This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Du Heng frowned. Would such a person really poison his own daughter-in-law?

Du Bing and Du Heng's actions finally made Du Bing's indifferent parents raise their heads; they even stood up as if to help.

Especially Du Bing's father, who seemed to realize his daughter-in-law wasn't faking, stumbled to his feet and ran over. However, he moved too hastily and kicked the apricot pits at his feet, sending them scattering with a RATTLE.

This sudden noise caught Du Heng's attention.

Looking at the scattered apricots, apricot peels, apricot pits, and smashed apricot pit shells, Du Heng's eyes suddenly lit up. Where were the almonds?

The bitter almond scent... Apart from hydrogen cyanide poisoning, which can have such a distinct smell, there's another possibility—this smell is the inherent smell of the almonds themselves.

Central Lake had a local dish called flour tea.

However, this flour tea was different from the one found in the Beijing-Tianjin area, where cornmeal is cooked into a paste and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Instead, it was made of mutton fat and roasted flour mixed together to form clumps.

Every morning, some would be cut off, and water, pepper, garlic sprouts, and coriander would be added, then cooked into a paste for consumption. Especially in winter, a bowl of this in the morning would warm the entire body.

However, since it was made with mutton fat, the finished product had a strong mutton odor and a rich taste. Therefore, during its preparation, some crushed bitter almonds were added to counteract the greasiness of the mutton fat and its gamy smell.

Moreover, mutton fat is considered a "heating" food; consuming too much could lead to dry stools or even constipation. Bitter almonds, on the other hand, possess effects like clearing phlegm, moistening the lungs and gastrointestinal tract, reducing indigestion from flour, promoting qi circulation, and treating constipation.

So, in Central Lake, when apricots ripened each year, the large, sweet ones were typically eaten by the family or consumed by the village children. Any surplus, if the family had ample labor, was taken to the market to be sold for some pocket money. In families with insufficient labor and fewer apricots, where the young men looked down on the meager hard-earned money from selling them, the old men at home would dry the apricot flesh into apricot peel, and the children ate the almonds.

However, the small, astringent bitter apricots were eaten by no one; they either fell off naturally or their flesh was dried into apricot peel. As for the apricot pits, they were either discarded, or a small quantity of bitter almonds were extracted from them, ground, and added to the flour tea.

The reason no one ate these bitter almonds, aside from their toxicity, was mainly their extreme bitterness.

Still, those who could tolerate bitter melon could also manage to eat bitter almonds.

Du Heng looked at the scattered almond pit shells and quickly asked Du Bing, "I see so many almonds have been processed, why are there only shells here and no actual almonds?"

Du Bing had already pulled his wife up and positioned himself to carry her on his back. Hearing Du Heng's question, he replied, "My wife ate them. My father said eating too many is bad and can cause poisoning. She suddenly flew into a rage, accusing my father of cursing her to die, and then she became verbally abusive. I reprimanded her, and she turned around and started cursing me. Yes, that's what was happening right when I opened the door for you."

"How many did she eat?" Du Heng asked urgently.

"I didn't count, but she ate all the almonds from the pits that resulted in these broken shells on the ground—about two handfuls worth."

"Two handfuls?" Du Heng inquired in surprise. For an adult, two handfuls were not a small amount.

"That must be right. Otherwise, why would my father have said anything to her?"

Du Bing was also quite dejected. He adjusted his posture, ready to lift his wife, but Du Heng remained still, and Du Bing couldn't manage to lift her on his own.

Du Heng was no longer in a rush. If it were hydrogen cyanide poisoning, and he was unsure of the specific type, sending her to the Health Clinic would be best. But now that he knew the cause, rushing her to the hospital wasn't the priority. Instead, they should first try to induce vomiting and perform gastric lavage using available means.

Moreover, he knew how to handle poisoning caused by excessive consumption of bitter almonds.

"Put your wife down; just lay her on the table." Turning to Du Bing's father, he said, "Help me get a cup of water—warm water will do, preferably a bit more."

Then, he and Du Bing worked together to lay Du Bing's wife on the table again.

As for why they didn't carry her into the room or onto the bed, it was genuinely too difficult and strenuous. It was better to save their energy and time for more useful actions.

"Du Bing, find a chicken feather."

Afterward, Du Heng took the warm water that was handed to him and began, once more, to clean out the filth that had again filled her oral cavity.

Only after he had thoroughly cleaned it did Du Heng notice that Du Bing's wife's lips were cut, probably from when she fell earlier.

However, by the time he finished cleaning her oral and nasal cavities, Du Bing had already returned from the chicken coop with a few feathers. Two of them still had fresh chicken droppings on them.

Had Du Bing done that on purpose? Du Heng wondered. He simply selected a relatively soft feather and began to stimulate the back of Du Bing's wife's throat. After just a couple of pokes, she let out a "GAG! GAG!" and then began to vomit.

In the vomit, apart from food residue, there were numerous small white granules. Du Heng knew, without needing a closer look, that these must be the undigested bitter almonds.

As Du Heng stimulated her throat, he saw Du Bing and his father standing idly by and instructed, "Don't just stand there watching. Hurry and chop some apricot tree bark, then put it in your pot with water and boil it. Quickly now!"

Du Bing quickly uttered an "Alright!" then turned and ran outside. Once out the door, he darted back to grab the axe by the entrance before rushing off again.