Li Xiao raised her hand only after a few seconds of hesitation. By then, she noticed that many people around her had raised their hands in excitement.
Li Xiao hoped that Su Tao would choose her, silently praying in her heart. However, Su Tao ultimately chose a man who seems to be in his mid-forties at the front.
“Let’s have this gentleman as the first guest on the stage. The reason is simple. If I’m correct, you must be an administrative staff in the hospital despite your white coat, right?” Su Tao smiled.
The man was surprised. He was sure that he hadn’t met Su Tao before. Nodding his head, he replied, “Yes, I…”
“Wait, don’t tell me about it. Let me guess.” Su Tao examined the man for a long time before patting his forehead, “You must be a pharmacist.”
“That’s right!” The man was surprised.
Patting the man on his shoulder, Su Tao smiled, “Alright, thank you for your cooperation. You’re very healthy. You can go down now.”
The man tilted his head and glanced at Su Tao, wondering if that was all.
In fact, before he came on the stage, he was worried that Su Tao might say that he was suffering from any diseases. No one hoped to be ill, and anyone would be troubled hearing that they weren’t healthy.
This was the reason why many people would tremble upon hearing examinations. They were afraid that they might be ill with no cure. In fact, undergoing examinations regularly could prevent and detect illnesses. If they were treated in time, there would be no danger to health.
Waiting for the man to sit down, Su Tao smiled, “Everyone must be curious why I’m able to guess his post with a glance. Mr. Tao can testify that I’ve never met this gentleman before. He’s definitely not someone planted by me for this lecture.”
Su Tao’s words caused a roar of laughter among the audience.
Su Tao waited for everyone’s laughter to calm down before he spoke in a solemn tone, “What I did was to illustrate the difference between western medicine and TCM. We identify people with our eyes. This gentleman over here might be wearing a white coat, but doctors and pharmacists aren’t the same. Most doctors have some occupational diseases like kidney stones, cervical spondylosis, and digestive issues. According to that gentleman’s age, he will have some minor problems if he’s a doctor. But since he has no symptoms, it means that he must be an administrative staff.
“I also noticed the thick calluses on his palm when I was shaking hands with him earlier along with the dust on his shoes. As a pharmacist, he will have to move around more often, so his body is more flexible compared to doctors who mostly sit in the chair. Most importantly, I can smell medicine coming from him.”
Su Tao’s explanation solved everyone’s doubts. So it turned out that Su Tao had analyzed so many things when the administrative staff was coming on the stage.
The last detail was especially important. Many people place doctors and pharmaceuticals together. In fact, doctors generally wouldn’t come in contact with medicine due to the hospital management system. So Su Tao was able to determine that the man before was a pharmacist from the medicine scent on him. Then again, Su Tao had further confirmed his speculation from the calluses.
Pressing his hands down in the air, Su Tao smiled, “I’m not trying to prove that I can be a detective. I’m just trying to show how a physician makes his diagnosis. Everyone might be different, but they also share some similarities.
“Just like all pharmacists, they would have some common characteristics due to their occupation, which we can discover with our eyes, smell, and touch.
“In the same way, we can also detect diseases. Because there are also similarities between illnesses. This is the scientific nature of TCM.”
Su Tao paused briefly before he continued, “Many people think that TCM is pseudoscience with no scientific reference. But let me tell you that TCM has its own scientific nature, especially for diagnosis. We have a systematic database for it. Everything is in the medical classics passed down in China over the years.
“Many people will find TCM difficult, but it’s actually easy as long as you know the database well.
“Furthermore, our ancestors have already come up with classic prescriptions. So you will know the herbs and amount needed for each disease. Furthermore, most herbs come from nature, but the side effects are smaller than synthetic drugs.”
Su Tao was simplifying things for everyone to understand. In the simplest way, Su Tao had explained the principles behind TCM’s diagnosis.
Su Tao continued, “I just talked about the differences between TCM and western medicine. Now, let’s talk about the similarities. Many people think that TCM is difficult. If a person is having a fever, western medicine will usually detect it with a thermometer. But in TCM, we take pulses and tongue coating. In reality, TCM isn’t that complicated. To see if a person is suffering from a fever, just touch the forehead with your hand to see if it’s hot. But you have to be cautious about the medication used. There are many causes for fever, such as inflammation or viral infection.
