CHAPTER 126: 126 THREE MERIDIANS BENEFIT THE LUNGS

Upon hearing Du Heng’s life-saving conclusion, Pei Jihua laughed casually. "It’s fine; I think what you said makes sense."

"As long as you think it’s good, but be sure not to spread it around, and absolutely don’t say a doctor said this. I’m afraid it will mislead others."

"I won’t."

Du Heng had Pei Jihua switch hands, then continued with the pulse diagnosis.

Glancing at the taut, bulging muscles under Pei Jihua’s short sleeves, Du Heng asked curiously, "You enjoy fitness?"

Pei Jihua looked down at his own quite fit and well-proportioned physique, his expression holding no pride. "I sit in an office for work, so I particularly like working out after I get off, especially running. Our company has a dedicated gym, and it’s free for employees, so I spend about two hours on fitness every day."

Du Heng clucked his tongue twice but said nothing.

However, just these sounds piqued Pei Jihua’s curiosity. "Doctor Du, what do you mean by that?"

Du Heng took the hand he had been examining, hesitated for a moment, then said, "I seem to recall reading an article, though I forget where. An oncologist mentioned that tumors absorb nutrients. For some people who don’t exercise or exercise little, their tumors might only absorb enough nutrients to manifest when they reach their sixties. Sometimes, a tumor might not absorb enough nutrients to become apparent even over an entire lifetime. However, for some people who exercise a lot and have good physiques, the tumor might absorb enough nutrients to fully form and emerge when they’re merely in their thirties or forties."

Pei Jihua’s face darkened. He felt that Du Heng hadn’t actually read this anywhere but was saying it intentionally. His own two strengths had become drawbacks for tumor growth in Du Heng’s words.

Du Heng also felt he might have said too much and smiled awkwardly. "Let’s talk about your treatment plan now."

Pei Jihua shook his head, dismissing Du Heng’s earlier words. "Alright, Doctor Du, you go ahead."

"Your illness is in the Lungs," Du Heng said slowly. "The Lungs are delicate, and it’s an area difficult for food or medicine to reach, so treating the Lungs is challenging."

Pei Jihua was taken aback. What did that mean? Couldn’t it be treated?

Du Heng rubbed his chin. "Lung heat injures the Lungs. When it forms an abscess, it’s best to quench the ’fire’ by purging the Lungs, so lung-specific medicine cannot be used. However, the Lungs are considered the ’child’ of the Spleen in the five elements theory. Therefore, the Spleen meridian can be treated by replenishing the ’Earth’ element of the Spleen. Earth, in turn, can generate ’Metal’—the element of the Lungs. By calming the ’Wood’ element of the Liver meridian, Metal will not be over-restrained by Wood. And by clearing the ’Fire’ from the Heart meridian, Fire cannot damage Metal."

How did the five elements get involved now? Pei Jihua thought. He felt that if it weren’t for his prior experience of Du Heng’s skill and what he had learned today, he might have stood up and left upon hearing this talk of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. It sounded too abstract!

He had met many traditional Chinese medicine doctors, and very few still spoke of the five elements; most explained conditions to patients using Western medicine terminology.

Du Heng didn’t notice the change in Pei Jihua’s expression and continued to explain, "All three meridians benefit the Lungs and do no harm to ’Metal,’ so the lung qi can be nourished."

Although Du Heng spoke of the five elements, Pei Jihua understood the gist: to treat his illness, he needed to nourish his heart, liver, and spleen, and then he would recover.

"Doctor Du, will this work?"

"You’ll only know if it works after you take the medicine."

"Alright then, Doctor Du, please prescribe medicine for me. It would be best if you could prescribe some Western medicine or Chinese patent medicine. I’m accompanying my wife for the next few days, and then I have to go back to work, so drinking decoctions might be inconvenient."

Du Heng looked at Pei Jihua. What’s wrong with this guy? If Western medicine could help, would you still have come to see me?

"I’ll prescribe the Lung-Supplementing Decoction for you: radix ginseng, raw licorice... This decoction has the best effect. Whether you take it or not is up to you." As Du Heng spoke, he found Pei Jihua’s name in the system and began to input the prescription.

