Chapter 43: Chronic Prostatitis

This time, being extra thorough, Zhang Jing spent nearly two minutes longer than usual on taking the pulse.

"That's sufficient," Zhang Jing nodded slightly.

True to form, the moment Little Guizi pulled back his right hand, he immediately asked, "Doctor Zhang, what on earth is wrong with me?"

"Judging by your pulse, the diarrhea hasn't been going on for long; it should have started just within the last couple of days..."

"Oh? You can even tell that?" Before he could finish the sentence, Little Guizi interrupted.

Zhang Jing nodded and continued to analyze the pulse diagnosis results: "Your left guan pulse is wiry and slippery, indicating dampness obstructing the liver and gallbladder. The right pulse is sunken, wiry, and weak, pointing toward liver depression, qi stagnation, accompanied by yang deficiency."

"I don't understand any of that. Can you just tell me straight, what illness do I actually have?" Little Guizi scratched his head, looking completely bewildered.

"To put it simply, your prostate is prone to issues," Zhang Jing stated with certainty.

"No way? You guessed it that accurately! Could you and Third Uncle be pulling my leg to trick me into getting more herbal medicine?" Little Guizi exclaimed.

Zhang Jing smiled faintly: "Pulse diagnosis isn't just guesswork; it's all grounded in principles. However, to make an accurate diagnosis, one still needs to combine it with the other three diagnostic methods—observation, listening, and inquiry—and synthesize all four. Besides, I don't know any Third Uncle of yours."

Hearing this, Little Guizi suddenly jumped out of his chair: "How can you not know him? Just now—"

Halfway through his sentence, he realized he had slipped up and hastily swallowed the rest of his words.

Immediately afterward, pretending to be struck by a sudden urge, he clutched his stomach with both hands and said, "Sorry, I need to use the restroom first. We'll talk when I get back."

Without waiting for Zhang Jing's response, Little Guizi bolted out of the consultation room on his own.

He did indeed feel a slight urge to relieve himself, though he could easily have held it in a bit longer.

The real reason he rushed out was to take advantage of the toilet break to call Huang Biao and sort things out.

"Hello! Third Uncle!" Little Guizi sat on the toilet lid, his tone somewhat impatient.

"Well? Little Guizi, is the consultation already over?"

Huang Biao was currently hiding in a corner outside the clinic, smoking a cigarette. Receiving Little Guizi's call so soon brought a surge of joy to his heart.

It looked like nine times out of ten, Zhang Jing couldn't handle the pressure of diagnosing solely by taking the pulse and had simply surrendered.

"No way, he just finished taking my pulse. My stomach felt a bit off, so I ran out to use the restroom first."

"Oh, how did it go? Aside from figuring out you had diarrhea, did he get everything else completely wrong?" Huang Biao asked with a chuckle.

"Third Uncle, please stop toying with me. If you want me to take some more Chinese medicine, just say so directly. Why team up with an outsider to con me?" Little Guizi could no longer hold back his grievances and complained angrily.

"What do you mean? I have no idea what you're talking about. What on earth happened? Tell me clearly." Hearing this, Huang Biao was utterly baffled.

"Are you saying you and that Doctor Zhang aren't in this together?" Little Guizi's mind was thrown into confusion.

"Of course not! Are you an idiot? If he and I were partners, would I have needed to get you and the other relatives to make a show of force against him yesterday?" Huang Biao said coldly.

Little Guizi thought about it and realized that made sense, but he still found it hard to believe: "Still, after taking my pulse, that Doctor Zhang was spot on. Not a single thing was off."

Upon hearing this, Huang Biao was startled at first, but immediately offered reassurance: "Don't panic! He's just playing mind games with you, making blind guesses and accidentally hitting the mark. After you finish in the restroom, go back to the consultation room. Act like you trust him completely, cooperate with him through the rest of the diagnosis, and then pay for the medicine. Don't worry, I'll reimburse you for both this time's and last time's medicine costs later."

After a brief pause, he added a few more instructions: "He'll probably tell you that there are a lot of things you can't eat. Ignore that and follow his dietary restrictions to the letter. Come back for a follow-up after you finish the medicine, and remember to call me then so we can completely wipe the smile off his face!"

"Alright, alright. Third Uncle, I'm hanging up then." Hearing that he wouldn't have to pay for either round of herbal medicine out of his own pocket, Little Guizi stopped fretting and decided to just focus on playing his part in Huang Biao's show.

Stepping out of the restroom, Little Guizi walked straight back into the consultation room.

As soon as he stepped through the door, he said with a beaming smile, "Sorry about that, Doctor Zhang. While I was in the restroom, I happened to ask my Third Uncle, and he said he really doesn't know you. It was all a misunderstanding on my part. I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine," Zhang Jing replied with a faint smile, then asked, "So, can we continue with the consultation now?"

"Of course, of course. With medical skills as brilliant as yours, I certainly must. Just tell me how I should cooperate with you from here on out," Little Guizi nodded repeatedly.

"Next, I'll examine your tongue. Please open your mouth wide and stick your tongue out."

Little Guizi complied, though his tongue-protrusion wasn't quite standard.

Zhang Jing had to use a tongue depressor to assist.

Taking a closer look, the tongue diagnosis revealed: a pale tongue body, a white, greasy, and moist coating, with no obvious stasis under the tongue.

Zhang Jing nodded slightly and continued, "Alright, you may now briefly describe the entire course of your illness."

"Understood, Doctor Zhang. It's like this: I came to Lu County from my hometown to work several years ago. Since I don't have much education, I can only do odd jobs on construction sites. Doctor Zhang, you might not know this, but our line of work is truly brutal!"

"We're up before dawn and working past dark every day, the food isn't good, and the living conditions are poor. Sometimes, I work continuously for a whole month without a single day off..."

Zhang Jing coughed lightly and offered a polite reminder with a smile, "Big Brother, we just need a brief summary of the illness. Tell me directly when the condition started, what treatments you've received, when the most recent flare-up occurred, and where you currently feel uncomfortable. Ah, roughly speaking, just those details will do."

"Oh, oh, oh. I'm sorry, I haven't seen traditional Chinese medicine doctors very often, so I thought the more I said, the better."

Little Guizi scratched his head awkwardly and went on, "This discomfort in my lower belly has been going on for three or four years. Whenever it flares up, I constantly need to urinate, and I can't hold it back at all. Sometimes it even hurts where I pee. Later, I went to the urology department at the hospital, and after a battery of tests, they said I had prostatitis."

"Then the doctor prescribed anti-inflammatory injections and pills, and had me do some kind of... microwave treatment, I think it was called. After a course of treatment, the symptoms really did disappear. But before long, it would flare up again, and I'd have to go back to the hospital for more checks and treatments."

"When I brought my previous test reports along, the doctor wouldn't accept them and insisted on writing orders for me to run all the tests over again. Once, I even ran into the exact same attending physician. He actually had the nerve to say that medical conditions are always changing, so past test results don't count."

"Doctor Zhang, you have no idea how much money I've poured down the drain over the past few years just because of this illness. My lower belly started acting up again three days ago, but my wages haven't been paid yet, so I didn't dare go to the hospital just yet. A coworker recommended Director Huang as an exceptional doctor, which is why I wanted to come and try traditional Chinese medicine."

"Yet yesterday, for some reason, I was suddenly struck with diarrhea. Director Huang mentioned just now that you specialize in treating diarrhea, so he told me to consult you first and get the diarrhea sorted out before anything else."

"Alright, that's enough," Zhang Jing nodded with a smile.

On the surface, this explanation of his relationship with Huang Biao sounded plausible enough.

However, upon closer inspection, it completely fell apart under scrutiny.

Of course, Zhang Jing had even more direct proof that Little Guizi was lying.

Because right while Little Guizi was making the restroom excuse, Guicui had hurried to call him.

She warned him that Little Guizi was a plant hired by Huang Biao yesterday.

And urged Zhang Jing to be on his guard.