Sunshine District.

Lu Jiu and the other person arrived here a little past seven.

The sky was already pitch black.

Sunshine District is an old neighborhood. It was once said it would be redeveloped for developers to build an apartment complex, but then nothing came of it.

“Old Liu’s wife passed away early; he has two sons and a daughter. The eldest son does business out of town, and after becoming successful, he settled there. The second son works out of town, the grandson went out of town for college years ago to make a living, and the daughter married a foreigner and now also lives abroad and hasn’t been back in a long time, leaving only him at home.”

“A few years ago, he was doing okay. Although he had coronary heart disease, which was kept under control with long-term medication, it didn’t affect his life much. Occasionally, he’d have heart pain but could endure it. However, recently his coronary heart disease flared up severely, and he collapsed in the bathroom, nearly dying. Luckily, he’s got good survival instincts; he got up and called 120 for help, or he wouldn’t be alive now.”

“I’ve tried to help him manage his coronary heart disease, but it wasn’t very effective, and I’m worried that stopping his medication might make things worse, so I stopped the treatment. As for you, try to see if you can solve his shingles issue; if you can, great, but if not, it’s fine. As for the heart disease, it’s best if you don’t get involved.”

Within the complex, two streetlights were broken, making the already dimly lit area appear even darker.

Lu Mountain’s reminder also made Lu Jiu fall into contemplation.

“Grandpa, how many years has he been on medication?” Lu Jiu asked.

Lu Mountain said, “More than ten years. Last time he went for a check-up, the doctor said he has cerebellar atrophy and prescribed several more months of medication. There are three drawers at home just for the meds, all filled to the brim.”

“When I ask you not to interfere, it’s not that I want you to ignore ethics, but Liu’s current condition means he doesn’t have much time left. His heart disease isn’t due to organ issues, it’s purely emotional, and that’s something we can’t fix.”

“Moreover, with no family around, if something happens to him after our treatment, it would be impossible to defend ourselves. I’m old, it doesn’t matter for me, but you shouldn’t get involved and cause trouble for yourself.”

Friends are friends, family is family.

When it comes to friendship, Lu Mountain and Liu Congjun have been friends for thirty or forty years, as close as can be.

But such a friendship doesn’t involve family matters.

Liu Congjun’s trust in him doesn’t mean his children trust him.

If a person is alive, it’s easier to explain; if they’re gone, then nothing can be said for sure.

If it weren’t for their good relationship, Lu Mountain wouldn’t have asked Lu Jiu to handle Liu Congjun’s shingles.

This can be seen as Lu Mountain fulfilling his responsibility as a good friend and a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. Anything beyond that wouldn’t be appropriate.

“Fine, I won’t interfere,” Lu Jiu said.

Even though Lu Jiu has obsessive-compulsive tendencies, disliking seeing a patient with untreated issues, it still requires the patient to actively seek treatment.

In this situation, not treating him doesn’t contradict the philosophy of medical sincerity and integrity.

In no time, Lu Mountain led Lu Jiu to a row of old houses within the complex. Although the whole complex looks quite old, the other rows of houses are slightly better-looking. Only this row seems to have gone without renovation for at least twenty or thirty years.

“We’re here.” When they reached the fourth house in this row, Lu Mountain stopped.

While speaking, Lu Mountain stepped forward and knocked on the door.

“Old Liu, open up.”

After about twenty or thirty seconds, the door finally opened.

“You’re here?” Liu Congjun noticed Lu Jiu, “Is this your grandson?”

Lu Mountain laughed, “Here to treat you. Let’s talk inside.”

Liu Congjun stepped back a few steps, allowing Lu Mountain and Lu Jiu to enter the house. Once Lu Jiu faced him, he warmly asked, “Have you eaten? If not, I’ll cook something for you.”

Lu Jiu smiled, “I’ve eaten, Grandpa Liu, don’t worry about it.”

Liu Congjun chuckled, “Honestly, such a bother to have you come personally. I just happened to mention it to Old Lu, thinking I’d visit your clinic tomorrow. But he said the clinic is hard to queue at these days. Given my health, if I collapse after queuing for an hour at the clinic entrance, it would ruin the clinic’s feng shui.”

