The Confrontation

Doctor Gao sneered, 'Of course I don't look down on others, but some traditional Chinese doctors really aren't worth my respect. Using these unscientific herbs to deceive desperate patients—that's no different from swindling money and endangering lives.' If it weren't for Mr. Sun's sake, he would have already called security to kick out this fraud.

Su Fuling saw the contempt in Doctor Gao's eyes and knew she couldn't slink away today. If she did, it wouldn't just be her own embarrassment—it would become a case used to misjudge traditional Chinese medicine in the future. She, Su Fuling, might not be a highly skilled traditional Chinese doctor, but she was no fraud. She refused to drag traditional Chinese medicine down.

She said seriously, 'Doctor Gao, I can prove I'm a real doctor. Maybe my skills aren't as great as those truly accomplished physicians, but I'm not a cheat.'

An Hui quickly chimed in, 'Of course Dr. Su isn't a cheat. I trust Dr. Su.' She felt terribly unlucky now. She had invited Dr. Su to the hospital for a check-up, hoping to deepen their connection, only to have Doctor Gao cause such an ugly scene. It was the complete opposite of what she'd envisioned. She had to make sure Dr. Su was satisfied. 'Doctor Gao, you should at least give Dr. Su a chance to prove herself. If you don't trust her, trust me. Do you think I'm some fool easily deceived?'

Zhao Facai added, 'My master has never misdiagnosed anyone.' That wasn't a lie—he'd only seen his master encounter cases she couldn't treat, never ones she couldn't diagnose.

Seeing everyone so fervently praising Su Fuling while dismissing him—a true doctor with years of study abroad—Doctor Gao felt a bitter frustration. If he just let this slide, people would think a returnee scholar was inferior to some quack!

'Fine, since this doctor is so skilled, let her examine one of my patients. If she can diagnose it, that proves she's a trustworthy doctor. If not... Mr. Sun, Mrs. Sun, don't blame me for being rude—I'll have security escort her out. From now on, such quacks won't be allowed into our hospital.'

Though Mr. and Mrs. Sun were patients, Doctor Gao wasn't afraid. His family background was decent, and as a doctor, he had plenty of opportunities to meet important people. He didn't need to grovel like that quack.

Hearing this, Sun Zhonghao wanted to smooth things over and avoid a scene. After all, Dr. Su was a fortune-teller; he hadn't yet verified her medical skills. If she failed to diagnose something, would she really be kicked out? That would mean offending her for good.

But Su Fuling didn't let him speak. She said directly, 'Fine, but I'll admit upfront: I can diagnose illnesses, but I'm not capable of treating every disease.'

Doctor Gao replied, 'Don't worry, I won't ask the impossible.' Even hospital doctors couldn't cure everything. He didn't expect Su Fuling to treat anyone, let alone actually diagnose anything.

The patient Doctor Gao mentioned was in another ward. He walked out with his hands in his pockets. 'Let's go.'

Seeing Su Fuling leave, Zhao Facai naturally followed. Sun Zhonghao, uneasy, told his daughter to look after his wife and went along too.

An Hui grabbed her neatly combed hair. 'How did this happen?!'

On the way to see the patient, Doctor Gao deliberately asked, 'I've heard traditional Chinese medicine doesn't need modern technology to diagnose. This... doctor, you shouldn't need our hospital's equipment, right?' He wouldn't give this quack any excuse to weasel out. If she used hospital equipment, she might blame the machines for errors.

Su Fuling wasn't about to fall into that trap. By saying this, Doctor Gao was imposing limits on traditional Chinese medicine. She said, 'Science advances. Traditional Chinese medicine just takes a different path—we're not rigid or inflexible. We can use advanced tools when needed. But I'll start with a visual examination. If I can't diagnose it, I'll need to see the patient's medical history.'

Doctor Gao said, 'You're clever. No wonder you fooled Mr. and Mrs. Sun.'

Su Fuling: '...'

Doctor Gao led Su Fuling to a ward that wasn't private—it housed three patients.

On the bed near the wall, a middle-aged man lay groaning softly. Beside him sat a woman with a worried expression.

Seeing Doctor Gao, the woman stood up, a bit nervous. 'Doctor, is there any new progress on my husband's condition?'

'Wang Tai, don't worry. I'm still researching a treatment plan.'

