Chapter 69 Sudden Illness
"How is it, Uncle, was your trip to the Provincial Capital not smooth?" Ge Dongxu, who was very observant, noticed that Cheng Yazhou looked exhausted and his expression carried a mix of anguish and worry, prompting him to ask out of concern.
"Yes, the funds haven't come through. Haha, you're still young; you don't need to worry about these things." Cheng Yazhou replied reflexively, but he quickly realized that Ge Dongxu was too young to discuss such matters and did not elaborate further.
Seeing that Cheng Yazhou did not want to continue, Ge Dongxu did not press further but thought to himself that he needed to mention this to Cheng Lehao when he had time, and to encourage him to study harder. Knowing how hard the parents worked for the family, he could not afford to add to their burdens.
Afterward, Cheng Yazhou asked about Ge Dongxu's studies at Changxi High School and mentioned that his son had recently been studying more diligently. As he spoke of this, a look of gratitude and relief clearly appeared on his face.
Cheng Yazhou had obviously been very tired these past few days. After talking for a while, he began to yawn incessantly, then he excused himself to Ge Dongxu, closed his eyes to rest, and soon began snoring, fast asleep.
Seeing Cheng Yazhou asleep, Ge Dongxu, also feeling quite bored and worrying that unwanted images might begin to appear in his mind, decided to close his eyes as well and entered a state of meditation.
After an indeterminate amount of time in meditation, Ge Dongxu suddenly heard Cheng Yazhou's painful moans, which startled him and jolted him out of his meditation.
Awakening from his meditation, Ge Dongxu saw Cheng Yazhou pressing his hands against his chest, curled up in his seat in agony, his face pale, covered in sweat, and breathing shallowly.
Alarmed at the sight, Ge Dongxu quickly got up and asked, "Uncle, what's wrong with you?"
At the same time, he had already placed his hand on Cheng Yazhou's wrist, feeling his pulse.
"My chest hurts terribly! Hurry, go get a crew member, I, I might be having a myocardial infarction," Cheng Yazhou gasped out the words with difficulty, his eyes showing pain and panic.
Because it was nighttime and not a peak travel period, the train car was not very crowded, and most passengers were asleep at this time, so no one but Ge Dongxu noticed the situation yet.
"You're right, this is a myocardial infarction. At this time, calling a crew member won't help. Lie on your side; I'm going to apply acupuncture now," Ge Dongxu, a skilled physician, naturally knew that a myocardial infarction was a severe, acute condition that could not be delayed. If prolonged, it could lead to extensive myocardial infarction, which even his current medical skills would be powerless to reverse. Thus, without any hesitation, he urgently spoke.
"You?" Though Cheng Yazhou was in severe pain and struggled to breathe, he was still conscious. Seeing Ge Dongxu offering to perform acupuncture, his eyes widened in surprise. He was about to tell Ge Dongxu not to mess around as his sudden illness wasn't something he could deal with when he saw Ge Dongxu pulling out an ancient-looking sandalwood box from his bag. As he opened the box and took out several silver needles, the words Cheng Yazhou was about to say were swallowed back.
By the time he realized he shouldn't let Ge Dongxu perform acupuncture, Ge Dongxu had already torn open his shirt and, without saying a word, expertly placed needles into his Shen Shu acupoint, Di Shu acupoint, Ju Que acupoint, Tan Zhong acupoint, among others.
As soon as Ge Dongxu inserted the needles, Cheng Yazhou immediately felt much less pain, and his breathing seemed not as labored as before. At that moment, he finally understood that Ge Dongxu could indeed treat him, so he no longer insisted on calling someone else. Instead, he sat up as Ge Dongxu instructed, positioning his body upright.
Due to the position of the seats on the train, which had a backrest and were narrow, Cheng Yazhou was lying on his side, making it inconvenient for Ge Dongxu to administer the acupuncture. Initially, Cheng Yazhou was in severe pain, so asking him to sit up was clearly unrealistic. Therefore, Ge Dongxu allowed him to remain lying on his side. Now that the pain had eased somewhat, he asked him to sit upright.
After Cheng Yazhou sat upright, Ge Dongxu helped him target a few acupoints, then alternately gently rotated the silver needles with his fingers. Each rotation consumed some of his True Qi.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
As a result, Cheng Yazhou's complexion soon became rosier, while Ge Dongxu's face turned pale.
There was no choice, today at Liu Jiayao's home, Ge Dongxu's True Qi had already been almost depleted. After most of the day, he had just barely recovered a bit of strength, when Cheng Yazhou suddenly fell ill again.
Cheng Yazhou was a good person, and over the past few days, everyone had grown quite close. Faced with his medical condition, Ge Dongxu naturally did all he could.
Fortunately, Ge Dongxu had consistently and diligently cultivated his skills over the years, building a solid foundation. Thus, although he had expended a lot of energy at Liu Jiayao's home earlier, he was able to muster a bit of True Qi after recovering for most of the day. Otherwise, Cheng Yazhou's myocardial infarction would not have eased so quickly.
After a while, Ge Dongxu saw that Cheng Yazhou would not have any more problems and thus began to remove the silver needles one by one. He then massaged Cheng Yazhou's chest and other areas for a while before finally letting out a long sigh of relief, saying, "Finally, it's all right."
Having said this, Ge Dongxu practically collapsed into the chair, breathing heavily.
Seeing Ge Dongxu's exhausted appearance, Cheng Yazhou was very touched and said, "Thank you, Dongxu. If it wasn't for you today, Uncle Cheng might have died right here. Just like Lehao's grandfather, who passed away suddenly from a myocardial infarction. The doctors told me this illness isn't hereditary, but that all turned out to be nonsense."
"We're all family, Uncle Cheng, so there's no need for formalities with me. However, you were wrong to blame the doctor earlier. This disease indeed does not necessarily have hereditary factors. The main issue is with yourself. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is said that improper diet, indulging in rich and fatty foods, or frequently overeating can harm the spleen and stomach over time, impairing their functioning. This leads to the production of phlegm from retained dampness which ascends and clouds the chest. When the clear yang fails to rise, and the qi circulation is impeded, this obstructs the heart's vessels. Alternatively, phlegm can turn into fire, where heat can further congeal the liquids into phlegm and scorch the blood into stasis, blocking the heart's vessels with phlegm and stasis, and thus causing heart pain. So, Uncle Cheng, you really need to lose weight, otherwise, you might face today's situation again," Ge Dongxu waved his hand as he spoke.
"Yes, yes. I was scared to death today. When I get back, I'll start losing weight, and not just me—Lehao needs to as well," Cheng Yazhou nodded repeatedly, still frightened.
He was only a little over forty this year, and if something similar to his father's sudden myocardial infarction happened, how could he rest assured about Lehao and his wife?
"That's right. Also, don't overwork yourself in the future and try to maintain a relaxed mood. This occurrence of a myocardial infarction surely also had to do with your recent travel and stressed mood," Ge Dongxu continued.
"Yes, these past few days have not only worn me out but also stressed me quite a bit. However, let's not talk about this. Let's talk about you—how did you learn acupuncture, and how is it that you are so miraculously skilled?" Cheng Yazhou nodded, then quickly turned to Ge Dongxu with curiosity, asking him about his acupuncture skills.
ps: The youth stage primarily sets the foundation for the protagonist's rise in university and future, so it will not be lengthy, and readers can be assured.