This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Du Heng didn’t continue to question Wu Buwei and instead turned to the patient and his wife, asking, ”Is the patient currently experiencing palpitations, sudden trances, and general fatigue?”

The patient’s wife, suddenly looking surprised, said, ”Yes, that’s right. He was watching TV at home in the evening when he suddenly clutched his heart, saying the discomfort was unbearable.”

”Is his sleep poor as well?”

”He’s fine in the first half of the night, but after twelve o’clock, he can’t sleep at all, tossing and turning constantly.”

Du Heng wrote down these issues. ”It’s not a major issue. The patient has yin and yang deficiency. He can recover by taking Pulse-Restorative Decoction, which strengthens qi, nourishes yin, unblocks yang, and restores the pulse. I want to ask you, do you want to be hospitalized for treatment, or take the medicine home?”

The patient’s wife hesitated for a moment, then weakly asked, ”Doctor, could you tell me the difference between being hospitalized and not? Is the impact significant?”

”If you’re hospitalized, we’ll not only provide medicine but also acupuncture treatment and massage. This way, the patient should be able to recover within two weeks. If you go home, it’ll take about two months.”

The patient and his wife stared wide-eyed. Is there such a big difference? Do they want him to be hospitalized to charge more fees?

The patient’s wife began to feel uneasy.

”Doctor, how much does it flower to be hospitalized?”

Du Heng smiled, understanding the woman’s concerns. ”Let me put it this way, if you choose to be hospitalized for treatment, it might flower you five to six hundred yuan more than just taking the medicine.”

The couple exchanged glances, then asked, ”Then how much does it flower to just take the medicine?”

”Just taking the medicine would flower a total of over 3,000 yuan.”

”That expensive?”

”If you had come to me when your husband first fell ill, it would have been a stroke caused by qi deficiency. Treatment would have taken at most seven days and flowered 600 yuan. But now, the problem is that your husband has taken a large amount of Expelling Wind Medicine, which has injured both his qi and yin.

So, as I mentioned earlier, if you choose to go home and just take medicine for treatment, it will take about two months, and during this time, he cannot stop taking the medicine. That’s why the money will flower a bit more.”

The patient’s wife looked at her husband and whispered, ”Dear, what do you think? Should we opt for hospitalization or go home?”

The patient gestured animatedly while speaking, but Du Heng couldn’t understand his words or gestures.

However, the woman seemed to understand her husband’s intention. She said to Du Heng, ”Then, let’s opt for hospitalization, so he can recover faster.”

”Alright, I’ll write you an Admission Form.”

After he finished the procedures, the printer beside him produced the Admission Form. ”Take this form to the nurse on the second floor,” Du Heng said. ”They’ll tell you what to do.”

After the couple took the Admission Form and went upstairs, Du Heng said to Wu Buwei, ”If I remember correctly, a month ago we had a patient transferred from the Municipal Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. Due to an unclear diagnosis and overuse of Expelling Wind Medicine, he developed hemiplegia.”

Wu Buwei nodded. ”Yes, there was such a patient. His wife accompanied him at the time.”

”Good that you remember. Let’s talk about this current patient’s situation. His wife mentioned that he suddenly suffered a stroke after returning from a drive. You should understand that drivers, whether they operate large vehicles or taxis, experience significant fatigue. The most common issue for them is internal injury from overexertion. You already performed a check-up on the patient; what problems did you find?”

”The patient has a yin deficiency constitution.”

”Alright, since you found that the patient has a yin deficiency constitution, and considering his job, what did that lead you to think?”

Wu Buwei fell silent for a long time before saying, ”A yin deficiency constitution, combined with internal injury from overexertion, and the strain of daily travel, has led to symptoms of severe Qi deficiency. This caused the internal wind to act up, resulting in distorted facial features.”

Du Heng sighed. ”You see, you do understand this. Since you can distinguish it clearly, tell me, does this illness have any relation to external wind?”

