"Oh, right. I remember when I was toasting at my wedding with Juxiu, Wang Xiuliang from the neighboring village came over. He handed me a cup of cola, saying he brought it specially to toast me because he couldn't drink alcohol, so I didn't drink either. We just treated it as having a drink. But I remember we only bought Sprite, not cola. Since everyone knew each other, I didn't think much of it."
"Cola is indeed a very good disguise drink," Zhu Yanyi nodded.
"You mean Wang Xiuliang harmed me?" She Atu looked at Zhu Yanyi, her expression full of disbelief. "Xiuliang and I aren't from the same village, but since our villages are close, we grew up together like bare-chested brothers. How could she harm me?"
"I think I know," Juxiu spoke up. She had been silent until now. She had resented she Atu for promising to treat her well after marriage but failing to cherish her. Now, realizing that she Atu was also a victim, her resentment vanished.
"Wang Xiuliang once confessed to me, and I rejected him. His family even sent a matchmaker. Because I had promised you, I asked my parents to refuse them," Juxiu said seriously.
"That bastard! I’m going to beat him up. Is he happy because he wants to break up our family?" He Atu said angrily.
"Beat him? What’s the point? The most important thing now is to remove those things called 'wine gu' from your body," Old He said gruffly.
Old She turned to Zhu Yanyi. "Girl, do you have a way to remove the wine gu from her body?"
"Yes, removing the wine gu is actually very simple," Zhu Yanyi said with a smile. "Do you have green plums? Fresh ones are best, but pickled ones will work too."
"It’s this weather, so there are no fresh green plums. But I have pickled ones," a young villager who had come to watch said. Seeing everyone look at her, she scratched her head shyly. "My wife is pregnant. A few months ago, her morning sickness was severe. I heard pickled green plums can help, so I bought them at the market. She’s not vomiting anymore, but I still have two large jars of pickled plums."
Two large jars? They must be planning to do business. The onlookers were speechless.
Zhu Yanyi smiled. "Could you please bring me nine green plums?"
"Are nine enough? Isn’t that too few?" the man asked.
"I’m using them for medicine. Medicine isn’t about quantity, but about the right amount. So nine is enough," Zhu Yanyi explained.
"Okay, I’ll go get them right away." The young man was straightforward. Since everyone in the village lived close together, he didn’t overthink it and went to fetch the plums.
"Also, prepare one jin of old vinegar," Zhu Yanyi added.
"I have some," an old lady said. "I’ll go get it." She hurried out.
"Aohan, please bring my bag over," Zhu Yanyi said with a smile to Yan Aohan.
Yan Aohan nodded understandingly and left.
Zhu Yanyi searched the room and found a medicine stove. She lit it. The young man and the old lady returned one after another. Yan Aohan also returned shortly.
Zhu Yanyi washed their family’s medicine pot, poured the jin of vinegar into it, and placed it on the stove to heat slowly. She took a mortar from her bag, crushed the nine green plums, and asked Ouyang Tianyun to bring her a ginseng rootlet, which she also crushed. Then she took out various other herbs from her bag—herbs unknown to the others—and crushed them too, placing them in a bowl. She poured a small bottle of medicinal liquid over the mixture, stirred it well, and asked, "Do you have glutinous rice and eggs?"
"Yes," Juxiu said. "They’re in the top cabinet in the kitchen. Atu, go get them."
"Okay." He Atu quickly fetched the glutinous rice and eggs.
Zhu Yanyi took a few grains of glutinous rice, crushed them, and added them to the herbs. She cracked an egg into the mixture. Then she lifted the medicine pot and poured the vinegar out. It was exactly one bowl.
She took a piece of filter cloth, wrapped the bowl, and filtered the medicinal juice into the medicine pot, then continued to boil it.
"Prepare a large, leak-proof basin that you don’t use, and place it outside," Zhu Yanyi instructed.
She lifted the medicine pot and said to she Atu, "Let’s go. It’s time for your treatment."
Zhu Yanyi walked ahead, and She Atu followed.
She poured all the medicine from the pot into the large basin and said to she Atu, "Take deep breaths toward this basin. Inhale the medicinal scent bit by bit. Don’t stop. Soon, you will feel like vomiting. Don’t stop then either. Just keep vomiting until everything is out. Don’t worry."
She Atu didn’t know what Zhu Yanyi was planning. Who treats people this way? But with no other options, she stood by the basin and took a deep breath. The scent was sour with a medicinal undertone. It wasn’t unpleasant, but She Atu felt nauseous immediately.
Suddenly, a pungent smell rushed into his mind. Before he could react, he felt uncomfortable all over and began vomiting uncontrollably.
The onlookers saw black substances being vomited into the basin. The vomit carried a strong smell of alcohol.
She Atu vomited for nearly twenty minutes. It felt as if she were vomiting her heart and liver. Finally, she collapsed weakly on the snow, gasping for breath.
Zhu Yanyi came over and checked her pulse. Confirming that all the wine gu had been removed, she gave her a Vitality Pill to take. Then she said to Sikong Xuran, "Senior Brother Sikong, please take She Atu back to her room. She needs a good sleep. She’ll be fine when she wakes up."
Sikong Xuran nodded, picked up He Atu, and carried him inside.
"What a terrifying thing," Old He, the old lady, and other villagers said, feeling nauseous looking at the contents of the basin.
Zhu Yanyi smiled faintly. She took out a bottle and poured the powder inside onto the wine gu. The powder quickly dissolved into the gu. Gradually, the gu stopped moving and were purified into a pool of water.