Before Shu Jin Yue could formulate a response in her mind, commotion erupted at the front gate.
"This is Comrade Shu Jin Yue's home."
"They live in Unit 6, yes, the east wing room over here."
"Old Shu, is your Jin Yue home?" Director Liu from the neighborhood office grinned widely, taking the initiative to speak with Shu Li Nong. "Your Jin Yue was truly hard to track down. We had to go through multiple levels of inquiry, and yesterday we finally traced her to where she's doing rural work before getting her name and home address."
If asked who Director Liu was, Shu Jin Yue wouldn't know, but if mentioning his son Liu Dong—the man who nearly became her brother-in-law—how could she not recognize him?
It was worth noting that since Liu Dong and Shu Wen Yun broke up, the Liu and Shu families had become estranged. Normally, they wouldn't even look each other in the eye when meeting. Yet today, Director Liu was unexpectedly enthusiastic and proactive—anyone unaware might mistake them for in-laws.
"Old Shu, you've been hiding your light under a bushel! Your Jin Yue has made quite an impression!"
Shu Li Nong's face turned pale, not comprehending the situation. He wanted to ask: Aren't you here… here to arrest Jin Yue?
Zhao Wan Qiu hid her daughter behind her back. "What? What impression? Are you talking about Jin Yue?"
"Exactly! If not for Deputy Director Yang from the city saying he needed to find your Jin Yue, we living on the same street would still be kept in the dark." With that, Director Liu finally introduced the slicked-back leader who stood at the center of attention.
Yang Zhengkang nodded politely at the Shu family and briefly introduced himself. "Young Comrade Shu may not know me, but you might remember my mother. When she brought my aunt to the provincial capital for medical treatment, you shared the same train carriage."
Hearing "two elderly ladies" and "medical treatment," Jin Yue immediately recalled—it must have been the elderly woman who gave her steamed buns on the train.
"That's right. My mother mentioned you advised her to seek medical attention, correct?"
Seeing Jin Yue nod, he continued, "Might I ask what basis you had for suggesting my mother seek medical treatment?"
After all, in this era, certain symptoms during menopause weren't considered illnesses at all—one just had to endure them for a couple of years.
As the saying went, everyone went through it.
Simply because his mother's complexion appeared more flushed than average, she connected it to developing a strange illness. This sounded like nonsense whether from a Western or Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective.
Yet, improbably, it actually happened—
"To be frank with you, my mother has indeed developed a peculiar illness these days."
While searching for Shu Jin Yue, he had been consulting renowned doctors everywhere and actively arranging for Mother Yang's hospital transfer. She had now been moved to the Provincial Hospital, but her sneezing condition showed no improvement. Instead, it intensified to the point where she experienced breathing difficulties requiring oxygen support. The hospital had even issued a critical condition notice.
"When I observed the elderly lady's complexion, it didn't seem like normal rosiness. Rather, it resembled what Traditional Chinese Medicine calls 'malar flushing like makeup'—a manifestation of yin deficiency with internal heat. Considering the physiological stage corresponding to her age, even without checking her pulse, it was almost certainly liver and kidney yin deficiency."
Yang Zhengkang nodded. Among the Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners he consulted, seven out of ten gave the same explanation, confirming this as the consensus—it should be correct.
But what did this have to do with sneezing?
Among the Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners he consulted, the remaining three did not diagnose liver and kidney yin deficiency but rather yang deficiency. This was because they believed yang qi protects the exterior, and yang deficiency would cause sneezing—a principle straight from the textbooks, something any student of Traditional Chinese Medicine should know.
Now, here was the problem: among these practitioners of the same tradition, some said yang deficiency, others said yin deficiency, and these were completely opposite diagnoses. Whom should he believe? Once he accepted one side, the treatment would be entirely contradictory.
Jin Yue noticed the shifting expressions on his face but didn’t continue with the theory. Instead, she asked, “Old Mrs. Yang’s strange illness has actually been going on for some time, hasn’t it?”
“Yes, at first my mother thought it was just a chill and didn’t pay it much mind. It wasn’t until later, when the sneezing wouldn’t stop, that she assumed it was a cold and took a lot of cold medicine.”
“If it’s not a cold, then cold medicine naturally won’t work,” Jin Yue said calmly. She had noticed something off about Mrs. Yang that night, but the other woman hadn’t given her a chance to discuss it in detail. Moreover, Mrs. Yang had gotten off the bus early that night, so Jin Yue hadn’t witnessed the onset of her symptoms. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have waited until now to address it.
“The old lady’s sneezing probably starts in the early morning and stops on its own after the sun rises, right?”
Yang Zhengkang was taken aback. He hadn’t mentioned this, yet she already knew?
