Chapter 153: The Miracle Doctor of Miao Village

When Township Chief Yang heard Zhang Wenhao speak fluent Miao, his excitement increased. He clasped Zhang Wenhao’s hand tightly and exclaimed, “Good, good, good!”

After repeating the word three times, Township Chief Yang continued, “A child of the Miao people has come to contribute to his fellow villagers. Just like Xiaoyue—truly admirable, truly admirable!”

Zhang Wenhao hurriedly explained, “Grandpa Yang, you misunderstand. I’m not Miao.”

“What?”

It was not only Township Chief Yang who was astonished. Even Long Xiaoyue was stunned. The moment Zhang Wenhao had spoken Miao, she had assumed that he must be Miao himself. She had never expected him to deny it.

With a smile, Zhang Wenhao explained, “I’ve only studied the language. I happen to have learned it fairly well.”

Township Chief Yang exclaimed in amazement, “Remarkable, truly remarkable! These days, there are still outsiders who go out of their way to learn Miao—and learn it so well. That’s really something.”

Zhang Wenhao did not want to continue discussing the subject. After all, he had exchanged for the Miao language from his learning system on short notice simply to make communication more convenient. He immediately said, “Grandpa Yang, I already explained why I came. I’m here to provide free medical treatment for everyone. So I’d like to ask you to gather the villagers. I’ll begin by giving everyone a basic physical examination.”

“Good, good.” Township Chief Yang nodded at once. “This is important. I’ll notify everyone immediately.”

Then he added, “Since you’re here to practice medicine, you’ll need somewhere to work. There are plenty of places around here, so choose whichever one you like. Wherever you take a fancy to, you can use.”

Zhang Wenhao said, “I’m staying at Xiaoyue’s inn. We can hold the examinations downstairs there. If any of the villagers feel unwell, they can come to the inn and find me at any time.”

“Good.” Township Chief Yang nodded. “Then it’s settled. You’ve only just arrived and haven’t had the chance to rest or eat properly. We’ll begin the examinations tomorrow.”

Zhang Wenhao hurriedly said, “That’s all right. I’m in good health and can manage. Let everyone start making preparations now.”

As he spoke, he explained to Township Chief Yang how the villagers should be scheduled according to age.

Unable to dissuade him, Township Chief Yang finally nodded in agreement. Zhang Wenhao then returned to the inn with Long Xiaoyue. On the way, she could not help asking, “Are you really not Miao?”

Zhang Wenhao smiled and answered sincerely, “I’m really not.”

“That’s so strange.” Long Xiaoyue sighed in admiration. “I never imagined that a young person could learn Miao so well.”

When they returned to the inn, Zhang Wenhao said to her, “I’m going to bring the car over. There are quite a lot of medicines inside. Do you have somewhere to store them?”

“Yes.” Long Xiaoyue smiled. “There isn’t much business at the moment, so I can arrange another room for you. How about the one next door?”

Zhang Wenhao nodded. “That’ll do.”

He drove the car over and parked it outside the inn. When Long Xiaoyue saw that it was filled with medicine, she became so excited that she nearly danced with joy. She helped Zhang Wenhao carry everything upstairs.

After bringing up the medicines, Zhang Wenhao carried the wooden table and chairs from the room downstairs.

Long Xiaoyue had attended one of the finest universities in the country—Tsinghua University—and was very familiar with computers. Zhang Wenhao therefore asked her to assist him by recording each patient’s name and medical condition.

For the entire afternoon, Zhang Wenhao examined the roughly two hundred children in the village who were under twelve years old, recording their physical conditions one by one. Most of them were quite healthy. Food and clothing were not lacking here, so their development and nutritional intake were relatively balanced.

Over the course of two days, Zhang Wenhao examined all 2,130 people in the entire village. Most of those suffering from illness had ordinary, common ailments that could be cured quickly with the proper medication. Arthritis was especially widespread, but it posed no difficulty for Zhang Wenhao. A dampness-dispelling herbal decoction combined with acupuncture could quickly restore those patients to health.

However, there were several seriously ill patients who received his particular attention.

