This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Li Qin was even more puzzled. ”Aren’t you all doctors? How can you not understand? Besides, you’re a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, but you seem to know a lot about Western medicine too.”

Upon hearing Li Qin’s rather presumptuous words, Du Heng couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

Du Heng sighed lightly. It’s only by a stroke of luck and this external application that I can prioritize traditional Chinese medicine while supplementing it with Western medicine. But who else has such advantages and capabilities?

Let me put it this way: nationwide, there are over four million doctors. Most are ordinary individuals who might spend their entire lives without fully grasping even the small fraction of professional knowledge they’ve studied. Where would they find the time and energy to learn and master knowledge from other fields? Among these more than four million, looking across the entire nation, barely a hundred can truly claim to have mastered both Eastern and Western medicine. And every single one of them is grey-haired, having dedicated their entire lives to achieve such an accomplishment. Expecting ordinary doctors to master both is less realistic than dreaming.

”Let me put it this way,” Du Heng explained. ”Western medicine is a hyper-realistic discipline. They believe in what can be seen and touched—viruses, bacteria, cells, cell nuclei, and so on. As long as it’s visible, even if only under a high-powered microscope, that’s what they trust.

”However, traditional Chinese medicine belongs to a more conceptual realm, almost like a stream of consciousness. Its foundation is the five elements, a purely theoretical construct dealing with things that are unseen and intangible.

”These two are polar opposites. It’s not too difficult for someone accustomed to conceptual thinking to accept hyper-realism; after all, we all live in the physical world. But convincing a hyper-realist to accept a conceptual framework like that of traditional Chinese medicine is very challenging.”

Li Qin blinked her large eyes a couple of times. ”Alright, I still don’t quite get what you’re saying, but are you sure you can cure Director Jia?”

”As a friend, don’t you trust me?”

Li Qin rolled her eyes. ”I’m asking for Sister-in-law, so please be serious.”

Du Heng smiled. ”When it comes to my profession, I never lie.”

”That’s more like it,” Li Qin muttered, then immediately turned to Director Jia’s wife. ”Sister-in-law, you need to make the decision. If you trust me and Du Heng, and agree to let him treat Director Jia, I’ll go to the hospital right now and get them to sort this out.

”If you have any doubts, that’s fine too. Just consider this a visit to Director Jia.”

Director Jia’s wife was very tempted but also hesitant. Her grip on Jia’s hand tightened.

Lowering her head to look at Director Jia on the sick bed, she whispered, ”Old Jia, what do you think?”

Director Jia was about to explode with frustration. He couldn’t speak, half his body was numb and immobile, and his good arm was held tightly by his wife, leaving him helpless. Hearing his wife’s question, he immediately nodded furiously.

Forget three doses to be cured; even if it takes thirty doses, it’s far better than lying in bed waiting for three months, or even half a year!

Seeing her husband nod, Director Jia’s wife took a deep breath and looked at Li Qin. ”Let Doctor Du treat him. I’ll go with you to the hospital.”

The procedures were incredibly complicated, and communication was a nightmare. It was especially troublesome given Du Heng’s status and the reputation of Luqi Hospital.

It’s common for hospitals to invite outsiders for consultations. However, such things usually only happened with renowned experts in the field, or within a very limited scope. A hospital like Luqi would simply never encounter such a situation. Forget Quan City; in the entire East Hill region, Luqi housed all the top specialists. Why would they ever need to invite an outsider to treat their patients?

In Du Heng’s current situation, although the family had initiated the request, anyone could see that if Du Heng himself hadn’t agreed, it wouldn’t have progressed this far. Therefore, Du Heng’s actions were seen as deliberately coming to cause trouble—and crossing provincial lines to do it.

They were also aware of Du Heng’s upcoming comparison with Guan Bo from their Chinese Medicine Department. It had been a hot topic of discussion all day yesterday and this morning. So now, they initially suspected Du Heng was making a preemptive power play, trying to intimidate them before tomorrow’s comparison.

Dammit! Your Chinese Medicine Department’s internal squabbles are spilling over onto us in Western medicine?

What should have been a straightforward consultation, agreed upon by the family and coordinated with the Health Department, dragged on from morning till afternoon without any resolution. Because of this, Zhang Dewen, who had just returned that morning, was dragged into the Neurology Department.

”Sir Zhang, this is the situation,” Director He of the provincial Neurology Department said slowly, sitting across from Zhang Dewen. ”It’s a mess Xiao Guan stirred up. His opponent has come knocking, clearly looking to make trouble.

”Could you see if there’s any way to treat this patient? If you can, I’ll stand up to the Dean. We can’t afford to lose face over this.

”If you can’t do anything either, then I’m out of options. We’ll just have to let the wolf into our house.”

Director He spoke while carefully observing Zhang Dewen’s expression.

Even though Zhang Dewen practiced traditional Chinese medicine, the old man’s reputation in the hospital was immense, his seniority profound, his age advanced, and his skills exceptional. Even he, a Director of a Western Medicine Department, had to treat him with the utmost respect. Moreover, the old man was very elderly, and Director He worried that a poorly chosen word might agitate him, so he spoke very cautiously.

Zhang Dewen’s expression darkened, his mood clearly soured. ”Don’t you have any effective methods for this patient?”

Director He immediately replied, ”Sir Zhang, you know that for ischemic stroke, our treatment options are quite limited. We rely on a few standardized, routine procedures. The medications are what they are; no one really has a significantly better approach.”