Chapter 12

Chapter 12

At that moment, He Yunxiao really wanted to ask Wu Heng if there was a possibility that, aside from having a snake fetus in his belly, he might also have an untreated eye condition.

Seeing that it was indeed getting late, Wu Heng quickly exited the real-time location sharing and replied with "Going to sleep" before closing his phone.

Although He Yunxiao had all sorts of bizarre thoughts in his mind, he didn't dare to disturb Wu Heng further, just muttering to himself, "It must be a WeChat bug."

The sky above Nan Nuo Village was a brilliant, mirror-like blue, with a few white clouds hanging on the horizon, so beautiful it felt like they were right in front of you.

You Jin, yawning, came early in the morning to open Chengde Medical Hall. As soon as he entered, he saw several century-old ginseng on the counter, which instantly woke him up.

Although You Jin was just a junior apprentice, he knew his stuff. This quality of wild ginseng could fetch a seven-figure price in dollars outside, and even for the villagers who went up the mountain to pick it, it was extremely precious.

Where on earth did this come from?

"You Jin, you're here? We owe it all to Wu Heng last night!" Before You Jin could react, several energetic strong men came in from outside.

They were the pallbearers who had carried Lai Wazi's coffin last night but had been drenched and shivering from the coffin leaking water.

One of the young men carefully took out a piece of cloth from his pocket, unfolding it to reveal a pile of paper ash. This ash wasn't from burnt offerings but from paper that had turned to dust.

"I actually thought it might have been the cold medicine that worked this morning, but then I ran into old lady Lai on the way. She said she expected us to be laid up for three to five days."

Who is old lady Lai? When she talks about illness, it's definitely not just a common cold or fever; it's likely some kind of supernatural illness. Now the men understood what the yellow paper was for and quickly came to Chengde Medical Hall after scolding old lady Lai.

Some handed over cash, while others whipped out their phones to scan the QR code on the counter to pay the consultation fee.

Wu Heng hadn't mentioned how much the yellow paper cost, so the men estimated and each paid 288 yuan, considering it a lucky number.

The strong men still had their own work to do, so after paying the consultation fee, they left, leaving You Jin utterly baffled.

You Jin looked at the fresh consultation fees on the counter and then at the suddenly appearing century-old ginseng. He muttered to himself, piecing together a wild theory!

"Could it be that my medical skills have improved so much? Did a patient I treated sneak me this ginseng as a gift?"

After all, last night it was Xiao Heng who wrote the yellow paper to comfort the pallbearers, but since the master went out to gather herbs, it's been me treating the villagers! But even Village Chief Zhou Gui couldn't come up with a million-dollar ginseng, right?

You Jin couldn't figure it out, so he carefully stored all the precious herbs and went to wake up Wu Heng and Zhou Yi for breakfast. After breakfast, Zhou Yi didn't waste any time and rushed home to hit the books.

You Jin watched Zhou Yi's studious demeanor and then looked at Xiao Heng, who could only play with his phone after eating. Once the master gets back, he’ll have to get Xiao Heng into school. If he can't keep up with high school, maybe he can start in middle school.

Thinking that it would take some time for Huang Qiang to receive the mud pellet, Wu Heng sat in a corner of Chengde Medical Hall with his new phone, fascinated by the online world, especially for an ancient shaman like him. All sorts of apps caught his attention.

The flagship phone came with several social apps like Weibo and Xiaohongshu, but Wu Heng's favorite was the familiar short video platform. Besides live streaming, it let him scroll through videos made by people all over the world, helping him understand this world faster.

Although the internet speed was poor and often lagged, Wu Heng, under the account "Chengde Medical Hall," scrolled through videos like crazy, hitting 'like' on anything that caught his eye.

Until he came across a help-seeking video, and his fast-scrolling fingers stopped.

The video showed a stunning girl, her face pale and drawn. Despite having big eyes, she looked drowsy, almost squinting. She swept her hair back and slapped her cheeks to jolt herself awake.

