This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Du Heng cut to the chase and asked the young man directly, ”So, you’ve decided to seek treatment from me now?”

The young man looked at Du Heng earnestly and nodded. ”I’ve made up my mind. I’m entrusting myself to you, Director Du.”

”Alright then. Extend your hand; let me check your pulse first.” Du Heng tidied his desk before performing the pulse diagnosis.

Ten days ago, he hadn’t detected any sign of the issue from the young man’s pulse; it was only through a special method that he had identified the cause of the illness.

But today, a mere ten days later, the young man’s pulse had indeed changed.

It was this very change that weighed heavily on Du Heng’s heart.

Although this pulse diagnosis was conducted with prior knowledge of the outcome, making it a targeted examination, the young man must have endured considerable hardship over the past ten days. Thus, a change in his pulse was to be expected.

However, the fact that the pulse had begun to reflect his condition also indicated that the young man’s illness had started progressing within these ten days.

Unfortunately, this progression was not for the better.

Du Heng maintained a calm expression, betraying nothing, and asked the young man, ”Do you have the latest check-up results?”

The young man’s sister nodded. ”Yes, we just received them yesterday. We rushed back to the Capital overnight.”

As she spoke, she produced the films.

Du Heng accepted them and examined them carefully. ”What did the doctor who ordered the check-up say?”

”He said it’s gotten a bit bigger.”

Gotten bigger?

It must have enlarged and worsened. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to detect anything from the pulse alone.

Du Heng then requested the earliest films and spent a considerable time meticulously comparing the two sets.

Although the two sets of films looked largely identical, he could still confirm that a change had indeed occurred.

Du Heng felt a deep sigh rising but managed to suppress it halfway. ”How are you feeling now?”

The young man shifted uncomfortably. ”Everything else is mostly alright. It’s just like when I first came to see you—I wake up with numb hands and chest tightness.

”However, for the past couple of days—and I don’t know if it’s psychological or real—I’ve been experiencing occasional bouts of numbness. It starts from my heel and shoots upwards. Each time, it’s very brief, gone before I can even fully register it.”

Du Heng made no comment, simply asking, ”Anything else?”

”Yes. My cervical vertebra has been bothering me these past few days. It gets sore after a while, and my head feels stuffy. Sometimes, if I walk too much, I also get dizzy.”

The young man’s expression was a mixture of confusion and fear. ”This has been happening frequently these past few days. Whenever I feel unwell, I either lie down in bed for a bit or lean against a wall or the back of a chair and try to relax completely. After two or three minutes of doing that, the sensation vanishes.”

Du Heng nodded slightly. ”Alright. Leave the films with me; I’ll need them. Shall I arrange for your hospitalization now, or do you need more time to consider?”

The young man and his sister exchanged a look, then promptly said to Du Heng, ”Hospitalization. Let’s proceed with it now.”

Du Heng agreed and rose to escort them to the nurse station.

Unlike doctors, the nurses at the nurse station didn’t have the problem of slipping away.

The station was manned twenty-four hours a day.

Therefore, within the entire medical system, nurses were often the most overworked.

And truth be told, some veteran nurses possessed skills comparable to those of seasoned resident chief physicians.

Setting other skills aside, their proficiency in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and clinical emergency care alone could put most doctors to shame.

Although it was noon, two nurses were still present at the nurse station.

Just as Du Heng finished his explanations and was about to leave, a nurse suddenly called out, ”Deputy Director Du, if this patient still requires a single room, you’ll need to borrow a bed from Director Yang again.”

Du Heng chuckled. ”That’s for you all to decide. I’ll go along with whatever you arrange.”

The nurse handling the hospitalization procedures gave Du Heng a helpless look, then glanced at her junior colleague. She was quite irritated by Du Heng’s irresponsible remark.

But what could she do about her anger?

Although the corridor housed two departments, there was only one nurse station serving them. All the sickbeds in this corridor fell under the management of the nurses on this floor. It wasn’t as if their duties were divided when the doctors’ departments were specialized.

Consequently, even though the hospital rooms had been allocated to Director Yang’s new department, he wasn’t admitting many inpatients. This meant many sickbeds were, by necessity, still being used by Du Heng’s department.

However, this arrangement was rather inconvenient, which was why the nurses were reluctant.

Du Heng, however, paid no mind to this. His responsibility was to admit and treat patients. As for bed availability, where patients would stay, or who would share with whom—those were matters for the head nurse and Director Wu to worry about.

「Back in his office」

Cao Binghe returned, also carrying a lunch box. While setting it down for Du Heng, he asked in a low voice, ”That person just now, was that the glioma patient from before?”

Du Heng nodded slightly.

Cao Binghe gave a slight sneer. ”What’s the deal? Did he wander around, find no other options, and then come crawling back to you? You should have made him wait. Otherwise, they’ll think we’re desperate or that they can take advantage of us.”

”Don’t say that,” Du Heng replied. ”When people are ill, it’s natural for them to be anxious, to want to consult more doctors, and to seek out the best possible treatment. That’s just human nature.”

”That may be true,” Cao Binghe said, ”but the way they just up and left without so much as a word before—that’s what irks me.”

Du Heng was also irked, but much like the nurse earlier, what could he do about it? Refuse to treat him? Turn him away? If I genuinely couldn’t treat him, then doing so would be understandable; it would simply mean my skills and abilities were insufficient. But now, I do have some ideas. Over the past several days, I’d actually formulated a rough treatment plan. It was only because the patient wasn’t here, and then Classmate Gu’s situation came up, that this matter was delayed, preventing me from developing it further.

Du Heng pursed his lips, then said to Cao Binghe, ”Go see if Director Wu is in. If he is, please ask him to come over. You come too. We need to discuss this.”

Cao Binghe showed no resistance to Du Heng’s request; in fact, he seemed quite willing. Du Heng, meanwhile, didn’t remain idle. He picked up the check-up reports and films the patient had left and began to review them again.

A short while later, Director Wu, who had just finished lunch and was about to take his midday nap, walked into Du Heng’s office with Cao Binghe.

”...So, that covers the patient’s previous condition. Now, let me describe his current state.” Once they were all seated, Du Heng began to present the patient’s case.

He took out the notes he had just prepared. ”During the recent diagnosis, the patient’s six pulses were deep, slow, fine, and choppy. His tongue is pale and swollen with teeth marks—this was not present ten days ago.

”Based on my observations, the patient’s complexion is a lusterless, pasty white, and his spirits are low. I also noticed that he twisted his torso while sitting and instinctively put a hand to his waist when standing up to walk. I suspect he might be experiencing some waist soreness and fatigue, but it’s likely not severe enough for him to have paid much attention to it.

”He also reported experiencing dizziness and a persistent electric shock-like sensation in his heels.

”His Western medicine diagnosis is ’spinal cord neuroglioma,’ and the traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis is ’Cold Injury to the Governor Vessel, with dysfunction of True Yang.’”

Cao Binghe listened quietly, not rushing to offer an opinion. Director Wu, however, after gently tapping his fingers on his knee a few times, directly asked Du Heng, ”Twenty-five years old, male, very young. And now he has an accumulation of damp phlegm and dead blood... Has he suffered a previous injury, or undergone surgery at some point?”

Du Heng’s eyes immediately sharpened. Ginger is indeed spicier when it’s old.

Director Wu might be a bit slow in his diagnoses and unable to perform certain treatments, but his wealth of experience was unparalleled by anyone else in the department.