Chapter 84 Another Mentor

Ms. He stops Evan before he can leave. Her questions reach beyond her father's treatment.

“Yes? What did you need?” Evan asked Ms. He.

Now that she had actually stopped him, she didn't know what to say. “Do you have some time? Would you like to have a cup of coffee?”

“I don't drink coffee.”

“Tea would be fine.”

“I mean I don't have time.”

Ms. He was taken aback. No man had ever been so uninterested in an invitation from a beautiful woman like her. A little helplessly, she said, “All right. Actually, there are some things I don't understand. I was hoping you could explain them.”

“Ask me here. I still have to get back to work.”

She was taken aback. “You don't work here?”

Evan shook his head. “No.”

“Then which hospital do you work at?”

“I don't work at a hospital. I'm at Mingxin Clinic, on the ground floor at Sunshine Residential Community.”

She stared. “You… you're Dr. Evan Xu from Mingxin Clinic?”

Evan gave a slight nod. “You've heard of me?”

Had she ever. That very morning, she had killed the article about him and given Lily, who had written it, a furious dressing-down. Yet only a few hours later, this same Dr. Xu had cured her father.

Ms. He stood there, unable to think of a thing to say.

Evan was puzzled. Why had she suddenly gone quiet? He waited, but she still said nothing. At last he asked, “Was there something else? If not, I'm leaving.”

“Wait.” She stopped him again. “I… wanted to ask how you found out he had appendicitis.”

“Weren't you watching the whole time?” Evan asked, puzzled.

She pressed her lips together. “Can Chinese medicine really treat an acute abdomen?”

Evan was amused. “If it couldn't, what about all the people who had appendicitis, pancreatitis, or cholecystitis over the past few thousand years? Wouldn't they all have died in agony? Who would have saved them?”^[1]

Again, Ms. He had no answer. He had, after all, cured her father with Chinese medicine right before her eyes.

When she fell silent again, Evan said, “That's everything, then? I'm going.”

“Wait!” Once again, she stopped him.

“What is it now?” He was growing impatient.

She didn't know what to say this time either.

Speechless, Evan shook his head and turned to leave.

“My dad is obsessed with Chinese medicine,” she said suddenly. “Completely obsessed.”

Evan turned back to her.

Frowning deeply, she said, “My mother… she died when I was very young. She had an acute abdomen too—acute appendicitis. But he refused to take her to the hospital for surgery.

“He insisted on bringing in those Chinese medicine friends of his. They treated her for three or four days. It didn't help at all. By the time she got to the hospital, it was already very serious.

“They operated on her immediately. But they said it had been left too long, and even with the operation, the prognosis was poor. Her health was never good after that.

“I always thought it was his fault. He kept saying the hospital had botched the surgery. She was always getting sick afterward. Eventually, she died.”

Ms. He shook her head. “I can't forgive him. I've never believed in Chinese medicine. I can't stand it. But after that, he became even more obsessed. All these years, Chinese medicine has been all he talks about. It's like he's possessed. Those so-called Chinese medicine friends of his even swindled him out of the little money he had!”

She looked up at Evan, her question earnest. “So whose fault was it? Dr. Xu, can Chinese medicine really treat emergencies like that? Can it really do it without hurting people?”

Evan sighed softly. “I don't quite know what to say. Without seeing the case records, I can't analyze what happened. I don't know who was responsible.

“But treating critical and life-threatening illness has always been a traditional strength of Chinese medicine. Those great physicians people have celebrated throughout history—do you think all they could do was build up your health? That they were all slow-working doctors whose medicine took months to make any difference?

“They snatched people back from death when their lives hung by a thread. They could turn things around and save a life in an instant. Otherwise, why would people remember them for centuries?”

Ms. He had nothing to say.

Evan sighed again, looking desolate. “These days, though, hardly any Chinese medicine doctors can treat illness at all, let alone critical illness. And no one dares to try anymore. Anyone who does must be either mad or a fool.”

The NovelPhoenix site is the author's publishing place for this chapter; this reproduction was made without permission.

He shook his head and turned to go.

“Then which are you, Dr. Xu?” she called after him. “Mad or a fool?”

Evan stopped without turning around. He raised his head a little. Once more, he saw that old man lying on the ground, close to death, beckoning weakly to him.

He gave a self-mocking smile. “They all say I'm… a fool.”

Then he left.

Ms. He watched him walk away for a long time.

Slowly, she made her way back to the ward in the Chinese medicine hospital. After taking the medicine, the stubborn old man was much more comfortable. He was no longer groaning with pain as he had been.

She stood by his bed.

The old man turned his head aside, refusing to look at her.

They had treated each other with this same coldness for years.

Usually, she would have left by now. This time she stayed beside his bed for a long while.

She had no idea how much time had passed when she heard him sniff.

She frowned. “What are you crying for?” she asked coldly. “Chinese medicine cured your appendicitis. You should be happy. It took you decades, but you've finally proved you were right.”

