Chapter 295: Knowledgeable about both Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After the call got through to Long Xian, Sun Xiaomeng instructed her based on her memory, "Prepare the following medicines which can be found in the drug cabinet in the clinic—nystatin, copper sulfate solution, griseofulvin, ciprofloxacin, and compound vitamins."
Every time Sun Xiaomeng mentioned an item, Long Xian replied with "uh-huh", and when she finished speaking, Long Xian summed up quickly, "Nystatin, copper sulfate solution, griseofulvin, ciprofloxacin, and compound vitamins, correct?"
Long Xian was quite proud of her short-term memory, chuckling at the other side of the phone and waiting for Sun Xiaomeng's compliment.
However, Sun Xiaomeng's reaction was just a plain "uh-huh", and then she continued with a torrent of medicines. "We don't have the following ones in our clinic, so you have to go to the nearest Traditional Chinese Medicine chain pharmacy to buy them—100g of dandelion, 50g of skullcap root, 50g of platycodon, 50g of pepperweed seeds, 50g of kuh-seng, and 25g of liquorice…"
"Wait, wait, wait…." Long Xian was panicked, saying a string of "wait"'s that made her almost bite her tongue. She didn't dare to boast herself anymore. "Sister Xiaomeng, wait a moment please. Let me find a pen to write them down."
There was barely any Traditional Chinese Medicine teaching in veterinary school, and Long Xian didn't know a thing about these Chinese herbal medicines, among which some pronunciations and characters were strange to her. With the dosages and ratios of these Chinese herbal medicines involved, she must find a pen and paper to write them down, or else she would forget them in a blink of eye.
While Sun Xiaomeng was waiting for Long Xian to grab a pen and paper, Zhang Zian went into the bedroom next door and saw that Wang Qian and Li Kun had just finished installing a new electric heater. Fina, Snowy Lionet and Old Time Tea were curiously surrounding the electric heater, feeling the heat radiating from it, and soon Fina's eyelids began to close...
Zhang Zian looked around and didn't find Galaxy. Only the American Shorthair that usually played hide-and-seek with it was quietly lying and resting in the corner.
His mind was occupied by Richard's illness now, and there was no room in his brain for him to think about where Galaxy was. He must prioritize the issues at hand. Besides, Galaxy couldn't leave the pet shop by itself, so it must be in a room on the second floor or had gone down to the first floor.
"Master, what happened?" Noticing the gloomy face of Zhang Zian, Wang Qian and Li Kun wiped the dust off their hands, ready to help their Master out.
"You guys run to Sun Xiaomeng's clinic, where Long Xian will give you some medicines. Li Kun, you come back with those medicines first. And Wang Qian, you stand by in the clinic, because Long Xian will go elsewhere to buy the rest of the medicines, so when she buys them and gets back, you bring the medicines here." Zhang Zian assigned tasks to them.
Zhang Zian had made clear instructions, and Wang Qian and Li Kun had thoroughly understood.
"If you have understood everything, just go! Run!" Zhang Zian waved his hands.
"Yes, Master!"
Without raising any doubts or saying anything, Wang Qian and Li Kun rushed downstairs.
Zhang Zian went to the window and watched them both whirring towards the clinic until they were invisible in the dark night.
"What happened?" Fina opened its eyes and asked.
"Richard," replied Zhang Zian. "Richard is ill, severely."
Old Time Tea pondered and said, "I just vaguely heard Dr. Sun mention several kinds of Chinese herbal medicines."
"Yes, Grandpa Tea, I also heard her." Zhang Zian listened carefully. Sun Xiaomeng was still in the living room talking with Long Xian on her telephone, repeating the dosages and types of Chinese herbal medicines to Long Xian. She hadn't assigned any tasks to him, so Zhang Zian stayed there and conversed with Old Time Tea.
