Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Maybe we should invite Dr. Chen to come here to take a look,” the woman said. As soon it slipped out of her mouth, she realized she had said something inappropriate. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it.”
She shouldn’t have said she wanted a different doctor to see Hou Shida. It indicated that she didn’t trust Dr. Li. It was like a man talking about a pretty woman in front of his wife.
“Never mind, I know you are worried about him.” Li Shengrong waved his hand to indicate he didn’t care.
After being a medical practitioner for such a long time, he had stopped caring about a lot of things, including what people thought about him. In addition, Hou Shida was a distant relative. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have seen him in the hospital.
“I don’t think I can help him,” Li Shengrong said. “Call Dr. Chen. But, I’m afraid he wouldn’t be able to help him either.”
“OK,” the woman said.
“Wait, leave it to me. I’ll call him.” Li Shengrong dialed a number.
“No, not playing chess with me. Never mind, I’ll arrange someone to pick you up later.” He hung up the phone after talking briefly. “I’ve spoken to him. You can arrange a car to pick him up.”
“Thank you,” the woman said.
She quickly arranged a vehicle to pick Dr. Chen up. An hour later, the thin and old Dr. Chen had arrived at the hospital.
“Hey, did you lose a game again?” Li Shengrong asked as soon as he saw Dr. Chen.
“Humph!” Chen Zhouchuan didn’t reply. “Where is he?”
“He is in the hospital room,” the woman said as she led him to a private hospital room. “Can you two please stop arguing for a moment?”
Hou Shida had just fallen asleep. He rarely got a chance to sleep. He didn’t know when the pain would return. Once the pain came back, he would suffer a great deal. He would rather be dead.
Chen Zhouchuan came to his bed to check his pulse.
“Hmm, his pulse is weird.” He frowned and said, “He had blockage in multiple places in his head and stomach. He shouldn’t have this condition at his age,”
“Save the nonsense,” Li Shengrong said. “Can you help him?”
“I can try to treat his stomach problem, but I can’t do anything about the problem in his head,” Chen Zhouchuan said. “And, I think you should keep an eye on him from now on. He’s done so many bad things.”
“Sure.” The woman nodded.
She needed the two old doctors to help Hou Shida. Even when she didn’t need their help, she still paid great respect to the two old men.
“I’ll give him an acupuncture treatment after he wakes up,” Chen Zhouchuan said.
Since he didn’t think Hou Shida would wake up any time soon, he left with Li Shengrong.
“Hey, slow down,” Li Shengrong said.
“What?” Chen Zhouchuan unhappily asked. “Don’t ask me to do things like this anymore. You know what Hou Shida is like.”
Hou Shida didn’t have a good reputation in Beijing. He was different from Guo Zhenghe, let alone Su Xiaoxue, who was favored by almost everybody. Chen Zhouchuan didn’t want to help a spoiled brat like Hou Shida.
“Well, you know my relationship with his family. I just need your help this time. Only this time.” Li Shengrong apologized. “However, that kid’s condition is really weird.”
“He deserves it,” Chen Zhouchuan said.
“Hey, I find you are increasingly grumpy,” Li Shengrong said. “Have you had an argument with your wife?”
“No,” Chen Zhouchuan replied.
“Well, I’ve got some really nice tea at home,” Li Shengrong said. “Would you like to come?”
“No, thanks,” Chen Zhouchuan said. He left without any lingering.
“What a stubborn old guy!” Li Shengrong was confused about how his old friend had become so grumpy.
Fortunately, Chen Zhouchuan promised to treat Hou Shida, which was a good thing. Li Shengrong knew his friend well. He knew Chen Zhuchuan was a better doctor in terms of his knowledge in meridians. Of course, just slightly better.
…
Soon after dark, Wang Yao went back to Nanshan Hill, which was earlier than normal. He needed to brew two decoctions for the patient he was going to see the next day.
