This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

The two held their breath, stuck their heads through the doorway, and listened to the movement inside.

Instead of crying, they heard Wang Shiyuan's quivering voice.

"Awake?"

"Seems so. Let's take a look."

The two quickly took a few steps to the door of the room. Du Heng reached out to stop Wang Shizhen and said softly, "Take it slow, don't scare her."

The two took deep breaths at the doorway, patted the dirt off their buttocks, looked at each other, then lifted the door curtain and walked in.

Inside the room, Wang Shiyuan leaned close to his wife, whispering something, as if a slightly louder voice would scare her.

His wife, however, just looked at Wang Shiyuan intently without speaking.

However, their hands were tightly clasped together.

Du Heng walked to the head of the bed and asked softly, "When did she wake up?"

Wang Shiyuan was a bit excited and anxious. "Doctor Du, my wife just woke up, but why do I feel like she doesn't recognize me?"

Instead of responding to Wang Shiyuan immediately, Du Heng leaned forward to take a look.

Wang Shiyuan's wife's eyes also turned towards Du Heng.

From the moment he saw those eyes, Du Heng understood that she was indeed awake. Her gaze wasn't bright, but it wasn't scattered either. When their eyes met, they were no longer empty but filled with doubt and scrutiny.

However, due to the long duration of her illness and her prolonged self-isolation, she hadn't fully come back to her senses yet.

When Wang Shiyuan's wife saw Du Heng, she tightened her grip on Wang Shiyuan's hand.

This subconscious action stemmed from an instinctive feeling that the man beside her was her support.

Du Heng exhaled. "Get some food for your wife now. We'll go back and decoct the second dose of medicine. After drinking it, she should be mostly fine by tomorrow morning."

Wang Shiyuan tried to pull his hand out, but he couldn't. He didn't dare to use force and could only gently comfort her, "Let go of my hand for a while. I'll get you something to eat. I won't go far."

Du Heng's medicine included herbs to tonify stomach qi. Wang Shiyuan's wife hadn't eaten dinner, so her stomach was growling. Hearing Wang Shiyuan's words, she hesitated slightly before letting go of his hand, but her eyes refused to leave him for even a moment.

Seeing Wang Shiyuan get off the bed to find food, Du Heng and Wang Shizhen hurried back to the clinic.

As they left Wang Shiyuan's house, Wang Shizhen suddenly slapped Du Heng hard on the back. "Du, that's impressive!"

Du Heng couldn't suppress his own excitement, but he wasn't as overt as Wang Shizhen. "Calm down, calm down. We still have the second dose of medicine."

"She's already awake! What's there to be calm about?" Wang Shizhen was genuinely happy, rubbing his hands together. "Wang Shiyuan probably doesn't have much food at his place either. I'll call my mother and ask her to send something over."

As he spoke, he pulled out his phone and called home. It rang for a long time, and the call was finally answered just as it was about to disconnect.

"Mom, don't sleep yet! Quickly get some food and bring it over to Shiyuan's house... What? No, it's not that we're hungry again. My sister-in-law is awake! Yes, she just woke up, and she recognizes people now... Yes, she's not muddled anymore; she's conscious! Okay, okay, you send some food over first. We're going to the clinic for the decoction of medicine."

After hanging up, Wang Shizhen urged Du Heng, "Let's go, faster!"

Du Heng chuckled. Following the light of the solar-powered street lamps along the roadside and listening to the croaking of toads in the fields on either side, he quickened his pace towards the clinic.

When Du Heng and Wang Shizhen returned with the medicine, Wang Shizhen's mother and wife were already sitting by the bedside, chatting softly with Wang Shiyuan's wife and occasionally wiping away tears.

"Mom, both of you, move back a bit. My sister-in-law needs to take her medicine. And please, stop with the tearfulness. My sister-in-law can't handle any agitation right now; strong emotional fluctuations aren't good for her."

