Chinese medicine doctor Xu Yang

At this time, Nantong City was not big. The only bustling area was a cross street with shops on both sides and some people selling gadgets on the street.

Before liberation, there were fortune tellers, storytellers, trick performers, medicine sellers, crosstalk talkers, and gold-skinned and colorful performers from all walks of life.

But now, these superstitious things have been swept away. Many of the performers have now become artists and perform in performing arts venues or teahouses and libraries. They usually charge based on time.

Of course, there are some bad guys who are still lying on the ground outside.

Mr. Zhu and Xu Yang originally planned to go back to the joint clinic directly.

But when passing by the crowd, Xu Yang vaguely heard the word snake. Xu Yang, who had just lost the poisonous snake, was blaming himself and was particularly sensitive to this word. He immediately turned his head to look at the crowd, but there were so many people that he couldn't see them, so he could only look forward.

Mr. Zhu was walking and found that Xu Yang was gone. He quickly turned back and asked, "What's wrong?"

Xu Yang was still walking around outside and said hurriedly: "There seems to be a snake."

"Huh?" Upon hearing this, Mr. Zhu also squeezed in: "Is there a white-flowered snake?"

The two people squeezed to the front, only to find that everyone was watching from a distance, leaving a large space near the performers.

The two finally squeezed out and saw a beggar-looking man playing with a snake. A small tongue-protruding snake flexibly crawled in and out of the beggar's cuffs and wrists, circling around.

This man still had a sticky lyrics in his mouth: "I say, gentlemen, gentlemen, come here and take a look. Come and take a look. I am a beggar and I will work hard and bring a little snake to perform for you."

"If I let it go, it will go. If I let it go back, it will come back. If I let it drill, it will drill. The Queen Mother drilled the Taoyuan Cave. If I let it come out, it will come out. Sun The monkey escaped from Wuzhishan..."

The little snake swam flexibly in the beggar's hand.

His lyrics were quite interesting, but no one dared to get too close. After all, everyone was still afraid of snakes.

After playing with it for a few times, he held two snakes in his hand, one big and one small. The big one was wrapped around his neck, and the small one was held in his hand to play with. After finishing a set of libretto, the beggar looked at the people around him and saw that there were quite a few people around him, and they were pretty round.

He said: "Beggar, I am new to Guibao. I have no other skills but a family secret medicine. Everyone, take a look and see. The family secret medicine is specially designed to cure snake bites. Don't worry about your five steps." Whether it’s a snake, a cobra, or a krait, if you apply this medicine on it, you’ll be fine immediately.”

"Look at it, everyone, it's all talk and no practice of tricks. Everyone is attracted to you." After that, the beggar rolled up his tattered sleeves, revealing his dirty arms, and then pointed the little snake in his hand at his own The little snake bit her arm as soon as it hurt.

"Ouch..." The onlookers were startled and retreated one after another, but their eyes were reluctant to leave.

Mr. Zhu and Xu Yang were also stunned when they saw this. This man was really good. He had a venomous snake in his hand.

After biting the snake, the beggar took the snake away from his hand, put it in the frame, and then patted his arms: "Everyone, look up and see if the snake has been bitten and if it has been bitten in."

The whole show went around, but before they finished, the beggar's hands were already red and swollen. He was quite proud: "Look, it's swollen. We are honest people and don't bully people. Are they poisonous snakes? Are they swollen?" Yes, have you been poisoned?"

"What should I do if I get poisoned by snake venom? Don't be afraid. As long as you use my ancestral secret medicine, you can detoxify immediately. The venom is nothing at all." After that, the beggar took out a black medicine cake from his pocket and showed off again: "Everyone, please take a look, this is my ancestral snake medicine."

After speaking, he broke off a piece of medicine cake, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it a few times, then spit it out, spit some more saliva on it, mixed it evenly, and then pressed it on his wound.

He said, "Look, as long as you use my medicine, the redness and swelling will subside immediately within a few minutes, and you will be fine after a while."

As he said, it didn't take long for his redness and swelling to gradually subside. He opened the medicine cake and said, "Come on, let's see if it's better. Apply it for a while and make sure it's okay. This medicine of mine can be used externally." It can also be used internally, and the results will be faster when used internally and externally together.”

"Treat the disease if you are sick, and defend yourself if you are not sick. In our southern region, there is a lot of water and snakes. If you don't protect it well, you will be bitten by a snake at any time. If you are not afraid of 10,000 yuan, just in case. I keep this snake medicine at home, not to prepare medicine, but It’s to prepare for one more life…”

The beggar started selling medicine.

