This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

He paused for a moment and said, ”A full pulse indicates heat syndrome, but if it’s weak and thin upon long pressing, how could it still be heat syndrome? Therefore, according to the comprehensive analysis of pulse and symptoms, the patient’s condition should be characterized by the clear yang being unable to rise and the turbid yin being unable to descend. The cold below is real; the heat above is false.”

By this time, Wu Buwei had finished reading Du Heng’s record of the patient’s symptoms and said with sudden understanding, ”Clear yang unable to rise, life fire weak, thus unable to warm the body, so the patient feels cold and their limbs are cold. Fire unable to generate earth, so the spleen cannot function properly, hence the poor appetite and diarrhea.

In this case, all yin cannot be coordinated by yang qi, so dizziness and vomiting occur in the upper body, while frequent and uncontrollable urination occurs in the lower body.”

Du Heng nodded. ”That’s the principle. And the patient is extremely obese, which is also a manifestation of yin flourishing and yang deficiency. Coupled with the misuse of cold medicines like Liver-Settling Wind-Extinguishing Decoction, it damages the original yang even more. Yin dominates below, pushing the floating yang upwards, so the patient’s current upper heat is merely a false phenomenon.”

Wu Buwei also nodded gently. ”So, this is a disease of yang deficiency rather than yin deficiency.”

”Exactly. With the wrong medication, the patient can’t possibly get better. It will only worsen the condition, ultimately leaving a root of illness that will torment them for a lifetime.”

Du Heng stood up and walked towards the door. ”I used Wen’s Chasing Decoction and added thirty grams of aconite. It’ll be a hassle for you to help me watch over the decoction of medicine. Just be careful not to make any mistakes while preparing it; everyone’s been a little distracted lately.”

In the end, Du Heng couldn’t help but grumble a bit in front of Wu Buwei.

Upon returning to his office, Du Heng no longer felt like taking a nap. After pacing around the office a few times, he called Cui Guanghaia over.

Afterward, it was unclear what the two discussed in the office; they didn’t emerge until lunchtime.

As soon as they stepped out, they bumped into a smiling Gong Daoyang. ”Brother, I’m here to freeload a meal.”

”Pay up. All you can eat,” Du Heng responded with a grin, then went to the Canteen with Gong Daoyang.

However, it seemed like Gong Daoyang had something to say, so they took their meals back to the office.

”Gong, what’s the matter?”

Gong Daoyang took a bite of the freshly served food and mumbled with his mouth full, ”I wanted to discuss the matter of Qi Gang with you.”

”What do you mean?” Du Heng quickly finished the food in his mouth and asked.

”Based on our interrogation yesterday of the people we brought back, two were organizers, and the rest were participants. Although we didn’t catch them in the act this time, with Qi Gang involved, it’s still quite an incident. They were gambling with a total of 70,000 yuan, and all of them have confessed, so we still need to deal with it.”

Gong Daoyang paused. ”Qi Gang is now a village doctor and can be considered one of your people. I just wanted to ask for your opinion. Are you going to protect him or not?”

Du Heng’s chopsticks halted momentarily as he considered Qi Gang’s performance over the past year. Finally, he steeled his resolve and said, ”You can handle it your way; don’t worry about me. Even if you don’t deal with it this time, I’ll still remove him from the village doctor roster. He’s causing too many delays.”

Upon hearing Du Heng’s words, Gong Daoyang immediately flashed a big grin, showing his white teeth. ”Alright, then I won’t worry about giving you face.”

”You didn’t need to ask me in the first place.”

”Isn’t this just to show you some consideration?”

”Let’s just eat. I don’t need that kind of consideration.”

Only then did the two happily eat. As they were about to leave after finishing, Gong Daoyang added, ”By the way, my wife is taking her leave this afternoon. Don’t hold her back, understand?”

”Am I crazy? Your wife is about to give birth; why would I hold her back?” With that, Du Heng pushed Gong Daoyang out and went back to the Canteen with Gong Daoyang’s food tray.

After tidying up, Du Heng finally felt sleepy. I should get some sleep, clear my head, so I can figure out how to deal with that bunch of death-courting fools this afternoon, he thought.

However, the sudden ringing of the phone made Du Heng’s heart jolt, and any drowsiness he felt vanished without a trace.

”Hello, Sir.”

”Hehe, Xiao Du, have you eaten?”

Hearing Sir Wu Zhong’s voice, Du Heng knew what the old man was about to say.

”I just finished eating. How about you, Sir?” I’ll just make small talk; this is so awkward. If he doesn’t bring it up, I won’t either, Du Heng thought.

