In the next few days, the discussion on traditional Chinese Medicine was still going on across the country. Whenever the folks talked about it, they were all in high spirits.
Meanwhile, the number of patients going to Chinese Medicine clinics had evidently increased a lot.
For a time, the Chinese Medicine physicians, who were used to taking time to examine the patients, felt both joyful and worn out when they spotted the long line of patients.
In the station of a city.
A couple in their 40s got off the countryside bus and took the city bus at the stop. Shortly, they arrived at the gate of the Chinese Medicine Hospital in the city.
“Oh?”
Just as the couple went off the city bus and had not taken a few steps, a brawny young man with a fat head and big ears immediately came up. Sporting a broad smile on his face, he reached out to hold the man’s hand and said, “It’s been a long time. What brought you here?”
“Uh?”
The couple was dazed. Then, the man asked, “Who are you?”
“I am Doctor Zhang of the county hospital.”
The young man laughed and said, “Have you forgotten that I treated you last time you came to the county hospital?”
At his words, the couple frowned at the same time.
“Let go of my hand!”
The middle-aged man flung his hand out of the young man’s grip.
“Um?”
The young man was bewildered.
“Humph, I know you’re a hospital scalper! Now you’re trying to fool us?”
The man snorted coldly and continued, “Listen, our village is just 10 kilometers away. The distance to the county is twice as long as the distance between our village to the city. Why would I go to the county to see a doctor?”
“Have you really forgotten?”
The young man did not panic at all. He immediately said, “You told me yourself last time that it was too expensive to see doctors in the city, so you’d rather take a ride to the county hospital.”
“Are you really…” the woman asked in confusion.
“Right.”
The young man nodded hastily and said, “I am Director Zhang of the county hospital.”
The woman looked at the man and asked, “Is there a director surnamed Zhang in the county hospital?”
“This time you came to the city still to sort out your old problem, am I right?”
Director Zhang leaned in and remarked while sizing the man up.
“Oh right!” the man replied in shock.
“Why did you come here to solve your old problem? This is the Chinese Medicine Hospital. Come on, follow me to the county hospital. I’ll call an expert now to give you a thorough check-up.”
Director Zhang offered.
“Do you think I’ll believe you just because you tried cottoning up to me ?”
The man rolled his eyes and snapped, “I’m not that stupid. Honey, let’s go.”
As he spoke, he grabbed the woman’s hand and headed off for the hospital.
“Don’t be like this!”
Director Zhang quickly caught up with him and urged, “Why didn’t you listen to me? I am a doctor. I’m doing this for your own good. The traditional Chinese Medicine can’t cure your illness.”
“I don’t want to see a Western Medicine doctor at all. I just want to let the traditional Chinese Medicine cure me!”
The man declared at once.
Upon hearing that, Director Zhang was dumbfounded.
“How can you be such a fool?”
Director Zhang seized the man’s arm and maintained his opinion. “How can traditional Chinese Medicine cure diseases? In this era dominated by science and technology, even those Chinese Medicine doctors are using the medical machines of Western Medicine. What’s more, Chinese Medicine is pseudoscience. What do you think of Western Medicine? Why do you have to see a Chinese Medicine doctor?”
“Humph!”
The man rebutted, “We have TVs in our place. Chinese Medicine is not like what you said at all. We saw on TV that Chinese Medicine has even cured cancer. But can Western Medicine cure cancer?”
“Yes, why can’t it?”
Director Zhang said at once, “If you come with me, I can guarantee that all your illnesses can be cured!”
“Let go! If you don’t, I’ll call for help.”
The man could not stand it any longer and bellowed.
As Director Zhang saw this, his expression changed. He quickly let go of the man’s hand, then waved at him, and said, “Fine, just go. We are old acquaintances, why need all the yelling?”
After that, he glanced around and saw that many people were staring at him.
Director Zhang could only run away in dejection.
“Damn it. Why are they all going to the Chinese Medicine Hospital? They simply don’t give us a chance to make a living!
“Well, it seems that we can’t stay here any longer. I have no alternative but to find another hospital to start my business.”
Obviously, this Director Zhang was actually a hospital scalper.
The scene was not just happening in one city.
It was staged at the gate of the big hospitals in all the big cities across the country.
The clinics, medical centers, and hospitals of Chinese Medicine were all packed. Even the drugstores of Chinese Medicine were very popular. Even with the help of advanced machines, the process of decocting medicinal herbs was still too time-consuming.
In Jiangjing City.
In Shide Drugstore.
In the drugstore of Chinese Medicine where Fang Qiu worked as a pharmacist for the first time, the Chinese Medicine doctor, also the store owner, who was addressed as Old Li, was looking at the crowd in the store as well as the patients who had lined up waiting for him to take their pulses before the table. He could not help but say with emotion, “It’s really lucky that there is a Fang Qiu in the Chinese Medicine circle. When I first saw him, I knew that this boy was a special genius the world could have once in five thousand years. It turns out that I was right about him!”
In the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Jiangjing Chinese Medicine.
The orthopedics department on the seventh floor was already packed with patients.
All the patients who used to see doctors of Western Medicine for rheumatism and arthritis now edged their way here, causing the originally quiet orthopedics department to be noisy and crowded. Aside from the long queues at the entrances of doctors’ consulting rooms, all the seats in the waiting area had been taken, and even at the corners on both sides of the corridor sat a load of people.
Shen Chun came out of the consulting room and rushed to the toilet. Seeing so many patients in the corridor, he smiled bitterly.
