Taoist Doctor - Chapter 13

The patients outside were actually all introduced by  Lao Zhao. Most of them were his colleagues, and some were employees from other units within the same park as his company; they all knew each other.

 

Wu Shen Yu and  Lao Zhao’s couple were both receiving treatment from Zhou Jinyuan. Wu Shen Yu’s treatment was going well, with his sleep quality improving day by day. Besides Zhou Jinyuan’s acupuncture, it was also because his underlying condition was improving.

 

After using the Invincible Hair Growth Elixir,  Lao Zhao indeed started experiencing reduced hair loss within three doses until it normalized. While the hair growth effect wasn’t instant, it had begun to show signs of effectiveness.

 

Hair loss has increasingly become a serious issue for contemporary people, which is statistically supported. Generally, young and middle-aged people have a high desire for treatment, whereas elderly people, having been bald for a long time, show little interest in treating it.

 

 Lao Zhao’s profession had a predominantly young workforce, with many colleagues recommending hair loss products to each other.

 

After noticing significant results,  Lao Zhao not only recommended it to his colleagues but also mentioned it in a leadership group within the industrial park where his company was located.

 

“Invincible Hair Growth Elixir?? Zhao, are you short of money lately?” someone joked.

 

“At first, I was skeptical about this name too…”  Lao Zhao started telling the story.

 

They were introduced to treat insomnia through a friend and were asked to register on-site, and incidentally treat hair loss. With such a compelling story and real-life examples from his own head, the advertisement effect was naturally excellent.

 

Patients were straightforward, like Vice President Xiao who, seeing Zhou Jinyuan cure his mother’s hiccups, recommended him to try curing President Huang’s father’s hiccups. Seeing his hair loss stop,  Lao Zhao recommended everyone to go to Zhou Jinyuan for hair loss treatment.

 

The number of hair loss patients was significantly larger than those with persistent hiccups. The word spread quickly, especially in the industrial park with many internet companies, to the extent that even people without hair loss heard the story.

 

 Lao Zhao’s company programmers were particularly excited: “Charge ahead! Finally, a chance to use the same product as Zhao!”

 

——That Invincible Hair Growth Elixir apparently only cost Zhao a couple of hundred yuan.

 

“I don’t care; having the same primary doctor as Zhao is bound to bring good fortune!”

 

“Maybe it’ll even fix the bugs.”

 

Some people from branch offices in other regions even asked, “Can we ship the doctor over or send our bald heads to the hospital?”

 

A small number of them booked appointments, quickly filling up Zhou Jinyuan’s slots.

 

Thus, that afternoon, Zhou Jinyuan received more patients than ever before!

 

…

 

After a brief shock, Zhou Jinyuan silently began calling out numbers. He had guessed that these people might have come because of his growing reputation.

 

In recent days, he had only seen a handful of patients, so it was clear who had been spreading the word.

 

He had developed the Invincible Hair Growth Elixir back in his hometown of Yingzhou. At that time, he didn’t have many bald patients, and he made it upon the request of a few old patients, giving it a quirky name.

 

Who knew that moving to Haizhou City would open up opportunities for him instead? It’s probably due to the higher life pressure in Haizhou compared to Yingzhou, resulting in a larger base of potential patients.

 

Liu Qi, observing on the side, clicked his tongue in amazement. A true master indeed; he opened up the market so quickly, having barely warmed the bench for a few days, and now bald patients flocked like clouds.

 

As soon as Zhou Jinyuan called a number, four or five young men entered, with varying degrees of hair loss.

 

“Doctor, we all booked our appointments together, and we all know each other, so we came in together. Is that okay?” someone asked.

 

“No problem,” Zhou Jinyuan began the consultations.

 

When he asked about their occupations, one of them chuckled, “We’re all in a high-risk profession for hair loss, programmers.”

 

Zhou Jinyuan nodded, having heard of this many times.

 

Among these young men, some had patchy baldness, while others had seborrheic hair loss. After analyzing each person’s symptoms, Zhou Jinyuan prescribed the Invincible Hair Growth Elixir, with slight modifications based on individual conditions.

 

The formula he devised was broadly applicable, and these cases fell within its scope. The prescription included various traditional Chinese herbs like raw rehmannia, cooked rehmannia, safflower, and eclipta, with a high cure rate. It was one of his most satisfactory works.

 

Liu Qi observed and learned how Zhou Jinyuan made adjustments. He himself seldom created custom prescriptions, mostly relying on established formulas. Creating a broadly applicable and effective prescription was even more challenging.

