This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Once Wang Zhenzhen left, Wu Buwei curiously gathered around again.

"Senior Brother, is there really such a prescription?"

Du Heng glanced at Wu Buwei. "What, want to explore gynecology again?"

Wu Buwei scratched his head embarrassedly. "No, no," he chuckled, "I was just curious and wanted to ask."

The clock on the wall pointed to twelve, and the sound of family members going downstairs could be heard in the corridor. Du Heng also got up and went out. "This prescription of mine is called 'Immortal Grab,' and it mainly treats infertility due to kidney deficiency. Taking too much of this medicine might result in twins."

Wu Buwei clicked his tongue twice. "Immortal Grab, what a good name. But it's truly amazing that it can result in twins."

Hearing this, Du Heng laughed. "What's so amazing about it? Clomiphene, a Western medicine for promoting ovulation, also carries a chance of conceiving twins or even multiple fetuses. Alright, stop thinking about it. Let's go eat."

Wu Buwei put the book in his hand on the table and quickly caught up to Du Heng. "But that medicine has drawbacks—many side effects. Most importantly, there's a possibility the fetus could develop deformities due to drug-related problems. Senior Brother, the 'Immortal Grab' you mentioned shouldn't have such issues, right?"

The two walked together towards the cafeteria, though their pace was a bit slow.

"There are eight methods in traditional Chinese medicine treatment: clearing, tonifying, inducing sweat, harmonizing, dispersing, purging, inducing vomit, and warming. The 'Immortal Grab' prescription primarily treats infertility due to kidney deficiency. It uses the method of warming kidney yang and nourishing kidney water, focusing on nurturing. In contrast, Clomiphene promotes the secretion of gonadotropin from the anterior pituitary gland, thereby inducing ovulation. These are two completely different approaches, so the results are bound to be different."

Wu Buwei hurried a couple of steps to lean closer to Du Heng again. After listening to Du Heng's explanation, he asked, "So how should these eight treatment methods be used?"

Du Heng stopped and looked at Wu Buwei. "Are you confused? That shouldn't be the case. You should have learned all these things already."

"I didn't realize it before. When seeing patients and prescribing medicine, there are always ready-made prescriptions. But recently, after watching you write prescriptions and rereading my books twice, I've become even more confused."

Wu Buwei scratched his head in frustration. It seemed the more he learned, the more lost he became; he was truly one of a kind.

Du Heng chuckled softly and continued walking towards the cafeteria.

Seeing this, Wu Buwei hurriedly followed. "Senior Brother, please explain, won't you?"

"Such confusion is good; it means you've started thinking. Once you figure it out, you'll progress. If you don't, you'll just be a laborer, merely copying the established prescriptions of our ancestors, achieving neither merit nor fault."

In the cafeteria, family members were lining up for food, but they couldn't eat there. They had to eat outside in the courtyard or return to their hospital rooms.

The main issue was that the cafeteria was too small. Once the ten or so staff members from the Health Clinic sat down, there was basically no space left.

As Du Heng walked in, he greeted the family members who acknowledged him. His eyes, however, drifted towards the old houses next to the cafeteria, wondering if one could be cleared out and refurbished to use as a dining room.

By the time the two of them had gotten their food and sat down, others were still in line. Du Heng thought for a moment, then said to Wu Buwei, "Among the Eight Methods, inducing sweat, purging, and inducing vomit are the most potent and yield the fastest results, but they also carry the highest risks. One misstep, and an attempt to save a life can become an act of taking one. These three methods should be combined with other treatment approaches, such as tonifying and dispersing."

Wu Buwei put down his chopsticks and listened attentively.

"Do you still remember Li Qiuhua's treatment process? Especially the part about inducing sweat."

"I remember," Wu Buwei replied quickly, nodding.

"Inducing sweat expels the six external pathogens from the surface of the body. At the same time, the tonifying method was used to support her righteous yang qi. Otherwise, once the sweating was over, Li Qiuhua would have been done for, and there would have been no subsequent recovery process."

Du Heng tapped the table lightly with his chopsticks. "In short, analyze specific diseases on a case-by-case basis; there's no fixed method. How you apply them depends entirely on your own syndrome differentiation and judgment."

After saying this, Du Heng heard someone approaching and whispered, "Let's eat. Go back and read more of our predecessors' medical cases. With your foundation, you'll get the hang of this quickly."

「In the afternoon.」

To give Wu Buwei more time to review and study, Du Heng also began administering acupuncture and massages to patients.

However, as he was treating the third patient, a family member suddenly stopped him.

"Doctor Du, I don't want my father to use the same needles as everyone else; it's too unsanitary," the woman said, looking disdainfully at the needle tool kit in Du Heng's hand.

"And your acupuncture fee is too expensive! Using such needles on my father and charging fifty yuan each time. You're making money far too easily."

Du Heng handed the needles he was holding to Wang Lili, who had followed him in, clapped his hands, and chuckled lightly.

The patient's name was Zuo Shan, from Mubangou village.

He had suffered a cerebral infarction a month ago and collapsed in his field.

After being rescued and brought to the hospital, the left half of his body had lost sensation.

Because Du Heng had treated Zuo Shucai with good results, Zuo Shan's family had brought him to be hospitalized under Du Heng's care last week.

However, Du Heng hadn't seen this particular family member all week; only Zuo Shan's son had been there looking after him.

"Excuse me, may I ask your relationship to the patient?"

"I'm his daughter."

"Ah, I've already told your family members that if you prefer not to use these needles, you're welcome to purchase your own disposable acupuncture needles. We have no objection to that."

The woman opened her mouth but said nothing. Her eyes darted around, and then she abruptly changed the subject. "I'm saying your fees are too expensive! And everyone else gets one person to a hospital room, so why are there two people in my father's room?"

Du Heng didn't argue with her. He turned to Wang Lili and said, "Zuo Shan in bed 12. Discontinue the acupuncture and the external ointment."

Wang Lili shot a cold glance at the woman. If it weren't for Du Heng's good temper, she would definitely have quarreled with this woman. "Okay, I've noted it down," she said.

The woman hadn't expected Du Heng not to take the bait and was momentarily stunned. "What do you mean?"

Du Heng looked at the woman and chuckled lightly. "You complained that the fees are too expensive and that it's unsanitary, so I've stopped these treatments. Is there a problem?"

"Then... then... why stop the ointment?"

"The ointment is applied after acupuncture, when the pores around the patient's acupoints are dilated. It helps to soften blood vessels and relax the meridians. Now that there's no acupuncture, the ointment is useless. If I didn't stop it, wouldn't that be charging you for no reason?"

Du Heng finished speaking and was about to walk to the adjacent bed when he suddenly stopped. "By the way, this is a hospital, not a hotel. How hospital rooms are assigned is up to our nurses, based on the actual situation in our hospital.

If you feel your father absolutely must have a private room, you can move him into my office. It's definitely a private room, definitely large enough, and definitely quiet. Of course, the charge is a bit higher—500 yuan per day. If you'd like to arrange that, please contact Nurse Wang here."

Wang Lili finally felt a sense of satisfaction; people who made unreasonable trouble like this needed to be countered just so.

What nerve!