Taoist Doctor - Chapter 24

The tour guide felt really wronged; how could she have known? She was just as shocked!

You’re surprised, we’re Chinese and we’re surprised too. Martial artists aren’t supposed to look like that. Didn’t you see the elderly doctor across the way and the patients around him gasping as well?

She suspected that Dr. Zhou must be familiar with the meridians and acupoints of the human body to be able to defeat someone so easily. However, there are many doctors, and to reach this level, he must have really trained… So what kind of luck is this? Did she just casually make a prediction?

James felt he was in the right place. He had witnessed ancient acupuncture, bought a pack of herbs that were said to treat stomach issues, and even saw a young doctor use martial arts to subdue a strong man. It was astonishing.

This money was well spent…

James was reluctant to leave. He only agreed to go after watching Zhou Jinyuan calm the man and finish treating him. He even told the tour guide, “I knew you Chinese were all hiding your true skills, yet you kept being modest with me.”

As he spoke, he even checked out the tour guide’s long fingernail.

Tour guide: “… It’s just for peeling oranges, really.”

But now James didn’t quite believe her. After all, she had firmly said that doctors don’t know kung fu, and that doctor had looked quite gentle.

James was only staying in Haizhou for three days before moving on to other cities. He drank the medicine on the same day he got it, but it took a few days to notice any effects.

A few days later, he confirmed that his stomach issues hadn’t flared up even once.

Moreover, the hair around his bald spots had stopped falling out, and there was even a bit of grayish-white fuzz starting to grow.

By this time, he was about to leave the country.

“Look at my fuzz! Friends, remember the first day we met, it was still bare here, right? I just applied it every day!” James boasted about Zhou Jinyuan to his travel companions.

The companions showed regretful expressions and complained to the tour guide, “We went to that Smoke Road and only drank tea and watched some square dancing. Why didn’t you tell us about this amazing experience earlier?”

The tour guide had to laugh it off and muddle through.

“Can you get another set of this medicine for me to take back? My sister is also losing hair after giving birth,” someone asked.

“No, no, Chinese medicine is custom-made based on each person’s body condition. You can’t randomly take or apply medicine, and you must see the person in order to treat them,” the tour guide emphasized. She and James repeatedly reminded everyone not to grab a prescription and misuse it.

Everyone regretfully said, “Then will your travel agency add a hair treatment package in the future?”

Tour guide: “Uh… I’ll suggest it when I get back!”

People go abroad for medical treatment or cosmetic surgery all the time. Now it’s said that people from other provinces are coming to Haizhou’s hair loss specialist hospital. Attracting international tourists isn’t impossible, right?

“You must add it. I’ll recommend it to my colleagues and write a travel blog telling everyone that if they come to China and visit Haizhou, they must go to the Third Hospital to see a Chinese medicine doctor and watch kung fu!” James, as the only beneficiary, was enthusiastic and already thinking about how to write it.

He even wanted to write an email to thank Zhou Jinyuan.

But after consulting the tour guide, he decided to follow Chinese customs and give Zhou Jinyuan a banner, asking the tour guide to deliver it to Haizhou.

This day’s events eventually led to more and more foreigners coming to treat their hair loss.

Some travel agencies even added: “Tour the ancient cultural city, embark on a hair regrowth journey” to their Haizhou routes.

### …

“Dr. Zhou, come, let’s take a picture!” The publicity officer waved with a camera.

A tour guide from a certain travel agency had delivered a banner on behalf of the tourists. It was bilingual in Chinese and English.

Who knows what the tourists were thinking, but they seemed to believe that the larger the banner, the more it would represent their gratitude. The banner was as tall as a person and extravagantly decorated with unnecessary embroidery.

It read: “China’s Good Doctor, Restored My Hair,” with an English version beside it.

Standing next to the banner, Zhou Jinyuan looked particularly small. He couldn’t help but mutter that he had treated the guy’s stomach issues too, but the banner only mentioned hair… Now there was yet another hair-loss banner.

“How many banners has the master received now? He doesn’t even hang them all…”

Nurses were whispering; they were new to the department.

