Chapter 677: A Strange Patient
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“I think I should start to pay you,” w.a.n.g Yao said as he and Pan Jun were having a cup of tea.
Pan Jun had helped him a lot when practicing in the clinic. He reduced w.a.n.g Yao’s workload significantly, especially during the past two days when w.a.n.g Yao had a lot of patients.
“Are you serious?” Pan Jun asked. “I haven’t paid you tuition fees! In addition, my help here is nothing big.”
Pan Jun could benefit a lot from practicing in w.a.n.g Yao’s clinic. He learned a valuable treatment technique from w.a.n.g Yao. A lot of patients went to his sister’s clinic to see him. Pan Jun had built a reputation as a fantastic ma.s.sage therapist among the patients living close to Pan Mei’s clinic. Therefore, he appreciated w.a.n.g Yao from the bottom of his heart.
“By the way, I’ve finished reading the book I took from you last time,” Pan Jun said. “I’ll return it next time. Can I borrow two more books this time?”
“Of course. I’ve got some books on the table,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
He grabbed two books about Chinese medicine and gave them to Pan Jun. These books were actually available from a book shop or online. However, the content in the books w.a.n.g Yao gave to Pan Jun was different. w.a.n.g Yao had went through every single book thoroughly a few times and made annotations. He also rectified contents that he didn’t think was accurate. These book he purchased from the book shop didn’t contain accurate and detailed information.
Pan Jun didn’t stay for dinner. He left the clinic around 5 p.m.
w.a.n.g Yao tidied up the clinical room and locked the door before leaving. He b.u.mped into Zhong Liuchuan and Zhong Anxin on his way home. The two of them were having a walk in the village. Zhong Anxin looked extremely well.
“h.e.l.lo, Dr. w.a.n.g,” Zhong Anxin said.
“h.e.l.lo, have you guys had dinner?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“Yes, we are just having a walk. Have you finished working?” Zhong Anxin asked.
“Yeah, busy day,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
Zhang Xiuying had cooked dinner by the time w.a.n.g Yao arrived home. After eating, w.a.n.g Fenghua told w.a.n.g Yao something about the Li Family Creek.
“They closed down the hot spring resort temporarily,” w.a.n.g Fenghua said.
“Really? Why?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“People died after visiting the hot springs,” w.a.n.g Fenghua said.
“People died because they visited the hot springs?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“I heard it from someone this afternoon,” w.a.n.g Fenghua said. “The person who died wasn’t well anyway. He had been suffering from a headache. He suddenly had an episode in the hot springs and died on the way to the hospital. His son has some background. He couldn’t let the resort off the hook. He lodged a lawsuit to ask for compensation and has been causing trouble every single day. So, the owner of the resort had to close the business for now.”
“You’ve been to that place. What do you think of it?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“I think it’s a nice place. It would be a shame if they were to close it permanently,” w.a.n.g Fenghua said.
After returning to Nanshan Hill, w.a.n.g Yao had a video chat with Su Xiaoxue. He spent the rest of the evening reading a Taoism scripture that he hadn’t touched for a while.
It was windy on the hill, which made the trees shake. The dog, which was resting in his dog house, lifted his ears. The eagle, which stood on a tree branch, was very alert. His eyes were s.h.i.+ny.
Swis.h.!.+ Swis.h.!.+ A snake moved toward the window. He curled up and lifted his head. They all seemed to be listening to w.a.n.g Yao with heart.
w.a.n.g Yao stopped reading around 11 p.m. After a while, the dog laid down, the eagle closed its wings, and the snake moved away. The night pa.s.sed quietly.
It was nice and sunny the next day. w.a.n.g Yao started working early in the morning. He saw seven patients in the morning, took a lunch break, and was ready to work again at 1 p.m., when Pan Jun came to help.
“Hi, you are not on duty in the hospital today?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“I was covering a colleague last night and had some sleep in the morning. I’m available this afternoon and tomorrow,” Pan Jun said.
“I see. Sit down and have a cup of tea,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
There were currently no patients, so w.a.n.g Yao and Pan Jun could take the opportunity to rest. After a short while, patients started to arrive.
“Yao, do you have paracetamol pills for kids?” a man in his 40s asked.
