Chapter 10
Those words weren’t friendly, carrying a hint of gunpowder.
Huang Qiang looked at Wu Heng on the other end of the camera with a provocative glint in his eyes. With those looks, why wasn’t this streamer a typical attractive streamer, instead choosing this gimmicky shaman doctor route? No one could successfully imitate this.
Yesterday, the hashtag #StreamerLiveDiagnosisManVomitsLiveSnake had been trending on Weibo all day. It had finally been pushed down by entertainment news, and now, after just a short while, this streamer’s late-night broadcast and his stunning shamanic dance had made it back to the trending list. This massive traffic was what countless streamers dreamed of.
If he could piggyback off Wu Heng’s traffic, even just a little, it would be great. Since he had the chance to connect, Huang Qiang deliberately spoke provocatively, hoping to gain even more traffic.
If he was lucky and could expose Wu Heng as a fraud, he would become incredibly popular. After all, although he hadn’t watched much of Wu Heng’s live streams, it was most likely fake. Even if he couldn’t expose him, he would still gain a huge amount of traffic, so he had nothing to lose.
Huang Qiang said with a smirk, “I’m appearing completely barefaced.”
[It’s Brother Qiang! Although he’s not very polite, he’s not wrong. Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes observation, and without beauty filters, you can see his complexion.]
[Has anyone considered that Wu Heng’s popularity explosion is entirely related to Young Mr. He’s snake fetus case? Who knows if he can diagnose other illnesses?]
[Brother Qiang’s food is super delicious, watching late at night makes my mouth water. How can a man be so good at cooking?!]
[So can the streamer tell what’s wrong with Brother Qiang? If not, I’m unfollowing. I’ve been skeptical all along.]
…
Netizens in the live stream loved to watch the drama unfold and kept egging him on in the barrage comments.
Wu Heng took the tea offered by Mrs. He and tasted it. It was bitter and not very pleasant. He said slowly, “Your cheeks are sallow and sunken, the dark circles under your eyes are heavy, indicating signs of major bleeding.”
Huang Qiang almost laughed, but Wu Heng continued, “Of course, that’s not the immediate concern. The real patient is your blood relative. A sore throat, right?”
The mocking smile on Huang Qiang’s face faltered, and he looked at Wu Heng cautiously.
[He got it right!! Brother Qiang has been asking for help online these past two days, what to do about his uncle’s swollen and painful throat? I’m in the same city as Brother Qiang and saw them at the First City Hospital yesterday!]
[Brother Qiang cooks delicious food, is filial, and although his looks aren’t top-tier, he’s still handsome. He’s such a good man. He hasn’t updated his videos for several days because of his uncle’s illness. Looking forward to it.]
[A nephew standing before the door means the family line isn’t broken!]
[That short video where Brother Qiang asked for help got over three hundred thousand likes. Is it strange that the streamer saw it beforehand?]
Huang Qiang thought the same. He was a fairly popular streamer in the food category, so there was a high chance that Wu Heng had seen his video. What was the point of mentioning this?
Huang Qiang didn’t expose him, instead saying with a smile, “Yes, I deliberately asked that to test if you were a real shaman doctor. It’s true that my uncle has a sore throat.”
He helped a middle-aged man into view. The man’s throat was swollen as if a large apple was lodged inside, his lips pale, his breathing slightly labored. He opened his mouth and tried to speak, letting out a few strained “ah” sounds, but couldn’t form any words.
He Yunxiao, who was tentatively bonding with the baby snake, glanced over and let out a surprised “Eh?”
He seemed to have seen this middle-aged man somewhere before.
He Yunxiao thought for a moment and then remembered that three months ago, when he had secretly gone to treat his snake bite, he had seen this man at the Shi family’s doorstep.
At the time, Huang Zhigang, carrying a wok and ladle, had been cursing and swearing at the Shi family’s door, like a chef who had been fired.
Seeing He Yunxiao, Huang Zhigang had immediately approached him and asked, “Young Master He? Does your family need a chef? I know all kinds of cuisines, and I can also cook all sorts of delicious dishes you wouldn’t expect.”
“I’m really desperate, I have several mouths to feed at home.”
He Yunxiao didn’t have a good impression of the Shi family next door, and although the uncle seemed honest and kind, he didn’t dare to hire a chef fired by the Shi family, so he politely declined.
He hadn’t expected to see him again after several months, in a live stream, and in such a condition.
His sickly appearance also startled the netizens in the live stream.
