This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

At noon, after Du Heng and Wu Buwei finished their treatments, Du Heng gazed at the glaring sunlight outside the building, feeling conflicted. Wang Shuqiu’s request had to be fulfilled. However, in this heat, walking on the road meant hot air billowed straight up his pant legs; the sweat between his thighs felt like it could boil tea eggs.

The weather this year was truly strange. After several days of continuous rain in late April, not a single raindrop or dark cloud had been seen since, and it was now early July.

The temperature climbed higher each day. What made it most unbearable was that the morning and evening temperatures also remained stubbornly high, offering almost no respite.

If it weren’t for his job, Du Heng would have gladly worn shorts and a tank top to the office. Even the thin trousers he wore daily felt like he was trying to incubate eggs.

Looking at the women in the Health Clinic, Du Heng suddenly felt a pang of envy. It must be great to be a woman; at least they didn’t have to...

However, no matter how reluctant he was, Du Heng had to leave early. If he stood Wang Shuqiu up, she wouldn’t shout or cause a scene, but her pouting lips and resentful little glances would be genuinely hard to bear.

”Doctor Du, what’s up?”

While en route, Du Heng unexpectedly received a call from Xu Pinglin.

”I’m out handling something. What can I do for you, Director Xu?”

”There’s a patient here specifically looking for you. Should I send him to your Health Clinic, or should he wait here for you?”

This was baffling. How did someone looking for him end up at the Provincial First Hospital?

Seeing that his appointment with Wang Shuqiu was fast approaching, Du Heng tried to negotiate, ”Director Xu, could he come find me tomorrow instead?”

”I don’t think that will work. The patient is from Linzhou and specifically took a day off to come to Jinzhou.”

Has my reputation spread that far already?

Du Heng felt a flicker of secret delight, but this was quickly followed by a heavy feeling. For a patient to take time off and travel all the way from Linzhou to Jinzhou for treatment, they must be facing a difficult illness. And to specifically ask for him by name meant they trusted him.

After thinking for a while, Du Heng made a decision. ”Alright, Director Xu, please have him wait there for a bit. I’ll come over right away.”

After hanging up, Du Heng hesitated for a moment, then sent Wang Shuqiu a message explaining the situation.

Wang Shuqiu’s reply was almost instantaneous; it seemed she was already waiting for him.

”If you have a patient, then go attend to them. I’ll ask Xiao Fang to come and keep me company.”

”You’re the best!”

”Hmph... Took you long enough to realize!”

Du Heng quickly pocketed his phone. He didn’t know when she had become so... overly affectionate. It was a bit much to handle.

Arriving at the Provincial First Hospital for the second time that day, Du Heng found it rather amusing. For a Health Clinic doctor like him, making two trips like this in a single day was quite something.

After a brief chat, Xu Pinglin led Du Heng towards the doctors’ office. ”I’ve registered the patient under Gu Ping’s name. He’s also a Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor, so it’ll be convenient for you to prescribe medicine and treatment. Is that alright?”

”Of course, that’s no problem at all. But which Gu Ping are you referring to?”

”The young man who assisted you yesterday, a resident doctor in our Department.”

An image of a young man surfaced in Du Heng’s mind; he knew Xu Pinglin meant that particularly sharp and quick-witted fellow.

As they walked, Du Heng casually asked, ”Gu Ping looks quite young, doesn’t he? How old is he?”

”He isn’t old, just 25.”

”Twenty-five? With a bachelor’s degree? Your Department still accepts bachelor’s graduates?”

Xu Pinglin shook his head and chuckled. ”Ah, you know how it is. Connections are unavoidable everywhere. But you’ve met the lad—he’s observant, clever, and not a slacker. So, I decided to keep him on.”

Xu Pinglin suddenly stopped and said with a smile, ”How about I have this young man follow you... you call it copying prescriptions, don’t you?”

Du Heng hurriedly shook his head. ”Let’s not. Copying prescriptions is something one does when studying under a Master or a Teacher. I don’t possess that kind of skill.”

Xu Pinglin pulled Du Heng aside towards the wall and said mysteriously, ”Don’t worry, you won’t be at a disadvantage. This kid has connections upstairs.”

But Du Heng still shook his head firmly. ”Forget connections; even if he had a deity backing him, it wouldn’t work. I’m not that old myself, and I only have a bachelor’s degree. If I dared to take someone on for copying prescriptions, I’d be ridiculed mercilessly. No, that’s absolutely out of the question.”

Seeing Du Heng’s resolute stance, Xu Pinglin thought for a moment and proposed another idea. ”How about this: you’ll be working with Professor Li soon, right? On the days you come in for consultations, just bring this young fellow along. Let him assist you, maybe help carry your teacup or fetch a pen. That should be fine, shouldn’t it?”

Since Xu Pinglin had put it that way, Du Heng felt it would be impolite to refuse further. However, he was curious why Xu Pinglin was so invested in Gu Ping. ”As long as Professor Li has no objections, I’m okay with it. But can you tell me why you’re so keen on this? You’re already the Department Director; surely you don’t need to curry favor with any leaders?”

Seeing Du Heng concede, Xu Pinglin felt a sense of relief. As for Li Jianwei’s side, Xu Pinglin was confident he had enough standing to arrange for Du Heng to bring along someone for odd jobs; that much ’face’ he still had.

”This genuinely has nothing to do with currying favor,” Xu Pinglin said with a sigh. ”In the past, although our Department had a Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor, that area wasn’t given much importance. Since witnessing your level of skill, I feel we can’t continue to be deficient in this aspect. If we have the resources and conditions, we must make use of them.”

He chuckled. ”But our Department only has two Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctors. One is the Attending Physician you met last time, and the other is Gu Ping. I can’t very well ask our Attending Physician to follow you and learn, can I?”

”So, that leaves Gu Ping. Besides, the lad is sharp, quick-witted, and observant; he definitely won’t cause you any trouble. If you could just give him some guidance and teach him a bit more, it would also be cultivating talent for our traditional Chinese medicine field. It’s a win-win situation, don’t you think?”

Du Heng felt like rolling his eyes.

A win-win situation? More like all the wins were for their Department. There wasn’t a shred of benefit in it for him. Besides, Xu Pinglin was clearly beating around the bush and not telling the whole truth.

However, since Xu Pinglin seemed unwilling to elaborate, Du Heng didn’t press the issue.

Xu Pinglin, seemingly unfazed by whether Du Heng was pleased or not, chuckled as if Du Heng had agreed, then turned and headed towards the doctors’ office.

”Little Gu, where’s that patient who came in earlier?”

Gu Ping was typing at his computer. Hearing Xu Pinglin’s voice, he quickly stood up. ”Director, I’ve arranged for him to wait in the Reception Room.”

His gaze shifted past Xu Pinglin, and he asked, ”Has Doctor Du arrived?”

”Doctor Du is here. Take him over. Also, I’ve already secured this opportunity for you. Make sure to follow Doctor Du closely, learn some real skills, and bring them back.”

Gu Ping’s face lit up with delight. ”Thank you, Director! I definitely won’t let you down!”

”Keep working hard.”

With that, Xu Pinglin walked out. Spotting Du Heng standing in the corridor, he said, ”Apologies, this section is for the hospital wards, so all the doctors share one large office. We don’t have individual consultation rooms. The patient has been settled in the Reception Room. I’ll have Little Gu take you there.”

Gu Ping stepped forward. ”Mr. Du.”