My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 264 What to do if kidney tonics are not being properly applied?

When Zhao Dahai and others came to find Chen Ling, the villagers of Chenwangzhuang were already used to it.

There were even a few people who were close to Chen Ling and were considered acquaintances with him. They nodded and greeted him when they saw him.

Take, for example, the brothers Wang Lixian and Wang Lishan.

Especially Wang Lishan, he's a notorious smooth talker. He's not very loud in front of outsiders, but if you get to know him, he can talk a good game.

He pulled Zhao Dahai aside and gave him a long talk.

They talked about who was the first to see the Turtle King, and how the Turtle King fought a monster in the rain. They spoke with great passion, gesturing back and forth with their hands, spittle flying everywhere.

The reporter next to him was worried about not being able to interview the villagers, and seeing this, he quickly asked the male colleague in charge of filming to turn on the camera and prepare to record.

There was nothing they could do; they found that the villagers here were all very kind people in their daily interactions.

But when faced with a camera, when told he was going to be on TV, he became a completely different person, covering his face and hiding everywhere, feeling extremely embarrassed.

Even worse, a reporter managed to pay someone to say a few words, but as soon as the camera started rolling, the person immediately backed out, becoming so nervous that their face turned red and their neck bulged. The reporter told him to comfort the person, tell them not to be nervous, and to take it slow, but the more he tried to comfort them, the worse it got.

After having lunch, the reporters thought the situation would improve.

To everyone's surprise, when the reporter returned, the man covered his face and ran into the cornfield outside the door.

This completely baffled the reporter. If you don't want to record, then don't. Why did you run away? They even chased after you for a long time.

This is a true story that happened last autumn.

Chen Ling was both amused and exasperated when he heard Wang Laishun recount this story.

There's no way around it; the villagers are still too conservative and not used to being in front of the camera. It's normal for them to have a reaction when they think about being on TV and having so many people see them speaking.

However, Wang Lishan's mental fortitude is quite good.

When he discovered the reporter taking pictures of him, his body trembled slightly at first, but he quickly calmed down. However, if you looked closely, you could still tell that he was very nervous.

He boasted to Zhao Dahai, clenching his fists tightly to bolster his courage.

Moreover, he cleverly turned his body to the side, only giving the camera a dark and rough, honest profile.

"Fugui, does anyone here know exactly how big this giant turtle is? Or has anyone measured its size?"

Han Ninggui, wearing a straw hat, walked along the water's edge, holding a stack of photos taken by others, and asked Chen Ling a question.

"No. The villagers, and the people who come to see the old turtle, all regard it as the Turtle King, saying it is one of the nine sons of the Dragon King. Who would dare to disrespect it?"

Chen Ling shook his head.

Behind him were two people, Lynx and Cuckoo. They were quite strange; the woman was very tall, while the man was very short. This was not uncommon in the village, but the two of them standing together holding hands looked unusually harmonious, making people subconsciously overlook this fact.

"Alright then, Xiaolin and Dujuan, you two help me compare it in person to see the proportions and size. Then, based on the photo of the actual object, we can enlarge it proportionally and roughly estimate the size of this giant turtle."

Han Ninggui flipped through the photos and handed them to the two people behind him.

Then, based on the water area where Garlic and the others appeared in the photos, they compared it with the actual reservoir. Then, several people took rulers to measure and made simple proportional conversions.

Chen Ling was also watching and helping from the sidelines.

The final conclusion surprised them.

The data is even more alarming than what you see in the photos.

Han Ninggui couldn't help but exclaim in admiration: "This big guy is at least 1.5 meters long and about 90 centimeters wide. It can no longer be called a turtle; it should be called a giant softshell turtle. It absolutely deserves the title of 'King of Turtle'."

"Moreover, it was accompanied by seven enormous softshell turtles. We must say, in all our years in this business, we've never seen anything so amazing—"

"So many giant softshell turtles of unusual size gathered together, and they even exhibited subservient behavior."

"Especially the giant softshell turtle that you call the Turtle King, it can't grow to such a size in less than several hundred years. Before, we thought that the giant softshell turtle found in the Yellow River in 1973 was the largest, but we didn't expect there to be one even bigger."

"It's incredible, it's amazing."

"It's just a pity that I couldn't see it in person."

"...Teacher, if we can't see it now, we can stay a few more days and wait. What's the rush? We can play here with Fugui for a few more days."

"Dujuan and I won't have time to come out again this time we go back."

