Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1121 The Illness Reappears, Emergency Rescue Arrives (Two Chapters Combined)
“That makes sense. The abnormal sensation of a sudden increase in sound speed is considered 'restlessness of the spirit' in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The *Ling Shu* (Spiritual Pivot) records: 'When liver qi is deficient, there is fear; when it is excessive, there is anger… When the spirit is restless, one hears things in a distorted way.' In other words, when liver fire disturbs the spirit, this kind of subjective perceptual confusion is very likely to occur," Lin Wenfeng nodded in agreement.

Despite saying that, the patient and his wife still looked hesitant.

"Are there any other possibilities? Or is there a better way to verify it?" The patient's wife finally asked Fang Yan tactfully.

She felt that she couldn't find the reason anywhere else, but the dialect immediately identified the problem, which was a bit too fast. At least more points were needed to prove it.

They came back this time with real money and prepared a lot of investment items. Although the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office said it was a win-win situation, it was actually just providing medical expenses. Whether it would be profitable or not was a matter for several years later. The money was being spent now so that Wang Bo could recover.

Therefore, they need to provide more information in their local dialect to be convinced.

It's actually the same as paying someone to unlock a door. It's the same price of 200 yuan. If it takes a few seconds to unlock, it doesn't feel worth it. But if it takes half an hour and you're sweating profusely, then it feels like a lot of money.

Fang Yan put down his pen, looked at the still doubtful couple, and without explaining anything, directly said to Chen Wenwei standing beside him:
"Wenwei, could you go downstairs to the pharmacy and get some mint and dried tangerine peel? Also, could you get some vinegar-processed Bupleurum or Cyperus and Rose? Remember to keep them separate."

"Oh, okay!" Chen Wenwei hesitated for a moment, then immediately agreed and ran out in a flash.

The others reacted with varying expressions upon seeing Fang Yan's actions.

Chen Mike, the father and son of the He family, had some doubts.

Lin Wenfeng and Lin Suxin both looked enlightened.

Jin Wubing looked left and right, suppressing the urge to ask questions, and finally stroked his chin to start thinking.

"What are you doing?" Wang Bo asked Fang Yan.

Fang Yan said with a smile:

"Wait a moment, I'll verify it for you right away."

Hearing this, the two were somewhat puzzled. What could three herbs possibly prove?
However, he still nodded honestly.

Five minutes later, Chen Wenwei came over with the people from the pharmacy.

He was holding three packages of packaged medicinal herbs, each weighing at least 100g.

"Is this enough, Director Fang?" the pharmacist asked Fang Yan.

“That’s enough, we don’t need that much,” Fang Yan said.

He then took the items, got up, walked to the corner, picked up an enamel mug from the table, and poured half a cup of warm water.

He then took out a small pinch of mint and dried tangerine peel from the medicine packet, brewed them with hot water, and handed them to Wang Bo:

"Take a couple of sips of this first, don't swallow it yet, hold it in your mouth for half a minute."

Wang Bo did as instructed with a puzzled look, taking a small sip. The coolness of the mint mixed with the slight bitterness of the dried tangerine peel spread in his mouth, and he subconsciously frowned.

Fang Yan didn't speak, but turned around and walked to the radio in the corner of the room. He turned it on and found that local news was playing.

He turned up the volume and said to Wang Bo:

"Mr. Wang, please listen carefully to the broadcast and compare it with the feeling of 'the surrounding sounds becoming faster' when you fell ill this morning. What's the difference?"

Wang Bo nodded, listened intently for a moment, swallowed, then shook his head and said:
"Dr. Fang, I don't feel any change; it's just a normal speaking speed."

Fang Yan nodded, then took out a small packet of vinegar-soaked Bupleurum from the medicine box, soaked it again, and handed it to Wang Bo:

"Smell it for three minutes, then you don't need to drink it."

The tangy aroma of vinegar-processed Bupleurum had a pungent kick. Wang Bo frowned slightly after taking it, and after smelling it for only ten seconds, his brows suddenly tightened, and he subconsciously pressed his right rib:
"It feels a bit... a bit familiar."

