This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Du Heng was quite happy.

He found that sometimes, maintaining a little silence actually produced better results than trying too hard or forcing the issue.

Perhaps this was the ’depth of mind’ Wu Shengnan’s father had told him about, but he also understood that his own ’depth of mind’ wasn’t profound enough, and his experience was still shallow.

But leveraging the situation was indeed much easier than striving independently.

Now, all he needed to do was chat happily with the elderly men and women in the consultation room and record their information.

”Uncle, you’ve recovered quite well overall, but I can’t help but ask, do you have a bit of a drinking habit?”

”Yeah, I have a small cup with every meal, not much, just three qian.”

Du Heng smiled at the old man and said kindly, ”Never mind three qian, even a single lick isn’t acceptable.”

Hearing this, the old man looked conflicted and dissatisfied. ”Doctor Du, I’ve been drinking my whole life. Now, if I don’t have a drink with my meal, not only do I feel weak, but I can’t even eat properly.”

”Sir, it’s not that I’m forbidding you from drinking, but look at your blood pressure—it’s 150. If you keep drinking like this every day, your blood pressure won’t come down.”

”If it doesn’t come down, it doesn’t come down. I feel fine at 150. My head isn’t dizzy, and I walk steadily. No problem.”

Ultimately, the old man just didn’t want to give up his pre-meal drink.

Du Heng shook his head, motioned for the male doctor typing beside him to continue, then sat up straight and said earnestly to the old man, ”Sir, you can’t think about blood pressure that way. For you, 150 is right at a critical threshold.

Perhaps today you get startled by an unleashed dog, or the weather is too hot and you sweat a lot, or perhaps your appetite is good today and you eat a bit more flour-based food or rich meat—then your blood pressure might suddenly shoot over 160.

Furthermore, as you age, your heart’s capacity to handle loads weakens, your blood vessels gradually lose elasticity, and their walls become fragile. A sudden spike in blood pressure could, if you’re not careful, cause your heart to stop working, or the most delicate blood vessels in your brain could rupture.

The end result of that is either fatal or a stroke. Sir, is that a situation you’re willing to risk?”

Hearing Du Heng describe such dire consequences, the old man immediately hesitated.

The older people get, the more they cherish life, and the old man before him was no exception.

He was now choosing between his craving and his life.

”Doesn’t everyone say alcohol can relieve tension and promote activating blood? How come it sounds so dangerous when you talk about it?”

”Relieve tension and activating blood? Who told you that? Which doctor or hospital said so?” Du Heng looked amusedly at the old man. ”Did you hear that from an advertisement? Or did your drinking buddies tell you that?”

The old man nodded woodenly.

”Alcohol, this stuff, it doesn’t matter if you drink a lot or a little, nor does it matter if red wine is better than white spirit; as long as it’s alcohol, it’s not good for you. The claims you’ve heard come from two sources: one is self-promotion by distilleries and alcohol sellers trying to make more money.

The other is alcoholics making excuses for their drinking.”

Du Heng had seen many diseases caused by alcohol. The most typical was stroke. He had seen many such patients at the Health Clinic, mostly middle-aged people.

Another type was similar to stroke but, upon closer examination, not quite stroke. It involved full-body paralysis, like being electrocuted.

This was caused by poor heart function due to drinking.

There was also a category of skin diseases caused by drinking.

”Sir, alcohol contains Dregs Qi. If you drink a little, this Dregs Qi will gradually be expelled from your body as it flows with your qi and blood. However, if you drink a lot or for a long time, this Dregs Qi can’t get out and will slowly accumulate in your body.

If it travels upward, your brain will gradually become less responsive, your memory will decline, your limb control will diminish, and your risk of cerebral hemorrhage will increase.

If it stagnates in the middle region, dampness and heat will gather there. Your heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, and gallbladder will all develop problems. Conditions like coronary heart disease and liver cirrhosis will appear. The common ’potbelly’ is often a result of this.

As for its effects lower down, your urine stream might fork. You’ll pass three parts, dribble three parts, and three parts will leak into your trousers.”

”What about the remaining one part?” the old man asked curiously.

Du Heng chuckled. ”The remaining part didn’t come out. After a short while, you’ll need to urinate again.”

The old man hesitated even more. ”But... if I don’t drink a little, I have no energy, and my food doesn’t taste good.”

”You have a slight alcohol dependence, but from what you’re saying, it isn’t too severe. Reduce it gradually. Let your body adapt, and more importantly, let your mind adapt.

When we try to break a habit, physical withdrawal is the easiest part. The most difficult part is psychological withdrawal.

You need the willpower, and you absolutely must persist.”

The old man left with his modified prescription, walking with great difficulty.

As soon as the old man left, an Auntie who was waiting behind him immediately squeezed in and sat across from Du Heng. ”Doctor Du,” she asked, ”why do the medicines you prescribe for others work, but the ones you prescribed for me have no effect?”

