RFGCF 11

Chapter – 11

Ruthlessly Putting the Stubborn Old Man in His Place

Although Ye Xiaohua caught the threat and intimidation in Qin Shuhe’s words, she had to admit she was relieved—at least it saved her the trouble of convincing Lady Qin.

She figured a whole basket of her words wouldn’t be as effective as one sentence from Master Qin. She motioned for Lady Qin to lay the baby on the bed, and to keep him from moving around, asked her to hold his little hands.

Because Young Master Qin was so small and his condition had come on so suddenly—made worse by the misdiagnosis of those quack doctors before—what should have been a minor illness had now become somewhat dangerous.

With her experience from her past life, Ye Xiaohua inserted the needles quickly and accurately, without any hesitation. Lady Qin, watching her fair-skinned eldest son being pricked with those long needles, still couldn’t help but fret: “Be gentler!”

“This isn’t massage or acupressure. The needles have to hit the acupoints precisely, with exact force and depth,” Ye Xiaohua glanced at the sobbing Lady Qin. “Would you rather take one clean, swift cut, or have your skin sliced bit by bit, flesh exposed, tendons severed, down to the bone…”

Ye Xiaohua wasn’t trying to scare her—she was just illustrating the principle. If she didn’t use such a comparison, she feared Lady Qin wouldn’t understand. But when she finished and looked at the Qin couple’s faces, they had turned incredibly dark.

Since Young Master Qin had damp-heat dysentery, Ye Xiaohua made a point of adding the Quchi and Neiting acupoints during the needling. However, to help the little one recover faster and suffer less, he would inevitably have to endure some bitter medicinal soup.

During the time waiting for the needles to be removed, Ye Xiaohua dictated a prescription while Qin Shuhe wrote it down himself, then sent a servant to fetch the herbs. But before the servant had gone far, he was intercepted by the old doctor that Qin An had brought back.

“Wrong, wrong!” The old doctor held the prescription in his hand, shouting as he entered. He was in such a fluster that he nearly tripped over the threshold and fell flat on his face—luckily Qin An, quick as a flash, caught him.

The old doctor glanced at Ye Xiaohua. On the way here, Qin An had filled him in on the situation. He glared at Ye Xiaohua with fierce, angry eyes and roared, “Where did this little brat come from, pulling her tricks here? This is a matter of life and death—I will not allow it!”

“Me? A trickster?” Ye Xiaohua pointed at herself, amused. Watching this old man fume, his beard twitching with every word, he was probably a stubborn old mule.

“Who else but you? What kind of prescription is this?”

“A prescription to cure illness!” Ye Xiaohua shot back without missing a beat.

Everyone in the room looked back and forth between the old and the young. The experienced elder was growing increasingly unsettled, while the little girl remained as composed as a wise old sage. The scene was rather comical, but with life and death at stake, no one was in the mood for entertainment.

“Nonsense! Who taught you medicine? How many years have you studied? You dare show off your tricks in front of me? Young Master Qin has cold-deficiency dysentery, yet you’re prescribing medicine for damp-heat dysentery! The wrong medicine for the wrong condition—it could kill him!”

The old man rattled off all this in one breath, combined with the rush of getting there. Now he was gasping for air, panting heavily.

Ye Xiaohua watched him calmly. She waited until he’d caught his breath before speaking—otherwise, if she accidentally angered him to death, she’d really be in trouble.

“It should be medicine for damp-heat dysentery.”

“You… you call that taking a pulse?” The old man was so angry he could barely stand. He’d never seen such an obstinate little girl. Qin An helped him sit down, and he spoke again.

Ye Xiaohua knew what he was going to ask. Seeing how much effort it took for him to talk, she decided to say it all herself.

“Elder, although I haven’t studied or practiced medicine as long as you have, this time, I am right.”

“You… you’re right? If you’re right, I’ll write my name backwards!”

Ye Xiaohua was no pushover either. This old man kept bullying her without giving her a chance to explain, which was starting to annoy her. “Isn’t that still the same character?”

She raised her hand to stop him from speaking again. “I know—based on Young Master Qin’s deep, thready pulse, it does look like symptoms of cold-deficiency dysentery. However…”

Old Doctor Wang was about to open his mouth again when that “however” cut him off. He took a deep breath. “Fine. You tell me—since the pulse has already distinguished cold from heat, why do you insist it’s caused by damp-heat?”

Ye Xiaohua raised an eyebrow. All this talking had made her parched. She hadn’t had a single sip of water since leaving home that morning. She picked up a teacup and gulped down several big mouthfuls.

“Young Master Qin’s pulse does present that way. But you overlooked one thing—his wet nurse…”

Old Doctor Wang, who had been so adamant just moments ago, suddenly let his teacup slip from his hand and crash to the ground.

“Elder, I’m sure with your many years of practice, your medical skills are exceptional. But think about it—this is just ordinary dysentery. If so many people treated it for so many days with no improvement—worsening, in fact—doesn’t that mean the diagnosis was wrong and the medication was incorrect?”

Ye Xiaohua didn’t actually want to compete with anyone. She just wanted to earn some consultation fees to buy food to fill their stomachs. She had no intention of ruining anyone’s livelihood.

“If you don’t believe me, you can take the wet nurse’s pulse and see whether her condition is damp-heat. That will prove whether I’m right or wrong.”

In fact, Ye Xiaohua’s earlier words were already the best evidence. If so many people had treated him for days with no effect, then they’d clearly misjudged cold versus heat.

To be thorough, Lady Qin called for the wet nurse. The moment Old Doctor Wang’s fingers touched her pulse, his face turned ashen. When he looked at Ye Xiaohua again, his expression had become complicated—shock, reluctance, guilt, and admiration…

The facts proved Ye Xiaohua was right. Qin Shuhe hurriedly sent Qin An to get the medicine. Upon further inquiry, they learned that to ensure the wet nurse’s milk was nutritious, the Qin family had been feeding her very well—lots of rich, tonifying foods. But Young Master Qin was too young, his digestive system still immature, so he couldn’t handle such rich nourishment. That’s what had triggered the dysentery.

Everything was now clear. Ye Xiaohua believed that Old Doctor Wang could handle the rest from here.

“You can’t leave yet.” Lady Qin had finally stopped crying, but she insisted that the little one wasn’t fully recovered. She refused to let Ye Xiaohua go, just in case.

“There’s no need.” Qin Shuhe spoke first.

“But what if Huai’er doesn’t get better?” Lady Qin was still worried.

“He’ll get better after taking the medicine.” Qin Shuhe took a long look at Ye Xiaohua, who was smiling faintly. This little girl was no ordinary child. When she’d spoken to Old Doctor Wang, she’d been neither servile nor overbearing—and the key thing was, a child of just a few years old with such advanced medical skills…

Ye Xiaohua thought Qin Shuhe wasn’t a fool—no wonder he could do big business. His decisions at critical moments were decisive. “Girl, how much do you want?”

Finally—talking about money. Ye Xiaohua smiled knowingly. Just as she was about to speak, she stopped.