"How does it feel?" Fang Yan pressed.

"Well... the sounds around me seem... a bit sharper? And the speaking speed seems a little faster too?" Wang Bo spoke somewhat hurriedly, "And my right rib area feels a bit tight, like a prelude to pain."

His wife's expression changed:
"Really? Should we stop?"

Fang Yan glanced at his watch and waved his hand:

"Hold on for just one more minute."

"What's going on?" the patient's wife asked in dialect.

Fang Yan said to her:
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that "pungent and aromatic herbs can spread and penetrate." The medicinal aroma can be quickly absorbed into the meridians and regulate qi through the nasal mucosa. When people with liver qi stagnation are stimulated by pungent and aromatic herbs, their qi mechanism is disturbed, which can easily cause distending pain in the hypochondrium and qi rushing upward. Not only vinegar-processed Bupleurum, but also patients with liver qi stagnation can experience chest tightness and hypochondrium distension when they smell the aroma of herbs such as rose and Cyperus.

"All the sounds around us have sped up!" Wang Bo's voice even trembled slightly.

Fang Yan took out a needle and pointed it at Wang Bo, saying:

"Take off your shoes."

Wang Bo's face was pale and he was somewhat dazed, but he now knew that Fang Yan was going to treat his illness.

I quickly did as instructed, taking off my shoes and socks and exposing my right foot.

Then he saw Fang Yan insert a needle into the gap between the base of the big toe and the second toe on the instep. Fang Yan then pressed vertically with the tip of his thumb, and a wave of soreness and swelling shot up from his foot.

A minute later, Fang Yan removed the needle, and Wang Bo breathed a long sigh of relief. He quickly told his wife to take the cup of vinegar-soaked Bupleurum far away, and said at the same time:

"That sensation just now was almost exactly the same as the feeling before the onset of the illness this morning! Fortunately, Dr. Fang administered the acupuncture, so it wasn't as intense afterward, and I didn't experience any real pain."

Fang Yan turned off the radio and picked up the glass of mint and tangerine peel water:
"Take another sip now, and hold it in your mouth."

After Wang Bo did as instructed, he suddenly paused, then said:

"That feeling of the sound getting faster just now... seems to have faded."

"This is the verification." Fang Yan took the cup and explained to him:

“Bupleurum is a medicine for soothing the liver and relieving depression. When you smell its aroma, it will stimulate the flow of liver qi. Your liver qi is already stagnant, and once it is stimulated, it is easy to ‘rush’ upwards. It will disturb the liver meridian, which will cause the ‘speech to become faster’ and ‘thinking to accelerate’ that you mentioned. On the other hand, peppermint clears the head and eyes, and tangerine peel regulates qi and harmonizes the middle jiao. It can temporarily suppress this upward rush of liver qi, so you feel relieved.”

He pointed to Wang Bo's right rib, which startled Wang Bo, who instinctively shrank back and said in dialect:

“The spot you just pressed is exactly along the liver meridian. The severe pain, hearing abnormalities, and near-death sensations that occur when the disease strikes are all the result of this ‘stagnant qi’ carrying cold qi and running rampant in the meridians. The emotions you usually suppress and the cold qi accumulated from eating raw and cold foods are like a blocked river. Once there is a trigger, such as… the movement when you change clothes in the morning or the changes in qi in the morning, it will cause the dam to burst.”

Wang Bo's wife still hesitated:

"So... does this prove it's a liver problem?"

Fang Yan picked up the medical record he had just written and pointed to the lines: "pulse is wiry and slow," "tongue coating is white, turbid, and dry," and "sublingual veins are thin and strained."

"A wiry pulse indicates liver stagnation, a dry tongue coating indicates prolonged stagnation damaging body fluids, and distended sublingual veins indicate the initial signs of qi stagnation and blood stasis. In addition, the severe pain when pressing the Qimen acupoint and the similar prodromal symptoms triggered by smelling Bupleurum are all evidence."

Wang Bo touched his ribs, recalling the momentary sense of familiarity he had felt, and finally nodded:
"Dr. Fang, I believe you."