Wang Tai said gratefully, 'Thank you, Doctor Gao.'

She was genuinely grateful. Her family wasn't well-off, and her husband's illness had been stubborn, but Doctor Gao had secured subsidies for continued treatment.

She then looked at Su Fuling and the others. 'And these are...'

Doctor Gao said, 'This is a traditional Chinese doctor hired by Mr. Sun next door. She claims to be highly skilled, so I brought her to take a look at Mr. Wang. I hope you don't mind, Wang Tai.'

'...' Wang Tai looked at Su Fuling and couldn't see how she could be a skilled traditional Chinese doctor. She wasn't opposed to traditional Chinese medicine—as a Southeast Asian immigrant, she'd used it before. But after coming to Harbor City and absorbing local ideas, she felt Western medicine was more scientific and advanced.

Still, since Doctor Gao had brought it up, she couldn't refuse. 'Then please, go ahead.'

Doctor Gao stepped aside, motioning for Su Fuling to proceed.

Zhao Facai set out the pulse pillow. Su Fuling sat down to examine the patient.

Mr. Wang was groaning softly in pain.

Su Fuling noticed his hands were very rough—likely from manual labor.

Illness was a double blow for the poor.

She focused on taking his pulse. It felt thin, rapid, and slippery—indicating depletion of yin essence and internal pus-toxin.

This pulse pattern made Su Fuling concentrate intensely. It was a new one—she'd never encountered this condition before, not even in her grandfather's medical records.

After taking his pulse, she observed the man's posture. He wasn't lying straight; his back seemed oddly shaped. The ward wasn't hot, but the patient was still sweating. Though she hadn't seen this condition before, she knew in traditional Chinese medicine it was called 'yin deficiency with fire hyperactivity.'

After her examination, Su Fuling activated today's diagnostic function. She'd planned to use it when visiting An Hui, hoping to encounter a case to study. Now it came in handy.

['Patient Name: Wang Tianhai; Gender: Male Age: 48 Primary Diagnosis: Spinal Tuberculosis Symptoms: Kyphosis deformity, low-grade fever, night sweats' Predicted Progression: No significant short-term changes]

So that was it. Su Fuling finally had some recollection. She'd skimmed this condition a few days ago while flipping through a book purchased from the System, but she'd been focused on Chen Shan's treatment plan and hadn't read it carefully—just the table of contents.

She closed her eyes, entered the System, quickly found the book, and flipped to the relevant case.

It matched her pulse diagnosis exactly!

'Does traditional Chinese medicine always take this long?' Doctor Gao asked impatiently when he saw her sitting silently for so long.

He suspected the fraud was putting on an act.

This was his case. He was the attending physician. He knew the condition well—standard treatments had been ineffective, even worsening it. That's why he'd helped secure hospital subsidies for them. He'd put a lot of effort into this.

Zhao Facai said, 'Don't disturb my master when she's diagnosing. You doctors take time too—last time I came to the hospital, you made me do so many tests.'

Doctor Gao: '...'

Su Fuling emerged from the System and opened her eyes. 'The patient has spinal tuberculosis.'

Hearing this, Doctor Gao's eyes narrowed. Then he denied it. 'You're wrong. The patient has a herniated lumbar disc.'

Now it was Su Fuling's turn to be surprised. She'd thought Doctor Gao knew the condition and was just testing her. But he actually didn't know?

She had read about herniated discs—some symptoms were similar, but the pulse was different.

Su Fuling didn't want to argue about the diagnosis in front of so many patients. 'Let's talk outside. Don't disturb the patient's rest.'

By now, Doctor Gao's confidence was wavering. As a doctor, when an alternative diagnosis came to mind, he couldn't help but consider it.

But he still couldn't accept that he was wrong and this quack was right.

He had medical equipment for testing—how could that be inferior to her random pulse-taking?

In the hallway, Doctor Gao said, 'Let's talk here.' He felt this quack didn't deserve to enter his office.

Su Fuling asked, 'Does the patient have a hunched back?'

Doctor Gao replied, 'That's because he's a construction worker—heavy labor caused it.'

Wang Tai had quietly followed out, feeling uneasy. She chimed in, 'Yes, my husband does heavy manual work. He's the family's sole provider. If it weren't for Doctor Gao, we couldn't even afford to stay in the hospital.'

