CHAPTER 64: CHAPTER 38: LUNG YIN DEFICIENCY

"Are you stupid, girl!"

"Someone’s taking advantage of you and you don’t know how to refuse?"

Cheng Gaowen was gnashing her teeth, frustrated at her inability to guide Su Kenan.

At the same time, she was extremely worried. The girl was doing okay in school, but what would happen once she entered society?

Su Kenan hesitated for a moment, as if realizing something, and whispered, "I... I don’t think it counts as taking advantage."

"You..."

Cheng Gaowen was breathing heavily. "Do you have the person’s contact information? Give it to me."

Seeing her aunt’s face full of anger, Su Kenan couldn’t help but hold her phone a little tighter, reluctant to hand it over.

He had only massaged her foot.

And besides, she wasn’t stupid.

But faced with her furious aunt, Su Kenan had no choice, and handed the phone to Cheng Gaowen.

Cheng Gaowen quickly went through the new friend records, but when she saw the familiar avatar, she froze: "This... why does this avatar look so familiar?"

"It seems to be... Lu’s?"

Cheng Gaowen couldn’t be sure. There were many people with the same avatar, and it didn’t necessarily have to be Lu Xuan.

She opened the person’s social media profile and saw the post Lu Xuan had made last night, and Cheng Gaowen was certain.

It was indeed Lu Xuan.

Cheng Gaowen looked at Su Kenan with a strange expression: "The one who realigned your bones was Lu Xuan?"

"Yes."

It all made sense now.

Cheng Gaowen immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "If it’s Lu, he definitely wouldn’t take advantage of you. Girl, you should have said so earlier, you made me anxious and worried for no reason."

"But, Lu can even do bone realignment, what else can’t he do?"

Cheng Gaowen looked surprised.

"By the way, Kenan, what do you think of Lu Xuan?" Cheng Gaowen asked with a smile.

Su Kenan thought seriously, besides massaging her foot a little longer, he was quite serious the rest of the time.

Thinking about this, her face quickly turned red.

Cheng Gaowen saw this and understood that her niece had likely developed a fondness for Lu Xuan, but she didn’t say anything more. She looked at Su Kenan’s injured foot: "Your foot is like that, why not rest for a while before coming back? Otherwise, it’ll be inconvenient."

"No need, I can manage."

Su Kenan’s face showed determination despite being slightly flushed.

Cheng Gaowen knew her niece well; though a bit timid, she had her own opinions and it was hard to change her mind once she decided on something.

So, she didn’t say much more and instead suggested, "Let’s go, I’ll take you to see the director. We still need the director’s approval for your internship at the Health Center."

...

Chinese Medicine Department.

Consultation room.

Lu Xuan had just prepared some hot water and sat down when Wang Youqing walked in.

"Lu, why are you here so late today?"

"Ran into something on the way."

Hearing this, the smile on Wang Youqing’s face quickly disappeared: "Is everything okay?"

"It’s fine."

Lu Xuan didn’t mention the bone realignment. His study and experience in this area were limited, so it was better not to talk about it. Otherwise, if the word got out, who knows if people would start coming to the Health Center for joint realignment. Given the center’s current conditions, even with guidance, it would be hard to manage, better not to mention it.

"As long as it’s fine."

Wang Youqing didn’t doubt Lu Xuan; he was not someone who liked to dig into matters, and didn’t press further.

"By the way, when I came in, I checked at the registration hall, and there are quite a few people today, mostly because they booked online." Wang Youqing reminded him.

"It’s okay."

"But I might need you to help get lunch for me."

After yesterday’s experience, Lu Xuan wasn’t too worried now.

If there were more people, at most he’d sacrifice his lunchtime and stay a bit later in the evening.

The key was, the pay would also increase.

Having the miraculous ability to hear the Heart’s Voice, Lu Xuan wasn’t too concerned about money, but after all, he’s just an ordinary person, with usual expenses.

Furthermore, after his family supported his studies for so many years, it was time to give back, so naturally, the higher the salary, the better.

The basic salary at the Health Center wasn’t as high as in big hospitals, so he relied on commissions.

Seeing more patients meant higher salary.

Wang Youqing took on the task of getting lunch, checked the time, and without chatting much with Lu Xuan, returned to the Lab Department to complete his final preparations before work.

