Chapter 108 Chase the thief out the door

Words : 1473 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Entering the office, Du Heng was still a bit tired. He leaned back in his chair, intending to take a quick nap, but accidentally dozed off again. "Senior Brother? When did you come here?" The office door was pushed open by Wu Buwei, who looked at Du Heng on the chair and asked. Du Heng was awakened by the sound of the door opening. "I just arrived. I was still a little groggy, so I lay down for a while." As he spoke, he got up and washed his face at the sink, then took a few paper towels to wipe the water off his hands and face. "What time is it?" "Half past eight." "Oh." Du Heng threw the wet paper towels into the trash bin. "Did Li Qiuhua finish her medicine?" Wu Buwei chuckled. "She did, and her condition was good throughout the night." "Alright, then you go to sleep. I’ll go check on her." "Shall I come with you?" "No need, you’ve stayed up all night too. Go get some sleep." After saying that, and patting Wu Buwei on the shoulder, Du Heng went upstairs to check on Li Qiuhua’s condition. After a thorough examination, Du Heng had a clear idea; it was almost as he had expected. Li Qiuhua’s yang qi had already been restored. The next step should be to clear her internal and external blockages and expel the invaders. If nothing was done to expel the invaders, she could still be discharged after a few days of recuperation. However, considering her body’s current state of severe and lingering cold, along with the damp phlegm and dead blood stagnation in her lungs, any minor setback, like catching a cold or developing a fever, could mean she wouldn’t even have a chance of being saved. Therefore, expelling the invaders was essential to cure the root cause of the disease. Now that there was an opportunity, it must not be missed; the severe and lingering cold must be broken, and the damp phlegm and dead blood expelled. Du Heng called the family members to the office to brief them on the Patient’s condition and explain the follow-up Treatment plan. He needed to obtain the family members’ consent, as not only would the amount of medication be large, but it would also be very expensive. "The follow-up Treatment is to resolve your mother’s chronic problems and give her a healthy body. However, as I told you, the medication will be quite expensive. Please consider whether you want to continue the Treatment or not." Li Qiuhua’s eldest son and youngest son came. After exchanging glances, the eldest one said earnestly, "Doctor Du, we’ll do the Treatment. We’ll sell everything we have, even our kidneys if needed." Their words were both moving and horrifying. Du Heng shuddered, yet he was also touched by their naive determination. It’s not an exaggeration to call them ignorant. Selling kidneys? What a thought! Official channels don’t allow it; if they did, it would be called donation. Through illegal channels, a person might get ten thousand yuan, or 20,000 yuan if the buyer has some conscience. However, the kidney is then resold for at least 200,000 yuan, or even five hundred thousand yuan. If you sell a kidney, you don’t get much money. Instead, you have to endure all sorts of future inconveniences and suffer from various Diseases. That small sum is barely enough to buy medicine twice. Meanwhile, others take your kidney money and splurge, feasting on roast lamb kidneys and drinking beef kidney soup. They take the money from your kidney, while their own kidneys fuel their exploits day and night. What’s the gain for you? In the Pharmacy, the Pharmacy Doctor looked at the prescription Du Heng had written, clicked his tongue, and said, "Doctor Du, you haven’t reduced the dosage at all." "It’s just some ephedra, it’s not a big deal." "It’s not a big deal? Other people’s dosage is capped at 9 grams, sometimes even less. But this prescription you’ve written calls for 30 grams for the Decoction medicine, plus another 150 grams to be boiled separately. If this isn’t a lot, then what is?" Du Heng smiled lightly. "The Patient has been ill for over thirty years with severe and lingering cold. Too little ephedra, and there’s no way to induce sweating." "Fine, you have a point. But why 200 grams of aconite this time? Aren’t you afraid something will go wrong?" "An accident? Yesterday, you got a total of 600 grams of aconite for me. Did it cause any trouble? Isn’t the Patient better now?" "Bro, you’re my bro, please stop! I couldn’t sleep at all last night. Lying in bed, all I could think was, 600 grams! Did I eat a bear’s heart and a leopard’s gallbladder, or was my mind clouded by lard to dare get that much for you? Tell me, did you slip me something?" The Patient had recovered, and everyone’s mood improved. Moreover, by today, Du Heng had given everyone great confidence and gained even more trust from them. Du Heng smiled. "Hurry up and dispense the medicine; the Patient is waiting to drink it." The Pharmacy Doctor also smiled. "I just admire your courage. 600 grams yesterday, and another 200 grams today. A bit more and you’d hit a whole kilogram! With this dosage, any other doctor wouldn’t just fail to treat the illness—they’d be scared shitless." Du Heng laughed. That’s crude, but he’s right. Being praised was indeed a very pleasant thing. "By the way, this prescription of yours is quite odd. It doesn’t look like Ephedra, Aconite, and Asarum Decoction; you’ve added a lot of other things." "Yes, I’ve added a few more herbs. We must ensure that sweating doesn’t harm the Patient’s vital qi. Otherwise, wouldn’t yesterday’s efforts be wasted!" "Alright, you’re the boss." The Pharmacy Doctor quickly dispensed the medicine for Du Heng, who also helped with the herbs. After preparing the Decoction medicine ingredients, Du Heng took out another prescription. "Dispense another set of Ginseng-Gecko Powder. This time, use only 0.5 grams of musk." "Bro, you’re really ruthless! The Patient already had a dose yesterday, and you’re prescribing it again today? Is musk free or something? Will the Patient’s family agree to this?" "You think I want to? If the kidney doesn’t absorb qi, the Treatment is useless. Ginseng-Gecko Powder is absolutely necessary." "You’re the attending Physician; you call the shots. Still, this one Patient brings in more than our income for half a year." "Stop talking nonsense and just dispense it. It wouldn’t be good if others overheard; it would sound like we’re prescribing medicine recklessly." Today’s decoction of medicine was different from yesterday’s. Today, 2000 milliliters of cold water were used, simmered on low heat until reduced to 600 ml, then divided into three doses. Moreover, there were specific instructions for taking the medicine. It was to be taken before noon when yang qi is strongest, to bolster the vital qi. With each dose of Decoction medicine, 50 milliliters of ephedra juice were also to be ingested. This was to be stopped once sweating occurred. After the medicine was decocted, it was just past 11 o’clock. At this time, Wu Buwei also got up, and Du Heng handed over the task of delivering and administering the medicine to him. Du Heng himself tried his best not to go to the second floor anymore, avoiding it unless absolutely necessary. As for the reason, only he knew. Wu Buwei was a good assistant, doing everything as instructed by Du Heng. Of course, he also benefited a lot from the entire Treatment process, and many things became clear to him during that time. His father had told him that for a Doctor to become mature, talent and enduring long hours were not enough; a vast number of disease cases were needed to build experience. Sometimes, a Doctor couldn’t even be considered qualified without having personally witnessed a few Patients pass away. And these large numbers of disease cases were the process of accumulating rich experience and integrating knowledge. Of course, there were also shortcuts: being guided by a good Teacher, and the crucible of difficult, complicated, or special disease records—these were all paths for a Doctor’s rapid growth. Without a good Teacher, one might not even recognize such cases, let alone treat them. Now, he cherished this opportunity very much. Du Heng was willing to teach, and very attentively at that. He had even encountered a case of bringing someone back from the brink of death. How could Wu Buwei not want to learn more? Of course, some people were unwilling. Like Ma Zichen. Yesterday, Wu Buwei had called him, but by today, he still hadn’t shown up, and there hadn’t even been a single phone call.

Chapter 108 Chase the thief out the door

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