Village Doctor's Women-Chapter 91 - 87 This is poisoning

"This is poisoning."

"Poisoning?"

The word sent a jolt through Zhao Chunyang, shattering his brief moment of calm. "How could it be poisoning?"

"Why not?" Wang Jian countered. "Your blood work is mostly normal, but your white blood cell count is slightly elevated. Since you don’t have any inflammation, we have to look for other causes."

Waving a stack of test results, including an MRI scan, Wang Jian continued, "Apart from the blood work, everything else is perfectly normal. So, naturally, I started considering other possibilities."

"Then I noticed a scratch on your arm, about an inch long. Although it’s just a faint mark now, its color is slightly different from the surrounding skin. That made me wonder if this wound was the source of the problem."

Zhao Chunyang stared at the scratch Wang Jian had indicated, his mouth agape. That’s an incredibly detailed observation. It was so faint that if Wang Jian hadn’t pointed it out, he would have forgotten its exact location. Now he could see the faint line there. A normal person wouldn’t see that, right?

It wasn’t just him; Li Dayu was also squinting at the mark. His age was catching up, and with his eyesight starting to go, it took him a long moment to make out the faint white line that was indeed a different shade from the surrounding skin.

"Lao Zhao, you haven’t worked in the fields for many years, huh," Li Dayu teased. "Your skin has gotten paler. If Xiao Jian hadn’t pointed it out, I never would’ve noticed you had a cut."

Zhao Chunyang shot him a look, retorting irritably, "I’ve been the village secretary for years. You of all people should know that."

"That’s not a great attitude," Li Dayu chuckled. The two had been close friends since they were children, so a few sarcastic remarks meant nothing. "If it weren’t for Xiao Jian’s impressive Medical Skills, you might never have known what was wrong with you. If you’d waited to figure it out yourself, it could’ve become a huge problem."

Although Zhao Chunyang found Li Dayu’s words unpleasant, he knew they were true. To be honest, he had been skeptical before he arrived. Even with a specialist’s recommendation, Wang Jian was a stranger—and a recent graduate at that. Could he really be trusted?

But now, after the diagnosis, Zhao Chunyang was mostly convinced. Wang Jian hadn’t even written a prescription yet, but he already felt assured that the diagnosis was correct.

However, Wang Jian’s next words were anything but reassuring. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Your pulse also confirms my speculation. The poison isn’t very potent. If it were a younger person, their metabolism probably would have cleared it already. You..."

Wang Jian paused, a flicker of surprise on his face. "Wait, I might have been wrong about something."

After that, he fell into deep thought. The constant reversals left Zhao Chunyang feeling like he was on an emotional roller coaster, and it was becoming unbearable.

Wang Jian was pondering a peculiar point. Given Zhao Chunyang’s age, even with a slower metabolism than a young man, a month should have been enough time to flush out such a toxin. For Secretary Zhao to suddenly show symptoms now pointed to two possibilities. One, the poison was incredibly potent and had seeped deep into his body—in modern terms, it had infiltrated his vital organs, making it impossible to clear through metabolism alone. The second possibility was that after being expelled, the poison was being continuously re-administered, a chronic toxin slowly accumulating to its current level.

Neither scenario was good. Wang Jian could use Acupuncture to stimulate Zhao Chunyang’s bodily functions and help his liver and gallbladder detoxify, but if a month wasn’t enough to clear it, it was more than just a metabolic issue; an antidote was necessary. And if the poison was being continually administered, this was no longer just a medical issue. It might even require police involvement.

He needed to confirm the diagnosis.

Wang Jian briefly explained the two possibilities. Cai Qiong’s expression showed she’d reached the same conclusion, but both doctors had the tacit understanding not to elaborate. Some things shouldn’t be said without absolute certainty.

"So, what’s the treatment for my condition?" Zhao Chunyang asked.

"An antidote," Wang Jian said. "There’s an herb in the mountains here that should neutralize the poison."

"It’s not typically used for common ailments, which is why it wasn’t in the supply of medicines the Cais provided me."

"I’ll have to go into the mountains to gather it myself."

"But first, I’ll use Acupuncture to stimulate your body’s functions and begin the detoxification. This will also help me confirm the severity of the poisoning."

With that, Wang Jian rolled up his sleeves and took out a brand-new set of silver needles. It was the first time anyone had seen him use a completely new set; if Xiao Yu had been there, she would have found it odd.

Wang Jian didn’t perform any special flourishes, so the three people present didn’t notice anything unusual.

"Alright, lift your shirt. I need to see your chest."

Lao Zhao didn’t hesitate, pulling his shirt up. If there hadn’t been a woman in the room, he probably would have stripped it off completely. Not that it made much of a difference now, but it was the thought that counted.

