This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Even in the later stages, he personally got involved, helping Du Heng adjust the arrangements and management of the two project groups.

A week later, when Ding Yuxue and her mother were about to be discharged from the hospital, Du Heng was somewhat reluctant to see Ding Zhankui go.

But Ding Zhankui was also a guru-level figure; his willingness to spend several days at the hospital talking with Du Heng was entirely due to Ding Yuxue and her son.

Now that his daughter and grandson were about to leave the hospital, he needed to hurry back to his own work.

Director Wu looked at Du Heng with a smile on his face. ”What, a bit reluctant to let him go?”

”Yes, somewhat. When a guru speaks, their explanations are always thorough. Their brief remarks can solve problems that would otherwise leave me puzzled for a long time.” As he watched Ding Yuxue’s family board the elevator and leave, Du Heng softly sighed.

But hearing Du Heng’s words, the smile on Director Wu’s face dimmed. With a sigh, he said, ”Well, it’s just that our Teacher is unwell. Otherwise, with our Teacher here, things would be much easier for you. However, if you have any questions, you can still go and ask our Teacher.”

Speaking of Lan Changhua, Du Heng also sighed. ”Although Professor Lan has recovered from his illness, his vitality still seems a bit low.

So, sometimes I don’t dare to discuss bothersome matters with Professor Lan, fearing it might make him worry and deplete his mental and spiritual energy, which would be detrimental to his recovery.”

With that said, Du Heng released a long breath. ”But I’m not in a rush. I’m still young; I can wait. As long as Professor Lan can recover and his health improves, there will be plenty of opportunities to learn from him in the future.”

Hearing Du Heng’s optimistic view on Lan Changhua’s future, Director Wu didn’t feel reassured. Instead, he frowned and asked quietly, ”Xiao Du, tell me the truth, how is the Teacher’s health, really?

We’re all on the inside here; don’t lie to me.”

In terms of their relationship, they could indeed be considered on the inside. Consulting Lan Changhua would certainly be much better than asking Ding Zhankui.

But when Director Wu finished his question, Du Heng became hesitant.

It wasn’t that he didn’t consider Director Wu as one of his own; he just didn’t know how to answer.

However, his hesitation made Director Wu’s heart sink. After a brief pause, he said quietly, ”It’s okay, just tell me. How much time does our Teacher have left?

There’s an old saying: ’It’s rare for people to live past seventy.’ Although our Teacher is just seventy, I am already prepared for the worst.

Rest assured, I won’t tell anyone else.”

Hearing Director Wu’s misunderstanding, Du Heng quickly shook his head to explain, ”Director Wu, you misunderstood. That’s not what I meant.”

Director Wu immediately relaxed, feeling much better, but he still asked doubtfully, ”So, what do you mean?”

Stroking his chin, Du Heng paused for a moment before saying, ”Professor Lan is getting older. The degeneration of his viscera is an irreversible condition. His last bout of dysentery, compounded by the intestinal torsion, undoubtedly accelerated this process and depleted his original qi by seventy to eighty percent.

Normally, with reasonable restorative treatment, we could completely restore Professor Lan’s vitality.

But the current problem is that every time I’ve seen Professor Lan recently, I’ve found him to be depressed, with his liver qi obstructed. This has become the biggest obstacle to the recovery of his original qi.”

Once Du Heng finished his explanation, Director Wu finally felt completely relieved, though he was also rather dismayed by what Du Heng said.

”Who could disagree? Every time I see our Teacher looking so dejected, I feel terrible,” Director Wu lamented, speaking of his respected instructor. ”The old man started working when he was sixteen and has been at it for over fifty years now.

From the time I’ve known him, he’s always been bustling about, never had a moment’s peace.

For him to suddenly retire, go home to hold his great-grandson, and enjoy a leisurely life—he surely can’t adjust to that.

For someone like him who has been busy his whole life, a life of doting on grandchildren is not something he can accept.”

