317: Chapter 317: The Needle Match 317: Chapter 317: The Needle Match When Tangyu and Liu Shiyi walked out of the laboratory, they found the entrance of the traditional Chinese medicine lab teeming with people; by rough estimates, there were at least two to three hundred present.
Their gaze quickly landed on Rao Yuanzhen, who stood at the entrance with a table in front of him, on which lay a silver case—Rao Yuanzhen’s toolbox—with two girls tending to it nearby.
Seeing this setup, Tangyu and Liu Shiyi immediately understood that after Tangyu had declined Rao Yuanzhen’s challenge, Rao had gone ahead and set up an arena here, just waiting for Tangyu to come out.
This guy, if psychological provocation didn’t work, he just resorted to force.
Tangyu somewhat looked down upon Rao Yuanzhen’s tactics.
The crowd was buzzing with excitement and chatter.
“Does anyone know what’s going on?
Why is Rao Yuanzhen setting up a table to practice medicine here?
Is he trying to show off in front of the beautiful Liu Shiyi?”
“Who’s that guy next to Liu Shiyi?”
“I don’t know, I’m just passing by.”
Liu Shiyi’s brows slightly furrowed, “Rao Yuanzhen, what is the meaning of this?”
Rao Yuanzhen smiled with a provocative gaze towards Tangyu and said, “No particular meaning, I’ve said that I wanted to experience your friend’s superb acupuncture skills.
Since he didn’t grace me with that honor, I took the liberty of laying down the gauntlet.
Whether or not your friend chooses to accept, the arena has been set.
If he doesn’t take action, then I will act alone.
I want to make it clear to him that I, Rao Yuanzhen, am not undeservedly famous.
I want him to understand that no one can insult my medical skills.”
Is this not the equivalent of strong-arming someone?
Such behavior also somewhat angered Liu Shiyi.
“So, you still refuse to compete with me?” Rao Yuanzhen looked at Tangyu.
Tangyu calmly responded, “I’ve already made myself very clear earlier; the words I say won’t change.
You’re not worth my effort, and my medical skills are not so cheap.
You can play if you like, but—leave me out of it.”
“Hmph, is that so?
Then please, stand by and watch,” sneered Rao Zhizhen.
The onlooking crowd erupted into a hubbub, laughing and mocking.
“So, it’s a case of foes meeting, eh?
Rao Yuanzhen is engaging in battle personally, and that guy is obviously just posturing.
If he’s useless, then he’s useless; no need for all that haughty talk, such a shameless act.”
“Exactly, Rao Yuanzhen is our Donglin University Traditional Chinese Medicine College’s number one in acupuncture, even the teachers aren’t his match.
To have someone so overconfident as to make such grandiose statements, aren’t they afraid of biting their tongue?
I really don’t know where his confidence comes from.”
“Ignorance is bliss, eh?
Just wait and enjoy the show.”
Rao Yuanzhen actually felt quite flattered by the discussions from the crowd; where at Donglin University wasn’t he supported?
This was his home turf; how could he let an outsider take advantage of him here?
“Fellow students, I, Rao Yuanzhen, am not skilled, but today I will be offering free medical consultations right here.
To those who are unwell, feel free to come up, and my needles will cure your ailments.
However, please form a line and maintain some order,” Rao Yuanzhen said with a smile, instantly drawing plenty of infatuated screams.
I must say that Rao Yuanzhen’s influence is quite significant.
The moment his words ended, a large number of people squeezed over to this spot, but they still queued up orderly.
“Here’s the thing, my energy is limited after all.
If everyone has only a minor ailment, like a cold or something, then please don’t line up for now.
It would be best if those with more serious illnesses came forward,” Rao Yuanzhen said.
With this, the queue immediately shortened considerably, and Rao Yuanzhen also smiled and gestured.
“Tangyu, let’s go,” Liu Shiyi said.
Tangyu smiled and responded, “Since someone wants us to watch his performance, let’s just watch.
Besides, even if we want to leave, I’m afraid those people won’t let us go easily.”
Liu Shiyi looked at the crowd that had packed the place to the point where not a drop could spill through and could only give up.
Rao Yuanzhen started his diagnosis without any hesitation.
“You have excessive liver fire, and your condition of being ‘on fire’ is quite severe.” Rao Yuanzhen rigorously examined the first patient’s condition in no more than three seconds, showing that his basic skills in the four diagnostic methods of Chinese medicine were very solid.
Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes inspection, auscultation and olfaction, inquiry, and palpation.
These are the basic skills; the proficiency of one’s basic skills can directly determine the quality of their medical ability.
From these skills, it was clear that Rao Yuanzhen indeed had some level of expertise.
Of course, Tangyu wasn’t impressed.
It took him three seconds, but he only needed a glance to know—no second was necessary.
Rao Yuanzhen took out his specially made silver needles and swiftly inserted a few into the patient’s body.
The entire process took about half a minute to complete.
The patient felt his body and immediately thanked and lavished praise on Rao Yuanzhen.
“Your leg joint has sustained an injury, and there’s a hidden problem which often causes pain.”
“Your hand must have been injured when you were younger, crushing a nerve.
However, it can still be saved, though it’s slightly more complicated.”
Rao Yuanzhen took a good fifteen minutes with this patient.
“Oh my, my hand can now move freely.
It’s completely recovered; this is miraculous.”
As patient after patient was quickly healed by Rao Yuanzhen, the scene became even more lively.