Originally, the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) department didn’t have any nurses. However, as the department expanded, they were added, though the recruitment of new doctors wasn’t complete yet. This at least alleviated Zhou Jinyuan’s recent busy schedule.

Speaking of which, Zhou Jinyuan was still a temporary employee because he was busy hiring new medical staff. Director Xiao had long discussed making him a permanent employee. However, since all permanent employees needed to pass an exam, Zhou Jinyuan, being busy, said there was no rush and decided to take his time.

In their training, the nurses learned not only Western medical care but also TCM care, including basic knowledge of TCM, acupuncture, cupping, and massage techniques. Although they didn’t perform acupuncture, they could remove needles.

Before transferring to the TCM department, the nurses had heard of Zhou Jinyuan’s reputation. Recently, there seemed to be some debate within the hospital regarding his title.

Several departments, led by the Emergency Center, believed that the “Great Master Zhou” had already reached the Dao Embryo stage and achieved the Nascent Soul stage. Meanwhile, departments like Neurosurgery insisted that he was still in the Golden Core stage, likely dual-cultivating both magical and physical techniques, making him unbeatable at his level.

“Hanging a few banners is enough; the rest are stored in the duty room,” Zhou Jinyuan, unaware of his recent breakthrough, thought. He had received at least ten banners since gaining a reputation with his invincible hair growth elixir at the Third Hospital. Given the number of patients and their urgent need for treatment, most of the banners were from patients with hair loss.

Nowadays, most hair loss patients were young people, who often wrote amusing messages on the banners like: “Thanks for treating my dog head” and “Your superb medical skills spread far and wide, your wonderful hands grow my hair and warm my head.”

James’ banner wasn’t particularly unique in wording, but its size was enormous. The department even called the logistics office for a stepladder to hang it at the top of the wall.

However, the banner was taken down after just half a month.

Since hanging it, some patients seemed misled, insisting on making their banners as large as possible, with increasingly elaborate embroidery.

That afternoon, Rong Xixue, who had no classes, came to the hospital to find Zhou Jinyuan. He stared at the banner for a long time and then said lightly, “When I first came in, I thought it was a curtain.”

Zhou Jinyuan: “…”

The patient being needled at the time burst into laughter, saying, “I thought it was a tapestry when I came in, but I didn’t dare to say it!”

Zhou Jinyuan decided it couldn’t go on like this and planned to store the oversized banners in the duty room.

With the patient needled, Zhou Jinyuan called the next patient. The new nurse Zhao came over to burn moxa for the previous patient. With the help of the nursing staff, Zhou Jinyuan found his workload much lighter.

Rong Xixue, standing aside, caught Zhou Jinyuan’s attention. Zhou gestured with his chin, signaling Rong to get a small stool from the duty room and sit by the treatment bed’s end to read.

Rong Xixue obediently sat down, eliciting a stifled laugh from Nurse Zhao. Dr. Zhou’s younger brother was a college student, tall and well-built, yet Zhou treated him like a primary school student, making him sit and read.

Though Rong’s long legs were cramped, he still obediently read his book.

With the last patient treated, Nurse Zhao tidied up the tools and asked, “Dr. Zhou, can I ask you something? Do you know much about elixirs?”

Everyone knew “Great Master Zhou” was a Daoist adept in alchemy, so asking him was sure to yield accurate information.

Zhou Jinyuan replied, “Not bad, I’ve practiced alchemy myself.”

Nurse Zhao exclaimed, “That’s impressive! No wonder your energy is so abundant!”

No wonder they called him a Nascent Soul Master. He treated patients, read fortunes, drew talismans, and practiced alchemy, explaining his rapid cultivation progress.

It was clear that Nurse Zhao had transferred from the Emergency Center.

She quickly returned to the main topic, “Recently, my sister-in-law recommended an elixir called ‘Confucius’ Pillow Elixir’ from a Daoist temple. She claimed it was invented by Sun Simiao and could increase intelligence. It costs five hundred yuan per pill. Do you think it’s reliable?”