He and w.a.n.g Yao were from the same village. He asked w.a.n.g Yao without waiting in the queue when w.a.n.g Yao was seeing other patients.
“No,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
“Oh, thanks.” He turned around and left the clinic. This was not the first time someone came to buy medication without consulting the doctor first.
“What is paracetamol?” a patient asked.
“A common medication to reduce cold symptoms and fever,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
He finished seeing all the patients at about 4 p.m.
“There were not too many patients today,” Pan Jun said.
“Yeah, otherwise it would be too much for me,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
He presumed because he had been away for a week, many patients had been waiting to see him. After the number of patients had reached a peak in the past two days, it had gone back to normal.
“Someone’s here,” w.a.n.g Yao said as he took a look toward the entrance.
Two people came into the clinic. One of them was a well-dressed young man. The other was a man in his 50s wearing old and shabby clothes. The man in his 50s seemed to be very sick. His hair had turned completely white. His face was blue. He was skinny with an arched back and very unsteady with his feet. It seemed that he was making a great effort to walk as he leaned on the young man the whole time.
“Dad, take it easy,” the young man said.
w.a.n.g Yao could tell the old man was in critical condition. Since the young man and his father stepped into the clinic, he had started to diagnose the old man with observation.
The old man was very ill. There was a deadly look on his face. His breath was shallow. He breathed in more than he breathed out. w.a.n.g Yao could even tell that the old man was about to die soon.
“Doctor, can you please take a look at my dad?” the young man asked.
“Help him sit down.” w.a.n.g Yao came closer to the old man to check his pulse.
“Aye!” The old man suddenly sighed.
“Do you feel uncomfortable in your chest?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“Yes, I feel there is a stone pressing my chest,” the old man said.
He had severe problems in his heart and lungs.
No! w.a.n.g Yao sensed something wrong.
Ahem! Ahem! The old man suddenly started to cough badly. His body started to shake.
“Are you alright, Dad?” the young man anxiously asked.
w.a.n.g Yao took out his needles rapidly and inserted them in the acupoints in the old man’s chest.
“Dad,” the young man said.
Dark blood came out of the corner of the old man’s mouth.
“Dad, don’t scare me. Doctor, please save my dad!” The young man held w.a.n.g Yao’s hands tightly.
“Be careful!” w.a.n.g Yao shouted.
His hands shook, and the young man took a number of steps back.
“What is it?” The young man was in shock.
w.a.n.g Yao quickly transferred some Qi into the old man’s body and gave him a nine gra.s.s pill. He quickly started to ma.s.sage the old man with a unique technique to save his life.
“Doctor, is my dad alright?” the young man asked.
“For now he’s out of danger,” w.a.n.g Yao said. “By the way, where are you from?”
“We are not local,” the young man said.
“How long has your dad been ill for?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“About two years,” the young man said.
“Two years? He’s very sick. You haven’t taken him to a formal hospital?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.
“Yes, but the doctors there could not help him,” the young man said.
Ahem! Ahem! The old man started to cough again.
This is not right! w.a.n.g Yao thought. The old man shouldn’t be so sick in the beginning. The treatment must have been delayed to cause the deterioration of his condition.
“What should I do next?’ the young man asked.
w.a.n.g Yao looked at the well-dressed young man and had a thought about the question.
“I suggest you to take him to a formal hospital to be examined. Your dad requires ongoing treatment,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
“You can’t treat him here?” the young man asked.
w.a.n.g Yao shook his head.
“But, I heard you are an extraordinary doctor,” the young man said.
“You sound nervous,” w.a.n.g Yao suddenly said.
“What?” the young man asked with surprise. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing. You are sweating a lot,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
“Because I was so worried about my dad just now,” the young man said.
“Take him to a formal hospital,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
“OK, thank you,” the young man said. “What about the fee?”
“Don’t worry about the fee. I didn’t cure him anyway,” w.a.n.g Yao said.
“Thank you so much,” the young man said.
He took the old man out of the clinic.
“Teacher, what’s wrong with that old man?” Pan Jun asked.
Outside the clinic, the young man suddenly found something was not right with his father. “Dad! What’s happening to you? Dad!”
He carried his father back to the clinic. As he walked into the clinic, the old man had blood at the corner of his mouth. He was dying.