Du Heng was somewhat surprised. He hurriedly examined the Auntie who had just entered and then pulled out her treatment records.

After a careful examination, Du Heng found no errors.

This was a bit of a headscratcher. It was the first time since he got the system that one of his prescriptions hadn’t been effective.

Du Heng touched his nose. ”Auntie, are you sure you took the medicine on time?”

The Auntie said in a very affirmative tone, ”Of course! Three times a day—morning, noon, and evening—without any delay at all.”

”Have you been overeating or drinking excessively these past few days?”

”No, I eat three meals a day, one bowl each time. I’ve been eating like this for years.”

Du Heng was puzzled. He thought for a moment and then asked, ”Then have you eaten anything too greasy? Or have you been eating potatoes as your staple food?”

”Oh no, that’s even more impossible. I cook at home every day, mostly coarse grains. I rarely eat potatoes, and I haven’t had noodles much either.”

Seeing that the Auntie didn’t seem to be lying, Du Heng felt truly stumped for the first time.

Diabetes insipidus isn’t a difficult condition. After re-examining so many patients this morning, none of them had this issue. Their conditions might have fluctuated a bit due to diet or lifestyle, but overall, everyone’s condition was improving, gradually moving towards a manageable rhythm and range.

Yet, this Auntie’s problem hadn’t eased at all. This was becoming a real headache.

Du Heng composed himself and once again focused on examining the Auntie seriously.

There was nothing wrong with his diagnosis. It was kidney water depletion and insufficient yin humor, leading to yin deficiency and fire prosperity, manifesting as lower burner dispersion-thirst symptoms. The prescription he had written contained medicinal ingredients for nourishing yin and replenishing the kidney, which were perfectly suited to her symptoms. So why hadn’t her condition improved?

Du Heng slowly withdrew his hand, his mind racing through possible reasons.

First, the Auntie was lying and hadn’t taken her medicine on time. But looking at her demeanor and attitude, she didn’t seem to be intentionally lying or trying to scam him.

Second, the depletion of yin humor exceeded the nourishing ability of the medicinal ingredients. But why would the Auntie’s yin humor deplete so excessively and rapidly?

Du Heng glanced at the Auntie, touched his nose again, and asked carefully, ”Auntie, are you still sexually active?”

As soon as Du Heng asked this question, things immediately got interesting.

The Auntie’s face flushed crimson instantly, and she became shy and flustered.

Although Du Heng was somewhat prepared for this reaction and wasn’t overly surprised, the male doctor next to him, who was helping input data into the system, was almost floored.

He wasn’t surprised that the Auntie was still sexually active, but at how incredibly coy she became.

Given her current demeanor, even an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl probably couldn’t act that coy.

”Um, yes.” The Auntie squirmed a little, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, barely audible.

Du Heng coughed softly and continued, ”And how often is that?”

The moment he asked, the Auntie looked even more flustered. Du Heng quickly added, ”Don’t be shy. Just tell me the truth. It’s very important for finding the cause of your illness.”

The Auntie’s face was so red it looked like it might bleed. But after hearing Du Heng’s reassurance, she finally said, ”Quite often... about three or four times a day.”

The male doctor’s jaw practically hit the floor. His eyes uncontrollably darted to the computer screen, where the Auntie’s age was clearly registered: 57.

Du Heng had considered sexual activity as a possibility, but he hadn’t expected it to be this frequent. Even he, a young man, suddenly felt a twinge in his lower back just thinking about it.

”Auntie, is this every day, or occasionally?”

”Every day.” The Auntie lowered her head.

However, she immediately raised it again. ”Doctor Du, please don’t misunderstand! It’s not that I want to... it’s my old man! He has so much energy. He wants to do it whenever he has a spare moment. If I didn’t object and actively try to avoid him during the day, I’m afraid it would happen even more often.”

Du Heng swallowed. He wanted to lick his lips but felt it would be inappropriate, so he quickly pursed them instead.

What a vigorous old man!

After composing himself for a moment, Du Heng said, ”Auntie, I’ve found the problem. It’s due to excessive and frequent sexual activity. At your age, kidney essence deficiency is an irreversible fact. You’re overdrawing on your body’s reserves, and that’s definitely not sustainable.

If you want a more comfortable life in the future, appropriate sexual activity is fine, but for your body, it’s best to limit it to once a week, and not for more than three minutes each time. Otherwise, your symptoms will only get worse.”

Du Heng’s expression turned serious. ”If this continues long-term, nephritis and kidney failure will eventually find you.”

The Auntie’s face changed immediately. She stammered, ”I don’t want that, but my old man is just so... insistent. I don’t know what to do.”

”How about this, Auntie: if your husband has time, bring him over. I’ll take a look at him. His situation seems a bit unusual.”

The Auntie looked quite distressed. ”That old man was like this even when he was young, so troublesome. He hasn’t settled down even now that he’s old. I’ve told him to go to the hospital to get checked, but he just refuses.”