This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

After speaking with Wei Kaida, Du Heng was preparing to look over his special report, lest he might stumble or misspeak in the upcoming presentation, which would be embarrassing.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

"Come in."

"Senior, there's a patient downstairs. Would you like to take a look?"

Du Heng looked away from the computer and saw a puzzled Wu Buwei. "What's wrong?"

"A girl's got a headache."

"A headache? You can't figure it out?"

Wu Buwei nodded. "Not only me, but Dr. Yu also found nothing. Before she came to us, she had already visited several clinics and hospitals, but they couldn't find any problems."

Du Heng became interested. "That's interesting. Didn't she get a CT scan at the other hospitals?"

"Yes, she did, but there was no problem." Wu Buwei also seemed confused as he said this.

"Well, let's go check." Du Heng got up and walked out. "How did she find us?"

"I heard it was recommended by a friend of hers."

"A friend? Who?"

"I didn't ask."

Since Wu Buwei hadn't asked, Du Heng didn't dwell on it.

In the traditional Chinese medicine consultation room, a girl was seated on a stool, her expression pained. From time to time, her facial muscles would twitch, and she kept knocking her hand against her head.

The pain must be severe; otherwise, she wouldn't be making such movements.

"Miss, this is our President Du. I've asked him to take a look at you."

The girl, looking somewhat haggard, glanced at Du Heng and said impatiently, "Alright, alright, whoever. Just hurry up and treat me. It's killing me!"

Du Heng didn't mind her tone. After all, she was a patient plagued by pain, and losing patience was common.

After sitting down, Du Heng conducted a routine examination and then asked the patient, "When did this headache begin?"

"Three days ago. I felt a dull pain when I woke up in the morning, and it became much more intense in the afternoon."

"What kind of pain is it? Is it in one specific spot, or does your whole head hurt? I see you knocking all over your head."

Just as Du Heng finished speaking, the patient's face twitched again. She endured it for two seconds before saying, "It's a throbbing pain, and it seems to move in circles—first the left side, then the right."

Now it was clear, even without looking at the scans. This kind of pain wasn't from something like a brain tumor.

Combined with the pulse diagnosis, Du Heng was quite sure it was just a common cold.

A very rare case.

"What did your previous doctors say?"

"The day before yesterday, when my head first started hurting, I went to a clinic near my home. They said it was a headache caused by a cold and gave me some anti-cold medicine. I took a dose in the afternoon and another at midnight, but it didn't work. When I woke up, the pain was still unbearable."

The patient tapped her head a few times and continued, "Then I looked it up online, and it said it might be a brain tumor. I was terrified, so I rushed to the Municipal First Hospital for a CT scan. Luckily, it wasn't a brain tumor. The doctor there said it might be a tension headache and gave me some Vitamin B and painkillers."

"After taking the painkillers, it got a bit better; the pain wasn't as bad, but my head still felt like it was throbbing. When the medication wore off, the pain became unbearable again. So, yesterday, I went to the Municipal Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. They said it was a common cold and also prescribed medication. But as you can see, it still hasn't had any effect."

Du Heng nodded. "What medicine did the Municipal Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital prescribe?"

The patient suddenly grew impatient. "I came to you for treatment! Just treat me! Why are you asking so many questions? I'm dying from the pain!"

Du Heng was taken aback; he hadn't expected the girl to flare up so suddenly.

But considering she was ill and in severe pain, he didn't take offense. "Just one last question: what were you doing before the headache started?"

"Drinking with friends. Doctor, please, just hurry up and treat me! Stop asking questions. My head feels like it's going to explode!"

Du Heng remained unfazed. "Were you sleeping with the air conditioner on?"

"Of course! It's so hot, and we were all drinking. We'd die of heat if we didn't turn on the AC!" The patient's tone grew even more impatient.

"Alcohol can disperse a person's blood and qi. During your sleep, you undoubtedly left the air conditioner on, and it was likely blowing directly on you. Consequently, the wind evil invaded while the alcohol affected your system. When you woke up, the effects of the alcohol had dissipated, but the wind evil remained trapped in the Taiyang meridians."

"The Taiyang meridian ascends to the head, and the head is the convergence point of all yang meridians. The pathogenic yang evil and your body's own yang qi are now battling within your meridians. This is why your pain isn't fixed in one location but moves around."

"So, how can it be treated?" the patient asked eagerly.

"It's simple. We treat the wind evil directly. One dose of medicine should be effective."

After saying that, Du Heng prepared to write the prescription.

But just as he was about to type, the patient said, "Doctor, don't prescribe me rhizoma ligustici."

Du Heng was slightly puzzled. "How do you know I was going to prescribe rhizoma ligustici?"

The patient paused for a moment. "I don't know. I just needed to tell you that I'm allergic to rhizoma ligustici."

Allergic to rhizoma ligustici?

A very rare allergen.

Du Heng asked, "How do you know you're allergic to rhizoma ligustici? Have you taken any medicine containing it before?"

The patient shook her head. "I had an allergen screening test. The doctor who did the test told me I was allergic to rhizoma ligustici."

This is going to be tricky!

Rhizoma ligustici is the most effective herb for headaches. Du Heng had planned to use it as the primary ingredient, complemented by asarum to direct the medicinal effect to the crown of the head, and finally angelica dahurica to thoroughly dispel the evil qi and ensure the effects permeated all the meridians.

Just these three herbs, one dose would suffice.

But now, with the patient's allergy to rhizoma ligustici, Du Heng was in a bind.

If he wants a fast and effective cure, rhizoma ligustici is the best primary medicine.

If he used other herbs as the primary ingredient, they could also relieve the pain, but the patient would inevitably suffer significant damage to her original qi. This would be inferior to the combined dispelling and tonifying effects of a rhizoma ligustici-based formula.

Du Heng thought for a moment and asked, "Why did you get an allergen screening? Did you have an allergic reaction to something?"

"No, I just decided to get one done."

"So, you don't have a history of allergies?"

"No."

Du Heng paused for a moment. "Rhizoma ligustici is the most suitable herb for your current condition. What if I pair it with other herbs to neutralize any potential reaction? Would that be acceptable to you?"

The patient lowered her head and remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "You're the doctor. You decide."

That's all I needed to hear.

Du Heng turned back to his computer. After pondering for a moment, he added three more medicinal ingredients to the prescription to counteract the rhizoma ligustici.

After writing out the prescription, Du Heng said to Wu Buwei, who was standing beside him, "The prescription is ready. Go and prepare the decoction now. After the patient takes it, don't let her leave immediately. Keep her under observation for an hour. Monitor her condition closely. If there are any signs of an allergic reaction, such as skin redness or itching, inform me at once."

Wu Buwei nodded. "Alright." He then left the consultation room.

Du Heng stood up and led the patient to the Outpatient Infusion Room. "Please wait here. After you drink the medicine, you'll need to stay for an hour of observation."

The patient said softly, "Okay."

She then found a chair to sit down, quietly waiting for Wu Buwei's medicine.