Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1370 A Story Full of Loopholes (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

"Well, it's a long story, so let's make it short... haha," Director Liao said to Wang Zhenlin with a smile.

The dialect echoed:

"It must be quite a complicated and bizarre story, Mr. Wang, why don't you tell me..."

Wang Zhenlin touched his nose, paused, and then said with a look of reminiscence:

“In those days, it was a time of war and chaos. The docks in Tianjin were in complete disarray. My family’s small clinic was looted by the guerrillas. My father was so angry that he vomited blood. There was really no way for my family to make a living. I thought I would try my luck at the docks to see if I could find a job treating people. But instead of finding work, I ran into trouble. A few thugs saw that I was carrying a medicine box and thought there was money inside. They surrounded me and tried to rob me.”

He paused, deliberately emphasizing his words as if to highlight the danger he had just faced: "Just then, an American in a suit passed by with two bodyguards and helped me out of the predicament. I later learned that he was an import and export businessman named John, who happened to be in Tianjin buying goods at the time. He also had a relapse of his old ailment, with severe rheumatic leg pain, which he had seen several doctors for but which had not been relieved."

At this point, a hint of pride appeared on Wang Zhenlin's face, as if he were showing off his skills from back then:
“He saw that I was a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, so he asked me to take a look, just to give it a try. I didn’t think much of it at the time, so I gave him a few acupuncture needles to relieve the pain and prescribed a herbal remedy for external application. Unexpectedly, three days later, he came to me and said that his leg pain was mostly gone. He insisted on hiring me as his private doctor and said that if I followed him, I would be guaranteed to have food to eat and be able to earn money to treat his father’s illness.”

“I was desperate at the time, and I just wanted to make some money, so I went to Hong Kong with him.”

Wang Zhenlin sighed, his tone becoming "helpless" again. "I stayed in Hong Kong for half a year, accompanying him to social events every day, and helping him and his business partners with minor ailments. Later, he wanted to expand his business in Southeast Asia, so I went with him to Thailand and Malaysia, which lasted for several years. Until 1953, he said there was a big business deal to discuss in Japan, and since there were many Chinese people there, there might be a market for traditional Chinese medicine, so he took me with him to Japan."

He added:
“After arriving in Japan, John helped me rent a small shop in Yokohama. I treated Chinese patients while gradually getting to know local patients. Later, John’s business ran into trouble and he returned to the United States. I had already settled down in Japan, and since my father had passed away long ago and I had no ties to China, I just stayed there.”

Lu Donghua listened, his hand holding the teacup remaining still, and glanced at Fang Yan and Director Liao.

At this moment, Fang Yan was thinking to himself, "An American businessman bringing Chinese medicine practitioners to Japan to open a clinic in 1953? That's just illogical!"
Director Liao then smiled and replied:

"So Mr. Wang has such a background. He has traveled to so many places with Mr. John, he must have seen a lot of the world. When you were running your clinic in Japan, did you encounter any particularly difficult cases? Tell us about them so we can broaden our horizons."

Lu Donghua nodded in agreement:

"Yes, practicing medicine overseas is not easy. There must be many stories to tell. Tell us about them."

Wang Zhenlin's eyes flickered, and he waved his hand, saying, "These are all trivial matters, not worth mentioning. But this Dr. Fang has cured many difficult and complicated diseases, even pulmonary interstitial fibrosis, which Western medicine couldn't cure. This has spread throughout the family and overseas Chinese communities. Later, I found out that Dr. Fang was actually a disciple of an acquaintance of mine..."

After saying that, he sighed and said:
"It's a pity that Mr. Lu doesn't remember me?"

He looked at Lu Donghua with a helpless smile on his face: "Back in the days at the Tianjin docks, I even asked your father for advice on acupuncture techniques for tonification and sedation. He said at the time that I was 'meticulous, but my skills were a bit lacking.' How come you've forgotten all of that in just a few decades?"

Lu Donghua put down his teacup, his smile still gentle, but his tone carried an undeniable certainty: "Mr. Wang, I'm truly sorry, my memory is getting worse with age. There were many doctors practicing in Tianjin back then, and the patients and colleagues I encountered were quite diverse, so I really can't remember the specific people and events. If we did have any interactions, then it was my rudeness, please forgive me."

Old Lu still pretended not to know him.

Now he's just waiting for Director Liao to investigate before making any further decisions.

