This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

The patient removed her mask and said, "I wanted to get treatment during the May Day holiday, but Dr. Zhang's clinic was investigated, and it's not easy to take leave from our company. I thought it was just a cold and would pass after a few days, but it didn't go away; it got even worse."

"You've delayed this long enough; many things have changed. Now, open your mouth."

"Alright, give me your hand so I can take your pulse."

After taking her pulse on both wrists, Du Heng asked, "Do you have dysmenorrhea?"

"Yes, and the flow is light, a bit dark, and there are a few blood clots."

Du Heng understood; this person's problem wasn't difficult. He suddenly looked up at Xiao Li by the door and said, "Go call Wu Buwei for me."

Xiao Li went out to call him, and Yu Haiting asked in confusion, "Dean, what's the patient's situation?"

"Nothing major. It can be resolved with two doses of medicine."

"Then is there a problem with my diagnosis?"

Du Heng smiled. "Wait and see. I want Wu Buwei to take a look. He asked me about this kind of thing just yesterday, and today we have a case."

As they were speaking, Wu Buwei and Xiao Li came in together. "Senior Brother, are you looking for me?"

Du Heng smiled and stood up, giving his seat to Wu Buwei. "Come, take a look at this patient."

Wu Buwei was not shy and walked over confidently. "Alright, Senior Brother."

After sitting down, his demeanor was as if he and Du Heng were cast from the same mold, and the content of his consultation was identical to what Du Heng had asked.

After a short while, Wu Buwei finished the examination and turned to Du Heng.

Du Heng smiled and said, "Don't look at me. Tell me your diagnosis."

Wu Buwei coughed lightly and, after a moment of thought, said, "The patient's complexion is sallow and pale, her tongue body is pale with a thin coating, and her pulse is deep, fine, and weak. This is categorized as an externally contracted condition due to yang deficiency, in other words, a common cold. The treatment principle should be to warm the yang, dispel cold, and harmonize the construction and defense."

Du Heng was very satisfied with this answer, and a smile uncontrollably spread across his face. "Explain the reasoning."

Seeing the smile on Du Heng's face, Wu Buwei gained immense confidence, understanding that his syndrome differentiation and treatment method were likely correct.

He then said in a clear voice, "The patient has an inherent yang deficiency with an abundance of internal yin cold. This obstructs the yang from reaching the exterior, making it appear as a heat syndrome when it is, in fact, a cold syndrome."

"Not bad. Write the prescription."

Wu Buwei had already thought it through and said readily, "Use Ephedra, Aconite, and Asarum Decoction. Senior Brother, you've used this prescription before. While inducing sweat to dispel cold, it also warms the meridians and assists yang. This allows the externally contracted cold evil to be scattered from the surface, and the internally damaged yang qi to be consolidated and protected."

"Very good. However, I'll add another prescription for you: Cinnamon Twig Decoction. You must understand that chronic illness inevitably leads to deficiency. Therefore, it's not enough to merely expel evil without harming the upright qi; you must also support the upright qi without retaining the evil."

"I'll remember that, Senior Brother."

"Alright, write the prescription."

Du Heng let Wu Buwei begin writing the prescription, then turned to Yu Haiting and the patient. "If my deduction is correct, the clinic initially treated this as an acute upper respiratory tract infection. Because of the fever, they administered a large quantity of cold-natured antibiotics and phlegm-resolving, heat-clearing medications via infusion."

The patient quickly said, "That's right, that's right! Dr. Zhang loves giving infusions. I can't recall the names of the infusion drugs, but what you said sounds very similar."

Du Heng smiled and said to Yu Haiting, "The previous incorrect medication failed to dispel the patient's internal cold, allowing external cold to penetrate deeper. This resulted in an abundance of yin cold internally, which obstructed the yang from reaching the exterior. That's why you mistakenly diagnosed it as a heat syndrome, and your treatment wouldn't have had any effect."

Yu Haiting clapped his hands. "I knew something felt off, but looking at the patient's symptoms, everything seemed fine. So the problem really was with the previous treatment."

Du Heng didn't follow up on Yu Haiting's words. After all, Dr. Zhang was already in trouble, and saying more would feel like stirring up gossip. So he turned the conversation back to the patient.

"The treatment was problematic and misled you, but you, the patient, also have your own issues."

The woman pointed at herself in surprise. "I have issues?"

Du Heng's expression turned serious. "Of course. If you had truly kept yourself properly warm, this illness of yours would have resolved on its own long ago."

The woman looked at her long-sleeved shirt and trousers, a puzzled look on her face. Isn't this warm enough?

"You inherently have a cold-predominant constitution, and you also suffer from dysmenorrhea; you should have been aware of this. But look at how you're dressed. You're wearing a thin jacket on the outside, but underneath it's a midriff outfit, leaving your navel exposed. And you don't even button up your jacket; what's the use of wearing it then? As for your pants, yes, they're long, but you're walking around barefoot in sandals. It would be a wonder if you actually got better."

The woman looked a little confused and bewildered. "But it's so hot now; it's not cold."

Du Heng resisted the urge to roll his eyes but managed to hold back. "You need to understand one thing clearly: 'hot' refers to the external environment, while 'cold' refers to your body being cold internally. Heat and keeping warm are two different concepts."

After saying this, Du Heng couldn't help but ask, "Are you married?"

"Yes."

"And you don't have children yet, do you?"

The woman looked at Du Heng in astonishment. "How did you know?"

"Given the severity of your internal cold, it's clearly not a recent issue. You also mentioned your menstrual blood has clots and is dark. Just think how cold your uterus must be! Haven't you had it checked? It would be a miracle if you could conceive in this condition."

The woman suddenly became agitated, stood up, and asked with a trembling voice, "Doctor, can you treat my problem?"

Du Heng took a small step back, mainly because the woman was overly excited and standing a bit too close. "When I took your pulse earlier, I didn't find any major underlying problems, so it should be treatable. However, you need to get over this cold first; otherwise, we can't administer medication for both issues simultaneously."

"Doctor, you can't be deceiving me."

"Why would I deceive you?"

Tears welled up in the woman's eyes. "Doctor, you don't understand. I've been married for six years and haven't been able to conceive. My husband and I have been to many places and tried countless folk remedies, but nothing worked. Later, specialists at the Provincial Women and Children's Hospital said I had a low egg count and prescribed Clomiphene, an ovulation-promoting drug. I still didn't get pregnant, and on top of that, my eyesight nearly failed."

Long-term or excessive use of Clomiphene can indeed affect vision, but this effect is reversible and can be restored after discontinuing the medication.

Perhaps because she had indeed suffered a great deal in recent years, the woman's tears began to fall as she spoke. "Honestly, every day when I leave the house, I can feel people pointing and gossiping behind my back. Some even said my husband would be the last of his family line. If it weren't for my husband and my in-laws being so good to me and never putting any pressure on me, I truly would have wanted to die."

Du Heng made a sound of acknowledgment and asked, "Haven't you tried Chinese medicine conditioning?"

"I did, but it had no effect, so I stopped after a while. Later, I tried all sorts of things like artemisia argyi brown sugar boiled eggs, coix seed lentil porridge, and so on. Apart from a slight increase in menstrual flow, there were still no signs of pregnancy."

As she spoke these words, Zhao Fang's expression was bleak.