Chapter 158: Chapter 131: The Wall-Banging Craze

“Can this action prevent heart disease?”

Liu Ziya looked at the video on his phone, his face full of the subway old man meme expression.

He was originally scrolling through local girls’ feeds, but somehow ended up on a Traditional Chinese Medicine video.

Lu Jiu, right, Liu Ziya knew him, plenty of his videos were all over the local scene, but only the first few were quite popular. Later, videos people took at his clinic got fewer likes and comments.

Liu Ziya had never consulted Lu Jiu about any illness and wasn’t interested in this local Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner who gained fame at his doorstep.

He just recently had some chest pain, and at this moment, seeing Lu Jiu’s video piqued his interest.

Even though Lu Jiu’s action was quite baffling, since nobody was at home anyway, he thought he might as well try it out. If it didn’t work, he could just stop.

And so, indoors, Liu Ziya started banging against the wall repeatedly.

Who knew if it was the video being inherently viral or the action being too simple and easy to practice, but everyone in Jianghan City who saw the video, usually one or two among them would give it a try.

As time went on, more and more people started banging against walls.

It got to the point where, by the third morning, quite a few people showed up in the park, each finding a tree and rhythmically banging against it.

“What are they doing?”

“I don’t know, using their backs to hit trees in the early morning is really strange.”

“Yeah, they might be sick?”

“In the head?”

“Wasn’t there an old man in the park before who liked banging against trees? These people might be imitating him.”

“Maybe, but why imitate tree banging? What’s the point?”

“…”

Beside a pavilion in the park, Cao Aiguo watched Liu Xun flying to hit a pillar, full of envy in his eyes.

If he had known this action was good for health, he would have learned from Liu Xun years ago.

Now, just banging his back a few times against a pillar already made him need to rest for a while. His body was clearly no match for Liu Xun’s.

“Old Liu, you mentioned before that you learned banging pillars from someone else. What did that person do?” Cao Aiguo asked.

Liu Xun, shirtless and muscular, replied, “In his younger days, he was a monk, even went to war, and after fighting, he lived in Jianghan for a few years, then moved elsewhere.”

“A monk, huh? Did he tell you what this action is for?” Cao Aiguo asked.

Liu Xun shook his head, “The monk only said it was good for health, never mentioned anything about preventing heart disease, as you said.”

“But I do think that doctor makes some sense. At least over the years, I’ve had no issues, and wearing less during winter is no problem, unlike you old guys who get sluggish with a slight chill.”

Cao Aiguo laughed, “Look at you boasting. I’m practicing too, maybe in a few years, I won’t be worse off than you!”

Liu Xun rolled his eyes, “Well, good luck with that.”

…

As the video spread, with many people recently experiencing heart discomfort, people began to mimic Lu Jiu’s wall-banging action.

Some streamers started checking in daily to share their wall-banging journeys for views.

Over time, it sparked a wall-banging craze in Jianghan City.

Soon, the original video maker who filmed Lu Jiu’s wall-banging, seeing its rising popularity, decided to buy a spot on the trending list.

Now with official traffic promotion, the video’s popularity soared, reaching audiences beyond Jianghan City.

Under different circumstances, even with official traffic, the video might have struggled to become widely popular.

But this winter, too many people were feeling heart discomfort.

Either a stuffy chest or sudden night pains.

Yet, hospital visits yielded no findings.

For ordinary people, if Western medicine doesn’t help, they turn to Traditional Chinese Medicine.

But with the current Traditional Chinese Medicine environment, seeing a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor is like gambling because there’s no telling if the doctor is actually good or capable of treatment.

Some people went to nearby Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinics, got eight or nine hundred worth of prescriptions, and after a few days or even weeks felt no different.

Others went to Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospitals, and like Western Hospitals, start with a bunch of checks, spending thousands, and finally get prescribed a bunch of proprietary Chinese medicines, still with no effect, leaving patients unsure if they recovered naturally or from the meds.

With such experiences, disbelief in Traditional Chinese Medicine naturally arises for many.

But, even if they’ve been tricked by Traditional Chinese Medicine, many still choose to believe.

Just like knowing hospitals might not treat certain illnesses yet still seeking doctors for medications.

Because they have no choice!

They’re forced into it!

Who enjoys being sick?

Now, seeing an online method claiming heart disease prevention, which looks simple and doable at home, everyone rushed to try it.

This kind of phenomenon seems to ride on a lucky wave, as if everyone is fanning the flames.

Lu Jiu once again broke into the public’s attention!

Many outsiders also began leaving comments under the most popular video.

“Is what this Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor says true or false?”

“Is he any good?”

“I’ve had allergic rhinitis forever, can he help?”

“Is this Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor reliable?”

“In the 21st century, how is there still such anti-intellectual discourse? So many dimwits actually believe wall-banging can prevent heart disease, hahaha.”

“Learning this move and never getting heart disease for life? If that’s the case, you deserve the Nobel Prize in Medicine!”

“Looks familiar, I feel like I’ve seen this Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor somewhere before.”

“…”

Comments were both positive and negative.

When people sought Lu Jiu’s consultation, Jianghan City netizens shared his location.

When others criticized Lu Jiu, many who had been treated by him defended him ardently.

However, such disputes are too common online; whenever a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor gains popularity, the comment section will witness arguments.

Even when some Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors successfully treat patients on the spot, there will be claims of paid actors.

It’s as if some people don’t want to see a situation where Traditional Chinese Medicine rises alongside Western medicine.

As ordinary folks, they never care about the Traditional Chinese Medicine-Western medicine divide, as long as their illness can be cured, who cares?

Thus, the best scenario for Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western medicine is a parallel coexistence, where they compete, benefiting the ordinary people.

A monopoly only forces ordinary people to bear high medical costs.

Just like today’s various medical devices.

Many say check-ups aren’t costly; a medical device can cost hundreds of thousands to millions, spread across everyone, costing only tens or hundreds per person, which is already cheap.

It’s comparable to migrant workers building cities in metropolises they can’t enter.

Why?

Because surviving in a city requires high living costs; the more developed a city, the higher the costs rise.

City elites might not care because they can afford it!

But what about those doing the dirtiest, hardest, least visible yet essential labors?

Why can’t they enjoy the good life in the city?

Many people talk about unaffordable healthcare because fees add up quickly with each check costing tens of dollars.

Is a few hundred a lot?

For many, perhaps not.

But in a country where 600 million earn less than a thousand a month, a few hundred is a lot.

Rising healthcare costs only deter them, making them increasingly afraid to seek medical help, turning easily treatable minor ailments into irreversible major diseases, leading to poverty and relapse into poverty from illness.

But why!?

Haven’t they contributed to this country?

Why should healthcare only be for the elites, not for the common people?

…

“Ha, teacher, look, it seems there’s a promising young Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor in Jianghan!”

On the high-speed train, An Xianda handed the phone to an elderly scholar-looking man beside him.

The old man glanced at the phone’s content, and after listening to the entire video, showed a look of appreciation in his eyes.

“What’s his name?”

An Xianda opened the comments section, taking a moment before replying, “Seems like… Lu Jiu!”

Lu Jiu…

The old man remembered the name.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep