This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

”As for your Classmate, even though she wears thick cosmetics on her face, you can still see from her neck, the root of her nose, the base of her ears, her eyeballs, and other areas that her overall complexion is dull and slightly bluish-black.”

Du Heng paused briefly. ”And the bluish-black colors correspond exactly to the liver and kidney.”

Wu Shengnan was stunned for a moment, then scoffed disdainfully, ”That’s too arbitrary. Just based on that tiny bit of exposed skin, you’re saying she has... what was it... some liver and kidney issue, something about yin deficiency.”

”Liver and kidney dysfunction, yin deficiency and overstrain.” Du Heng shook his head, elaborating on Wu Shengnan’s unfinished thought, then continued, ”Of course, I wouldn’t be so quick to judge. There are definitely other diagnostic signs.”

Wu Shengnan looked skeptical. ”Alright, go on. Let’s see how you’re going to back that up.”

Du Heng paid no mind to Wu Shengnan’s attitude. ”First, have you ever observed your Classmate carefully?”

”She’s always hovering around me, so I’ve observed her a little. Why?”

”Her eyes are dull. Especially when you look directly into her pupils, you’ll notice a certain sluggishness, a hazy grayness. Moreover, her eyeballs have a faint yellow tinge. Have you noticed that?”

Wu Shengnan nodded. ”Now that you mention it, that does seem to be true. But what does that have to do with your diagnosis that she’s ill?”

Du Heng said softly, ”The liver and gallbladder are interdependent. If the liver is deficient, the gallbladder qi will inevitably be weak. The eyes are an external manifestation of the liver, so problems with the liver can be inferred from observing the eyes. Moreover, that faint yellow tinge on her eyeballs also indicates insufficient gallbladder qi, which again points back to the liver.”

”Is there more?”

Du Heng nodded. ”There’s definitely more.”

”Then tell me,” Wu Shengnan urged.

”Let me ask you another thing: have you noticed anything... discordant about her face?” Du Heng chuckled, posing another question.

Wu Shengnan furrowed her brows in thought, murmuring, ”Not really, I don’t think so... Although, if I had to say something, it’s that I’ve always felt she wears too much makeup, making her ears look a bit dark in comparison.”

Du Heng immediately gave Wu Shengnan a thumbs-up. ”A keen observation. However, it’s not that they look dark by contrast; the skin on her ears and earlobes is genuinely dark and lackluster.”

Wu Shengnan asked doubtfully, ”And that means something?”

”Of course, it does.” Du Heng nodded firmly. ”Yellow lips indicate spleen disease, and dark ears signify kidney disease. This means she has a kidney problem. However, judging by the principle of the Five Qi corresponding to the Five Parts, the color of her ears is relatively light, which indicates a deficiency syndrome.”

Wu Shengnan suddenly interjected, ”What are the Five Parts?”

”’Upright, deficient, excess, pernicious, and subtle. In traditional Chinese medicine, these are five...’”

Seeing Du Heng was about to launch into a lengthy discourse, Wu Shengnan quickly waved her hand. ”That’s not important right now. Just tell me more about my Classmate. What other evidence do you have to prove she’s sick? Lay it all out.”

”Alright, I’ll give you one last piece of evidence,” Du Heng said calmly. ”You just mentioned that your Classmate has a full figure, right?”

”Yes, she has an absolutely fantastic figure. Is there a problem with that too?” Wu Shengnan was once again doubtful.

Du Heng continued his line of thought. ”So, you’re saying your Classmate isn’t overweight, but she’s definitely not thin either, right?”

Wu Shengnan nodded again. ”Yeah, the main thing is, she has a great figure, but her face is so thin. I even suspect she’s had plastic surgery. Otherwise, who has a plump body but a gaunt face?”

Du Heng smiled in satisfaction. ”See? You also sense that something’s off, don’t you?”

”What’s off?” Wu Shengnan didn’t quite grasp Du Heng’s meaning.

”A person’s cheeks correspond to their waist and navel.” Du Heng smiled at Wu Shengnan. ”Now, your Classmate’s cheeks are gaunt and without flesh. Doesn’t that once again indicate a problem with her kidneys?”

