Chapter 56: Tasting Dishes Determines Life and Death

  PS: Thanks to the demonic, crazy, Maryane and several other book friends for their rewards, and also seeking recommendations and collections.

  This so-called "a handful of grasp" in traditional Chinese medicine refers to a realm of grasping medicine, meaning that no matter what kind of medicine or dosage, it can be grasped accurately with one hand, without the need for weighing.

  It's easy to say, but it's not easy to do. You know, the dosage of traditional Chinese medicine is calculated in qian or grams, and the accuracy is very high. When grabbing the medicine, the error cannot be too large, and you need to grab it accurately. It's not just about talent, but also requires diligent study and practice.

  Wang Xu followed Wang He Nian to pick herbs since he was a child, and his own fondness for traditional Chinese medicine gave him an extraordinary sensitivity to Chinese medicinal herbs, which allowed him to develop this exceptional picking skill.

  "From a young age, I've been grasping medicine, and after a long time, it naturally becomes second nature." Wang Xu said with a faint smile, while explaining, he casually opened the medicine cabinet beside him, grabbed the medicine for the young man, and sent him off.

  Just now there was no one here, it's a bit better, once someone comes, immediately someone else follows, this young couple just left, again someone walks up to grab the medicine, Wang Xu fortunately doesn't refuse, takes over the prescription, glances at it casually, and starts grabbing.

  At first, some people still doubted Wang Xu's weighing, but as more and more people gathered around, the first few people who understood the inside story spread the word to each other. Before long, there were more and more people in front of the counter, and several medicine-picking assistants had nothing to do.

  Fu Dongquan's eyes almost popped out when he saw him, if he hadn't known that Wang Xu was going to open a clinic and his medical skills were extraordinary, he would have thought of hiring Wang Xu with a high salary to grab medicine, this standard is absolutely one against ten.

  Fu Dongquan's old home was at the foot of a mountain, and he also knew some traditional practices from before. In the past, when it came to TCM apprenticeships, they would start by learning how to pick herbs, picking herbs for three years, grinding herbs for three years, and only after mastering these basic skills would the master begin teaching them medical theory. If you wanted to become a qualified doctor, it would take at least ten or eight years, absolutely no less. Just looking at Wang Xu's level of skill in picking herbs, you can tell that his medical skills are definitely not bad.

  The foundation is like the foundation of a house, if the foundation is not solid, the technique will not work. Now education is widespread, although Chinese medicine is declining, there are many universities of traditional Chinese medicine in China. These students start learning medical theory from the beginning and have mastered a lot of theories, but when it comes to practice, they don't know anything at all. Not to mention grabbing medicine, even seeing real medicinal materials can recognize only a few dozen kinds, distinguishing between true and false is not easy anymore.

  Fudong Quan's pharmacy has been open for decades. In recent years, there have been university students who came to the pharmacy to apply for a job as a pharmacist, including some from well-known medical universities. However, when faced with the numerous types of traditional Chinese medicine, it's not just about grabbing them, but even identifying them takes at least three months.

  It has to be said that the current mass education model has accelerated the popularization of education, but it has not played a significant role in cultivating truly skilled talents.

  Education has become widespread, and people's minds have opened up. Many feel that they are not being utilized to their full potential, and that they were born in the wrong era. In reality, most of them are just a bunch of people with high aspirations but low abilities, without any special skills. This is indeed one of the tragedies of today's society.

  Sorry, got sidetracked (author's momentary lapse of sanity, don't shoot).

  Wang Xu didn't take out the medicine at first, but as soon as he did, it was a bit hard to control. Chinese people love to gather around and watch, knowing that there's someone here who can grab the medicine more accurately than a scale. They all came over to watch, even some who weren't planning on buying medicine made a point to come and join in the excitement, buying some tonic Chinese medicine just to see Wang Xu's amazing grabbing skills.

  It wasn't until 12 o'clock that Wang Xu finally found a spare moment to slip out with Fu Dongquan. As they left the pharmacy, Wang Xu couldn't help but smile wryly at how crazy this scene was.

  Fu Dongquan couldn't help but chuckle and jokingly said to Wang, "Doctor Wang, I think your clinic is doing great. With this amazing skill of prescribing medicine without even looking at the patient, you'll never have to worry about food and clothing again."

  Since it was time for dinner, Wang Xu was busy for more than two hours. Pei Dongquan naturally invited him to dinner. The two of them found a good restaurant nearby and sat down in a quiet corner on the first floor hall. They ordered several home-style dishes and a bottle of Xifeng wine, chatting while eating.

  "Dr. Wang, try some of this braised pork, it's the signature dish of this restaurant. I often come here to eat when I have nothing better to do." Paidongquan said with a smile as he pointed to the braised pork in the middle of the table.

