Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 30: Going Through the Motions

[Today’s Intel: Zheng Wenwen, female, 25 years old, height 170cm... During her three years in Shanghai...]

Li Xu stared at the information in the report.

He was taken aback.

He didn’t know anyone named Zheng Wenwen.

He’d assumed it was just information on a regular patient.

But the intel contained far too much information.

It listed everything from her age and height to her bust, waist, and hip measurements...

The most outrageous part was that it even detailed her experiences over the last few years.

Especially her time in Shanghai.

"Tsk, tsk."

Li Xu shook his head as he read. "She’s really lived a wild life."

"Song Sisi, remember to disinfect the clinic a few extra times over the next couple of days,"

Li Xu instructed.

"Oh."

Song Sisi was engrossed in cobbling together a thesis on her laptop.

She answered absentmindedly.

...

That afternoon, while Li Xu was organizing medicinal herbs in the clinic, his phone rang.

"Hello, is this Doctor Li Xu of Li’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic?" a business-like female voice asked from the other end. "I’m from the district health bureau. The City Health Commission has established a grassroots support program, and your clinic has been selected as a beneficiary. The official partnership will begin tomorrow, so please be prepared."

Li Xu already knew about this. "Alright, no problem."

Just as he hung up, his phone rang again.

This time, it was Hu Qiming.

"Li Xu! The hospital finalized the details. I’m heading over tomorrow!" Hu Qiming’s voice held a hint of resignation. "Saturdays and Sundays, for a whole month."

Li Xu teased, "So this support program doesn’t even give you a day off?"

"A day off?" Hu Qiming sighed. "What doctor gets time off? We can request to reschedule if something comes up, but it’s basically impossible."

"Fine, how many of you are coming?"

"Just me and a nurse. We’ll mainly be taking blood pressure and offering health advice—it’s just a formality," Hu Qiming said with a laugh. "Get a table ready for us. We’ll set it up outside your clinic entrance. It’ll be easier to take pictures for the record that way."

Li Xu agreed. After hanging up, he said to Song Sisi, "The support specialist from the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine is coming tomorrow. You should prepare in advance."

Song Sisi nodded. "You mean that classmate of yours?"

"Yeah, Hu Qiming." Li Xu paused, then added half-jokingly, "The guy’s a bit of a player. Stay away from him."

Song Sisi nodded. "Don’t worry, I’ll be on high alert."

...

On Saturday morning, Li Xu checked his daily intel as usual.

[Today’s Intel: At 10:30 AM, a patient will arrive for treatment of a wind-cold type common cold. Treatment with Ephedra Decoction is recommended.]

’A wind-cold common cold...’

Due to the influenza virus, most colds these days were of the wind-heat type.

Their symptoms were varied and made them very difficult to treat.

A simple wind-cold common cold, on the other hand, was rare.

However, it was also the easiest to treat.

This was because many people in ancient times suffered from wind-cold colds, so a vast amount of experience had been accumulated.

For instance, Ephedra Decoction was a classic formula for treating wind-cold colds, composed of ephedra, Cinnamon Bark, almond, and licorice.

Ephedra induces sweating to release the exterior, Cinnamon Bark warms the yang and dispels cold, almond relieves coughing and calms wheezing, and licorice harmonizes the properties of the other herbs.

This formula is suitable for exterior-excess patterns of externally-contracted wind-cold and can effectively alleviate cold symptoms.

Although Li Xu was a little disappointed with today’s intel, he still carefully committed the treatment plan to memory.

After breakfast, the sound of a car engine came from outside the clinic.

Li Xu pushed open the door to see a white van with the words "Feng City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine" printed on its side parked at the entrance.

The van door slid open, and Hu Qiming jumped out, followed by a young nurse.

"Li Xu!" Seeing Li Xu, Hu Qiming deliberately put on an air of importance, standing by the van door and shouting, "You little barefoot doctor! Hurry up and roll out the red carpet to welcome the expert from the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine!"