[Why is it so swollen? His throat wasn’t this swollen when he posted the video the day before yesterday?]
[Has he taken antibiotics like cephalosporin or amoxicillin? Is it a bacterial infection? I had a fever that wouldn’t go away, and my throat was swollen for half a month. I thought I was going to die.]
[I don’t understand, is it a tumor? Or a thyroid problem? Or a lymph node issue?]
[What did the doctors at the First City Hospital say, Brother Qiang?]
The worry on Huang Qiang’s face wasn’t feigned. He looked at his uncle anxiously and said to the netizens, “We went, he had all kinds of tests, ultrasounds, MRIs, everything, but they couldn’t find anything wrong. The First City Hospital is the best hospital in our city.”
Huang Qiang was genuinely worried. Since the hospital couldn’t find anything wrong, he had even taken Huang Zhigang to a renowned traditional Chinese medicine doctor, but the herbal remedies didn’t work either.
He happened to come across this self-proclaimed shaman doctor, Wu Heng, so he decided to give it a try.
Thinking this, Huang Qiang deliberately moved the camera closer to Huang Zhigang’s throat, close enough to see the pulsating artery.
Wu Heng stared at Huang Zhigang’s swollen throat for a few seconds. “It’s not a serious illness.”
Huang Qiang said irritably, “Not a serious illness? The best hospital in the city couldn’t figure it out, what do you say it is?”
Wu Heng: “Just a stuck bone.”
Huang Qiang was so angry he laughed.
[A stuck bone? Impossible, right? If it was a bone, the hospital would have found it!]
[Right, I can see a fish bone if it’s stuck, let alone other bones. You don’t even need hospital equipment, you can see it with the naked eye.]
[Was the streamer’s snake fetus removal just special effects staged by a group of people? You’re talking nonsense.]
Seeing the barrage comments, He Yunxiao almost jumped up. “Staged? I haven’t stooped to the level of becoming an internet celebrity!”
Did his family need that measly internet celebrity money?
Mr. He, who had been yawning, also frowned. “Netizens, please be careful with your words.”
The He family now believed Wu Heng wholeheartedly. After all, they had seen it with their own eyes. Yunxiao’s illness was cured by Wu Heng, from diagnosis to treatment, in just one day.
Whether it was traditional Chinese medicine or Western medicine, illnesses took time to heal, right? How could it be this fast?
Huang Qiang insinuated, “Although my uncle’s illness isn’t cured yet, I might have just exposed a fake doctor for everyone.”
Wu Heng’s rise to fame was as swift as his downfall would be!
Wu Heng uttered two words: “Pig bone.”
Huang Qiang froze, staring at Wu Heng’s handsome face painted with vibrant colors. His brown eyes made him avert his gaze, feeling inexplicably guilty.
Pig…pig bone.
Netizens in the live stream were still making a fuss, not buying Wu Heng’s diagnosis.
A pig bone? If the hospital couldn’t find it, they should just close down!
Even some medical professionals appeared: [The streamer is underestimating the millions of dollars worth of medical equipment in hospitals! You guys can disperse now.]
[But didn’t the previous patient have snake fetuses that weren’t detected by ultrasound?]
[… Holy crap, does that mean this is another supernatural event? Don’t scare people in the middle of the night, okay?]
[I still believe the streamer, maybe it really is something unclean that medical instruments can’t detect.]
[Looking at Brother Qiang’s expression, it seems like the streamer got it right…]
Li Hao and his friends were still lurking in Wu Heng’s live stream, and these shrewd individuals also noticed the change in Huang Qiang’s expression.
“Haozi, could this shaman doctor really have some skills?” The friend with bleached yellow hair asked timidly, touching the spot where he had been bitten by the snake.
Li Hao was annoyed, remembering Wu Heng telling them to apologize to Shi Xuan until he was satisfied. “How the hell would I know?”
Li Hao looked at his friends, suddenly kicking one of them and cursing, “You idiot, what are you crawling on the floor for in the middle of the night? Don’t scare people.”
The friend touched his face. “I don’t know, I just suddenly wanted to crawl.”
The netizens in the live stream were still skeptical, but Huang Qiang was more accepting than them, pressing Wu Heng, “Then, then how do we treat it? Jump for the gods too? If you can cure my uncle, I’ll gift you a dozen Carnivals.”
That wasn’t jumping for the gods; it was a more ancient shamanic dance.
“Just cut open his throat and take it out,” Wu Heng said, looking at He Yunxiao. “Give me a knife.”
He Yunxiao, suddenly addressed, was stunned. “Huh? A knife?”
