“I guess so,” the middle-aged man said.

Although they had all heard about Wang Yao, they had never seen him before. They also had no idea how Wang Yao treated his patients.

“Ah! Gee!”

The skinny young man suddenly felt cold and dizzy. He started to have double vision. He felt uncomfortable but couldn’t describe how he was feeling.

“Son, what’s wrong with you?” his mother asked anxiously. She had noticed something was not right with her son.

The skinny young man seemed to try his best to stop something from happening.

“He’s having a withdrawal.” His father frowned.

“Ah!”

The young man grabbed the back of his chair tightly. He clenched his teeth, making crunching sound.

“Dr. Wang! Dr. Wang!” His mother was panicked. “Baby, don’t scare me.”

Thud! The young man fell to the ground, shaking badly and yelled, “On my god, I can’t bear it! I can’t bear it anymore!”

He rummaged in his pocket for something. He then took out a small pack. On it was written: Bubble Tea. He tried to open the pack with his shaking hands.

Pah! His father took it away from his hands.

“Dad, please, just give me a little bit. Just a little bit!” begged the young man.

“No!” his father sternly said.

“Mom, please! Mom! I just need a little bit.” The young man knelt down on the ground, shaking badly.

“This… This is…” The woman didn’t know what to do. “Darling, look at your son. Maybe just give him a little bit?”

“Shut up!” The man gave his wife a hard look. “Do you want him to die?”

The woman didn’t dare speak one more word. She just held her son’s head.

The young man was scratching himself and rolling on the floor in pain.

“Dr. Wang, could you please come here?” the young man’s mother shouted.

“What happened?” Wang Yao calmly came into the room.

“Please take a look at my son. Please save him,” she said.

“Move away,” Wang Yao said.

He squatted down and rapidly patted on the young man lying on the floor. The young man’s breath gradually became steady. He began to look better.

“Oh my!” The young man slowly sat up. He was sweating from his forehead. All his discomfort gradually disappeared like a falling tide.

“How do you feel?” Wang Yao asked.

“I’m much better!” The young man took a deep breath.

“Wait here,” Wang Yao said.

He left the room, leaving the young man and his parents alone.

“Son, are you okay?” the young man’s mother asked.

“Mom, I’m fine now.” The young man was still a bit short of breath and felt a bit dizzy. He was also exhausted.

“I’ll get you a glass of water.” She found the thermos bottle and some paper cups. Wang Yao had left these in a place so no one would miss them.

“Drink some water. Be careful, it’s hot,” the young man’s mother said.

Creak! Wang Yao opened the door to enter the room with a bowl of herbal decoction. He thought, What a soft mother!

“Get up!” Wang Yao didn’t sound nice.

The young man immediately sat up.

“Take the decoction.” Wang Yao gave him the decoction he had just brewed.

“Thank you,” the young man said.

Although the decoction was still quite warm, the young man drank it all up. It tasted bitter and was like a warm current going all the way down to his stomach.

Thirty minutes later, Wang Yao checked his pulse and observed his response to the decoction.

“It worked,” Wang Yao declared.

He then massaged the young man’s trunk to stimulate his meridians and acupuncture points. The massage strengthened the effect of the decoction.

“Take the decoction for seven days,” Wang Yao said. “Come back here in seven days. Make sure you make an appointment before coming. If I’m not here, keep an eye on your son.”

“What can we do when he has a withdrawal?” the middle-aged man asked.

“Tie him up,” Wang Yao said succinctly.

“How much should we pay you?” the father asked.

“10,000,” Wang Yao replied.

“How much?” the young man and his parents gasped altogether.

“What? You think I’m over charging?” Wang Yao calmly asked. “You have the money for him to take drugs, but no money for the treatment?”

“No, I don’t mean it,” the young man’s mother anxiously said.

They eventually paid the fee and left the clinic. They didn’t look happy when they left.

“It’s so expensive,” the woman said.

“Money is not what we should worry about at the moment, as long as he can help our son. It’s not like we can’t afford the treatment. Be aware of what you say next time,” the young man’s father said.

After witnessing him getting his son’s withdrawal under control, he thought Wang Yao was an extraordinary doctor. Not many doctors in their 20s were so capable. It was understandable that Wang Yao was a bit arrogant.