“TCM has a simple way to treat cold and fever. There’s a saying in TCM, the lungs govern the skin. The lungs manage the Yang and Yin Qi of the skin. When you catch a cold, the pores on your skin are blocked by wind, heat, cold, dampness, and dryness. There’s a famous prescription in TCM, the Ephedra Decoction.
“Many western medicines contain Ephedra. It’s used to stimulate perspiration. When it enters the lungs, it can help to release Yang Qi through the pores. When the Yang Qi no longer accumulates on the surface of the skin, that’s when the body temperature drops. This is also the principle behind fever reduction and it’s actually no different from western medicine.”
Subsequently, Su Tao gave some examples. Most of his explanations were focusing on the angle of similarities between western medicine and TCM so that the audience could understand better.
Most people knew nothing about TCM. They would only think of it completely different from western medicine. So Su Tao did the opposite by linking them together to let these western medicine doctors know that western medicine and TCM actually shared so many similarities.
The only difference between western medicine and TCM was their diagnostic methods. Western medicine would rely on equipment, while TCM relies on Inspection, Listening & Smelling, Inquiring, and Palpation.
Li Xiao felt a door opening to her when she heard Su Tao’s talk. She had been studying the Compendium of Medical Herbs 1596 and Synopsis of Golden Chamber's Prescription. She originally thought that she already had a basic understanding of TCM. But she realized that she was far from having a basic understanding.
Su Tao’s explanation was concise and clear, which allowed Li Xiao to understand it easily. If you really wanted to know about TCM, you would have to know the trick behind the four methods of diagnosis along with TCM’s Yin-Yang and five elements concept.
Then again, the reason why Su Tao could explain it so easily was due to his deep understanding of western medicine. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to put the similarities between western medicine and TCM together.
Jin Kang was somewhat surprised when he heard Su Tao’s talk. He originally thought that Su Tao wasn’t as good as rumored due to his age. But the confidence in Su Tao’s speech made Jin Kang realize that Su Tao had some ability.
“I believe it must be getting boring. So let’s continue having an interaction. Anyone here is willing to have an intimate interaction with me or test me?” Su Tao went on to the next phase of his lecture according to his plan. He was planning to have on-site diagnosis and treatment to let everyone have a firsthand understanding of TCM.
Everyone became interested after the previous demonstration. Nearly half of the people here had raised their hands.
Sitting among the audience, Nicholas’ eyes were indifferent. He wasn’t a doctor, so he couldn’t understand any of the medical principles that Su Tao was talking about. But even he understood what Su Tao just said and aroused his interest in TCM.
It was at this moment that Nicholas realized Su Tao’s infectious ability. He instantly knew that Su Tao wasn’t someone easy to deal with.
When Su Tao saw that so many people had raised their hands, he turned around and threw an empty bottle over. After a short burst of commotion, the bottle fell on a man.
Jin Kang was stumped. He never expected that he would receive the bottle. Looking at the bottle, he could hear the nurses whispering from behind, “Give me the bottle. Let Mr. Su take a look at me.”
Even Li Xiao was looking at him in expectation with the same thoughts in her eyes.
Jin Kang was displeased when he saw this. Ignoring Li Xiao’s gaze, he stood up and walked over to the podium.
Li Xiao knitted her brows and sighed inwardly. Jin Kang was clearly not interested in TCM. So why was he going on the stage? Did he want to make things difficult for Su Tao?
Li Xiao instantly became worried about Su Tao. She did not think that there was a problem with Su Tao’s medical skills. She was only afraid that Jin Kang might make things difficult for Su Tao.
Su Tao waited for Jin Kang to come on stage. He had chosen his patient randomly to make his lecture more lively.
But when he saw Jin Kang’s complexion, he suddenly had a headache. Modern people would have some minor problems such as headaches. Su Tao wasn’t afraid that he couldn’t detect an illness, but he was afraid that it might involve privacy. If he revealed it in public, it would make things embarrassing for that person.
Su Tao never imagined that he would be so unlucky because Jin Kang’s condition wasn’t appropriate to be revealed in public.
“Hello. Why don’t you give this opportunity to someone else? As for your condition, I’ll talk to you privately. What do you think?” Su Tao said, winking his eye at Jin Kang.
Jin Kang originally wanted to challenge Su Tao. But when he saw that Su Tao wanted him to go back down, he spoke out unhappily, “Why are you winking at me? Are you afraid that I might expose you if you can’t find anything wrong with me?”
