Chapter 23: A Returning Customer

Throughout the morning at Mingde Hall, Bai Bing was the only patient seeking acupuncture and massage therapy. Apart from that, Huang Biao, who works in internal medicine, had a rare influx of four follow-up patients today after his day off yesterday, though they were all there for menstrual regulation and digestive health.

Shortly after the afternoon shift began, the acupuncture and massage room finally welcomed its second client. This man, in his thirties, was named Liu, the small-time owner of a shell company. In truth, he had no real health issues; he came to Mingde Hall to see Wang Sen purely to relax his muscles. Since he dropped by every few days, he had simply purchased a VIP treatment card. He was essentially a die-hard fan of Wang Sen, and they had long since reached the level of camaraderie where they addressed each other as brothers.

"You're here, Boss Liu." Seeing his old regular, Wang Sen quickly set aside the "Acupuncture and Moxibustion" textbook he had just borrowed from Zhang Jing and offered a warm greeting.

"Oh, Brother Wang, studying hard today, aren't we?" Boss Liu teased.

"Ha!" Wang Sen gave a helpless laugh. "What can you do? In the medical profession, you have to keep learning as long as you live."

Boss Liu immediately gave him a thumbs-up, then turned his head to look at Zhang Jing, who was reading nearby, and clicked his tongue: "Tsk tsk, young man, look at the dedication of your master..."

Hearing this, Wang Sen hurriedly interrupted him, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Boss Liu, you can't say that. How could I ever be Dr. Zhang's master? His medical skills are far superior to mine."

"Ah?" Boss Liu was startled, looking surprised. "No way! Every time I come here, don't I see him acting as your assistant?"

"That is because..." Wang Sen felt increasingly awkward, not knowing how to explain it properly.

Zhang Jing then stood up and smiled. "Boss Liu, you aren't wrong. Dr. Wang's massage techniques are more than enough to qualify him as my master. If I have the chance, I will definitely learn a lot from him."

Wang Sen cast a grateful glance at Zhang Jing and followed his lead, saying, "Dr. Zhang is too modest. We are all colleagues, and it's only natural for us to learn from each other."

The massage session then officially began. However, Zhang Jing privately thought it would be more accurate to call it a simple massage. One shouldn't assume that only what doctors do is "Tui Na" (therapeutic massage), and that what technicians in wellness centers do is just "massage." In the ancient six arts of Traditional Chinese Medicine—Bian (stone needles), Zhen (needles), Jiu (moxibustion), Yao (herbal medicine), An Qiao (massage), and Dao Yin (guiding energy)—"An Qiao" refers to therapeutic massage. "An" is massage with the hands, and "Qiao" is massage with the feet. It primarily uses massage techniques to relax muscles, stimulate blood circulation, and treat illnesses. Therefore, what we call Tui Na today is actually the ancient An Qiao. As for "massage," it has long since deviated from its original intent. One need only look at the streets and alleys where "massage technicians" are everywhere—most of them female.

Moreover, the phenomenon of internal competition in this industry seems to be getting increasingly severe. When "massage technicians" first emerged, they were generally only found in foot massage parlors and clinics for the visually impaired. Gradually, beauty salons began to muscle in on the business, and later, even hair salons started offering the service. If you didn't have a bit of massage skill in your hands, you wouldn't even dare to call yourself a "Tony the Stylist." Regardless of the establishment, these "massage technicians" basically have no medical background, usually having undergone only a few days of pre-employment training. Whether business is good or not depends less on the technician's skill and more on having a pretty face. After all, the guests coming for a massage aren't truly sick; they are all there for entertainment and relaxation. That was why Zhang Jing said that what Wang Sen was doing for Boss Liu wasn't true Tui Na, but rather health-maintenance massage.

"Ring, ring..." The internal telephone rang.

"Dr. Zhang, could you please answer that for me?" Wang Sen, his hands busy, turned his head and said politely to Zhang Jing.

Zhang Jing put down his book and walked over. He had assumed the call was for Wang Sen as well. He picked up the phone and said directly, "Hello, I'm sorry, Dr. Wang is busy and cannot answer the phone."

"Is this Dr. Zhang? I'm not looking for him; I'm looking for you."

"Looking for me? Is something the matter?" Zhang Jing was a bit puzzled.

"That woman from yesterday afternoon is here again. Did you owe her money that you haven't paid yet?"

"Which woman?" Zhang Jing didn't react immediately. The main reason was that he didn't remember borrowing money from anyone yesterday afternoon! With his extraordinary memory, that was simply impossible!

"Ha! You know, the plant you hired yesterday to fake being a patient?" Gui Cui's tone was clearly displeased, thinking to herself: *At a time like this, why are you still playing dumb?*

Hearing this, Zhang Jing's brain raced, and he quickly understood. However, he was still very confused—how did a perfectly normal medical consultation turn into a setup with a plant?

There was no time to investigate further. After hurriedly hanging up the phone, Zhang Jing walked quickly to the first floor. At a glance, he saw the middle-aged woman from yesterday, who had brought in the child with a high fever, sitting in the waiting area.

"Hello, ma'am," Zhang Jing greeted her as he approached.

The middle-aged woman noticed Zhang Jing and quickly stood up. "Dr. Zhang, hello! Why aren't you seeing patients downstairs today?"

"Oh, I usually work in the acupuncture and massage room on the second floor; I was just covering for Director Huang yesterday. How is it going? The child hasn't had any more fevers, right?"

"No, none at all! The child is completely recovered. I sent him to kindergarten this morning. Dr. Zhang, thank you so, so much!" the middle-aged woman said excitedly.

"I see." Zhang Jing nodded; this was already within his expectations. Moreover, the system's experience point reward had already been issued, so there was no chance of any complications.

"So, what is it that brings you here to see me today?" Zhang Jing asked.

"Oh!" The middle-aged woman slapped her own forehead, chiding herself. "Look at my pig brain, I almost forgot the main point."

"It's like this, Dr. Zhang. When I got home yesterday evening and was chatting with neighbors at the community square, I mentioned your brilliant medical skills. How you cured my child's week-long high fever with just one dose of medicine."

"Then, a neighbor mentioned that her son has been having diarrhea frequently—it's been nearly half a month, and he's taken a whole basketful of Chinese and Western medicines without getting any better. So, she asked me to see if you could treat it. Because I only knew you could help a child with diarrhea, but I didn't know if you could stop diarrhea, I didn't dare bring her along directly."

Zhang Jing smiled faintly and nodded. "I can treat it. Tell her she can bring the child by when she has time."

"Great, great! She's just like me, staying at home to watch the kids, not working, so she's free anytime. I'll call her right now. Our community is nearby, so please wait a moment." The middle-aged woman was full of excitement.

At this moment, Gui Cui walked out of the herbal pharmacy. In fact, she had been unable to sit still from the moment Zhang Jing went downstairs. However, after thinking it over carefully, she decided not to be impulsive—at the very least, she shouldn't embarrass Zhang Jing in front of others. She figured it was better to listen to what they were really up to first, and then decide.

"Dr. Zhang, come out with me for a moment." Gui Cui's voice was cold, and her face was like ice.

Zhang Jing was stunned. What was wrong with this young lady today? He had never heard her speak to him like this before. She was usually cheerful, like a little ray of sunshine. And why on earth did she mistake this lady for a hired plant?

Filled with confusion, Zhang Jing followed Gui Cui out the door of the clinic. They walked for several dozen meters before Gui Cui finally slowed her pace and stopped.