Taoist Doctor - Chapter 15

Jinyang Town, Haizhou City

 

“I’m telling you, go to San Hospital, you can’t go wrong. Last time they said I had ‘colliding guests’. I drank three catties of my shaman’s talisman water, but it didn’t work. It was only after I went to the traditional Chinese medicine department at San Hospital, there was a young doctor who gave me a needle in both hands, and I immediately felt better!”

 

A middle-aged man danced under the shade of a tree, spitting as he spoke, “Do you know how much it cost? Just over ten bucks, not even as much as the bus fare. Dunzi, how much did you spend at the shaman’s place?”

 

The person he called “Dunzi” didn’t speak, or rather, couldn’t speak at all.

 

Dunzi’s wife said beside him, “Can it really be cured with so little? And our Dunzi really collided with guests, you don’t know our situation…”

 

There were other bystanders nearby, whispering to each other.

 

Jinyang Town wasn’t big, and many people in the town knew about Dunzi’s situation.

 

Dunzi’s mother had a bad temper. When she was alive, she often had conflicts with her children, especially because she favored her youngest son, which caused a lot of resentment towards Dunzi, her eldest son.

 

So, she quarreled with others, cursed her children before hanging herself on the old hanging ridge, blaming her sons for not venting her anger, saying they all caused her death and she wouldn’t spare anyone even in death.

 

Everyone said Dunzi’s mother was narrow-minded and held grudges. So, when she was buried, Dunzi’s uncle complained at the funeral, especially about Dunzi. Dunzi got into an argument with his uncle at the time, then suddenly couldn’t speak.

 

For a while, the whole family was terrified, believing it was Dunzi’s mother’s revenge.

 

Now, all the families were united in showing filial piety, burning a lot of paper money and paper horses, hoping she would spare them.

 

But Dunzi, the only one affected, was unfortunate. Shamans from all over the place tried to help, but even now, Dunzi couldn’t speak. Dunzi’s wife was so angry that she cried and scolded her mother-in-law at the door of their house all night, saying she bullied honest people even after death.

 

However, unlike the other person in town who had ‘stuck tongue’ disease, where his tongue couldn’t retract, Dunzi couldn’t speak, and his tongue couldn’t even protrude from his mouth.

 

It was said that his tongue was seized by his dead mother.

 

The rumors were vividly described, with even postures, and some people solemnly claimed to have vaguely seen Dunzi’s mother riding on his neck, gripping his tongue with one hand.

 

Dunzi continued to open his mouth silently, eager to say, “Wow, if just two needles can cure ‘stuck tongue’ disease, maybe it can cure me too. After all, drinking talisman water didn’t work for me.”

 

But no matter how urgent he was, his mouth was like a fish out of water, unable to make a sound.

 

“Alas, let’s go to Xianglu Temple in the city first. It’s also famous, right?” Dunzi’s wife thought about it and said, “I’ll take him to burn incense and make a wish. Maybe it’ll work.”

 

Dunzi didn’t object. Although they were in Haizhou City, he had never been to Xianglu Temple. But after all, it was a local Taoist temple, and he had heard that it worshipped Zhenwu Dadi. Zhenwu Dadi was specialized in subduing demons and monsters, so maybe it would work.

 

The middle-aged man who first proposed regretfully said, “Why don’t you listen to me… Just two needles and it’s fixed. If you’re going, take the number of that young doctor, Zhou Jinyuan. You have to make an appointment in advance. Last time I went, his slots were all taken!”

 

But he didn’t mention that later on, all the slots were filled with people coming to see the balding issue.

 

As Dunzi and his wife left, the other people dispersed, no longer interested in his rambling. That little incident had been talked about back and forth so many times that even the most legendary tales would become stale. Besides, this person usually liked to boast. Two needles, wasn’t that exaggerated?

 

…

 

Dunzi and his wife took a small bus for a few hours to Haizhou City, then went up Xianglu Mountain. In the first hall they encountered, the deity worshipped was a furious-looking red-haired god holding a golden whip.

 

“Burn incense here!” Dunzi’s wife decisively said, “Haven’t you heard? Whether going up the mountain or not, we should first pay respects to King Lingguan. He’s also a deity specialized in subduing demons and monsters.”

 

In her heart, there was no difference between the dead old hag who was a demon and a monster, and she had caused enough trouble when she was alive.