Meanwhile, Lu Xuan glanced at the computer screen, noticing that many had already taken their numbers, and started calling them even before the official work time.

The earlier you start, the sooner you’ll finish.

"Number 1, Jiang Qihua."

Jiang Qihua had just come out of the elevator on the second floor after getting his number, when his name was announced on the speaker, making him pause and check the time in confusion.

It wasn’t even work time yet!

As he was wondering, his name was called again on the speaker.

After confirming he heard correctly, Jiang Qihua quickly headed to the consultation room of the Chinese Medicine Department.

"Dr. Lu, have you started already?"

Still unsure, Jiang Qihua asked Lu Xuan upon seeing him.

"Yes."

"Have a seat first."

Lu Xuan glanced at the screen to confirm the name, then gestured for Jiang Qihua to sit down before speaking.

Jiang Qihua took a seat.

"I notice you’re not in the best spirits, what’s going on?" Lu Xuan asked after looking at him.

"Yeah, I’ve not been well for a long time."

Jiang Qihua nodded, starting to narrate his condition: "I’ve had this condition since childhood. I’ve been to big hospitals, they said it’s some kind of anhidrosis. I don’t really get it, but I don’t sweat. It’s okay in winter, but summer is unbearable, with constant low fever, poor spirits, fatigue, and a dry mouth, with numb and sometimes slightly painful limbs."

Speaking of this, the helplessness in Jiang Qihua’s expression deepened: "It’s been going on for twenty, thirty years, I’ve tried all sorts of Chinese and Western medicine with no effect. Had countless full-body exams, and they never found the cause."

"Dr. Lu, you’re my last hope. If you can’t cure it, I might as well give up and stop wasting money."

"I’m too tired of running around."

After saying this, Jiang Qihua sighed. Who knows how many places he visited over twenty years, how many doctors he saw, or how much he spent.

He couldn’t remember anymore.

If it truly couldn’t be cured, then he’d leave it be, save from being left with nothing.

Lu Xuan observed Jiang Qihua’s despair, but said nothing.

After over twenty years without any improvement, it was understandable he’d feel hopeless, not something that can be resolved with a few words.

Rather than trying to offer false hope, it’s better to show by action.

Lu Xuan placed his hand on Jiang Qihua’s pulse and immediately felt the astonishing dryness, without a trace of sweat.

"Taut pulse... thin?"

Lu Xuan pressed down gently, frowning slightly.

Recently, taut and thin pulses were common among the ones he checked, and he was becoming quite precise in diagnosing them.

A thin, taut pulse often appears in conditions like liver and kidney yin deficiency, lung yin deficiency, or qi deficiency of the spleen, and blood deficiency.

Through pulse diagnosis alone, it’s hard to make an exact judgment, but an exclusion method could be used.

For liver and kidney yin deficiency, common symptoms include dry throat, feverish palms and soles, night sweats - which are opposite to anhidrosis, thus it can be ruled out.

Qi deficiency of the spleen is often linked to improper diet, mental stress, or overexertion.

Blood deficiency, largely caused by poor innate constitution, excessive bleeding, or heavy exertion. Symptoms include pale face, dizziness, dry skin, and insomnia.

Though some symptoms match, anhidrosis stands unmatched.

"Lung yin deficiency?"

Lu Xuan softly murmured in thought, looking up at Jiang Qihua:

"Tongue out, please."

Jiang Qihua stuck out his tongue.

Lu Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly upon seeing it.

The tongue was full of cracks and the coat was thin.

Moreover, even by just feeling the pulse, Lu Xuan could perceive Jiang Qihua was in a low fever state.

Lu Xuan nodded, deep in thought.

Tongue cracks come in two types: congenital and acquired.

Congenital tongue cracks are mainly due to genetic factors, usually without any symptoms, and typically require no treatment.

Acquired cracks involve three conditions:

Yin deficiency with internal heat, internal damp-heat, and chronic glossitis.

Clearly, Jiang Qihua’s situation wasn’t related to chronic glossitis. As for internal damp-heat, patients often have sticky tongue coating, which contrasts Jiang’s thin coat, leaving only yin deficiency with internal heat.

"Considering both pulse and tongue diagnosis, it might be lung yin deficiency!"

However, Lu Xuan, having only dealt with over a hundred cases so far, trusted his judgment but still subconsciously wanted to see if Heart’s Voice would give a result.