Soon, Meng Yu’s test results were ready.
Yang Yan quickly asked, “Well, Doctor, do you know what’s wrong with my husband?”
Qin Jiang replied, “The condition your husband has is very rare. In medicine, it’s called Auto-Brewery Syndrome.”
As soon as Qin Jiang said that, everyone was dumbfounded.
“Auto… auto what?”
Meng Yu even wondered if he’d misheard.
Qin Jiang patiently explained, “Auto-Brewery Syndrome, simply put, means your body can brew alcohol on its own.”
“This is why, even though you haven’t actively been drinking, the alcohol content in your body is still this high.”
“This condition is quite rare. Some people who have it can even reach a blood alcohol level of 400.”
The couple was completely bewildered.
If they hadn’t known that Qin Jiang was a well-known doctor, they might have thought he was joking.
Netizens in the live stream were also buzzing with comments.
“Whoa, this condition actually exists?”
“Your own body can brew alcohol? Doesn’t that mean you’d never have to buy drinks again—like you’re drinking every day?”
“Do you think that’s a good thing? Didn’t you hear Qin Jiang say it can reach 400? That means you’d be perpetually drunk. If you have a low tolerance, you might even sleep for days on end.”
The world is full of wonders, indeed.
Who would have thought the human body could brew its own alcohol?
“Dr. Qin, I still don’t quite get it. How does this ‘brewing’ actually work?”
Zou Molly also looked at Qin Jiang with curiosity.
Earlier, she’d thought Qin Jiang was young and might lack experience in medical practice.
But now, she saw him in a completely new light.
Qin Jiang was like a walking encyclopedia—no matter what rare condition a patient had, he could quickly make a diagnosis.
Qin Jiang explained, “Everyone’s body is home to countless microorganisms, and their numbers far exceed our own cells.”
“Over hundreds of millions of years of evolution, these microorganisms have learned to coexist with our bodies, and the bacteria in our intestines are no exception.”
“You’ve all heard of stomach acid, right? In that highly acidic environment, most microorganisms are killed off. But a small portion still manage to travel with food into the large intestine.”
“The acidity in the large intestine isn’t as strong as in the stomach, plus there’s plenty of food residue and the temperature is just right—so the microbes multiply rapidly.”
Everything Qin Jiang said was straight out of medical textbooks.
So most people found it quite reasonable.
But what did this have to do with brewing alcohol in the body?
As if reading the couple’s minds, Qin Jiang continued, “The truth is, there are brewing yeasts in the human body.”
“And not just brewing yeasts—their concentrations just vary from person to person.”
“These yeasts break down starches into ethanol, carbon dioxide, water, and other byproducts.”
“The more brewing yeasts you have in your system, the more ethanol they produce.”
With that, Qin Jiang turned to Meng Yu and asked, “Do you usually like eating potatoes?”
Yang Yan answered for him, “Yes, he loves potatoes. Also rice, ham sausages, and stuff like that. He eats those unhealthy things every day.”
Qin Jiang smiled and said, “Those aren’t necessarily unhealthy foods, but they are all high in starch.”
“The more high-starch foods you eat, the more ethanol the brewing yeasts in your body produce. So naturally, you end up drunk.”
Netizens in the live stream were absolutely amazed.
“Holy crap, I thought this was some mystical thing, but it’s actually science?”
“The human body really is a fascinating system. It feels like even the tiniest glitch in one place can make the whole body behave strangely.”
“What Dr. Qin said is all theoretically sound, but I never imagined he’d actually come across such a rare case. That’s just incredible.”
“Well, think about how many people we have in this country. It’s actually not that surprising to encounter rare cases.”
Though the couple didn’t fully grasp the ins and outs of this so-called “brewing disease,” they knew one thing for sure—they couldn’t let this continue.
If Meng Yu was going to be tipsy all day long, how was he supposed to get any work done?
So Yang Yan quickly asked, “Dr. Qin, since we now know what my husband has, can it be treated?”
Qin Jiang nodded.
“It can be treated, but we first need to find the root cause before we can prescribe the right remedy.”
Yang Yan said, “But didn’t you just say it’s because of some brewing yeast in his body, and that he eats a lot of starch?”
Qin Jiang shook his head.
“We all have brewing yeasts in our bodies. The question is—why does your husband have so many of them? That’s the real issue.”
“If we don’t get to the bottom of that, even if I treat him now, there’s always a chance it could come back.”
Qin Jiang looked at Meng Yu.
“Have you ever had any major surgeries, or been hospitalized for a long time?”
Meng Yu thought carefully and replied, “No, I’ve never had any serious illnesses—just minor ones here and there.”
“The worst I get is a cold or a fever. I’ve never had anything else.”
Yang Yan added, “That’s right. He catches a cold almost every month, and gets a fever three or four times a year.”
“Every time, he goes to the clinic for a shot, so it never gets delayed.”
Hearing that, Qin Jiang froze.
“Wait—you said every time you catch a cold or have a fever, you go to the clinic for an injection?”
Meng Yu nodded, a little embarrassed.
“Yeah, colds and fevers are pretty miserable. Plus, I’ve got to earn a living. If I stayed in bed all day, I’d lose out on money.”
“Injections are great—they work fast.”
“I get the shot and head straight back to work. I can even earn back the cost of the shot. It’s a good deal.”
Qin Jiang immediately saw where the problem lay.
“The clinic you’re talking about—it’s not a proper hospital, is it?”
Meng Yu chuckled. “Why would I go to a big hospital for a cold or fever? It’s just a little clinic in our urban village. But the doctor there is definitely licensed—he has a medical certificate.”
Qin Jiang turned to his computer and opened Meng Yu’s medical records.
Sure enough, the medications prescribed for each visit to that little clinic were clearly listed.
Seeing what the clinic had prescribed, Qin Jiang fell silent.
Dexamethasone, Aztreonam, Ornidazole…
Good grief. For just a cold and fever? This kind of medication regimen?
Qin Jiang said in a low voice, “I think I know where your brewing yeasts came from.”
“It’s likely from all those antibiotics you’ve been injected with over the years. They’ve thrown off the balance of your gut flora, causing the brewing yeasts to multiply abnormally.”