Speechless, Li Xu walked over and pulled Hu Qiming down. "Stop messing around and get down from there."

"This place of yours isn’t bad! It’s my first time here." Hu Qiming looked around the clinic, teasing, "Much better than us wage-earners."

"Give me a break. You experts from the big hospitals have bright futures ahead. Soon, you’ll be someone I can’t even hope to associate with," Li Xu shot back with a smile.

Hu Qiming chuckled, but then his eyes landed on Song Sisi standing to the side, and they instantly lit up. "And who is this?"

Li Xu coughed lightly and stepped in front of Song Sisi, warning half-jokingly, "My clinic’s employee, Song Sisi. Don’t get any funny ideas, you."

Hu Qiming feigned injury. "Am I that kind of person?"

Li Xu couldn’t be bothered with him.

The van from the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine drove away.

Hu Qiming and the nurse set up a folding table at the clinic’s entrance, hung up a banner that read "City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Support," and laid out a blood pressure monitor and some brochures.

"That’s it?" Li Xu raised an eyebrow. "Not coming inside to sit down?"

"We have to follow procedure," Hu Qiming said in a low voice. "Take a few pictures, write a report, and the mission’s accomplished."

Li Xu shook his head. He was long used to this kind of formalism.

Before long, residents from the neighborhood saw the banner and began to trickle over to have their blood pressure checked or ask about health issues.

Hu Qiming and the nurse bustled about, while Li Xu stood to the side, occasionally helping to answer a few questions.

...

"Honey, time to take your medicine."

Ding Aiguo held out a bowl of herbal medicine to Xue Mei.

Compared to a week ago, Xue Mei’s condition had changed dramatically.

Not only was her complexion rosy, but her spirits were also much better.

This was mainly because she had been resting very well all week.

She would fall asleep at ten at night and not wake up until six the next morning.

"I think I’m better now. I don’t need to take any more medicine,"

Xue Mei said.

"That won’t do."

Ding Aiguo looked serious. "Traditional Chinese medicine treats illnesses in courses. I was planning to take you back to the clinic today to have Doctor Li prescribe another course, to make sure we eradicate the root of the problem."

"Alright."

Xue Mei agreed.

After finishing the medicine, she thought of her granddaughter, Duoduo.

"Aiguo, do you think Doctor Li can treat anorexia?"

"Hm?"

Ding Aiguo’s eyes lit up. "We could give it a try."

Lately, Duoduo’s condition had been getting worse and worse.

She barely ate or drank anything, had lost a lot of weight, and her eyes looked unnervingly large in her frighteningly pale face.

Ding Kaifang and Lin Yue took turns taking leave from work to stay home with her, but no matter how they coaxed or pleaded, Duoduo simply refused to open her mouth.

Since the day before yesterday, they had resorted to taking her to the hospital for nutritional IV drips.

Watching the needle pierce Duoduo’s thin arm, his heart, as her grandfather, felt like it was being sliced by a knife.

What worried him most was that if this dragged on any longer, her life might be in danger.

"I’ll go talk to our son."

That evening, Ding Aiguo and Xue Mei went to their son’s house.

He called Ding Kaifang. "I’m going to take Duoduo to see Doctor Li in the morning."

"Doctor Li?" Ding Kaifang was taken aback. "The traditional Chinese medicine doctor who treated Mom?"

"Yes," Ding Aiguo nodded. "He’s very capable. Maybe... he can cure Duoduo’s anorexia."

Ding Kaifang said worriedly, "But Duoduo won’t even drink medicine... And even the specialists at the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine couldn’t do anything."

"Li Xu might not necessarily use medicine," Ding Aiguo said in a heavy voice. "Let’s just give it a try. We can’t just stand by and watch the child..."

He couldn’t continue.

"Okay."

Ding Kaifang finally agreed. "I’ll bring Duoduo over."