“Been drinking?”
Seeing the man’s intoxicated state, Qin Jiang furrowed his brow.
Among all types of patients, drunk people are some of the ones doctors dread the most.
Some people just fall into a deep sleep when they’re drunk—that’s considered good behavior, and they usually don’t cause any trouble.
But others get overly excited, refuse to cooperate with examinations, and some even get physically aggressive with the doctors.
When Qin Jiang asked, the man responded sluggishly, mumbling with a slurred smile, “I didn’t… I didn’t drink.”
Qin Jiang felt a headache coming on.
He could barely string a sentence together, and he was claiming he hadn’t been drinking?
“Let’s start with a blood test.”
He had Zou Meili take the man for a blood draw, then asked the woman to hand over her ID for registration.
The man’s name was Meng Yu, a long-haul truck driver.
The woman was Yang Yan, who worked at a restaurant.
To make it in the big city, the couple worked from dawn till dusk every single day, stashing away their monthly earnings in the bank.
Things were finally looking up—they were close to saving enough for a down payment on a house.
But then, starting last month, Meng Yu began feeling off.
He noticed his head was constantly dizzy, he felt spaced out at work, and sometimes he’d even get drowsy while driving.
That scared the heck out of his co-driver.
Long-haul trips are brutally exhausting, both physically and mentally.
If Meng Yu’s mental state was compromised, an accident on the road was a very real possibility.
“During a routine pre-shift check, the company found out my husband had been drinking. So now they’re too afraid to let him come back to work. They told him to stay home and reflect on things for a while.”
Yang Yan started crying as she spoke.
Meng Yu’s salary was the main source of income for the family.
Now that he was stuck at home, their household income had plummeted by more than half.
If this kept up, forget saving for a down payment—they’d have to dip into their savings just to cover daily expenses.
“So does your husband normally like to drink?”
Yang Yan shook her head.
“He doesn’t like alcohol. He says it has a plasticky taste that he can’t stand. Normally, he doesn’t touch a single drop.”
Hearing this, the netizens in the livestream started buzzing with comments.
“There are actually people in this world who don’t like drinking?”
“To be honest, alcohol really doesn’t taste good at all. If it weren’t for our drinking culture, I probably wouldn’t touch it either.”
“Only a small minority can actually appreciate the aroma of alcohol. Most people drink just to follow the crowd—because everyone else is doing it.”
“The reason alcohol sells so well worldwide is just good marketing. Who in their right mind drinks every day? We’re not alcoholics.”
Qin Jiang trusted what Yang Yan said.
There really are plenty of people who don’t care for alcohol.
Biologically speaking, that tipsy feeling you get from drinking is actually a state of intoxication—poisoning, in other words.
Some people enjoy the spinning, hazy sensation, while others like the boost in nerve excitement and the surge of courage it brings.
But that’s exactly what poisoning looks like.
It also explains why drinking damages the liver—because the liver’s job is to detoxify.
“But from what I saw just now, your husband definitely looked like he’d been drinking—and quite a bit at that.”
Yang Yan started crying again.
“That’s exactly what I can’t figure out.”
“He keeps saying he doesn’t like drinking, and there’s no alcohol in the house at all. I even checked his purchase history—no alcohol buys. But somehow, he’s practically drunk every single day!”
“We’re at our wit’s end. We have no idea what’s going on.”
“If this keeps up, our family is going to fall apart. Dr. Qin, please help us figure out what’s happening—where exactly is the problem?”
Just as Yang Yan finished speaking, Zou Meili walked out of the exam room with Meng Yu.
She handed the blood test results to Qin Jiang.
“His blood alcohol concentration is 180—that’s severe intoxication. If he drove in this state and got pulled over, he’d face criminal detention.”
Hearing that, Yang Yan’s face went pale with fright.
No wonder the company told Meng Yu to rest at home and warned him not to come back to work anytime soon—they couldn’t afford that kind of liability.
Thinking about it now, it made perfect sense.
Hauling heavy cargo in a big rig was dangerous enough, and one small mistake could cause a catastrophic accident.
If Meng Yu drove in that condition and something happened, the whole company might go under.
“Whether he actually drank or not—we’ll have to ask him directly.”
Qin Jiang took out his silver needles, had Meng Yu sit properly on the chair, and inserted the needles into his body.
After a few jabs, Meng Yu, who had been dazed just moments ago, suddenly perked up and became much more clear-headed.
The netizens in the livestream were utterly astonished.
“Whoa! Acupuncture can sober you up? That’s amazing!”
“Haven’t you heard Dr. Qin? Being drunk is basically a state of poisoning. And you don’t think acupuncture can detoxify?”
“Now that you mention it, that does make some sense. But still, pulling it off is pretty incredible.”
Acupuncture works primarily by regulating the flow of vital energy within the patient’s body, allowing them to mobilize their own innate energy to strengthen the body and expel pathogens.
Those few needles Qin Jiang used were just to keep Meng Yu lucid—they couldn’t actually snap him out of his intoxication completely.
But even this level of clarity was enough for Qin Jiang.
“Mr. Meng, can you hear me clearly now?”
Meng Yu nodded, looking bewildered.
“Yes, I can. Am I… at the hospital?”
Clearly, Meng Yu had blacked out. He had no idea how he’d ended up here.
Qin Jiang said, “Your wife found you drunk and brought you in to see us.”
“Can you tell us—when did you drink today? Beer or liquor?”
Meng Yu was even more confused.
He looked at Qin Jiang blankly and said, “Doctor, I haven’t been drinking. I was just feeling tired, so I lay down on the sofa for a nap.”
“And then I opened my eyes and I’m here. I’d really like to know what’s going on myself.”
Meng Yu sounded sincere when he said this—he didn’t seem like he was lying at all.
A thought struck Qin Jiang, and he turned to Zou Meili standing nearby. “Take him for a gastrointestinal exam.”
“And test his liver function, kidney function, everything else too. Make it thorough.”
