This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Director Wu, who had been struggling to think, suddenly slapped his thigh hard after hearing Lan Changhua’s question. How did I not think of that! He immediately became troubled.

On the other hand, Cao Binghe was now in Director Wu’s previous situation, looking utterly perplexed. Is this house not good? he wondered. Is there still room for improvement? Based on what Du Heng just said, this house must already contain more than ten types of Medicine Ingredients, right? If even more are added, can the medicinal properties still be controlled?

However, Du Heng’s heart stirred. Lan Changhua is still Lan Changhua, he thought. Such keen insight and experience—truly extraordinary.

Du Heng squinted, wrinkled his nose, and pursed his lips tightly, as if racking his brains. After a good while, he looked up and asked Lan Changhua, ”Professor Lan, do you have any good suggestions?”

Lan Changhua was also pondering. When Du Heng asked, he hesitated before saying, ”What about adding some ephedra? Do you think it would work? Ephedra enters the lung meridian and the bladder meridian; it can induce sweating, warm the channels, and dispel cold. Moreover, its dispersing properties are excellent. I think adding it could better bring out the medicinal effects of raw astragalus, kudzu root, and other medicines.”

Du Heng once again silently admired Lan Changhua. Professor Lan really is something else, he thought, then continued along Lan Changhua’s line of reasoning, ”Professor Lan, your idea is great and has given me a wake-up call. Since ephedra has strong dispersing properties and can itself warm and dispel cold, why don’t I just add the Ephedra, Aconite, and Asarum Decoction?”

Lan Changhua felt a jolt of surprise. ”The Ephedra, Aconite, and Asarum Decoction?”

”Yes, add the entire house.” Du Heng, feigning a sudden realization, said excitedly, ”We’ll use ephedra’s properties—warming, cold-dispelling, and strongly dispersing—to help the other medicines fully exert their effects. Moreover, aconite also warms the meridians, assists yang, and consolidates yang qi, which is very suitable for Patients with such deep-rooted cold evil. And asarum can assist ephedra in maximizing its medicinal effects, while also supporting aconite’s action to reinforce the warming of meridians and dispelling of cold. This way, we can disperse the exogenous cold evil from the exterior and, at the same time, protect the body’s true yang, thereby alleviating the symptoms of the cold syndrome.”

After laying it all out, Du Heng clapped his hands lightly. ”Using medication according to this house will dispel cold and eliminate pathogenic factors while also protecting yang qi. This is a true combination of attack and reinforcement!”

He immediately gave Lan Changhua a thumbs-up. ”Professor Lan, you are so experienced. If we hadn’t invited you here today, we would have had to muddle through, correcting as we went during the Treatment process.”

Director Wu also chimed in with flattery for Lan Changhua, ”Teacher, it seems our Department still can’t do without you! Your experience can help us avoid so many detours.”

Lan Changhua laughed heartily. Although I know Du Heng and Director Wu are just flattering me, he thought, the gloom that’s been weighing on my heart these past few days is genuinely lifting with this laughter.

However, once the laughter subsided, Lan Changhua asked Du Heng directly, ”In that case, your house will contain quite a few medicines. What about the medicines for softening masses, resolving phlegm, and dispersing nodules? And it’s the same question I asked earlier: how can you ensure that the properties of so many medicines won’t change during the decoction of medicine?”

Du Heng stroked his chin. ”Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll divide this house into two parts. One part will be the attacking and reinforcing medicines like raw astragalus, kudzu root, and the Ephedra, Aconite, and Asarum Decoction, along with other medicines that don’t interact negatively. Then, I’ll use centipede tail, giant centipede, fritillaria, ground beetle, and blast-fried pangolin scales to make a powder, to be taken together with the Decoction medicine.”

Lan Changhua frowned. ”Will that work?”

Du Heng guaranteed with conviction, ”It will definitely work. Last year, when I left our Hospital, I used this method for Liu Amei, who had severe ovarian cancer. I made the medicines for softening masses and resolving phlegm into a powder. Although their medicinal effects are released more slowly this way, it won’t harm the Patient’s body.”

Lan Changhua nodded. ”Alright. Since you have experience with this, let’s use this method.”

After that, Lan Changhua Took a Look at Director Wu and Cao Binghe. ”Do you two have anything else to add?”

Director Wu immediately shook his head. He had said before that he wasn’t skilled in treating tumors. It’s not that my syndrome differentiation is poor, Director Wu thought, but rather that I’m not skilled with medication. And the greatest difficulty in treating tumors lies precisely there. If the dosage is too light, it won’t affect the condition. If it’s too heavy, the Patient’s body can’t withstand it. Forget curing the illness, it might even hasten their end. The combination of Medicine Ingredients is also an extremely delicate matter. My cautious nature restricts me; I don’t dare to prescribe medicine freely. Take Du Heng’s current prescription, for example: raw astragalus is prescribed at a dose of a full half-jin, and he’s added ephedra and aconite—their dosages probably aren’t light either. Would I dare to prescribe medicine like that? Would I dare to combine these few ingredients? I wouldn’t even think of it, let alone actually combine them.

Cao Binghe, of course, had no objections. I still haven’t figured out which of the so-called mass-softening medicines would react with the other Medicine Ingredients anyway, he thought.

Seeing their reactions, Lan Changhua didn’t press further. He just looked at Du Heng and said softly, ”Let’s proceed with your line of thinking for now. We’ll observe the Patient’s specific reaction later and make adjustments accordingly.”

Du Heng nodded in agreement and began working on his computer.

Meanwhile, Lan Changhua and Director Wu began to chat leisurely.