"But can this disease be cured?"

Fang Yan smiled:
"Of course it can be cured. Just regulate the chaotic liver qi and expel the accumulated cold qi, and it will naturally get better."

Fang Yan then picked up his pen again and started writing.

The others around him also gathered around, looking at what Fang Yan had written. In addition to the analysis he had just given, he had also included the tests the patient had undergone. After finishing that, he finally began to write the prescription:

党参15g、当归15g、川芎15g、白芍30g、桂枝10g、金蝎10g（研末冲服，增强通络止痛效）、蜈蚣1条（约1.2g，酒制，减毒）、降香10g、香橼15g、吴茱萸5g、炒槟榔12g、甘草10g。

Decoction method:
Grind the centipede and scorpion into a fine powder and take it in two doses with the decoction (avoid prolonged decoction to prevent reduced efficacy).

Soak the remaining herbs in water for 30 minutes, bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for 40 minutes (centipede can be simmered with other herbs to enhance toxicity reduction), and take about 300ml of the decoction;

Add water and simmer for another 30 minutes. Take 200ml of the decoction, mix the two decoctions, and take them warm in the morning and evening.
Take one dose daily for six consecutive days. Avoid raw, cold, greasy, and spicy foods while taking the medication.

Insect medicine! This prescription surprised many people present.

The style is completely different from before. If the previous plan had been followed, they guessed that the dialect would have been based on Chaihu Shugan San, which soothes the liver, regulates qi, invigorates blood, and relieves pain, with the addition of Evodia rutaecarpa and Asarum to warm and dispel internal cold and resolve the accumulation of raw and cold food.

As a result, he is now using insecticide.

He didn't use any of the peppermint, dried tangerine peel, or bupleurum from before.

At this point, dialect explanations were already being written.

Citron regulates qi and soothes the liver, avoiding the adverse effects of Bupleurum's upward lifting effect; Areca nut lowers qi, relieves bloating, and alleviates depression, targeting "bloating before an attack";
Evodia rutaecarpa warms the liver and dispels cold, directly expelling cold and accumulated cold; Cinnamomum cassia warms and unblocks the meridians to resolve "cold stagnation and blood stasis".
Chuanxiong (Ligusticum striatum) promotes qi circulation and invigorates blood, while scorpion (Quanxie) clears blockages and removes blood stasis, specifically treating "knife-like radiating pain."

Peony and licorice decoction softens tendons and stops spasms, treating spasms and tightness in the meridians. It is combined with insect-based medicines to prevent dryness and damage to yin, and is also suitable for patients with dry tongue.

The fragrance of sandalwood helps to calm the mind, dispel blood stasis, and relieve liver fire that disturbs the spirit.

Codonopsis pilosula protects the spleen and prevents qi-regulating herbs from harming the body's vital energy; Angelica sinensis nourishes the blood and moistens dryness to prevent prolonged stagnation from damaging the blood.
One centipede (processed with wine and decocted together) The wine-processing method reduces toxicity and increases the warming and unblocking effects. Together with the whole scorpion, it attacks and expels stubborn blood stasis in the "blood vessels". It also forms a combined effect of dispelling cold with cinnamon twig and evodia.

It was only at this point that everyone realized that the reason for abandoning Bupleurum and using Citron was that Wang Bo's smell of vinegar-soaked Bupleurum triggered rib pain and sensory abnormalities ("qi rushing upwards"). Therefore, the dialect deliberately avoided this, choosing Citron to regulate qi and not exacerbate the upward rush.

As for not using peppermint and dried tangerine peel, it's because the two only temporarily suppress liver fire (treating the symptoms) in the verification. The prescription he gave uses sandalwood and citron instead to achieve the root cause of soothing the liver and reducing fire.

He then wrote:

Pressing the patient's Qimen acupoint caused pain as if "stabbed with a knife" and the pain radiated, confirming "cold congealing blood stasis entering the collaterals." It was felt that it was difficult to remove without insect-based methods, so peony and licorice were used to relieve spasms and pain, while insect-based medicines were used to expel blood stasis from the collaterals.