 

…

 

After these five left, the next patient was a solo young man with thin hair and visible scalp, with a precarious hairline.

 

As he sat down, Zhou Jinyuan joked during the consultation, “You wouldn’t happen to be a programmer too, would you?”

 

The young man was startled and then laughed openly, “Were the previous ones programmers? No wonder.”

 

“What’s your profession?”

 

“I write online novels,” the young man replied. “I’ve seen other doctors who suggested it might be due to stress. I think so too; the pressure to update is quite high.”

 

Zhou Jinyuan was surprised. He occasionally read novels online but hadn’t thought that authors could experience hair loss because of it.

 

Seemingly recalling something, the young man added, “I came here because of your reputation. Someone in my editor’s company park said you have miraculous results for hair loss. My editor also booked an appointment for tomorrow.”

 

“…” Zhou Jinyuan was speechless. He took the young man’s pulse and, even before starting, felt his hand and said, “Hmm, let’s do two more needles.”

 

The young man was puzzled, “Isn’t there a special medicine?”

 

Zhou Jinyuan pressed on his thenar eminence, “Doesn’t this area hurt?”

 

“Ahhh!” The young man felt an extremely sore and swollen sensation, almost bringing tears to his eyes, and exclaimed, “Yes, yes, exactly here…”

 

He used his hands frequently, and they did indeed hurt often.

 

Not only him, but some of those programmers even had tendonitis.

 

But surprisingly, while it hurt when Zhou Jinyuan pressed down, it felt a bit relieved after some massaging. The young man was pleased, not expecting to get an unexpected benefit while treating his hair loss.

 

…

 

“Patient number 07, please go to consultation room number 6.”

 

This time, a girl walked in, probably just in her early twenties. Her short hair was already thin and soft, and due to hair loss, it looked even worse.

 

The patients he saw today were indeed quite young, each one younger than the last.

 

“Age?”

 

“Twenty-two.”

 

“Occupation?”

 

“Online writer… Sigh, doctor, is there any cure for this? I feel so bald!”

 

Zhou Jinyuan glanced at her and encouraged, “Yes, there is. The previous patient was also a writer, and your condition is much better than his!”

 

The girl chuckled, “I write for the female audience, so my updates are a bit fewer.”

 

Zhou Jinyuan: “…”

 

No wonder when  Lao Zhao spread the word, his appointments got fully booked. The hair loss crisis among contemporary young people seems really serious!

 

…

 

The Invincible Hair Growth Elixir, a name that sounded extremely unreliable, akin to some quack selling fake remedies, quietly spread among young and middle-aged hair loss patients in Haizhou City.

 

Initially, it was just a small group, everyone taking the elixir, discussing the dosage, taste, and effectiveness.

 

And because the name Invincible Hair Growth Elixir was so catchy, even if some patients didn’t get that specific medicine from Zhou Jinyuan, but something else that worked quickly, they would still secretly call it “Invincible Hair Growth Elixir.”

 

“My Invincible Hair Growth Elixir is so bitter! It makes me cry!”

 

“Well, mine isn’t that bitter. I told Dr. Zhou I couldn’t handle bitter tastes, so he added something to balance it, hehe.”

 

“Can he do that?”

 

“Yeah, and after just two days, my hair loss has decreased to almost normal levels.”

 

“Same here… Look at my temples, there’s even fuzz growing back where it used to be bare. The Invincible Hair Growth Elixir really works!”

 

Passersby were shocked, “Are you guys taking some weird drug? Invincible Hair Growth Elixir? Is it sold by some MLM?”

 

“No way, it was recommended by people from the company next door, prescribed by the Traditional Chinese Medicine department in a top-tier hospital! It really works!”

 

“Really…?”

 

“Well, you can’t doubt it just because the name sounds flashy.”

 

“Wake up, the name isn’t just flashy, it sounds like a scam.”

 

But, with the effectiveness being evident and coming from a top-tier hospital, it’s hard for friends, relatives, and colleagues with similar problems not to want to give it a try.

 

Why not book an appointment and see for yourself?

 

When these people arrive on-site, they gain even more confidence.

 

Because of the quick results and good reputation, within a few days, Zhou Jinyuan was almost exclusively treating hair loss patients, with the waiting area constantly filled with various types of baldness. Someone who didn’t know better might even think this was the dermatology department—hair loss problems are usually treated there.

 

This naturally creates a mentality of “everyone’s doing it, so it must be right,” leading people to book appointments without hesitation.

