This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

The pulse in her left wrist was thready, and in her right, string-like.

This pulse pattern was not difficult to discern; in fact, it was very clear.

A thready pulse indicates qi deficiency and general weakness. Furthermore, the Binhu Sphygmology states that if it’s not dampness invading the waist and kidneys, then it’s a loss of essence from excessive sweating.

A string pulse belongs to yin within yang. The mnemonic for it states that a string pulse corresponds to the liver and gallbladder meridians of the East. It is also related to illnesses caused by excessive phlegm, cold, heat, and malaria.

With this pulse pattern combined with the earlier physical signs, it was easy to see that this woman’s problem was not just a simple issue of lung qi deficiency.

She suffered from a deficiency of lung and kidney yang!

She had the exact opposite problem of that little girl named Xixi whom he had treated earlier.

This made Du Heng find the situation quite interesting, and he felt that his shameless self-promotion earlier had certainly not been a mistake.

However, Du Heng’s sudden silence made the woman sigh softly. She even thought at this point that Du Heng probably couldn’t figure out anything and had no solutions, so he was using silence to resolve the awkwardness.

So, she kindly said, ”It’s all right. My illness is just like this. The Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine told me it was lung qi deficiency. They prescribed some medicine, but the effect was just so-so. It’s okay.”

Her words made Du Heng pause. Hearing her seemingly consoling tone, he gave a light laugh. ”Your illness is indeed related to lung qi deficiency,” he replied, ”but it’s not just a simple case of that.”

Du Heng’s sudden response surprised the woman. Still, she didn’t completely trust him yet, because his words only conveyed that he had discovered something, but he hadn’t explained what that was.

”Let’s explain one problem at a time.”

Du Heng smiled at the woman and spoke softly. ”First, let’s talk about your shortness of breath. This issue is indeed caused by lung qi deficiency; there’s no doubt about that.

However, the problem of coughing and producing excessive phlegm is not related to this lung qi deficiency.”

Du Heng paused briefly and, seeing that the woman was genuinely listening, continued, ”The second issue is that many people feel cold in their limbs. Why?

The reason is simple: it’s because of kidney yang deficiency. Your case is the same. That’s why you experience cold limbs and need to wear thick clothes in this season.”

Could it be that simple?

The woman looked at Du Heng with a hint of doubt. She felt that such a simple issue should have been noticed by doctors at the big hospitals.

”The kidneys govern qi intake. Since your kidney yang is deficient, it, in turn, affects your lungs. This results in lung qi deficiency and shortness of breath.”

Du Heng ignored the woman’s doubtful gaze and continued, ”When your yang qi is weak, it leads to dysmetabolism of water and dampness in the body.

Excessive dampness causes phlegm production, and the lungs are the organs that store phlegm. When there’s phlegm, you need to cough to expel it. But now, your lung qi is deficient, so your cough is ineffective. Consequently, the phlegm-damp accumulates more and more, while your kidney yang becomes progressively weaker.

Therefore, merely enhancing lung qi or treating the sputum are superficial solutions that don’t address the root cause of the problem.”

With this explanation, the woman seemed to brighten up a bit. Du Heng had clearly explained the cause and effect to her. More importantly, he had found reasons for each change in her body, which made it hard for her not to believe him.

”Then...” the woman began, but just as she opened her mouth, Dong Yuezhang walked out onto the road with a scowl on his face, shouting to Du, ”Come on, Du, let’s go!” His voice was so loud that it interrupted the woman.

Seeing Dong Yuezhang’s expression, Du Heng guessed their negotiations had likely failed. He waved to Dong Yuezhang and then said to the woman, ”Do you have time now? You could come with us in our car to the Health Clinic.

When we get there, I’ll write you a prescription, and we can get the medicine for you at the same time.”

The woman’s breathing became somewhat rapid, making it difficult for her to speak. She opened her mouth and took two deep breaths, but then couldn’t help coughing again.

Listening to the rattling, congested sound of phlegm in the woman’s throat, Du Heng felt both uncomfortable and queasy.

As the woman stopped coughing and tried to catch her breath, Du Heng frowned slightly. ”You’ve let this condition drag on for too long. If you delay treatment any further, your lungs might develop other lesions, which will be even harder to treat by then.

Ask your father to help watch your children for a bit. I’ll wait for you outside. How does that sound?”

Suppressing the urge to cough again, the woman slowly nodded to Du Heng. Then, she called her two children and walked over to her father.

Seeing this, Du Heng also headed out to the road. ”How did your talk go?” he asked Dong Yuezhang.

Dong Yuezhang looked dejected. ”He’s just an old diehard. There’s absolutely no room for negotiation.”

Liao Quansheng, walking beside them, chuckled. ”How can you call him an old diehard? He sold his mature lilies this year and immediately planted slightly larger second-crop lilies. He’ll have more to sell for profit next year.

If he listened to you, he wouldn’t have any lilies to sell for three consecutive years.

No lilies to sell means no income. Which option do you think he’d choose?”

Dong Yuezhang stated, as if it were obvious, ”Of course, he’d choose the option that makes more money. What’s there to hesitate about?

I’ve already inquired. Wet astragalus is going for about ten yuan per pound this year, while lilies are fetching between three and five yuan per pound. That’s at least a two-fold difference in price. Is it really that hard a choice?”