Elixir Supplier

“The friend you mentioned last time, I can take a look,” Wang Yao replied.

“When?” Wang Mingbao was surprised by his answer.

“Let’s see when he is free to come here.”

“Sure, please wait. I’ll give him a call now,” Wang Mingbao immediately dialed his friend on his mobile phone.

He chatted with the friend for a while and then got off the phone.

“Such a coincidence, he is currently in Lianshan County. I told him about your availability and he will be here shortly. If you have the time, perhaps you can wait here for him?”

“Sure, I will wait for him.”

Wang Yao and Wang Mingbao had tea in the reception area until a person arrived after about 20 minutes. The man was not tall and was a little rotund. He walked quickly into Wang Mingbao’s shop, to the reception area. On closer look, the man had a round face that was smiling; he had big ears and a wide mouth. He apologized profusely upon seeing them.

“Sorry, I was delayed by some matters.” In reality, he was not very late. This was Wang Mingbao’s friend. His surname was Wei and his first name was Hai.

From the point this person entered the shop, Wang Yao had started observing him. Wei Hai had a scent of alcohol on him, although it was faint and not easily detected by an ordinary person, it did not escape Wang Yao’s exceptional sense of smell. He could smell it when Wei Hai was only a few steps away.

This was an indication that Wei Hai drank quite substantially the night before and the scent had not dissipated even in the next day.

“Let me introduce you. Wang Yao, this is Wei Hai, Director Wei.”

“Eh, what director? Don’t make fun of me, we’re all friends. Hello, Doctor Wang,” Wei Hai laughed while greeting Wang Yao.

It was obvious that this person was a social butterfly and very approachable.

“Hello.” Wang Yao smiled and shook his hand.

In closer proximity, Wang Yao could detect that Wei Hai’s breath gave off an acidic odor. This indicated that his intestines were unhealthy. His eyes were yellow-tinged and coupled with an unhealthy complexion, all these pointed to a poorly functioning liver.

The three of them sat down and made no mention of the illness; they had tea and chatted. Wei Hai was a good conversationalist and could talk about any topic.

After around 20 minutes, Wang Yao made the first foray into the main topic.

“Director Wei, if it’s okay with you, let me take your pulse.”

“Okay,” Wei Hai agreed readily.

Wang Yao’s fingers were on his wrist.

The room became silent. Both Wang Mingbao’s and Wei Hai’s eyes were on Wang Yao.

After a while, Wang Yao moved his fingers away.

Wei Hai may look jovial, but his body had multiple problems. Hs internal organs were damaged—the most serious damage was in the liver and stomach. This was likely due to his lifestyle and habits. Excessive drinking had damaged his liver.

“I’d like to ask you a few questions,” Wang Yao said.

“Go ahead.”

“Do you eat a lot of fish, especially raw ones?”

“Yes, I like sashimi, drunken prawns, conch—all extremely tasty,” Wei Hai replied.

“You like eating them iced, especially during summer.”

“Ah, that’s right!” Wei Hai was astonished.

Initially when he arrived and saw how young Wang Yao was, although outwardly he appeared friendly, inwardly he belittled him. His prejudice deepened when he saw him take his pulse. Looking at Wang Yao’s youth, his perception was that for Wang Yao to be using the Traditional Chinese Medicine’s approach of taking the pulse, he should be at least 40 to 50 years old. He did not believe him to be experienced in traditional Chinese medicine, as he looked too young.

However, Wang Yao’s questions had shocked him. If it was regarding his love for seafood, he assumed Wang Yao might have asked Wang Mingbao. As to the specifics of him liking his seafood iced—this was something not many people knew as he rarely displayed this preference in front of his friends.

“Can I see where the symptoms appear on your body?”

“Sure.”

Wei Hai rolled up his sleeve to reveal his arm. Lumps the size of a fingernail were scattered on his arm, slightly swollen, keratinized and squamous. Some of the lumps were festering.

Based on his examination, Wang Yao had an idea of the cause of the illness.

This was the result of toxins in the bloodstream that surfaced as visible symptoms on the skin. His internal organs were also affected by the toxins. If not treated in time, the symptoms would worsen and reach deeper into the internal organs, which would pose a greater problem!

Medication could treat this illness only for a moment. In order to treat it at its source, the person’s habits needed to change. As the saying goes, a diet cures better than a doctor does. Many illnesses resulted from poor lifestyle and habits. Even if the illness was treated, if the lifestyle did not improve, the illness would return.

“Your illness is a result of toxins in the body, which have surfaced on your skin,” Wang Yao remarked.

“Yes,” Wei Hai replied.

“In order to cure this illness, you need to start from your habits.”

“Continue.”

“Firstly, abstain from seafood. Even if cooked, reduce intake. Secondly, abstain from smoking and drinking.”

Wei Hai nodded his head while listening. At first, he thought Wang Yao would continue, but he stopped after listing the two points.

