Dr. Xu: A Chinese Medicine Novel

There were still people to say goodbye to.

Dr. Qian was gone.

Evan and Oliver felt his absence for a long time. After their master’s funeral, they returned to Beijing.

The hospital was planning to appoint a deputy head of gynecology. It would choose between Evan and Oliver.

Evan went to the hospital leadership and volunteered to withdraw. Not long after that conversation, Oliver got the post.

Evan carried on as before: treating patients at work, reading when he went home. His days were simple and monotonous, and he enjoyed them.

But Grace was still waiting for him.

A few months after Oliver became deputy head, Evan finished seeing a pregnant patient with itching all over her body and gave a quiet sigh.

His second period of mentorship had come to an end.

Ding… Your second period of clinical mentorship is complete. Mentorship in women’s disorders has ended. The inheritor will now return to the real world.

Evan saw the patient out. He looked forlorn. “Can I have a little time to say goodbye?” he asked the system.

Ding… Five minutes for farewells!

He tidied his desk, took off his white coat, and put on a suit. Closing the door behind him, he went upstairs to another consulting room.

It was Dr. Grace Xu’s.

Evan stood in the doorway while she saw a patient.

He sighed softly. He had arrived in 1978. Now it was 1986. More than eight full years. She had waited eight years for him.

He hadn’t truly returned to the past. He was like a bird flying over a lake: only his reflection lay on the water. He had never been in it.

Once he flew past, no one would remember he had existed. The system had said as much. He couldn’t change history. All he could take away was experience and medical skill.

The system also strictly controlled everything he said and did in the mentorship world. He wasn’t allowed to do anything else. He was only a reflection on the lake.

Evan didn’t know why Dr. Grace Xu had remained unmarried for eight years in the actual past… Here, though, she had spent the best years of her youth waiting for him.

He was ashamed.

He shook his head helplessly. Why did anyone have to be so stubborn?

Grace was treating her patient when she noticed him in the doorway. She looked up, startled.

Ignoring the patient, Evan strode into the room and put his arms around her. She stared in utter astonishment.

She went rigid.

“I’m sorry…” he said softly into her ear. Grace still hadn’t caught up with what was happening.

The patient was dumbfounded too. Were doctors this uninhibited these days?

Evan smiled at Grace, then turned and left.

Her heart suddenly clenched, as though she were about to lose something forever. She rushed out through the door and cried, “Evan…”

Evan went to Oliver’s consulting room. He, too, was seeing a patient.

“Oliver Liu!” Evan called from the doorway.

Oliver was taking a pulse. He looked up in surprise, saw Evan, and asked, puzzled, “What’s wrong?”

Evan smiled. “Come outside a moment.”

“Huh? What is it? I’ve got a patient.”

“Come outside a moment.”

Oliver frowned. “Comrade, please wait a moment,” he told the patient.[1]

He got up, came into the corridor, and asked, “What’s going on? What is it?”

Evan smiled at him. “Nothing. I just want to kick you.”

“Huh?” Oliver was completely lost. “What are you talking about?”

“Kick you,” Evan repeated.

Oliver was bewildered. “What do you mean?”

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“I just told you. Give you a kick. I won’t have another chance to kick Professor Liu. I’m not worried about offending you. You won’t remember me anyway.”

Oliver’s face screwed up. “What? What are you talking about? What professor? What do you mean, I won’t remember? I don’t understand a word!”

“You don’t need to. Take this!”

Evan launched himself into the air and kicked Oliver in the backside.

“Ow!” Oliver clutched his backside and yelled. Evan was well into his thirties—Oliver hadn’t expected him to behave so ridiculously!

“What are you doing?” he shouted.

Evan stepped forward and caught him in a bear hug, pounding his back. His eyes were red. “I’m glad I met you, Oliver Liu!”

“Evan…” Oliver murmured. Before he could say anything more, the space in front of him was suddenly empty.

He looked around. There was no one in the corridor.

Footsteps pounded down the stairs. Grace came rushing down from the floor above.

She and Oliver looked at each other, both utterly confused.

Daylight.

He opened his eyes.

Evan let out a long sigh. He had slept for just one night in the real world, but he had spent more than eight years in that other time.

He sat propped up in bed for a long, long time, gathering himself.

Suddenly, he felt tired.

Here, no one knew he was Dr. Qian’s disciple. The celebrated Professor Liu wouldn’t remember having a good friend like him. And Dr. Grace Xu…

“Wait. Don’t tell me she still hasn’t married?”

He gave a bitter smile, got up, and took a cold shower. His head was a little clearer when he came out.

