CHAPTER 128: 128 CRASH MOMENT

Du Heng performed acupuncture fairly easily, but Wu Buwei did not.

Although he made no mistakes, by the time he finished all the needles, he was drenched in sweat.

Looking at the sweaty Wu Buwei, Du Heng smiled. "Not bad, you’ve made great progress. The positions of the acupoints, depth, and angle of needle insertion have all improved. It shows that the time you spent in the practice room recently wasn’t wasted."

Hearing Du Heng’s praise, Wu Buwei laughed happily.

However, Du Heng continued, "Next time you perform acupuncture, pay more attention to the angle of needle insertion, as well as the stimulation technique."

"I got it, Mentor," Wu Buwei nodded, his smile fading slightly.

Du Heng ignored him and headed towards his office.

Once in the office, he made some adjustments based on the patients’ recovery status and then pulled a book from the nearby shelf.

His leisure time lasted until the end of the workday, at which point he received a phone call from Ma Zichen.

"Du, I checked this year’s standardized training list for Provincial First Hospital for you. There’s no one named Zhao Xinyuan. Did you remember the information incorrectly? There’s a Zhao Yuan, a girl from the Medical Department of Civil University. Is she the one you’re thinking of?"

"I didn’t remember the name wrong. It’s Zhao Xinyuan, a student of JZU."

"Well, he’s definitely not on the list."

"Alright, thanks for your trouble."

After hanging up the phone, Du Heng squinted and sat quietly for a long time, lost in thought.

He chose to take the night duty himself, letting Wu Buwei go home and rest. They would switch shifts the following night.

Wu Buwei gladly agreed.

「Early the next morning,」

Du Heng went on his ward round and then helped Wang Lili, who had been on duty the previous night, prepare the decoction of medicine.

When Wu Buwei arrived at the office and didn’t see Du Heng, he conscientiously changed his clothes and was about to start working, but he was stopped by Sir Li Xiang.

"Xiao Wu, come here for a moment and give me a hand."

Wu Buwei happily followed Li Xiang to his office.

Upon entering, he saw a man standing in the office, his face contorted in extreme pain.

Furthermore, the man was clutching his stomach, his face ashen, and his lips pale.

Wu Buwei whispered to Li Xiang, "Mr. Li, what’s wrong with this patient?"

Li Xiang nonchalantly replied, "Nothing serious. He just hasn’t had a bowel movement in seven days; he’s backed up." He then took a mask and a pair of plastic gloves and placed them in Wu Buwei’s hand.

Confused, Wu Buwei took them. He looked at the items in his hands, then up at Li Xiang, then turned to look at the patient beside them. An unpleasant suspicion began to form in his mind.

"Mr. Li, my mentor has something for me to do. I’ll go see him first and come back to help you later."

As he said this, he was about to put down the items in his hand. However, Li Xiang, as if anticipating him, reached out and blocked him. "It’s fine, help me first. It’ll be quick."

Wu Buwei involuntarily swallowed. "Mr. Li, what are you implying?"

"The patient’s name is Liang Fuman. He hasn’t had a bowel movement in seven days. Could you please go to the bathroom and help him... disimpact him?"

"Mr. Li, isn’t that inappropriate? After all, he’s your patient."

Li Xiang maintained an indifferent expression. "What kind of talk is that, child? What’s ’your patient’ or ’my patient’? You’re still in your training period; you need to learn more and get more exposure. This is what’s best for you. Now you have me and your mentor to guide you. If you don’t learn more now, when you start treating patients on your own, you’ll have to make all the decisions yourself."

Saying this, he pushed Wu Buwei out and gestured to Liang Fuman. "You go with Dr. Wu to the bathroom. Just like last time."

Liang Fuman looked grim. He had specifically avoided Municipal First Hospital to avoid this very situation, but it seemed he couldn’t escape this fate at the Health Clinic either.

Exiting the office, Wu Buwei kept trying to mentally prepare himself, repeatedly thinking: I’m a doctor; I must be brave. He also constantly took his classmates in the Proctology Department as examples to help himself overcome his mental block.

But as he approached the toilet entrance, he still couldn’t conquer his fear, and he kept swallowing hard, the urge to gag growing stronger.

Wu Buwei couldn’t overcome his aversion, and Liang Fuman was much the same, dragging his feet incredibly slowly.

But no matter how much the two of them dawdled, they would eventually cover the ten-odd meters.

The two men stood about three meters from the toilet door, staring wide-eyed at each other. Neither could overcome their internal barrier.

Du Heng, after helping Wang Lili, was about to go back to the office to wash his hands. Just as he turned the corner, he saw the two figures at the end of the hallway.

"Buwei, what are you doing standing at the toilet entrance?"

"Mentor... I..." As he spoke, tears nearly welled up in his eyes.

Following Du Heng, he had learned many things but had never dealt with proctology-related diseases. Even if they encountered such cases, it was always pulse diagnosis and prescribing oral medicine.

Let alone performing such a procedure, he had never even witnessed it.

"Well, what’s wrong?"

Hearing Wu Buwei’s plaintive voice, Du Heng was also puzzled. This kid is usually tough and has never been so aggrieved.

"This patient hasn’t had a bowel movement in seven days, and Mr. Li asked me to help him."

Help him? In the toilet?

Du Heng immediately understood what was happening.

"Come on, let’s go to my office first."

He beckoned for both of them to enter his office.

After asking Liang Fuman about his specific situation, Du Heng said, "Come, let me perform a pulse diagnosis."

Du Heng and Liang Fuman were from the same production team but different villages. Although not close, they knew each other, so they spoke quite casually.

And Liang Fuman, relatively speaking, trusted Du Heng more.

Du Heng had provided free medical consultations at the Village Committee entrance for two days. Although Liang Fuman himself hadn’t gone for some reason, the villagers’ evaluations afterward were quite high.

So now, when Du Heng said he wanted to examine him, he readily extended his hand.

Du Heng quickly finished the pulse diagnosis and then said, "Let me see your tongue. Ah—open your mouth wide, stick your tongue out. Okay, that’s good."

"Uncle Liang, how many days has it been?"

"Seven days."

Du Heng grimaced slightly; seven days was indeed a long time. "Tell me the specifics."

Liang Fuman recounted everything again, this time in great detail.

"You were hospitalized half a month ago? Didn’t they cure you?"

"No, they just kept giving me infusions every day. I don’t even know what was in them. Anyway, I was fine during those few days in the hospital. But it’s only been a little over a week since I was discharged, and it’s like this again."

Du Heng thought for a moment. "You were admitted by Doctor Li, so it’s not appropriate for me to interfere. How about this: I’ll have you transferred to my care. Would that be alright?"

Liang Fuman didn’t mind; he just wanted to have a good, thorough bowel movement and feel relief.

Seeing that Liang Fuman had no objections, Du Heng stood up and said, "Then you both wait in my office for a moment. I’ll go talk to Doctor Li."

The greatest taboo among medical colleagues is another doctor indiscriminately interfering with one’s own patients. Unless it’s a superior physician, if anyone else meddles, it’s likely to lead to a serious falling-out.

My patient, and you come over to issue medical advice and prescribe medication? What are you trying to imply?

Are you saying I prescribed the wrong medicine? Or that my skills are lacking? Or are you just trying to show off that you’re more capable than me?

If it really came to that, giving each other the silent treatment would be a trivial matter. Resorting to underhanded tactics behind their backs would be expected, and it’s even possible they might come to blows.