Chapter 140

Chapter 140

◎Putting It Aside for Now...◎

Kuang Hui showed decent restraint. Although flustered and clumsy, he managed to steady himself and gently set Elder Dong down on the floor once inside the room.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Elder Dong took hold of Meng Qi's wrist to check his pulse. After a few breaths, he moved like lightning, skillfully turned Meng Qi onto his side, then swiftly pressed firmly on the Shenshu acupoint near his lumbar spine for over a minute, followed by another minute of pressure on Zusanli. Only when Meng Qi's breathing returned to normal and his complexion grew rosier did Elder Dong turn and call for Li Qingjiang to bring a set of silver needles.

Li Qingjiang had never dared to perform acupuncture on Meng Qi. He was afraid that a careless move might cause a serious mistake—acupuncture brings faster relief from nausea and pain than herbal medicine, but it also stimulates more strongly. Not understanding the situation, he held back.

He had only done acupressure based on the herbal decoctions, and even then, he'd been cautious not to apply too much force, because he still didn't understand the mechanism behind Meng Qi's pregnancy.

Now that his teacher was here, it was a relief. Not only did he have someone to lean on, but he could also observe and learn while assisting, improving his skills!

Li Qingjiang ran to fetch the silver needles—even though they were in the same room, he moved as if he had wheels on his feet.

Taking advantage of the moment, Ren Suiyi seized the opportunity to ask Elder Dong, "Elder Dong, what exactly is wrong with him? Please tell me the truth."

He could clearly tell everyone—including Meng Qi—was hiding something from him. He had been holding back from asking, not because he was dense or easily fooled, but because he couldn't stand to contradict Meng Qi's wishes and make things difficult for him. But now that Meng Qi was in such pain, he no longer cared about going against anyone's wishes. If he didn't get to the bottom of it, he would go mad.

Elder Dong looked up at Ren Suiyi, then quickly lowered his head again, speaking calmly, "Young man, it's not that I don't want to tell you, nor am I deliberately siding with my grand-disciple. The truth is, my little grand-disciple has a reason he can't let you know. As a physician and as his grand-teacher, I have to keep my mouth shut. Otherwise, I'd be violating medical ethics and teaching principles, and I wouldn't deserve to be called 'Elder Dong' anymore."

This was the official recognition of Meng Qi as the successor of the Dong lineage—a huge honor. If Meng Qi were awake, who knows if he would be thrilled or terrified.

But no one present seemed to be thinking about that. They all pricked up their ears, openly "eavesdropping" on Ren Suiyi and Elder Dong's conversation.

After being politely refused by Elder Dong, Ren Suiyi fell silent for a long time. His brows were furrowed above the mask, and one could imagine he was grinding his molars to dust. Except for Elder Dong, Li Qingjiang, and Dong Jiaming, the others secretly broke into a cold sweat on Elder Dong's behalf.

But Elder Dong remained unflappable, calm and composed, his hands steady and sure, doing what he needed to do, completely unaffected by Ren Suiyi.

After a long silence, Ren Suiyi suddenly sighed, as if giving in, and asked in a low voice, "Then can you at least tell me if he is about to die?"

Ren Suiyi's voice was heavy with anguish, his eyes fixed intently on Meng Qi's face, his lips pressed into a straight line, the corners of his mouth trembling faintly... His posture, so desperate that it seemed he could collapse at any moment, seemed to tell everyone in the room that he was certain Meng Qi would die, and soon.

You had to give him credit—he'd stumbled onto the truth of this story.

But since Meng Qi hadn't reached that point yet, he was suffering a little too early.

Elder Dong took the cloth bundle of silver needles from Li Qingjiang, pulled out one, and quickly inserted it into Meng Qi's Guanyuan acupoint. He gently twisted the upper part of the needle, causing it to rotate continuously inside Meng Qi's body, while speaking unhurriedly with a smile, "With me here, and you say he's about to die? What foolish talk! Young man, I can't answer your first question, but as for this second one, I can tell you with certainty: with me here, he won't die. Wait until the day the King of Hell invites me for tea, and then we'll talk about his fate."

Ren Suiyi had great faith in Elder Dong's skill. After hearing this, he visibly relaxed and leaned down to tidy the stray hair that had fallen over Meng Qi's forehead.

But although this statement strongly proved that Meng Qi had a long life ahead, it also carried an inauspicious implication for Elder Dong. As soon as he finished speaking, before Ren Suiyi could thank him, Dong Jiaming and Li Qingjiang simultaneously called out "Grandpa" and "Teacher."

"I heard, I heard—my ears are fine... You strong young fellows, how come you're more superstitious than this old man...?" Elder Dong muttered while continuing to work on Meng Qi's acupuncture.

Only then did Ren Suiyi say, "Thank you. Please do your best to cure him. As for the questions I want to ask, I'll ask him myself once he's better. I won't trouble you anymore."

Having finished with Guanyuan, Elder Dong swiftly pulled out the needle and quickly inserted another into Meng Qi's Shenque acupoint. While slowly twisting the needle, he looked at Ren Suiyi with a relieved expression. "That's right. Excessive persistence only hurts yourself and others. It's better to put it aside for now and wait for the right moment. What you need to know will eventually be revealed to you."

Ren Suiyi let out a low "mm."

Li Qingjiang, Wang Boyuan, and the others all breathed a sigh of relief at that single "mm."

Acupuncture may seem simple, but it is extremely draining in terms of energy and stamina. After going through all the acupoints to regulate qi and blood and stabilize the fetus, Elder Dong was already panting from exhaustion. After removing the needles, he sat in a rattan chair and rested for a while before drinking the bowl of ginseng soup that Li Qingjiang handed him.

This old hen and ginseng soup was originally made for Ren Suiyi.

Elder Gu had simmered it over low heat for half a day. Later, when Meng Qi's incident happened, Li Qingjiang added two more herbal ingredients to nourish the middle qi and instructed Elder Gu to continue simmering it all night. This morning, they fed most of a bowl to Meng Qi, Ren Suiyi drank a whole bowl himself, and now that Elder Dong had arrived, they filled another bowl for him. The soup was almost gone, so they would need to make another pot.

To everyone's surprise, after Elder Dong finished his drink, he handed the bowl to Li Qingjiang and began criticizing him, “You’ve been out gaining experience for a few years, but your overly cautious nature hasn’t changed at all? The dosages of the herbs in the ginseng soup are too small. Add another ten qian each, otherwise drinking it is like scratching an itch through the boot—what’s the point?”

“Grandpa, it’s not that...” Li Qingjiang glanced in Meng Qi’s direction and muttered, “It’s a special case, so we’re treating it specially.”

“No matter how special he is, he’s still a person. If you used this dosage to feed a rabbit, even a rabbit would find it too bland.” Elder Dong snorted.

Li Qingjiang didn't dare defend himself further. He chuckled twice, then took the empty bowl and ran to the kitchen, partly to re-prepare the old hen ginseng soup recipe and partly to avoid his grandpa’s continued nagging.

In everyday life, Elder Dong believed in going with the flow, but in the art of Chinese medicine, he always strived for excellence. When he saw something wrong, he could really go on for half a day straight. Dong Jiaming could endure it, but Li Qingjiang couldn’t stand it.

After Li Qingjiang ran off, Kuang Hui finally mustered the courage to step forward and speak.

He first looked at Meng Qi, then at Dong Jiaming, and with a head full of question marks, looking around, he picked the simplest question to ask: “So he’s fine now?”

Dong Jiaming answered on behalf of Elder Dong: “He’s fine for now. Later, my grandpa will write a prescription and ask my brother to prepare two doses of medicine. At the latest the day after tomorrow, he’ll be full of vigor again.”

“Grandpa, you truly are the reincarnation of Hua Tuo!” Kuang Hui was completely relieved, then gave a thumbs-up and lavished praise on Elder Dong.

Elder Dong shook his head with a smile: “You little rascal, you sure know how to cheer people up.”

“I’m not just trying to cheer you up, Grandpa. I genuinely think so. It was so dangerous just now. Before you came in, Meng Qi nearly scared the life out of me. But as soon as you stood here, I felt very grounded and my heart stopped racing. I instinctively knew that something like this was a piece of cake for you! You just have your own Hua Tuo presence, Grandpa. If that’s not the reincarnation of Hua Tuo, what is?” Kuang Hui’s mouth ran on and on, as if smeared with honey.

Dong Jiaming couldn’t help but laugh.

Elder Dong also laughed a few times: “If someone else had said that, I would have thought it was all talk and fake. But when you say it, Grandpa feels really good about it.”

“That’s because you felt my sincerity, Grandpa.” Kuang Hui raised his eyebrows at Dong Jiaming triumphantly.

Wang Boyuan re-covered Meng Qi with the blanket, glanced at the mask covering Ren Suiyi’s face, and said to him, “Elder Dong said Meng Qi is fine. I’ve got things covered here. You go rest first. Don't end up collapsing yourself once Meng Qi gets better. Then no one will be willing to take care of you.”

Whether he was angered by Wang Boyuan or had reached his limit, Ren Suiyi suddenly turned away and coughed for a long time, coughing so violently that the world seemed to spin, as if it would never stop.

Elder Dong took out another silver needle and handed it to Dong Jiaming, instructing him to quickly insert it at Ren Suiyi’s Tiantu, Lieque, and Chize acupoints.

He was too exhausted and no longer had the strength to stand up and perform acupuncture on Ren Suiyi.

Just as Li Qingjiang had said, Dong Jiaming was the one who truly inherited Elder Dong’s skills. After taking the silver needle from Elder Dong, he acted as quickly as Elder Dong, without a moment’s hesitation, inserting the needle into those acupoints.

As Dong Jiaming withdrew the needle from the last acupoint, Ren Suiyi’s coughing abruptly stopped.

It was that miraculous.

This never gave Ren Suiwu a chance to say, “Don’t worry, brother, I’ll take care of you.”

But he said something else instead.

He stepped forward, stood in front of Elder Dong, and pleaded, “Elder Dong, could you take his pulse too? A while ago, someone cracked his skull open. Although it’s been healed, his memory comes and goes, always causing worry. Could you please take a look at him? I’ll pay whatever consultation fee you ask, not a cent less.”

He was also a tactful person.

He knew that Elder Dong had come here for Meng Qi’s sake, out of respect for Li Qingjiang. Without even mentioning whether he would charge Meng Qi a consultation fee, if they wanted him to spare time to treat another person, they had to be upfront about the payment and make it clear. After all, in the eyes of everyone except Meng Qi and Wang Boyuan, Wang Boyuan was Qi Yun, a person who originally had no connection to Meng Qi, and it wouldn’t be right for him to get such a free ride from Meng Qi.

After hearing Ren Suiwu out, Elder Dong first nodded to Ren Suiwu to indicate it was fine, then beckoned to Wang Boyuan and said, “Son, give me your hand. Let me take your pulse.”

Wang Boyuan’s face was full of refusal: “No need to trouble yourself, Elder Dong. I’ve long since fully recovered. This is purely him being nosy. Don’t bother with him.”