Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 63: Lacking Confidence

According to his father’s notes, it was very rare for children to present with a Lesser Chaihu pattern.

According to Wang Ruiying’s description, the doctor she saw at the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine had assumed that the fever and chills were a case of alternating chills and fever—a Lesser Chaihu pattern. This was a clear sign that he hadn’t properly understood the *Treatise on Cold Pathogenic and Warm Pathogenic Diseases*.

When fever and chills occur simultaneously, it is a Taiyang disease pattern.

It’s only when fever and chills don’t occur at the same time, but rather alternate—feeling cold at one moment and hot the next—that it’s considered the "alternating chills and fever" of a Shaoyang disease pattern.

’One should have observed whether the child was sweating. If he was, he should have been given Cinnamon Soup with added kudzu root—the kudzu root being for the diarrhea. If he wasn’t sweating, he should have been given Kudzu Root Decoction. He would then naturally sweat, his fever would break, and he would have recovered.’

And yet, the doctor at the District Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine prescribed Lesser Chaihu Decoction.

’Luckily, Lesser Chaihu Decoction can treat conditions that are half-exterior and half-interior. It can also treat a bit of the exterior pattern, so in the end, it did help the patient sweat.’

’The fever subsided a little, but it took three days to break completely.’

’The lingering side effect was that the exterior pathogen had penetrated the interior, transforming into a Yangming pattern.’

’How could he tell it had transformed into a Yangming pattern?’

’Dry stool, difficulty with bowel movements, dry lips, and red spots on the tongue coating—these were all manifestations of interior heat.’

’A lack of tongue coating, on the other hand, was a sign of deficient stomach qi. The dry stool and dry lips were caused by a deficiency in bodily fluids.’

’The fact that he still had difficulty with bowel movements after half a month on a vegetarian diet suggested that the food he was eating wasn’t being properly converted into bodily fluids—another sign of deficient stomach qi.’

Li Xu deduced that this was caused by excessive sweating combined with diarrhea, which had led to a massive depletion of bodily fluids.

’The large intestine and the lungs are an exterior-interior pair. When the large intestine loses a large amount of fluid, it leads to a fluid deficiency in the lungs as well. The primary function of lung qi is to descend, but insufficient lung fluid causes the lung qi to rise instead of descending, which in turn triggers coughing and wheezing.’

’TCM isn’t like Western medicine, where you just treat the symptoms—a headache with a pill for the head, a foot ache with something for the foot. You can’t just see a patient wheezing, flip open the *Compendium of Materia Medica*, or even pull up a search engine to find a drug that stops wheezing.’

’In TCM, you have to figure out precisely which part of the body is causing the symptoms.’

Based on the patient’s symptoms, Li Xu theorized that the root of the problem was interior heat damaging the bodily fluids.

’Therefore, the corresponding treatment would be to clear the interior heat and replenish the lung fluids. Ma Xing Gan Shi Tang Extract Decoction was the perfect formula for this condition.’

’Almond and gypsum are both white and thus enter the lungs, replenishing their fluids. Ephedra moistens the lungs. Almond also relieves wheezing, lubricates the intestines, and promotes bowel movements. Meanwhile, baked licorice can resolve internal toxins and clear out impacted stool.’

He knew the cause, and he had a solution.

However, Li Xu didn’t dare to write the prescription.

Everything so far was his own deduction.

He didn’t have any guidance from the system’s intelligence.

Li Xu had no confidence in himself.

"Doctor Li..."

Seeing Li Xu remain silent, Wang Ruiying couldn’t help but worry. "My son doesn’t have a serious illness, does he?"

"Oh..."

Li Xu snapped out of it. "Don’t worry, his condition isn’t complicated. It’s just that I’m out of a few of the necessary herbs. I’ll restock them first thing tomorrow morning. If you come back tomorrow morning, I guarantee this medicine will have him feeling better in no time."

In the end, Li Xu decided to buy some time.

Based on past experience, the intelligence that refreshed tomorrow would definitely be related to today’s patient.

The little boy had been suffering for over half a month.

If his diagnosis was wrong, the boy would only continue to suffer.

To be on the safe side, Li Xu wanted to see the system’s intelligence before making a final decision.

"Okay."

Wang Ruiying didn’t think much of it.