The crowd of onlookers grew from two or three hundred to five or six hundred, completely blocking the Traditional Chinese Medicine College’s experimental building.
Bursts of exclamations and praises were everywhere, practically elevating Rao Yuanzhen to the status of a Divine Doctor, allowing many to truly witness the renowned Rao Yuanzhen’s impressive skills and further enhancing their admiration for him.
Tangyu stood by indifferently while Liu Shiyi felt a certain degree of admiration.
When it came to the art of acupuncture, she humbly acknowledged that she was far inferior to Rao Yuanzhen.
“Excuse me, please make way,” a sonorous voice called out, and the crowd parted to see a young man pushing a middle-aged man towards them.
The middle-aged man, who seemed to be around forty-five or six, had sallow and emaciated features with a lifeless look in his eyes—clearly in very poor health.
Moreover, he was sitting in a wheelchair, likely paralyzed in both legs.
The young man pushed the middle-aged man right up to Rao Yuanzhen, pleading, “Doctor Rao, could you please take a look at my father?”
All eyes turned simultaneously toward them, curious to see if Rao Yuanzhen would accept this patient.
Under normal circumstances, Rao Yuanzhen wouldn’t easily offer his help, but today he wanted to prove himself, naturally hoping for the more challenging the case, the better; only then could his medical skills be highlighted.
“Let me take a look first,” Rao Yuanzhen squatted down, lifted the middle-aged man’s trouser leg and found his calf had almost completely atrophied, as dry and withered as kindling, which was quite shocking to see.
“Uncle, how did you injure your leg?” Rao Yuanzhen inquired.
The middle-aged man, who had up until then been expressionless, trembled slightly before saying, “Over three years ago, I was in a car accident, and it turned out like this.”
“Three years is not too long; it hasn’t been that long,” Rao Yuanzhen said.
The man immediately asked excitedly, “Doctor Rao, does this mean there’s hope for my dad?”
The middle-aged man shook his head and said, “Silly child, my leg is crippled like this, there’s no salvation for it.”
The crowd burst into discussion once again.
“Crippled for over three years, with the calf atrophied, if there’s a cure for that, it would surely be a miracle.”
“Yeah, we study medicine too, unless you amputate and attach a new limb, there’s no way it can be cured.”
“That’s not necessarily true, if Rao Yuanzhen dares to say so, it means he has some confidence.
He is the Divine Doctor after all, maybe he can create a miracle.”
“Exactly, let’s wait and see what Rao Yuanzhen does, it’s too early to say it’s impossible.”
Liu Shiyi’s Liu Mei brows furrowed slightly as she looked at Tangyu and asked, “Is there really a cure for this?”
“Yes, it’s only been three years, and it’s not a compound fracture.
I see that his knee and bones are still intact, it should just be nerve compression, there’s definitely hope,” Tangyu said softly.
Rao Yuanzhen turned his head and glanced at Tangyu as if to convey something, but Tangyu remained calm and unruffled, standing firmly, unaffected by the southeast and northwest winds.
Rao Yuanzhen took an acupuncture needle and with a speed barely discernible to the naked eye, he pierced an acupoint on the middle-aged man’s calf.
As Rao Yuanzhen began the acupuncture, the originally noisy scene suddenly quieted down, with all eyes fixed on him.
“Uncle, do you feel anything?” Rao Yuanzhen asked.
The middle-aged man shook his head.
Rao Yuanzhen inserted another needle, “How about now?”
The middle-aged man shook his head again.
Rao Yuanzhen frowned slightly, but the look quickly disappeared, and he pierced another needle, “And now?”
The middle-aged man’s face suddenly showed an excited expression, “Yes, there’s a feeling of pain, I feel pain.”
Rao Yuanzhen finally let out a sigh of relief and a smile appeared on his face, “Feeling pain is good, it proves that your calf isn’t completely necrotic, just blocked meridians and slightly damaged nerves.”
“Doctor Rao, does that mean my dad can actually stand up again?” The young man asked, overwhelmed with excitement.
Rao Yuanzhen nodded, “Yes.”
“That’s great, that’s just great, Doctor Rao, please, I beg you to save my father, I will be eternally grateful for your life-saving grace,” the young man said gratefully, almost kneeling to Rao Yuanzhen.
Rao Yuanzhen said, “Don’t worry, if I take on a patient, I will do my utmost to heal them.”
The young man gratefully stepped back, while the middle-aged man’s face was also filled with irrepressible excitement.
Rao Yuanzhen remained composed, his hands skillfully working with the needles; after a moment of concentration, he swiftly performed acupuncture.
His movements were very fast, with precision and force reaching an extraordinary level, demonstrating his precise control over the acupoints.
Such a level of expertise dazzled Liu Shiyi as well—her own grandfather couldn’t perform acupuncture as quickly as that.
Rao Yuanzhen’s pride was backed by his capabilities.
The entire process lasted for well over half an hour before Rao Yuanzhen put away the needles, by then his forehead covered in sweat.
The two assistants by his side had already offered him tissues.
“Uncle, try to feel it,” Rao Yuanzhen said.
Everyone held their breath, focusing intently on the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man wore a smile on his face as he strained to control his legs, which he hadn’t felt in over three years, and sure enough, he soon regained sensation.
He slowly lifted his legs.
Witnessing this, the man was so moved that tears fell from his eyes, “I—I can really move my legs, I can control them, I—”
“Dad, you can really move your feet, that’s wonderful, just wonderful,” the son was utterly thrilled as well.
“Boom—
The entire place once again erupted into astonishment.