Wu Shengnan held her chopsticks, pondering for a moment. She realized that all the points Du Heng mentioned were things one might notice in daily life—things that seemed slightly off or disharmonious—yet were easily overlooked.

”Go on, what else?” Wu Shengnan’s interest was piqued.

However, Du Heng shook his head, reluctant to say more. ”Let me give you one last point. A person’s voice can be distinguished by its pitch, length, clarity, and turbidity. Your Classmate’s voice is short, high-pitched, and clear, sounding soft yet sharp. In the five-tone scale, this is the ’yu’ tone, which corresponds to the kidney.”

Noticing Wu Shengnan’s bewildered expression, Du Heng stopped and sighed. ”Alright, let’s not get into the rest. The remaining details require complex syndrome differentiation, like the correspondence of the Five Colors with the Five Parts, the Five Colors with the Five Features, the generation and restriction cycles of the Five Colors, their congruity and incongruity, and so on. It all requires specialized knowledge, and you wouldn’t be interested.”

Hearing this, Wu Shengnan didn’t press him further but asked with a slightly odd expression, ”Husband, my Classmate is so young. How could she have this yin deficiency and overstrain you mentioned? If I understand that term correctly, it’s caused by overwork, right?”

Du Heng pursed his lips and picked up his chopsticks again, preparing to eat. ”You’re half right. And what you described is just one possible cause.”

As he spoke, Du Heng slowly began to eat. ”Yin deficiency is straightforward—it means the viscera are weak. As for ’overstrain,’ that term doesn’t just refer to damage from physical labor. For example, prolonged late nights, excessive drinking, or even doing both simultaneously, can severely deplete the liver. If there’s no timely recuperation afterward, over time, this also counts as a form of overstrain. And your Classmate is a typical Victim of such a lifestyle.”

Wu Shengnan nodded in understanding. ”So, what will happen if it’s left untreated?”

Du Heng paused his chopsticks, thinking for a moment. ”Your Classmate isn’t too old, so she’s still young and her body is resilient for now. Aside from being prone to anger and jealousy, she might just experience some stomach pain during her menstrual period. But in another year or two, things like stroke or even sudden death are possible.”

As he said this, Du Heng suddenly gave Wu Shengnan a strange, unsettling smile, which made her shiver.

”Why are you smiling like that?” Wu Shengnan asked, startled.

Du Heng leaned forward and whispered, ”If you find this person that annoying, if you don’t want to see her around, I have a way to make her... disappear quickly.”

Hearing this, Wu Shengnan immediately sat up straighter and asked nervously, ”Husband, what are you thinking? You can’t do anything foolish.”

Du Heng quickly waved his hand. ”Don’t let your imagination run wild. I’m not that capable. What I mean is, you could organize a few gatherings. Have everyone eat and drink, then go for some KTV.”

Wu Shengnan sighed in relief. ”So you want me to make a gesture of goodwill.” She then shook her head. ”That method definitely won’t work. Knowing this woman, if I invite her, she’ll definitely come, without a moment’s hesitation. But afterward, she’ll still be difficult, just like always. She might even use the fact that I treated her as another excuse to badmouth me.”

Unexpectedly, Du Heng shook his head. ”You misunderstood my intention. Do you remember that director Li Qin introduced us to?”

Wu Shengnan looked a bit dazed. ”I have a vague recollection. Why?”

A grin spread across Du Heng’s lips. ”That director, due to his excessive drinking, had an accumulation of Dregs Qi in his body, which affected his liver blood circulation. That’s why he was floored by a single glass of wine. Your Classmate’s condition is very similar, perhaps even a bit more severe than that director’s. You take her out drinking a couple of times, sing at KTV for a few nights... within a week, your Classmate’s liver blood will be depleted, and her kidney yin utterly exhausted. At that point, she’ll suffer from insomnia and dream-disturbed sleep, dizziness, tinnitus, weakness in her limbs, and amenorrhea. Living a normal life will become quite difficult for her. Then, if she catches even a slight cold, or gets particularly upset about something, she probably won’t be able to get out of bed at all. If you do this, the person you detest will vanish from your sight, and no one will find the slightest trace of foul play. Even if they were suspicious, they’d have no one to suspect. They’d just assume she suddenly fell ill. Perfect, isn’t it?”