Ding.
【Detected that the host spoke frankly to the patient, revealing the patient’s hidden ailment and greatly helping them. Mission accomplished.】
【Congratulations, host! You have received a reward: Buyuan Jieyu Decoction (Source-Supplementing and Depression-Relieving Decoction).】
Buyuan Jieyu Decoction?
As soon as Qin Jiang saw this name, he had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
It seemed the patient he was about to treat might be suffering from depression.
But you know, depression is really best treated with psychological intervention; herbal medicine can only be used as a support.
Qin Jiang stood up and went to the pharmacy to prepare the medicine for Yuan Yan.
After a short while, Qin Jiang walked out holding a jar of black pills.
“These are Jinkui Shenqi Pills (Kidney Qi Pills from the Golden Cabinet). They’re for replenishing qi and nourishing the kidneys.”
“Take one pill a day, no more. And make sure you both stick to a regular exercise routine, go to bed early and wake up early, and don’t watch anything too stimulating.”
“Humans are the animals that find temptation hardest to resist. Don’t overestimate your own willpower.”
Yuan Yan nodded to show she understood.
Cui Guang asked from the side, “Dr. Qin, what about me? What do I need to take?”
Cui Guang was very anxious.
Because he felt his own body was also having some major issues.
As a former member of the school basketball team, now he gets winded just going up the stairs. Isn’t that serious?
Qin Jiang said with a smile, “This medicine is for both of you. Just take one pill each, every day.”
“Remember what I said: try your best to control your desires. For at least these next six months, try not to be too intimate with each other.”
As soon as she heard “at least six months without being intimate,” Yuan Yan’s face fell, looking really upset.
Just thinking about it felt impossible to her, let alone actually doing it.
Qin Jiang naturally noticed her reaction.
But he didn’t call her out on it. Instead, he had her sit properly and took out his silver needles to give her acupuncture.
Acupuncture has a lot of depth to it.
Depending on the lineage of Chinese medicine, the acupoints used, the order, and the depth of needling can all be different.
It’s just like with herbal formulas.
Even formulas with the same name can have their ingredients adjusted—added or subtracted—based on the patient’s specific condition.
This is what Chinese medicine always emphasizes: a thousand people, a thousand prescriptions.
It’s very reasonable and very scientific.
After all, even if two people have the same illness, the causes might be different, their living environments different, and even their physical constitutions different.
So, “a thousand people, a thousand prescriptions” is actually quite necessary.
The problem is, this treatment approach in Chinese medicine is too cumbersome, too slow, and inefficient.
Thousand people, thousand prescriptions?
How many Chinese medicine practitioners does your clinic have? How many patients can you possibly see?
And because practitioners belong to different schools with different traditions, the formulas they prescribe might all be different.
But Western medicine is different.
Western medicine has a standardized treatment protocol.
You have this disease? Here’s the standard medication for it.
Unless you have underlying conditions or are prone to complications, Western medicine tends to be straightforward, efficient, and even a bit blunt.
Consultation, diagnosis, prescription, payment.
As long as there’s no line, you can get through this whole process in under an hour.
Seeing that Qin Jiang was about to give Yuan Yan acupuncture, Zou Mali stood by and watched carefully.
She was a general practitioner and also had some knowledge of Chinese medicine.
Before she came, she’d heard people say Qin Jiang was a very skilled doctor. She was curious to see if he was really as good as the rumors claimed.
The first three needles were pretty standard. Qin Jiang didn’t use any special techniques, and the acupoints he chose were very common.
But the next few needles made Zou Mali’s expression change.
Just like with herbal medicine, acupoints can be considered safe or risky.
Many herbs in Chinese medicine are toxic. If the dosage is wrong or too high, they can kill someone.
Despite this, many seasoned practitioners still like to take risks, using these potent, “fierce” herbs to treat patients.
They prescribe formulas that most other Chinese medicine doctors wouldn’t dare to prescribe.
Because they’re afraid of killing the patient.
Similarly, the human body has many acupoints, which can be divided into ordinary points and vital points.
These vital points are often called “major points” or “lethal points.”
For example, the Baihui point (GV20) on top of the head, the Taiyang points (Temples, EX-HN5), the Fengchi points (GB20), the Danzhong point (CV17), and so on.
You can needle these points. But whether problems arise depends entirely on the doctor’s skill level.
A skilled doctor can use them to cure illness. An unskilled one might cause the patient to spit blood (and that’s the minor outcome), or even kill them outright!
At that moment, Qin Jiang was needling these very major points.
Not because he had nothing better to do, but because these major points can mobilize more of the body’s vital energy (Yuan Qi), helping Yuan Yan recover faster and better.
After a few needles, Yuan Yan felt a warm, comfortable sensation spreading through her body.
A warm current seemed to emanate from her chest and rush straight to her head.
Yuan Yan felt as if someone was massaging her head—a tingly, numb, very pleasant feeling.
“Alright, remember to take your medicine on time when you get home.”
This tingling, numb sensation lasted for a full ten minutes or so, only then did Qin Jiang remove the silver needles from Yuan Yan’s body.
Yuan Yan felt much better.
Before, her mind would always wander uncontrollably to all sorts of random, messy thoughts. But now, her desire for those things seemed to have faded a bit. Even when those thoughts occasionally popped up, she didn’t seem as interested.
It was a very subtle, mysterious feeling.
If she hadn’t experienced it herself, she would never have believed acupuncture alone could achieve this.
Knowing that Qin Jiang was genuinely skilled, and for the sake of her own health, Yuan Yan quickly stood up and thanked him.
“Thank you, Dr. Qin. Don’t worry, I’ll follow your advice when I get home. I definitely won’t dwell on all that random stuff anymore.”
After saying this, Yuan Yan left with Cui Guang.
Cui Guang kept looking back at Qin Jiang every few steps. The look in his eyes seemed to say he wished Qin Jiang would give him a few needles, too.
Seeing that Qin Jiang remained calm and composed from start to finish, Zou Mali couldn’t help but ask, “Dr. Qin, aren’t you worried about making a mistake with those needles?”
“I mean, those points you just needled are the so-called ‘lethal points’ on the human body.”
Qin Jiang glanced at Zou Mali and said calmly, “The term ‘lethal point’ is what insiders say to outsiders.”
“The reason it’s emphasized so strongly is because these points are indeed very important and quite vulnerable for our bodies.”
“But as a doctor, I don’t think the term ‘lethal point’ is appropriate. It makes it sound like these points can’t be touched at all.”
“‘Major points’ would be more suitable, don’t you think?”
Qin Jiang’s words might seem like he didn’t directly answer Zou Mali’s question, but in fact, they provided the best possible answer.
As a doctor, if he didn’t have that level of confidence and skill, how could he dare to insert needles into a patient so easily?
Just then, a young man wearing a sports jacket, with his hands shoved in his pockets, walked in quickly from outside.