  Wang Xu heard this, picked up a piece with his hand, put it in his mouth and chewed lightly for two times, and immediately couldn't help but frown.

  "What's wrong, doesn't the flavor suit your taste?" Fuyangquan asked puzzledly as he saw Wang Xu's expression, and at the same time, he also picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth.

  "That's right, this is the flavor, fragrant but not greasy, the meat is stewed very well."

  "The flavor is good, but this chef won't live long." Wang Xu sighed and picked up another piece of meat, putting it in his mouth to savor the taste again.

  "The chef's life is not long." Fu Dongquan was stunned by Wang Xu's words, and he quickly looked around, lowering his voice: "What are you talking about? I know this chef, he's only in his 40s, in the prime of his life, and he's very healthy. You can't just say such things!"

  "Heh." Wang Xu put down his chopsticks, smiled faintly, picked up his wine cup, and drained the remaining wine in one gulp, without offering any further explanation.

  Ancient people could tell life and death from a single character, and from that character, they could see a person's spirit. A dish is the same way; a true gourmet can taste whether the chef cooked with heart or not, and whether he was in a good mood or not. One grain of sand can reveal a whole world, and one dish can express a person's bitter heart.

  Although he is not a gourmet, but a doctor, others can't taste it, but the spirit of a person can still be tasted.

  Judging from this dish, the chef obviously likes cooking and has put a lot of effort into it. However, it's clear that his time is limited, which evokes a sense of sadness. This dish brings a hint of melancholy to people, lacking a bit of vitality and liveliness.

  Nowadays, many people criticize traditional Chinese medicine, saying that it is not medicine at all and cannot cure diseases. From a certain perspective, this statement is not entirely wrong.

  Traditional Chinese medicine itself is not about treating diseases, but rather regulating yin and yang. In the eyes of traditional Chinese medicine, all diseases in the human body are born from the imbalance of yin and yang. When yang is dominant, fever occurs; when yin is dominant, chills occur. The loss of balance between yin and yang leads to the rebirth of countless diseases. This is also why some diseases that are considered terminal by Western medicine can even be cured with traditional Chinese medicine.

  Traditional Chinese medicine treats the disease by looking at the reasons that produce the disease, solving the reasons that lead to the disease, and the body's own functions naturally recover normally. Even cancer is not incurable.

  This dish tastes great to others, and those who have eaten it also think there's nothing different about it. However, when Wang Xu tries it, he feels that the yang energy is obviously insufficient and the yin energy is too strong.

  This thing of yin and yang is originally invisible and intangible, vague and elusive. Those who understand it don't need to say anything, while those who don't won't get it even if explained. If this situation were to manifest in a person, Wang Xu could still explain it through symptoms, but when it comes to a dish, there's simply no way to discuss it, so he didn't want to give Fu Dongquan any more explanations.

  The dish comes from the chef's hands, and he can taste the chef's situation through this dish. It can be seen that the chef himself is also aware of his own situation, and he is seriously ill, even if he cannot cure it, saying so is futile. Since it's useless to say, why bother explaining again?

  "Doctor Wang, are you okay?" Fu Dongquan was a bit stunned by Wang Xu. He suddenly said that the chef's life was not long, and then inexplicably became somewhat sentimental. If he hadn't known that Wang Xu's medical skills were good, he would have suspected that Wang Xu was a swindler at this time.

  "It's nothing, I just spaced out for a moment." Wang Xu smiled slightly and poured himself another cup of wine. He raised his glass to Pei Dongquan and said, "Boss Pei, from now on the clinic's medicinal herbs will be relying on you. Cheers to our pleasant cooperation!"

  "Good, nice cooperation." Fu Dongquan raised his wine glass and said with a smile, instantly forgetting what had just happened.

  "Bang!" Just then, a loud noise suddenly came from the direction of the restaurant's kitchen, like something had fallen to the ground, knocking over many pots and pans. Immediately after, a shout was heard: "Front desk, quickly call 120, Old Liang has fainted."

  "Bang!" The wine glass in Fei Dong's hand slipped from his grasp, fell onto the table, rolled lightly twice, and dropped to the ground, shattering into pieces. The wine spilled all over his pants leg.

  But at this time, Fu Dongquan was too busy to care about it, still maintaining the posture of holding up his wine glass, as if he had been frozen in place, with a look of surprise on his face.

  "Old Liang!" The head chef of this restaurant was named Liang Baoming, and Fu Dongquan had even had a drink with him before. He was the very chef who made this braised pork dish.

  "This chef won't live for long." For a moment, Fu Dongquan felt as if the whole world had vanished instantly, and all that was left in his ears was what Wang Xu had just said.

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