The first patient Zhang Wenhao classified as critical was Yang Chenshan, Township Chief Yang’s son. Yang Chenshan had spent more than a decade doing business outside the village, attending countless drinking banquets and social engagements. As a result, he had developed cirrhosis of the liver.

At present, he felt only discomfort in the liver, slight fatigue, and abdominal distension, so he had never taken the matter seriously. In the past few days, however, he had begun experiencing reduced urination and slight swelling in his lower legs.

Through his pulse, Zhang Wenhao detected abnormalities in Yang Chenshan’s liver function. He immediately used his high-energy wave manipulation ability to examine the liver more closely.

The results showed that the cirrhosis had already entered the decompensated stage. Fortunately, it was still in its early phase, and the damage was not yet severe. With timely treatment and the medicines he currently possessed, Zhang Wenhao could temporarily alleviate the illness. Combined with acupuncture, the treatment could produce a degree of recovery.

Liver disease, however, was a chronic illness. Western medicine was of limited effectiveness, and treatment was usually prolonged. If the disease continued to deteriorate, the only eventual option would be a liver transplant.

Zhang Wenhao decided to begin with conservative treatment to prevent the condition from worsening. Later, he would find an opportunity to leave the village and prepare a traditional herbal prescription specifically for cirrhosis. Taken daily, it would cure Yang Chenshan within two months at most.

The formula was one that modern practitioners of traditional medicine had yet to discover, but fortunately, all the necessary herbs were known, so preparing it would not be difficult.

One middle-aged woman arrived for her examination with a waxen-yellow complexion and a body thin as kindling. Yellow spots covered her face, and she clutched her abdomen in agony. Her expression was one of extreme pain.

She was a distant maternal cousin of Long Xiaoyue. Six months earlier, she had given birth to her second child, but over the past several months she had felt increasingly unwell. The pain in her abdomen was especially severe, often waking her several times during the night. She could no longer work; she hardly dared move at all and could only lie on her side in bed. Her appetite was extremely poor. Once a plump, fair-skinned woman, she had become frighteningly gaunt.

Long Xiaoyue was extremely worried about her distant cousin. She was said to be the only person in the village who still shared any blood relationship with Xiaoyue’s family. Throughout Zhang Wenhao’s examination, Long Xiaoyue stood beside them, watching with concern and anxiety, afraid to speak lest she disturb him.

From the woman’s complexion and condition, Zhang Wenhao suspected that something was wrong with her gallbladder. A brief examination confirmed his guess: she was suffering from cholecystitis, and it had already reached a very serious stage. If it continued untreated, her life would soon be in danger.

Using high-energy waves to examine her gallbladder, Zhang Wenhao found that it had become greatly enlarged and that its walls had thickened. Fortunately, he found no gallstones inside, which allowed him to relax slightly.

He immediately said to Long Xiaoyue, “Xiaoyue, arrange for your cousin to lie down in a room upstairs. I’ll prepare the medicines and then perform acupuncture to ease her pain.”

Long Xiaoyue nodded at once. Her cousin had come from home for the examination, and by then the pain in her abdomen had intensified. Cold sweat poured from her entire body.

Seeing her condition, Zhang Wenhao simply lifted the woman into his arms and carried her upstairs. Long Xiaoyue ran ahead and pushed open the door to a room. Zhang Wenhao carried the woman inside and carefully laid her on the bed.

“Wait here.”

Zhang Wenhao went to the room next door and took out the medicines he needed: drugs to correct electrolyte disturbances and acid-base imbalance, medicine to reduce the swelling of the gallbladder, and antibiotics to combat infection. He then took out a box of sterilized silver needles and returned to the room where Long Xiaoyue and the woman were waiting.

The woman writhed on the bed in agony. Long Xiaoyue watched helplessly, her heart aching. The moment Zhang Wenhao entered, she seized his arm and blurted out, “Doctor Zhang, what exactly is wrong with my cousin?”

“Cholecystitis.” As he prepared the medicines on the table, Zhang Wenhao continued, “It was left untreated for too long and has become extremely serious. Since she is also weak from prolonged illness, it may become life-threatening.”

“What should we do?” Long Xiaoyue asked anxiously. “Should we send her to the county hospital?”