“That’s all?”

“Start with these two first.” Wang Yao smiled.

The two points that Wang Yao mentioned were no easy matters. Without strong willpower, they would be difficult to uphold, as they pertained to a person’s years of unconscious habits and lifestyle. Merely quitting cigarettes and alcohol would cause massive difficulties for the majority of people.

“If I guessed right, there should have been other doctors who said the same thing?” Wang Yao enquired.

“Yes, more than one.”

Wei Hai did not hide this fact. He had seen numerous doctors before who asked him to quit smoking and drinking. He was unable to do so. After all, he was a businessman—socializing situations were aplenty and a party without alcohol did not make a party. Where there were opportunities for partnership, without drinking with the business partners, what would they think? How would one discuss business? There was no discrimination where it came to smoking and drinking. If one offered a cigarette to you, wouldn’t you take it?

“Will you be able to prescribe medication for me?” Wei Hai asked.

“Prescriptions can treat the illness momentarily only. If you do not change your habits and lifestyle, this illness will relapse and likely worsen,” Wang Yao calmly explained.

There was hearsay that in the ancient times a legendary physician named Hua Tuo met a person who loved eating seafood and had very painful stomach aches. He diagnosed him, prescribed medication and the man puked liters of strange vermin. Hua Tuo advised him not to eat seafood, or suffer the consequences. By which time even a deity would not be able to save him. The man promised but eventually fell back into his old habits. Before two years had passed, he died.

Hahaha. Wang Yao smiled and shook his head.

“Doctor Wang, what do you mean by this?” Wei Hai saw his reaction and was puzzled.

“If you can change, I can prescribe you something. If you can’t, the medicine is for naught,” Wang Yao quipped.

“I can change!” Wei Hai exclaimed.

“Okay, I will prescribe you a formula. I will inform you when it’s ready.”

“Thank you, how much is the medical fee?”

“Let’s talk about it then.” Wang Yao smiled and waved his hands.

Wei Hai chatted with them for a bit before departing.

“You were trying to insinuate something just now, weren’t you?” Wang Mingbao waited until Wei Hai left before quizzing Wang Yao.

“Your friend’s illness is not easy to treat.”

“Why?” Wang Mingbao was puzzled.

“An ancient legendary physician, Bianque, listed six types of untreatable patients,” Wang Yao drank some water before rattling off the points. “One, lack of reason rooted in unbridled arrogance, two, focus on money and not health. Three, focus on creature comforts, four, internal organ failure. Five, unable to take medication and six, belief in witchcraft and not medicine.”

“What does that mean?” Wang Mingbao was stunned.

“The first phrase means, a person who is arrogant, overbearing, unreasonable and disrespects doctors’ advice is untreatable. The second phrase means, a person who is focused on wealth and disregards his health is untreatable. Your friend may have given his promise. However, when he goes back, it’s likely he will not listen to advice and will continue to eat and drink, as usual. Therefore, he is the first type of untreatable. He is also focused on his business and lax on his health, belonging to the second type of untreatable. Since he belongs to two categories of untreatable, treating him is a waste of effort.” Wang Yao said.

“What happens if he continues like this?” Wang Mingbao asked.

“Actually, his illness must have been diagnosed by many doctors. He loves seafood and loves eating them raw, resulting in toxins from the seafood entering his body. The doctors have already given him advice and treatment, but he evidently does not take them seriously. If he continues like this, the toxins will penetrate deeper into his organs. By that time, even a deity can’t help him. It’s too late for him to regret!” said Wang Yao.

His words sounded scary, but they were not said lightly.

When an illness began to take root, this was the time when it was easiest to treat and eradicate it. When it spread to the internal organs and bones, unless a magic elixir existed that could resurrect the dead, or if the legendary physicians Hua Tuo or Bianque were alive, there was nothing that could be done about the illness.

“I will talk to him,” said Wang Mingbao. He knew his best friend’s character well; Wang Yao was not one to deceive. Since he had been so explicit, it showed that Wei Hai’s illness was serious and warranted attention.

“Okay, it’ll be great if you can advise him. Better to save one life than to build a seven-storied pagoda,” Wang Yao remarked.

“What about the medicine?”

“If he does not change, prescribing him medication is a waste of the herbs,” Wang Yao commented. He observed from Wei Hai’s mannerisms and words and knew that he had no intention of following his advice, hence Wang Yao similarly did not intend to prepare the medicine.

Wang Yao left Wang Mingbao’s shop soon after and drove back to the village.

On Nanshan hill, he thought about what transpired during the day and penned his thoughts into his notebook.

Night gradually fell; the cottage at Nanshan hill was lit with a solitary lamp. It appeared lonely.

Wang Yao rested on his desk. In front of him was the Five Lines Method; on the desk was a piece of paper which was where he sketched the map of Nanshan hill. Various markings were made on the map.

“Here, here and here…” Wang Yao muttered while making more markings on the map.