Chapter 232 This Is Your Prescription?
“No way.”
Fang Qiu insisted, holding Feng Xuexin’s hand, and said, “We can’t go with your prescription. Please think again.”
Extremely mad, Feng Xuexin pulled violently, trying to break free from Fang Qiu’s shackles by force.
However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t break free. He could clearly feel that Fang Qiu’s strength was unprecedented.
“Let go.”
Staring at Fang Qiu, Feng Xuexin shouted, “Let go of me!”
Fang Qiu shook his head.
“Let go of me or I’ll kick your ass.”
Feng Xuexin was outraged but couldn’t really get physical with Fang Qiu.
First of all, Fang Qiu was Xu Miaolin’s apprentice. If he really beat him up, how could he explain this to Xu Miaolin?
Then, Fang Qiu had really impressive physical strength. He dared not get physical with him as he might become the one getting beat up.
They were tit-for-tat and stood firm.
The patient was stunned.
As the atmosphere froze to the extreme.
“What’s it? What’s going on? Getting physical?”
A familiar voice came from another man as he entered.
They looked up.
It was Xu Miaolin returning from the visit.
Seeing Xu Miaolin, Feng Qiu felt relieved.
In Xu Miaolin’s presence, he could certainly tell the patient’s symptoms and draft a suitable prescription.
Feng Xuexin was also relieved. Looking at Xu Miaolin, he said helplessly, “Uncle Xu, finally. Your brilliant apprentice is driving me nuts!”
“Oh?”
Xu Miaolin was confused. Fang Qiu was not that kind of people who loved to fight.
This young fellow was very reasonable.
“Tell me exactly what happened,” asked Xu Miaolin as he approached the consultation desk.
Fang Qiu advanced and briefed him of the matter.
“I see.”
After hearing what had happened, Xu Miaolin gently smiled and said, “Alright. You both put down your prescription. I’ll have a look and we’ll find out who is right and who is wrong.”
After that, Xu Miaolin sat down at the desk and began feeling the patient’s pulse.
Once the diagnosis was complete, Xu Miaolin picked up the two prescriptions from the desk to read.
A moment later…
Seeing the prescription drafted by Fang Qiu, Xu Miaolin asked in surprise, “This is your prescription?”
Fang Qiu nodded and confirmed. “Yeah.”
“Why did you write this?” asked Xu Miaolin, very much amazed.
He couldn’t remember when he taught Fang Qiu to give a prescription.
“I’ve read so many medical cases in the past several days and learned a lot. I thought I might give it a try,” answered Fang Qiu…
“Okay!”
Xu Miaolin signaled his understanding before shaking his head. “Xiao Feng is right and you are wrong. However, Feng’s prescription needs to be improved.”
Upon hearing that, Fang Qiu was lost.
I am wrong?
Feng Xuexin was excited and thrilled, keeping his head up high in the air.
His face was telling Fang Qiu, “See! I told you yours was wrong but you insist on fighting with me. Now you lost face.”
In the meantime, Xu Miaolin picked up a pen from the table and drafted a new prescription quickly.
Xu Miaolin handed the prescription to Feng Xuexin. “Get the medicine.”
Over here, Feng Xuexin was looking at Fang Qiu with joy and pride. He took the prescription, reading carefully while stepping to the medicine cabinet.
After a quick glance, he came to a full stop, astonished.
He looked at Xu Miaolin in disbelief.
Xu Miaolin said at once, “Get the medicine first.”
Feng Xuexin came around and walked to the medicine cabinet with a very complicated look on his face.
Very soon, he got the medicine ready.
The patient took the medicine and gave Feng Xuexin a thumb up before taking his leave merrily. “I knew it. Doctor Feng was better!”
After the patient left, Fang Qiu approached immediately and looked at Xu Miaolin, very confused. “Master Xu, what did I do wrong?”
He didn’t think he was wrong in the four diagnoses but why would Xu Miaolin say that he was wrong?
Coming out of the medicine cabinet, Feng Xuexin also gazed at Xu Miaolin, completely puzzled.
Under their gaze, Xu Miaolin gently shook his head and heaved a sigh. He turned to face Feng Xuexin and said, “Actually, Junior Feng, you were wrong.”
“Just now I said Fang Qiu was wrong to protect you. After all, this clinic is your family’s inheritance and you will be working in this field for the rest of your life. If I spoke out the truth in front of the public, how could patients trust you again?”
Hmm?
Fang Qiu was really stunned.
He was right and Feng Xuexin was wrong?
Xu Miaolin continued speaking to Feng Xuexin. “As you can see, my prescription has the same effect as Fang Qiu’s.”
Feng Xuexin nodded in silence.
Indeed, he saw it earlier.
That was why he suddenly stopped and his face changed color.
“What did I do wrong?”
After hearing Xu Miaolin’s words, Feng Xuexin asked with some disbelief.
He couldn’t accept this.
He was wrong.
That meant Fang Qiu was right.
So he was not as good as Fang Qiu.
He couldn’t believe that he was inferior to Fang Qiu.
He had learnt for so many years and had been practicing medicine for a while. Did all his years go wasted?
“It’s simple.”
Xu Miaolin smiled and said, “Through questioning, we know that the patient’s symptoms are all caused by emotional factors. His symptoms like chest suppression, agitated mood, and thin pulse strings are actually a result of his stagnant liver and stomach, stacked heat, and gold suppressed by wood and fire.”
“You saw his cough and decided the illness was in the lung. Your treatment of opening the lung to lower the Qi, suppress Yin and stop coughing is to sacrifice the essence to the end.”
