This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

After dinner, Du Heng sent Du Xuejing and Du Yi out and locked himself in the room to concentrate on studying the problem of Wang Shiyuan's wife.

There were two types of stupor: congenital, where the person was not well-developed in the womb, and acquired, like that of Wang Shiyuan's wife. Acquired stupor was usually caused by emotional stress. If one could think it through, life went on, and time slowly diluted everything. If one couldn't think it through, mild depression could lead to madness or severe cognitive dullness. Wang Shiyuan's wife was a typical case of someone who hadn't been able to think things through and had driven herself mad.

Now, if her problem wasn't solved, Du Heng suspected that Wang Shiyuan was also teetering on the edge of insanity. Their son was gone. His wife had lost her mind. Their money was all spent, and they were still saddled with a mountain of debt. There was no visible hope. The pressure he faced was unimaginable. That he had managed to hold on until now without going mad, without abandoning his wife, showed immense willpower.

Du Heng reviewed the information in his hands once again, leaning back on the sofa alone, lost in thought. Wang Shiyuan's wife's problem had originated from their son's death; she hadn't eaten, drunk, or spoken for days. This was emotional depression, leading to stagnant qi, liver qi stagnation, and ultimately, weak stomach qi. These factors all matched Wang Shiyuan's wife's condition.

Once the primary cause was identified, the rest would be easier to sort out.

Du Heng suddenly felt a surge of energy and began to scribble and sketch on a piece of paper.

Liver depression allows Wood to over-restrain Earth, preventing phlegm from transforming. Stomach weakness means Earth fails to control Water, so phlegm cannot be cleared. Consequently, phlegm accumulates in the chest, entrenching itself outside the heart. This obstructs mental clarity, leading to stupor.

Once his line of reasoning was clear, the treatment principle also became apparent. All that was needed was to relieve depression and expel phlegm, strengthen the stomach, and promote the flow of qi. Then, her mind would naturally clear, and the stupor would completely dissipate.

The methods were there. Now, there was only one problem left: what prescription to use.

Du Heng pondered.

He suddenly recalled that while looking through a stack of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions earlier, he had seen one. It wasn't entirely for calming the heart and relieving uneasiness of mind, but also for treating stomach qi and expelling phlegm. After flipping through the pages for a while, Du Heng finally found the prescription, muttering softly to himself, "Ginseng, white peony, angelica... calamus."

Du Heng became excited.

Indeed, this prescription was meant for treating stomach qi and expelling phlegm.

However, he soon calmed down.

Since the prescription had already been written by someone else, Wang Shiyuan must have gotten the medicine for his wife. Why had there been no effect? Could it be simply because her liver hadn't been soothed and the depression hadn't been relieved?

Du Heng thought for a long time but still couldn't pinpoint the crux of the problem. He glanced at the phone nearby and couldn't resist calling Wang Shizhen. He didn't notice that it was already 11 p.m.

"Du, are you out of your mind? Don't you see what time it is?"

Ignoring Wang Shizhen's dissatisfied voice, Du Heng anxiously said, "I need you to do me a favor. Could you go ask Wang Shiyuan something for me right now? About that prescription he got from XX Clinic last March..." Du Heng glanced at the date and address on the prescription. "...ask him if his wife took the medicine. If she did, ask how many doses she had, if there were any effects, and why she stopped taking it."

"Can I ask him in the morning? It's already 11 p.m."

"I'm really anxious, I can't sleep! Please, get up quickly and go ask for me."

"Man, I'm sleepy! I can sleep, and Wang Shiyuan and his wife can sleep too!"

"Enough nonsense, hurry up."

After hanging up, Du Heng began waiting anxiously. He had to figure out this problem tonight, or he really wouldn't be able to sleep.

Fortunately, twenty minutes later, Wang Shizhen called back, his voice extremely unhappy. "I've woken him up for you. I'll pass the phone to him; you can ask him yourself."

"Hello, Doctor Du," Wang Shiyuan's voice said on the phone.

Du Heng calmed himself a bit. "I want to ask you something. Last March, you saw a doctor at a clinic, and he gave you a prescription. Do you remember?"

"Yes," Wang Shiyuan's answer was firm. "I remember it all too well. An old man, and his medicine was incredibly expensive. One dose cost 600 yuan. I almost couldn't afford to get back home that day."

"And the medicine he prescribed, did you give it to your wife?"

"Of course, I did! One dose was 600 yuan, and I'd already paid for the medicine. How could I not give it to her?"

"How many doses did she take?"

"She took three doses."

"And there was no effect?"

"None. That old man said two doses would show results, three at most. Three doses cost over 1,800 yuan, and all I saw was my wife eating a bit more than before. There were no other effects. So I never went back. He was a fraud too."

Wang Shiyuan then asked, "Doctor Du, why are you asking about this?"

"I have an idea, and I wanted to confirm something with you. Alright, you should go back to sleep. We can talk about the rest when I come over tomorrow."

"Okay, Doctor Du. In that case, I won't go to the fields tomorrow. I'll wait for you at home."

Du Heng didn't bother with pleasantries with Wang Shizhen and hung up directly.

Gazing at the prescription in front of him, he realized that merely treating stomach qi and expelling phlegm wouldn't be enough; it was also necessary to soothe the liver and relieve depression.

But how should this prescription be formulated?

Du Heng held the prescription in his hand, once again lost in deep thought.

He then began flipping through books and scribbling on paper again. It wasn't until the rooster raised by his sister-in-law outside crowed that he finally put down his pen. Looking at the prescription before him, a satisfied smile spread across his face.

White peony, originally included for its soft liver and analgesic effects and for leveling Liver Yang, was replaced with sojutsu var. This change aimed to achieve Spleen-strengthening and Stomach-invigorating effects, along with clearing damp and promoting diuresis.

Next, medicated leaven was substituted with bupleurum, shifting the therapeutic focus from Spleen-strengthening and Stomach-invigorating to liver-soothing and depression-relieving.

Finally, to the senior doctor's original prescription, he added root poria for its effects of calming the heart, relieving uneasiness of mind, and promoting diuresis.

The most crucial adjustment was to increase the dosage of pinelliap and aconite, which were originally only a few grams each, by an order of magnitude.

With this prescription, Du Heng was confident: one dose would show effects, two doses would bring a full recovery.

A third dose? That was out of the question; the medicine was too potent. Taking too much would, on the contrary, incapacitate a person.

Seeing the sky outside beginning to brighten, Du Heng hurriedly crawled into bed to get some sleep. Before work, he could still catch an hour or two of sleep to alleviate some of his fatigue. Moreover, he needed to go to the Health Clinic first to pick up the medicine before heading to Wangjiazui. This was because Wang Shizhen's clinic didn't stock certain medicines, like aconite and pinelliap.

His plan to sleep for an hour or two then head to the Health Clinic sounded good. But when he lay down on the bed, perhaps because his mind was finally at ease, by the time he opened his eyes again, sunlight was already flooding the room.

And Du Xuejing stood by his bedside, blinking her large eyes.

"Uncle, when did you go to bed? I called you so many times, but you wouldn't wake up."

"What time is it?"

"It's 11:30! Mom has finished cooking. She wanted you to come over for the meal, but you just wouldn't wake up."

Forget it, I'll go up the mountain this afternoon.

Du Heng lazily lay back down.

It's good to be the boss.