Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor Gao-Yuan

The space in front of him was now empty. Gao-Yuan looked around, noticing that all the other patients were staring at him with fear in their eyes, slowly backing away as if they were afraid of being too close.

Gao-Yuan looked at this frightened group, feeling both amused and exasperated. He asked, "Do any of you understand what they're saying?"

The patients were all stunned for a moment. Right, what were they talking about?

Yang Degui, arms crossed, remarked, "Didn't you see Zhao Huanzhang and Shen Congyun? They were terrified. Something must have gone wrong."

An elderly man responded, "Young man, it's just sweating; what’s the big deal? I sweat after breakfast, too. Dr. Gao is excellent. Last time, he even cured my constipation."

Hearing the voice, Gao-Yuan recognized the speaker as Uncle Zhou, a patient who had come in for constipation treatment a few days earlier. Unexpectedly, after his constipation was cured, he'd caught a cold.

Yang Degui was not convinced. He said to Uncle Zhou, "If you trust Gao-Yuan that much, why don't you go to him for treatment?"

"I...," Uncle Zhou stammered, lowering his head while crossing his arms. "I'm just... not in a rush."

Yang Degui frowned. looking from Gao-Yuan to the anxious Zhao Huanzhang, and asked, "Gao-Yuan, did you mess up his treatment?"

All the patients turned their eyes to Gao-Yuan.

Gao-Yuan glanced at him, teasing, "What, you didn't get to drink the last time, so you're planning to try again this time?"

"You...!" Yang Degui was furious but dared not approach. Seeing Zhao Huanzhang rushing toward Uncle Wei in panic, he got an idea and said, "If you didn't mess up, or rather, if you can cure Uncle Wei with just one dose, I'll drink all the sweat soaked into his clothes."

Not wanting to overpromise and risk failure again, Yang Degui carefully set the bar as "curing him in one dose."

Gao-Yuan was speechless, amused, and said, "Why are you so interested in these bodily fluids?"

Yang Degui waved his hand grandly, "Never mind that. But what if you can't cure him with one dose?"

Gao Yuan looked at him with a questioning expression.

Pointing at Gao-Yuan, Yang Degui said, "Then you must apologize to my sister, in front of the entire village!"

At these words, Gao Yuan paused, seeming hesitant. Finally, he sighed lightly and, glancing at the surrounding crowd, reluctantly nodded.

Seeing that Gao-Yuan had agreed, Yang Degui breathed a sigh of relief but continued to glare resentfully at him.

Gao-Yuan turned his head to look at Uncle Wei, who was still emitting wisps of steam. Observing that Uncle Wei appeared to be in no immediate danger, Gao-Yuan did not go over to check on him. With no other patients seeking his attention at the moment, Gao-Yuan picked up a piece of paper and began to write something down with calm focus.

While he was at ease, the other doctors were far from it.

Zhao Huanzhang, terrified, rushed to Uncle Wei and stared at him intently.

Shen Congyun followed closely behind Zhao Huanzhang, her old eyes wide with worry.

Even Liu Sanquan stood up, though the always timid and cautious man didn't dare approach. He could only cast anxious glances from a distance.

Li Shengli alternated between looking at Gao-Yuan and Uncle Wei, his head swiveling back and forth like a spinning top.

Uncle Wei was overwhelmed by the situation and dumbfounded. "Wh-what's going on?" he stammered, looking to his wife for help. But Aunt Wei's mouth was agape. wider than his.

Zhao Huanzhang, his face serious, noticed that Uncle Wei was still sweating profusely, his clothes drenched, and steam rising from his head. Anxious, he asked, "How do you feel? Are you feeling cold?"

"Huh?" Uncle Wei, now nervous himself, stammered, "I... I did feel a bit cold earlier, but now that I'm sweating, I don’t feel cold anymore, just hot."

"Hmm?" Zhao Huanzhang was taken aback. He examined Uncle Wei again, then asked, "How’s your energy? Do you feel like you're going to faint?"

Uncle Wei, flustered by the tension, cautiously asked, "Am I supposed to faint at this point?"

Zhao Huanzhang was lost for words.

Shen Congyun was also speechless.

Uncle Wei instinctively covered his mouth, glancing around nervously, "Did I say something wrong?"

Zhao Huanzhang touched Uncle Wei’s hand and found it warm, with no signs of a critical collapse.

He was puzzled. Could it be that the excessive sweating had just begun and hadn’t reached the dangerous stage yet?

Without looking up from his writing, Gao-Yuan said calmly, "Uncle Wei, once you stop sweating, go to the back clinic room. Dr. Li has some clothes you can borrow. Your clothes are completely soaked—you can't wear them anymore."

"Oh," Uncle Wei responded.

Zhao Huanzhang turned around to look at Gao-Yuan.

Gao-Yuan also raised his head and said, "Sweating profusely only leads to a critical loss of Yang energy if it doesn’t stop. It’s too early for that. Don’t worry too much."

Despite this reassurance, the ever-coutious Zhao Huanzhang still felt uneasy. He glanced at Uncle Wei several more times, making Uncle Wei feel uncomfortable, as if he needed to faint on the spot to match the atmosphere.

When it became clear that Uncle Wei was not in any immediate danger, Zhao Huanzhang finally returned to his duties. However, he kept glancing back at Uncle Wei, his worried gaze never leaving him.

This behavior made Aunt Wei uneasy, too. She thought to herself that even she didn't pay this much attention to her husband.

Even after resumed treatment, Zhao Huanzhang kept checking on Uncle Wei.

Once, twice...

After finishing one prescription, Zhao Huanzhang looked back again, only to find the spot empty.

"He's gone?" Zhao Huanzhang exclaimed in shock.

"What? He's gone!" Yang Degui jumped up in surprise, bouncing off the ground in an instant.

Zhao Huanzhang stood up so quickly that he sent his chair flying, panicking, "Where is he? Where's Wei Laosan?"

Everyone in the clinic looked at each other in confusion.

Just as Yang Degui was about to charge at Gao-Yuan, a voice rang out.

"Here, here! Who's calling me?" Uncle Wei emerged from the back room hurriedly, his clothes disheveled.

"Where did you go?" Zhao Huanzhang asked anxiously.

Yang Degui, halfway through his charge, skidded to a halt, nearly falling over.

Uncle Wei, puzzled, explained, "Didn’t you say I should change into dry clothes after I stopped sweating? By the way, Dr. Li, your clothes stink a bit... but they fit quite well."

The room fell silent.

Zhao Huanzhang asked nervously, "You're not sweating anymore?"

Uncle Wei replied, "Do I still need to be sweating?"

Zhao Huanzhang urgently inquired, "How are you feeling now?"

Uncle Wei said, "Much better. I'm not cold anymore, my body doesn't ache, and I'm not irritable. Just hungry and very tired."

Zhao Huanzhang hesitated for a moment.

Aunt Wei chimed in, "You haven't slept much in the past three days, and after walking such a long mountain road, of course you're tired."

Gao-Yuan turned and said, "Dr. Zhao, why don't you examine Uncle Wei?"

Shen Congyun couldn't sit still any longer and quickly brought over a thermometer.

The two of them performed a thorough check-up.

Shen Congyun concluded, "His fever has gone down, his pulse is calm, his body temperature is normal, and his overall condition is good."

Zhao Huanzhang muttered, "Cured with one dose..."

Both of them turned to look at Gao-Yuan, stunned by what they saw.

The patients in front of them had all disappeared, now crowding around Gao-Yuan’s station. The line of people stretched all the way out into the street, with some even shoving each other.

A middle-aged woman elbowed Uncle Zhou, saying, "Hey, didn’t you say you weren’t in a rush?"

Uncle Zhou defended himself, "I’m not! I was just making room for you guys, so I came over here. Why are you all following me?"

The woman protested, "You were behind me, and now you’ve cut in line!"

The two of them began to argue, and the crowd grew even more chaotic.

Zhao Huanzhang and Shen Congyun were dumbfounded.

Li Shengli shook his head.

Liu Sanquan lowered his head, chuckling.

Gao-Yuan turned to Aunt Wei and said, "Auntie, there’s a small bed in the back. Let Uncle Wei sleep for a while."

"Oh, okay, okay," Aunt Wei responded hurriedly.

Gao-Yuan then asked, "What about Uncle Wei's sweat-soaked clothes?"

Aunt Wei pointed to the back, "They're drying back there."

Gao-Yuan glanced at the still-stunned Yang Degui, then said to Aunt Wei, "Quickly bring them to Brother Gui."