One of the decoctions was the nerve calming powder, which would calm the old patient’s nerves and assist with sleeping. The other one was the regather soup, which would consolidate the old man’s fundamental health and improve his immune system. The two decoctions would solve the problems.
Wang Yao had brewed these two decoctions many times. He was very familiar with the process, so it was an easy job for him. However, no matter how proficient he was to make those decoctions, it still took him the same amount of time to brew the decoctions.
Meanwhile, in a hotel of Lianshan town center, the old patient was talking to his son.
“Dad, how are you feeling?” the old man’s son asked.
“I feel better,” the old man said. “My headache is not that bad now. The treatment worked.”
He hadn’t had a bad headache since he left Wang Yao’s clinic. He was really happy with the treatment.
“Great, you should probably go to bed early,” his son said.
“Yes, you should, too,” the old man replied. ‘You must be really tired.”
That night, the old man had a good sleep before midnight. However, the headache came back in the middle of the night. The only difference was his headache was not as severe. The pain was intermittent. Although he didn’t sleep well all night, the symptoms had reduced greatly.
It started to become light outside.
“Another night!” The old man rubbed his forehead.
Although he didn’t sleep very well, the quality of sleep had improved.
“Dad, did you fall asleep last night?” his son asked during breakfast.
“Yes, I did. I slept until midnight,” the old man said.
“That’s good,” his son said. “Wait here, I’ll fetch the decoctions for you.”
“OK,” the old man said.
His son arrived in the village before 8 a.m. He waited outside Wang Yao’s clinic. Wang Yao normally came down from Nanshan Hill at about that time.
“Good, morning, Dr. Wang,” the old man’s son said.
“Good morning, you are early,” Wang Yao said.
“I’ve just arrived,” the old man’s son said.
Wang Yao gave him the two decoctions he brewed the previous night. “Finish the two decoctions in three days.”
“Sure, I’ll remember it,” the middle-aged man said.
He paid Wang Yao. The regather soup was inexpensive. Most families could afford a decoction costing several hundreds of dollars. However, the cost of the nerve calming power shocked the middle-aged man. It was quite expensive to him.
“Do we need to stay here?” he asked.
“Yes, come back in three days,” Wang Yao said.
Since he and his father had stayed here for several days, they didn’t mind staying for three more days. He wanted his father to be cured.
After the man left, Wang Yao had three patients. It wasn’t a busy morning.
…
Meanwhile, in a hospital in Beijing, Chen Zhouchuan was treating Hou Shida. He had just finished an acupuncture session for the young man.
“Oh my god!” Hou Shida cried. He turned himself over in pain. “Pain! It’s so painful! Old man, do you know how to do acupuncture?”
Because of the pain, Hou Shida didn’t think before speaking. His mother neither stopped him nor apologized to Chen Zhouchuan.
“Humph,” Chen Zhouchuan coldly said. He packed his things away and left saying, “You deserve it.”
“Wait, Zhouchuan!” Li Shengrong tried to stop his old friend from leaving, but Chen Zhouchuan slapped his arm.
“Well,” Li Shengrong sighed.
“What should I do, Dr. Li?” Hou Shida’s mother asked.
“I don’t think I can do anything,” Li Shengrong said.
“I can’t just leave Shida like this,” Hou Shida’s mother said.
She was really worried. As a mother, she didn’t want to see her son suffer. She would rather be in pain herself.
“Sorry,” Li Shengrong said.
“Oh no, what should I do?” the woman asked.
“I can’t cure him, but someone I know should be able to cure him,” Li Shengrong said as he looked at the miserable Hou Shida.
“Who can cure Shida? Where is the person?” the woman asked.
“The young man’s name is Wang Yao, but he is not in Beijing at the moment,” Li Shengrong asked.
“Where is he?” Hou Shida’s mother asked.
“In a small village,” Li Shengrong replied.
“What?” The woman was surprised. “A small village?”
