Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After washing the dishes, Wu Heng sat briefly at the Zhou family's residence, then headed home to freshen up and rest in bed, following his usual routine.

In a daze, Wu Heng caught a damp, fishy odor. He peeked through half-closed eyes and caught a glimpse of a wet, gray shadow standing by the bed.

Wu Heng pointed to the wooden window flapping in the night breeze, faintly hearing the distant drum music, and mumbled softly, "You're in the wrong place, your home is over there."

*

He had a good night's sleep, and the faint morning light streamed through the intricately carved lattice window.

Wu Heng was roused by the sounds inside the house and saw a tanned young man in a blue and white short shirt standing in front of him, holding a mop and cleaning the floor.

The young man, seeing Wu Heng awake, remarked with a hint of exasperation, "Xiao Heng, if you need to pee at night, use the urinal. Don't just pee on the floor; it reeks and is gross."

The speaker was Eugene, a young apprentice at his grandfather's Chengde Medical Hall. Today, when he came to open the medical hall, he overheard the village chief mention that Wu Heng had fully regained his senses. But where was the normalcy? It seemed to be getting worse.

Wu Heng looked at the puddle of liquid by the bed and regretted giving the kid directions last night. He replied with a sigh, "Eugene, that's not my pee. I'll use the restroom from now on, and you should knock before entering my room."

Eugene was taken aback, eyeing Wu Heng as if he had genuinely returned to normal.

His gaze shifted to the foul-smelling puddle, still skeptical.

Wu Heng rose to freshen up, and Eugene handed him a large bowl of steaming five-grain rice.

Wu Heng's eyes sparkled at the prospect of another tasty meal. The world seemed full of delicious things.

The five-grain rice was made from five different grains, with a harmonious blend of color, aroma, and flavor.

After Wu Heng finished his meal, Eugene, who was studying medical cases, handed him a smartphone from the drawer to keep him from making a scene in the medical hall. He skillfully opened a game of "Candy Crush" for Wu Heng.

This smartphone was bought by Dr. Wu for Wu Heng, who usually enjoyed the sound of breaking ice in the game.

Eugene, flipping through the medical cases, grumbled, "Master hasn't returned yet. Are we not participating in the live-streaming initiative?"

"The village chief just suggested that I take over the streaming for Master. Good heavens, how am I supposed to manage that?"

Wu Heng found the game too childish after playing for a while and instead explored the Shark Live streaming platform, logging into his grandfather's account named "Chengde Medical Hall" from memory.

A reminder for the "100-Day Live Streaming Plan" popped up, which was designed for new streamers and included a helpful beginner's guide.

This was Wu Heng's first time encountering the world of live streaming. He inhaled deeply, his slender fingers hovering over the "Start Streaming" button before pressing it. He instinctively straightened his back.

After about ten minutes, Wu Heng saw a notification in the live stream room. Several viewers with usernames like "User" followed by a string of numbers entered the room.

Wu Heng calmly looked at the notification and said, "Welcome, User 4532397, sir, and User 7825912, madam, to my live stream. My name is Wu Heng."

Some netizens who were about to scroll past clicked into the live stream upon hearing this.

"Damn Shark Short Video, using bots to pretend to be viewers. I feel sorry for this handsome guy."

"Wow, the host is so good-looking. Is he a college student or a high schooler?"

"A potential new crush has appeared!"

[?? I came in with a 'User + numbers' username. How did you know I'm male?]

"Coincidence, I guess. Everyone who comes in is either male or female."

When Dr. Wu signed up for the 100-Day Live Streaming Plan, he provided a photo of Wu Heng to avoid any accidental bans if Wu Heng appeared on stream.

Wu Heng, who had just arrived in this world, was unfamiliar with the internet. His original self, due to intellectual issues, had very little exposure to the internet. Wu Heng looked at the barrage of comments with partial understanding, only knowing that someone had entered his live stream, thus increasing the chance of helping his poor father earn money.

"Streamer, what are you live streaming for? Are you a streamer who focuses on looks? Any talents?"

"Streamer, are you called Wu Heng? Can you do street dancing? Or sing a song?"

"Streamer, did you get the account name wrong? Why is it named after a medical hall?"

"Streamer, with such high looks, are you trying to break into the entertainment industry? I heard that the Shark Video Platform's Hundred-Day Live Streaming Plan has scouts from several entertainment companies lurking. Performing a few talents could greatly increase your chances of being discovered."

Wu Heng, relying solely on his strikingly handsome face and the name "Chengde Medical Hall," made it into the top hundred of this new streamer event. However, the hundreds of viewers in the live stream almost unanimously assumed that Wu Heng was there to perform talents.

Wu Heng curiously watched as the live stream screen changed, and a rocket shot up the screen with pretty flashy effects.

"User 'Tomorrow Will Be Better' has sent a rocket."

A rocket gift on the Shark Video Platform is worth three hundred bucks. Wu Heng didn't know that the platform takes half of the gift's value, and the rest still needs to be taxed. Wu Heng calculated in his mind that three hundred bucks could buy a lot of pork knuckles!

"Tomorrow Will Be Better: Streamer, do a dance for us."

