This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

”Alright, I’ll be right over.”

After hanging up the phone, Du Heng sighed helplessly. Wu Shengnan’s father’s reaction made Du Heng fully understand the saying: concern leads to confusion. However, with his own future on the line, how could he not be confused?

It was still the same residential area from yesterday evening, and he was still led in by his father-in-law.

”I called this morning, and the doctor here said that Mr. Bai’s condition hasn’t changed much. I’m a bit worried.”

Listening to Wu Shengnan’s father’s chatter, Du Heng said helplessly, ”Uncle, all things considered, Mr. Bai has only just taken his third bowl of medicine. The effects won’t be that obvious yet. Moreover, given Mr. Bai’s situation these past two days, no change in his condition since starting the medicine is actually good news.”

”I know that too, but I can’t help but have palpitations.”

As the two chatted, they arrived at their destination.

However, today’s room had fewer people than yesterday, less than half, in fact. Most importantly, Professor Wang was not there, but the three senior traditional Chinese medicine practitioners from yesterday were still present.

After they entered, Wu Shengnan’s father led Du Heng to offer greetings, then sat beside the Patient, inquiring solicitously about his condition. Meanwhile, Zhang Yongjun and the other two approached Du Heng. ”Doctor Du, it’s great that you’re here. We were just discussing calling you.”

Du Heng smiled modestly and said, ”Director Zhang, you’re too kind. It’s my duty to come.”

The others dispensed with formalities and directly discussed the patient’s current condition. ”Secretary Bai has finished the first dose of medicine, and his overall reaction is pretty much as you described yesterday, if not considerably better.”

Another chimed in, ”For the past few days, around two o’clock in the deep night, Secretary Bai’s abdominal bloating would noticeably worsen, and the pain in his ribs would persist until five or six in the morning. Yesterday, after taking the medicine you prescribed, while his bloating and pain hadn’t disappeared, they had lessened considerably. Secretary Bai even managed a short nap around three o’clock.”

”Furthermore, Secretary Bai has had a very poor appetite recently, barely eating two mouthfuls before being unable to continue. If not for the continuous nutrient solution, his body likely would have given out by now. But at noon today, just half an hour before you arrived, he said he was hungry and ate a small bowl of porridge.”

After they had each spoken, Zhang Yongjun continued, ”Doctor Du, do you think it’s necessary to modify this house now?”

”If it’s effective, don’t change it. Continue with the current treatment.” After hearing their words and adding his own observations from a moment ago, Du Heng quickly made a decision. ”However, there’s one thing: don’t stop the nutrient solution for the next few days. Continue with three meals a day, but control the portion size each time. Just a small bowl will do. Also, absolutely no rich, oily foods or stimulating food. These things will increase the liver’s burden.”

Zhang Yongjun nodded. ”We know this too. This morning, his family wanted to give Secretary Bai some lean meat porridge, saying that since he could eat, they wanted to supplement his nutrition. However, we stopped them.”

Du Heng twitched an eyebrow and nodded gently. ”That was my oversight. I should have made that clear yesterday.”

”It’s alright. We couldn’t cure Secretary Bai’s illness; that’s due to our incompetence and unrefined skills. But assisting you with some basic matters is certainly no problem for us.”

”Director Zhang, please don’t say that. This is the result of everyone’s collective effort.” Du Heng was the type to respond to soft persuasion but not to coercion. Now, Zhang Yongjun, despite his age and experience far exceeding Du Heng’s, was adopting such a humble stance, which made Du Heng feel rather awkward, unsure how to respond.

Seeing Zhang Yongjun was about to say more, Du Heng quickly changed the subject. ”By the way, Director Zhang, why haven’t I seen Professor Wang from yesterday? When is he coming?”

As soon as Du Heng asked, Zhang Yongjun and the other two immediately broke into smiles, which puzzled Du Heng.

”Wait, Director Zhang, what are you all smiling about?”

”Hehe, you don’t know yet?”

”Know what?”

Zhang Yongjun smiled triumphantly. ”Starting from early this morning, Secretary Bai’s various adverse symptoms began to lessen. Although it wasn’t very obvious, a reduction was still a reduction. This Professor Wang isn’t renowned for nothing; he knew exactly what this change signified. After inquiring about Secretary Bai’s condition again this morning, he promptly left.”

Du Heng was still puzzled. ”It’s normal for him to leave. What does that have to do with your smiles?”

Zhang Yongjun chuckled softly. ”I didn’t explain clearly. This Professor Wang didn’t just leave this room; he left Jinzhou. He booked the first flight out this morning right after stepping out. He’s probably landed in Yangcheng by now.”

He just ran away? Du Heng’s eyes widened. An expletive was caught in his throat; it was truly an uncomfortable feeling. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to retort to yesterday’s lecture! And what about those reports? How could the man just do that?

Zhang Yongjun glanced behind him and said softly, ”Yesterday, time was tight, and there were many people, so many things couldn’t be explained. This Professor Wang is indeed a very accomplished expert in liver cancer; that cannot be denied. But his treatment approach has a peculiar characteristic: he never seeks consultations with traditional Chinese medicine doctors for his patients, regardless of how critical their conditions are. While he has never openly or explicitly opposed traditional Chinese medicine, he never advises his patients to try it. He won’t even acknowledge the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine if a patient’s condition has been brought under control by it.”