Old Time Tea nodded its appraisal at Sun Xiaomeng. "Though Dr. Sun is still young, she is knowledgeable about both Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine — what a rare young talent she is! Traditional Chinese Medicine and martial arts are of the same origin—medical practitioners were the ones skilled with magic arts to heal people, while warriors possessed the techniques to exorcise demons and preserve the righteous ways! Since the old days, I have gained slight knowledge about pharmacology— dandelion has the effects of eliminating carbuncle and reducing swelling, skullcap root has the effects of detoxifying and purging, platycodon can ease coughing and reduce swelling, pepperweed seeds can reopen the inhibited lung-energy and eliminate phlegm, kuh-seng acts as a diuretic and has insecticidal effects, and last but not least, licorice has a pain-killing effect and can reduce the poisonous side-effects of the other Chinese herbal medicines. She knows well about how every type of Chinese herbal medicine works and can combine them correctly, I believe the sky is the limit for her as a doctor!"
Zhang Zian didn't understand a word said by Old Time Tea. He could only force a smile.
But Snowy Lionet echoed Old Time Tea, "This young lady is quite nice. She's so cool, I bet she doesn't care about men. She's totally my type…"
"Stop!" Zhang Zian had to wake Snowy Lionet from its dangerous fantasy, "Her family runs a pet breeding base. Be careful, she might take you there and use you as a breeding cat!"
Snowy Lionet was so frightened that it shrunk its neck, "No! I don't want to be a breeding cat!"
"By the way, did any of you see where Galaxy went?" Zhang Zian had no time to continue this nonsense with it, so he turned around and confirmed again that Galaxy was not in the room.
"Just a second ago it was here..." Old Time Tea looked around in surprise, "It's gone in a blink of an eye..."
"Oh..." Zhang Zian nodded. If even the most vigilant Old Time Tea didn't notice the whereabouts of Galaxy, then it wouldn't be necessary to ask Fina and Snowy Lionet.
"You guys get some rest, I will go out for a while." He left the bedroom with the door ajar to maintain the indoor temperature. He didn't want another Elf to catch a cold or get sick, especially now.
He looked for Galaxy in other rooms on the second floor and still couldn't find it.
"Galaxy," said he in a light tone.
No response.
"Galaxy, are you here? This is not the time to play hide-and-seek," he said again.
Still no response.
He walked down the stairs and saw that Guo Dongyue was directing the workers to seize the time to finish the renovation overnight. The first floor was so brightly lit by the large-watt vapor lamps that he could even see the corners clearly. He glanced around the first floor, but Galaxy was not there either.
Guo Dongyue hollered, "What happened to Richard?"
The noise was too loud for them to have conversation. Zhang Zian shook his head, waved his hand and walked up to the second floor again. He did not know what happened to Richard either, or what would happen to it. He could only hope that Sun Xiaomeng's methods would work. And it was up to Guo Dongyue to comprehend his gestures—that nothing serious happened to Richard, or that he didn't know.
He had searched both the first floor and the second floor, could it be...
Zhang Zian looked up at the ceiling, was Galaxy at the roof?
Going up to the roof was a piece of cake for Galaxy with its ability. But why the roof? It was evening now, and it was so cold outside…
Just when Zhang Zian was about to fetch the ladder to climb to the roof, Sun Xiaomeng asked him to go into the living room.
He could only temporarily put aside his concerns about finding Galaxy, so he went over to her and asked, "How's it going? Do you need my help?"
Sun Xiaomeng had just finished the call with Long Xian, and she put out two fingers towards him and said, "Two things. First, Richard's condition is merely my conjecture. Unless a pathological biopsy or open-heart examination has been completed, I can't make a definite diagnosis right now, and I can only give treatment to it assuming that what it has is acute aspergillosis."
She was saying these words as a doctor. Some things must be addressed clearly to the pet owner.
Sun Xiaomeng's speaking style was usually concise and to the point, and right now she appeared even more resolute.
Zhang Zian shuddered hearing the words "biopsy" and "open-heart". He managed to nod, suggesting he had understood what she said.
"Aspergillosis has a very high mortality rate, and with my limited experience in dealing with this disease and insufficient equipment in my clinic, may I suggest you consider visiting a large pet hospital? There will be more experienced doctors with more equipment there," she suggested.
Zhang Zian shook his head and turned down her suggestion. Richard simply could not leave the pet shop. The few large pet hospitals in Binhai City were rather far away, and Richard's illness was deteriorating so rapidly that even if he could take it to a hospital to seek treatment, with the current traffic jam outside, and the possibility that they might need to wait in line before he could describe Richard's condition to a doctor there, he was just too worried that it would be too late for Richard...