After writing it down, Fang Yan glanced at it and, finding it almost done, then gave the patient some instructions:

"Avoid raw and cold foods, such as iced drinks, salads, and fruits that you ate abroad before. These raw and cold foods help to congeal cold and aggravate blood stasis. Also avoid greasy and spicy foods. Greasy foods hinder the spleen's digestion and spicy foods help the liver fire rise, aggravating the symptoms of 'liver fire disturbing the mind'. If you suddenly experience prodromal symptoms, such as rib distension or sensory abnormalities, immediately drink peppermint and tangerine peel water."

"Okay!" the patient nodded.

Fang Yan added:

"Oh, right, you should also quit smoking and drinking now, and avoid them while taking the medication."

The patient nodded, then asked:

"Dr. Fang, how long will the treatment take? I want to get back to the company as soon as possible."

Fang Yan frowned slightly upon hearing this and said:
"My prescription is specifically designed to soothe the liver, expel cold, and remove blood stasis. The frequency of pain should decrease after about six doses! However, a complete cure will take time."

After speaking, the patient looked thoughtful and asked in dialect:

Are you in a hurry to go back?

The patient smiled awkwardly and said:
"is a bit……"

Fang Yan said to him:
"Stay here for a week, and then I'll make a daily schedule for you."

The patient immediately stated:
"Okay, then I'll buy a plane ticket for a week from now."

Fang Yan, seeing his impatient look, asked:
"Can't we delegate company matters to someone else?"

"I remember the security company, they should be able to just send someone out, right?"

The patient shook his head and said:

"That won't do; there are many intricacies involved."

"In short, we can't let him go... If I'm not there, no one else can handle things. I'm like you in the company, no one else can completely replace me. There are many tasks that require my involvement, and some channels only trust me. If I don't show up, the company is in a semi-paralyzed state."

Fang Yan nodded upon hearing this:
“Okay, I understand your predicament. I’ll try my best to get your body back to a relatively normal state within a week,” Wang Bo said.

"Thank you, Dr. Fang!"

Fang Yan instructed him:
"Avoid emotional suppression during treatment. Take at least half an hour to relax every day, such as listening to music, and strictly control your rest time."

Wang Bo said:

"Okay, I will definitely cooperate! Thank you, Dr. Fang!"

Then he turned to his wife and asked:

Did you bring your things?

His wife held up a bag she was carrying:
"Here you are!"

"Give it to me." The patient said, taking the bag and placing it on Fang Yan's table. He then took out a box from it and said to Fang Yan:

"Dr. Fang, this is a small collection of mine."

Fang Yan felt that the box looked somewhat familiar.

asked:

"what?"

Wang Bo glanced at the few people who had gathered around and said:
"Ancient sword".

As he spoke, he opened the box.

The moment the box was opened, everyone involuntarily moved closer. Inside, a short sword lay quietly, no more than two feet long. The scabbard was made of dark brown sharkskin, with worn and blackened copper ornaments around the edges. Several scratches of varying depths meandered along the scabbard.

Upon closer inspection, Fang Yan realized, "Wow, no wonder it looks familiar! Turns out I have one at home."

"An antique!" He Jingwei, standing to the side, was a little envious. He had seen something similar at an auction house in England, where some people who liked to collect ancient swords offered quite a high price.

The next second, Wang Bo drew his short sword with a "whoosh," the blade casting oblique shadows of those around him.

The blade of the short sword was not bright, but rather had a warm, dark blue hue, as if covered with a thin layer of frost. As it spun, the light and shadow shifted, revealing subtle, fine ripples.
Those are the marks left after being forged through countless hammer blows.

It has a pattern that resembles that of Damascus steel.

The hilt of the sword was wrapped with a faded dark blue silk ribbon, at the end of which hung a small copper ring with blurred cloud patterns engraved on it.

This thing looks nice, but looking at it... it looks a bit like a fake antique.

The other accessories look real, but the sword is remarkably new.