Wang Jian’s hands were a blur. Through Cai Qiong’s camera lens, they were just streaks of motion. Before any of the three onlookers could fully register what was happening, five silver needles were already positioned at various points on Zhao Chunyang’s chest.

Li Dayu was left speechless. Even though he knew nothing about medicine, he was awestruck by Wang Jian’s skill.

So Wang Jian really is this incredible.

Li Dayu smacked his lips. For the first time, he felt like Paigou Village had truly struck gold with Wang Jian, a feeling that went beyond his previous, purely profit-driven partnership mindset. Even without the backing of the Cais, he knew he wouldn’t regret turning his house into the village clinic.

Yet what happened next made Li Dayu’s eyes go wide. Wang Jian simply held his palms level and swept them over the ends of the silver needles. Instantly, the needles began to tremble.

That wasn’t even the most astonishing part. Li Dayu watched as the silver needles began to turn black, as if they were drawing some dark substance out from under the skin and reacting with it. This was no exaggeration; the sight was genuinely shocking.

After this, Wang Jian calmly retrieved a trash can and placed it directly in front of Zhao Chunyang. Just as Li Dayu was wondering what was happening, Zhao Chunyang’s brow furrowed... and he retched. He immediately bent over and began to vomit violently.

The room quickly filled with a sour, rancid smell. Li Dayu frowned, but he also noticed something strange: mixed in with the sourness was a deeply foul stench.

"Geez, Lao Zhao, what on earth did you eat? How can it be so foul?" If he weren’t trying to spare Lao Zhao’s feelings, Li Dayu would have compared the smell to an outhouse, but he held his tongue.

He even noticed the vomit itself was blackened. Recalling what Wang Jian had said about poisoning, Li Dayu shot a look of utter shock at the young doctor; until this moment, he had been harboring some doubts. The events unfolding before him seemed almost surreal. If Wang Jian claimed he was cured right now, I’d probably believe him.

At this point, Zhao Chunyang himself was terrified by his own vomit, far too busy heaving to answer Li Dayu. What could I have eaten? It was just the usual home-cooked meals from my family. Why would it come out black and smell so terrible? I have no idea. From that moment on, he knew he had completely lost his appetite for the food at home.

Recording from the sidelines, Cai Qiong didn’t dare miss a single detail. She had come to film Wang Jian’s methods, but she found her attention irresistibly drawn to the treatment process itself. The camera’s focus shifted from Wang Jian to Zhao Chunyang’s reaction. In all my years of studying medicine, this is the first time I’ve ever seen a treatment like this. It’s almost mystical. If he’d started burning paper talismans and praying, I might have mistaken it for some kind of shamanism.

Once the retching subsided, a look of profound relief washed over Zhao Chunyang’s face. He felt an incredible sense of ease, like a man finally finding relief after being constipated for days. It was a look Li Dayu understood perfectly. If nothing else, it proved that Wang Jian’s treatment was working.

"Alright," Wang Jian said. "It seems my judgment was correct. This is definitely poisoning. We’ve started detoxifying your body, but it’s far from purged. You have a lot of accumulated toxins, and it will be difficult to cleanse them completely without the help of herbs."

"Wait here at the clinic. I’ll take advantage of the remaining daylight and go into the mountains to find the herb. If I remember correctly, the old forest behind the mountain should have what I need. I saw it there years ago when I was a kid, hunting for wild boar."

Wang Jian looked at Li Dayu. "I’ll have to trouble you, Village Chief, to look after him. I’m leaving now."

Seeing Wang Jian’s proactive attitude, Zhao Chunyang was overcome with gratitude. If the doctor hadn’t been in such a rush to get to the mountain for the herbs, Zhao Chunyang might have tried to pull him into a hug and declare him family right then and there.

As Wang Jian left, Cai Qiong grabbed her camera and hurried after him, her face alight with excitement.

"Wang Jian, are you really going up the mountain?"

Wang Jian nodded, his pace never slowing. Cai Qiong had to jog to keep up with him. Noticing her excitement, Wang Jian guessed the reason. "Have you never been into the deep mountains before?"

"I’ve climbed mountains, but not like these," Cai Qiong said, pursing her lips. "And I’ve never seen anyone actually forage for medicinal herbs. It’s not the same at all, is it?"

"This trip into the mountains could be dangerous. You’d be better off not following," Wang Jian warned. He wasn’t heading to the same area where he had met Cai Xing, but much deeper into the forest where wild beasts were known to roam.

But Cai Qiong, a natural thrill-seeker who feared little, completely ignored his advice and changed the subject. Focusing her lens on Wang Jian’s profile, she asked, "What kind of poison did Secretary Zhao have in his system?"