Village Doctor's Women-Chapter 190 - 185 Cai Family Calamity

"Zou Kai?"

The first patient was surprisingly from town. He looked to be in his fifties and seemed more like a small business owner than someone who worked in the fields. His skin wasn’t particularly dark, and he wore a practiced, social smile.

Wang Jian looked down at the information on the health insurance card, a little surprised himself. After all, the town had its own hospital. Why would this man choose a more distant clinic? Could he have some difficult-to-treat illness?

"Is something wrong?"

"Doctor Wang, please take a look for me. What on earth is this problem?" The moment Zou Kai sat down, he took off his shoes to reveal his foot. There was a huge, fleshy lump on his big toe.

"Gout?" Chairman Kang recognized the signs immediately and murmured the word aloud.

"What’s gout?" Zou Kai asked, startled. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard the term, but he’d never had it himself. "Does it have anything to do with a stroke?"

Good heavens, the name of this illness was just one word off from "stroke" in Chinese, which thoroughly startled Zou Kai.

"It has nothing to do with a stroke, rest assured," Wang Jian said with a smile. "Does this hurt?"

"It hurts. Last night was the worst. Now, I’m not sure if it’s gone numb or something, but it doesn’t hurt as much as before. There’s still a dull ache, though. And this lump—it hurts the second I touch it."

Just as Zou Kai was speaking, Wang Jian touched the lump, causing the man to suck in a sharp breath. "Ow, ow, ow!"

Before he could finish, he saw Wang Jian produce a silver needle from seemingly nowhere and insert it into the top of his foot. Without any further action from Wang Jian, Zou Kai made a miraculous discovery. "It doesn’t hurt anymore? Huh? It really doesn’t hurt anymore. Even that faint, deep ache is gone."

Zou Kai stared at Wang Jian with a look of astonishment.

Wang Jian gave a slight nod. "Yes, I’ve needled an acupuncture point to block the pain in this area."

Is Chinese medicine this incredible? Zou Kai was momentarily stunned. The complete absence of pain in his foot felt unreal. But that was nothing compared to Wang Jian’s casual explanation. Chinese medicine can stop pain with a needle? Isn’t that just like the pressure-point strikes in martial arts novels?

He wasn’t the only one shocked. Chairman Kang, the top student beside him, was even more surprised. As far as he knew, Acupuncture could suppress pain, but it shouldn’t have an anesthetic effect.

Chairman Kang asked softly, "It doesn’t hurt at all?"

Zou Kai glanced at Chairman Kang. He remembered Li Dayu’s introduction in the group chat: this young-looking man was the talented medical student Doctor Wang had brought back from the Capital City—a prominent figure. Even the City Hospital didn’t have someone of this caliber. This made him even more grateful that he had come to this village clinic instead of making the trek to the city.

"No, it really doesn’t hurt at all," Zou Kai said softly. He even wiggled his toes, demonstrating that aside from the pain being gone, his mobility was unaffected.

"How amazing!" Zou Kai exclaimed.

It truly is amazing. Chairman Kang nodded silently, staring at Zou Kai’s constantly wiggling toes, trying to figure out the mechanism. But no matter how hard he looked, he found nothing. He even recognized the acupuncture point Wang Jian had used but had never heard of it having such a powerful effect.

If it were me—no, even if it were my grandfather—the most we could do is suppress the sensation of pain. We could never eliminate it completely. I originally thought it was an anesthetic effect, but I didn’t expect it to leave his motor functions completely unimpaired... That makes this whole Acupuncture procedure even more miraculous.

Chairman Kang attributed it all to the Qi that Wang Jian had mentioned. But his sharp eyes noticed something else: the silver needle was trembling slightly. This was a needle manipulation technique he had never seen before.

He glanced at Wang Jian, who was preparing some instruments, clearly intending to proceed. Chairman Kang watched even more intently, the man before him growing more mysterious by the second.

It turns out there’s so much more to learn besides Qi Cultivation. No wonder my professor wanted me to follow him. This method of practicing medicine could truly change things.

The last remnants of doubt and confusion in Chairman Kang’s mind vanished, replaced by a new, firm resolve. He watched Wang Jian’s every move, terrified of missing something important.