Since the dialect was difficult to understand, he could only speak to Wang Bo:

"Quite good looking."

Wang Bo spoke to the dialect:

“I’ve always enjoyed collecting these things. I bought this one at an overseas auction house. I heard it was shipped out of China, so I bought it and have kept it in my villa in Hong Kong ever since.”

"I brought it with me when I came back this time, thinking of giving it to you, Dr. Fang."

Fang Yan smiled and said:

"Bringing it back from so far away, that's very thoughtful of you."

I don't care whether the dialect is real or not. I'll just accept what people give me. In this kind of situation, I can't very well stand up and question whether there's anything wrong with what they're giving me, can I?

How embarrassing that is.

Fang Yan put away the sword and then told them to go and process the admission.

He didn't even look at the sword and placed it directly under his examination table.

This isn't the first time someone has given away an antique, but it's the first time someone has given away a sword, so it's very valuable. I'll take my time to study it later; what if it really is a legendary sword that can cut through iron like mud and has been passed down to this day?

Fang Yan was about to call in the third person when there was a knock on the door.

As soon as the door opened, Meng Jimin poked his head in and said to Fang Yan:

"Old Fang, I need your help!"

"What's wrong?" Fang Yan asked.

Meng Jimin said:
“I had a patient whose left eye was protruding and had a large palpebral fissure. I treated him a few days ago, and after he took the medicine, he still wasn’t doing well.”

He bowed to the dialect:

"Take a look at it for me, in a minute!"

Fang Yan glanced at the time, stood up, and said:

"Okay, let's go."

Then he walked straight out, and at the door, he said to the third patient and their family:

"I'm so sorry, I need to help my colleague with a small problem first. Please come in and have a seat."

The patient's family members were very understanding and nodded, saying:
"It's alright, Dr. Fang, go ahead."

At this point, the others followed.

They love these unexpected situations.

And the name of this disease sounds rather strange.

As Fang Yan walked towards Meng Jimin's clinic, he asked Meng Jimin:
"What's the specific situation?"

Meng Jimin said:
"I'm sorry, I..."

He interrupted in dialect:
"Alright, just tell me your symptoms."

Meng Jimin scratched his head and said:
"The patient is a 37-year-old woman. I saw her a few days ago. Her left eyeball has been protruding for more than eight months. She did not receive any treatment at first. Later, when the protrusion became severe, she went to the hospital for examination, but no results were found. She went to several other hospitals, but no problems were found. Then she was treated for a thyroid problem, but the condition became more serious after the treatment."

“I asked her at the time, and she said that eight months ago, after her grandfather passed away, she cried a lot and that’s when she started to feel uncomfortable in her eyes. At first, it was just a little swollen, but later it got much bigger and she felt very uncomfortable when she closed her eyes.”

"I went to the ophthalmology department of the hospital to have the fundus of my eye examined, but they didn't find anything wrong."

"What about the four diagnostic methods?" Fang Yan asked.

Meng Jimin said:
"White tongue coating, wiry and slow pulse, depressed expression, average appetite, normal bowel movements and urination."

He asked in dialect:

"How did you make that judgment? What medicine did you give?"

We had already arrived at his consultation room.

Upon hearing the question about dialect, Meng Jimin explained as he pushed open the consultation room door:

“At the time, I thought her illness was related to crying after her grandfather’s death. Traditional Chinese medicine says that ‘sadness dissipates qi.’ But she also had bulging eyes and eye swelling. Combined with her wiry and slow pulse and depressed expression, I felt it was more likely to be ‘liver qi stagnation’—the liver opens into the eyes. Liver qi stagnation can easily lead to qi disorder, which may rush to the eyes and cause eye abnormalities.”

"Moreover, after multiple hospital examinations ruled out organic problems such as thyroid issues, she was more likely to have an imbalance of Qi caused by emotional factors. So I prescribed a formula to soothe the liver and regulate Qi, using a modified Chaihu Shugan San formula, thinking that I could first soothe the liver Qi and see if it could relieve the swelling and protrusion of her eyes."