The girl was gorgeous, but her jet-black hair stole the show.

"Is there anyone here who knows medicine? I couldn't hold on any longer, so I recorded this video. For the past three months, I've been so sleepy, wanting to sleep all day, up to twenty hours a day. The four hours I'm awake, I feel dizzy."

"I don't know why I can't wake up? A full-body checkup at the local hospital came up empty, and my family is worried. They're already arranging for me to go to a big hospital in the capital city."

There were tens of thousands of comments, clearly showing that this netizen named "Fan Tutu" was a well-known female influencer on Shark Video Platform.

Fans in the comment section were brainstorming, and many passing medical students were also offering advice. Some suggested going to a large hospital for professional diagnostic tests, while others said that many women with qi deficiency tend to feel sleepy, which is quite common.

There were also several posts suggesting consulting a shaman or a Taoist priest, which were quickly mocked by anxious fans.

"What era is this? Still believing in superstitions? Hahaha, health supplements will be marketed to you in the future! Instead of going to a big hospital, you believe in a Taoist priest? What a joke!"

"Isn't it that the hospital couldn't find anything? The A City Hospital where Tu Tu is being treated ranks in the top five nationally for neurology, not inferior to the big hospitals in the capital city. Going to a hospital in the capital city might not necessarily reveal anything. Why not try every method? It can't hurt."

"If that's the case, since both superstition and medicine are involved, why not check out the 'Chengde Medical Hall' live stream account? The shaman doctor Wu Heng there is quite skilled."

The thread quickly shifted to Wu Heng's shaman dance in the early morning, and the stories became more and more mysterious.

Tu Tu, who was rarely awake, was struggling to scroll through the comments for any useful advice. When she saw the comment suggesting she seek out Wu Heng, her heart skipped a beat.

When she woke up, she saw a screen recording shared by her best friend in the early morning, showing a handsome man performing a mysterious and wild shaman dance that was breathtaking.

Should she really go and try consulting that shaman?

Tu Tu hesitated, then saw a comment rise to the top of the comment section, quickly becoming the latest trending comment.

"Chengde Medical Hall: Shave your head."

As soon as Wu Heng posted this comment, countless netizens replied to it.

"Damn, is that Wu Heng the shaman doctor? He also watches beauty videos?"

"I'm speechless, does he know that Tu Tu became famous because of her beautiful hair? He's telling her to shave it? That's toxic!"

"Her family is worried sick, and he's making such comments like he's watching a show? Does he know what hair means to a girl?"

Tu Tu was initially somewhat moved, but her heart sank when she saw that comment. She thought that Chengde Medical Hall had recently skyrocketed in popularity, gaining over a million followers. How could a public figure talk like that?

Feeling indignant, Tu Tu yawned and responded.

"Tu Tu: ?"

A single question mark actually conveyed Tu Tu's emotions; she was dissatisfied. Any young person who frequently browses the internet knows what a question mark implies, but Wu Heng didn't understand and replied again.

"Chengde Medical Hall replies to Tu Tu: How about you wash your hair with cold water tonight."

Wu Heng's ideas were getting crazier.

Some girls have poor physical health; how could they wash their hair with cold water? Wouldn't their heads feel even dizzier tomorrow? They might even catch a cold directly.

Tu Tu's health is so poor now; doing this might make her unable to wake up.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that the head is the meeting point of all yang energies, and cold water is cold in nature. Washing hair with it would surely damage yang, making it easier to catch wind and cold.

Is this really a shaman doctor? It feels like he has no common sense! It feels like a direct insult to the word "doctor."

More and more netizens replied under the comments, pushing Wu Heng's comment to the top of Tu Tu's help video comment section. In just a few hours, the likes reached thirty thousand, with most of them mocking.

"Great shaman doctor, instead of randomly commenting on beauty videos, why don't you respond to Brother Qiang's food questions? Brother Qiang just went live."

