This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Dr. Wei was reluctant, but this truly concerned his own interests. It was also the purpose of his visit today, so he felt compelled to speak first.

If he spoke after Du Heng and said the same thing, he wouldn’t seize the initiative. Instead, Du Heng would gain the advantage of speaking first. Besides, Du Heng was the Dean of a proper hospital; in the patients’ eyes, Dr. Wei certainly wouldn’t carry more weight.

However, if he spoke first, he feared Du Heng might twist his words to his own advantage and bolster his own reputation.

After a brief thought, Dr. Wei had an idea. He coughed lightly and said, ”Sir, after listening to your description, I can roughly determine that your father-in-law’s illness is a stroke, caused by excessive liver fire. My house would be quite suitable for this.

However, the specific medication and dosage can only be determined after I’ve seen the patient in person and conducted a check-up. Only then can a prescription be issued.”

After speaking, he looked at Du Heng, confident in his diagnosis.

Hmph, trying to compete with me.

Forget the reasoning, just the diagnosis. If you agree, you’ll have to explain why. That would mean you’re just following my lead.

”Doctor Du, do you think my diagnosis is correct?” At this point, any pretense of courtesy between them was gone. One of them had to back down today.

Du Heng shook his head gently. ”I dare not agree with your diagnosis.”

Dr. Wei shot to his feet, contrary to his expectations, and stared straight at Du Heng. ”Are you saying my diagnosis is wrong?”

Du Heng met his gaze directly and said in a very firm tone, ”That’s right. You’re talking utter nonsense.”

”Explain to me why I’m wrong! If you can’t make it clear today, this is slander!” Dr. Wei no longer maintained his composed, sage-like demeanor, his face a mask of vexation and anger.

Du Heng sneered. ”Why don’t you first explain to this gentleman how this ’excessive liver fire’ of yours came about? Otherwise, mere words are empty. Who would believe you?”

”The patient can’t speak, his hands can’t move, his feet can’t walk, and he’s making wheezing sounds like snoring! It’s obvious he had a stroke due to phlegm.” Provoked by Du Heng, Dr. Wei blurted this out, completely forgetting his earlier caution.

His reaction was, in fact, due to one thing: his own guilty conscience.

However, he wasn’t aware of this himself. He just felt Du Heng was being malicious, trying to undermine him completely. ”Where does phlegm come from? Phlegm conditions often arise from dampness. If phlegm-damp stagnates and doesn’t disperse, it will inevitably generate heat. This heat then stirs up exuberant liver fire, leading to liver yang rising. The rising Yang then transforms into wind, and consequently, this liver wind stirs upwards, causing the symptoms of a stroke.”

”This is my diagnostic process. May I ask, President Du, where did I go wrong?”

Smooth, silky. That was the overall impression of Dr. Wei’s explanation.

And this characteristic smoothness made the gentleman who had asked the question nod repeatedly. It also led others in the audience to murmur amongst themselves with expressions of approval.

Du Heng sighed softly.

During his time at the Health Clinic, he had treated many patients whose stroke symptoms were exacerbated by misdiagnosis. He felt quite disgusted by doctors who couldn’t diagnose properly yet randomly prescribed medicine. But until now, he had never encountered such a person face-to-face. Today, he finally had.

Eight parts of what Dr. Wei said were true, and two parts were false. Yet, those two false parts were enough to cost a patient their life.

Du Heng leaned back, held the microphone, and said seriously, ”Where did you go wrong? Do you really want to hear it?”

”Speak.” Dr. Wei didn’t yield an inch, having been pushed into a corner.

If the crowd had to choose one of them to believe, it would undoubtedly be Du Heng.

Du Heng was the Dean of a public hospital. He had an impressive track record, including treating a celebrity’s cancer and a widely acclaimed treatment for pediatric hypoxic brain damage. In every aspect, Dr. Wei had no chance of winning.

To achieve his goal, Dr. Wei needed Du Heng to make a mistake.

Du Heng ignored Dr. Wei’s furious expression and slowly raised one finger. ”First, liver wind can cause symptoms in patients such as headaches, dry mouth, red and swollen eyes, and excessive eye discharge. It makes patients very uncomfortable.

But it won’t cause patients to be unable to walk, let alone paralysis. Although liver wind and stroke are both ’wind’ conditions, please do not confuse them.”

He then raised a second finger and continued, looking into Dr. Wei’s horrified eyes, ”Second, does internal heat necessarily lead to excessive liver fire?” His gaze suddenly turned cold. ”Utterly nonsensical! This point alone proves you don’t understand what a stroke truly is.

I now have reason to suspect that the house in your hand is just something you haphazardly concocted from random Expelling Wind Medicine.”

”You...”

”Furthermore, I highly doubt you even possess a medical license.”

”You’re slandering me!” Dr. Wei’s eyes turned red. His usually sleek, slicked-back hair was now disheveled from his agitation.

As Du Heng finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.

Disagreements like this were common enough.

But they had never witnessed someone being so directly and scathingly called out, especially not like Du Heng was doing.

And this was all going to be broadcast on television!

The host had completely given up by this point. He had received a message from the director with a single instruction: just make sure the two didn’t come to blows.

Meanwhile, the man who had asked the initial question was utterly baffled. He thought Dr. Wei had been making perfect sense. How had things taken such a drastic turn so suddenly?