 

…

 

Since many of the initial patients were young, especially those from the internet industry, who are active on new media, the promotion and spread were highly effective and far-reaching.

 

The main reason was that Zhou Jinyuan’s treatment was both fast and effective. While new hair growth required time, stopping hair loss usually showed results in just a few doses unless the case was particularly special.

 

In a short time, Zhou Jinyuan became somewhat famous among young people suffering from hair loss.

 

As a result, within less than a month, Zhou Jinyuan’s number of consultations skyrocketed to the highest in the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) department. With limited appointment slots and many patients, he even needed to add extra slots, truly experiencing the urgent desire of young and middle-aged patients for treatment!

 

Previously, the TCM department at the Third Hospital had an average number of consultations compared to other TCM departments and hospitals in the city. They didn’t even have inpatient beds, so their popularity was not high—one could even say it was rather deserted.

 

The senior doctors had some regular patients accumulated over the years, and occasionally, during events or holidays, their appointment slots might fill up.

 

Next door in the Rehabilitation Department, there were many TCM rehabilitation programs, attracting more people for treatments like massage and acupuncture for neck and back issues.

 

But within less than a month of joining, Zhou Jinyuan’s consultation volume seemed to leap from single digits to pulling up the department’s average!

 

Since people started coming in groups for treatment, there were daily appointments. As the effectiveness spread, the situation became even more exaggerated, with his slots sometimes fully booked.

 

Other doctors also saw an increase in hair loss patients, likely because some patients who couldn’t get an appointment with Zhou Jinyuan would try other doctors.

 

Particularly Liu Qi, who shared the same consultation room with Zhou Jinyuan, found himself treating hair loss patients daily, quickly accumulating a lot of experience in this area…

 

Seeing this, Zhou Jinyuan shared his prescription with the other doctors and explained its applications.

 

Other doctors were fine with this, but Dr. Mao smiled slightly upon seeing the prescription: “I also have effective treatments for hair loss, which I can share with everyone. Indeed, many hair loss patients have come recently, and I have been prescribing them my treatment.”

 

As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed everyone’s eyes were focused on his thinning hair.

 

Dr. Mao: “…This is hereditary!”

 

Despite his words, Dr. Mao’s credibility was immediately halved due to his own condition.

 

Feeling a bit frustrated, Dr. Mao didn’t expect that young Zhou, skilled in acupuncture, could not only treat hiccups and insomnia but also have good prescriptions for hair loss, surpassing him in consultation numbers.

 

Sigh, it’s not that Mao Zhengyi is ineffective; it’s that the large population of hair loss sufferers is supporting young Zhou!

 

…

 

Regardless, Zhou Jinyuan not only increased his own consultation volume but also raised the entire department’s volume, although hair loss cases made up a significant portion.

 

Previously, the consultation numbers were average, but by the end of the month, the statistics showed a threefold increase compared to the previous month…

 

Those doctors who usually had low consultation numbers, especially resident doctors, were overjoyed as their experience points soared!

 

Due to the nature of TCM and the lack of specific divisions in the TCM department at the Third Hospital—unlike specialized TCM internal or gynecology departments—doctors could check for other diseases while treating hair loss patients, recommending treatments and creating a virtuous cycle.

 

Of course, most cases were still related to hair loss.

 

With the demand there, doctors had to carefully study Zhou Jinyuan’s prescription, adjusting doses and ingredients for patients. Cases outside the scope of his prescription required new formulations, enhancing their skills significantly.

 

Even during lunchtime discussions, doctors often shared solutions for their hair loss cases.

 

“Invincible Hair Growth Elixir” had become more than just a single prescription; it was a general term for the TCM department’s anti-hair loss treatments.

 

With such fervent activity, a new nickname emerged for the department over time—”The Hair Loss Department.”

 

Not only did other departments call them this jokingly, but sometimes even the TCM doctors themselves would humorously refer to it.

 

…

 

Increased consultation numbers and growing reputation were undoubtedly positive outcomes. Previously, the TCM department at the Third Hospital was obscure both within the hospital and the city.

 

Xie Min was stunned by the data. She had anticipated that with Zhou Jinyuan’s skills in the burning mountain fire needle technique, the midnight-noon ebb-flow acupuncture method, or his massage skills, his reputation would grow over time, potentially making him a golden asset for the TCM department.

 

But she never expected that Zhou Jinyuan might make the TCM department’s anti-hair loss treatments the golden asset of the Third Hospital…

 

TCM – Traditional Chinese Medicine