Lynx was also very interested in the giant softshell turtle. He had loved strange and unusual things since he was a child, and even had an urge to come and catch it, but this was just a fleeting thought.

As Professor Han's student, he naturally understood what this discovery meant and knew he couldn't afford to mess around with it.

"Are we starting to get busy with things before the wedding?" Chen Ling asked.

"Yeah, the new house hasn't been tidied up yet. It sounds like there's not much to do, but once things get busy, hey, you'll see. It'll keep you completely overwhelmed, and half a year will have passed in the blink of an eye," Lynx smacked his lips and sighed.

“The place where I kept my dog ​​was cleaned up by my friends a few years ago. It was very simple, but it still took me almost two months to finish. Now that I’m getting married, my new house can’t be worse than the place where my dog ​​lived, right?”

Chen Ling deeply sympathized with this.

Leaving aside distant examples, just two months ago when we held a full-month celebration for our son, he was busy running around, going back and forth between the county town, the township, the village, and the farm, notifying people, borrowing tables and chairs, and so on.

There's a lot to do at home. Before the full moon celebration, we have to harvest wheat and rapeseed, dry them, and sell them. We have to do all of that ourselves.

If his father-in-law and mother-in-law hadn't come to help him this year, he really wouldn't have been able to manage on his own.

When he mentioned this to Lynx, Dujuan seemed a little reluctant to talk about it in public, so she asked Han Ninggui about the water monster.

Ask the professor if he had any guesses.

"Who knows? This place connects two major rivers, and the water is deep enough, so it wouldn't be surprising if there were anything there."

After a moment of contemplation, Han Ninggui asked Chen Ling about the specific rumors surrounding the water monster.

Chen Ling said, "I've only heard about this thing. When people saw it, it had already run away. It's said to swim extremely fast in the water, bobbing its head up and down, making quite a commotion in the water."

He dared not reveal the truth, because the strange fish had never shown its true face to anyone.

Although he was very curious and wanted to know what that strange fish was.

After all, it's truly terrifying for freshwater creatures to reach such exaggerated sizes.

Unfortunately, I can't ask.

If this water monster is actually seen by someone in the future, and it matches the question he asked, he won't be able to give a reasonable explanation.

"This place is truly a blessed land, teeming with rare creatures. The neighboring county has crested ibises, and here you have giant softshell turtles and water monsters... It's a pity we arrived too late this time and missed seeing them in person..."

Han Ninggui sighed. He had been busy this year and couldn't even fulfill his plan to come to the mountains for research in the spring, which he had mentioned last year. However, he was somewhat comforted by the recognition of his published works by many professionals.

"If things don't go smoothly, we might have to wait a few more days, and we'll have to trouble you again, Fugui."

"Uncle Han, what are you saying? Don't mention any trouble. You're welcome to stay for a few more days. I'd love to have you here."

Having not gained much from the reservoir, Chen Ling led them away, invited Zhao Dahai's family, and returned to the farm.

Once Zhao Dahai and the lynx arrived at the farm, they went straight for the kite under the eaves.

Because there are many kinds of wild animals and insects in the forest, and there are also a lot of birds that fly over in flocks all day long.

Therefore, hawks never lack food.

I just caught a magpie and am currently stepping on it while it's carrying feathers.

As it carried the dog, Wang Cunye swept the area with a broom beside it.

The old man and the hawk seemed to be having a great time together; it was quite amusing to watch.

When the kite had almost finished carrying the feathers, it was still putting the feathers into the winnowing basket in Wang Cunye's hand, one by one.

She walks unsteadily, like an old hen.

Both Lynx and Zhao Dahai were stunned, especially Lynx, who not only played with dogs but also frequently dealt with eagles and falcons, and knew the ins and outs of the trade.

"Fugui, you, you kite..."

He pointed at Er Tuzi, then turned to look at Chen Ling, his words becoming incoherent.

Seeing this, Du Juan laughed at him: "Hehe, how about that? Fu Gui is better at raising dogs than you, and he's better at training eagles than you. You've finally met someone who can outdo you, haven't you?"

Han Ninggui chuckled and said, "Little Lin was quite proud of his dog-training and hawk-training skills, but I didn't expect you, Fugui, to be even more impressive. All the dogs and oxen you keep at home are so intelligent and spirited."

"Hey, what's with all this talk about spirituality? It's just that if you treat it well, it will treat you well in return."