Her sister-in-law’s glowing recommendation prompted her inquiry. If unreliable, she could debunk it. The market did have similar TCM pills from legitimate manufacturers, but the temple’s version claimed superior efficacy.

“Too expensive. Confucius’ Pillow Elixir is a basic formula. At most, it nourishes the kidneys, calms the liver, reduces heat, and clears phlegm. It can aid sleep and memory to some extent, but claiming it boosts intelligence is exaggerated.” Zhou Jinyuan added, pointing to Rong Xixue, “Speaking of which, you can ask my brother. I made it for him during his crucial school years!”

Zhou Jinyuan was proud, having successfully created the elixir for Rong Xixue during his middle and high school years, marking his first step in alchemy.

“Really?” Nurse Zhao looked at Rong Xixue.

Rong Xixue’s expression subtly changed upon hearing about the Confucius’ Pillow Elixir.

When his brother first made the elixir, he wasn’t very skilled and used honey to shape the pills. Excited or something, his brother ended up making ten large pills, each the size of a child’s fist…

After shaping them, Zhou Jinyuan proudly wrapped them up and gave them to Rong Xixue, claiming he made them himself.

Rong Xixue took them to school, and when his classmates asked what he had, he boasted nonchalantly, “My brother made these for me.”

“Are they chocolates?” His classmates thought they were handmade chocolate balls, but when Rong Xixue unwrapped one, the pill emitted an extremely unpleasant odor.

Though not spoiled, the pill was hard to eat despite the added honey.

“Why did your brother make such big pills?”

Under the skeptical gazes of his classmates, Rong Xixue mumbled to himself, “The bigger, the more nourishing…”

Out of love for his brother, he ended up chewing down the fist-sized pill.

This made his classmates respect him greatly afterward.

Once, a teacher saw him eating the huge black pill with cold water and thought his family had fallen on hard times, prompting a check-in.

Despite everything, eating his brother’s handmade pills, Rong Xixue got into a top high school.

Coming out of his reverie, Rong Xixue’s expression stiffened slightly. He awkwardly said, “—Yes, it helps with sleep and memory to some extent.”

After a pause, he added, “But it’s not worth 500 yuan. You could buy some medicinal herbs and make a nourishing soup instead.”

“Yes, after making some for Xiaoxue last time, I closed the furnace for a while, so I don’t have any left. If you need dietary supplements, I can find you a recipe. Or if I have time to make pills again, I’ll make a few for you,” Zhou Jinyuan said.

“Oh, thank you!” Nurse Zhao was delighted. This was the perk of working in a hospital; if anyone in her family had hair loss, they would have the advantage of proximity.

Nurse Zhao’s words piqued Zhou Jinyuan’s interest in alchemy, which he hadn’t practiced for a few months.

After work, Zhou Jinyuan had Xiaoxue fetch some herbs and bought a new pot, sticking a Bagua symbol on it to signify its new role as an alchemy furnace. Alchemy involves three key elements: the furnace, the herbs, and the control of heat, all manageable in modern times.

Zhou Jinyuan ground the herbs into powder, boiled the honey, shaped the pills, and let them dry in a bowl.

“Do you want me to save you two? Is your study intense lately?” Zhou Jinyuan asked, covering the bowl.

Rong Xixue forced a smile, “Studying is manageable—brother, how about I make some sweet soup, and we watch a movie together?”

“Sure,” Zhou Jinyuan agreed, “You make the sweet soup, and I’ll find a movie.”

They began watching the movie together, but twenty minutes in, a colleague from another department called Zhou Jinyuan to ask about a TCM treatment for a patient, prompting an online consultation.

Half an hour later, after finishing the call, Zhou Jinyuan realized Xiaoxue had paused the movie, waiting for him.

“Still waiting for me? You could have watched without me,” Zhou Jinyuan chuckled.

“It’s fine. I wanted to finish the movie with you,” Rong Xixue smiled. Being interrupted by patients wasn’t new; it had happened countless times before, so he was used to it.

“Alright, haha,” Zhou Jinyuan settled back into the soft sofa beside Rong Xixue, “Let’s continue watching!”