At this moment, a middle-aged woman came to the hospital again today to visit her son, who seemed lifeless, touching his belly, staring intently at the streamer in the live stream, and occasionally showing a surprised expression.

This little streamer named Wu Heng has very high looks, with vibrant red lips and white teeth. The red mole between his eyebrows makes Wu Heng look like a reclusive immortal straight out of a novel, no wonder her son kept staring.

To make her son smile, the middle-aged woman simply sent Wu Heng his first gift, a rocket, hoping that Wu Heng would dance to cheer her son up.

The barrage in the live stream started to get a bit tense.

"I was wondering why the streamer has been sitting still, turns out he's waiting for gifts before performing."

"Although I know there's no such thing as a free performance, but only performing once he gets gifts is a bit emmmm..."

"A rocket to make such a handsome guy perform is definitely worth it! Can you also call me sister? If so, I'll send a gift right away!"

Wu Heng, trying to make sense of the comments, didn't quite understand what the audience was saying, only knowing that the lady who just sent a gift wanted him to dance.

Wu Heng could dance, but he refused, saying, "I can't just perform the shaman dance."

The shaman dance, a performance imitating birds and beasts, accompanied by ringing bells and beating drums, can also be commonly known as "jumping the spirit."

Jumping the spirit isn't something that can be done casually; it can only be performed during activities like exorcising evil, offering sacrifices, praying to gods, or curing diseases.

The middle-aged woman thought Wu Heng couldn't dance and was about to ask him to switch to another talent when Wu Heng looked straight into the camera and suddenly said, "Auntie, I can treat illnesses. I can help your son."

The middle-aged woman and the boy on the sickbed were shocked. She had only asked the streamer to dance, not mentioned her son, nor said that her son was sick. How did the streamer know?

Moreover, her account was a private account, and the streamer couldn't have figured anything out from her past videos. How did he know she was female? Wu Heng didn't click to check either.

Under the camera, Wu Heng sat up straight and solemnly introduced himself, "Hello everyone in the live stream, my name is Wu Heng, and I am a shaman with years of medical experience."

To avoid disbelief, Wu Heng didn't mention that "years" referred to three hundred years.

Even so, the audience in the live stream was speechless.

"???"

"What the heck? A shaman? Years of medical experience? The streamer looks like he's barely twenty. Even medical students probably haven't started internships at this age. Where does years of medical experience come from?"

"Looking at the account name 'Chengde Medical Hall,' the streamer's family probably runs a medical hall. He might have been influenced since childhood, but a shaman is a bit too out there."

"Unfortunately, the high roller's three hundred bucks went down the drain."

Tomorrow Will Be Better, the wife of the CEO of the He Group, known in their circle as Mrs. He. Mrs. He looked at her pale son lying in the hospital bed, the slight bulge in his abdomen still visible despite the blanket.

This is the best hospital in the city, yet they still haven't found the cause of the illness, and now they can only treat it conservatively.

Mrs. He hesitated and sent a message: "How do you diagnose? Through a live stream?"

Wu Heng, holding his phone, fiddled with it and finally found the "live stream" invitation in the newbie guide.

After a few seconds of hesitation, the other side accepted, and the screen showed a mother and son. The young man, wearing a hospital gown, leaned against the head of the bed. Seemingly afraid of being recognized, he wore a hat and mask, revealing only a pair of eyes struggling to stay alert.

"What? No talent show but a diagnosis? How do you do an online diagnosis?"

"These days, young people bend over backwards to enter the entertainment industry... Is this a new way to attract talent scouts?"

"Looking at the account name and avatar, it should be a traditional Chinese medicine clinic. Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking, right? How is this supposed to work?"

"It really is a mother and son. How did the shaman know that just now?"

"This boy is covered up so tightly, how can you figure out what's wrong? But it does look like he's in a hospital, seems like a VIP private room..."

"Does the shaman have a medical license? Could this all be a setup?"

Wu Heng, of course, has a shaman medical license, inscribed in ancient pure gold seal script and recognized by the heavens. But there's no way to show it now.

Mrs. He didn't know if she was losing her senses, but she actually agreed to a live diagnosis. Seeing her son covered up so tightly, not looking cooperative, she immediately regretted agreeing.

Mrs. He looked at Wu Heng's handsome face on the screen and felt she had gone mad. For months, the couple had visited renowned hospitals for their son's illness, all to no avail. Could a young man thousands of miles away figure it out over the internet? It seemed too absurd.

But since they were already connected, she might as well give it a shot. Mrs. He sat aside and asked, "How do you do this? Don't you need to check the pulse?"

Wu Heng nodded: "If we're not looking at the face, then we need to check the pulse."

If checking the pulse is necessary, wouldn't that require an in-person visit? Mrs. He glanced at her son; she didn't dare risk taking him out of the hospital.

Mrs. He was about to say, "Then never mind."

Wu Heng squinted slightly, never mind? It's not easy to get a patient, how can we just never mind?

After thinking for a few seconds, Wu Heng said, "Auntie, you can find a red string and tie it around your son's left wrist."

Everyone in the live stream: ???

Wait, is this how you check the pulse?