Wu Buwei took a deep breath. ”No.”

Du Heng picked up the several prescriptions from before and pointed to the characters on them, saying, ”Now look again, is there any problem with how this house is written? Is it the same situation as the patient transferred from the Municipal Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital?”

Wu Buwei lowered his head. ”Yes.”

”The patient’s internal wind is acting up, but there is no external wind. However, look at this house. At its strongest, it included 30 grams of parsnip per dose for 7 doses, and 15 grams of geckos per dose. After more than twenty doses, the patient had consumed over 400 grams of parsnip and more than 300 grams of geckos. The same applies to rhizoma typhonii and other pungent, drying drugs—the dosages kept increasing, making things worse.”

Du Heng’s expression was complex. He paused before saying, ”This is because when the house was written, the focus was only on the localized symptoms of the stroke, without considering the patient’s overall yin deficiency and internal injury from overexertion. As a result, the medicine didn’t cure his illness; instead, it injured both his qi and yin.

Moreover, the patient developed an intermittent pulse and palpitations, which is consistent with the symptoms I inquired about. These were all caused by consuming these Expelling Wind Medicines.”

Looking at the house in his hand, Du Heng was at a loss for words.

Considering the current situation, it’s not about how outstanding I am, but rather how my peers make me look good by comparison.

Du Heng, having thought of this, didn’t say much more. He picked up his pen and started to write the house: ”Processed rhubarb, rehmannia, red ginseng...”

After finishing, he handed it to Wu Buwei and said, ”The house is a Vessel-Freeing Decoction; I’ve slightly adjusted the doses. Give the house to the nurse, and tell them to ensure it’s decocted according to the instructions on it. After that, come and find me. I will perform acupuncture for the patient, and you should watch.”

”Alright, Senior Brother.” Wu Buwei breathed a sigh of relief and quickly left with the house.

After giving his instructions and regaining his composure, Wu Buwei re-entered the consultation room. He then accompanied Du Heng to the ward.

Seeing the patient already on the sickbed, Du Heng said softly, ”The medicine will take some time. Let’s do the acupuncture and massage first. Lie down flat and don’t move.”

With that, he took out a long needle and began the procedure. At the same time, he said to Wu Buwei, ”The patient has both qi and yin deficiency, so the choice of acupoints must be very cautious.”

After unbuttoning the patient’s shirt and tracing the midline of the sternum downwards, Du Heng located the point and inserted the needle. ”First, we’ll use CV-12. Apply the reinforcing method to bolster the patient’s healthy qi.”

Once the needle was stable, Du Heng searched for another acupoint further down. ”Next, ST-36, also with the reinforcing method.”

Having finished, Du Heng returned to the patient’s upper body and laid the patient’s arms flat. ”And finally, we use PC-06. But remember, for this one, we must use the reduction method, and it must be a weak reduction.”

Once all the needles were in place, Du Heng asked Wu Buwei, ”Have you noted it all down?”

”It’s simple; I’ve already noted it.”

”That’s good. The moxibustion and massage that follow will be the same as before. No issues with that, right?”

”No problem, I still remember it all.”

Du Heng nodded, walked over to the patient, and said, ”Don’t worry, and don’t move around. We doctors are right here with you. When it’s time, he will help you remove the needles. And remember to take your medicine on time, three times a day: morning, noon, and evening.”

The patient, likely experiencing acupuncture for the first time, froze as if petrified as soon as Du Heng finished inserting the needles. Without needing any reminder, he dared not move or even turn his head. He simply responded with the one eye he could still close. As for the muffled sounds from his mouth, Du Heng still couldn’t understand them.

Having given his instructions and leaving the follow-up tasks to Wu Buwei, Du Heng then left the hospital room.

He wanted to check on Wei Kaida’s sister to see if she was adjusting well to her job, and he also needed to find Wang Lili to address her week-long laziness.

However, before he had a chance to find either of them, Du Heng himself was called downstairs by Wang Zhenzhen.