Chen Ling smiled, picked up the leather wristband, and with a flick of his wrist, Er Tu Zi put down the magpie and flew it onto his hand.

Then it folded its wings and stared intently at Zhao Dahai and the others with its sharp eagle eyes, which amazed them.

Lynx was particularly envious: "You really can do anything. Last winter you even asked the kite hunter for advice, and this year you've trained it to this level on your own."

Despite Chen Ling's simple words, he didn't believe it at all.

However, it's not a matter of doubt. Some people are just naturally gifted; they can talk about it effortlessly and simply, but if you ask them to do it, no one else could possibly do it.

He had seen many people like that before.

"Haha, just hearing about it makes me envious..."

Zhao Dahai rubbed his hands together. "Fugui, could you let it out and show it off to us?"

"Sure, that's easy."

As Chen Ling spoke, he tossed his hand upwards and said, "Er Tuzi, go and catch a mouse."

Er Tuzi suddenly spread his wings and flew out, returning shortly with a mouse in his arms.

"Wow, that's amazing. I timed it, and it caught a mouse in less than two minutes. It can understand human speech and is such a good hunter."

Lynx looked at the watch and couldn't help but be shocked again: "If you were willing to sell an eagle like that, you could easily make ten or twenty thousand."

Indeed, such an eagle would sell for at least ten or twenty thousand yuan now. In later generations, some wealthy people would be willing to pay millions or even tens of millions for it.

Chen Ling had heard of this before. He had even visited a gyrfalcon abroad. It had changed hands twice and was still worth five or six million. Moreover, it was sold at a low price because the previous owner didn't have time to take care of it.

"Come on, if Fugui were willing to sell, he wouldn't be Fugui."

Zhao Dahai curled his lip, "This eagle is indeed really powerful. It's because of your name, Er Tuzi, that it sounds like some old man's name..."

These words elicited chuckles from the women.

They were surrounding Wang Susu and playing with the child.

Listening to the men talk was quite amusing.

Seeing that they were all laughing at his naming skills, Chen Ling said unhappily, "What old man? I call it Baldy because it was injured twice and its feathers were shaved off twice. I had a hard time saving it."

"If we hadn't saved it twice, do you think eagles are easy to train?"

Zhao Dahai and Shanmao immediately glanced at him sideways, looking smug. "You've got such a good eagle, you should be secretly happy."

Han Ninggui and Wang Cunye were chatting nearby. Seeing the young people bickering, they found it amusing and said, "I heard that the wine at Fugui Farm is particularly good. A jar of wine sells for a thousand or two thousand yuan. You're such a rich man now that you're so good at making money, won't you let me try some?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dahai immediately chimed in, "That's right, that's right! When we were on the dam at the village entrance, some people were bragging to us, saying that you earn 20,000 or 30,000 yuan a day. That's an exaggeration!"

The lynx immediately exclaimed exaggeratedly, "Good heavens, this is so expensive! It's even more expensive than Moutai! Hurry up and bring it out so we can have a taste!"

Once you get to know these people, they all lose their composure and become less serious.

Of course, they dared to joke around with Chen Ling precisely because they knew his temperament.

Such an expensive item might be something others might hesitate to take out, but Chen Ling certainly wouldn't.

Sure enough, as soon as they started making a fuss, Chen Ling waved for the kite to return to the eaves and then told them to head towards the back of the farm, straight to the wine storage warehouse.

"Good heavens, Fugui, do you keep snakes in the back?"

"Huh? Uncle Han, you recognize this snake box?"

"What are you saying? Didn't I visit your father-in-law's house last year? I saw the snake pit there."

"Oh, yes, yes, I almost forgot."

Then I took them to the storeroom to get some wine. I brought them a little of each kind, fruit wine and medicinal wine, but I only let them have a sip or two to avoid them getting drunk.

Even so, I still had a great time drinking.

They had tried two or three kinds of wine before, and this time they just wanted to try something new.

"Haha, so the wines we drank before were all so expensive, so luxurious and classy."

Zhao Dahai laughed so hard his fat jiggled, then tasted the half-full cup of medicinal wine that Chen Ling had served them. His eyes lit up immediately: "Wow, this medicinal wine is delicious. The medicinal taste isn't strong, and it doesn't feel very potent."

"Yes, this medicinal wine does have a very low alcohol content. It hasn't been sold yet, but if it were, it would be the most expensive. It's a tonic wine, and it's suitable for elderly people and women with weak constitutions."

"What about men? Can men drink it to improve their kidney health?"

