Old Zhang returned home, still feeling a bit uneasy.
He was carrying two bags of Chinese herbs and stood at the kitchen doorway.
His wife was busy. Hearing the noise, she turned and saw Old Zhang. "Are you done with your IV?"
Old Zhang hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Honey, can you help me brew this medicine? Sister Li said it can bring down a fever."
His wife saw the packets of herbs in his hand and frowned. "Where did you get this Chinese medicine? Weren't you on an IV drip? Why the sudden switch to Chinese herbs?"
"It was Sister Li. She heard I had a cold and insisted that the Li Family's kid was highly skilled. She told me to go buy some medicine. I couldn't argue with her, so I went to give it a try. It wasn't expensive, either—40 yuan for two doses."
Old Zhang sighed and explained what had happened.
"Alright, then. Let's give it a shot. Maybe it really works. I saw Sister Li today, and she was full of life. She didn't look sick at all."
His wife took the packets of herbs and started brewing the medicine.
The kitchen was soon filled with the rich aroma of Chinese medicine.
Old Zhang sat in the living room, constantly drinking water, hoping to alleviate his symptoms.
After the medicine was brewed, his wife walked over with a bowl of dark brown medicinal soup and handed it to him. "Drink this in a bit. Be careful, it's hot. Do you want any sugar?"
Old Zhang shook his head. "No, thanks. I can handle a little bitterness."
A moment later, once it had cooled slightly, Old Zhang downed the medicinal soup in one gulp.
The bitter taste instantly spread through his mouth. He frowned and drank a few gulps of water to wash away the bitterness.
"How is it? Feeling any better?" his wife asked with concern.
Old Zhang shook his head. "It's not going to work that fast. I just drank it."
His wife nodded. "That's true. Why don't you go lie down for a while? Sweating it out might help."
Old Zhang obediently lay down on the bed and covered himself with a thick blanket.
The warmth of the medicinal soup slowly spread through his stomach. He felt his body gradually warm up, and a light sweat began to form on his forehead.
Before he knew it, he had drifted off to sleep.
Old Zhang slept especially soundly.
When he woke up again, it was already the next morning.
His wife gently nudged him. "Old Zhang, time to get up. How are you feeling? Do you still need to go for your IV?"
Old Zhang groggily opened his eyes and felt that his body was much lighter.
He sat up and touched his forehead, discovering that it wasn't hot anymore.
He quickly got out of bed, found a thermometer, and took his temperature. It had already dropped to 36.9 degrees!
"Honey, my fever's gone!" Old Zhang exclaimed in pleasant surprise.
His wife also leaned in to look at the thermometer, her face full of surprise. "It really is gone! It looks like that Chinese medicine actually works."
Old Zhang tried clearing his throat and found that the pain had also lessened considerably. He felt refreshed and invigorated, as if reborn. He said excitedly, "I can't believe this Chinese medicine worked so fast! I thought I'd have to drink it for several days."
His wife smiled and nodded. "It seems Li Xu really did inherit his father's medical skills. You were so worried yesterday. You can rest easy now, right?"
Old Zhang nodded repeatedly, filled with utter admiration for Li Xu's medical skills.
He remembered Han Weimin's mockery of Li's Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic from yesterday.
Old Zhang felt he had to do something.
He got dressed and said to his wife, "Is breakfast ready? After I eat, I'm heading to the clinic to tell Han Weimin my cold is gone!"
"It'll be a little while."
"No rush. The clinic won't be open if I go too early anyway."
「Around eight o'clock.」
After finishing breakfast, Old Zhang headed straight for the Weimin Clinic.
Although it was early, there were already a few patients in the clinic getting IVs.
The young nurse was also there, helping out.
Han Weimin was preparing medication. He looked up and saw Old Zhang, startled for a moment, then said smugly, "Old Zhang, has your condition gotten worse? I told you Chinese medicine doesn't work, but you just wouldn't listen. Heh, you wasted a whole day. You'll need two extra days of IVs to make up for it."
Old Zhang smiled and waved his hand. "Dr. Han, you've misunderstood. My condition hasn't worsened, it's gotten better! I just had one dose of Chinese medicine last night, and when I took my temperature this morning, the fever was gone. My throat doesn't hurt anymore, and I feel full of energy!"
Han Weimin was clearly skeptical. "Is that so? You'd better not be lying about your fever. You can't mess around with the flu. Xiao Song, get a thermometer and take his temperature."
"Oh."
The young nurse quickly got a thermometer and handed it to Old Zhang.
"Heh, you still don't believe me? You think I don't know if I have a fever or not?"
Old Zhang grumbled but didn't refuse.
He placed the thermometer under his arm.
Five minutes later.
He took it out and said with a smile, "36.8 degrees. See? All better."
Han Weimin looked closely. Indeed, there was no fever.
His expression immediately turned a bit ugly. He forced a smile. "It's probably just your strong constitution. You recovered on your own. How could Chinese medicine work so fast?"
Old Zhang shook his head and said seriously, "Dr. Han, I really didn't recover on my own. After I drank the medicine last night, I felt much more comfortable. When I woke up this morning, I was all better. Li Xu inherited his father's medical skills. He's really got the goods!"
Han Weimin felt even more displeased. He glanced at the patients on IV drips and noticed they seemed swayed. He quickly said, "As long as you're better, that's fine. You should go now. Don't hang around here and get reinfected."
Startled, and afraid of actually getting reinfected, Old Zhang hurried away.
Han Weimin said to the patients on IVs, "He just has a strong constitution and fought it off. It's impossible to be cured by a single dose of Chinese medicine."
The patients in the clinic weren't fools. Naturally, they didn't believe what Han Weimin said.
Two of them in particular, who had been on IV drips for days without fully recovering, started whispering to each other.
"Is Chinese medicine really that effective?"
"Maybe we should go give it a try? The IVs aren't helping anyway."
"I heard Aunt Li, the cleaner, talking about it yesterday. I didn't believe it then, but seeing this now... maybe it really works..."
...
「Li's Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic.」
Li Xu was seeing a patient.
There were more patients these past two days than before.
A new patient came in almost every ten minutes or so.
Most of them had the flu.
Li Xu combined Daqing Leaf and Huang Qin, then added other supplementary herbs based on each patient's condition.
'The intelligence from these past two days has all been treatment plans for specific patients.'
'While not as helpful as the intelligence I get on medicinal herbs, it has still corrected some of my treatment methods.'
'For example, today's intelligence was about a patient with acute dysentery.'
'The system recommended using Major Chaihu Decoction plus gypsum.'
In the afternoon, the patient arrived.
After Li Xu checked the patient's pulse,
He found that the formula provided by the system was excellent.
Especially the Major Chaihu Decoction.
'After all, for an illness like dysentery, you can't use the Supplement Method at the beginning.'
'If I hadn't seen the system's reminder and had diagnosed him myself, I might have prescribed a different medicine.'
'But the effect definitely wouldn't have been as good as the system's plan.'
「After a busy day.」
Li Xu organized his case files. He had seen a total of 34 patients.
Compared to the quiet emptiness of the past few days, it was a huge improvement.
One dose of medicine was about 20 yuan.
Three doses per person cost 60 yuan.
Today's total revenue reached 2040 yuan.
'Finally making money.'
Li Xu thought with emotion.
It was the first time he had turned a profit since taking over the clinic.