“Because the latter half of the night is the yang within yin, and when the sun rises, it’s precisely the time when yang ascends. The intersection of yin and yang is when the struggle between the body’s vital energy and pathogenic factors is most intense.”
The people around them listened in a daze. Director Liu instinctively wanted to say that this sounded like feudal superstition—just a couple of years ago, such talk would have been grounds for criticism. But seeing that Deputy Director Yang hadn’t said anything and seemed to be listening with great interest, he held back.
After all, Deputy Director Yang was precisely the one in charge of such ideological struggles.
Shu Jin Yue wasn’t being “careless”; she was testing Yang Zhengkang.
Whether Yang Zhengkang didn’t notice her probing or was too preoccupied with his mother’s condition, he pressed on, “Western medicine has done a full-body examination and ruled out infectious and allergic diseases. There are no localized issues in the lungs or nasopharynx, so why is my mother’s condition getting worse with treatment? Last night, she was even issued a critical condition notice?”
Whoa!
A critical condition notice!
The onlookers were startled. At first, they had treated it as a story—just sneezing, how could sneezing land someone in critical condition?
Jin Yue was also surprised that the old lady’s condition had progressed so rapidly. But she showed no expression on her face. “Is it because the old lady is experiencing difficulty breathing, chest tightness, and needs oxygen?”
Yang Zhengkang nodded.
“Liver and kidney yin deficiency originally has nothing to do with sneezing. Most people know that respiratory issues should be considered in relation to the lungs. Traditional Chinese Medicine also says that the lungs open into the nose, so sneezing is indeed a manifestation of lung qi deficiency. But there’s another concept in Traditional Chinese Medicine called ‘the child robbing the mother’s qi.’”
The kidneys are the child of the lungs. If the child is deficient, the mother must work harder to nourish it. Ultimately, the pathology is no longer limited to kidney deficiency but affects lung qi as well.
Yang Zhengkang felt dizzy trying to follow all this talk of “child” and “mother.” He had a sense that she not only accurately described his mother’s symptoms but also effortlessly explained such profound and obscure theoretical knowledge. She must have some real expertise.
He quickly asked, “So, Comrade Shu, are you saying that my mother’s strange sneezing illness was caused by neglecting her menopausal symptoms?”
Jin Yue nodded. For a layperson, that was one way to understand it.
Yang Zhengkang nodded again. “No wonder, no wonder.”
"I remember among the Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners we invited, some boldly attempted treatment, suggesting it might be lung qi deficiency. They used many lung-tonifying herbs, yet the sneezing persisted. Turns out they hadn't identified the true affected area."
Jin Yue sighed inwardly. Liver-kidney yin deficiency and lung qi deficiency – either one alone was commonly recognized. But few understood the concept of "the child organ robbing the mother organ's qi." Seeing lung deficiency, they blindly focused on tonifying the lungs without investigating the root cause of the deficiency. Wasn't this just force-feeding treatment? No wonder it was ineffective.
Sneezing itself shouldn't be considered a difficult condition. But those experienced Old TCM practitioners trained in classical methods had all been sent to labor camps by people like Director Yang. With no successors left, only young TCM practitioners with weak classical foundations remained, some even being Western medicine practitioners who switched to TCM mid-career.
Their approach was mechanical: treat headaches by focusing on the head, treat foot pain by focusing on the feet, see deficiency and blindly tonify.
"The elderly lady's condition isn't actually complicated. She just needs to take some Liuwei Dihuang Pills and…"
Before Jin Yue could finish, Director Liu snorted with laughter. "Jin Yue, you silly child, what nonsense are you talking? Who would give such medicine to an elderly woman?"
Jin Yue found him ridiculous. Why did mentioning Liuwei Dihuang Pills immediately make people associate it with impotence and premature ejaculation? Such misconceptions about traditional Chinese medicine were precisely spread by people like him.
Yang Zhengkang, however, having heard her explanation, realized he had underestimated her earlier. He glared at Director Liu. "Comrade Shu, please continue. I'll prepare the medicine immediately."
Jin Yue recommended two lung-tonifying prepared medicines to be taken with Liuwei Dihuang Pills, noting they'd be convenient for long-term use.
Still, Yang Zhengkang hesitated, feeling uncertain. "I'll purchase the medicines, but I have an additional request. Could Comrade Shu come examine my mother's pulse?"
Shu Jin Yue naturally wouldn't refuse, though she needed to clarify beforehand that she was currently just a rural barefoot doctor without proper credentials to practice in the city.
"Don't worry, Comrade Shu. I understand your situation. Your three years contributing to rural grassroots healthcare are truly admirable. Today's pulse examination is my personal request, and I'll take full responsibility for any outcomes."
When investigating her sent-down youth location, he had already gathered information about Shu Jin Yue's activities over the past three years. He knew about her actual medical practice, otherwise he wouldn't bring just anyone to his mother.
"Once she's cured, I'll arrange for the Health Bureau to issue you a certificate. Special circumstances call for special measures."
Jin Yue's heart leaped – this was it!
This public commitment was exactly what she needed. With this assurance, she could practice medicine without future concerns.
Teacher Shu and Zhao Wan Qiu, feeling uneasy, accompanied Jin Yue to the hospital.
Sitting in the sleek black car, viewing their former neighbors from this elevated perspective, the elderly couple felt complex emotions. "Jin Yue, since they've come for you, you have to go. But just make an excuse saying you can't treat it. Let's not get involved in this mess, alright?"
"Yes, listen to your mother. We can't afford to provoke trouble."
Not wanting to worry them, Jin Yue nodded along. Actually, she wasn't really afraid. Old Lady Yang's condition wasn't particularly difficult – the reason it remained uncured was simply because she hadn't encountered a competent TCM practitioner.
What she was considering now was whether to seize this opportunity to advance further and secure a path forward for herself.
Yang Zhengkang was undoubtedly the most influential figure their family could currently reach. In his presence, even Liu Dong's father—who normally wouldn't give them a second glance—would eagerly try to curry favor. Even the normally reclusive director of the neighborhood committee had surprisingly offered Teacher Shu a cigarette.
She boldly wondered: if she could cure Old Mrs. Yang's illness, could she seize the opportunity to mention her employment situation to Yang Zhengkang? Her requirements weren't high—she'd even be willing to work at the pesticide factory, just to secure a foothold first before gradually finding a way to transfer into the medical field.
As these thoughts crossed her mind, the group arrived at the Provincial Hospital. Zhao Wan Qiu, being an experienced senior nurse, remained unfazed when faced with all the white-coated doctors—department heads and hospital directors alike. Teacher Shu, however, was so nervous he kept swallowing hard, forcing himself to stand protectively in front of Jin Yue.
"Young lady, you've come," Old Mrs. Yang greeted from her propped-up position against the headboard, forcing a faint smile.
The moment Jin Yue saw her, she finally understood why other Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners had been uncertain about her condition. The old woman's face was terrifyingly pale, the flushed redness on her cheekbones completely vanished. Someone less observant might mistake it for a case of yang deficiency.
But if misdiagnosed as yang deficiency and treated with fire-tonifying and yang-assisting medications, it would be like throwing a match into a powder keg.
Without commenting, Jin Yue exchanged a few brief words before sitting beside the bed. Taking the old woman's left hand, she concentrated on reading the pulse.
Overall, the pulse condition basically matched the symptoms Yang Zhengkang had described—her diagnosis had been correct. But pill formulations worked slowly, and seeing how severely ill the old woman had become, Jin Yue couldn't wait. She directly prescribed a combined formula of Six-Ingredient Rehmannia Decoction and Lung-Tonifying Decoction, modifying a few ingredients according to the symptoms, then urged the Yang family to quickly prepare the medicine for her to take.
Only after stepping out of the Provincial Hospital's main gate did Zhao Wan Qiu dare to breathe deeply. "That was terrifying, those people aren't—"
"Watch your words," Teacher Shu interrupted, his tense expression finally relaxing. "How confident are you, Jin Yue?"
"One hundred percent."
"So certain?"
Jin Yue fabricated a story about encountering an identical case in the countryside—anyway, the elderly couple wouldn't know better and were easy to convince.
Back at Liu Ye Hutong, the entire No. 16 compound was abuzz with discussions about the important official who had visited the Shu Family, and how Shu Jin Yue had been invited to the Provincial Hospital to treat someone.
"When Teacher Shu said Jin Yue could practice medicine, I thought he was boasting."
"Exactly! That little good-for-nothing Jin Yue—if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it either."
"And today she wasn't treating some common cold, but a strange illness even top experts couldn't cure!"
"Come to think of it, it was her idea yesterday that saved Auntie Li from pesticide poisoning. Maybe she really does know her stuff."
"Nonsense! That was only because Auntie Li drank soapy water. If it had been real pesticide, I doubt she could've done anything."
"Traditional Chinese Medicine requires family heritage. Neither the Shu nor Zhao families have had any medical practitioners for three generations back. At most, she picked up a few tricks in the countryside and is showing off now. How can you take it seriously?"
"…"
Amid the lively discussions, the family of three reached their doorway. The crowd immediately fell silent. Aunt Zhao hurriedly asked about the important official's mother—how was she, was it serious? Other onlookers asked Jin Yue to examine them: one complained of headaches, another of diarrhea, all wanting her to diagnose their ailments and prescribe medications.
In short, most were just curious spectators, with few true believers.
But it didn't matter. Jin Yue knew that within three days at most, there would definitely be news from Old Mrs. Yang's side…