“My house only has kitchen knives and fruit knives, no scalpels, will that work?”
This surprised Wu Heng. “What kind of knife is a scalpel?”
Scalpels didn’t exist in ancient times, and this body of Wu Heng’s lacked knowledge of modern medicine, so he wasn’t very familiar with modern hospitals and equipment.
Huang Qiang: “…”
This streamer didn’t even know what a scalpel was!!
And he was talking about using a kitchen knife or fruit knife to cut open his throat…
Good heavens! Was this child’s play?
And why? Why did he just jump for the gods and exorcise He Yunxiao’s illness, but his uncle needed surgery? Wouldn’t surgery require ten days to half a month of recovery?
Jumping for the gods didn’t cause any real harm, so it was fine to try. But who would dare to put their life in Wu Heng’s hands and let him operate? This wasn’t a joke!
Absurd! Absolutely absurd!
[Initially, considering the streamer’s method of dealing with the snake fetuses, I could reluctantly accept surgery. But then he asked ‘what’s a scalpel’???]
[Is he about to be exposed… I thought the streamer had some skills.]
[Quietly asking Doctor Wu Heng, do you know what bacteria and cells are?]
[Brother Qiang and Uncle Zhigang are probably scared to death. The uncle is already sick, wouldn’t hearing this in the middle of the night worsen his condition?]
Huang Qiang really wanted to end the connection now. Even if Wu Heng had skills, he wouldn’t dare let him perform surgery.
But remembering the words “pig bone” that Wu Heng had said, he held back.
After hesitating for a moment, Huang Qiang said, “No surgery, no surgery, we’ll do conservative treatment, prescribe medicine! Prescribe medicine, okay?”
As Huang Qiang finished speaking, a glint flashed in his eyes.
“No surgery now, but he’ll still need it eventually,” Wu Heng said, seeing that his one-hour live stream time was almost up, he nodded. “That’s fine too. Send me your address privately.”
“That’s all for today’s live stream, everyone, good night.”
After saying this, Wu Heng ignored the noisy barrage comments and closed the live stream.
Before he could remove his phone from the stand, Mr. He, his face slightly anxious, spoke up, “Doctor Wu, please don’t prescribe medicine. Practicing medicine without a license is illegal, you’ll go to jail.”
Looking at Wu Heng’s youthful, handsome face, Mr. He felt he was around the same age as his foolish son and was worried that his lack of experience would cause him to be taken advantage of by those internet celebrities.
He knew his family’s character, but he couldn’t be sure about outsiders. There were too many instances of backstabbing in the business world.
Jumping for the gods was fine, he could just explain it away as dancing, and no one could do anything to him. But surgery and prescribing medicine were different matters.
Wu Heng didn’t reply, instead turning to He Yunxiao. “Go to the garden and dig up some soil for me.”
He Yunxiao: “Huh? Oh.”
He Yunxiao, having lost his big belly, was back to being the active young man he was. He returned in less than two minutes with a small bag of fresh soil.
“Doctor Wu, what do you need the soil for?”
Wu Heng took the soil, rolled it between his palms, and in no time, formed a walnut-sized mud pill.
“Help me call a courier or delivery person to send this to Huang Qiang.”
Wu Heng was familiar with the term “courier” because his father often mailed things home, so even though he wasn’t very familiar with this world, he understood the courier industry.
Everyone present stared at the mud pill in bewilderment.
Huh? A mud pill as medicine?
This could indeed prevent Huang Qiang from reporting him, but… the Chengde Medical Clinic account would be ruined. What good could a mud pill do? How could it cure an illness?
He Yunxiao immediately said, “Doctor Wu, don’t worry about the account being banned, our family will protect you.”
Just for saving his life, the He family would never mistreat him!
So what if he couldn’t be a streamer anymore? Wu Heng’s good days were yet to come!
At this time, Mrs. He arrived with the butler and servants carrying a pile of things. “Doctor Wu, it’s already past one in the morning, why don’t you stay at our house until tomorrow morning?”
Seeing Wu Heng shake his head, Mrs. He had no choice but to present the gifts. The first was a small, black diamond card.
“This is your medical fee, a small token of our appreciation.”
Wu Heng accepted it without hesitation.
Everything had a cause and effect. Since he had helped He Yunxiao, it was only right to receive payment.
“This is our family’s access card. It can be used in all shopping malls and supermarkets under the He Group.”
Wu Heng figured it wouldn’t be of much use in Nan Nuo village, but he accepted it anyway.