Zhu Liangchun and Xu Yang looked at each other with surprise in their eyes.

But the onlookers whispered: "The trick and deception is gone."

That person left, and also took away those who were watching and hesitating. Everyone felt that this kind of trick was untrustworthy, and they didn't know whether it was true or not. When the person left, where would they find someone?

So this time, the beggar didn't sell a few medicine cakes.

Moreover, there are not many people buying snake medicine. It’s not that the probability of being bitten by a snake is not high.

"Alas..." The beggar sighed, yes, food and clothing will become a problem again.

Mr. Zhu was a little confused, but he still stepped forward and asked politely: "This is Mr."

"Ah?" The beggar was stunned for a moment. This was the first time someone called him that. Seeing the two polite and cleanly dressed people in front of him, who looked like cadres, the beggar was a little nervous. He asked, "What are you doing? Do you want to buy medicine?"

Mr. Zhu said: "Ah, no."

Xu Yang added: "We want to buy snakes. Do you have a white-flowered snake here? It's a five-step snake."

Mr. Zhu nodded.

"Buying a snake? Do you want to make wine?" The beggar didn't find it strange. He often met people who wanted to buy snakes.

Mr. Zhu said: "We are useful."

The beggar said: "The price of buying snakes is much more expensive than buying medicine."

Mr. Zhu said: "Of course, we can negotiate the price. We are using it to treat diseases."

Xu Yang's eyes also lit up. This really happened to him. He immediately said: "You really have it. Can you let us take a look?"

"Okay." The beggar searched for it in his basket, then took it out and presented it to Xu Yang and Mr. Zhu: "Here, look, it's in good condition."

It's just that he handed it too hard this time and almost didn't poke the two of them in the face.

The two of them took a step back together. Good guys, they were shocked by this living thing.

Mr. Zhu took a look and found that the quality was indeed good, even better than the previous one. Unfortunately, it was not from Hubei. He said, "Okay, we want this one."

After the price was negotiated, the beggar also smiled happily. He thought he would not make any money today, but he did not expect to be able to sell a snake. He asked: "Do you want to make wine, or eat snake gallbladder, or else?" Shall I kill it for you? Take out the snake's gall?"

Xu Yang refused the enthusiastic stall owner's help, saying: "Just kill him for us."

The beggar worked skillfully and killed the snake.

After the money was clearly delivered, the beggar happily collected the money and said: "Okay, the money and goods are cleared. If you need snakes or snake medicine in the future, remember to come to me? I will come to the city three times a month to lay down the land. If If you want to reserve a snake with me in advance, you can go to Shang Xingang to find me."

The beggar waved his hands and was about to leave.

Mr. Zhu took the snake away, but this time he wouldn't let Xu Yang take it. When he saw the beggar leaving, he hurriedly asked: "Hey, sir, what's your surname?"

The beggar didn't even look back and said calmly, "My surname is Ji."

Seeing that they had no intention of staying any longer, Mr. Zhu didn't ask any more questions. He looked at the snake in his hand and breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, I found the medicine."

"Yes." Xu Yang was obviously more relaxed.

The two walked back.

Mr. Zhu looked at the snake in his hand and said, "Hey, Xu Yang, you said what he just did was just a trick to deceive others, or is it true? If it is true, then his medicine is quite powerful."

Xu Yang said: "Who knows, some close-up magic... the close-up blinding method is so close that you can't tell the difference."

Mr. Zhu nodded slightly: "If we have a chance, wait for this person named Ji to come over and let's take another look. Or maybe ask anyone who has used his snake medicine and ask about the specific effects, right?"

Xu Yang said: "You are still very fond of him."

Mr. Zhu said: "Mr. Zhang Taiyan once said, 'Confucian doctors are not as valuable as asking for questions.' If this person named Ji has real skills, of course he should pay a visit and make friends. The Chinese medicine community needs to be united, and even more needs to be discovered. Unlock the potential of folk traditional Chinese medicine."

Xu Yang nodded: "Yes, this Ji..."

"Wait a minute." Xu Yang suddenly stopped and turned around to look, but no one could be seen.

"What's wrong?" Mr. Zhu asked loudly.

Xu Yang looked at Mr. Zhu's face and his head suddenly clicked: "It's him..."

The theme of this paragraph is based on Mr. Zhu’s memoirs