Du Heng sighed, a note of helplessness in his voice, ”That’s the contradiction.

After working for over fifty years, to suddenly be told you can’t work anymore—it makes a person feel useless and inevitably unhappy.

If this continues, the depression will only deepen. It starts with discomfort in the liver, then escalates to affect all the viscera.

But the issue is that his vitality isn’t strong enough for him to continue in the medical industry. Every time he treats a patient or lectures students, it’s a dual challenge to his physical and mental stamina.

Given his current physical condition, he would probably have to go straight back to his sickbed after a single class or a morning at the outpatient service.

Yet, if he doesn’t work, he’ll suffer from liver depression and qi stagnation. This will not only prevent his vitality from recovering but could also deplete it further.

This has directly resulted in a deadlock.”

Director Wu also fell silent. After thinking for a while, he said, ”We both need to think of a solution. Things definitely can’t go on like this.”

”Yes,” Du Heng agreed. ”Things definitely can’t go on like this.”

Director Wu and Du Heng slowly walked towards the office. After taking a few steps, Director Wu suddenly slapped his forehead as if recalling something. ”You remember Director Niu from the Nephrology Department, don’t you?” he asked.

Du Heng nodded slightly. ”Of course. He mentioned wanting to invite me to the Nephrology Department to consult on some cases.”

Du Heng chuckled and casually asked Director Wu, ”So, he didn’t actually contact you, did he?”

Director Wu also laughed. ”You guessed correctly. He did call me this morning.

But at that time, I saw you were busy talking with Academician Ding, so I didn’t mention it to you.

Now that Academician Ding and his family have left, you should go over and take a look.”

This came as a slight surprise to Du Heng; he hadn’t expected Director Niu to actually seek him out. He had thought Director Niu was just joking.

”Alright, should I go take a look now?” Du Heng asked.

”Go ahead. I need to get back to the outpatient service too,” Director Wu replied.

After they parted, Du Heng leisurely headed over to the Nephrology Department.

The atmosphere in the Nephrology Department was somewhat different from other departments.

Most patients in the Nephrology Department, except for those with particularly severe or unusual conditions, would have been difficult to identify as patients if they weren’t wearing hospital gowns.

As Du Heng casually strolled towards Director Niu’s office, he noticed that many patients in the Nephrology Department were quite young. Surprisingly, young men and women accounted for nearly half of the patients he observed.

Young people these days really don’t cherish their health,

Du Heng clicked his tongue and slowly walked into Director Niu’s office. ”Director Niu, I’m here.”

Director Niu was in his office and joyfully welcomed Du Heng with a handshake and warm pleasantries. After they both sat down and chatted idly for a while, Director Niu gradually steered the conversation to the main topic.

”Deputy Director Du, please don’t misunderstand. We have quite a number of cases here, and things are always busy. I’ve spent a whole week but still haven’t found many suitable ones.

”I couldn’t just present a few ordinary disease records to you, Deputy Director Du; that would be disrespectful, so it took a bit more time.

”I was actually struggling to find a noteworthy case when, last night, one of my long-term patients suddenly sought me out again.

”When I saw this one, I knew it was suitable! So, the very first thing I did when I got to work this morning was call Director Wu.”

Du Heng smiled. ”Thank you for your trust, Director Niu.

”But I must say upfront, if I can’t find a solution, you mustn’t laugh at me.”

Director Niu chuckled and handed the folder to Du Heng. ”Deputy Director Du, you’re being too modest.

”You managed to resolve an acute kidney injury with just one or two prescriptions. Could other kidney diseases possibly be a challenge for you?

”If you can’t treat it, it must mean you have some issue with me, Deputy Director Du, or that I’ve done something to offend you!”

”Director Niu, you’re exaggerating! If a great expert like yourself can’t easily manage it, I can only try my luck,” Du Heng said humbly, flipping open the blue folder as he spoke.

The disease record read: Female, 29 years old, suffering from chronic pyelonephritis for three years. Current admission due to acute infection.