powder, and then began to experiment with different proportions of materials.

The two little ones, Zhao Zimeng and Zhang Yuanming, naturally became his medicine masters.

Specially responsible for tasting all kinds of semi-finished powders he made.

"It's too sweet, it's too sweet!"

"Ah, so sour!"

"This is a bit bitter."

Zhao Wenmu experimented with dozens of different ratios, and finally got a formula that was unanimously approved.

"Little brother, is it really okay to eat this?"

Looking at the black powder in the mortar, Zhao Jing asked a little uneasy.

Zhao Wenmu thought to himself, this is not a finished product yet, if this girl sees the final little pill, she might be shocked.

Thinking of this, he immediately looked forward to it.

"Don't worry, there must be no problem, I asked the doctor!"

"Not only is there no harm, but it can also invigorate the stomach and eliminate food, moisten the lungs and relieve cough!"

With Zhao Wenmu's guarantee, Zhao Jing and Rong Xinyi began to taste it with confidence.

Facts have proved that it is indeed suitable for all ages, and Zhao Wenmu's unfinished semi-finished products were quickly snapped up.

Although there is a suitable ratio, Zhao Wenmu is still at a loss as to how to make it into small pills.

Thinking that there are all kinds of small pills in Chinese medicine, Zhao Wenmu went to the old Chinese medicine doctor to learn the scriptures.

"Chinese medicine pills are mostly made by adding some binders or auxiliary materials."

The old man made no secret of this, and carefully introduced to him the method of making traditional Chinese medicine pills.

"These adhesives include water, honey, wine, vinegar, and concoction, and the pills they make are also different, such as water pills, honey pills, water honey pills, wax pills, etc."

"Your rat shit, I think it's suitable for making honey pills."

Speaking of rat droppings, the old man couldn't help laughing, with a smile on his lips.

"Refining honey is a job that tests patience. You need to boil it on a high fire first, and then change it to a slow fire and cook it slowly. During the cooking process, you should pay attention to the color of the honey. When you find that the honey is yellow and foamy, use a bamboo chopstick Put a drop in the honey, then move the bamboo chopsticks over the bowl of cold water, let the honey drop into the cold water, if you find that the honey does not spread out in the water but sinks to the bottom, the honey is considered finished.”

The old man told Zhao Wenmu that the honey used to make honey pills needs to be refined in advance. The reason for this is to remove impurities in the honey, destroy enzymes, kill bacteria, evaporate water, and increase viscosity.

Moreover, there are many types of refined honey, such as tender honey, medium honey and old honey, each with its own advantages and disadvantages in nature.

I didn't expect such a small pill to have so many details.

Zhao Wenmu studied for a whole afternoon before he basically mastered the method of making honey pills.

However, rubbing honey balls by hand is really not an easy job, and looking at the small balls rubbed out in the hands, it always feels like the mud balls rubbed off from the body when I took a bath when I was a child.

Thinking of this, Zhao Wenmu suddenly felt that this thing was a little disgusting.

As a last resort, he had to change to a more troublesome method.

Apply honey water over and over again on the bamboo grate, then sprinkle the ground and screened fine powder on it, and brush it over and over with a brush.

Then continue to sprinkle the fine powder, shake the grate, let them automatically agglomerate and form small particles.

Finally, after drying in the shade for a period of time, the perfect Monkey King Pill is made.

During this time, Zimeng, Yuanming and Zhang Xiaohe would sell maltose at a stall every day after school, and they have formed a deep friendship.

"Uncle, we invited Xiaohe to come to our house the day after tomorrow. She wants to bring her brother along, is that okay?"

The day after tomorrow is Sunday, and the two little guys have completed another punishment: invite Zhang Xiaohe to come to our house as a guest.

In fact, this is not a punishment.

"Okay, tell Xiaohe that she is welcome to come with her brother."

It happened that Zhao Wenmu wanted to inquire about the reason for the child's lameness.

As far as he knows, many lame children can be corrected by surgery, but because of poor families, they miss the best time for surgery, and thus become disabled for the rest of their lives.

Now that I have met myself, why not find a way to help?

"Third Uncle, can we sell this Monkey King Pill?"

Sure enough, the two little guys turned their minds on him.

(End of this chapter)