Smooth Road to Medicine

Chapter 2 Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance System

Both patients had left and Mingxin Hall had returned to its quiet state.

Song Qiang was playing ‘Fight the Landlord’ on his computer.

Xu Yang flipped through gynecology books and case studies, trying to find the cause of the patients' illnesses. He felt ashamed that he couldn't cure them. He had always wanted to become a successful TCM doctor, despite the fact that almost half of TCM doctors nowadays couldn't cure patients. He didn't want to be one of them.

He thought about how if he hadn't been expelled from the TCM hospital, he would already be completing his residency and studying clinical diagnosis and treatment under a mentorship. With his talent and theoretical foundation, he believed he could stand out among his peers in no time.

However, there were no "ifs" in this world.

No hospital would hire a young doctor who had been expelled, lacked practical skills, and had no influential connections. Even at Mingxin Hall, he had concealed his background and everyone there thought he was just a poor-performing university student.

For a TCM student to become a skilled doctor, they have to find the right mentor. Otherwise, no matter how well they had studied in school, they would be at a loss once they started practicing medicine. One's future development as a TCM doctor is largely determined by their choice of mentor.

The founder of the Wen Bing School, Ye Tianshi, hailed from a family of renowned physicians and had also studied under 17 different mentors in six years to learn medical skills. By the time he was thirty years old, he had become a world-renowned doctor.

If he ever had the opportunity to study under a mentor again, Xu Yang would definitely fight for it with all his might. But he was afraid he would not get the chance and no one would hire him anymore. Except for that Doctor Song... forget it!

Thinking of this, Xu Yang felt a sharp pain in his chest, which he knew was caused by his stagnant liver qi due to emotional distress.

...

"Hello, Uncle Pan..." The girl with a ponytail, Zhang Ke, answered a call and went out of the counter to talk.

She came back soon after, but she looked angry.

Song Qiang, playing ‘Fight the Landlord’, took a quick glance at her and asked, "What's wrong, Keke? Who's bothering you?"

Zhang Ke responded irritably, "It's the ‘Fight the Landlord’. The rent for the shop has gone up again. If it goes up any further, my family will go bankrupt!"

Xu Yang and Song Qiang both felt a sinking feeling. The business of Mingxin Hall was already very poor and had been losing money for many years. Now, with even higher rent, it is becoming more difficult to sustain. They often had only three to five patients per week ­while the ‘Fight the Landlord’, at this time, had raised the rent!

Zhang Ke glared at the two of them discontentedly, hands on hips. "I'm telling you two, go make money! If Mingxintang goes bankrupt, you'll be out of a job too!"

Pointing at Xu Yang, Zhang Ke said, "Especially you, Xu Yang. Are you taking bribes from pharmaceutical representatives or what?"

Xu Yang was immediately embarrassed.

Song Qiang covered his mouth and chuckled. Who would give them bribes?

Zhang Ke immediately turned her attention to Song Qiang. "And you, why are you laughing? You need to find more clients and improve your business. Your traffic flow for cupping therapy is not as good as that of regular massage parlors!"

Song Qiang argued, "Their services are different, you know?"

Zhang Ke said sarcastically, "Then dress up as a Playboy bunny and see if it helps!"

"I'll pass," Song Qiang said, shivering.

Xu Yang was also taken aback. If Big Song really exchanged his rough and tough appearance for a bunny suit, it would be quite a sight.

Zhang Ke stood with her hands on her hips and shouted, "If we don't earn more money soon, I'll have to lay off employees!"

Song Qiang and Xu Yang looked at each other with unpleasant expressions. They were doctors who relied on their skills to make a living. Neither of them knew how to cure the disease. If they were really laid off, they didn't know where to go.

Song Qiang frowned and thought for a moment. If anyone had to be laid off, it would be Xu Yang first as most of Mingxintang's income was based on his efforts. However, he was confident that he could survive with Mingxintang. Having decided this, Song Qiang relaxed and continued to play ‘Fight the Landlord’.

With a sigh, Xu Yang tidied up his scattered medical books on the table and then went to make dinner.

A moment later, Xu Yang came back to the table with a small bowl of noodles. It wasn't because he was trying to save money and eat less, but because he couldn't eat more.

He knew his condition - liver-galling and depressive suppression would lead to liver-qi stagnation. The liver governs drainage and is capable of regulating the body's overall energy, blood, and fluid. Liver depression will impede the body's drainage function.

The liver belongs to the Wood element, while the spleen belongs to the Earth element. Wood restrains Earth, so the liver's draining function can counteract the spleen's sluggishness. But now his liver qi was not comfortable, and his spleen had already become too sluggish to function properly. As a result, he could not digest and assimilate food, leading to bloating and diarrhea. He could barely eat a few bites of noodles before feeling full.

Xu Yang took a few bites of the noodles but suddenly felt a burp stuck in his stomach, making him very uncomfortable. He immediately lost his appetite.

Xu Yang knew in his heart that his liver was not properly processing and releasing, which was affecting his stomach's ability to properly distribute and descend, leading to disharmony between the liver and stomach, and the stomach losing its ability to descend.

