This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Gu Ping and the others politely asked all the onlookers to leave and then gently closed the office door.

”You came here because of back pain, didn’t you?” Du Heng asked the old man, a smile on his face.

Unexpectedly, the old man remained unappreciative, his face darkening. ”If you know what’s wrong with me, just tell me. There’s no need to pretend.”

”Okay, I’ll be straightforward then.” Du Heng’s expression became serious. ”You’ve engaged in excessive sexual activity. This has caused Yin damage which has, in turn, harmed your Yang. Your kidney yang is injured, resulting in kidney yang deficiency.”

The old man’s face flushed from dark to red as he vehemently denied it, ”Nonsense!”

Du Heng paid him no mind.

As soon as the woman mentioned being the old man’s wife, Du Heng had a rough idea of what was going on. An old man with a young, attractive wife—he must be feeling insecure. That’s likely the root of the problem.

”Whether it’s nonsense or not, you listen to what I have to say. If I’m wrong, you can turn around and walk out. I won’t stop you.”

The old man remained silent, his gaze slightly gloomy as he looked at Du Heng.

”Your back hurts, and it has for quite some time. It worsens in cold weather, and you also experience soreness in your waist and knees, along with urinary and bowel irregularities. Am I wrong?” Du Heng allowed a slight smile to touch his lips.

The old man said nothing, but his wife interjected, ”Doctor, everything you said is correct. He started complaining about back pain last year. I urged him to see a doctor, but he stubbornly refused. In May, the pain became unbearable, so he finally went to the Municipal Second Hospital’s Nephrology Department. They said there was nothing serious, just that he needed to rest. Recently, the pain has intensified, especially in the mornings and at night, to the point where he can barely stand straight. That’s why he finally agreed to come.”

Hearing his wife provide such detail, the old man grew even more displeased. ”Let him do the diagnosis. Why are you meddling?”

The woman, angered now too, pushed his shoulder firmly. ”Why must you be so pig-headed? Did the doctor say anything incorrect?”

Du Heng quickly waved his hands. ”Please, don’t argue in here. If you must argue, do it at home.”

Once they both quieted down, Du Heng continued, ”In your case, all that’s needed is to warm and nourish kidney yang, using warming yang to alleviate the pain. Would you like me to prescribe medicine for you?”

The old man gritted his teeth. ”What makes you so sure I have... what did you call it, kidney yang deficiency? How do I know you’re not just spouting nonsense?”

Du Heng leaned back in his chair. He wished he could just throw this old man out. Every word the man uttered was a sharp barb, truly infuriating. But the current consultation rules required explaining the patient’s condition clearly; otherwise, a complaint would undoubtedly be upheld. If there were a complaint, Du could simply leave, but it would drag Li Jianwei, his sponsor, into it. That wouldn’t be right.

Du Heng took a deep breath. ”Alright, let me explain. Your pulse is deep and slow, your tongue is pale, and it has a thick, greasy white coating.”

”Stop trying to confuse me! Speak in terms I can understand.”

Du Heng smiled helplessly. ”Your deep pulse is characterized by turbid discharges and diarrhea, with kidney deficiency causing pain in the waist and lower body. Your slow pulse is characterized by kidney deficiency leading to heaviness in the waist and feet, as well as incontinence. Both these pulse images indicate that your Yin has been damaged, which has affected your Yang, and that your kidney yang has been injured. Now, when kidney yang is impaired, it’s typically due to either excessive sexual activity or uncontrolled masturbation. Which one do you think applies to you?”

Du Heng’s words were rather mean-spirited. While there are many reasons for kidney yang damage, these two were merely the most probable. He said it specifically to make the old man lose face. Du Heng couldn’t kick the old man out, nor could he refuse treatment. But he had other ways to handle him. He was confident these words would make the old man’s face burn with shame.

Just as he expected, when Du Heng finished speaking, especially after mentioning the last potential cause, the old man’s already dark face flushed an even deeper red. Beside him, his wife also blushed with embarrassment.

As for Gu Ping and the other two, they were struggling to suppress their laughter.

They hadn’t expected that the usually serious and composed Du Heng could deliver verbal blows that were no less impactful than crude insults—perhaps even more so, with a hint of heart-piercing ruthlessness.

To put it mildly, he was subtly malicious.

A corner of Du Heng’s mouth twitched. ”Traditional Chinese medicine posits that the kidney is the organ of water and fire, housing true yin and true yang, and governing the metabolism of bodily fluids. The function of kidney yang is to vaporize kidney yin, thereby generating kidney qi. The balance between kidney yin and kidney yang determines the strength of kidney qi, as they depend on each other for its generation. If either yin or yang becomes excessive or deficient, Yin cannot be properly anchored, and Yang cannot facilitate transformation. This inevitably leads to various disorders of qi, blood, and bodily fluids. The waist is considered the ’mansion’ of the kidney, which is why you’re experiencing cold pain in your waist, soreness in your waist and knees, and urinary and bowel irregularities.”

After finishing his explanation, Du Heng looked at the old man intently. ”Do you understand what I’ve said? After hearing all that, can you point to anything I said that was incorrect? Do you, or do you not, have these symptoms?”

The old man’s face was so red it looked as if it might hemorrhage. He lowered his head and said nothing more.

The woman quickly tried to smooth things over, apologizing repeatedly, ”Doctor, I’m so sorry. My husband just has this bad temper. Plus, he has a fear of hospitals; he gets scared when he sees doctors. Please don’t take it to heart. Please, just treat him. He’s been tormented by this for over a year.”

Du Heng didn’t particularly care if the man was tormented or not. His job was to heal the sick and save lives. If a patient had a good attitude and respected him, he’d offer a few more words. If they looked down on him and disrespected his profession, he’d simply do his job, nothing more. Saying extra was a courtesy; sticking to the basics was his duty.

”Do you wish to proceed with treatment?”

”Yes, definitely! Doctor, just tell us what to do. We’ll cooperate fully.”

Du Heng nodded, turned to his computer, and his fingers flew across the keyboard. Finally, he swiped their medical card. ”Alright, it’s done. Take your card to the payment window to settle the bill, then take the payment receipt to the Medicine Pickup Window to get your medicine.”

Handing their medical card back, Du Heng prepared for the next patient.