This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Just as Du Heng was about to leave, Director Xue suddenly said, ”Mr. Du, please go and come back early. Professor Su’s condition...”

His words stopped halfway, but Du Heng understood the meaning. ”Alright, I’ll take my grandfather home to rest and then come right back.”

When he left the ICU, several people waiting outside immediately surrounded him. Su Yuan, with hopeful eyes, rushed to the front, ”President Du, how is my father?”

Du Heng gave a gentle smile. ”Don’t worry, Professor Su has already taken his medicine. He will wake up soon. I’ll first take my grandfather home and then come back.”

Su Yuan became excited and asked again, ”Really?”

Du Heng nodded with a smile, reassured Su Yuan to wait, and then said to Sir Wu, ”Sir, let’s go home first. The waiting time for Professor Su’s treatment is getting long. You’ve had a tiring day. Let’s go back and rest early, and then I’ll come back.”

Sir Wu trusted Du Heng very much and nodded with a satisfied smile. ”You don’t need to send me off. I can take a taxi home by myself. My mind is still clear, and I won’t get lost. The roads are full of cars; it wouldn’t be good if a traffic jam caused a delay.”

The old man hadn’t been to the Capital in many years; Du Heng wasn’t happy with the idea of letting him go back by himself.

However, the old man was adamant and refused any help, fearing it would delay Su Nan’s treatment.

At this time, the man beside Su Yuan spoke up, ”Mr. Du, can I take Sir Wu home?”

Su Yuan suddenly realized and said, ”That’s right, President Du, let Huang take Sir Wu home. Huang is my father’s student and has been working in the Capital for several years. He is familiar with the traffic conditions here.”

Sir Wu also agreed with Su Yuan’s suggestion. ”Xiaoyuan’s idea is good. You go ahead and take care of your business; don’t delay Professor Su’s treatment.”

This solution seemed suitable, so Du Heng explained his home address to Huang and let him take Sir Wu home.

After taking a few steps, Sir Wu turned back and said to Du Heng, ”I just saw the old sir who went in with you. He should be older than me, right?”

Du Heng nodded. ”Indeed, he is over ninety years old.”

Sir Wu looked surprised. ”Then you should let that old sir go back and rest too.”

”Don’t worry, he’s just chatting with us inside; it’s fine.”

Du Heng sent Sir Wu away with a smile and then went back to the ward, his mind at ease.

Time passed, minute by minute, from six o’clock in the afternoon until ten o’clock at night.

Four full hours had passed. Although Su Nan’s condition had not worsened, they saw no improvement either.

This made Director Xue and the other two somewhat anxious.

”Mr. Du, is this situation normal?” Director Xue asked, his voice laced with worry.

At this time, Du Heng’s face was full of smiles, without a trace of concern.

After hearing Director Xue’s question, he turned his head and smiled. ”Normal, very normal.”

”When will Professor Su wake up?”

”Soon, it should be soon,” Du Heng replied, his gaze remaining fixed on Su Nan.

”Soon?” Director Xue was exasperated.

During this time, he had lost count of how many times he had heard Du Heng say ”soon,” but each time, there were no results.

He couldn’t bear it any longer. He resolved to press Du Heng for a detailed and precise answer; this uncertainty was agonizing.

However, before he could say anything this time, Du Heng spoke first, ”Director Xue, find some paper or a towel.”

”What for?” Director Xue hesitated.

Du Heng quickly responded, ”To wipe sweat, wipe sweat for Professor Su.”

Du Heng’s voice trembled with excitement. ”He’s sweating, finally sweating!”

Sweating?!

Everyone present had heard Du Heng’s initial explanation and understood that his treatment plan centered around inducing sweat. Now that they heard Su Nan was sweating, they all hurried forward to take a closer look.

When they all saw Su Nan’s condition clearly, expressions of surprise appeared on their faces.

Director Xue and the others were surprised at the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine, while Sun Jiaxiang was surprised at Du Heng’s treatment approach.

Treating the root cause of a disease was the theoretical principle he had accepted and practiced since he began learning traditional Chinese medicine, something he had always been proud of. But he never expected that this theory would one day prove ineffective, and that this particular illness would require symptomatic treatment.

Regardless of their thoughts, after Du Heng got a pack of tissues, he began to constantly wipe the sweat from Su Nan’s forehead, temples, the back of his head, and neck, trying to keep his head dry.

By eleven o’clock at night, after Su Nan had taken the second dose of medicine, his breathing finally became smooth. After a short period of consciousness, he fell asleep again.

This time, Director Xue also heaved a sigh of relief.

After all, he could still distinguish between unconsciousness and sleep.

”Director Xue, after Professor Su wakes up, he won’t need to take the medicine I prescribed anymore. You can treat him using your methods.”

”Thank you, Mr. Du. Your prescription is amazing! You said he would wake up after two doses, and he really did,” Director Xue said, his face full of admiration as he couldn’t help but praise Du Heng.

Du Heng smiled humbly. ”As long as Professor Su can be cured, that’s all that matters.”

Saying this, he raised his hand to check the time and then said his goodbyes.

Seeing that it was already late, Director Xue did not try to keep him. Instead, he exchanged contact information with Du Heng, saying they should get together sometime in the future.

Director Han Zhenghe did the same.

Then, Du Heng and Sun Jiaxiang left the ward together. After a brief chat with Su Yuan, they bid farewell and departed.

”Sir Sun, where do you live? Let me drive you home,” Du Heng said softly to Sun Jiaxiang beside him.

Sun Jiaxiang smiled and shook his head, pointing to the young man who had followed them. ”Thank you for the kind offer, Mr. Du, but Xiao Zheng is here. He can take me home.”

Du Heng looked back and saw that the Xiao Zheng Sun Jiaxiang referred to was the young man who had been standing behind Su Yuan earlier.

Seeing this, Du Heng didn’t insist and was about to say goodbye and head home.

But at this moment, Sun Jiaxiang stopped him and asked a question, ”Xiao Du, what are your thoughts on the fact that people age and eventually die?”

What did he mean by that?

Du Heng was dumbfounded.

He was only thirty years old; how could he possibly ponder such a question? However, on second thought, Sun Jiaxiang’s question might not be about aging and death in a philosophical sense, but rather in a physiological one.

Yet, the physiological process of aging and death has already been explained by both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine attributes it to a deficiency of original qi, which can be further broken down into an imbalance of Yin and Yang, weakness of the viscera, and exhaustion of essence and qi. In Western medicine, the simple explanation is that cells reach a stage where they no longer divide, yet they continue to age and die. Without new cells to replenish them, the human body’s organs consequently age and deteriorate until they lose all function.

Therefore, in hospitals, there’s no such thing as ”death by natural causes.” Even if an elderly person passes away without any conventional diseases, the cause of death listed by the hospital will invariably be ”death due to failure of a certain organ.” Thinking this, Du Heng felt even more confused; he still couldn’t grasp what Sun Jiaxiang was asking.

Could it be that this old man was already worried about his own impending death due to age?

Seeing that Du Heng remained silent, Sun Jiaxiang posed another, more direct question, ”Mr. Du, if a ninety-year-old man has no other underlying health conditions but is experiencing organ failure, do you have any way to help?”

This question made Du Heng’s heart skip a beat.

A ninety-year-old man... was Sun Jiaxiang really talking about himself?

Suddenly, Du Heng’s gaze towards Sun Jiaxiang sharpened.