Chapter 148: That Boy Has Connections

Adam returns to Mingxin Clinic, certain his daughter must have struggled to keep it going.

Adam Zhang reflected in silence. He'd been ill and unable to see patients all this time. Things must have been desperate at the clinic. He knew Ben Song's abilities all too well. Not much to speak of!

His daughter must have struggled to keep it going. His guilt deepened. Still, he had pulled himself together now. He was back!

After reflecting for a moment, he walked to Mingxin Clinic's entrance and found a crowd packed around the door.

He was taken aback. What was this? Was business so bad that they had started a clearance sale on medicinal herbs? Why else would so many people be lining up?

There were so many people that he couldn't squeeze in at first.

Through a gap, he saw Ben at the counter, taking payments and dispensing herbs.

“Ben!” he called.

“Who is it?” Ben turned and looked. Seeing Adam, his face lit up. “Boss, you're better?”

Adam nodded, smiling broadly.

Ben hurried out from behind the counter, squeezed through to the street, and looked him up and down. “Boss, you've recovered so well! You're really all better!”

Adam smiled and nodded again. “More or less. Why are there so many people here? Are you running a promotion?”

Ben glanced back at the people in the doorway. “Oh, they're here to see the doctor.”

“See the doctor?” Adam was puzzled. “Which specialist have you brought in?”

“Just Evan.”

“What?” Adam's voice rose and fell in disbelief.

“Boss, let me take you inside,” Ben said.

Adam nodded.

Ben led him through the crowd. Once inside, Adam realized that the people outside weren't waiting because the clinic was full. They were crowded at the door watching what was going on.

Where Evan was seeing patients, three other young men were busy alongside him. Two were behind him taking notes, while the third was feeling a pulse.

The patients outside were all watching them too.

Adam was confused again. “How many people have you hired?”

“No one else. Just Evan.”

Adam pointed. “Then what are those fellows doing?”

“Oh, they're Evan's apprentices.”

“What? Where did he find so many apprentices?”

“They're all young Chinese medicine doctors from the county Chinese medicine hospital.”^[1]

Adam was even more bewildered. “He's got connections all the way into the hospital?”

Now Ben was the one taken aback. “Huh?”

Adam looked at Evan in confusion. What was that boy's background? How had he got young hospital doctors to come and learn from him? And so many of them! Was this for real?

What he didn't know was that Mingxin Clinic had become a training base for these young doctors. They had once all wanted to study at the city or provincial Chinese medicine hospitals. Now they came here to learn from Evan whenever they had a day off.

Evan taught them patiently, so consultations took longer now. The patients at the door were an amusing bunch too, all watching him teach his apprentices.

None of the technical talk made sense to them, but they listened eagerly anyway. It all sounded terribly impressive! They might have been attending a health lecture.

Adam stood to one side, listening suspiciously.

Clara soon arrived. At the sight of her father, she couldn't help rolling her eyes several times.

Ben went back to his own work.

“See? I told you Evan was very good!” Clara said to Adam.

“Didn't he only graduate from university this year?” Adam asked in puzzlement.

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“See? That's what you call a genius.” Clara looked very pleased with herself.

The sight of her looking so pleased made Adam even angrier. What did she have to be so proud of?

He looked more disapproving than ever. “Hmph. That brat has ulterior motives. He's no good! Don't let him fool you!”

Clara rolled her eyes again. She couldn't be bothered to answer her father.

Evan continued seeing patients. It was quite a while before he had seen them all and they had gradually left. Finally, he had a moment free.

Evan lifted his teacup and took a sip of water. “I've explained the key points of pattern differentiation,” he told the young doctors.^[2] “Go home and think them over carefully. Start reading the books I told you to read. I'll check next time you come.”

“Yes, Dr. Xu.”

“Understood, Dr. Xu.”

Adam curled his lip. What a show-off!

“Evan,” Clara called.

Only then did Evan turn to look at them. He looked surprised. “Your dad's out and about?”

“Yes. Can you check him again and see whether he still needs to take the medicine?”

Evan nodded. “All right. Come over here.”

“Hmph.” Adam lifted his chin haughtily. All the anger he hadn't been able to vent over what Evan had put him through a few days earlier, while he was laid up with his stroke, was going to come out today.