Stomach qi is supposed to descend, but his stomach qi was flowing upwards, causing him to experience frequent belching and an inability to eat without feeling bloated.

His symptoms of hiccups, bloating, and poor digestion couldn't be diagnosed as stomach problems at the hospital because the root problem lay in his liver's stagnation.

As such, many people's spleen and stomach issues aren't necessarily due to issues with the organs themselves, but are caused by the liver's influence. In TCM, there's a saying that treating the spleen without treating the liver is futile!

"Ah..." Xu Yang sighed and put down his chopsticks. If he were to lose his job again, where could he go? Who would take him in as a fired doctor?

He recalled the apathetic and mocking gazes he received when he left the TCM hospital the other day, as if a needle had been jabbed into his heart, making it impossible for him to breathe.

Xu Yang smiled wryly and rubbed his belly.

He knew that if his liver stagnation continued to worsen, it could lead to liver fire transforming into wind, attacking and upsetting his stomach, resulting in not only belching, but also hiccups, dry retching, lower abdominal pain, and a slew of other troublesome issues.

He also had no idea what to make of the mess in his head!

Nevertheless, he didn't want to treat himself, he simply couldn't let go of himself.

Xu Yang put down his chopsticks and heard a "ding" in his mind.

"Hmm?" Xu Yang immediately became alert and then closed his eyes, seeing a display in his mind change: "System loading complete!"

Xu Yang's heart immediately tightened.

"Ding, system activated."

Xu Yang sees the screen change and several lines of big characters slowly appear.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance System.

Inheritor: Xu Yang

Age: 28

Medical skill level: Apprentice

Medical ethics evaluation: Excellent

Xu Yang was stunned. Traditional Chinese medicine inheritance system?

Then, he muttered to himself, "What is this? It doesn't look like Android? Is it a hallucination?"

"Da da da da..."

Several lines of text slowly appeared in front of Xu Yang's eyes.

"People all say that traditional Chinese medicine is useless, but who protected the health of our China for thousands of years? The essence of traditional Chinese medicine lies in its inheritance. We hope that the inheritor will conscientiously carry on the traditions of TCM and heal the sick to relieve their suffering, to continue the ancient legacy and learn from the past. It is time to use various platforms to promote traditional Chinese medicine, to let the world know what TCM truly is!"

"But, nowadays, TCM is full of fraud and deception, and there are countless people who do not understand it. Therefore, we hope that the inheritor will use various platforms to promote authentic traditional Chinese medicine, to tell the world what TCM truly is!"

"Take action to show the world whether traditional Chinese medicine can really cure diseases and how it works! I hope the inheritors can become influential Chinese medicine bloggers who can heal diseases and promote traditional Chinese medicine to restore the reputation of our Chinese medicine! "

Xu Yang was confused: "Wait, you want me to become a Chinese medicine influencer?"

He started to panic a little. He didn't know how to shout, "Hey guys, let's smash the like button!"

Xu Yang looked at his attribute panel and frowned, asking, "Why me?"

The system didn't answer but instead displayed a new line of text!

"Ding... Novice task: The inheritor needs to register an account on a social media platform to promote traditional Chinese medicine. The account should be meticulously managed and once the followers reach one thousand, the module for learning from famous Chinese medicine practitioners will be activated."

Xu Yang was puzzled and muttered to himself, "An account and one thousand followers?"

He took out his phone and felt lost. He didn't know how to create an account. Why can't he just be a legitimate Chinese medicine practitioner? Why does he need to attract followers?

After thinking for a while, Xu Yang finally decided to send a text message to Zhang Ke, who was currently managing the social media accounts for Mingxin Tang.

Zhang Ke was cooking in her kitchen when her phone beeped. She grabbed her phone while stirring her wok and glanced at the message.

"Hi Keke, how can I quickly attract one thousand followers for a social media account?"

Zhang Ke replied with just two words: "Buy votes!"

Then, she put her phone back in her pocket and continued cooking.

After reading the message, Xu Yang was stunned. Was it that simple?

He looked at his attribute panel and realized that the system didn't prohibit buying votes.

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Yang registered a Weibo account and found a*****e that sells voting services, buying a special package for more than two hundred yuan. After a few minutes, the number of his followers skyrocketed and reached one thousand.

Xu Yang still felt a bit uneasy...

"Ding." The system sounded again. "The inheritor's Weibo account has been identified as 'Xu Zhongyi'. The number of followers on the account is 1004. Task completed, reward will be distributed!"

Xu Yang was surprised. Was it really that easy? He felt like the system was not very intelligent.

"Ding... which school does the inheritor want to learn from first?"

Xu Yang immediately thought of the patient with menstrual pain he had treated earlier.

"Ding... Learn traditional Chinese gynecology. Inheritance begins!"

Xu Yang was amazed and looked up. "Is the system really that intelligent?"

"Activating the module for learning from famous Chinese medicine practitioners. Time: 1978. Location: Xiyuan Hospital. Deadline: one year. Time travel initiated..."