This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

The first thing Du Heng did when he reached his desk was to pull out a tissue and wipe his face. He felt extremely uncomfortable, his temples feeling sticky.

The couple watched Du Heng. The man looked a bit embarrassed, but the woman seemed unfazed, continuing to glare at her husband.

After wiping his face, Du Heng took his seat, looking at the couple, and said, ”Who wants to be examined? Come and sit on the stool.”

The man hurriedly said, ”My lover will, she will.”

After speaking to Du Heng, the man turned to his wife and said, ”Listen, let the doctor check you out. Doctor Du was recommended by your mother; he’s very skilled. Even if you don’t trust me, surely you can trust your mother?”

The woman glared at her husband again, then shook off his hand and sat on the stool opposite Du Heng as if in a huff. ”Fine, I’ll be examined. But just you wait. We’ll discuss this matter when we get home.”

Du Heng was rendered speechless by the couple. Watching the woman sit opposite him, he sighed and then asked, ”What’s the matter? I just heard you two. Were you talking about someone going mad, or something like that?”

The woman’s expression soured. Rolling her eyes, she said, ”I’m perfectly fine, but he keeps saying I have a mental illness, that I’m crazy. I think he’s found another woman and is just making up excuses.”

”Don’t talk nonsense,” the man snapped back at his wife, then looked at Du Heng with an anguished expression. ”Doctor, I’m truly not making this up.”

”Take your time. Tell me what’s going on.”

The man sighed, speaking slowly, ”I don’t even know where to begin.”

He glanced at his wife with a pained expression, then sighed again. ”My lover... she used to have a bad temper, yes, but at least she was reasonable. But since the New Year, she’s become much more irritable. She throws tantrums at the slightest provocation and is extremely overbearing—her temper is completely unreasonable now.”

At that moment, the woman unexpectedly interrupted with a sneer, ”Go on, make it up. If you and your son behaved properly, would I lose my temper?”

The man ignored his wife’s interruption and continued his lament to Du Heng. ”For example, when our son is eating and accidentally drops a couple of grains of steak, she’ll fly into a rage. Berating the child is the least of it. Sometimes she’ll throw chopsticks and bowls, scaring him so much he doesn’t dare to eat.”

Du Heng looked thoughtfully in the woman’s direction, listening to the man’s account while observing her complexion.

Her complexion was dull, with visible liver spots and scattered acne.

”And when our child is doing homework, if his head isn’t raised to the exact height she demands, she can still berate him for an hour. Sometimes, after lecturing so much, she herself starts crying.”

The man’s face was etched with worry, and his expression grew heavier the more he spoke.

”As for what happens to me... it’s indescribable. By her current standards, my very breathing is a mistake—I’m polluting the air.”

The man sighed deeply. ”Let’s not even talk about how she is with others. Take herself, for instance. She has a terrible temper, and on top of that, she’s incredibly melodramatic. At night, when it’s time to sleep, she complains of chest tightness and says she can’t catch her breath. She doesn’t sleep either, just tosses and turns until three or four in the morning, as if she’s not sleepy at all. I’ve taken her to the Hospital several times, and she’s had numerous check-ups, but they always say nothing’s wrong. Not a single problem.

Today, my mother-in-law recommended you, Doctor Du. She said you’re skilled in traditional Chinese medicine, so we came. Doctor, do you think this is early-onset menopause, or is there genuinely something wrong with her mind?”

The moment the man finished speaking, the woman glared at him and retorted, ”You’re the one in early menopause! Your mother has been in menopause for years, and I’ve never seen her make such a fuss!”

”You...”

”Stop arguing. Let’s all speak calmly.” Du Heng frowned, then asked after a moment of thought, ”So, to summarize based on what you’ve said: your lover is now prone to angry outbursts, is emotionally unstable, and also suffers from chest tightness and insomnia. Is that correct?”

The man nodded vigorously. ”Yes, yes, exactly! Her moods change in an instant. One second she’s laughing and talking with you, and the next, who knows what sets her off, but she immediately snaps—either flying into a rage and cursing or smashing things.”

”This irritability and instability—has it been continuous since after the New Year, or does it only appear periodically?”

”Her condition... it’s like that, what do you call it, intermittent mental illness. For a period, she’s fine, and then it’s like she becomes a completely different person.” The man glanced furtively at his wife, then continued, ”I’m not afraid of her knowing this now. I consulted a doctor at the Municipal Third Hospital. They said it might be this intermittent bipolar disorder and advised me to bring her in for a detailed examination. But I was afraid it would affect her, so I never told her.”

”Oh, wonderful! So you really were planning to have me committed to a mental hospital, weren’t you?” The woman shot up from her seat. ”And you still dare to say you haven’t found another woman?”

Du Heng now had a thorough understanding of the woman’s suspicious nature and irritability.

”Sit down, please. From what your husband says, it’s clear he’s also concerned for your well-being. Don’t jump to conclusions. If you keep letting your imagination run wild and overthinking things like this, you could very well make yourself sick with anger.”

After Du Heng finished speaking, the woman snorted. Giving him some face, she sat back down.