Chapter 533: Chapter 227: Exterior and Interior Syndromes, Qi and Blood Aspects (Part 2)

However, thinking that I was just telling the truth, I felt much more at ease.

The others, upon hearing this, those who were initially hesitant about whether to visit the Huian Pharmacy in person, immediately decided to spare some time tomorrow to go see for themselves.

After all, it’s a free clinic, so why not take a look?

If Dr. Lu truly has the skill, then they could truly benefit from it.

"Your beef is sliced."

Lin Fangling was about to praise herself a little more when the boss interrupted her.

Grabbing the beef, Lin Fangling couldn’t say much more, so she just greeted the lady and left the marketplace with the beef.

However, the topic of Huian Pharmacy’s promotional free clinic did not die down because of Lin Fangling’s departure; indeed, due to her mentioning the county hospital, more and more people gathered around to discuss it.

For a while, the beef stall was also crowded.

The beef stall owner looked helpless.

If these people all came to buy beef, he would be happy, but most of them didn’t, which left him a little frustrated.

However, he wasn’t worried; there weren’t many beef stalls in the market, and he sold yellow beef, which was quite popular here. He could usually sell out by noon; if you came late, you might not find any.

He turned around and joined in the conversation as well.

Such scenarios could be seen almost everywhere in Anjiang County.

Lu’s Clinic.

Not many people came today.

When Lu Xuan arrived, there was basically no queue.

There were only a handful of people, which surprised Lu Xuan, prompting him to ask, "Why are there so few people today?"

It was indeed quite few.

Based on yesterday’s trend, even if there wasn’t a surge in patients today, it certainly wouldn’t be fewer than yesterday.

But today, it was almost as if no one was here.

Li Feng, who had arrived at the clinic early, chuckled, "Well, you should ask yourself that."

"Ask me?" Lu Xuan looked at Li Feng, puzzled, not understanding what he meant.

Seeing that Lu Xuan wasn’t pretending, Li Feng explained, "You forgot that Huian Pharmacy started their promotion today. Just a while ago, several promo trucks passed by our clinic’s entrance. My goodness, the spectacle was unlike anything I’ve seen in Anjiang County.

Huian Pharmacy’s promotion is massive. Plus, the cost of traditional medicine is half off, and since you mentioned a free clinic, there’s no consultation fee. Why would anyone come to the clinic today when they can wait until tomorrow to visit Huian Pharmacy and save a couple hundred bucks?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Xuan finally understood why no one came to the clinic today—it was all because of this.

But after thinking about it, it made sense. Anjiang County isn’t particularly wealthy. Here, people work hard for a few thousand bucks; saving a couple hundred is worth waiting an extra day for anyone.

Not just in Anjiang County, even in Yong City, people would likely make the same choice.

Unless there’s a special circumstance, nobody’s money grows on trees.

If you can save money, why spend more?

Frankly, Lu Xuan himself would make the same choice.

With not many people coming by, Lu Xuan was also happy to relax.

But he also knew that tomorrow would likely be very busy, and he might not even have time to rest during lunch or dinner.

Nodding towards Li Feng, Lu Xuan then looked at the two or three people who came to line up today: "Why did you come today?"

"It should be better tomorrow."

"Sure, tomorrow you could save a lot, but there will definitely be more people. Who knows how long the line could be? If I’m late, I might not even get in by evening. So after thinking it over, I figured today wouldn’t be busy, so I might as well come today," the middle-aged man at the front chuckled and said.

Lu Xuan nodded indifferently, knowing that there wouldn’t be a shortage of people tomorrow. Surely, a hundred or more. If Huian Pharmacy’s promotion worked well, even a few hundred could come, and if you’re late, there really could be a long line.

Thinking of this, Lu Xuan said, "Then there will be no consultation fee today, and as for the cost of medicine, you can try negotiating with Huian Pharmacy to see if you can get the medication at half price today."

No consultation fee?

The few people were delighted and quickly thanked him.

As for the medication costs, it didn’t seem to bother them.

However, it’s worth a try.