Zhang Wenhao waved his hand. “The medical facilities at an ordinary county hospital are not sufficient to cure her condition. Besides, her illness cannot afford any delay now.”

“Then what should we do?” Long Xiaoyue pressed. “Can you cure her?”

Zhang Wenhao nodded. “A combination of Western medicine and acupuncture will relieve the symptoms quickly, but a complete cure will take some time. Don’t worry. It isn’t beyond treatment.”

As he spoke, he finished preparing the medicines. The woman needed three bottles of intravenous fluid. After starting the first infusion, Zhang Wenhao took out the silver needles and said to Long Xiaoyue, “Help me.”

“What do you need me to do?” she asked, hurrying forward.

“Hold her down. Don’t let her move.” Zhang Wenhao spoke quickly. “The pain has driven her nearly out of her mind. All she can think about is the pain. Lift her clothing to expose her abdomen and hold her body as firmly as you can so I can insert the needles.”

Long Xiaoyue nodded and quickly lifted the woman’s shirt to just below her chest. She then firmly restrained the woman’s shoulders and arms.

The woman kicked wildly and twisted her body without pause. Zhang Wenhao pressed down hard on her legs with his left hand. With his right hand, he held a silver needle between his thumb and forefinger, while his little and ring fingers held a small piece of alcohol-soaked cotton.

After locating the proper point, he wiped the woman’s skin several times with the cotton. Then he exerted force with his thumb and forefinger, driving the needle in until roughly two-thirds of its length had disappeared beneath the skin.

Long Xiaoyue’s scalp prickled. The needle was at least seven or eight centimeters long, with four or five centimeters buried in the woman’s abdomen. The sight was terrifying, and she had no idea whether Zhang Wenhao’s swift, forceful technique would truly work.

Unexpectedly, the moment the first needle entered, the woman’s body softened slightly, and the force of her struggling diminished considerably.

Zhang Wenhao immediately inserted another needle. The woman’s movements weakened further.

In less than half a minute, he had inserted six silver needles into the woman’s abdomen. Once all six were in place, her body changed from rigid with pain to limp as mud.

The expression on her face eased considerably. She stopped thrashing, and even her previously rapid breathing gradually began to calm.

Long Xiaoyue was astonished. She had never imagined that six silver needles alone could relieve her cousin’s pain so dramatically. The speed and effectiveness of the treatment left her utterly incredulous.

Zhang Wenhao let out a breath of relief and stood. “She’s exhausted. Let her rest here for a while. We’ll go downstairs and continue examining the others.”

Long Xiaoyue hurriedly said, “Aren’t there three bags of medicine to administer? What if the infusion finishes while no one is watching? And she still has needles in her body. What if she moves?”

Zhang Wenhao smiled faintly and reassured her, “Don’t worry. I keep track of time. When it’s nearly time to change the medicine, I’ll remind you. Just come upstairs, remove the line, and insert it into the next bag. As for the needles, you needn’t worry. She can’t even turn over in her current condition.”

Long Xiaoyue nodded lightly, though she still glanced anxiously at her cousin. In the end, she chose to trust Zhang Wenhao and went downstairs with him.

Because several patients required prolonged treatment, Long Xiaoyue set aside another room for Zhang Wenhao to use as a clinic. Many patients would need to remain there for intravenous treatment, including Yang Chenshan and her distant cousin.

Long Xiaoyue became Zhang Wenhao’s full-time assistant. Whenever he was treating patients, she stayed by his side, carrying out every instruction immediately.

Over the next several days, she witnessed Zhang Wenhao’s astonishingly refined medical skills.

There was an elderly man in the village who had suffered what the villagers called an invasion of wind-cold. At first, he had merely felt dizzy and light-headed each day. A man who had once been perfectly healthy had suddenly become so unsteady that he could barely walk. His speech had also grown slurred.

After he suddenly collapsed, his family had taken him to the county hospital, but the doctors could not determine the cause. He had stayed there for several days without improving. Unable to afford the medical expenses, the family had no choice but to take him home and confine him to bed.

After examining him, Zhang Wenhao prescribed nothing more than a few common ingredients—almonds, ginger, and licorice. Once the decoction had been taken and acupuncture administered, the old man was able to get out of bed and move around within two days. His dizziness had eased considerably, and his speech had returned to normal.

