My Run-in with Wu Zhu Yu
So, there was this phase I went through, felt cold all the time, you know? Not just chilly, but like, deep down cold. And my stomach was always making weird noises, just not happy. My aunt, she’s into all that old-school remedy stuff, she pipes up, “You need Wu Zhu Yu! That’ll warm you good!” So I figured, okay, what’s the harm, I’ll give it a go.
I trekked down to one of those traditional herb shops. Found the stuff. Tiny, dark, dried up things, kinda like peppercorns but not. And the smell, whoa, it was strong. Pungent, that’s the word. Not exactly a perfume I’d pick. The guy in the shop, he wasn’t much help with directions. “Boil it,” he mumbled. “Or crush it, put it on your feet with vinegar.” On my feet? Seemed like a lot of faff.
My first attempts were a bit of a mess. I decided to try boiling it, seemed easiest. Scooped out a bit, like he sort of showed me. Man, my whole kitchen started smelling like some weird, spicy, bitter experiment. My cat looked at me like I’d lost my mind. I let it bubble for a while, then strained it. The drink, if you can call it that, was dark brown and tasted just awful. Seriously, super bitter, and it left this nasty taste that just wouldn’t quit. I forced it down for a couple of days. Did I feel any warmer? Eh, maybe a smidge? Or was that just ’cause I was drinking hot liquid? Tough to say. My stomach, though, still felt kinda iffy, maybe even more rumbly than before.
Then I thought about that feet thing. This was when I was really desperate, trying anything to shake off this chill and just feeling generally blah. Work was a nightmare, wasn’t sleeping right, probably why I felt so crappy all the time. Honestly, during that whole period, I was just throwing stuff at the wall to see what stuck. Reminds me of when I tried that crazy diet, just green smoothies for a week, ’cause some guy online swore it was life-changing. Total rubbish. All it did was make me crave a burger.
Anyway, this Wu Zhu Yu. I crushed some of the little berry things. Mixed ’em with rice vinegar, ’cause I saw that somewhere else online – ’cause, you know, everyone’s got their own ‘perfect’ method. Made this stinky, gloopy paste. Let me tell you, going to bed with your feet slathered in vinegary herb gunk is not exactly luxury. Had to wrap them in old towels. My partner was not amused, kept saying the bedroom stank like a condiment factory exploded in a herb garden.
- My feet get warm? Yeah, a little. Felt kinda tingly.
- Did it banish my inner iceman? Not really.
- Did my stomach thank me? Definitely not.
After a week of this foot spa disaster and occasionally gagging down the tea, I pretty much threw in the towel. Too much work for basically zero results I could really point to. Maybe I was doing it all wrong. Maybe my ‘cold’ problem was something else entirely. That’s the kicker with these old remedies, isn’t it? It’s all so vague. And getting a straight answer on how to use them? Good luck. It’s like they want it to be a secret club.
Later on, I was chatting with a mate, someone who actually knows a bit about this traditional medicine stuff, not just guessing like me. He goes, “Wu Zhu Yu? Oh yeah, that’s serious stuff. Very specific. Not just for ‘feeling a bit cold’.” He told me it’s more for certain types of bad pain, or when you’re really sick to your stomach, and you have to be super careful with how much you use ’cause it’s so ‘hot’ by nature. Just using it casually like I did, for a general ‘brrr’ feeling, was probably a dumb move. He even said it could mess you up more if your type of ‘cold’ wasn’t the exact type Wu Zhu Yu is meant for, if you get me. Man, it’s all so darn complicated.
So, what did I learn from my little adventure with Wu Zhu Yu? It’s not some magical fix-all. It’s a potent herb that’s got a very narrow job. And just jumping on every remedy your auntie suggests or you find on some random website? Well, mostly you just end up with stinky feet and a bad taste in your mouth. For real. I figured out that sometimes, you actually need to know what’s broken before you start hammering away at it with whatever tool you find. Kinda like this one gig I had, they kept changing what they wanted every other day. We were just running in circles, achieving nothing. Same energy, that Wu Zhu Yu episode.