Evan looked rather puzzled by this.

Clara was angry too. If her father hadn't only just recovered from a serious illness, she could have pinched him!

“Dr. Xu!” Another voice came from outside.

Everyone turned toward the voice.

“Director Du! Dr. Zhong! Dr. Cao!”

“Hello, Director Du. Hello, Dr. Zhong, Dr. Cao.”

The young doctors were all greeting the senior visitors.

Adam stared too. Why had Director Du, Henry Zhong, and Leo Cao all come?

Leo came in beaming. “Ha! Dr. Xu—or should I say, our new specialist? Let me congratulate you in advance!”

“Hm?” Evan was slightly taken aback.

The young doctors behind him immediately looked delighted.

Adam, Clara, and Ben still had no idea what was going on.

Director Du stepped inside, holding a notebook and looking at Evan. With a solemn expression, he said, “Comrade Evan Xu, I am David Du, deputy director of the county Chinese medicine hospital. On behalf of our hospital, I would like to formally invite you to join our specialists' clinic as a specialist physician.”^[3]

So that was the news! The young doctors behind Evan were excited at once.

A smile appeared on Evan's face too.

Adam stared in astonishment. He knew about the specialists' clinic. It had already been established before he fell ill. Only Chinese medicine doctors whose skills were on a par with provincial-level specialists could practice there!

Evan?

“Is he that good?” Adam was dumbfounded.

Clara looked as proud as if the honor were hers and nodded as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Of course he was!

Ben's smile grew still more bitter. Evan was so far ahead of him now that he was out of sight.

David Du continued, “The hospital has also set up an academic working group on treating acute and critical illness with Chinese medicine. I've spoken to Professor Martin He about leading it. Professor He will head the group, and you will be the deputy head.

“But Professor He is busy and certainly won't be able to come very often, so in practice you'll be in charge. Starting today, our hospital's Chinese medicine department can take on the treatment of critically ill patients too. Dr. Xu, we'll be asking a lot of you from now on.”

Adam was even more bewildered.

“We've agreed on all the supporting policies for treating acute and critical illness with the higher authorities,” David said. “Are you free now? Let's go to the hospital and discuss the details. We've also arranged a small ceremony to sign your appointment agreement.”

“Uh…” Adam suddenly became so worked up that he let out a loud belch. His head felt heavy, his feet unsteady, and he was a little dizzy. His legs gave way, and he quickly grabbed the counter.

“Dad, what's wrong?” Clara asked anxiously.

Reader Notes

Reader Notes

1. ↩︎ Doctors who still have a teacher. Clinical mentorship can involve observation, discussion of cases, and practical guidance even when the learners are already doctors. Calling them “apprentices” here conveys the relationship Ben describes; it does not make them newly hired clinic employees or specify a formal apprenticeship ceremony. Their respectful “Dr. Xu” later renders Xu laoshi, literally “Teacher Xu.” The university source illustrates this way of learning, rather than rules governing these fictional hospital doctors. Source: National University of Health Sciences — Apprentice-Style Learning in Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine.
2. ↩︎ Pattern differentiation. Bianzheng is the analysis of clinical information to identify a pattern within Chinese medical theory: a summary of the location, nature, and causes of illness at a particular stage. A pattern is distinct from an individual symptom or a biomedical disease name. Evan is reminding the doctors how to reason through what they have observed; the chapter does not supply the patients' specific patterns or prescriptions. Source: World Health Organization — International Standard Terminologies on Traditional Chinese Medicine, entries 546–552, pp. 49–50.
3. ↩︎ An official invitation. A mingyi guan is a specialist outpatient service associated with experienced or distinguished physicians; real examples also combine consultations with teaching. “Specialist” here describes the hospital role, without implying a particular American board certification. The provincial-level benchmark is the standard Adam recalls for this clinic. Du's “Comrade” translates tongzhi, a form of address used in official settings. His ceremonious speech signals a formal invitation; it does not establish Evan's political affiliation. Sources: Second Affiliated Hospital of Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine — Specialists' Clinic (in Chinese); Laishan District Government — Customs of Address and Etiquette, forms of address (in Chinese).