This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

The woman was very irritated, extremely irritated.

Having successfully thrown her weight around for over twenty years—just two days ago at the Municipal First Hospital, she'd managed to secure her father treatment equivalent to a single room despite him being in a three-person ward—she couldn't believe she would suffer such a setback in this tiny Health Clinic.

She immediately flew into a rage, one hand on her hip, the other pointing at Du Heng as she yelled, "What kind of attitude is this? Is this how you provide service? Where's your Dean? I want to find your Dean and complain about you!"

This tactic had always worked for her.

Du Heng looked at the woman before him, reached up to straighten his white gown, and then, looking at her earnestly, said, "Hello, I am Du Heng, the Dean of Zhonghu Town Health Clinic. If you have any complaints, you can tell me directly. I will be sure to handle any personnel who violate our regulations strictly according to the hospital's rules."

The woman was dumbfounded, and Wang Lili almost burst out laughing.

Meanwhile, the patient in the adjacent sick bed, who had just been admitted yesterday, couldn't hold back and laughed out loud.

"You're the Dean?"

"Absolutely. My photo, name, and position are on the public notice board in the hall downstairs. Would you like to go take a look?" Du Heng replied, still smiling.

The woman seemed to have an idea. Her eyes widened as she continued to shout, "So you're the Dean, huh? Think you're so powerful? If I can't complain about you here, I'll go to your superiors! Your service is terrible, and you even stopped my father's medicine! We'll see how powerful you are then!"

After speaking, the woman looked at Du Heng triumphantly.

This move—complaining to higher authorities—was her trump card. Once played, it was invariably effective.

Her father absolutely had to have that single room.

The acupuncture fees also had to be waived. And with such unhygienic practices they were using, she could report them and cause them serious trouble.

"We welcome public supervision of our work. 2389xxx is the complaint hotline for our district's Health Bureau."

He wasn't afraid?

"Hmph! You're so young and already a Dean; you must have connections. If complaining in the district doesn't work, I'll go to the city to complain about you!"

"I'm sorry, but we're not under the city's direct jurisdiction. Your complaint will most likely be forwarded back to the district."

Du Heng had no desire to argue further with this woman. His expression became stern as he stated, "We welcome public supervision. You are free to complain to any authority you wish. However, I must tell you, this is a hospital. We admit patients, not customers. Therefore, you are not 'God' here."

His words were forceful and resonant. But Du Heng wasn't finished. He continued, "All our medical personnel provide medical assistance, not entertainment. Therefore, the notion of 'poor service,' in the way you're implying, doesn't apply here.

If you desire 'good service,' you can go to a private hospital. They operate as a business and treat patients as 'God.' We do not. Here, patients are simply patients."

With that said, he ignored the woman and walked over to the adjacent sick bed, a smile returning to his face.

It's not worth getting angry with a woman like her.

"Why are you here alone? Where's your family?"

The man on the sick bed chuckled. "My wife went home to cook for our child. She'll be back later."

Du Heng began to check the man's condition, then said, "No numbness or itching? That's good. You're fortunate to have caught this early; you came as soon as the first signs appeared. It's much easier to control and treat this way. If you'd waited until it fully developed, you would have suffered immensely."

The man was also grateful. "Isn't that the truth! I had a drink the day before yesterday, and when I woke up the next morning, half my body was numb. I suggested coming to see you, but my wife insisted it was just from drinking too much. Thank goodness I didn't listen to her, or I might really be paralyzed by now! Women... long hair, short on sense. So unreliable."

As he said this, the man glanced at the demanding woman nearby, who stood there looking completely bewildered.

It was unclear whether his words were aimed at his own wife or if he was making a veiled jab at the other woman.

"You should stop drinking from now on. If you drink again, it'll recur."

"I won't. I'm quitting. I've definitely learned my lesson."

Du Heng chuckled and turned to Wang Lili, calling out, "Get a fresh set of needle utensils and bring them to me."

Wang Lili straightened up, walked briskly past the woman, and didn't even spare her a glance.

Watching Du Heng begin the acupuncture, the woman felt completely lost.

Why didn't her tried-and-true tactics work this time?

Isn't he afraid of complaints?

In other hospitals or workplaces, never mind complaining to higher-ups, before she even got to the Dean, the department Directors would have already reamed out the attending doctors and nurses. Even if they weren't scolded, she would still get what she wanted. Why was it different this time?

Perhaps she hadn't understood what Du Heng meant.

Others treated her with a business-oriented approach, whereas Du Heng approached her with the mindset of a doctor dedicated to healing and saving lives.

With different mindsets, the perspectives and methods for handling matters are naturally different.

The woman just stood there blankly in the hospital room. Her elderly father also lay silently on the bed. It seemed he either trusted his daughter implicitly or believed she was doing nothing wrong. Thinking more cynically, perhaps he was already quite accustomed to, and even enjoyed, the benefits that came from his daughter making such a scene.

The others paid her no further mind. Whether she complained or reported them, they would simply follow their normal patient admission and treatment procedures, unafraid of any repercussions.

Moreover, to say something that might offend their colleagues, this habit of patients like her bossing around hospital medical staff was entirely cultivated by the inaction, timidity, or trouble-avoidance of certain individuals in the field.

Once people got a taste of such benefits, who wouldn't want to press their advantage?

As the saying goes, in the pursuit of benefits, everyone is equal.

After Du Heng finished the man's acupuncture and moxibustion, he left Wang Lili to apply a medicinal plaster for the patient. He then rose, straightened his white gown, and walked out composedly.

Wang Lili did likewise. After applying the medicine for the patient in the next bed, she picked up her tray and walked out with her head held high.

As for the old man's medicine, they truly weren't going to apply it.

For a moment, the woman was caught in a dilemma.

In big hospitals, making a bit of a fuss always worked. Why, in this tiny clinic, did they completely ignore her?

Her father's acupuncture had been stopped; that wasn't her intention at all! She had just been looking for a pretext to get him a single room and perhaps a small reduction in the fees. The current outcome was entirely different from what she'd envisioned.

Complain?

Complain about what?

Really complain about their service attitude?

Deep down, she knew even better than Du Heng and his team that there was no issue with the medical service here.

So, should they discharge him from the hospital?

But where would they go after being discharged?

She hadn't heard of any doctor with better results in treating paralysis than Du Heng.

Just pretend this whole incident never happened?

Just continue staying here like this?

But Du Heng was the Dean. Would he deliberately withhold treatment from her father to retaliate against them?

There were only a dozen or so inpatients, but a full round of treatments for everyone took over two hours.

Du Heng finished his rounds a bit more quickly. When he went downstairs, Wu Buwei was still upstairs performing acupuncture on patients.

So, Du Heng went to the pharmacy himself and began to gather herbs according to a prescription called "Immortal's Grasp."

In this prescription, few of the herbs could be used directly; most required special processing.

And among those requiring special processing, a portion had to be steeped in alcohol.

It looked like it wouldn't be ready by tonight.