"I'm sorry, I'm not here for a medical consultation, I'm here to intern with Teacher Lin," Song Hao quickly explained.
Upon hearing this, the people in front made way for Song Hao.
When Song Hao arrived at the clinic, he saw that the already cramped room was full of people. Through the gaps in the crowd, he could see Lin Fengyi sitting at the table, concentrating on examining patients.
"Please make way, everyone. I'm Professor Lin's student, here for an internship." Song Hao introduced himself and squeezed through to the opposite side of Lin Fengyi.
A patient waiting for his appointment was sitting on a chair. Hearing Song Hao's words, he quickly stood up and offered him his seat, assuming that Song Hao was indeed Lin Fengyi's student who had come for an internship. Song Hao smiled gratefully and sat down as well. Lin Fengyi glanced up at Song Hao, who introduced himself and began pretending to be his student, but he didn't seem to care much. He ignored Song Hao and continued examining the patient, a young man of about twenty years old.
While taking the young man's pulse, Lin Fengyi said, "Open your mouth and stick out your tongue so I can see it!"
The young man opened his mouth; his tongue was coated with a yellowish-white, slippery substance and had teeth marks.
"Alright!" Lin Fengyi nodded, then asked unexpectedly, "You've had an appendectomy, haven't you?"
The young man replied, "I did it two years ago."
“I knew it! You have a scar on your lower right abdomen, it must be from the incision when you had your appendix removed,” Lin Fengyi said.
"This can be diagnosed from the pulse?" Song Hao was secretly shocked upon hearing this, feeling it was unbelievable.
Lin Fengyi added, "Your headache was severe last night, wasn't it? When the headache flares up, your eyes feel hot and swollen, and you can't see anything."
"Yes! I've had this illness for two months now. My headaches flare up every night, and my eyes feel like they're on fire. I can't read books or watch TV, which has interfered with my studies and work a lot," the young man said.
"The right pulse is wiry and slippery, while the left pulse is weak and rapid. The symptoms belong to Yangming headache, which is combined with Jueyin headache, indicating a mixed condition of deficiency and excess," Lin Fengyi nodded.
"Dr. Lin, how can I treat this? This illness is killing me!" the young man sighed.
"I'll just give you a TCM diagnosis; I don't treat illnesses. You can take my diagnosis to the First Municipal Hospital to see Dr. Dong Yuliang; he's an expert at treating headaches." Lin Fengyi casually wrote a line on the prescription and handed it to the young man.
"Alright, thank you, Dr. Lin!" The young man took the diagnosis and left gratefully.
"Why doesn't he prescribe medicine himself? Instead, he refers his patients to others. Is it because he is only good at pulse diagnosis and not good at prescribing medicine? So he has to refer them to relevant experts for treatment?" Song Hao wondered.
Next came a middle-aged woman from the countryside, her expression sorrowful. She sat down as if about to cry, but was stopped by her family members who had come with her.
Lin Fengyi gestured for the woman to place her wrist on the pulse pillow on the table, and then took her pulse carefully. His mind was focused and calm, as if he had forgotten himself and the world around him. It was as if everyone else in the room didn't exist; only he and the patient remained.
Song Hao exclaimed in surprise, "When taking a pulse, you are so focused that you don't even notice if someone is stabbing you! Your pulse diagnosis skills are so exquisite; this must come from such cultivation!"
After a moment, Lin Fengyi said to the family members who had accompanied him, "Her pulse is deep, thready, and rapid. Her emotions have been suppressed for a long time, and this is a case of depression! There is no need to use medicine. Just go home, find an empty room, and have a few people who are bothering her stand outside the window and verbally provoke her until she cries. Do this for a few days, and the illness will be cured. If you try to comfort her every time she cries, it will only make things worse, and if it goes on for too long, it may become a serious illness."
The woman's family exclaimed in surprise, "Can crying cure illness? Her mother died three months ago, and we were afraid that crying would harm her health, so we had someone keep her company day and night. Later, we saw her sitting there silently, like a wooden statue, and we thought she was possessed, so we came to see her."
Lin Fengyi said, "This kind of depression is caused by grief. It is best to let her vent her emotions. If the depression persists for a long time and damages her five emotions, it can easily lead to mental instability."
Upon hearing this, the woman's family, though frightened, were extremely grateful and helped her away.
"He is indeed a master!" Song Hao nodded inwardly.
Lin Fengyi diagnosed more than a dozen patients in succession. Although he primarily used pulse diagnosis, he also combined the four diagnostic methods of observation, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation. His diagnostic speed was exceptionally fast, and his accuracy was astonishing. He could discern a patient's suffering and explain the cause of their illness with remarkable precision, drawing gasps of amazement from the waiting patients in the room. However, he only provided a TCM diagnosis, without prescribing any medicine, but advised them to seek further treatment from a TCM practitioner based on his diagnosis, ensuring accurate treatment.
He then examined another child, about eight or nine years old. After taking the pulse, he examined the tongue coating, which was bright yellow, seemingly inconsistent with the pulse. After observing for a moment, Lin Fengyi asked, "Did this child eat oranges before coming to the hospital?"
