This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

This time, the two did not debate directly but instead took the stack of documents and began to discuss them, one by one.

The hostess glanced at the two of them and then at Du Heng, who had not joined the discussion, a flicker of interest in the young man sparking within her.

"May I ask your name, Doctor?"

"My surname is Du. Du Heng."

"Nice to meet you, Doctor Du. Thank you for making the trip. What is your opinion on my father's illness?"

As soon as the hostess finished speaking, the two men, who had been in a heated discussion, stopped and turned their attention to Du Heng.

From Du Heng's earlier reminder alone, it was clear that this young man was quite sharp-minded.

Although he looked young and might not propose any useful solutions, a young, active mind could at least offer them some fresh ideas.

Now, everyone's eyes were on Du Heng, eager to hear what the youngest doctor had to say.

Du Heng wasn't shy. While the bald doctor and the doctor with thick glasses were discussing, he had already formulated his medication plan.

After looking at everyone, he cleared his throat and said, "If I were prescribing, I would use a combination of the True Warrior Decoction and the Fangji and Astragalus Decoction. The True Warrior Decoction would be primary, and the Fangji and Astragalus Decoction would be auxiliary."

As soon as Du Heng finished, the bald doctor frowned. "Fangji and Astragalus Decoction, a typical dampness-expelling formula, benefits the qi, dispels wind, strengthens the spleen, and promotes water metabolism. It is mainly used to treat wind-water or wind-dampness syndromes caused by superficial deficiency."

He glanced at Du Heng. "The formula is appropriate for the symptoms, but it's useless. These documents show the patient previously took Fangji and Astragalus Decoction, and it worsened his edema."

The doctor with thick glasses pushed his spectacles up his nose and added, "The same goes for the True Warrior Decoction. The documents show no improvement after the patient took it."

An Chunhui's heart skipped a beat as she stared intently at Du Heng. This young man had pulled people back from the Gates of Hell and enabled patients with paralysis to move independently again. Surely he wouldn't falter with this edema, would he? Even if he couldn't cure it or was helpless, that wouldn't matter. After all, with the host family's resources, they'd likely visited every hospital in the city, if not the entire country, and consulted every available expert. So, not being able to cure it isn't a big deal, but he can't mess up and embarrass me.

Du Heng didn't pay much mind to the two seniors' comments. Instead, he smiled faintly and said, "A prolonged illness inevitably leads to deficiency. Furthermore, the patient's legs are more swollen in the evening than in the morning, his tongue is swollen with a pale coating and teeth marks—all indicating qi deficiency. Is there any issue with this assessment?"

The bald doctor and the doctor with thick glasses nodded in unison. "No issue. Continue your analysis, young man."

"The family also mentioned that the patient has loose, watery stools. Observing the patient's dull, sallow complexion indicates spleen yang deficiency, rendering him unable to transform dampness; this is also a factor in the edema. Therefore, using the Fangji and Astragalus Decoction to invigorate qi, strengthen the spleen, and warm and nourish kidney yang shouldn't be a problem, right?"

The bald doctor pondered for a moment. "Young man, so your syndrome differentiation is spleen yang deficiency. In that case, using Fangji and Astragalus Decoction is correct. However, the patient has already taken it, and it worsened the edema. How do you explain that?"

Upon hearing this, Du Heng immediately understood that this doctor's syndrome differentiation differed from his own.

"Remove the licorice."

"Remove the licorice?" The bald doctor's brow furrowed even more.

Suddenly, he slapped his thigh. "Yes! Licorice promotes dampness. That herb shouldn't be used."

As experienced senior doctors, a slight reminder was all it took for them to grasp Du Heng's medication strategy.

Before Du Heng could continue, the doctor with thick glasses spoke up, "The patient has kidney yang deficiency, and the True Warrior Decoction is also a dampness-expelling formula with the effect of warming yang and benefiting water. This kills two birds with one stone."

Hearing the other two doctors' comments, An Chunhui quietly let out a sigh of relief. Looking at Du Heng, sitting there with a confident smile, she felt increasingly satisfied.

The hostess, however, seemed rather unperturbed. Truth be told, she'd seen similar scenes many times. Each time she sought a doctor for her father-in-law, whether traditional Chinese or Western medicine, the attending Physician was always surrounded by others. Whenever the attending Physician proposed a treatment plan, the accompanying doctors would quote classics, endlessly asserting the plan's perfection and efficacy. But in the end? Her father-in-law's illness had dragged on for twenty years.

Although the two doctors understood Du Heng's approach to the medication, they immediately raised their doubts. "Individual formulas didn't work. Will combining two formulas be effective?"

"Of course not," Du Heng replied decisively.

From their words, Du Heng could tell their actual skills weren't low. However, perhaps because their specializations lay elsewhere, their approach to this case's medication was somewhat rigid and conservative. They were inflexible, he thought, or perhaps timid, merely adhering to convention. This wasn't obvious with minor illnesses, but their shortcomings were glaring in severe cases. It was just like with that gastric ptosis patient at the Provincial First Hospital; their medication approach was the same. They knew how to add ingredients but not how to remove them, or perhaps didn't dare to. And their dosages were excessively conservative.

Du Heng took the bag from An Chunhui, pulled out paper and a pen, and quickly began to write.

Once finished, he handed the prescription to the hostess.

She didn't understand it, smiled apologetically at Du Heng, and passed the prescription to the other two doctors.

Seeing their furrowed brows, Du Heng explained directly, "In the Fangji and Astragalus Decoction, remove the licorice and replace it with raw coix seed for strengthening the spleen and dispelling dampness."

As he spoke, the two doctors examining the prescription located the raw coix seed he mentioned.

Du Heng continued without pause, "The primary cause of the patient's condition is spleen yang deficiency and the inability to transform dampness. Therefore, the True Warrior Decoction serves as the main formula to warm and nourish kidney yang, while the Fangji and Astragalus Decoction, by strengthening the spleen and dispelling dampness, acts as the auxiliary formula."

The two examined the prescription meticulously, comparing each ingredient.

Du Heng didn't rush them. Only when their gazes shifted down the page did he continue, "The family also mentioned that the patient has a poor appetite and experiences stomach and abdominal bloating after eating. Therefore, I've added chicken gizzard and fried malt."

The two doctors nodded frequently as they followed Du Heng's explanation and read the prescription.

However, despite Du Heng's explanation, they still frowned, clearly harboring some lingering doubts.

But they said nothing, merely continuing to frown and think. Considering their age, it would be somewhat embarrassing to keep questioning Du Heng. If they could figure it out themselves, that would be ideal. If not, they could always ask him later.

The two doctors didn't speak, diligently examining the prescription, and Du Heng didn't urge them. Since Du Heng wasn't rushing, the others certainly wouldn't either. Even the hostess sat to one side, silently waiting for their assessment. After all, this was medicine for her father-in-law; relying solely on Du Heng's word wasn't entirely reassuring.