Rong Xixue resumed the movie from where they left off. The soothing background music filled the room, and Zhou Jinyuan relaxed.

Knock, knock.

Amidst this cozy atmosphere, there was a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” Zhou Jinyuan wondered, puzzled about who would visit so late.

“It’s me! Neighbor Lao Rong!”

Rong Xixue: “…”

“Hey, why is your brother here?” Zhou Jinyuan found it odd; the new place was quite far, and it was unusual for his brother to show up unannounced at night.

“…I’ll get the door.” Rong Xixue stood up, his face turning icy as he turned away. Opening the door, he greeted, “Ge.”

Rong Shouyun shivered at the call of his name and slipped inside.

Tired and thirsty, he noticed a bowl of carefully prepared sweet soup cooling on the table. After getting a nod from Zhou Jinyuan, he picked it up and drank it all in one go: “Ah—”

Rong Xixue: “…”

Still hungry after the sweet soup, Rong Shouyun eyed another covered bowl. “What’s this? Can I eat it?”

Rong Xixue coldly replied, “Go ahead.”

When Rong Shouyun lifted the lid, an unpleasant smell immediately wafted out. Inside were several large black pills. Covering his mouth, he quickly replaced the lid: “Damn, Jinyuan, why are you making pills again!”

Wasn’t his brother already graduated? Why was he still hand-making pills? Could Rong Xixue have gotten addicted to them… is that even possible??

Every time Rong Shouyun saw Rong Xixue gnawing on those pills, it sent shivers down his spine!

“Stop talking nonsense, they’re for a colleague’s child,” Zhou Jinyuan glared at him.

Who would be so desperate? Rong Shouyun silently offered a prayer for the unknown child.

“So, what’s up?” Zhou Jinyuan asked, “Why are you back from work, especially so late?”

Rong Shouyun plopped down in Rong Xixue’s previous spot, spreading out his limbs.

Rong Xixue: “…”

He moved to sit on the armrest on Zhou Jinyuan’s side of the sofa.

Feigning tears, Rong Shouyun said, “Don’t even ask. I’m so unlucky. I couldn’t sleep, went for a walk, and ended up seeing the abbot kissing his junior brother.”

Zhou Jinyuan: “…”

Thank goodness he wasn’t drinking tea, or the unprepared Zhou Jinyuan might have spat it out.

“No way,” Zhou Jinyuan was stunned, “Are you joking… did you see wrong…”

“No mistake, and the abbot saw me too. I was so scared I ran and didn’t dare go back to my dorm. I came to ask you, do you think this breaks the precepts?” Rong Shouyun was bewildered.

Zhou Jinyuan was still shocked but quickly recovered: “It counts, sure. This is discrimination; regardless of gender, it’s a breach of celibacy for monks!”

“…Alright, I was wrong. All beings are equal,” Rong Shouyun reluctantly admitted.

Zhou Jinyuan turned to see Rong Xixue also looking troubled. He quickly added, “You’re a grown-up now, so I won’t avoid these topics with you!”

Rong Xixue: “…”

Rong Shouyun retorted, “Do you think modern college students are that innocent…”

“Shut up. So, what, do you plan to report the abbot?” Zhou Jinyuan asked.

Knowing this, he should have taken his previous advice to come home and practice medicine. This guy always caused trouble wherever he went, just like Xiaoxue had said.

“I don’t know. If I don’t report him, the abbot might not let me off for catching him. I’m done for; I’m going to be blacklisted in Haizhou’s Buddhist community,” Rong Shouyun lamented, covering his face. He, a dark horse in Buddhism, was now doomed.

“I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die…” Rong Shouyun muttered, staring at the ceiling, feeling utterly helpless.

Zhou Jinyuan couldn’t bear seeing him like this: “You’ve been a monk for so long, and this is how you act?”

At these words, Rong Shouyun seemed to bounce up as if on a spring. He sat upright, lowered his gaze, and adopted a compassionate expression: “I’m going to pass away, I’m going to pass away, I’m going to pass away…”

Zhou Jinyuan and Rong Xixue: “…”

Ge – Brother