Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor Gao-Yuan

Just as Gao-Yuan was about to enter his house, he heard a voice not far away: "Hey, is Gao-Yuan at home?"

"Who is it?" Gao-Yuan turned to see.

"It's me." A young man with a scowl emerged from the shadows.

"Yang Degui?" Gao-Yuan was a bit surprised and asked, "What's up? Anything wrong?"

Yang Degui sized up Gao-Yuan with an annoyed expression and said, "My dad asked me to find you. I heard you can treat illnesses now."

Gao-Yuan asked, "Is your dad not feeling well?"

Yang Degui immediately retorted, "Your dad’s the one who's not feeling well! It's my grandpa."

"Your grandpa..." Gao-Yuan's eyes momentarily became blank, but once he regained his senses, he quickly said, "Let's go. hurry!"

With that, Gao-Yuan rushed toward the Yang family's house.

"Hey?" Yang Degui was stunned. How come he's more anxious than me? "Wait for me!"

He hurriedly followed after him.

Gao-Yuan remembered that the Yang family grandpa currently suffered from severe edema and urinary retention. The two doctors from the joint clinic had treated him for several days, but his condition kept worsening.

By the time Zhao Huan-Zhang took over, the grandpa was already critically ill. Despite his best efforts, Zhao Huan-Zhang couldn’t save him in the end. The passing of Yang family grandpa had always been a deep regret for Gao-Yuan.

In his past life, Gao-Yuan hadn’t been able to save him. In this life, he absolutely wouldn't let anything happen!

With this thought, Gao-Yuan picked up his pace.

Soon, he reached the Yang family’s house.

Before entering, he noticed a girl standing at the entrance. anxiously looking out.

Seeing Gao-Yuan approach, the girl stiffened slightly, then turned and ran towards a corner of the courtyard, seemingly avoiding him altogether.

Gao-Yuan glanced at her but continued towards the house.

"You're here." Father Yang puffed on his pipe. His full name was Yang Ping, and he used to be a squad leader during the war; now, he served as the village party secretary.

"Uncle." Gao-Yuan greeted him.

Father Yang looked Gao-Yuan up and down, slowly exhaled smoke, and said, "Go on."

Without wasting time, Gao-Yuan entered the house.

At that moment, Yang Degui finally stumbled into the courtyard, panting, "My god, this guy runs faster than a rabbit; he couldn't even catch up! Hey? Sis, why are you standing here? Did that brat go in?"

Yang Xiu-Ying stepped out of the shadows and scolded him. "You brat, who are you calling a brat?"

Yang Degui wasn’t happy and shouted, "Sis, whose side are you on? I'm helping you!"

"Get lost; go play somewhere else." Yang Xiu-Ying said irritably, pushing him aside.

...

Inside, Gao-Yuan found that Liu Sanquan was still there and asked in surprise, "Doctor Liu, you haven't left yet?"

Liu Sanquan rubbed his nose, a bit embarrassed, muttering a vague response.

Taking two steps forward, Gao-Yuan approached the grandfather's bed and saw that the elderly man was severely swollen, his abdomen bloated like a pregnant woman’s. His exposed legs were extremely swollen, and his face was also badly swollen, making him almost unrecognizable.

When he gently poked the skin with his finger, it left an indentation.

The old man lay there, groaning in pain.

Father Yang brought in a kerosene lamp and extinguished the sesame oil lamp in the room. "I heard you can treat illnesses now. Please take a look."

Gao-Yuan nodded and squatted down, patting the old man’s shoulder, "Grandpa."

The grandpa struggled to open his swollen eyelids. Unable to see clearly, he asked, "Who is it?"

Gao-Yuan raised his voice, "It’s me, Gao-Yuan."

The grandpa closed his eyes, muttering, "Oh, Xiao Yuan is back, huh? Are you here to marry my Xiu-Ying? When are you two getting married? Grandpa has already prepared a big red envelope."

Yang Xiu-Ying and her younger brother entered the house just in time to hear this. Yang Xiu-Ying's face flushed red, and she quickly turned to leave.

Yang Degui stomped his feet in frustration and muttered, "My dad's lost his mind. This brat doesn't know how to treat anything! Why'd they bring him here?"

Yang's father's expression also grew sombre. "Dad, why are you talking nonsense? What are you saying?"

"Huh? Haven't set the date yet? Hasn’t Xiao Yuan finished university yet? Hurry up." The grandpa muttered, clearly delirious.

The room fell into silence.

Gao-Yuan looked at the grandpa’s swollen face, feeling pangs of sorrow. The old man had always been fond of him, treating him well and always sharing food with him.

When Gao-Yuan was little, he loved searching through the grandpa's pockets. There was always a small blue handkerchief in there. wrapping two dates or two peanuts.

As he grew older, he realized the grandpa brought them just for him.

Even from a young age, the grandpa had joked about marrying Xiu-Ying to him. Before his accident, their families were still discussing the marriage.

Suppressing these chaotic emotions, Gao-Yuan said, "Grandpa, let me treat you first."

"Okay." The grandpa, his mind clouded, nodded in confusion.

Gao-Yuan glanced at Liu San-Quan, "Tell me about the previous treatments."

As he spoke, he began examining the old man.

Liu Sanquan didn’t expect such directness but didn’t dare argue, having been scared into submission by Gao-Yuan earlier.

He took a deep breath and explained, "At first, the swelling started on his face. The old man didn't pay much attention to it, but later, he couldn’t urinate, and his belly swelled, so he called a doctor."

"They initially used a diuretic formula, Ba-Zheng Powder, but instead of urinating, his belly began to hurt. Later, they switched to Hu-Po Powder, but it turned into complete urinary retention, and the swelling worsened."

Gao-Yuan frowned.

Seeing this, Liu Sanquan instinctively shrank back. He now dreaded that expression from Gao-Yuan and hurriedly explained, "The first doctor wasn't me; it was another doctor from our clinic."

Gao-Yuan asked, "Li Shengli?"

"How did you know?" Liu Sanquan was stunned.

Gao-Yuan pursed his lips. Other than this ‘young phoenix,’ who else could make Liu San-Quan, the'sleeping dragon,' so eager to distance himself?

Gao-Yuan continued, "What medication did you use?"

"I used Wu-Pi-Yin. I thought the problem was his spleen and stomach. There's a saying that when the central energy is insufficient, urination and defecation can be affected, so I used a formula to strengthen the spleen and promote urination," Liu Sanquan explained.

After speaking, he glanced nervously at Gao-Yuan.

"Did it work?" Gao-Yuan asked.

"Uh..." Liu Sanquan grew awkward. If it had worked, they wouldn't have called for Gao-Yuan.

Father Yang took a deep drag of his pipe, looking serious. and asked, "Gao-Yuan, do you have any ideas? Look, he's swollen beyond recognition, and his mind is foggy. Can you at least get him to urinate a bit? It's torturing him."

Gao-Yuan nodded. "Yes, I suggest treating the lungs first, starting with the lungs."

"What?" Yang Degui, who had been watching, immediately shouted. He had disliked Gao-Yuan all along. "What nonsense are you talking about? Even a three-year-old knows urination issues are related to the bladder."

"Dad, I told you, just have grandpa eat a couple of pig bladders, and he'll be fine. Why listen to this guy's nonsense about treating the lungs? Grandpa can’t pee; he’s not coughing. What does the lung have to do? with urination?"

Father Yang also looked at Gao-Yuan.

Liu Sanquan was puzzled, cautiously asking, "Yes, what’s the connection between the lungs and urination?"

Gao-Yuan looked at the two and said, "In the 'Suwen: Distinctive Theory on Meridians and Diseased Pulses,' it’s mentioned: 'The lungs regulate the water pathways, directing water to the bladder. Water essence distributes, and all channels operate.'"

Yang Degui was bewildered. He wanted to argue but didn’t understand, so he had no way to rebut.

Father Yang looked from Gao-Yuan to his own son, anger rising. Other people's sons spoke eloquently and articulately, but his own son couldn’t even understand!

Father Yang snapped at him, "Get out of here; you’re just embarrassing us!"

Yang Degui protested, "Dad, whose side are you on? You believe everything he says, but not me? Pig bladder really works. Just let Grandpa eat a couple of pig bladders, and he’ll be fine!"

Father Yang scolded, "You look like a pig bladder yourself, you little brat."

Yang Degui shot back, "If I'm a brat, who laid this brat egg?"

Father Yang took off his flat shoes and started chasing Yang Degui.