Hearing this, Su Fuling gained some respect for Doctor Gao. Helping poor patients showed he had medical ethics. His arrogance and prejudice were likely due to his education, not a bad character.

Her tone softened. 'Has the patient lived in Southeast Asia?' The case records mentioned that region as a high-incidence area for tuberculosis.

Wang Tai immediately said, 'Yes, we immigrated from there.'

Doctor Gao froze. Information began flooding his mind.

Su Fuling continued, 'Has the patient had low-grade fever and night sweats?'

Wang Tai nodded vigorously. 'Yes, yes. At home, he often had low fevers and sweated a lot. I thought he was just weak and made him nourishing soups.'

Su Fuling said, 'I just took his pulse. It's thin, rapid, and slippery—definitely not a herniated disc. Multiple symptoms point to spinal tuberculosis. It's likely at the middle stage now. Doctor Gao, I hope you take this seriously. This can't be delayed. In the late stage, many sequelae become irreversible.'

Doctor Gao's forehead began to sweat. He recalled his initial examination. A CT scan had shown disc bulging, leading to a diagnosis of lumbar disc herniation. The patient had lower back pain, radiating leg pain, spinal stiffness, and difficulty bending—all symptoms of a herniated disc. With CT images and symptom presentation, he hadn't doubted the diagnosis.

But now, after Su Fuling's questions, Doctor Gao realized what he'd overlooked. The thought that he might have misdiagnosed made his head feel heavy, as if filled with lead. He couldn't accept it. Worst of all, he'd been wrong, and a quack he despised had seen it.

Ignoring Su Fuling, he said to Wang Tai, 'I need to run new tests on Mr. Wang.' He had to confirm—he couldn't accept this result otherwise.

Wang Tai said, 'But... we don't have that much money.' Tests were expensive.

'I'll figure it out!' Doctor Gao said immediately.

Seeing this, Zhao Facai knew his master had diagnosed correctly. So Doctor Gao was the real quack. 'Hey, admit defeat now?'

Su Fuling patted him. 'Uncle Facai.' Saving lives was more important than this.

Doctor Gao finally turned back to Su Fuling, his expression complex. 'The results aren't out yet. But saying what you did shows you have some skill.'

Su Fuling replied, 'I learned from case studies left by other traditional Chinese doctors. So even if I'm not highly skilled, I hope you won't look down on traditional Chinese medicine in the future. There are many excellent doctors in this field.'

Doctor Gao said, 'Let's wait for the results.'

'Why is he so stubborn?' Zhao Facai grumbled.

Su Fuling didn't mind. She'd achieved her goal—not dragging traditional Chinese medicine down. And she'd accidentally helped a misdiagnosed case. 'We should go back.'

Sun Zhonghao quickly said, 'I'll drive.'

He'd witnessed Dr. Su's skill—no need for equipment, just pulse-taking and observation, and she'd spotted a different condition. Though the results weren't out yet, seeing Doctor Gao's reaction, Sun Zhonghao was almost certain.

Wang Tai wanted to stop Su Fuling but couldn't. With Doctor Gao arranging a re-examination for her husband, she had no chance to speak. She resolved to find out from Mr. Sun later where Dr. Su practiced. That doctor was truly remarkable—she'd even picked up on details Wang Tai hadn't mentioned.

On the way back, Sun Zhonghao kept apologizing.

Su Fuling said, 'It's fine. This isn't unusual. During hospital treatment, you should communicate with the attending physician. You can't use medication privately. Doctor Gao was just concerned about you.'

She'd encountered such situations before. Back home, people hadn't looked down on her as a traditional Chinese doctor—they just doubted a clinic doctor's skills. As a doctor, questioning was normal. If Doctor Gao hadn't been biased against traditional Chinese medicine, she wouldn't have argued.

At the hospital, Doctor Gao worked overtime, running comprehensive tests on Mr. Wang. This time, he focused on spinal tuberculosis, checking areas he'd previously overlooked.

With a clear target, the results were more detailed. Looking at the new findings, Doctor Gao felt the fog clear. Everything that had been blurry now made sense.

'So it really is spinal tuberculosis... spinal tuberculosis... hahaha...' He covered his head, feeling his worldview shatter into pieces.