Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 597: Chapter 597: The Water is Deep

Aunt Li bought some Dried Tangerine Peel online and started drinking it as a tea.

After two days, her throat didn’t feel soothed. In fact, it felt even drier.

’Am I just being picky? Or is this Dried Tangerine Peel too aged? Maybe the medicinal properties are too strong?’

Aunt Li was a little confused but didn’t dwell on it.

She thought, ’Maybe I just don’t have a refined palate for it. After all, it’s supposed to be ten-year-aged Dried Tangerine Peel. It’s bound to be different from a normal tangerine peel.’

So, she forced herself to endure the strange taste and kept drinking it every day.

She soon finished the Dried Tangerine Peel she had bought.

Aunt Li mulled it over. She went to a fruit stand, bought five and a half pounds of big tangerines, peeled them, let them dry in the sun, and then steeped them in water to drink.

Seven or eight days went by.

...

A fragrant aroma filled Li Xu’s TCM Clinic.

Aunt Li sat before the consultation desk with a worried expression, hissing as she sucked in cool air. It was clear the sores in her mouth were causing her a great deal of pain.

"Xiao Xu, you have to take a look at me. I don’t know what’s been going on the last few days. I’ve got a bunch of big sores in my mouth, my throat is bone-dry, and my whole body feels hot. I can’t even sleep well at night."

Li Xu motioned for her to extend her hand and took her pulse to make a diagnosis.

Her pulse was slippery, rapid, and strong; her tongue was red with a yellow, greasy coating.

"Aunt Li, this is a case of excess fire rising—a classic presentation of internal damp-heat, compounded by pathogenic dryness damaging your yin."

Li Xu withdrew his hand and asked gently, "Have you eaten anything that could cause this kind of internal heat recently? Like spicy food? Or lamb?"

Aunt Li shook her head. "No, I can’t handle spicy food, and I don’t like lamb, either. It’s just..."

She hesitated, then said a little sheepishly, "A little while ago, my throat was feeling sore, so I bought some Dried Tangerine Peel online to make tea with. It didn’t help at all, and it tasted strange. I started to think that what they sell online might be fake."

"And then?" Li Xu prompted.

"So then I thought, isn’t Dried Tangerine Peel just tangerine peel? You can find that stuff everywhere. Why should I have to spend money on it?"

Aunt Li gestured as she spoke. "I went to the fruit stand and bought five and a half pounds of big tangerines, peeled them, washed them squeaky clean, and left them out on my balcony to bake in the sun for two days until they were completely dried out."

"Once I saw they were dry, I grabbed a handful to make tea. And I have to admit, the flavor was much stronger than the stuff I bought online. I figured this time it had to be the real deal, so I drank a few extra cups."

"Who knew... after just two days of drinking it, I ended up like this."

Aunt Li grimaced, pointing to her mouth.

After listening to her story, Li Xu couldn’t help but let out a wry laugh.

Many laypeople have major misconceptions about Chinese medicine.

They think it’s all just roots and bark that can be found anywhere and used however they please.

"Aunt Li, this is a classic case of good intentions gone wrong."

Li Xu explained patiently, "Just because you sun-dry a tangerine peel, that doesn’t make it Dried Tangerine Peel. They’re two completely different things."

"A fresh tangerine peel doesn’t have the same properties as Dried Tangerine Peel, which is used to regulate qi, fortify the spleen, dry out dampness, and resolve phlegm."

"The difference between a fresh peel and a proper Dried Tangerine Peel lies in the ’Chen’ part of its name, which means ’aged.’"

"The *Bencao Beiyao* states that only a tangerine peel that has been aged for over three years can be called Dried Tangerine Peel. Why is that?"

"It’s because a fresh tangerine peel, like the ones you dried, contains a very high concentration of volatile oils. While it can also help regulate qi, its aroma is overpowering and its nature is too harsh and drying. It’s not balanced."

"Tao Hongjing once said, ’For medicinal use, aged tangerine peels are superior.’ And Li Shizhen wrote in his *Compendium of Materia Medica*, ’While other herbs are valued for their freshness, this one is valued for its age.’"