"That shaman dance was truly legendary, haven't seen such a beautiful and mysterious dance in years, but I suspect he and the first snake fetus patient were in cahoots just to create hype, and it backfired with Brother Qiang."

"Brother Qiang called you out in his live stream to connect, when are you going? A real man shouldn't meddle in a beauty's affairs, okay? Leave it to real doctors to study."

...

Soon, another WeChat notification popped up, and He Yunxiao sent a transfer of thirty thousand yuan.

"He Yunxiao: Dr. Wu, our family's driver has already delivered the medicine to Huang Qiang, and Huang Qiang transferred thirty thousand yuan for the medicine."

The He Family driver was quite efficient, with two drivers taking turns driving non-stop through the night on the highway to deliver the medicine in the shortest time possible.

It's unclear what Huang Qiang was thinking, but he insisted on transferring the money for ten "Carnivals" in advance.

Dr. Wu acknowledged the transfer with an "oh" and left the comment section of Tu Tu's help-seeking video, entering the live-streaming area to find an account named "Huang Qiang's Cuisine."

In this day and age, few people in the live-streaming industry make a name for themselves purely by luck. As Dr. Wu entered, he saw that Huang Qiang's current live-streaming background was quite good.

It was said to be in Huang Qiang's hometown, nestled at the foot of a nature reserve with excellent ecology. He had built a small farmhouse, growing pesticide-free vegetables and fruits, with a serene and pastoral atmosphere that greatly appealed to the overworked urbanites.

At that moment, Huang Qiang and his pale-faced uncle, Huang Zhigang, who was clutching his throat, sat at a stone table. Huang Qiang held a small paper bag containing something and displayed it in front of the camera.

"Folks, this is the medicine Dr. Wu prescribed for my uncle, delivered overnight! Let's see what this is."

Expecting Dr. Wu to prescribe some traditional Chinese medicine or at least some Western medicine, Huang Qiang felt the small paper bag and thought it didn't seem like either. In front of everyone, Huang Qiang poured out the contents of the bag, revealing a walnut-sized, slightly soft ball.

"Huh? This Dr. Wu is really bold, daring to prescribe medicine? Isn't he underage? He probably doesn't have a license, right? Practicing medicine without a license! What does this medicine even taste like?"

"He probably won't respond. I saw him earlier scrolling through a beauty video and leaving a ridiculous comment about shaving her head."

"What kind of medicine is this? Regardless, if it really works, that's fine. After all, he cured that bizarre snake fetus. I have to say, that shaman seems to have some real skills."

"Didn't the Chengde Medical Hall account just come in? Is Dr. Wu here? Brother Qiang, connect with him!"

...

Huang Qiang inwardly mocked Dr. Wu, thinking he was just a naive kid who hadn't been beaten down by society, his eyes filled with a clear stupidity. How dare he prescribe medicine for his uncle? Wasn't this giving him leverage?

Curious, Huang Qiang sniffed the medicine ball and detected a very familiar scent, like... mud!

Yes, it was the earthy smell that farmers often encounter, and it seemed quite fresh.

He must have been mistaken, right?

After connecting with Dr. Wu, Huang Qiang eagerly asked, "Dr. Wu, what exactly is this medicine ball made of? Is there ginseng or some other precious ingredient?"

Dr. Wu retorted, "Didn't you already guess it?"

Before Huang Qiang could process how Dr. Wu knew what he was thinking, he blurted out, "Mud?"

Huang Qiang paused abruptly, and seeing Dr. Wu's confirming expression, his heart sank. His voice rose uncontrollably, filled with disbelief, "Wait, wait, is this really a mud ball? I spent ten Carnivals on a mud ball??"

Huang Qiang almost couldn't contain his urge to curse, raising his voice in anger, "I can't believe you had the audacity to charge me ten Carnivals for a mud ball!"

Dr. Wu replied in surprise, "Coward, I dared to think of it."