Then came some exquisite gift boxes. Wu Heng glanced at them and knew they contained expensive watches, wild ginseng, and other valuable medicines.
Remembering Wu Heng’s abrupt offline incident earlier, Mrs. He also took out a small box and handed it to him. “Doctor Wu, this is the latest phone for you.”
With a new phone, he wouldn’t have to worry about youth mode anymore.
Wu Heng’s current phone was sent by his father, a budget phone that was naturally inferior to this flagship model.
Wu Heng was quite interested in this world’s electronic devices and internet, so he immediately opened the box and inserted his SIM card.
He Yunxiao quickly rushed over and asked, “Doctor Wu Heng, do you have WeChat? Let’s add each other and keep in touch.”
He vaguely remembered You Jin helping him register a WeChat account, but he wasn’t very good at using it. After logging in, he saw less than five contacts in his address book.
He Yunxiao scanned Wu Heng’s QR code and successfully added him.
He Yunxiao almost laughed seeing Wu Heng’s WeChat username. He hadn’t expected such a powerful shaman doctor to have a username like “HengHengBaby.”
Wu Heng put away his phone contentedly and looked at Mrs. He and the others’ hands.
They seemed empty.
Mrs. He’s heart skipped a beat. Had she not prepared enough gifts? Was Wu Heng not satisfied?
Her son’s life was naturally more valuable than anything. She quickly said, “Doctor Wu, please don’t mind, we were a bit rushed in our preparations. We’ll definitely prepare a grand gift tomorrow.”
They hadn’t expected Wu Heng to be so efficient, not giving them much time to prepare.
“No need for a grand gift,” Wu Heng said, pointing at the pastries on the coffee table. “Could you pack those for me?”
They were quite delicious.
Mrs. He was taken aback and asked tentatively, “Doctor Wu, would you like some…Beijing specialties? A Peking duck, perhaps?”
Wu Heng’s eyes lit up with delight. “Really?”
He looked much happier than when he received the medical fee!
Mrs. He immediately instructed the butler to prepare various delicious pastries and specialties, which took almost half an hour.
The He family saw Wu Heng off at the main gate. Seeing Wu Heng carrying large and small bags, including He Yunxiao’s baby snake, Mr. He quickly said, “Doctor Wu, let us arrange a car to take you to your accommodation.”
Wu Heng did have a slight southwestern accent, and considering his shamanic gear tonight, his family must really be in a village in the remote southwest.
Was he on a trip to Beijing? Or visiting friends? He was either staying with friends or at a hotel.
It was so late, they should offer him a ride, it was the polite thing to do.
Wu Heng declined, “No need, it’s not very convenient.”
Having been rejected several times, the He family could only give up regretfully, watching Wu Heng leave.
It was late, and everyone was tired. Mr. and Mrs. He couldn’t help but yawn. He Yunxiao was still quite energetic. He looked back in the direction Wu Heng had left and saw him walk about eight or nine hundred meters before turning into the back gate of the Shi family’s house.
He Yunxiao: “!!!”
Holy crap, why did Wu Heng enter the Shi family’s house?
Peking duck, so fragrant.
The freshly roasted duck exuded the aroma of a special sauce.
Wu Heng happily carried the Peking duck back to the dilapidated courtyard.
It was the height of summer, a time for everything to flourish, yet the towering trees in the courtyard were withered and lifeless, not even the sound of cicadas could be heard, enveloped in a thick yin energy.
In the darkness, Wu Heng saw that tall, deathly figure again. He was watching him.
This young man was exceptionally tall, even taller than him. Wu Heng couldn’t even look him in the eye without looking up.
Wu Heng: “Not asleep yet? Insomnia?”
Shi Xuan stared at Wu Heng’s fair face painted with vibrant colors and didn’t respond.
This person hadn’t slept, how could he use the ancient well to go home in front of him?
Wu Heng met Shi Xuan’s gaze, his eyes as dark as a bottomless abyss, radiating an incredibly heavy deathly aura.
He should be dying within the next two days. Wu Heng thought.
Wu Heng walked past Shi Xuan towards the well.
Shi Xuan clenched his hands behind his back, as if making a decision. “Hello, my name is…”
Hearing a sound behind him, Shi Xuan abruptly turned around just in time to see Wu Heng jump into the well.
Shi Xuan’s pupils constricted, and he stumbled back two steps. “…………!”
Another one dead.
One act of initiative resulted in a lifetime of introversion.
Thanks for the chapter 🌻✨