"Through years of aging, those harsh volatile oils either evaporate or transform into milder compounds. As the *Leigong Paozhi Yaoxing Jie* puts it: ’After many rainy seasons and summers, its harsh nature is fully dispelled. It can warm the core without the risk of creating dryness and heat, and it can move qi without the danger of being too severe or depleting.’"

"To put it simply, you were drinking ’drying qi.’ It regulates qi, but it also depletes it and causes internal heat. That’s why you have sores in your mouth and feel so awful."

Aunt Li was dumbfounded. "Oh, so that’s how it works. I really thought just drying them was enough..."

Li Xu added, "Besides, even high-quality Dried Tangerine Peel isn’t something just anyone can drink casually."

"Dried Tangerine Peel is a qi-regulating herb, meant for people suffering from qi stagnation and dampness obstruction. For someone with your constitution—who already shows signs of yin deficiency, a dry cough, a red tongue with little moisture, and internal excess heat—drinking it is like pouring oil on a fire. It has to be prescribed in combination with other herbs, like adding some Ophiopogon or Dendrobium to nourish the yin."

"You took the wrong remedy for your symptoms and used a harsh, ’raw’ peel on top of that. Of course you’d develop internal heat."

Aunt Li finally understood, filled with regret. "Oh my, it’s a terrible thing to be so ignorant. And here I was, drinking it like it was some kind of treasure."

"It’s alright, Aunt Li. Don’t worry."

Li Xu reassured her, "I’ll write you a prescription to clear the heat and nourish your yin. Just take a couple of doses, and you’ll be fine."

Li Xu wrote out a prescription, primarily a modified version of *Sha Shen Mai Dong Tang*, to clear and nourish the yin of the lungs and stomach.

Aunt Li took the prescription, breathing a sigh of relief.

But she wasn’t ready to give up just yet. She asked, "Xiao Xu, I get that the peels I prepared myself were no good, but why didn’t the ones I bought from that livestream work either? The host swore up and down that it was ten-year-aged Dried Tangerine Peel."

Li Xu sighed. "Aunt Li, the market for Dried Tangerine Peel is a minefield these days. Forget about online sellers; even brick-and-mortar pharmacies are full of fakes or low-grade products being passed off as the real thing."

"Do you still have any of the peel you bought online?"

"I do, I do! I’ll go home and get it for you right now."

A short while later, Aunt Li returned with the so-called "ten-year-aged Dried Tangerine Peel."

Li Xu opened the bag, gave the contents a single glance and a quick sniff, then made his determination.

"Aunt Li, you’ve been scammed."

Li Xu pointed to the blackened peels. "This isn’t naturally aged Dried Tangerine Peel at all. It’s an artificially ’aged’ peel, made by soaking it in Pu’er tea or chemical dyes and then baking it at high temperatures to make it look old."

"This kind of peel looks dark on the outside, like an aged peel, but it has none of the proper aged fragrance. All it has is a sour, rotten, or otherwise strange smell. Forget about curing any illness by drinking this—you’d be lucky if you didn’t damage your liver and kidneys."

Aunt Li’s face went pale with fright. She immediately threw the bag into the trash can. "Oh my God, these unscrupulous merchants! They’re absolutely shameless!"

Li Xu advised her, "From now on, don’t just randomly buy Chinese medicine online, especially not something you’re going to ingest. If you need anything, just come to the clinic. I’ll get you the real thing."

...

After seeing Aunt Li off, Li Xu had another busy afternoon.

Just before closing time, a car pulled up to the entrance.

Gao Yuan walked in looking travel-worn, his pant cuffs splattered with mud. He had obviously just returned from a trip.

"Elder Gao, what brings you here?"

Li Xu quickly rose to greet him.

Ever since Ding’s Chinese Herbal Medicine Company was founded, this "Medicine Fool" had been the very definition of dedicated. He spent his days traveling to all the prime herb-producing regions across the country to acquire high-quality medicinal materials. Li Xu hadn’t seen him in quite some time.

"Ugh, don’t ask."

Gao Yuan sat down and took a sip of water, his brow furrowed. "We’ve run into a problem."

"What’s wrong?"

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