He led the patient, speaking in dialect, and added:
"I added turmeric and green tangerine peel to the medicine to enhance its qi-regulating effect, and also added prunella vulgaris and cassia seed, thinking it would clear the liver and improve eyesight, targeting the eye symptoms. But after taking it for three days, she said the eye swelling hadn't lessened; in fact, her eyes felt heavier, and the protrusion didn't seem to have improved either, so I was a little unsure..."

As they spoke, Fang Yan and the others who had come with them looked at the patient's left eye and found that the left eyeball was indeed more prominent than the right eye, and the palpebral fissure was also slightly wider. When the patient closed his eyes, a thin slit could be seen between the upper and lower eyelids of the left eye, which was consistent with Meng Jimin's description.

Without further ado, he went straight to the four diagnostic methods.

At this moment, the patient's tongue coating is white and turbid, the pulse is wiry and slow, the left eye is protruding, the palpebral fissure is widened, and the expression is somewhat uncomfortable. After questioning, it was found that the bowel movements and urination were normal, but the appetite was poor.

She was a bit discouraged because Meng Jimin couldn't cure her.

Jin Wubing, who was standing to the side, said to the patient:
"This is a dialect, Dr. Fang, don't look so worried!"

The patient paused slightly upon hearing this before looking at Fang Yan.

When they discovered that it really was the doctor featured in the newspaper, hope returned to their faces.

Fang Yan was a little puzzled at this moment, because Meng Jimin's medicine was supposed to be fine.

Why did it not work and even get worse?

Not only him, but the others who came along were also a bit confused, since they had seen Fang Yan and Meng Jimin talking to each other.

Logically speaking, it should be correct.

Fang Yan touched his chin and began to stroke it again.

The patient's sudden crying and excessive grief caused the Qi to rise in reverse, damaging the liver Qi and triggering the fire of emotions in the five internal organs, namely the internal heat caused by the imbalance of emotions such as anger, joy, worry, grief, and fear.

The characteristic of fire energy is that it burns upwards, rushing along the liver meridian to the eyes. Since the liver and eyes are connected, traditional Chinese medicine says that "the liver opens into the eyes."

As for why it's specifically the left eye that's protruding?
Medical books say that "the left side belongs to the liver," meaning that the Qi of the liver meridian is more vigorous on the left side. Therefore, the anger caused by emotions will carry the liver Qi and rush to the left eye along the liver meridian, causing the left eye to bulge outward.

The liver qi stagnation and upward rush of qi can worsen after medication, suggesting that the root cause of the problem may be hidden in a more concealed place.

He bent down again to take the patient's pulse.

This time, my fingertips felt a pulse that, while wiry, carried a subtle, almost imperceptible heaviness, unlike simple qi stagnation.

Looking at the patient's tongue coating, it is white and cloudy with a slightly slippery feel, which is definitely not a sign of dryness caused by liver stagnation transforming into fire.

It's the end of June now. What was it eight months ago? It was the end of October or the beginning of November, right in the transition from autumn to winter.

What was the weather like back then?
Fang Yan recalled that there would be light rain, the daytime high temperature would be around 15℃-20℃, and the nighttime low temperature would be around 5℃-10℃, and the temperature would continue to drop over time.

Fang Yan suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"When your grandfather passed away, did you stay by his coffin for a long time?" Fang Yan suddenly asked.

Hearing the question about dialects, the others who were thinking were also a little confused. Why were they suddenly asking this?

The patient paused for a moment, then recalled what he had seen, and nodded, saying:
"Yes... I stayed for three days and three nights. It was cold and raining. I kept crying, and afterwards I always felt like my eyes were filled with sand."

Fang Yan let out a long breath, then lifted the patient's left eyelid to look and asked:

Do your eyes always feel cold?

"Yes!" the patient said.
"Especially when the wind is blowing, it feels like you have a block of ice inside!"

Upon hearing this, Meng Jimin's eyes lit up:
"Eh! This... this could be... cold stagnation and blood stasis?"

PS: The basic chapter of 6000 words is now complete. There will be an extra chapter later.

(End of this chapter)