Chapter 725: Food Taboos

Chapter 725: Chapter 725: Food Taboos

"In fact, studying medicine follows the same logic. It requires the positive feedback of step-by-step progress to stimulate the secretion of dopamine.

"During our school days, or even in the standardized training phase when we’ve just entered the clinic, we can be bold and try things out. At this time, in the eyes of the veteran doctors, we are like babbling infants. When we prescribe a formula or administer acupuncture under the guidance of our teaching instructors, even if the effect is poor or we fail entirely, the teachers are there to act as our safety net. They won’t let us bear too much malpractice risk, nor will they let us be utterly defeated.

"But what if we succeed? The feeling is completely different. Even if you just use a simple Scallion and Fermented Soybean Decoction to cure your roommate’s cold, or use moxibustion to relieve your mother’s menstrual cramps, as long as you see the patient’s pain eased because of your methods, you can immediately taste the joy of victory.

"You would think, ’Wow, I’m just a student who has only studied medicine for two years, and I can actually cure diseases on my own.’ Even if it’s just a minor illness, this real sense of achievement can make us love traditional Chinese medicine from the bottom of our hearts. And this genuine love and confidence is the only driving force that supports us in continuing our advanced studies on this dull, long, and doubt-filled medical path."

In truth, anyone with actual clinical experience would relate to this to some extent.

For every doctor, when they cured the first patient of their career, no matter how small the prescription, that happiness and joy were unforgettable. This was especially true when they had independently assessed, diagnosed, and treated their first patient with noticeable results.

That sense of achievement truly made one feel on top of the world. They would walk with a spring in their step, wishing they could grab a megaphone and announce to everyone, "I am a doctor who can heal the sick!"

Li Xu looked at the crowd. "It’s not just about prescribing medicine. Even with external treatments like Massage, when we go home for the holidays, our grandparents and parents might suffer from lumbar or cervical spine issues from years of labor, or perhaps just simple muscle fatigue. If we can apply the meridian knowledge we learned in school and use the correct techniques to help relieve their pain, not only do we fulfill our filial piety, but it also brings us a great sense of achievement and clinical experience."

He paused, his tone turning serious. "Therefore, as the junior student mentioned earlier, everyone here is a top student who has studied medicine for at least five or six years. Let me ask you this: how many of you have proactively tried to use traditional Chinese medicine to resolve the minor ailments of the people around you in your daily lives? How many have actually done it?"

Faced with Li Xu’s interrogation, the audience fell silent.

Li Lin and the others sitting in the middle and back rows, however, looked thoughtful. They understood this better than anyone.

When Li Lin first arrived at the Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, he had endured the brutal raw Da Huang drug trial. Although it had left him in sheer agony from the severe diarrhea, looking back on it now, he had gained a profound, lifelong understanding of Da Huang’s fierce bowel-cleansing properties.

Moreover, just a few days ago, under the guidance of his outpatient instructor, he had used Minor Chaihu Decoction to cure a patient’s cold. When the patient returned for a follow-up and said they recovered after just one dose, he had been thrilled. That joy was ten times stronger than winning a scholarship.

Dean Ai Rong stared at Li Xu on the stage. He realized that Li Xu had been poised and confident from the very beginning. Even when facing graduate students with higher academic credentials, he hadn’t shown the slightest bit of stage fright. When Li Xu spoke these ordinary heartfelt words, his eyes were sincere; he was truly putting his heart into sharing his personal journey.

"Well said. It’s easy to understand but profound, and it hits right at the core of the issue," Director Liang, who was sitting next to him, praised softly.

"It’s more than just well said." Dean Ai nodded slightly, his tone carrying undisguised appreciation. "Xiao Li controls the pacing exceptionally well. He first showed off his diagnostic skills by listening and observing, firmly subduing this group of arrogant troublemakers. After establishing his authority, he calmly shared these insights so the students would genuinely listen to him.

"Furthermore, everything Xiao Li talked about is substantial, practical clinical experience, not some unrealistic castle in the air."

In fact, students today were very smart and realistic. When listening to lectures or grand principles, they despised empty, hollow platitudes the most. If you talked to them about healing the sick or the Great Physician’s Sincerity, most of them would let it go in one ear and out the other. They would be too lazy to listen to a second sentence, assuming it was all just deceptive textbook jargon.

But if you talked to them about how to gain a sense of achievement, how to build confidence in actual practice, and how to grow step by step, everyone would find these practical, grounded concepts reasonable and useful. Only then would they think deeply and resonate with the message.

Many students were indeed deep in thought. Li Xu was truly holding nothing back in passing on his experience on how to get started and advance in the field. Anyone who genuinely wanted to learn could understand this. Some students even deeply empathized with what Li Xu had just said.

Among the graduate students mentored by Director Liang, there were indeed a few highly skilled individuals who stood out among their peers. After studying medicine, they had been eager to give it a try. When they occasionally prescribed the right formula and cured a friend’s or relative’s cold or menstrual cramps, they felt a certain level of accomplishment. That was the glimmer of light that kept them going.

Of course, the majority of the students only memorized texts by rote to pass exams, never taking the initiative to translate theory into practice. Now that Li Xu had pointed it out, it was as if a paper window had been pierced. Some students felt it made perfect sense and secretly resolved to practice more hands-on medicine in the future.

Seeing that everyone’s emotions had been stirred, Li Xu decided to add fuel to the fire.

"Let me give you another example," Li Xu continued. "There is a record regarding dietary taboos in the Essential Formulas Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces. It says: ’Eating honey immediately after eating raw scallions leads to severe diarrhea.’

"This means that if you consume honey right after eating raw scallions, it easily causes a serious case of the runs."

He paused, then smiled. "When I was reading the Qian Jin Fang back then, I was a bit skeptical when I came across this passage. Do these two very common ingredients really have such immense power when combined? So, I decided to test it out myself.

"First, I chewed a raw scallion, and immediately after, I drank a large glass of thick honey water. The result... was exactly as the book described. In less than half an hour, my stomach started churning wildly. I felt an intense urge to go and ended up running to the bathroom several times."