He checked his stats.

Chinese Medicine Inheritance System

Inheritor: Evan Xu

Age: 28

Medical skill assessment:

Overall: Accomplished Physician

Acupuncture: Healer Serving the People

Women’s disorders: Healer Serving the People

Medical ethics: Excellent

Evan smiled in satisfaction. His overall skill now matched a city-level expert, while his treatment of women’s disorders and his acupuncture were at provincial-expert level.[2]

Professor Liu, however, was now a gynecologist of the highest national standing. On reflection, that was hardly surprising. Evan had returned in 1986. Professor Liu had gone on to gain more than thirty years of clinical experience beyond him.

A vast gulf lay between a provincial expert and a nationally eminent physician. Countless people never crossed it.

Evan wasn’t certain he could cross it either, or how long it might take.

Then he thought about it and smiled. He had spent eight years in that world. Here, he had only slept through a single night.

A week ago, he had been an apprentice who knew next to nothing and could prescribe only Siwu Tang. Now he was a skilled clinician at the level of a provincial expert.[3]

Third mentorship module loading. Buffer time… ten years…

Evan didn’t even have the energy to complain. What the hell was wrong with this lousy system?

He shook his head and left it alone. He had an inexplicable faith in Clara’s abilities. She had knocked five years off in one night and thrown in a session in the acupuncture training room. Who could beat that record?

He would concentrate on treating patients. Clara could handle the dirty work of dealing with the system!

Evan composed himself and gathered his things. Looking at his young face in the mirror, he patted his chest with both hands to rouse himself, then left for work.

Mingxin Clinic.

“Morning, Clara.” Evan smiled at her.

She stared for a moment. He used to smile so rarely. Why was he smiling more and more now?

“Morning…” she answered automatically.

Evan nodded, sat down in his usual place, and took out a medical book. He read slowly, completely at ease, a faint smile still on his lips.

Clara cast several puzzled looks at him. How had he changed again in the space of one night? She couldn’t say exactly what was different.

There was just something about him… every little movement… He seemed to have an unmistakable air of authority…

She tilted her head, baffled.

Ben hadn’t shown up that morning. He was late!

Two women came in for gynecological treatment. Evan now had the skills of a provincial expert; cases this straightforward were effortless for him.

The patients were pleased.

Clara was even more pleased as she counted the money.

By ten or so, Ben still hadn’t arrived. A middle-aged woman came in instead.

She looked at the Mingxin Clinic sign, then came inside. She asked no questions, just kept inspecting the furnishings.

“Can I help you?” Clara asked.

“Oh, I’ve come to see Dr. Evan Xu.”

Evan looked up at her.

Only then did the woman look at him. At the sight of his face, she, too, seemed a little taken aback.

“Comrade, please sit.” Evan indicated the stool. He hadn’t quite readjusted his way of addressing people yet.

“All right.” The woman nodded.

“Mom!” came a shriek from the doorway.

Clara turned toward the sound and nearly blacked out. They were done for. It was Little Octopus!

Shit. The mother-in-law had come calling!

Reader Notes

↩︎ Comrade. Tongzhi is the period form of respectful address retained in these historical scenes. It can be used for a woman as well as a man; a doctor saying it to a patient need not be identifying a fellow party member. Here it is part of the workplace language Evan has lived with for years. The word’s broader political history should be distinguished from its ordinary use between people in the story. Source: Laishan District Government — Social forms of address (in Chinese).↩︎ The system’s skill levels. These are fictional assessments of ability, distinct from a license, an official honor, or a hospital appointment. The city, provincial, and national comparisons describe the story’s scale of expertise. Xinglin, the “apricot grove,” is an old name for the medical profession; xuanhu jishi praises a physician’s service through healing. “Accomplished Physician” and “Healer Serving the People” retain the translations introduced earlier. Oliver’s appointment as deputy head is a separate administrative post, rather than a level awarded by the system. Sources: Henan University of Chinese Medicine — The apricot-grove allusion (in Chinese); the university’s account of xuanhu jishi (in Chinese).↩︎ Siwu Tang. Also called Four Substances Decoction, this is the traditional formula associated with Evan’s limited prescribing ability at the beginning of the story. Hong Kong Baptist University’s formula database classifies it as a tonic formula and describes its traditional purpose as supplementing and regulating Blood. These are Chinese medical categories. Here, the familiar name measures how far Evan has come; it is not a new prescription for either of this morning’s patients. Source: Hong Kong Baptist University — Si Wu Tang, F00073.