Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 528: Chapter 528: A Difficult Patient

"So, I suggest you take extra personal precautions for a while. It would be best to go to the hospital tomorrow for a full toxicology and infectious disease screening to avoid any serious consequences," Li Xu continued.

Ding Kaifang’s face had grown so dark it looked like it could drip water.

He was a shrewd businessman, and now he was finally piecing all the details together.

This wasn’t just Zhou Junwei trying to control him; he might have already been setting a trap.

"Damn it... that son of a bitch." Ding Kaifang gritted his teeth. "Doctor Li, thank you. You’ve saved my life."

He decided to go to the hospital first thing in the morning for a full check-up.

As for Zhou Junwei...

He swore he would never see a treacherous snake like him again in this lifetime.

In fact, once he had the time, he was going to settle this score properly.

...

The next day, Li Xu went to the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine for his clinic hours as usual.

Although he was quite famous now, he still held his clinic at the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine two days a week, just as he had promised Dean Song.

He had just seen a few patients when Lin Guorui, the Head of Internal Medicine, hurried over with a wry smile.

"Doctor Li, could I trouble you to come with me to the oncology ward?"

"What’s wrong?"

Li Xu asked while writing a prescription.

Lin Guorui sighed and began to explain.

There was a young patient with a very unusual case. The entire department had consulted on it multiple times and even brought in provincial experts for a remote conference, but they still couldn’t determine the exact cause of the illness.

Furthermore, the patient’s family was in dire financial straits. They had already exhausted their savings and taken on substantial debt just to pay for their child’s medical care.

The hospital couldn’t bear to see them continue spending money for no reason. After all, if they couldn’t find a cause, they couldn’t offer a cure, and a longer hospital stay would be futile. So, they tactfully suggested the family take the child home.

But the patient’s family absolutely refused to leave. They said they’d heard of Li Xu’s reputation and were clinging to him as their last hope, insisting that he had to see the child.

"Alright."

Li Xu did not refuse.

A healer’s duty is to be compassionate. Since the patient had come to him for help, and in such a desperate, hopeless state, he had no reason to refuse.

Besides, he was also curious what kind of strange illness could evade diagnosis even with all the advanced tools of modern medicine.

The two of them went to the 19th floor of the ward building.

The moment they stepped out of the elevator, they heard the sound of tearful pleading coming from a room at the far end of the hall.

"Doctor, I’m begging you, please let us stay a few more days."

"We’ll have the money for the fees right away. We’re already borrowing it."

"Please, I’m begging you... If we go home with him like this, we’ll just be waiting for him to die. We’re truly out of options..."

The doctor on duty sounded just as helpless, his voice full of sympathy. "Ma’am, it’s not that I don’t want to let you stay."

"And it’s not about the fees at all. This hospital isn’t the kind of place that only cares about money."

"The truth is... even if you stay, there’s nothing effective we can do."

"The genetic test results came back. It isn’t a genetic issue, so we’ve ruled out inherited metabolic disorders."

"You’ve been to all the major hospitals. When you came here, I admitted him, and we’ve done every possible test, even a PET-CT."

"You’ve spent so much money, and we feel terrible about it. It’s all gone to waste."

"But... we just can’t find the cause of the illness. His test results are a mess, but we can’t make a definitive diagnosis. If we had any way to treat him, or even the slightest chance of a cure, we wouldn’t be asking you to leave."

"There’s truly nothing more we can do. You need to think about your own future as well..."

The doctor on duty pleaded, trying his best to persuade her.

Hearing this, Li Xu picked up his pace and walked over.

As he approached, Li Xu saw a woman in plain, almost shabby clothes. Her messy hair was piled on her head, her complexion was sallow, and she stood there looking completely lost and distraught.

Her aimless hands wouldn’t stop twisting the hem of her clothes. Her helplessness was heartbreaking to watch.

"Doctor, I’m begging you. My husband is out getting the money. He’ll have it soon enough."

"We can’t just let him die like this."

"We’re out of options... This place is our only hope..."

"Right, we came here to see Doctor Li! We heard he’s amazing, that he’s a Divine Physician. Please, I beg you, let me see him."

Li Xu stepped forward and said, "I’m Li Xu. Are you the one looking for me?"

At the sound of his voice, the woman trembled and jerked her head up, her eyes flaring with hope.

Then, with a sudden THUD, she dropped to her knees on the floor.

"Doctor Li, you’re the Divine Physician Li? That’s what everyone calls you."

"Please, I’m begging you, save my child."

"He’s only five years old... He’s so little... Please... I’m begging you."

As she cried, the woman tried to kowtow.

Li Xu quickly moved forward, grabbed her arm, and pulled her up. "Ma’am, please don’t do this."

"Please, just speak to me. I’m a doctor. Curing the sick and saving lives is my duty."

"A gesture like this... I don’t deserve it."

Tears streamed down her face like beads from a broken necklace as she clutched Li Xu’s hand tightly. "You deserve it, you deserve it, Doctor Li."

"I’d give my own life if it would save my child."

Lin Guorui quickly came over to help, guiding the woman to a nearby chair.

Li Xu turned to the doctor on duty and couldn’t help but ask, "What happened? What are the specifics?"

The doctor on duty sighed and handed over a thick file. "Doctor Li, this is the patient’s chart. Please have a look."

"The case is rather complex. In fact... it’s downright bizarre."

Li Xu’s brows furrowed slightly as he took the file and began to flip through it quickly.

The more he read, the deeper his frown became, and the more puzzled he looked.

His various biochemical markers were indeed chaotic. Some were absurdly high, others alarmingly low, but the combination didn’t fit the profile of any known common illness.

It didn’t look like a tumor, an infection, or an autoimmune disorder.

"Okay, ma’am, please try to calm down. I’m going to go see your son now, alright?"

Li Xu closed the file and said gently, "It won’t help your son to see you crying like this. It will only make him feel worse, don’t you think?"

The woman quickly wiped her tears and forced a smile that looked even more pained than her weeping. "Yes, okay. Thank you, Doctor Li. Thank you so much!"

With that, Li Xu and the others pushed open the door and entered the room.

A wave of heat washed over them the moment they stepped inside.

But Li Xu’s gaze was instantly captivated by the scene on the hospital bed.

A small boy, about four or five years old, lay on the large hospital bed, looking exceptionally tiny.

The boy was asleep, but...

He was covered by a thick quilt and was even wearing a heavy, padded winter jacket underneath.

Keep in mind, the heat in the hospital rooms was cranked up, with the temperature held at a constant twenty-seven degrees Celsius. A normal person would feel warm in just a single layer of clothing.

And yet...

Even so, the little boy was dressed this warmly and was still trembling slightly.

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