Lu Jiu laughed, “Don’t listen to my grandpa’s nonsense. But it’s true the clinic is hard to queue at now, and since I have nothing to do tonight, it’s really not a bother.”

Liu Congjun laughed, “Old Lu’s told me more than once that ever since you took over the clinic, the patients have been coming in droves. He wasn’t as capable as you. The new waves of the Yangtze River push the old ones, and you’ve outdone your grandpa.”

Lu Mountain said, “Stop the chatter, aren’t those blisters on your waist uncomfortable?”

Lu Jiu also added at the right time, “Grandpa Liu, let’s chat later; please lift your shirt first so I can take a look.”

Liu Congjun didn’t stand on ceremony, he was indeed quite uncomfortable, “Sure, okay.”

The blisters on his waist were truly painful, so sensitive that even the slightest touch would make him shiver.

Especially when wearing clothes, a light brush against them could cause intense pain.

And now it’s winter; not wearing clothes is not an option.

If the hospital hadn’t failed to alleviate it with medications after a week, he wouldn’t have mentioned it to Lu Mountain.

As people age, it’s difficult to repay social obligations.

When Liu Congjun gritted his teeth and lifted his clothing, Lu Jiu finally saw the densely packed blisters.

For someone with anxiety toward clusters, seeing this might make them nauseous.

Shingles presents with skin outbreaks of clustered blisters, distributed in a band, accompanied by strong pain. Because the blisters often form like a string of beads, spreading across the waist and sides like a serpent, it’s called “snake shingles.”

Of course, it has many other names, like snake-scarlet or wrapped waist fire scarlet, etc.

Western medicine refers to it as herpes zoster.

This disease is often caused by disrupted emotions, excessive spicy or rich food intake, or exposure to heat-related toxin conditions.

While the disease is located in the skin, it’s mainly related to the liver and spleen.

In fact, many people get this disease, typically in the spring and autumn, because the traditional Chinese medicine concept of “seasonal disease” aligns with the Western medicine virus explanation for herpes zoster.

So, when Lu Jiu first heard the disease name, he was perplexed. It’s winter, and the probability of getting shingles seems exceedingly low.

Later, through conversations with Lu Mountain, Lu Jiu roughly understood that Liu Congjun’s shingles were likely unrelated to viruses but linked to emotions and his pre-existing heart condition.

After carefully observing Liu Congjun’s shingles, Lu Jiu noticed several details.

The blisters weren’t full, the blister walls were loose, and the skin lesions appeared pale red with yellow-white erosive exudation, symptoms indicative of damp heat in the Spleen Meridian.

If it were damp heat in the Liver Meridian, the blisters would be full, blister walls tense, and lesions bright red.

“Grandpa Liu, can you open your mouth so I can check your tongue coating?” Lu Jiu asked.

Liu Congjun complied immediately.

The tongue coating was greasy and yellow.

No mistake about it.

“Grandpa Liu, have you experienced upper abdominal distension and discomfort?” Lu Jiu inquired.

“Yes,” Liu Congjun replied.

“It’s undoubtedly damp heat in the Spleen Meridian. I’ll perform acupuncture,” Lu Jiu said.

With abundant clinical experience, Lu Jiu found diagnosing such not overly complex conditions effortless.

“Sure, go ahead,” Liu Congjun said.

Lu Jiu promptly took out a fine needle and began acupuncture at the Jiaji, Zhigou, Yanglingquan, Yinlingquan, Xingjian, Sea of Blood, and other points.

Afterward, he helped Lu Mountain fix the clothing that Liu Congjun had lifted, then donned disposable gloves and gently tapped the blister area with his index finger.

“Does this hurt?”

“Ah~~ Soo~~painful…”

“How about here?”

“Ouch, ouch, ouch!”

“And here?”

“Ouch~~ also hurts…”

Lu Jiu confirmed each point and then applied acupuncture there.

These locations aren’t major acupuncture points but Ahshi Points, also known as indefinite points, generally chosen based on the disease’s location, often referred to as “where there is pain, there is a point.”

Many diseases successfully benefit from using the Ahshi Points technique, producing significant results.

…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep