Dr. Xu: A Chinese Medicine Novel

A family visit turns a quiet morning at Mingxin Clinic awkward.

It wasn’t that Evan was heartless. He had spent more than eight full years in that other time. How was he supposed to remember the face of an ordinary patient he’d seen eight years ago?

“Oh? What are you doing here?” Little Octopus’s mother asked first.

Little Octopus hurried in and caught her mother’s arm. “What are you doing? I was about to ask you that. Why are you here?” she demanded in a low, anxious voice.

Her mother smiled. “Me? I’ve come to have a look.”

Little Octopus was all awkwardness and embarrassment. She kept glancing at Evan, afraid he might get the wrong idea. But when she saw his calm, handsome face, she couldn’t help giving him a thumbs-up.

He knew this was his mother-in-law, and he wasn’t even nervous. People who’d been out in the working world really were different. Nothing rattled Dr. Xu!

Behind the counter, Clara sat staring at the ceiling. She didn’t dare look down.

Guilt!

That was all the mastermind behind this could feel right now. Guilt. Overwhelming guilt!

Little Octopus tried to pull her mother away. “What is there to look at? Come on, go home!”

Her mother wouldn’t budge. “What? Can’t I come to see a doctor?”

“Mom, please stop messing around. Let’s go!” Little Octopus begged.

“Who’s messing around? Am I not allowed to see a doctor? Dr. Evan Xu, am I allowed to come to you for treatment?”

“Of course. The registration fee is twenty yuan.” Evan pointed at the counter. “Pay over there.”[1]

Clara rolled her eyes and nearly fainted.

Mother and daughter stopped arguing. Both stared at Evan in astonishment.

Little Octopus was stunned. Nothing rattled Dr. Xu—and he had a hell of a nerve, too!

Her Majesty was just as surprised. “You want me to pay?” she asked, scarcely believing it.

Evan looked puzzled. After a moment’s thought, he said, “There’s no queue at the moment. You can pay everything together after the consultation if you like.”

Little Octopus’s mother studied him as though she were seeing the young man for the first time. She nodded, smiling without warmth. “Fine, fine. I’ll see you first, then.”

Little Octopus tried to protest again.

Her mother cut her off with a warning. “Now. Not another word.”

Little Octopus closed her mouth, looking aggrieved.

“Excuse me, is Dr. Evan Xu here?” came another voice from outside, before her mother had even sat down.

Everyone looked toward the door.

“Second Sis?” Little Octopus was dumbfounded.

“Oh! You’re here too?” The newcomer looked surprised.

Clara pinched the groove between her nose and upper lip, her big, pretty eyes rolling wildly.[2]

She was done for. Done for.

Should she make a run for it?

Was there still time to buy a plane ticket?

“Holly, what are you doing here too?” Little Octopus’s mother asked, taken aback herself.

The woman smiled. “Auntie, I’ve come to have a look at Em’s boyfriend…”[3]

“Ahem! Ahem!” Clara coughed desperately behind the counter. She was ready to cough her lungs out if it would drown out their voices!

Little Octopus went bright red. Then she stared at her mother in shock. “Mom!” she shrieked angrily.

Her mother looked guilty at once and wouldn’t meet her eyes. “My big sister can’t be trusted with anything,” she muttered.

“You told Eldest Aunt? If she knows, doesn’t that mean the whole world knows?” Little Octopus cried.

Her mother’s eyes darted everywhere.

“Hmph!” Little Octopus gave an angry snort.

“He’s pretty handsome!” Holly teased, giving Little Octopus a gentle nudge with her shoulder.

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Little Octopus blushed even more. She glared at her mother, then stole another glance at Evan. He had opened his medical book. Holy shit—he’d actually started reading quietly?

Holy shit. Nothing fucking rattled Dr. Xu!

Little Octopus had to hand it to him.

Meanwhile, Clara kept pulling out tissues to wipe the cold sweat off her forehead…

Little Octopus’s mother gave her an exasperated look and shook her head. Handsome he might be, but he didn’t have an established public-sector post. That was still a major problem.[4]

She didn’t know his educational background, either. Could he pass the recruitment exams and get into the public sector later? Suddenly she was worrying about that all over again.

Clara stood up, intending to talk them into leaving. She couldn’t let them stay here. Sooner or later, she would be finished. But before she could speak, two more people came in.

“Oh! Hello!” Clara stopped short in surprise.

The woman looked at her and smiled. “Hello, Clara.”

“What brings you here? Where’s Ben, by the way?”

She was Ben Song’s wife.

A middle-aged man stood beside her.

“Um… Ben has something to do today. I’ve come to ask for some time off for him,” his wife told Clara.

“Oh.” Clara nodded, puzzled. Why would Ben send his wife to ask for leave? Couldn’t he just send a message?

“Dr. Cao?” Holly looked at the middle-aged man in surprise.

“You know each other?” Clara asked, startled.

“Yes. This is Dr. Leo Cao from the county hospital of Chinese medicine,” Holly said with a smile.

Leo wore a short-sleeved jacket with a traditional look, cloth shoes, and round-framed glasses. He looked quite scholarly.

He studied Holly, trying to place her. “You’re… Oh… It’s you. I remember. Is the vomiting from your pregnancy any better?”[5]

“Much better… Urgh…” Before she could finish, she opened her mouth and retched again.

Leo jumped in fright. She had nearly thrown up on him.

He was bewildered. Were his words magic or something? He only had to mention it and she threw up!

Little Octopus and her mother hurried to support Holly.

Evan put down his medical book and hurried over to check on her too.

“Sis, are you all right?” Little Octopus asked.

Her aunt began scolding her. “I told you not to come out. You’re still ill. Why are you running around? Go home!”

Holly clutched her chest, looking miserable. “I’m not going home. My husband will drive me mad. I finally got out for a bit of a break… Urgh…”

Evan crouched beside her and made a quick check. He told the two women, “There’s a bathroom in here. Take her in there first.”

“All right.” Her aunt quickly took Holly into the bathroom.

The others exchanged looks, taken aback by the sudden turn of events.

Leo looked at the vomit on the floor. He frowned in distaste and moved a few steps away.

Clara came out from behind the counter, fetched a mop from behind the door, and cleaned up the little puddle of sour liquid.

“Did you need anything else today?” she asked Ben’s wife.

Ben’s wife glanced at Evan with a frown, then nodded to Clara. “Yes. Could we go into the other room to talk?”

“Hm?” Clara looked up from mopping, puzzled.

“Hey!” Ben hurried in from outside. His hair was disheveled, as though he’d left home without tidying himself up.

Clara was even more confused. Hadn’t he just asked for leave?

Ben caught his wife’s hand, looking agitated. “Why did you actually come?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” she demanded.

“Come outside.” Ben pulled her toward the door.

“What for?”

“Come outside first. We need to talk.” Ben pulled her outside despite her protests.

Seeing the two of them leave, Leo followed them out as well.

Reader Notes

↩︎ Registration fee. The term guahao refers to registering for a medical consultation, often with a fee attached to the visit. Evan treats his visitor as a patient and directs her to the counter to pay. That ordinary instruction is the joke, given the family’s expectations. The twenty yuan is the price stated by this fictional clinic; it should not be read as a nationally fixed charge. Source: Jiangxi Provincial People’s Hospital — Outpatient registration and payment (in Chinese).↩︎ The philtrum. Clara presses the groove below her nose as though trying to keep herself from fainting. That area includes Renzhong, also called Shuigou or GV26, a named acupuncture point in the philtrum. This is a comic gesture she makes on herself while panicking. It is separate from Evan’s earlier needling of a patient’s philtrum, and the scene contains no acupuncture or medical result. Source: Liu et al. — Acupuncture study protocol, Table 2, GV26 location.↩︎ Second Sis and Auntie. The visitor is called “Second Sis” but addresses Little Octopus’s mother as her aunt. Here, “Sis” is therefore a family form of address to an older cousin. It does not establish that they are biological sisters or specify the family’s full numbering scheme. “Em” carries forward the affectionate nickname used in Chapter 21; “Her Majesty” retains the joking empress-dowager label for her mother. The talk of a boyfriend still comes from the family.↩︎ An established public-sector post.Bianzhi is an authorized public-institution staffing post. Her mother’s concern is the security and prospects attached to that kind of employment, already raised in Chapter 21. Public-institution recruitment can involve stated qualifications, examinations, and formal hiring procedures. The mother’s questions reflect her standards for a possible son-in-law; they do not establish Evan’s education or his eligibility for a future appointment. Sources: National Health Commission — County public hospital reform examples, p. 175 (in Chinese); Ministry of Justice — Public-institution personnel regulations, chapters II–IV (in Chinese).↩︎ Vomiting in pregnancy. Pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting are often called “morning sickness,” although symptoms can occur at any time of day or night. Hyperemesis gravidarum is a more severe condition that can interfere with normal eating, drinking, and daily life. At this point, Leo names pregnancy-related vomiting, and Holly retches; the scene supplies no pregnancy stage, weight change, hydration assessment, or formal severity diagnosis. The translation therefore keeps the symptom description. Her complaint about her husband remains her own account. Source: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists — Pregnancy sickness.