Lu Xuan didn’t want to interfere in that; he could probably get Huian Pharmacy to agree, but it wouldn’t be fair to previous patients, so he let the patients negotiate for themselves.

If the patients manage to do it, it’s their credit.

But he could tell that the few who came today didn’t seem to be short of money.

Otherwise, if there wasn’t an urgent symptom, they wouldn’t be rushing by just one day, as they weren’t offering free clinics just for one day.

Tomorrow there will be more people, but in the following days, the numbers should decrease somewhat.

With that in mind, Lu Xuan didn’t say more and looked at the middle-aged man standing at the front, smiling: "What’s the situation, sir?"

"Rheumatic heart disease." The middle-aged man came forward and sat down, talking about his condition with some indifference.

"It’s been ten years; I have combined valve disease, atrial fibrillation, heart failure. I’ve also had arthritis for over twenty years, with joint pain having no fixed location, one spot hurts for four or five days then moves to another, causing continuous pain."

Listening to this, Lu Xuan couldn’t help but look up at him: "Let me feel your pulse, and if there are any other symptoms, let me know."

With that, he seriously began to take the man’s pulse.

The middle-aged man seemed familiar with his condition, continuing, "I usually experience palpitations, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, breathlessness, chest tightness, insomnia, continuous sweating, and I dread wind and cold. No sweating leads to fever and joint pain. Any loud noise frightens me. My face and limbs often swell. Urine output is low, and I feel nauseated, have poor appetite, and suffer constipation. I feel irritable, often have a sore throat—pretty much all of it."

"That’s quite a list of symptoms," Lu Xuan replied, though internally a bit surprised. It’s hard to imagine such a list of symptoms, yet the middle-aged man mentioned them without emotion, as if they were trivial, something not many people could manage.

After a while, Lu Xuan turned to Ji Xiuwen: "The patient has a pale complexion, lips without color, nails insufficient of blood color, and very little coating. The pulse is quick and short, the left inch is weak. I propose using Astragalus Decoction for Strengthening the Middle, Chaihu with Longgu and Oyster Soup, Mu Fangji Decoction, and Poria, Almond, Licorice Soup combined and modified for treatment."

Astragalus, cinnamon, white peony root, licorice, gypsum, Fangji, sugar ginseng, Chinese dates, Fuling, Almond, Chaihu, Ginger Pinellia, Scutellaria baicalensis, Dragon Bone, Oyster, Gentiana macrophylla, Fangfeng, mulberry twig, fresh ginger

Three doses, one every other day.

After Ji Xiuwen jotted this down, just as Lu Xuan was about to speak, the middle-aged man said, "Dr. Lu, I’ve heard from others that you clearly explain the situation to patients, and I’d really like to know what’s going on with my condition.

They say it’s rheumatic heart disease, but after over ten years of treatment, there’s been no improvement. And for arthritis, it shouldn’t be that bad, right? It’s been over twenty years, and I used to be quite concerned, but now I’ve gotten used to it. However, I see you’re quite skilled; maybe you know what my condition actually is?"

"Even if you didn’t ask, I was just about to explain."

Lu Xuan smiled slightly, then continued, "Your condition, from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, involves both external and internal issues with both qi and blood.

Joint pain without a fixed location, fever, sweating, aversion to cold, swelling, a pale complexion, and dull nails—these are indications of external symptoms.

Nausea, poor appetite, irregular bowel movements, irritability, palpitations, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, breathlessness, chest tightness, and anxiety—these are internal symptoms.

The connection between external and internal also relates to the qi and blood components.

Shortness of breath, chest tightness, low urine output, relate to the qi component; palpitations, rapid heartbeat, insomnia, constipation, a pale complexion, and dull nails relate to the blood component.

Due to twenty years of joint problems and ten years of heart disease, the resulting loss of qi and blood leads to such a complex condition. Treatment requires addressing both external and internal issues and taking care of both qi and blood. The coordination between external and internal, and qi and blood is crucial.

Thus, the prescription incorporates Astragalus Decoction for Strengthening the Middle, Chaihu with Longgu and Oyster Soup, Mu Fangji Decoction, and Poria, Almond, Licorice Soup combined and modified."