"Uh, it can't be fixed."

"It's a pity."

"This is also a medicinal wine, made by soaking snakes, scorpions, centipedes and the like. It's not ready yet. This one is also made by soaking herbs. Most of these new items are medicinal wines."

Chen Ling explained.

Zhao Dahai then asked, "Can these nourish the kidneys?"

"There are some that can nourish the kidneys, but the effect is actually quite average."

"Huh? I've seen everyone talking about medicinal wine for kidney tonification these days, why isn't yours working?"

"Hey, those are all lies."

Chen Ling looked at Zhao Dahai: "Brother Dahai, you're only this age, and your kidneys are already failing?"

Zhao Dahai was stunned and remained silent.

After a long pause, he finally said, "No, no, I just saw the medicinal wine and was a little curious."

At this moment, Lynx couldn't hold back his laughter and slapped his thigh. Han Ninggui also laughed heartily.

The women blushed deeply and turned to leave.

Wang Cunye had also followed along at some point.

"What? Dahai has kidney problems? Is he seriously ill?"

"Hey, Uncle Wang, do you have a solution?"

Zhao Dahai's eyes lit up. He knew Chen Ling's father-in-law's abilities, so he quickly came over to ask for help. "...I've been traveling a lot these past two years, and I don't know what happened, but suddenly my kidneys started acting up. I've taken a lot of tonics, but they're still not working. Uncle, could you prescribe a remedy for me?"

"I... I can't. I'm just a herbalist, not a doctor. I wouldn't dare prescribe medicine for anyone."

Wang Cunye quickly waved his hand, then looked Zhao Dahai up and down and said, "But I do know a thing or two about kidney tonics. I broke my leg before and was bedridden for a long time. My back was bad and my kidneys weren't strong either."

"It's still the recipe that Su Su's grandfather remembered, and it really works."

As soon as the old man said this, not only Zhao Dahai, but even Shanmao and Professor Han immediately crowded forward, pricking up their ears to wait for what he would say next.

"Uncle, please tell me what happened!" Zhao Dahai was sweating profusely with anxiety.

Chen Ling watched these people from behind and couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

Unfortunately, I am strong and healthy, so I probably won't have the chance to experience what kidney deficiency feels like in this lifetime.

"Oh, there's really nothing wrong with this. It's just that you didn't tonify your kidneys in the right place. Maybe some doctors haven't mastered the skills and missed a couple of ingredients."

Wang Cunye pulled a stool from the corner of the warehouse, sat down, and lit a cigarette. "The kidneys are responsible for water. As long as you drink water, they have to work. In other words, when you are tonifying your kidneys, they are still working non-stop."

"It's like you're riding a horse that's injured and weak, but you keep running on the road. If you don't let the horse stop and keep running while you try to treat its injuries, do you think it will heal?"

"It can't be cured, can it?"

"It's the same with tonifying the kidneys. You need to let them rest before you can truly tonify them."

"Take Rehmannia for example. Many herbalists and doctors know that Rehmannia glutinosa is good for the kidneys, but you can't just use Rehmannia glutinosa alone. It won't nourish the kidneys. You have to promote urination first, let the kidneys rest and catch their breath, and then take the tonic. Only then can the kidneys be nourished."

"What kind of diuretic should we use? Generally, we use Alisma plantago-aquatica."

Zhao Dahai and the others didn't understand what medicinal herbs were, but they understood the old man's line of reasoning.

First, promote urination to expel urine, allowing the kidneys to rest and get a temporary respite so that the tonics can be properly absorbed.

Otherwise, relying solely on a large number of tonics will only increase the burden on the kidneys, making them weaker the more they take tonics.

This is one of the reasons why tonics should not be taken indiscriminately.

"I still have to thank Uncle Wang. Now I understand why all those supplements I took were useless."

Zhao Dahai sighed in admiration. His medicines were not only useless, but taking too much of them also caused internal heat, dry intestines, and difficulty defecating.

It's so painful.

Lynx and Professor Han also showered Wang Cunye with praise, making the old man blush.

He waved his hand repeatedly, saying it was nothing, just things left behind by Grandpa Susu, and he was just repeating a few words from them.

Despite this, the old man was clearly pleased by the praise, and wrote down the prescription for them as soon as he returned to the front of the farm.

This left the old man and the two young men feeling quite satisfied.

Chen Ling smiled silently from behind, knowing better than to say anything.

(End of this chapter)