Chapter 94 - 79: The Conflict Between Chinese and Western Medicine

Chapter 94: Chapter 79: The Conflict Between Chinese and Western MedicineXu Donglai, having worked alongside Xu Chunliang to save Luan Yuchuan, knew that Xu Chunliang had some capability. Seeing the young man about to embarrass himself, Xu Donglai laughed and said, "Xiaoxu has had a bit too much to drink." His intention was to give Xu Chunliang an out, and if Xu Chunliang went along with it, it would easily dissolve the awkwardness from earlier.

Xu Chunliang replied, "Rest assured, Director Xu, I haven’t had too much to drink. Stones in the body can be removed if the correct method is used. Foreign objects that don’t affect bodily functions can coexist peacefully — you don’t bother me, I don’t bother you. The same goes for diseases. Some people have minor ailments yet live to a hundred. That’s the rationale."

Su Yunquan, a renowned authority in cardiology, was very rigorous in his academic pursuits and had a strong disdain for quacks who engage in deceitful practices. Xu Chunliang’s remarks seemed utterly nonsensical to him, and he estimated even his friend Luan Yuchuan might have been deceived by him.

Su Yunquan said, "Can stones in any part of the body be treated with lithotripsy? Did I hear that correctly? Does Traditional Chinese Medicine also advocate for lithotripsy? Forgive my ignorance!"

Li Jia Kuan showed a look of embarrassment. Xu Chunliang’s statements were overly confident; if the audience were just ordinary people, it would be one thing, but both Su Yunquan and Xu Donglai were renowned internal medicine experts in the province, so speaking carelessly was only going to cause ridicule.

Xu Chunliang said, "My Xu Clan has a secret formula passed down for treating stones. If any of you encounter such troubles, I can help relieve the pain."

Su Yunquan sneered, while Luan Yuchuan discreetly gave him a look, signaling that he didn’t want the discussion to continue on this topic to avoid making other guests uncomfortable, especially since today was a banquet of gratitude, regardless of Xu Chunliang’s true capabilities, his participation in the rescue of Luan Yuchuan was indisputable.

Luan Yuchuan said, "My health has not yet fully recovered, so today, let me toast everyone with tea instead of wine."

Everyone responded in turn, thinking the matter would end there, but Mo Han asked, "Mr. Xu, can the ancestral secret formula cure President Luan’s coronary heart disease?"

Su Yunquan chuckled internally. This kid talks so wildly that even Mo Han can’t stand him.

Xu Chunliang finished his drink and slowly put down his cup, saying, "Ultimately, President Luan suffers from qi stagnation and blood stasis, with blocked meridians. It’s said that where there’s blockage, there’s pain; remove the blockage, and the pain goes away. Just promote blood circulation and remove stasis, unblock the meridians, and the root of the disease naturally disappears."

"Mr. Xu, could you please tell us exactly how this should be done?" Mo Han pressed on.

All eyes turned to Xu Chunliang, thinking he’d have a hard time getting past this today.

Xu Chunliang replied, "You have to prioritize according to severity. If it’s not urgent, you can use medicine for gradual treatment. Just follow the doctor’s orders, take the medication on time, and in three to five years, you can be completely recovered."

Su Yunquan thought to himself, this kid is young, but he has a whole repertoire of tricks to fool people. It’s also a common tactic among many quack doctors — dragging you along for three to five years, almost scrapping the money from your pockets before walking away, and that’s considered fortunate. Some patients don’t even live long enough to see any results, ending up with the worst of both worlds. These itinerant quacks are indeed detestable.

Mo Han asked, "What if it’s urgent?"

Xu Chunliang looked at her and said, "If it’s urgent, you can choose Western medicine."

Su Yunquan couldn’t help but laugh out loud; this guy’s skin sure is thick. Wasn’t he just praising Traditional Chinese Medicine as all-powerful, and now he’s switching to recommending Western medicine?

Li Jia Kuan thought to himself: Enough already! You don’t mind losing face, but I feel embarrassed; they’ve made us Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners look like charlatans.

Xu Chunliang said, "However, in President Luan’s particular situation, choosing Western medicine might be like gaining on the swings but losing on the roundabouts."

Hearing Xu Chunliang disparaging his own profession in public, Su Yunquan couldn’t bear it: "Xiaoxu, don’t you think that’s a bit biased?" He didn’t even bother calling him Dr. Xu — this guy wasn’t a doctor; at most, he was a wandering quack.

Xu Chunliang said, "Although I haven’t studied Western medicine, I know that the treatment for coronary heart disease involves nothing more than using foreign objects to dilate the vessels."

Su Yunquan said, "You’re talking about bypass and balloon angioplasty, right? These techniques are used to dilate the narrowed branches of the coronary arteries and improve myocardial blood supply. They are currently recognized worldwide as the most effective treatment methods."

Xu Chunliang replied, "It’s just about inserting foreign objects into the meridians." Thɪs chapter is updated by novel-fire.ɴet

Su Yunquan paused slightly; in the end, it still involves implanting foreign bodies, so after bypass surgery, patients need to take statins long-term.

"The best way to treat meridian blockages is to remove the stasis and allow the meridians to return to their original state rather than using something new to alter the original layout of the meridians. Of course, I’m speaking from the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine," Xu Chunliang asserted.

Although Xu Donglai admitted that Xu Chunliang made some sense, in reality, who can restore narrowed coronary arteries to their original state? It’s a fairy tale. He reminded, "There is also thrombolytic therapy in Western medicine, usually chosen if the results of thrombolytic therapy are not satisfactory, then bypass and balloon angioplasty are considered."