The old man could no longer hold back his sobs. He buried his whole face in the pillow. “Actually… I've known for a long time that I was wrong. I just couldn't bring myself to admit it.

“I only… I only wanted your mother to get better. I didn't want anything to happen to her. I didn't want them to operate. Back then, everyone said surgery was dangerous, that it would badly deplete your original qi…^[2]

“Your mother had been frail since she was a child. After you were born, her health got even worse. She was always getting sick anyway. I was so afraid something would happen to her… I never wanted this… I never wanted this…”

Ms. He suddenly felt a terrible ache inside. She couldn't stay in the room any longer. She turned and left. Outside, she let out several trembling breaths.

It was the first time she had ever seen that stubborn old man cry.

Back at the company, Ms. He sat in her office staring into space. She had always been fiercely driven at work. She never let herself slack off. This time, though, she sat lost in thought for a long time.

A knock at the door broke into her thoughts near the end of the workday.

“Come in.”

It was Lily.

Lily entered cautiously and handed over a manuscript. “Ms. He, I've rewritten the article. Would you take a look?”

Ms. He didn't look at the manuscript on her desk. “Where's the one you wrote this morning?”

“What?” Lily stared.

With unusual calm, Ms. He said, “Send it to me again. I deleted it.”

Still bewildered, Lily asked, “What do you want it for?”

Ms. He looked out the window. Her voice was heavy. “I want to revise it. Suddenly, I have a great deal to say.”

Lily was completely stunned.

At ten o'clock that night, the influential WeChat public account “Undimmed Starlight” published an article.^[3]

Madman or Fool? The Obsessions We Cannot Let Go

“Evan! Evan, Lily's company has published that article about you! Wow, did you treat someone for appendicitis today? It was their boss's father! It's all in here.” Clara's excited voice came through the phone.

“It's so well written! Lily says their boss wrote it herself. The views are shooting up, and loads of people are sharing it. Want me to send it to you?”

“No,” Evan said flatly.

“Oh? You don't?” Clara sounded surprised.

“That's right. I'm hanging up.”

Evan put down the phone. He had cured this case of acute abdomen, but it brought him no happiness. Instead, the image of that dying old man kept appearing before his eyes.

Ever since that incident, he had asked himself countless times: if he met another patient close to death, would he still try to save them, whatever it cost?

Congratulations. You have received sufficient publicity. The third mentorship module has finished loading.

Congratulations. You have changed the views of someone hostile to Chinese medicine, earning her respect for it, and resolved the conflict between father and daughter. You will receive a special reward.

Evan showed little excitement. He only asked quietly, “Can I exchange that special reward for the chance to choose my own mentor?”

Yes. Inheritor, please choose your mentor.

Evan looked toward the northwest. He sighed, his voice tinged with melancholy. “There are so many things I don't understand. I want to ask that old man about them. I choose to study under Li Ke, in Lingshi, Shanxi.”^[4]

Reader Notes

Reader Notes

1. ↩︎ Acute illness and the historical argument. An acute abdomen is a clinical syndrome, rather than one particular disease. Evan's list names three different inflammatory conditions, and his argument about their treatment over thousands of years is his own. It does not establish historical survival rates or show that all such illnesses could be treated successfully. For appendicitis, contemporary care commonly involves appendectomy and antibiotics; antibiotics alone are an option in selected mild cases. The treatment described in this story is not evidence that these approaches are interchangeable. Sources: Cleveland Clinic — Acute Abdomen, overview; NIDDK — Treatment for Appendicitis.
2. ↩︎ Original qi. Yuanqi, rendered “original qi,” is a traditional concept associated with the body's fundamental vitality. It is more specific than qi used as a general term and is not a measurable substance lost in a surgical incision. The father is recalling a belief that frightened him at the time, not quoting a surgical assessment. The account preserves his distinction between what he intended and what happened; neither this concept nor his recollection establishes the cause of his wife's later illnesses or death. Source: WHO — Standard TCM terminologies, entry 235.
3. ↩︎ A public-account article. WeChat's public accounts allow people and organizations to publish articles for a readership, alongside the platform's private messaging functions. The company has published a piece that others can read and share; it has not sent Evan a private message. The account name “Undimmed Starlight” is a translation of the fictional Chinese name in the novel. Source: Tencent — Weixin Official Accounts.
4. ↩︎ Choosing a clinical mentor. Studying under a Chinese medicine mentor means learning through clinical guidance and the transmission of experience, rather than simply enrolling for a university degree. Li Ke is a real physician, so his name retains its standard romanization. The module, its publicity requirement, and the ability to select him belong to the novel's fictional system. The chapter gives a choice and a destination; it has not yet shown a new meeting or an arrival. Sources: National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine — Mentorship education measures (in Chinese), articles 3 and 6; Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine — Report on Li Ke and his disciples (in Chinese).