Chapter 658: Conquering Patients with Medical Skills

Chapter 658: Conquering Patients with Medical Skills

The old man was surprised that the doctor accurately diagnosed his illness and even identified what kind of cigarettes he smoked.

He nodded somewhat awkwardly, "Yes, I usually smoke."

"Is your cough bad at night?" Ye Rufeng asked.

"The cough is quite severe, especially around dawn. I cough so hard I can't catch my breath, and my throat is full of phlegm."

Upon hearing the patient's account, Ye Rufeng said, "Give up hookah."

The old man's weathered face scrunched up, revealing a troubled expression. "I've been smoking for 40 years, how am I supposed to quit?"

"If you can't quit smoking, your illness will only get worse. Medication won't help much. If you want to cure your illness, you must quit smoking first."

"If I quit smoking, will your medicine work?" The old man looked at Ye Rufeng, his cloudy eyes revealing a hint of expectation, but more of a tentative, hopeless inquiry.

"Quit it first, then we'll talk about it."

After Ye Rufeng finished speaking, he waved his hand, signaling him to get up.

Then he called out to a middle-aged woman behind him, "Next."

After the woman sat down, Ye Rufeng began to take her pulse, then asked, "Is there a gynecological problem?"

"I'm feeling a little unwell," the woman said hesitantly.

Ye Rufeng asked some more questions about the symptoms and concluded, "It's a abdominal mass."

"Huh?" The woman indicated that she didn't understand.

"Western medicine calls it uterine fibroids," Ye Rufeng said. "This disease is mostly caused by emotional factors, due to imbalance of qi and blood, internal obstruction of phlegm and dampness, blood stasis in the uterus, and clotting into lumps."

The woman became even more panicked as Ye Rufeng used technical jargon she couldn't understand at all. "Is it very serious?"

There's no need to worry too much.

Ye Rufeng remained calm, and the woman's emotions stabilized somewhat. She hurriedly asked, "Then how do we treat it?"

"Medicine and acupuncture as supplements."

He continued, "If you don't want traditional Chinese medicine treatment, you can go to a large hospital and have them remove it surgically."

"A big hospital? That must cost a lot of money."

This woman felt a wave of fear when she heard that it would cost money and require surgery.

"Then please write me a prescription first, and I'll take it for a while and see."

Ye Rufeng said, "Sure, if you're not sure about the treatment's effectiveness, you can go to the hospital for an ultrasound to check the size of the fibroid before you start taking the medication. After completing one course of treatment, have another ultrasound to compare whether the fibroid has shrunk."

His certainty and confidence in his medical skills made the woman look at him with even more trust. He tentatively asked, "Are your Chinese medicines expensive?"

"Your illness doesn't require any expensive medicinal herbs, just common herbs, one dose costs three or four yuan."

Upon hearing Doctor Ye's words, the woman gritted her teeth and said, "Alright, I'll go to the county hospital for an ultrasound tomorrow, and then come here to get the medicine."

"Um."

Many people have a herd mentality; seeing that there are many patients in the clinic, others also crowd in to see a doctor.

Of course, their approach was exactly the same as these patients': they didn't say a word about where they felt unwell, but simply reached out their hands to have their pulse taken.

Ye Rufeng truly lived up to his reputation as the "Divine Doctor Ye," and he did not disappoint the people. Through observation, listening, questioning, and palpation, he could accurately diagnose illnesses.

This earned the trust of the people in the small town.

Those who were not short of money were immediately given a prescription; those who were short of money were told to come back for treatment later.

Of course, there are also patients who need acupuncture.

But he didn't stay; he made up an excuse and left.

The middle-aged man who had been suffering from kidney deficiency and prostate problems hesitated for a moment. After most of the patients had left, he seemed to have made up his mind, walked over, and said to Ye Rufeng, "Then I'll trouble you, Dr. Ye, to prescribe some medicine for me."

"Okay, sure."

Ye Rufeng pointed to the white paper next to him, which was about to be used to write a prescription, and said the names of several herbs. Soon, Bai Zhi finished writing the prescription, and Zhou Lin began to dispense the medicine.

"Eat it for a week first, then come back to check on it."

Bai Zhi instructed the patient, "Remember to avoid certain foods: spicy, raw, and cold foods, as well as mung beans."

"Thank you, I'll remember that."

After a wave of patients came in around noon, the clinic became quiet again.

"Girl, do you really think opening a clinic here is the right choice?"

Suddenly, Ye Rufeng looked at Bai Zhi with a meaningful expression and asked.

Bai Zhi smiled and comforted the old man, "Grandpa, this is only the first day. Besides, this is a small county town. There are many sick people, but few who can afford medical treatment. Most people delay seeking medical help when they have mild symptoms, and only go to the doctor when they have no other choice but to when they become seriously ill."

"Let's not be impatient. Let patients come to see us, and let's build up trust slowly. It takes time."

At this point, Ye Rufeng rolled his eyes and ignored Bai Zhi.

Bai Zhi was silent for a moment, then looked at Ye Rufeng and asked with a smile, "How about you hold a free clinic?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Rufeng looked up at Bai Zhi and said in a cold tone, "You didn't earn a single penny, and you even lost a few?"

Bai Zhi chuckled, "We practice medicine and save lives, we can't calculate it like that, can we?"

"The key question is whether you have the money to organize free clinics." Ye Rufeng asked her.

Bai Zhi: "Aren't you rich?"

"I have no money." Ye Rufeng refused without hesitation.

Bai Zhi had no choice but to give up.

Ye Rufeng didn't want to discourage her enthusiasm for practicing medicine and saving lives, so he said to Bai Zhi, "How about this, you go and buy a blood pressure monitor and put it here so that you can take patients' blood pressure for free."

He was afraid that Bai Zhi would misunderstand him as stingy, so he patiently explained, "I can't do free clinics for other diseases either. If they find out they're unwilling to pay for the medicine, what can I do? I can't treat them for free, can I? We have to pay the rent for this house, we still need to eat, and we still need to pay Zhou Lin's salary. If everything is free, we'll starve."

"Also, you need to understand one thing: you get what you pay for. People may not be convinced by free things."

It was rare for the old man to have so much patience to say so much. Bai Zhi nodded very seriously, "Grandpa, I understand. I was too eager for quick success."

After lunch, Ye Rufeng went home to take a nap.

Bai Zhi and Zhou Lin didn't have the habit of sleeping, so the two of them stayed at the clinic.

Two patients came in midway through the day. They heard that the old Chinese medicine doctor had gone for his lunch break, so they said they would come back in the afternoon.

Bai Zhi was truly exhausted sitting there. In this unfamiliar place, she had no opportunity to use her medical skills.

She really wanted to call out to the patient and tell her that she was even more miraculous than the old Chinese medicine doctor.

But the patient didn't see the miracle doctor and turned to leave, giving no one a chance to stop him.

Around 2 p.m., Bai Zhi was getting a little anxious because Doctor Ye hadn't woken up and was still seeing patients.

"Linlin, what time does my grandpa wake up from his afternoon nap these days?"

Zhou Lin replied, "It's hard to say. Sometimes he doesn't sleep when we're on the road. When he's not busy, he might even sleep until three or four in the afternoon. But I don't think he's asleep. He just lies there with his eyes closed, resting, I don't know what he's thinking about."

Bai Zhi complained, "He's already at work, why isn't he here yet? He has no sense of responsibility at all."

"Sister Baizhi, Grandpa Ye is used to being free, how can he go to work in a routine manner?"

"Yes, it's really putting the old man in a difficult position by keeping him trapped here."

The two were just chatting and laughing when they heard footsteps coming from the doorway.

Bai Zhi looked up and saw two familiar figures.

She exclaimed in surprise, "Dean Liu, Director Li, what brings you here?"