This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

After chatting with Li Jianwei in the office for a while, Du Heng went straight back to the Health Clinic.

He was on duty today and tomorrow. Although no one would comment since he was the Dean, being away from his post for extended periods wouldn’t reflect well. Moreover, if anything happened, it would be difficult for him to explain.

However, upon returning to the Health Clinic, Du Heng didn’t have much to do, as he had been visiting the outpatient service less frequently. The main reason was the low number of outpatients. Moreover, with several new doctors at the Health Clinic, he felt it wasn’t quite right to take patients from them, as new doctors needed opportunities to practice.

So, after returning to the Health Clinic, Du Heng didn’t go to the consultation room but went directly back to his office, intending to further optimize Wu Shengnan’s acupuncture points.

But less than two minutes after he sat down, Wu Buwei entered with an embarrassed look on his face.

”Brother, can you come to the consultation room and help me with a patient?”

Du Heng was a bit surprised by Wu Buwei’s hesitant appearance. It was worth noting that in recent months, Wu Buwei had become quite an expert in the Chinese Medicine Department, effectively taking over Du Heng’s role from the previous year. The newly assigned graduates were split into two groups, one mentored by Han Yujian and the other by Wu Buwei. He now had the distinct air of a supervising teacher and was usually quite proud.

So, it was unexpected to see him so timid today. He must have encountered a particularly difficult patient or a tricky condition, Du Heng guessed.

At this thought, Du Heng’s interest was piqued. He got up and followed Wu Buwei towards the consultation room. On the way, he casually asked, ”Encountered a condition you can’t handle?”

Wu Buwei nodded awkwardly. ”A patient who caught a cold before the New Year came in again today.”

”A cold?” Du Heng glanced at Wu Buwei in surprise, then continued walking. ”What happened?”

”He came for a check-up before the New Year,” Wu Buwei explained. ”He presented with an aversion to cold, fever, headache, body aches, no sweating, and some coughing and wheezing. He had taken anti-cold medicine for two days prior to his visit, but to no effect. So I prescribed Minor Green-Blue Dragon Decoction and sent him home.”

”Based on the symptoms you described, the treatment principle—using acrid-warm herbs to release the exterior, dispel cold, warm the lungs, and resolve retained fluids—was appropriate. So, your prescription of Minor Green-Blue Dragon Decoction was fine. Why did he come back today then?”

Wu Buwei scratched his head, looking puzzled. ”The patient said he took the medicine I prescribed up until yesterday. He had initially felt considerably better, but starting yesterday morning, he developed a headache, eye pain, and alternating chills and fever.”

”Just now, in the consultation room, the patient already looked like he was starting to tremble with chills. So I wasn’t sure what to do and hurried to ask for your help, Brother.”

Du Heng also found it peculiar. Logically, if the prescription was correct for the symptoms, it should have cured him. But not only had it failed to do so, how could it have led to headache, eye pain, and alternating chills and fever?

With these questions in mind, Du Heng quickly walked to his former consultation room. Inside, a graduate from last year was currently talking non-stop with the patient.

Upon seeing Du Heng, the young doctor quickly stood up and greeted, ”Dean.”

Du Heng couldn’t quite recall the young man’s name, so he simply nodded and sat down opposite the patient. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, he began his examination.

Within a couple of minutes, Du Heng wrote a prescription. ”I’ll write you a prescription,” he said. ”Don’t be in a hurry to go back. I’ll have a nurse find you an empty bed here. You can lie down and get some sleep. After two doses of this medicine, you should basically be fine. You won’t have to bother with decocting it yourself or make another tiring trip.”

Then he handed the prescription to the patient, telling him to take it to the front to pay and then find a nurse.

Wu Buwei and the new doctor remained silent throughout, watching as Du Heng swiftly resolved the issue.

Once the patient left with the prescription, the new doctor was still a bit hesitant and didn’t dare to ask, but Wu Buwei directly questioned, ”Brother, what’s the situation with this patient? Is it not a cold?”

Du Heng put the pen he was holding back into the pen holder. He smiled and said, ”He does have a cold, albeit a rather severe one. Considering the patient’s condition when he first came, if on that day you hadn’t prescribed any medicine and instead just told him to go home, wrap himself in blankets, sleep for two days, stay indoors, and sweat it out properly a couple of times, the issue would likely have resolved itself.”

As he spoke, he leaned back. Sitting in the office where he had worked for six years—though the desk was ancient and the chair a bit rickety—imparted a sense of grounding that was far more comfortable than being in the Dean’s office.

After a comfortable shift in his seat, Du Heng continued, ”During the time the patient was taking your medicine, coupled with the snowfall a few days prior, he must have caught another chill. This aggravated his condition, leading to his current state.”

Wu Buwei’s confusion didn’t lie here. According to his understanding, even if the patient had caught another chill, it shouldn’t have resulted in symptoms like headache, eye pain, and alternating chills and fever. It should have manifested as increased coughing, more copious nasal discharge, and chills throughout his body.

”Brother, even so, the Minor Green-Blue Dragon Decoction I prescribed should still have been appropriate, shouldn’t it? Why did his condition turn out like this?”

Du Heng sat for a while, finally recapturing that familiar old feeling. He gently tapped the desktop with his fingers and asked unhurriedly, ”If I’m not mistaken, we discussed this very issue last year when we were in the countryside.”

Wu Buwei looked a bit lost. ”Did we?”

Du Heng gave Wu Buwei a helpless look. He suddenly felt an urge to give this young man a little ’test,’ to make him thoroughly recall those ’eventful times’ from last year. ”What causes alternating chills and fever?”