Even while going to the toilet, he squeezed time to call Fang Qiu.
“Dr. Shen?”
Having received Shen Chun’s call, Fang Qiu was also quite surprised.
“Where are you, boy?” Shen Chun asked.
“I’m in school, preparing for a TV program. I’ll be attending the program in a couple of days, won’t I?” Fang Qiu replied with a chortle.
“I was going to ask you to come to the hospital to do the consultation. Seems that your schedule is already packed.”
Shen Chun gave a hollow laugh.
“To do consultations?”
Fang Qiu was confused.
“Yes.”
Shen Chun nodded and said, “It’s all because of you. Now there are too many patients in our hospital. Especially after hearing that you once worked in our hospital, some people from other places even hurtled here just to see you. I’m so up to my neck that I don’t even have time to drink water through the day.”
“Hehe.”
Fang Qiu snickered.
Although he was well aware that it was indeed a great burden for the doctors to have so many patients, he still hoped that the more such scenes occurred, the better it would be.
If there were more patients going to doctors of Chinese Medicine, it indicated that the more acknowledgment the doctors of Chinese Medicine obtained.
The recognition of the common folks was of the most significance for the development of Chinese Medicine.
That very night.
The eighth episode of the “Young Chinese Medicine Doctor” was broadcast on time.
Following the seventh episode, the contestants were competing for the top 15 in the country!After watching the program, the spectators deeply understood how impressive those who made the top 15. Because in the program, everyone could clearly see the process and the results of each of their diagnoses with the four methods, as well as the time they took.
Except for Fang Qiu, the freaking genius, the other contestants’ scores were fairly close, and the results of their diagnoses through the four methods were almost the same.
Even the five people who had been eliminated were particularly talented.
This time, with the live broadcast of Fang Qiu publicizing his treatment, coupled with the heated discussion about Chinese Medicine on the Internet, the audience rate of the Young Chinese Medicine Doctor increased by 0.2% again, and the highest rating reached an astonishing 6.7.
This number made all the people in the program team ecstatic.
Even those working on other programs for Central Television were extremely thrilled because of the audience rate. After all, as the Young Chinese Medicine Doctor’s ratings were high, it would certainly lead to a surge of popularity for other programs of the same channel.
On the other hand, the groups working on the rest of the large entertainment channels were all numb to the news.
Since the broadcast of the Young Chinese Medicine Doctor, its audience rate climbed almost every episode. The growth of the ratings in this episode seemed to be within everyone’s expectations.
At the same time, all kinds of news bandied about.
It was said that the assorted programs on Chinese Medicine prepared by all the major TV stations were almost ready to be put on the screen.
Some entertainment shows, which had nothing to do with Chinese Medicine, even scrambled to record one episode about Chinese Medicine as soon as possible. They planned to let those popular stars experience the Chinese Medicine treatment, especially acupuncture and so on. It would be very fun to see the horrified looks on those top stars.
Director Li Huawen, someone in the circle of entertainment shows, soon knew about the news about all kinds of shows scraping the heat of Chinese Medicine.
After hearing it, Director Li Huawen did not comment.
In his opinion, no matter what these shows did, they could never overtake the Young Chinese Medicine Doctor.
However, it was a pity that the Young Chinese Medicine Doctor was going to end in two episodes.
Because from the beginning, this program was arranged to record 10 episodes. Back then, everyone was not optimistic about this program, nor did they value traditional Chinese Medicine.
But to everyone’s surprise, the program attracted a genius called Fang Qiu to participate in.
There was no doubt that it was precisely because of Fang Qiu’s presence that the program soared to the top at once!
In fact, the eighth episode was already an extra one.
Due to the fact that the eighth, ninth, and tenth episodes in the original plan seemed cumbersome, the director team decided to simplify them after a discussion. They cut off one episode and divided the 7th episode into two, so the program still had 10 episodes.
After all, for Central Television, this program had become a brand-new brand. They could not destroy this brand, which had become popular after they overcame all the challenges, just for the advertising fee. If the 10 episodes were extended to 12, the rhythm of the story would vanish.
Also, amidst the fever of the Young Chinese Medicine Doctor, there was even a rumor inside Central Television that if the ratings of the final episode of the Young Chinese Medicine Doctor could surpass 8%, there was a high possibility that the task of directing the Spring Festival Gala would be handed over to Director Li Huawen at the end of the year.
When Li Huawen heard the news, he was overjoyed in private for a few days.
He also secretly made up his mind that, no matter what, he must make the ratings of the last two episodes go over 8%.
Yet, if he wanted the ratings to break through 8%, he had to raise a hot topic about his program.
But where could he find such a hot topic?
To eliminate Fang Qiu?
Director Li Huawen suddenly came up with such a selling point.
If Fang Qiu was really knocked out of the competition, it would absolutely be a selling point. Then, the ratings would probably exceed 10%, let alone 8%.
Nonetheless, this was just a temporary relief which would result in disaster.
What was more, how could Fang Qiu be so easily eliminated?
“This is tricky!”
At the same time, a doctor of Western Medicine, who just finished his study in the U.S. and returned home, was also influenced by the heated discussion about the Young Chinese Medicine Doctor and watched the show. After that, he also especially had a look at the video of Fang Qiu’s treatment for cancer.
In the end, after watching the video, he gave a disdainful smile.
“Chinese Medicine is simply pseudoscience.
“It seems that the people of my motherland are really as ignorant as I imagined. But since I’m back, everyone should open your eyes and see how can I take off Fang Qiu’s mask!”