Xu Chunliang said, "All things in the world are interdependent and counteract each other. As long as the right method is found, any ailment can be easily solved."

Su Yunquan guessed that Xu Chunliang was about to use the Five Elements theory to fool people again: Wood overcomes Earth, Earth overcomes Water, Water overcomes Fire, Fire overcomes Metal, and Metal overcomes Wood. It sounds reasonable, but in actual diagnosis and treatment, it seems to detach from human anatomy and physiology. He even suspected that this theory was purely the imagination of ancient people, as philosophy is different from natural science. In the Five Elements theory, what does a blood clot belong to? Is it Earth? Would removing a blood clot require planting a tree in the Earth, using Wood to overcome Earth?

Su Yunquan asked, "What can completely remove an already formed blood clot?"

Xu Chunliang smiled and said, "Ancestral secret remedies are never passed down!"

According to "The Classic of a Thousand Bugs," there is a worm in the southern mountains called the Blood Moth, with a tiny body resembling fine dust, which loves to eat blood clots. Using a hollow needle as a guide, introduce the Blood Moth into the meridians. It travels along the meridians with the blood flow and gathers at blood clots to gnaw them away. This worm’s life only lasts one day, and once it starts feeding, it doesn’t stop until it bursts. The body of the Blood Moth and the blood clot will vanish without a trace, leaving nothing behind to harm the human body even if a little is left.

During the time when Xu Chunliang was the Five Poison Sect Leader, the Blood Moth no longer existed in nature, but the "Classic of a Thousand Bugs" of the Five Poison Sect contained methods for cultivating various moths. The secret technique of using moths to treat human diseases has been lost; the rumored bug planting is just a small part of the "Classic of a Thousand Bugs."

Everything in the world has both a positive and negative side, capable of harming or saving people, depending on who is applying the technique.

Su Yunquan did not believe Xu Chunliang at all, but since Luan Yuchuan was hosting tonight, he decided not to publicly embarrass his guest. He laughed, "Truly a family heritage, if I ever go to Dongzhou, I must visit Huichun Hall." In his heart, he dismissed this, suspecting Xu Chunliang’s grandfather was also a con man. The Xu Family was not a traditional family of Chinese medicine practitioners but a family of con artists.

Xu Chunliang knew he was full of disdain and said, smiling, "There should be an opportunity."

The dinner ended after more than an hour. Luan Yuchuan gave each lifesaver a gift, a shopping card worth fifty thousand yuan at Longji Department Store. He was sincerely grateful; if he hadn’t encountered the three of them on the high-speed train, he would undoubtedly be dead. This card was merely a token of his gratitude.

Xu Donglai politely declined. Although fifty thousand yuan was a considerable sum, it was not enough to move the heart of a true healer. When he initially rescued Luan Yuchuan, he had no intention of seeking reward, and through tonight’s interactions, he realized that Luan Yuchuan had an extraordinary background. Compared to fifty thousand yuan, gaining such a friend and earning their respect was far more important. Accepting the card would only make them look down on him.

Li Jia Kuan saw Xu Donglai decline, so he followed suit. A gentleman’s love of wealth is acquired through proper means. He would have saved even a beggar on that day. Although he came from a county-level hospital, his medical skills weren’t as high as those of the provincial experts, yet his medical ethics were not inferior.

What surprised everyone was that Xu Chunliang accepted the card with peace of mind. His action confirmed Su Yunquan’s suspicion that Xu Chunliang was just a deceptive itinerant doctor.

Money can reveal a person’s true nature. Mo Han sensed a hint of disappointment in Xu Chunliang as she watched him. On the day of the rescue, she was on site throughout and witnessed Xu Chunliang’s extraordinary performance. Such a person shouldn’t be bending for a mere five bushels of rice, yet tonight, Luan Yuchuan’s gift was fifty thousand yuan.

The fifty thousand yuan did not move Xu Donglai or Li Jia Kuan but did move Xu Chunliang. Mo Han even felt Su Yunquan’s disdain for him, and although others said nothing, their impressions of Xu Chunliang were markedly lowered.

On the way back, Mo Han played the same piano piece. During the trip, Elder Xu called again, still needing to hear his grandson’s voice to feel at ease, or he wouldn’t be able to sleep soundly at night.

Xu Chunliang reassured Elder Xu, saying everything was fine in Nanjiang.

After hanging up the phone, he took out that shopping card and asked, "Can this card be used to buy things at Longji Department Store?"

Mo Han nodded, "At any Longji Department Store in the country."

"We don’t have one in Dongzhou, so it looks like I’ll need to visit Longji Department Store before I leave."

Mo Han glanced at him from the corner of her eye, unable to resist asking, "Are you really a doctor?"

Xu Chunliang laughed, "Doesn’t seem like it? In your impression, a doctor should save lives, seek no reward, and refuse thanks like Director Xu and Director Li?"

Mo Han didn’t speak. She didn’t know what to say. Luan Yuchuan’s thanks were expected; they could accept them with a clear conscience. Yet, it still felt uncomfortable, perhaps due to the contrast with Xu Donglai and Li Jia Kuan’s noble medical ethics. People really shouldn’t be compared to one another.

"I’m not a doctor, so you don’t need to measure me by noble medical ethics. Although I’ve learned some ancestral medical techniques, I haven’t obtained a medical license."

"What? You don’t have a medical license?"

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