She held her child and was about to leave.

"Do you have any almond milk at home?"

Li Xu asked.

"No."

Wang Ruiying shook her head. "That stuff has additives. I don’t let my son drink it."

"Go buy a can at the neighborhood market."

"Huh? Why?"

"Let the little one drink it. It might have an effect."

’Almond could both relieve wheezing and replenish lung fluids, as well as lubricate the intestines and promote bowel movements.’

’If his diagnosis was correct,’

’then the boy should show some improvement tonight after drinking the almond milk.’

"Oh."

Wang Ruiying left, feeling skeptical.

After leaving the clinic,

Wang Ruiying looked down at her drowsy son in her arms. His small face was unnaturally flushed, and a faint wheeze still rattled in his throat with each breath. Her heart ached, and she hugged him a little tighter.

As she passed the convenience store at the entrance to her residential complex, her steps faltered.

Through the glass window, she could see shelves lined with a dazzling array of drinks.

Remembering what Li Xu had said, she bit her lip, hesitating.

’How could that possibly work...’ she muttered to herself. ’Cure an illness with a soft drink?’

But she went in anyway.

At the checkout counter, the proprietress greeted her warmly. "What can I get for you?"

"A can of almond milk," Wang Ruiying said, her voice tinged with uncertainty. "The best one you have."

As she paid, the proprietress asked curiously, "Is this for your son? The weather’s been so dry lately, a little almond milk is great for moistening the lungs."

Wang Ruiying forced a smile but didn’t respond.

「Back at home.」

She twisted open the cap and coaxed her son into taking a few sips.

The almond milk tasted pretty good.

Wang Haoyu rarely drank beverages with additives like this.

He drank it down with gusto.

But Wang Ruiying was already starting to feel some regret.

’A soft drink? How could that possibly cure an illness?’

’I must be out of my mind.’

’Actually listening to Doctor Li...’

Wang Ruiying put her son to bed.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became.

She also came to a realization.

’Li Xu is completely incompetent.’

’He can’t cure my son’s illness, and he won’t even admit it.’

’Making excuses about being out of herbs...’

’Hmph.’

Lying in bed, unable to sleep, Wang Ruiying decided she would go find Aunt Li tomorrow and give her a piece of her mind.

’Aunt Li is always praising Li Xu. I can’t let her keep doing that.’

’Otherwise, more people will get their treatment delayed.’

Just as she was thinking this, a slight noise caught her attention.

Her son turned over, and—he didn’t cough!

Wang Ruiying shot up, her ears straining to listen.

Usually, after falling asleep, her son would wake himself up coughing two or three times. Sometimes she even had to hold him for him to fall back asleep.

But now, all that came from the small bed was the sound of even breathing.

She tiptoed over, switched on the nightlight, and observed him in the faint glow.

Her son was sleeping soundly, his lips slightly parted. There wasn’t even a bead of sweat on his forehead.

She couldn’t resist reaching out to feel his back—it was dry and warm, without the usual clammy night sweats.

"This..." Wang Ruiying stood frozen by the bed, unable to believe what was happening.

After a moment, Wang Ruiying quietly backed away.

She got back into bed,

but sleep wouldn’t come.

Listening to her husband’s snores,

she punched him out of frustration.

"Huh?"

Her husband woke up with a yelp of pain and asked dazedly, "What did you hit me for?"

"Hmph. Our son is sick, and you can just sleep right through it."

"Ugh," her husband said, exasperated. "He’s been sick for over half a month, and he doesn’t have a fever anymore."

Wang Ruiying couldn’t be bothered to argue. She hit him again. "Just go back to sleep. Don’t talk, or you’ll wake up our son."

Her husband: "..."

...

「That night.」

Wang Ruiying couldn’t fall asleep.

Her mind was on her son.

She was terrified that a sudden, violent coughing fit would shatter her fantasy.

But miraculously, aside from a few light coughs around three or four in the morning,

for the entire night,

her son didn’t have a single violent coughing fit.

Wang Ruiying finally drifted off into a hazy sleep.

...

「The next morning.」

Li Xu checked the system.

[Today’s Intelligence: Patient Wang Haoyu. Diagnosis: Interior heat damaging bodily fluids. Prescription: Ma Xing Gan Shi Tang Extract Decoction.]

...

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