Village Doctor's Women-Chapter 143 - 138 Intracranial Hematoma
Wang Jian glanced at the nearby terrain.
In these mountains, paths like the one at the entrance to Paigou Village were common. The village entrance was a mountain road that wound around a small hill. Beside the road was a ditch, one to two meters deep, its sides overgrown with weeds. It was because of this ditch that Grandpa Yu hadn’t been seriously injured in his fall.
However, Grandpa Yu’s current state didn’t look like the result of a simple tumble.
As Wang Jian drew closer, he immediately sensed the man’s internal condition. In his eyes, Grandpa Yu was less a physical body and more a human-shaped model of flowing Qi. For the most part, the Qi in Grandpa Yu’s body was unremarkable, aside from the general frailty common in the elderly. Only the areas around his injured elbow and shin seemed peculiar. Still, a mere fracture and some scrapes shouldn’t have left him like this.
So, Wang Jian focused his attention on Grandpa Yu’s head.
Li Dayu, oblivious that Wang Jian’s diagnosis had already begun, was busy clearing the area. "Excuse me, everyone, please make some room! Xiao Jian is here," he called out. "Let him take a look. Everybody back up a bit and don’t block the road."
At Li Dayu’s request, the crowd parted, clearing a path. But when they looked at Wang Jian, their faces filled with confusion. Even with a clear path, he made no move, simply watching from the side. He was staring intently... It was a strange sight. The surrounding villagers exchanged puzzled glances.
Peng Qing, who was also in the crowd, found the scene equally odd. "What is he doing?" he wondered. He knew that Chinese medicine involved the four diagnostic methods of looking, listening, asking, and palpation, but was it necessary to stare for so long?
While everyone was baffled, Li Dayu finally asked, "What are you looking at? Are you missing some equipment?"
Since Wang Jian had only come with a needle pouch and nothing else, Li Dayu’s question was reasonable. Wang Jian shook his head without a word and, under the skeptical gazes of the crowd, walked directly to Grandpa Yu’s side. With no other visible examination, he began speaking as he unrolled his needle pouch.
"What are you doing...?" Li Dayu blurted out, taken aback. Although he no longer doubted Wang Jian’s medical skills, he panicked when he saw Wang Jian preparing to use the needles without so much as taking a pulse. "Why are you jumping straight to the needles?"
Wang Jian just turned and smiled. "Don’t worry."
"Grandpa Yu, can you hear me?" Wang Jian asked, turning to the old man. Grandpa Yu’s eyes flickered toward the sound, but he otherwise remained motionless. This was within Wang Jian’s expectations. He immediately took out a needle and inserted it between Grandpa Yu’s eyebrows.
A soft gasp rippled through the onlookers. Before anyone could say more, the crowd fell silent. The placement of the first needle was frightening enough, but it was the next one that truly stunned everyone into silence.
But soon, quiet whispers started to spread.
"What acupoint is that?"
"Using such a long needle, right on top of his head..."
"That needle must be a span long!"
"Won’t that damage his brain?"
"How brutal."
"He just took a fall, why needle his head?"
"Yeah, I thought Lao Yu only hurt his arm and leg."
"If something goes wrong, who’s responsible?"
"Has Lao Yu’s son arrived yet?"
"So reckless. He’s just too young."
As the villagers murmured, Wang Jian inserted five needles into Grandpa Yu. Three of them were in baffling locations: besides the one between his eyebrows and the one on the crown of his head, another was placed at his temple. Only the last two were in more conventional spots—one in the webbing of his hand and the other on his shin.
Wang Jian still had a silver needle in hand, preparing to place another, when the roar of a motorcycle broke the silence and a man came running over.
"Hey!" he roared. "You son of a bitch! What the hell do you think you’re doing?"
A thick, strong hand clamped down on Wang Jian’s arm, preventing him from placing the needle. Worse, the man was spewing profanities. Wang Jian turned to see a large, bearded face as the reek of alcohol washed over him. It’s rare to see someone so drunk in broad daylight. No wonder he’s so aggressive. Wang Jian frowned as the man spoke again.
"Who told you that you could stick needles in the old man? Did you ask me?"
Wang Jian recognized him. It was Grandpa Yu’s son, Yu Yan, a notorious village idler who was rarely home and whose activities were a mystery to everyone. That was Wang Jian’s old impression of him, and it seemed that after all these years, nothing had improved.
