Chapter 1984: 1914: An Eighteen‑Generation Family Secret Remedy

Su Yun was also terrified.

I played three hands, how did I just cause someone to collapse……Could it be a cerebral infarction or cerebral hemorrhage? Or maybe a myocardial infarction!

Zheng Ren had already prepared; at this moment, Chen Shen's System Panel was bright red, and besides the usual ailments of middle-aged and elderly people, a new diagnosis appeared—Datura poisoning.

No time to think, Zheng Ren leapt to his feet, took two steps to Chen Shen's side, laid her flat, turned her head to one side to prevent excess oral secretions from causing aspiration and sudden death.

"Chen Shen!" Zheng Ren shouted loudly.

Chen Shen could still barely speak, but her hands and feet were somewhat unusable.

"I……what……happened……"

Her voice was hoarse, and her hands and feet began to twitch.

"Yanran, call 120!" Zheng Ren yelled while beginning a physical exam.

Dry mouth and throat, flushed face, hoarse voice, dry skin, pupils beginning to dilate, difficulty swallowing, tachycardia.

"Cerebral infarction?" Su Yun asked from the side.

"No, it's Datura poisoning." Zheng Ren said.

"……" Su Yun was also shocked.

"Yanran, tell——" Zheng Ren had just spoken when he saw Chu Yanran had already hung up the phone.

Indeed, saying it would be useless; the 120 emergency center wouldn't relay a "family member's" judgment to the hospital.

Zheng Ren greeted Chu Yanran and Su Yun, asking them to watch Chen Shen and not let anything else happen, then stood up, took out his phone, and called Wang Zong.

"Wang Zong, it's me, Zheng Ren."

"Yeah, you're back. We've encountered a Datura poisoning patient here; does the department not have physostigmine?"

"Go borrow it! If there's none, use physostigmine antagonism."

"When the patient is sent back, don't panic; administer the drug while inserting a gastric tube for gastric lavage. The patient is agitated, so be careful not to injure them."

"Give fluids and diuretics; if the patient is severely agitated, gastric lavage may not matter either way. You assess the situation on your end. This substance is absorbed quickly, so it's probably already too late to wash out. Nothing else—hurry up and prepare."

Having said that, Zheng Ren hung up the phone.

A professional doctor monitored from the side, and after a tense wait, the 120 ambulance arrived.

The doctor from the 120 ambulance entered the house and was stunned.

"Chief Zheng, you're back?"

"Yeah, hurry and send the patient back." Zheng Ren said, "Turn on the siren as soon as you get in the vehicle and race back—the faster, the better."

"Yeah!" The 120 ambulance doctor nodded repeatedly.

Chief Zheng had already become a legend at Haicheng City First Hospital.

Especially since the all‑powerful Wang Zong often spoke of Zheng Ren's exploits in the capital, everyone gradually came to admire Zheng Ren without even realizing it.

After many hands lifted Chen Shen onto the stretcher, Zheng Ren did not follow them back.

Datura poisoning is also a type of food poisoning, just relatively rare. The treatment measures have already been told to Wang Zong; even if Zheng Ren went back, there wouldn't be much more he could do, so it's unnecessary.

Chen Shen was carried out, and the room fell silent.

Chu Yanran's mother and another mahjong friend followed to the hospital, leaving the homeowner staring blankly at Zheng Ren, dazed.

Zheng Ren picked up Chen Shen's cup, smelled its contents, and handed it to Su Yun.

"Give it a sniff—I just said the smell felt odd when I entered the house."

Su Yun smelled it, puzzled, and asked: "Boss, did Heizi pass this on to you?"

"Don't talk nonsense, this is the smell of Datura." Zheng Ren said.

"Doctor, what is Datura?" that aunt asked.

"Uh……we don't see much of it here. Go a little farther south and it's everywhere." Zheng Ren said.

"Is it the kind of deadly poison written about in Liang Yusheng's novels?" Su Yun asked.

"Yeah, something like that." Zheng Ren said, "All parts of the Datura plant can be used medicinally; they have cough‑suppressing and analgesic effects, usable for treating arthritis and joint pain, such as rheumatism and rheumatoid arthritis."

"Auntie, does Chen Shen have rheumatism?" Zheng Ren then asked.

"Ah? Uh!" The aunt, already dazed, nodded repeatedly upon hearing "rheumatism": "Yesterday I accompanied her to see a divine doctor, who said he specialized in treating rheumatism with an eighteen‑generation family secret remedy. One dose is sure to work; he claimed he's cured countless people."

"……" Zheng Ren felt a surge of disgust inside.

Damn, another divine doctor with an eighteen‑generation family secret remedy. What was the Northeast before? It was a barren far‑north wilderness!

If we talk about the South having hereditary old Chinese doctors, Zheng Ren could barely believe it. Not mentioning others, just Master Yan using Chinese medicine to regulate his own blood sugar, which has stayed well controlled, is already an example.

But the Northeast……heh.

Back when people ventured into Guandong, if they had such a secret remedy, they wouldn't have had to leave their homes to scratch a living on the black soil.

"I grabbed some medicine, but it's actually not medicine—it's the fruit of something I've never seen." The aunt said: "A dozen or so, over 1,300 bucks, said to take one each time, boiled as tea. The divine doctor said, 'Half a month guarantees improvement; if not, go smash his sign.'"

"Where does Chen Shen live?" Zheng Ren asked: "Please go notify her family, and by the way check the water she boiled with Datura."

"Sure."

The aunt was also cheerful, having the three of them watch the house, then she dashed off in a quick run.

"People will drink just about anything." Su Yun sighed, "Just now you scared me to death—I thought that old lady who won a hand with eighteen arhats in mahjong had a heart attack."

"You can't take it so lightly; how big a mahjong game, and you still take it seriously." Zheng Ren said.

"Playing mahjong isn't about winning money; it's about seeing the other three players' frustrated expressions after I win a hand." Su Yun chuckled, "Boss, once during New Year's, I was playing mahjong at home when an unpleasant relative was there. Playing Northeastern mahjong, I drew twelve consecutive treasures, blackening their faces."

"Wouldn't that time be better spent reading a book?" Zheng Ren dismissed the idea.

"Chief Zheng, what is Datura? I don't know." Chu Yanran asked.

"Around here we don't call it Datura; that's the scientific name. It has many folk names, such as dog walnut, big trumpet flower, wild castor, heavenly hemp flower, mountain eggplant, love‑in‑a‑mist, maple‑leaf eggplant, foreign gold flower, etc.

It's a nightshade plant with over twenty species, mostly growing in fields, roadsides, ditches, and riverbanks."

"Is it poisoning from the alkaloids hyoscyamine, scopolamine, and atropine?" Su Yun asked.

Yeah.

Boss, how did you tell as soon as you came in? Come, teach me. Su Yun was not convinced.

Aunt Chen's feet were shaking, her hands unsteady, and there was a twitch at the corner of her mouth. Although not obvious, a close look definitely shows something's wrong.

You knew from the start it was mandrake poisoning?

I didn't know for sure earlier, I was just suspicious. Zheng Ren smiled. "But her symptoms plus the smell of the water in the cup let me know."

Saying that, the aunt ran back.

She was holding a transparent glass electric kettle.