”I just ate with Nannan.”

”Oh, that’s good. Sir, it’s noon now; you should take a nap.” Du Heng hoped Sir wouldn’t bring it up, wishing he would quickly hang up the phone.

But fate, it seemed, had other plans; the inevitable was coming. ”Xiao Du, you’re a good kid. Nannan has been spoiled by us; you need to bear with her more.”

Listening to Sir’s earnest words, Du Heng felt helpless. ”Sir, why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?”

”You haven’t visited Nannan for several days, and I haven’t seen you two contact each other. Did Nannan throw a little tantrum and get angry with you?”

In the old man’s tone, he was blaming his granddaughter for everything and didn’t mention any of Du Heng’s faults. Yet, Du Heng felt that every sentence the old man spoke was aimed at him.

”That’s not true; Nannan’s doing perfectly fine. We had inspections from higher-ups these past few days, and the Health Clinic has been busier, so I haven’t come over. But rest assured, Sir, although we don’t contact each other during the day, we still chat in the evenings.”

Du Heng wanted to confess, but the longer he dragged it out, the harder it became to open his mouth. And Wu Shengnan—who knew what she was thinking? She wouldn’t say anything either, which was incredibly frustrating.

”I knew you are both good kids and wouldn’t make us worry. It seems I, an old man, was overthinking things.”

Listen to him, Du Heng thought. This Old Man is so smooth with his words, completely blocking all my escape routes.

”So, Xiao Du, are you busy right now?”

Du Heng squinted up at the sun. It’s the middle of the day. If I say I’m busy, you definitely wouldn’t believe me, Old Man, he thought. Ah, I’ll just keep playing dumb.

”I’m not too busy right now. Is there something you need, Sir?”

”If you’re not busy, then come and chat with this old man. You young people can chat on your mobile phones, but I, an old man, don’t know how. I haven’t seen you, kid, in a few days, and I’m starting to miss you.”

Du Heng hesitated for a moment and sighed quietly. There’s no escaping this, huh?

”Alright, Sir, please wait for me. I’ll be right there.”

After hanging up, Du Heng returned to his office to change clothes and get his car key. He’d been pondering something these past few days: with the Old Man’s wisdom, after spending this much time together, he couldn’t possibly have failed to see the state of his relationship with Wu Shengnan.

Yet, this Old Man was relentlessly trying to force a match between them. Du Heng couldn’t figure out what shining quality of his had so captivated the Old Man, making him value him this much.

「 」

When Du Heng arrived at Wu Shengnan’s hospital room, she was the only one inside. Seeing Du Heng enter, she gave him a... coy expression.

Coy?

Du Heng felt he must have misread it. How could Wu Shengnan possibly make such an expression at him? It had to be his wishful thinking, or his eyes were playing tricks on him.

”Where’s Sir?” Du Heng asked, trying to make small talk.

Wu Shengnan could already sit up now, and her leg no longer needed to be constantly suspended. Hearing Du Heng’s question, she pouted her lips and said softly, ”He went out for a smoke.”

What a sly old fox, Du Heng thought. It was becoming increasingly difficult for him to bring up the subject.

”Sir said he wants me to give you some treatment. Lie down, please,” Du Heng said, already starting to flatten the bed. Whether Wu Shengnan agreed or not didn’t seem to matter to him.

After about ten days of recovery, Wu Shengnan’s leg, apart from a few lingering bruises in some places, had mostly regained its normal color.

Her foot was in slightly worse condition, especially the top. The area Du Heng had scraped so vigorously last time was still wrinkled and recovering slowly.

Finding a place to sit, Du Heng didn’t bother with gloves. He took the ointment he always carried in his bag and began to apply it, then started the massage, repeating the motions.

”HMMMM~~~” Wu Shengnan hummed contentedly.

”What the hell are you humming about?” Du Heng retorted irritably, though he didn’t even lift his head.

The room fell silent once more.

After a good while, Wu Shengnan suddenly asked in a very soft voice, ”Have you been on any blind dates these past few days?”

”No. I don’t dare to go anymore.”

”OHHHH~~~” Wu Shengnan paused for a moment. ”Then how will you find a wife?”

Du Heng finally looked up at Wu Shengnan and said with a teasing smile, ”Well, there’s still you, isn’t there? If I really can’t find a wife, I’ll just give in and agree to Sir’s idea.”

”You don’t need to force yourself.”

”I...”

Huh? Du Heng’s massaging hand suddenly stopped.