Before the clinic opened, Ning laid the stock sheet on the records table and counted the bandages, common herbs, and remaining bottles of the restricted stabilizer. Qinghe reviewed the list by patient need rather than by shelf order.
“The last restricted dose goes to someone whose condition can’t safely wait for a substitute,” she said. “The safe mixture remains available for the people who choose it. We won’t give the stabilizer just because it is the stronger compound.”
Jessa marked herbs that could be gathered nearby. Tessa checked each jar for a date and source. Yan moved the ordinary medicine shelf away from the experiment bench, then swept the space between them. The sealed sample and his ledger stayed together; the patient mixtures remained on their own tray.
A farmer arrived with dizziness after a long walk from the southern plots. Qinghe asked when the symptoms began and what he had taken. He had no other medicine in his system and had eaten breakfast, though he had carried tools in the heat.
“We have a safer mixture that helped another person walk steadily,” Qinghe said. “It may help, but we have only a few observations. You can try a measured amount, wait, or return after we find another supply.”