Wang Shizhen's mother moved down from the edge of the bed to make room for Du Heng and Wang Shizhen. "I'm just happy, that's all."

"You can all be happy tomorrow. For now, let her drink the medicine, and let Du take another look at my sister-in-law."

Du Heng handed the medicine to Wang Shiyuan. Looking at Wang Shiyuan's wife again, he observed she seemed even a bit better than before; there was a light in her eyes now.

"Don't move, just lie there. Let me perform a pulse diagnosis."

Du Heng spoke softly, and Wang Shiyuan's wife actively extended her hand.

Not bad, there's a reaction.

After the pulse diagnosis, Du Heng told Wang Shiyuan, "Have your wife drink the medicine. Chat with her, but don't discuss any agitating topics. The medicine contains ingredients for relieving uneasiness of mind, so she'll fall asleep soon. By tomorrow, she will be completely lucid."

"Thank you, Doctor Du. Thank you so much." Wang Shiyuan was on the verge of tears as he said this.

Du Heng stepped back. "Hold it in. Don't get all weepy. Hurry and have her take the medicine."

After Wang Shiyuan fed her the medicine, Wang Shizhen's mother and wife sat with them for a while longer. Once Wang Shiyuan's wife had drifted into a drowsy sleep, they quietly withdrew.

"You're truly amazing, Xiao Du! Shiyuan took his wife to so many places, and none of them could help, but your one bowl of medicine cured her." Wang Shizhen's mother praised Du Heng, then turned to her own son. "And look at you. You two were classmates, studied together. How come you're so unaccomplished?"

Wang Shizhen suddenly felt a tightness in his lower back. How could people even be compared?

Wang Shizhen's mother affectionately grabbed Du Heng's hand. "Come on, let's go home. The bed is all ready for you."

「The next morning」

When Du Heng heard sounds in the courtyard, he immediately got up.

Wang Shizhen handed Du Heng a new toothbrush and a disposable paper cup. "Here, use this to brush your teeth. You can use my towel; I'm not getting you a new one."

Du Heng smiled as he took them. "No need for such formalities."

After getting water and squeezing toothpaste, Du Heng squatted near the tree hollow to brush his teeth.

However, before he could manage more than a couple of strokes, the main gate of Wang Shizhen's house was pushed open.

"Shiyuan, you're here!" Wang Shizhen's mother, who was sweeping the courtyard, called out when she saw who had arrived.

"Auntie, I'm here to see Doctor Du." Wang Shiyuan walked in front, his wife following behind him. She looked a bit weak but was no longer tied with a rope.

"You two, come in and sit down. Xiao Du is over there brushing his teeth. He'll be over when he's finished."

Wang Shiyuan turned his head and saw Du Heng by the tree hollow.

At this moment, Du Heng was also looking at them, his mouth full of white toothpaste foam.

Du Heng had thought Wang Shiyuan and his wife would wait for him over there, but Wang Shiyuan walked directly towards him. When he was still about three meters away, with a THUD, he knelt and kowtowed heavily, his forehead striking the ground.

This is madness!

Du Heng scrambled to his feet, toothbrush in one hand, paper cup in the other, his mouth still full of white foam. He got up too quickly, stumbled, and fell right to the ground.

The kowtow had thrown him into a complete fluster.

Spitting out the water in his mouth, Du Heng struggled up from the ground, shouting, "Don't do this! Please, don't! Get up, quickly!"

Wang Shizhen, still holding his face towel, didn't even throw it down but rushed over to Wang Shiyuan in a few strides, pulling him up. "Shiyuan, what are you doing? Du is my classmate. There's no need for this!"

Wang Shiyuan had truly knelt, and he had truly kowtowed. At this moment, this was the only way he could express his gratitude to Du Heng.

Pulled up by Wang Shizhen, he said nothing more and obediently followed him into the room.

His wife, meanwhile, was wiping her tears as she followed the two men into the room.