Pei Jihua felt a bit troubled; he was speaking the truth and not just being fussy.

However, looking at Du Heng’s demeanor, he guessed it was unlikely he would prescribe any Chinese patent medicine or Western medicine. "Alright, I’ll drink it."

"That’s fine, then. One dose is boiled down to three servings, to be taken three times a day for a total of seven days. After you finish it, come back and see me."

"Will I be cured after I drink it?" Pei Jihua looked at Du Heng hopefully.

But Du Heng immediately shattered his illusion. "You wish! Just focus on drinking your medicine." He pushed the X-ray films on the table towards Pei Jihua and then said, "Go to the registration office to pay, and then go to the opposite window to collect your medicine."

"Doctor Du, how do I decoct this medicine?" Pei Jihua asked.

"If you don’t mind the trouble, you can buy a pot and decoct it yourself at home. If you find that too troublesome, you can go to any pharmacy in the city that sells Chinese herbal medicine. They can decoct it for you and package it in sealed plastic bags. You just need to heat it up before drinking it each day."

"Does that work too?"

"Of course, it works, but the efficacy will be slightly reduced. Also, if you have them decoct it, it’s best to have one day’s worth prepared the day before you intend to drink it. Don’t decoct the entire batch at once to save trouble, as the effect will be even worse that way."

"I understand."

"Also, don’t stay up late, don’t drink alcohol, don’t smoke, avoid spicy and irritating foods, and don’t eat mutton or seafood."

Pei Jihua nodded again.

「 」

After Pei Jihua left, Du Heng leaned back in his chair.

Tumors. This wasn’t the first time he had encountered them. During his visits to the upper village in March to see patients, he had found several cases.

But those patients, some in intermediate stages, some in late stages, all had obvious symptoms. They also shared a common characteristic: they were all over fifty years old.

Pei Jihua, however, was different. He was only in his thirties and a young man with an excellent constitution.

"Du."

A familiar form of address sounded again.

Du Heng opened his eyes to see Ma Zichen, who hadn’t been to work for several days.

Ma Zichen stood before the office desk, holding a form and smiling shyly.

"Hey, you finally showed up! Tell me, what have you been up to these past few days? If you can’t give me a convincing reason, I’ll give you a very low score on your internship form. You may not know, I’m the Dean now."

Du Heng was, in fact, a little dissatisfied. However, Ma Zichen was an intern, and his father had signed Du Heng’s own recommendation letter previously—a favor he felt obliged to repay. Unless he felt that the favor of co-authoring a paper with Ma Zichen offset that obligation, he couldn’t just ignore it.

"Du, sorry, I’ve been busy with graduation matters these past few days."

"Are you done?"

"Done. Just waiting for the graduation certificate in June."

"Have you found a place for your standardized training?"

Ma Zichen nodded a little sheepishly. "Found one. I’ve secured a position at Provincial First Hospital. I’ve been running around for this these past few days too."

"Not bad." Since he had already secured a position at the Provincial First Hospital, Du Heng figured Ma Zichen probably wouldn’t come for the remaining month of his internship. "So, what brings you here today?"

"Hehe, I’m a little embarrassed."

"Just say it. With our relationship, what’s there to be embarrassed about?"

"I was hoping Du could sign my internship form and give me a good score."

"You’ve already secured a position at Provincial First Hospital, so why do you still need this internship form?" Du Heng was deliberately stirring things up.

Ma Zichen laughed awkwardly again. "I need it for my graduation certificate. And I plan to apply for graduate school next year, so all my grades need to look impressive."

This was another piece of news that surprised Du Heng. "Have you found a Mentor yet, or are you just thinking about applying on your own?"

"Speaking of which, I have to thank you, Du. Thank you."

Ma Zichen bowed deeply and sincerely to Du Heng.

Hearing Ma Zichen say this, Du Heng understood what was happening, so he didn’t stop him.

Ma Zichen straightened up. "My dad helped me get in touch with Fu Demin. He’s the Deputy Director of Chinese Medicine in the Neurology Department at Provincial First Hospital and also a professor of Chinese Medicine at Jinzhou University Graduate School. Du, thank you for your paper. Without your paper, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity."