Chapter 53: A Healer Must Not Be Timid and Hesitant

Zhang Jing ignored the insolence of the man in the peaked cap. Instead, he said earnestly, "My good man, I am going to ask you a few questions. Please answer me truthfully."

"Alright, go ahead and ask," the man in the peaked cap replied, seemingly already impatient.

"In the past couple of days, has your wife consumed any cold drinks or other items with a strongly cooling nature?" Zhang Jing decided to get straight to the point.

Without even thinking, the man in the peaked cap shook his head and said, "No. It's almost winter, why would she eat that kind of stuff?"

Zhang Jing pondered slightly. He figured the man probably only knew that cold drinks were cooling, and as for other strongly cooling foods, even if she had eaten them, he wouldn't be able to tell.

Just as he was about to ask him to list every single food they had eaten over the past two days, a faint, fishy scent suddenly drifted into his nostrils with his breath. This fishy smell was quite distinct, and Zhang Jing remembered it should be the scent of crabs.

Connecting this to the child who had suffered from diarrhea a couple of days prior—which had been triggered by eating steamed eggs with crab roe—and recalling that he had previously heard Guicui mention that Lu County was famous for its hairy crabs and renowned worldwide, a stray line of an unknown poem drifted vaguely into his mind: *Autumn winds rise, crab legs itch, chrysanthemums bloom, the smell of crabs comes.*

Putting all these clues together, Zhang Jing basically had his answer.

Thus, he immediately sought confirmation: "Then have you two eaten crabs in the past two days?"

"Crabs? You mean hairy crabs, right? Of course. My family actually farms hairy crabs. This is the prime season for tasting crabs, how could we not eat them? But what does this have to do with eating hairy crabs?" the man in the peaked cap retorted.

"Of course it does. The problem likely lies right here. Hairy crabs are salty in flavor and cold in nature. When consumed in large quantities, symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal pain frequently occur," Zhang Jing said with certainty.

"How can that be? It's not the first time my wife has eaten them, why was she fine before?" The man in the peaked cap immediately refuted without a second thought.

At that moment, his wife gently tugged at his arm and whispered softly, "She has had a bit of an upset stomach before sometimes, don't you remember?"

The man in the peaked cap glared at her slightly, then turned back to Zhang Jing and said, "Even if her stomach feels occasionally uncomfortable, it shouldn't lead to incessant bleeding, right? Am I wrong?"

"If your wife happens to be in her menstrual period and is currently taking traditional Chinese medicine to regulate her menstruation, it is entirely possible," Zhang Jing stated with renewed certainty.

"Ah?" The man in the peaked cap dropped his jaw in astonishment.

Almost simultaneously, his wife's fist swung toward him, though it was soft and limp, clearly lacking any real force. As she hit him, she reproached him fretfully, "It's all your fault! I told you not to eat them, not to eat them, but you insisted on shelling them for me. Look at this now, this is all caused by you!"

The man in the peaked cap did not dodge, letting the blows land on his body as he muttered, "No way, could it really be that bizarre? Just eating a few hairy crabs..."

Suddenly, he snapped back to his senses, stood up from the round stool, and shouted loudly, "Wife, don't listen to his nonsense! I reckon he and that old man must have colluded long ago. Didn't you see them whispering behind closed doors here for half the day while we were sitting in the outer lobby earlier?"

"That's right, it must be just like that. Otherwise, why would that white-haired old man hypocritically apologize to our faces? When we first went to talk to him, he was as stubborn as a mule!"

He then pointed at Zhang Jing and continued speaking to his wife, "Look, now he has put on a show of taking her pulse for ages, and then claims it's all caused by eating hairy crabs."

"I see right through them. They just want to shirk responsibility. Wife, let's not let him treat you. We'll go straight outside and wait for the boss. If we can't negotiate a settlement, we'll file a complaint with the Health Bureau. Damn it! I refuse to believe they can get away with defying the heavens!"

Zhang Jing did not rush to defend himself. Moreover, the man in the peaked cap spoke at a rapid pace, leaving no opening for anyone else to interject. It wasn't until he had finished speaking entirely that Zhang Jing opened his mouth.

"My good man, please don't get excited, and certainly don't rush to conclusions. As for whether I am a fraud or not, why not wait until she drinks a dose of the herbal medicine I prescribe and see if it works? If the bleeding cannot be stopped today, you are free to go to the Health Bureau and lodge a complaint against me at any time."

"Lodge a complaint against you?" The man in the peaked cap widened his eyes. "Did I hear that right? Are you really willing to vouch for it? When it comes down to it, this matter doesn't really have much to do with you. Are you really willing to take the blame for that old man outside?"

With an expression of utter calmness, Zhang Jing slowly replied, "This has nothing to do with taking the blame. As a doctor, my only concern is treating illnesses. Your wife consumed an excessive amount of strongly cooling foods during her menstrual period, leading to persistent flooding and spotting. If not treated promptly, it will result in rather severe consequences."

"Severe consequences? What do you mean?" Hearing this, the man in the peaked cap panicked slightly.

"Ah... I... am I going to die?" the woman in the headscarf asked tremulously.

"That certainly won't happen. It's just that her body will become much weaker—susceptible to illness, prone to fatigue, and her menstrual flow will decrease significantly," Zhang Jing explained upon realizing they were worrying excessively.

"Oh..." The woman in the headscarf let out a long sigh of relief and hurriedly urged, "Then, Dr. Zhang, please hurry up and prescribe the medicine for my treatment."

The man in the peaked cap still seemed hesitant. "Wife, do you really want to drink the Chinese medicine he prescribes? What if it gets even worse?"

The woman in the headscarf rolled her eyes at him and retorted sharply, "Why don't you step up and take charge then? Are you going to take responsibility?"

"This..." The man was instantly rendered speechless by the retort.

Realizing that he had made the guarantee himself anyway, if something actually went wrong, he would have no one else to blame. Thus, he nodded to Zhang Jing and said, "Fine then, go ahead and write the prescription."

"Did you bring your medical record booklet? I need to make a note of the case," Zhang Jing asked.

"We brought it, we brought it," the woman in the headscarf rushed to answer, then nudged her husband with her elbow.

The man in the peaked cap hesitated once more. He leaned close to his wife's ear and whispered, "Are you an idiot? This is evidence! What if he destroys it?"

Although Zhang Jing didn't hear him clearly, he guessed the man's misgivings.

He stood up and said, "It doesn't matter. I'll just go to the dispensary and get a new booklet to write it in. Besides, I will brew the first dose of medicine right here in our clinic, and you won't have to pay for it. Once it's brewed, drink it right here. That way, we can better observe the efficacy of the medicine."

Upon hearing this, the man in the peaked cap was momentarily stunned, but he quickly reacted and remarked, "At least you know what's proper, that's more like it!"

The woman in the headscarf fumbled as she tried to stand up, saying, "Then I'll have to trouble you!"

"Dear lady, please sit right back down. Your body is still very weak, no need to be so polite. Just wait comfortably in this consultation room. As soon as the herbal medicine is brewed, I will bring it right in," Zhang Jing said, waving his hand to gesture for her to stay, and gave a few more instructions.

Stepping out of the internal medicine consultation room, Zhang Jing walked straight to the pharmacy and cashier window.

Guicui, who wore a worried expression, instantly sprang up from her seat and anxiously asked, "How is it? How is it? What did the patient's family say?"

Huang Biao, who had been anxiously waiting for the outcome on the bench in the waiting area, also hurried over. Although he tried hard to suppress the panic in his heart, his tongue still stumbled slightly as he asked, "Did... did you figure... figure it out? Can... can it be treated?"