Although they thought Wang Yao was arrogant, he actually he wasn’t. He was just a bit angry. He thought kids like that young man took their happy life for granted.

“Do you think the decoction is going to work?” the young man’s mother asked while looking at the two porcelain bottles in her hands.

“You’ll know it soon. Don’t tell this to anyone else,” the young man’s father said.

“I know,” she replied.

…

Lu Xiaomei went to see Su Changhe in a Beijing hospital to get checked after taking the decoction from Wang Yao.

“What are the results, Changhe?” Lu Xiaomei asked.

“You’ve only taken the decoction a few days. It won’t take effect so fast,” Su Changhe said with a smile.

“I know. I just can’t wait,” Lu Xiaomei replied.

“Okay, show me the results.” Su Changhe took a look at Lu Xiaomei’s blood tests.

“What?” Su Changhe said in low voice.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Xiaomei asked anxiously.

“Nothing. Actually, your results are good. Let’s go to see another doctor,” Su Changhe said.

He took Lu Xiaomei to a specialist.

“What do you think, Dr. Sun?” Su Changhe asked.

“Hmmm. It’s good that you took medication in time. Your condition has improved,” Dr. Sun said after reading the test results.

“Good, thank you,” Su Changhe said.

Su Changhe and Lu Xiaomei went back to Su Changhe’s office.

“Are you happy now?” Su Changhe asked.

“Yes, at least I’m less worried.” Lu Xiaomei showed a hint of smile. Su Changhe hadn’t seen her smile in a long time.

“Have you just taken the decoction from Dr. Wang or taken both herbs and Western medicine?” Su Changhe asked.

“Just Dr. Wang’s decoction,” Lu Xiaomei replied.

“Make sure you take the decoction as instructed by Dr. Wang,” Su Changhe said. “I will go with you to Lianshan again. We are old schoolmates and friends. I should help you.”

While they were talking, a man pushed the door and came into the office.

“Yue Chongyang!” Lu Xiaomei’s face changed as soon as she saw the man.

“Hi, Changhe. Oh, Xiaomei’s here too.” The man was Yue Chongyang. He had lost a lot of weight, and his eyes were dull. He was no longer that confident and successful man who had always been in good spirit.

“Changhe, please help me,” Yue Chongyang said.

“What happened?” Su Changhe asked.

“Let me show you.” Yue Chongyang lifted his clothes to show Su Changhe his abdomen. There were a lot of blisters on his abdomen, which looked terrible.

“Oh my god!” Su Changhe was shocked.

Yue Chongyang had started to show symptoms.

“I’ll leave you guys here.” Lu Xiaomei stood up and was about to leave.

“Xiaomei, are you okay?” Yue Chongyang asked with concern.

“How come you don’t know if I’m okay?” Lu Xiaomei asked coldly. She then left the office with determination.

“Changhe, is Xiaomei okay?” Yue Chongyang asked.

“Her condition is better,” Su Changhe replied.

“That’s good. It is all my fault,” Yue Chongyang said.

He felt guilty about passing this horrible disease to his wife. However, what had happened had happened. It was too late for him to amend anything. It was useless for him to regret what he had done.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you to see Dr. Sun. He’s on duty today,” Su Changhe said.

“I’m not optimistic about your condition,” Dr. Sun said after taking a good look at Yue Chongyang.

“What can I do?” Yue Chongyang asked anxiously.

“Well, let’s change the medication to see if it will improve your condition,” Dr. Sun said.

“Do I need to stay in the hospital for treatment?” Yue Chongyang asked.

“You can consider that,” Dr. Sun said.

“Okay, I’ll stay in the hospital for some time,” Yue Chongyang replied.

He had become increasingly scared. He had done some research online and knew what could happen to him. In addition, the disease was extremely hard to treat. He had started to contact overseas specialists to receive treatment if he couldn’t be cured in China.

“Changhe, I never expected things would turn out this way,” Yue Chongyang said with a sigh.

“I understand. Don’t think about it too much. Just focus on the treatment,” Su Changhe said.

“Sure, can you please put in a good word for me with Xiaomei?” Yue Chongyang asked.

He still wanted to save his marriage.

“Okay, I’ll try,” Su Changhe said.