The old man is quite shrewd; he's just worried that this person might have problems and use this opportunity to curry favor with him and cause trouble for Fang Yan.

Seeing that Lu Donghua still wouldn't admit to being old acquaintances, Wang Zhenlin's helpless smile froze for a moment, then softened again:
"That's true, decades have passed, it's normal not to remember clearly. But I still remember how Mr. Lu instructed me in acupuncture back then. He said, 'Tonifying and sedating are like tuning a string, if you go too far, you'll lose your accuracy.' I've remembered those words my whole life, and I practiced medicine in Japan for decades based on them. In a way, Mr. Lu was half my mentor..."

Lu Donghua didn't respond to that, but simply smiled and picked up his teacup:

“My father practiced medicine all his life and helped many people. He might not even remember what he said. It’s kind of you, Mr. Wang, to remember it.” He then changed the subject again: “Mr. Wang, you have been able to establish yourself in Japan with traditional Chinese medicine for so many years. You must have a lot of health tips, right? For example, how do you take care of your body and cope with the climate differences here? You can tell us about them, and we can all learn from them.”

The dialect also chimed in at this point:

"The Japanese call traditional Chinese medicine Kampo medicine. I wonder what the differences are between it and traditional Chinese medicine in China?"

"The difference... isn't that big. It's just that they pay more attention to 'using ancient prescriptions,' unlike in China where we adjust them flexibly according to the patient's condition."

Fang Yan discovered that this person was only talking about superficial knowledge, without even mentioning the classic prescriptions commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine or the focus of diagnosis and treatment, which clearly showed that he did not understand the actual situation.

Lu Donghua listened and pressed on, "I've heard that Japanese Kampo doctors have a deep understanding of 'classical prescriptions,' such as those in the Treatise on Febrile Diseases. Do they have any special experience in their clinical application? You've practiced medicine there for so many years, you must have your own insights."

Wang Zhenlin unconsciously scratched at the side of his wine glass, and after a few seconds he managed to reply:
"Classical formulas are indeed commonly used, such as Xiao Chai Hu Tang and Gui Zhi Tang. They use them frequently, but the dosage is lighter than in China, for fear that patients may not tolerate them."

Fang Yan, who had been watching from the side, followed up by probing: "When you were treating patients in Japan using traditional Chinese medicine formulas, did you encounter any cases that were different from those in China? For example, how did you adjust the prescriptions to address differences caused by different climates?"

Wang Zhenlin smiled and waved his hand: "The case records... it's been too long to remember them clearly. Anyway, they were all based on the prescriptions, without any special adjustments."

Fang Yan glanced at his master, Lu Donghua, and Director Liao.

At this point, everyone can see it too.

There's something wrong with Wang Zhenlin. First, his status as a renowned overseas TCM expert is clearly mismatched with his professional skills and experience.

The story of John that he fabricated also has obvious flaws.

Whatever his intentions, he was definitely lying, which is enough to make people suspicious of him.

As soon as Wang Zhenlin gave his perfunctory reply, the atmosphere in the banquet hall became somewhat subtle.

Director Liao put down his teacup and glanced at Fang Yan and Lu Donghua. Although the three of them did not speak, they had already reached a tacit understanding through their eyes.

Lu Donghua did not press further, but said, "It seems that Mr. Wang has focused his attention on 'using ancient prescriptions.' Traditional Chinese medicine in China emphasizes 'treatment based on syndrome differentiation,' so we can learn from each other."

Director Liao smoothly picked up the thread: "Yes, whether it's traditional Chinese medicine in China or Kampo medicine in Japan, if it can cure the disease, then it's a good method. Mr. Wang, let's not keep talking about practicing medicine. Try this roast duck, it's the signature dish of the Yanjing Hotel, and it tastes very authentic." As he spoke, he placed a piece of duck meat on Wang Zhenlin's plate, cleverly ending the professional topic and preventing Wang Zhenlin from revealing any more flaws.

Wang Zhenlin visibly breathed a sigh of relief, quickly took the duck meat, thanked him with a smile, but didn't say another word. He buried his head and ate a few bites before making an excuse to "go to the restroom" and hurriedly left the table.

Watching his retreating figure, Director Liao lowered his voice and said, "There's a problem..."

P.S.: I got another 100 monthly votes, so after finishing this chapter, I still owe everyone 66,000 words...

That's all for today, I'll continue tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)