With every word Yu Yan spoke, a fresh wave of alcohol stench hit Wang Jian. Combined with the fact that his arm was being held, Wang Jian, whose nose was already sensitive, found it unbearable. Annoyed, he flicked his wrist, sending Yu Yan stumbling back several steps.
None of the surrounding villagers moved to help Yu Yan. In fact, they collectively frowned and shuffled away, as if afraid of being associated with him. Wang Jian saw it clearly; even the people who had just been asking where Yu Yan was now wore looks of disgust. It was obvious that Yu Yan hadn’t changed a bit over the years.
Drunk and caught off guard, Yu Yan almost fell. He was stunned. He had grabbed Wang Jian with considerable force, and Wang Jian was shorter and much slimmer than him. He couldn’t understand how he’d been thrown back so easily. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that this kid had dared to push him.
Just a moment ago, he had recognized Wang Jian. "Wang Jian, are you tired of living? How dare you lay a hand on me?" 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
Fueled by alcohol, Yu Yan no longer cared about the needles. Wang Jian had made him lose face.
He rolled up his sleeves and stalked forward, shouting, "I’ll beat you to death!"
Standing over 1.8 meters tall with a brawny build, Yu Yan, bolstered by his drunken rage, was certainly an intimidating figure.
The onlookers’ faces drained of color. Seeing things were getting out of hand, Li Dayu, the village chief, wanted to intervene as was his duty. He called out to Yu Yan, but the man ignored him completely. Given his plump physique, Li Dayu didn’t dare to physically step in.
The other villagers were the same. Even their chatter died down as they stared, as if already picturing Wang Jian getting thrashed. Some even wore pitiful expressions, but no one stepped forward.
Peng Qing, however, frowned and whispered something to the Black man beside him. Whatever happened, Wang Jian couldn’t get hurt before treating his son.
The Black man nodded and was about to move, but he froze.
Wang Jian seemed completely unfazed by Yu Yan’s posturing, his expression calm. When Yu Yan rolled up his sleeves, balled his fist, and threw a punch, Wang Jian simply raised a hand and caught it. No matter how Yu Yan struggled, he couldn’t break free.
The hefty man strained, veins bulging on his forehead, but he couldn’t free his hand. When Wang Jian applied more pressure, Yu Yan cried out in pain, the alcohol-fueled haze in his mind clearing by half.
Li Dayu glanced from Wang Jian to Yu Yan. Good heavens. If he didn’t know what a scoundrel Yu Yan was, he might have thought they were putting on an act. This scene reminded him of the poacher incident. Wang Jian surviving that encounter with those two thugs probably wasn’t just a fluke.
"Don’t move," Wang Jian said coolly. He twisted Yu Yan’s wrist, pinching the webbing of his hand and flipping his palm up. Hearing Yu Yan yelp in pain, he added, "Move again, and I’ll break your hand."
"HISS! Alright, alright, I won’t move! Let go," Yu Yan pleaded, grimacing in pain. "Let go, and I won’t blame you for needling my dad." Only now did he remember his father.
A strange expression crossed Wang Jian’s face. He had already noticed that Yu Yan had a liver problem; the whites of his eyes were slightly yellow, and the Qi of his internal organs was faint, particularly around the liver. It was clearly failing. Knowing this, Wang Jian said nothing and didn’t release his grip. He continued, "Your dad fell into a ditch and has a minor fracture in his lower leg. He’s old and has osteoporosis, so you should give him some calcium supplements later on. But the fracture isn’t the main issue. Your father is disoriented because he hit his head. There’s a blood clot in his brain pressing on his nerves. That’s why he can receive information but can’t respond to it. If we don’t treat it immediately, he could have a stroke and develop dementia. In the worst-case scenario, he could die.
"If you still want to fight, I can play along. But your father doesn’t have that kind of time.
"It’s up to you. Do I continue the treatment or not?"
After speaking, Wang Jian looked at the stunned Yu Yan and finally released his hand. He didn’t touch the needles again. Instead, he simply straightened his clothes and waited for Yu Yan’s decision.
"A blood clot?"
Hearing those words, the last of Yu Yan’s drunkenness vanished. His mouth went dry as he mulled over what Wang Jian had said.
