Chapter Eight: The Cure Arrives with the Needle

Li Zhao carried his laptop with him and drafted the agreement within minutes, then went to the nearby copy shop to print it out for Zhou Jinfan to sign. Once the signature was done, the elderly lady’s son and daughter-in-law, still locked in their dispute, remembered Zhou Jinfan. The middle-aged man rushed over and said, “I’ll take this kid along and accompany my mother to the hospital! Once the doctor’s results are out, let’s see how he tries to deny it!”

Zhou Jinfan was startled, scrambling to hide behind Xie Qingtang. Xie Qingtang rose slowly and gracefully, raised a hand to block, cleared her throat, and spoke in a serious tone, “Brother, don’t be anxious. Your mother’s illness has nothing to do with the medicine she bought from this traditional clinic.”

She cast a glance at the middle-aged woman as she finished speaking.

“What!” The crowd was in an uproar. The middle-aged woman burst from the crowd and began to curse at Xie Qingtang, “Where did this little wretch come from, daring to blatantly lie here! My mother-in-law couldn’t open her mouth after taking his tonic pills yesterday, and she hasn’t eaten since last night. If it’s not his fault, whose is it? I think you’re covering for him—see if I don’t tear your mouth apart!”

She lunged at Xie Qingtang, but Gu Xiujin frowned and quietly ordered his bodyguards, “Protect Miss Xie!”

The bodyguards responded, but before they could act, Xie Qingtang had already raised her hand and pinched the woman’s attacking wrist. It seemed effortless, yet the middle-aged woman suddenly let out a shriek and collapsed, her whole body limp.

Xie Qingtang released her grip, calmly dusted her hands, watched as the woman slid to the ground, her eyes laced with irony and a mocking laugh, then turned to the middle-aged man, “I practice traditional medicine, and I can treat your mother’s illness.”

The man’s face brightened immediately, “Really?” Excited, he tried to pull Xie Qingtang toward the stretcher, but she deftly avoided him. His hand hovered awkwardly in the air before he withdrew it and pleaded, “Doctor, please, take a look at my mother!”

The intern female doctor, who had been caring for the elderly lady beside the stretcher, stood up with a face full of disapproval.

“What’s wrong with you? If someone’s ill, they should go to the hospital. How can you blindly trust a stranger’s word? Our teachers always say traditional medicine is a scam. Isn’t it enough that your mother suffered once?”

Xie Qingtang sighed. “Mr. Gu, is your Gu Group hospital collectively biased against traditional medicine?”

The doctor who examined her grandfather earlier had been the same, and now this intern girl was no different.

Gu Xiujin, once saved by traditional medicine himself, touched his nose sheepishly, feeling a sudden guilt. “I oversee the entire Gu Group. The hospital is managed by my second uncle, so I haven’t paid much attention…”

The intern glanced in the direction Xie Qingtang was looking and spotted Gu Xiujin. Her eyes lit up, and her smile grew sweeter. “President Gu!”

Gu Xiujin cleared his throat and said, “Miss, Miss Xie is an authentic practitioner of traditional medicine. I can vouch for her. You needn’t worry—let her examine the patient first.”

The intern’s smile froze, and as she looked at Xie Qingtang, her eyes were tinged with inexplicable hostility. Not only did she refuse to step aside, she moved forward, blocking the elderly lady entirely with her body and said loudly, “President Gu, even if you ask personally, I can’t agree! As a doctor, I must be responsible for my patient! This patient is suffering from food poisoning—she needs urgent gastric lavage and IV fluids, not the delaying tactics of traditional medicine!”

Standing nearby, Xie Qingtang raised an eyebrow: Tsk, even though her fiancé was frail and chronically ill, that certainly hadn’t affected his popularity with women.

Amused inwardly, she spoke with calm assurance, “Beautiful lady, I guarantee this elderly woman is not suffering from food poisoning. If you leave her to me, I’ll cure her in less than ten minutes. But if you follow your Western medical procedures, the outcome is uncertain.”

The intern clearly wasn’t convinced and was about to retort, but Xie Qingtang interjected, “Let’s set aside other issues—you said you wanted to perform gastric lavage, but since the lady can’t even open her mouth, how do you plan to administer the solution?”

The intern was stumped, left speechless.

The crowd realized the dilemma: indeed, gastric lavage requires special fluids to be introduced into the stomach, but if the patient can’t open her mouth, how can it be done? Even if a nasal feeding tube were forced in, how would they induce vomiting?

The middle-aged man grew anxious and quickly grabbed Xie Qingtang’s arm, begging, “Doctor, please, help my mother!”

The intern, frustrated and angry, stepped in front of the man and glared fiercely at Xie Qingtang, “No! I can’t let you gamble with the patient’s health! If something goes wrong, can you take responsibility?”

Though it sounded like a rash outburst, it was really a challenge—forcing Xie Qingtang to make a promise that if she failed to cure the old lady, she’d pay the price.

Xie Qingtang’s eyes gleamed. This fiery little beauty was far more shrewd than her appearance suggested.

But she wasn’t intimidated.

Xie Qingtang smiled lightly, brushed the intern aside, and walked toward the elderly lady, saying, “Let me say this: if I can’t restore her to normal in ten minutes, I’ll cover all her subsequent medical expenses. How about that?”

Her words brought jubilant smiles to the son and daughter-in-law’s faces. If the girl cured the old woman, that was excellent; if not, the medical expenses were covered. To them, it was like manna from heaven.

The intern scrutinized Xie Qingtang, scoffed, and said disdainfully, “Anyone can make bold claims! Judging by your outfit, you probably don’t have much money—what will you guarantee this with?”

Xie Qingtang, growing impatient, was about to retort when a warm, strong hand landed on her arm, and a clear, elegant voice sounded, “I’ll guarantee it for her. Is that satisfactory now?”

The intern was instantly silenced, staring at Gu Xiujin in disbelief, but his warning gaze intimidated her so much that she swallowed all her words and retreated sullenly.

Finally unobstructed, Xie Qingtang approached the elderly lady, knelt to examine her, took out her acupuncture kit, and began inserting needles at Fengchi, Dicang, Jiache, Hegu, and other points.

The old woman immediately felt a tingling sensation spreading across her face. Tears and mucus flowed uncontrollably, but she couldn’t make a sound or move recklessly, forcing herself to endure.

Xie Qingtang placed the final needle at Hegu and commanded in a low voice, “Open your mouth!”

Shocked, the elderly lady involuntarily cried out, “Ah!” Only after she finished did she realize that her jaws, which had been locked tight, suddenly opened!

The crowd gasped in amazement. The intern stared at this scene in disbelief, eyes wide in astonishment, muttering, “How… how is this possible?”

The old woman, whose teeth had been clenched so tightly she couldn’t open her mouth, now felt as if she’d broken through a barrier. She tried opening her mouth wider, her jaw clicking softly, and then, after a few more attempts, she could do it completely normally.

The speed of the treatment was astonishing—less than ten minutes had passed!