After, Xu Miaolin patted Feng Xuexin’s shoulder and added, “You ignored the patient’s dry and bitter mouth, dry stool, and pulse performance.”
“So.”
“First, cough must be treated according to its cause. You can’t automatically link cough to a lung illness.”
“Second, your understanding of the theory that all organs can cause cough, not only the lung is not thorough enough.”
“This theory is a typical embodiment of the holistic concept of traditional Chinese medicine. It is a very scientific theory that guides us in carrying out the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary diseases. Now modern medicine recognizes that many viscera diseases can cause coughs, such as pharyngitis, cardiac insufficiency, gastroesophageal reflux, and renal malfunction.”
“When applying this theory to the diagnosis and treatment of specific diseases, it is necessary to carry out in-depth research, dialectical treatment, and flexible application of the particularity and regularity of diseases in combination with clinical practice.”
Hearing this, Feng Xuexin suddenly came to a realization.
He knew the root of his mistake was his stubbornness.
He was too stubborn to listen to Fang Qiu’s diagnosis, to carefully verify, to analyze rationally and research deeply.
There were blind spots in his knowledge.
“These… You know it all?”
Understanding his mistake, Feng Xuexin asked Fang Qiu in shock.
Fang Qiu nodded. “A little.”
“How did you learn this without being taught?” asked Feng Xuexin.
Fang Qiu answered, “I read and extract the summary from the book.”
He actually got it from the books. He had been reading ancient medical texts for months. In the past few days, he was working on medical cases.
“Ah!”
Feng Xuexin’s face changed. He covered his face in shame and said sadly, “I’m so ashamed.”
“Hahaha.”
Xu Miaolin laughed out loud and teased. “I guess the competition tomorrow won’t be necessary.”
“What competition tomorrow?” asked Fang Qiu out of curiosity.
He didn’t know the agreement between Feng Xuexin and Xu Miaolin.
Xu Miaolin explained with a smile. “I was planning combat between you two tomorrow.”
As soon as he finished.
“Stop it. Stop.”
Feng Xuexin shouted loudly, “What a shame! What a shame! A shame for my entire family!”
“Study harder. Don’t become a quack.”
Xu Miaolin said to Feng Xuexin with a smile, “Today you made a mistake but, considering your skills, you would diagnose the patient correctly next time when he returns after finishing the medicine. However, it’s more responsible to get it right the first time.”
Feng Xuexin covered his face.
His face flushed red.
“Very good.”
Xu Miaolin turned to look at Fang Qiu and said, “It seems that you’ve made good progress on the four diagnoses. You are trying to give prescriptions now.”
“Okay!” After a short pause, Xu Miaolin continued, “From tomorrow, no more four diagnoses. You can begin to transcribe prescriptions.”
Transcribe prescriptions?
Fang Qiu was lost for a moment.
Then he laughed.
He knew that each Chinese medicine apprentice would experience a period of transcribing prescriptions. During the transcription, they could remember the prescriptions for various diseases and better understand their master’s experience.
It was a way of inheritance.
A master’s experiences would be passed on via transcription.
Finally, he had come to the stage of transcribing prescriptions, which meant Xu Miaolin had approved his skills in the four diagnoses.
The next morning, Xu Miaolin was receiving patients and Fang Qiu sat next to him to transcribe prescriptions.
A patient came in.
She was a middle-aged woman in her 40s.
Xu Miaolin began the four diagnoses. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Dizzy,” said the woman wearing a bitter face, “It has been a month or two. I feel dizzy all the time. It’s not too bad when I’m sitting with my eyes open. Once I lie down and shut my eyes, the dizziness becomes intense. I can barely sleep.”
Hearing the symptom, Xu Miaolin froze at first. He watched the patient and asked, “Do you feel tired?”
“Yes, my hands and legs are always tired,” answered the patient.
Xu Miaolin nodded. “Please open your mouth and let me have a look.”
Upon hearing that, the patient opened her mouth wide.
After a close look, he found the patient had a pale tongue with a white coating.
“No color in the face, weary, restless, troubled sleep, pale tongue with a white coating.”
After, Xu Miaolin felt her pulse on both wrists before reaching out for a pen to draft a prescription.
“20g of western codonopsis root, 30g of radix astragalus, 10g of roasted baishu, 50g of Chinese crane herb, 30g of dried longan flesh, 10g of fried date kernel, 10g of fushen, 7g of tangerine peel, and 7g of baked licorice. 7 doses in total.”
Once it was finished, Xu Miaolin passed it to Fang Qiu.
Over here, during Xu Miaolin’s four diagnoses, Fang Qiu was also performing the four diagnoses quietly.
His result was identical to Xu Miaolin’s.
Therefore, before receiving the prescription, Fang Qiu knew already.
This woman was experiencing the symptom of “dizziness resulted from upper weakness” recorded in the “Canon of Internal Medicine”.
This kind of illness was caused by the weak qi and blood that was unable to nourish the soul and spirit.
To treat this symptom, the method of invigorating spleen and invigorating qi, nourishing blood and calming nerves must be employed.
In front of Xu Miaolin’s prescription, each ingredient’s properties came up in his head as he was transcribing.
Radix codonopsis: the taste is mild, sweet, and slightly sour. It addresses the spleen and lung channels.
Main functions: invigorating the inner system and qi, strengthening spleen and lung, treating weakness in spleen and lung, short breath, palpitations, poor appetite, loose stool, panting and cough, internal heat and thirst.
Astragalus: mild, able to raise Yang, with a mild sweet taste.