 

Dunzi obediently knelt down, burned incense, and kowtowed. Then he secretly touched the golden whip of King Lingguan, feeling a sense of righteousness, regardless of whether it would work or not.

 

Then they rushed to the main hall, burned incense and made wishes to Zhenwu Dadi, promising to come back and fulfill their vows if Dunzi got better.

 

After devoutly worshipping the gods, Dunzi’s wife took a look around, paid twenty bucks to draw a fortune stick, and queued up to have it interpreted by a Taoist priest.

 

“What are you two asking for?” The Taoist priest looked at the inscription on the fortune stick and asked.

 

Dunzi’s wife pointed to her husband, “My husband collided with guests and can’t speak now. It’s because his dead… his mother seized his tongue. We came to ask Zhenwu Dadi for blessings.”

 

The Taoist priest chuckled and said gently, “Then how come you didn’t go to the hospital?”

 

Dunzi’s wife was taken aback, “But this is ‘colliding guests’ disease.”

 

The Taoist priest smiled and said, “Well then, I recommend you go to the traditional Chinese medicine department of San Hospital in the city and look for someone named Zhou Jinyuan…”

 

The Dunzi couple glanced at each other.

 

Zhou Jinyuan again? How come even the Taoist is recommending him!

 

—

 

Zhou Jinyuan’s appointments weren’t as easy to get now, especially on weekends. They might be fully booked, but weekdays were slightly better.

 

There weren’t too many patients this morning. After Zhou Jinyuan finished seeing a balding patient, he continued calling out numbers. Unexpectedly, a non-balding patient entered the consultation room, a couple. The wife spoke in the local dialect, urgently saying something.

 

Zhou Jinyuan had no problem understanding the Haizhou dialect, but the dialect in this town had some differences, making him half-understand, so he looked at Liu Qi.

 

Liu Qi was a local and could understand the dialect of Jinyang Town, so she translated, “She seems to be saying that the Taoist at Xianglu Temple told them to come find you…”

 

For some reason, as soon as he heard the keywords, Xie Min’s figure appeared.

 

Zhou Jinyuan: “…”

 

He suspected that Director Xie might have installed a listening device in his consultation room.

 

Xie Min: “Why did the Taoist ask them to come?”

 

Dunzi’s wife blabbered for a moment, and Liu Qi, after listening, breathed a sigh of relief and said, “He suddenly lost his voice, suspects he collided with guests, but the people in the town and the Taoist recommended coming to see the great doctor. It seems to be the same town as the severe tongue-protrusion patient before, who also made a recommendation.”

 

Xie Min felt relieved; then it should be correct to treat the illness. Patients like this usually went to the dental department or the ENT department first when they went to the hospital. If they came straight to the traditional Chinese medicine department, it must be because Zhou Jinyuan was recommended by everyone.

 

But Xie Min didn’t rush to leave. She even greeted the interns and asked them to come over, watching Zhou Jinyuan treat the patient together.

 

Recently, most of the patients he treated were balding, so encountering such a case naturally made the young interns curious about Zhou Jinyuan’s methods. She knew from Liu Qi that Zhou Jinyuan wasn’t like some of his TCM colleagues who liked to be mysterious and secretive, so she felt at ease teaching them.

 

“Okay, you two, have a seat, let me see what’s going on.” Zhou Jinyuan said.

 

After Dunzi sat down, he extended his hand because he knew that TCM involved pulse diagnosis.

 

“Don’t rush, first tell me how you lost your voice.” Zhou Jinyuan gestured, and Liu Qi translated.

 

Because Dunzi couldn’t speak, his wife had to explain everything, narrating the whole story, and she even started describing in detail what the Taoist did.

 

“Alright, that’s enough,” Liu Qi interrupted.

 

Dunzi’s wife said, “Hmm, do you think Doctor Zhou, that Taoist doesn’t have real skills? He always claims to be a descendant of some prestigious lineage, is that true?”

 

Zhou Jinyuan glanced at Xie Min: “…”

 

Xie Min maintained her smile.

 

Dunzi’s wife continued, “The Taoist at Xianglu Temple told me that you’re also proficient in rituals…”

 

Xie Min’s smile couldn’t be maintained anymore, she interrupted, “That’s not necessary!”

 

Zhou Jinyuan saw the interns stifling their laughter.

 

“Cough cough.” Zhou Jinyuan pretended nothing was wrong and said to the patient, “Open your mouth, let me see your tongue.”

 

The tongue couldn’t come out at all. Zhou Jinyuan used a flashlight to examine it, the tongue coating was thin and white. After taking the pulse, a clever intern immediately took the medical record and pen to record for Zhou Jinyuan.

 

“For your condition, I’ll use acupuncture, and you’ll be fine afterwards.” Zhou Jinyuan took out a needle, asked the intern to lift the patient’s tongue, and prepared to needle the acupoints on the tongue.

 

Dunzi looked at Zhou Jinyuan in horror, trembling even as he saw him disinfecting his tongue with a cotton ball.

 

Needling the tongue, how could one not flinch?

 

But Zhou Jinyuan’s movements were quick. With one hand stabilizing the patient, the other hand quickly pierced the Jinjin and Yuyue acupoints on the tongue, causing immediate bleeding. He then turned around to search for something in the office.

 

Seeing the blood, Dunzi’s wife screamed, but someone quickly used cotton balls to stop the bleeding at the acupoints.

 

“Does it hurt? How do you feel?” Dunzi’s wife asked anxiously, feeling that her husband’s expression wasn’t quite right.

 

Everyone in the consultation room was also staring at Dunzi.

 

Dunzi frowned, his throat rolling, and soon he pushed away the intern who was pressing on him and spat out a mouthful!

 

At that moment, Zhou Jinyuan, who knows when he had returned, reached out and handed the trash can he found to Dunzi, catching the large, dark phlegm he spat out.

 

“Cough, cough!” Dunzi coughed hoarsely a few times, then opened his mouth, moved his tongue, and tentatively spoke, “I, I think… I’m better! I can speak now!”

 

His tone changed from hesitant and low to pleasantly surprised and loud, and the second half of his sentence was very fluent!

 

The interns collectively exclaimed in amazement at the rapid efficacy.

 

The Dunzi couple were even more surprised, recalling the words of their fellow villagers: two needles heal, and indeed, two needles did the job, not too much, not too little, and the price was really cheap.

 

Now, thinking about the money they wasted before, it was really painful.

 

Xie Min also saw the key to it and smiled, saying, “Gold silences and gold breaks without sound.”

 

This sentence was originally said by the ancient famous doctor Ye Tianshi. Zhou Jinyuan remembered it at once and replied with a smile, “If you want the golden needles to work in secret, it all depends on Ye’s case searching!”

 

Liu Qi attempted to diagnose, “The patient has been angry for a long time, with liver qi stagnation, which then turns into phlegm affecting the lungs, leading to loss of voice. The great doctor used acupuncture to resolve the phlegm, and when the patient spat out the phlegm, he recovered.”

 

—According to traditional Chinese medicine theory, the lungs belong to the metal element.

 

So the phrase Xie Min quoted, “Gold silences and gold breaks without sound,” was actually referring to the cause.

 

Diseases related to the lungs, such as pneumonia and tuberculosis, can also cause loss of voice.

 

“Correct,” Zhou Jinyuan nodded.

 

The interns looked at each other. The great doctor’s decisive treatment and quick results were simply…

 

Xie Min nodded very satisfied, “Alright, everyone can go back now.”

 

The patient couldn’t understand so much, but he knew he was really cured with two needles. After Xie Min and the others left, he wiped away the bloodstains with cotton balls and thanked Zhou Jinyuan again with his wife.

 

Although it wasn’t his turn yet, the next patient, seeing that his number was about to come up, also walked to the door and peeked inside after Dunzi and the others went in for a while.

 

He also came because of the great reputation. He saw a young doctor in a white coat inside and couldn’t help but marvel.

 

At this moment, Dunzi was speaking in awkward Mandarin to Zhou Jinyuan, “Doctor, you’re really amazing, you cured my condition with just two needles. How much did I spend on this? I feel embarrassed… Oh, I heard from Taoist Zhao that you’re also good at drawing talismans. Can you sell me one?”

 

The patient outside: “??”

 

Zhou Jinyuan was about to refuse when he saw a patient standing at the door with a number slip and a medical record book in hand.

 

The two exchanged a glance from a distance.

 

Zhou Jinyuan: “Number five?”

 

The patient immediately said, “No, no, sorry to disturb, I’ll just take a look!”

 

Zhou Jinyuan: “………… Don’t go!”

 

Nonsense, he’s almost lost all his hair and still says it’s not his number!