Long Xiaoyue was amazed. The old man had spent several thousand yuan at the county hospital without receiving any effective treatment. Yet here, Zhang Wenhao had cured him with a few inexpensive herbs and several silver needles.

During those same days, her cousin’s condition also gradually improved. Although she was essentially living at the inn under hospital-like care, her condition grew better with each passing day.

Zhang Wenhao’s acupuncture technique was nothing short of miraculous. A few needles could relieve the pain. In addition to daily acupuncture and intravenous treatment, he had specially prepared an external medicine. He wrapped the herbs in gauze, boiled them, and applied them warm to the woman’s abdomen.

The effect was astonishing. Not long after each application, the woman would exclaim that she felt wonderfully comfortable. The improvement was practically immediate.

There was also a young man in the village whose facial features had begun to change drastically six months earlier for reasons no one could explain. First, his mouth and eyes had become crooked. Then his face had twisted and deformed. Nearly all sensation in his facial features had disappeared, and even his tongue had lost its function. He could no longer speak. All day long he made meaningless sounds, unable to utter a single complete sentence.

He had already been betrothed and was preparing to marry by the end of the year, but after suddenly developing this strange illness, his fiancée’s family could not accept him and broke off the engagement.

After being rejected, the young man attempted suicide several times. Fortunately, his family discovered him in time. From then on, his parents, brothers, and sisters took turns watching him, preventing him from making any further attempts.

With one glance, Zhang Wenhao diagnosed him with facial paralysis.

The family had previously taken the money saved for his wedding and gone elsewhere in search of treatment. The doctors there had also diagnosed facial paralysis, but they claimed that it could not be cured, that he would suffer permanent aftereffects for the rest of his life, and that treatment would cost a great deal. The family had been helpless and could only accept this cruel reality.

They had not placed much hope in Zhang Wenhao. During his first acupuncture session, he inserted only two needles into the young man’s face. The boy’s distressed parents could not bear to watch and accused Zhang Wenhao of abusing their unfortunate son. They even tried to drive him from the house.

Long Xiaoyue kept explaining to them and urged them to trust Zhang Wenhao’s medical skills.

In the end, the parents did not truly believe that he possessed miraculous abilities. They merely agreed to let him try because they respected Long Xiaoyue.

During one treatment, Zhang Wenhao inserted twenty-six silver needles into the young man’s face, each at a different depth. The young man’s mother stood nearby, weeping almost constantly.

Yet something astonishing soon occurred.

After the treatment, Zhang Wenhao had just removed all the needles when the corner of the young man’s mouth trembled several times. His family had not seen any movement in his facial features for a very long time, apart from opening and closing his eyes. But after only one acupuncture session, the corner of his mouth had moved.

The entire family, including Long Xiaoyue, was filled with excitement.

Zhang Wenhao, however, merely said, “The acupuncture will gradually restore sensation to his face, but you must also urge him to perform rehabilitation exercises on his own.”

He then turned to the young man, who was watching him with one crooked eye, and said, “Try to move your facial features as much as possible every day. Now that you can move the corner of your mouth, keep moving it. Once you can move your eyebrows, raise them often. That will speed up your recovery.”

Zhang Wenhao promised to return the next day for another acupuncture treatment. After thanking him profusely, the family finally saw him and Long Xiaoyue out.

On the way back to the inn, Long Xiaoyue was so excited that she could barely contain herself. At the same time, she was increasingly curious about Zhang Wenhao.

“Wenhao,” she asked, “can you tell me how you learned such extraordinary medical skills? You only graduated from high school a year ago, and you’ve studied at medical school for only one year. How can you be so much better than professional doctors?”

Zhang Wenhao smiled. “If I told you that several generations of my family had practiced medicine, would you believe me?”

Long Xiaoyue blinked. Though she was already twenty, she looked as innocent as a child of ten. She nodded repeatedly. “Of course I’d believe you. Why wouldn’t I? That’s the only explanation for your remarkable medical skills. They were passed down through your family.”

Zhang Wenhao smiled faintly and neither confirmed nor denied her conclusion.

Remember the website: Thirty-Five Chinese Network.