Wang Jian, however, paid no mind to what Chairman Kang was thinking. He simply finished preparing a scalpel and materials for disinfection and bandaging. He then felt the affected area, using his Qi to confirm the position of the gout stone. After locating it, he dabbed the area and a five-centimeter radius around it with iodine for a simple disinfection. Then, he used the scalpel to make a small, few-millimeter incision over the lump.

"Gout is caused by an excess of uric acid in the body," Wang Jian explained to Zou Kai while squeezing out the gout stone’s crystalline deposits. "You especially need to avoid seafood, meat, and most importantly, alcohol. During fermentation, alcohol uses up a lot of the body’s water and produces a large amount of purines. The more purines in your system, the more uric acid is produced during metabolism. Alcohol also stimulates the liver to produce uric acid, all of which increases the incidence of gout and the harm it does to your body."

"A stroke is completely different, so you can rest easy on that front. However, while gout isn’t as severe as a stroke, it’s excruciating. It often causes sudden joint pain at night, and the affected area can become red, swollen, and inflamed, just like yours. The intense pain may not last long, gradually weakening or even disappearing, but a flare-up can linger for days or even weeks..."

Zou Kai winced. Even though Wang Jian had blocked the pain, watching the deposits being squeezed from his toe and listening to the description gave him a phantom sense of agony.

He took the opportunity to ask, "So, can this be cured?"

"Yes," Wang Jian nodded. He looked up at Zou Kai and said, "But you’ll have to quit drinking. If you keep drinking, these things will start growing in all your joints. It’ll torture you to death."

"Quit drinking, huh?" Zou Kai clicked his tongue repeatedly. He nodded, but he couldn’t bring himself to commit mentally.

Seeing his expression, Wang Jian knew what he was thinking. A doctor’s job isn’t just to treat the illness but also to tend to the patient’s psychology. In the heyday of Chinese medicine, there was a saying that illness begins in the mind, so Wang Jian couldn’t ignore this aspect.

He tried to persuade him further. "Actually, from the moment you walked in, I could tell which direction your health problems were heading. Right now, it’s just gout, but look at your complexion and the color of your tongue—they’re already different from a healthy person’s."

"While I was examining you just now, I also took the chance to probe your general condition, and it confirmed my suspicions. If you don’t quit drinking, your liver and blood vessels will be next."

"From now on, you not only have to quit alcohol, but you also have to eat less meat and avoid seafood entirely. If you can, it would be best to cut out fermented foods and soft drinks as well..." Wang Jian shook his head. Seeing Zou Kai was still wavering, he spoke more sternly, "Since you came to me for treatment, I have to say what needs to be said. Judging by your demeanor, you likely have a lot of social engagements for your business, which is why I’m being so insistent. I’d rather not have you return because of liver disease."

"It’s that serious?" Zou Kai was shocked and nodded immediately, promising he would follow the advice.

However, the look of hesitation on his face didn’t escape Wang Jian’s notice.

The liver is one of the body’s most vital organs. If a person’s liver fails, it triggers a cascade of other problems. That’s when an illness truly strikes like an avalanche. By then, no matter how skilled I am, there would probably be nothing I could do. Unless I were a genuine practitioner of Immortal Cultivation from a novel, only then might a cure be possible.

It was for this reason he had pressed the issue. As for whether Zou Kai would actually listen, that was out of his hands.

After sending Zou Kai on his way, Wang Jian answered some of Chairman Kang’s questions as promised. Gout wasn’t a major illness, so there wasn’t much more to discuss.

Just then, his phone rang. It was a call from Cai Qiong.

Seeing her name on the screen, Wang Jian felt a pang of guilt. He had promised to call her after he got home but had forgotten all about it during dinner. Seeing her call now, he suddenly remembered and quickly answered.

"Hello, Cai Qiong? I’m so sorry, things got busy here and it completely slipped my mind..."

Wang Jian started with an apology, but the voice that came from the other end was Cai Qiong’s, choked with sobs.

"Wang Jian... get here, quickly! My dad... he’s dying... Please, you have to come take a look!"

"What?"