The child's father exclaimed in surprise, "Dr. Lin, you're amazing! How did you know my child had eaten oranges before coming here? Everyone says your pulse diagnosis is miraculous, but you've reached such an omniscient level! Even a god couldn't be more amazing!"
Song Hao shook his head in disbelief, saying it was simply impossible to determine what a person had eaten from their pulse.
Lin Fengyi smiled and said, "I'm not that amazing. I just noticed that the child's pulse and tongue appearance shouldn't be so different. In particular, although the tongue coating is bright yellow, it has no root. I also noticed that there are a few spots of yellow orange juice on the front of the child's clothes. Therefore, I guessed that the tongue coating was stained with orange juice, and the child must have eaten oranges."
"So that's how it is!" Everyone in the room was amazed by Lin Fengyi's keen observation.
Dozens of patients left happily, all accurately diagnosed by Lin Fengyi. Song Hao watched from the sidelines, as if he weren't observing a diagnosis, but rather a series of spectacular performances. Miracles and wonders were intertwined, leaving everyone in awe. In his amazement, Song Hao secretly vowed never to leave this place until he had learned this person's pulse diagnosis techniques.
By noon, Lin Feng had already treated more than half of the patients waiting in line, numbering over a hundred. The rapid and accurate diagnoses were exactly what Song Hao had always dreamed of. A sense of reverence filled his heart.
Just then, a commotion broke out outside the consultation room, followed by a loud shout: "Don't go see this guy surnamed Lin anymore! Damn it! He's a big liar!"
As soon as the words were spoken, a burly middle-aged man entered, his face full of anger. Several menacing-looking thugs followed behind him. The patients in the examination room, sensing the newcomer's hostile intent, hurriedly and fearfully moved away.
Song Hao then stood up and walked to Lin Fengyi's side, secretly holding acupuncture needles in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
"You surnamed Lin, didn't you curse me to die today?! I came here specifically to show you that I'm still alive and well!" the man shouted, pointing at Lin Fengyi's face.
"So it was you!" Lin Fengyi said coldly, remaining seated.
"What, this didn't expect you, did it? Eighteen days ago you diagnosed me as someone who would die in eighteen days, which almost scared me to death. Later, I went to several big hospitals for a full range of examinations, they even checked my fingertips, not just my internal organs. Guess what? Those experts and professors said I'm perfectly healthy, I'm not sick at all! Now I drink, eat meat, and sleep with women, it doesn't interfere with my life at all. You're the one who cursed me to die!" the man said angrily.
"I told your family privately not to tell you, and to prepare for your funeral. It seems they didn't listen to me. You're here to verify, aren't you? But today is only the eighteenth day, it's not over yet! What's the rush? If it were tomorrow, you wouldn't be able to come!" Lin Fengyi said coldly. The man's rude words had already angered him.
"You son of a bitch! You really think you're some kind of god who can decide life and death?! If my family hadn't told me, I wouldn't even know I was being cursed to die. I'm standing right here, alive and kicking. Tomorrow, the day after, or even fifty years from now, I'll still be standing here. I'm here today to settle scores with you, you fraudster. Either I'll have my brothers break your legs, or you'll pay me for my emotional distress, or I'm not done with you!" the man said arrogantly.
"Eighteen days ago, you came to me for treatment. Your pulse was already showing signs of death, with your liver in a critical, almost impending state! Your stomach qi was erratic, your pulse was weak and disordered, a truly rootless pulse. Such a death pulse is beyond saving, even by a miracle. You were destined to die on the eighteenth. I'm just kindly reminding your family to make preparations. I won't argue with someone who's about to die. I'll still be here tomorrow. If you come back, I'll let you do as you please, without complaint. Now, please leave and don't disturb my patient," Lin Fengyi said calmly and serenely.
The man, intimidated by Lin Fengyi's calm demeanor, nodded and said fiercely, "Fine! We'll talk about it after today. I'm going home now and staying indoors. Don't expect me to accidentally get into a car accident so you can escape unscathed. Let's go! We'll see how I deal with you tomorrow." With that, the man waved his hand and led his men away.
"Teacher Lin!" Song Hao called out worriedly.
"It's alright. I, Lin, can determine a person's life or death when I sever their pulse. There's no comforting a dying person." Lin Fengyi was quite fond of Song Hao for being able to protect him at such a critical moment, and he smiled at him easily and amicably without any worries.
Just then, someone outside the door exclaimed, "That person fell down the stairs and has been taken to the emergency room!"
Song Hao was taken aback upon hearing this, and slowly looked at Lin Fengyi.
Lin Fengyi's pulse diagnosis skills were exceptional, capable of determining life and death. Soon after, news arrived that the man had died in the emergency room. The waiting patients were astonished and filled with awe. Some timid individuals even quietly left, no longer daring to make life-or-death diagnoses.
Lin Fengyi shook his head and sighed, "A doctor treats the illness, not the life. This man's face was ashen just now, he was close to death and about to die. That's why I urged him to leave for a while, otherwise he would die here and things would be hard to explain!"