Physician's Odyssey

Chapter 10 - A Field Damaged by Bull’s Ploughing

Translator: Thyaeria

“Vice-Head Xie, where did that kid come from? He dares to compete with Teacher?” A plump man that sat beside Xie Cheng asked in a soft voice.

Xie Cheng faintly smiled, “He is the Physician that treated that foreigner a few days ago. Zhang Chao, don’t underestimate him due to his young age; his skills are excellent.”

Zhang Chao snickered, “He looks to be in his 20s, at most. Experience is significant in TCM, how many people has he seen with his age? He was probably lucky when he treated that foreigner.”

A cold lustre flashed on Xie Cheng’s face. “Let’s keep quiet. President Di is astute; others will not so easily trick him."

Zhang Chao suddenly recalled a matter as he spoke in a soft voice, “I just received a piece of information. President Di seems to have the intention to pass the Head of the TCM Department to him; I wonder if it’s real?”

Xie Cheng faintly smiled. “The Head of the TCM Department belongs to those that are capable. If he could prove his ability, then why would there be a problem for him to have the position of a Department Head?”

Zhang Chao secretly gave Xie Cheng a thumbs-up. “Vice-Head Xie is truly broad-minded.”

On the contrary, he sneered in his heart. Xie Cheng was probably anxious now. He had been the Vice-Head for so many years, and now, the position of the Department Head was going to be given to someone else. Wouldn’t that mean that all his hard work had gone up in smoke?

Xie Cheng knew that Zhang Chao was trying to goad him, but how could he be so easily made use of? His hand waved at a short and robust physician that was on the side and he whispered in the ears of that physician.

The physician grinned as he walked to Di Shiyuan. “President Di, I have a few words to say. Teacher is a leading figure in Huainan Province’s TCM industry. Physician Su is still too young and coarsely speaking, he’s not fit to compete with Teacher. I feel that it’s more suitable to have Teacher’s students partake in the competition.”

The Physician’s behind all agreed as they gave Di Shiyuan pressure.

Di Shiyuan rubbed his nose as his brows twitched. With his domineering character, how would he be bothered to care about the words of those Physicians?

Su Tao took a glance at that physician that spoke. “This is my first day in the TCM Department, and I understand that all of you have doubts regarding my ability. Physician Tang is a person of good virtue and prestige. There’s no harm in it since his students want to compete with me.”

Su Tao stood in Di Shiyuan’s shoes when he considered this matter while showing his ability to the other physicians. He would let them know the drastic gap between them!

Tang Nanzheng slightly nodded his head. He was pretty satisfied with Su Tao’s attitude and confidence.

Su Tao further added, “But consultation is not a game. When I review my patients later, I hope that there won’t be so many people around me. After all, this involves the privacy of a patient so it would affect the patient’s mentality if there are so many people around.”

Di Shiyuan was stunned. He was surprised by Su Tao’s consideration. It was genuinely inappropriate to have a bunch of physicians here watching.

When Xie Cheng heard Su Tao’s words, he snickered while Zhang Chao mocked, “Looks like you’re afraid of losing and embarrassing yourself, so you don’t dare to have so many people around watching, right?”

Su Tao’s words attracted the ridicule of many people. It was all because Su Tao had been too high-profile, causing a shock when he cured Vera. But the physicians weren’t present back then, so they had their doubts about Su Tao’s ability.

Di Shiyuan waved his hand as he spoke in a loud voice, “Only four will stay in the consultation later. Aside from me, Su Tao and Physician Tang, Physician Tang will choose a doctor based on the Physician’s conditions to compete with Su Tao. How about it?”

Tang Nanzheng stroked his beard as he smiled. “That works. This way, we can allow everyone to witness Physician Su’s strength while letting the patients feel more assured.”

When Xie Cheng heard the competition method, he sneered. It wouldn’t be easy for Su Tao to get through this.

Firstly, Tang Nanzheng knew the strength of every physician so that he could select the physicians based on their strength. Secondly, this was a series of competitions. There’s a saying, the wisdom of masses exceeds any individual. So even if Su Tao was competent, could he defeat all the physicians in the Jianghuai Hospital? Not to mention that with Tang Nanzheng here, there were practically no odds of winning for Su Tao.

Di Shiyuan clicked on the mouse, broadcasting the patient's queue number. Tang Nanzheng looked at the middle-aged man that walked in before saying, “Get Physician Zheng Long here for this consultation.”

Zheng Long was that short and robust physician who excelled in dealing with bone-related injuries and illnesses.

Su Tao had to give it to Tang Nanzheng. The patient did not even speak, and he could already determine their needs through observation. With his experience, he indeed possessed the ability of a grandmaster.

The middle-aged patient uncovered his t-shirt and revealed his shoulder. Zheng Long’s face slightly changed. The patient had suffered a severe deformation on his injury. His skin bulged up with redness that meant there’s a severe bone dislocation, and it might even be a fracture.

Zheng Long placed his hand on the middle-aged patient and shook his head. “An X-ray is needed before we can determine the condition.”

He was versed in western medicine, so it was his habit to rely on an apparatus, which caused Tang Nanzheng to shake his head.

The middle-aged patient showed a problematic expression as he spoke with an accent, “X-ray? Does it cost a lot? Why don’t I cancel this consultation? I have also suffered a sprain in the past, so I will recover after resting for some time.”

This patient was susceptible to the costly fees of the hospital. Thus, his first reaction was to refuse medical treatment to save money.

This caused Zheng Long to be embarrassed, since the patient had refused before he could even treat him. Thus, he put on a stern expression and threatened, “If you don’t want this arm of yours, then you can go home. But I have to warn you that you might develop a disability if you’re not treated in time.”

When Tang Nanzheng saw Zheng Long’s methods, he knitted his brows. He naturally knew that Zheng Long did this out of purpose. Doctors would occasionally use this method out of fear that the patient wouldn’t seek medical treatment for their illness and deliberately threatened them.

Zheng Long’s words pissed the middle-aged patient as he cursed, “Your mother, what kind of doctor are you to actually curse me? Cripple? So be it then, this daddy will not be seeing any doctor here.”

Zheng Long’s face collapsed. His luck today was pretty bad, since he had encountered such a patient...

The patient wore his clothes and just when he was about to leave, Su Tao suddenly stood up and placed his hand on the middle-aged patient’s shoulder with a pull and push. A crackling sound rang out, and before the patient could cry out in surprise, Su Tao patted on his shoulder with a smile. “My colleague was joking with you. I have helped you reallocate your bones back to where they were. You will need to stick on a few medical ointment patches, and it will be fine.”

The patient was bewildered and tried to wave his arm around. Noticing that it functioned normally, his face immediately turned happy. “It’s really alright now! It’s too miraculous!”

Zheng Long had an awkward expression on his face. Without the need to judge, Su Tao had won beautifully and even helped him cover up his mistake. Su Tao’s treatment was less than 10 seconds, and the crucial factor was that Su Tao did not request the patient to have an X-ray done.

Di Shiyuan and Tang Nanzheng exchanged a look with astonishment in their eyes. Even Tang Nanzheng couldn’t recognise Su Tao’s method with his fast speed.

Di Shiyuan, on the other hand, did not speak a word. Instead, he called the next patient.

It was a lady that seemed to be around 27-28. She had a beautiful appearance and voluptuous figure with a low collar that revealed a tremendous amount of cleavage. She also had a mole near the corner of her eye, which factored into her charm.

Tang Nanzheng looked at this patient and briefly pondered, “Get Physician Zhang Chao here.”

Zhang Chao had quite a bit of fame in the fields of Gynecology in Jianghuai Hospital. Especially regarding those infertile illnesses. There were even rumours that Tang Nanzheng had given him a few secret prescriptions, which he had relied on to stabilise his standing in the TCM Department.

According to experience and contribution, both Zhang Chao and Xie Cheng had an equal chance of being promoted to the Department Head. However, Zhang Chao had an issue with his morals. A few years ago, he hooked up with a patient and ended up being found out by the patient’s husband, causing a din in the hospital. Despite being punished for that matter, Zhang Chao still enjoyed the treatment of a Vice-Department Head, since Gynecology was greatly in demand in the TCM Department.

Zhang Chao glanced at the lady and his eyes lit up. The lady’s appearance could be considered above-average. He looked at the medical files that the lady had brought from a doctor she had previously visited before placing his fingers on the lady’s wrist and asked, “How many years have you been married? How’s the nightlife with your husband?”

The lady’s face blushed before she lowered her eyelids. “We’ve been married for two years with an average of one to two times a week.”

As she spoke, she clamped her legs together out of instinct while feeling uneasy about answering such a sensitive question.

Zhang Chao slowly retracted his hand and rubbed his brows. “There isn’t any problem with you based on your case. It should be on your husband. So I suggest that both you and your husband make a trip over to have a check. I will also give you a prescription to nurture your body; it’ll be beneficial to your body.”

The lady sulked as she took back her medical documents; it was the same diagnose with the western doctor.

Suddenly, Su Tao waved her hand and interrupted, “I have a few words to add on.”

Zhang Chao was stunned before he revealed an unhappy expression. Tang Nanzheng, on the other hand, remained composed. Could it be that Su Tao had also seen through her problem just as he had?

Su Tao slowly asked, “Has your spirit been low and have you been suffering from dizziness, agitation, dry mouth and soreness in your waist with irregular periods?”

The lady immediately nodded her head. “Yeah, that’s why I suspected that there’s a problem with my body.”

Su Tao lightly smiled. “I suggest that you do not sleep in the same room with your husband for a month. I will provide you with a prescription and do take note not to do it more than once a month. You’ll have good news in three months.”

Zhang Chao’s expression turned angry and was about to refute Su Tao for uttering nonsense.

However, Tang Nanzheng took a glance at Su Tao’s prescription and sighed, “Zhang Chao, you still lack in your eyesight.”

There were only tired bulls and no fields damaged from ploughing. The same logic applied to men and women; it would affect their nervous system if they did too much, which could be seen from the lady’s pale complexion, murkiness in the corner of her eyes and tottering steps.

The lady was probably lying when she said that she had only done it with her husband once or twice a week. Young people would naturally get addicted after tasting the forbidden fruit, but it wasn’t proper for Su Tao to say it directly, so he had to remind the lady tactfully.

When Tang Nanzheng saw how Su Tao correctly treated the two patients, he knew that aside from talent, Su Tao also had at least ten years of foundation as a doctor. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to tell the problem without taking the pulse of his patient.

When Xie Cheng saw Zhang Chao walking back in a sulk, he was startled, “You have also lost?”

Zhang Chao explained, “He truly has some ability. He’s stronger than me! It looks like the position of the Department Head will go to him.”

Zhang Chao was fanning the fire with his words while making Xie Cheng feel uneasy at the same time. Since he could only be the Vice-Department Head, Xie Cheng could only dream of getting that rank.

Zhang Chao had always suspected whether Xie Cheng had anything to do with his incident a few years ago.

Xie Cheng was called into the consultation room by Tang Nanzheng and noticed that Su Tao had already started his treatment on the patients. There were four that sat before him, and Su Tao swiftly jabbed the patient in the far right with a silver needle on the patient’s shoulder twice before jabbing a needle into the tailbone of the other two. Finally, he inserted three needles in the head of the last patient.

Finishing his movements, the four patients practically breathed out at the same time.