"Can you just shut up?" Li Se said angrily. Zhu Long had been incessantly blabbing since he arrived, which was starting to annoy him.
"What, did I expose you?" Zhu Long sneered. "Then tell me, what's wrong with Mr. Wu? Didn't you say you knew the cause of the illness? Then speak up!"
"Dr. Li, can you tell just by looking what's wrong with my husband?" Ruan Cuiyun asked faintly.
Li Se said, "Mr. Wu's condition is likely impotence, which in Traditional Chinese Medicine is caused by kidney deficiency and blood stasis. Therefore, the treatment not only requires tonifying the kidneys but also invigorating the blood and removing stasis!"
"You don't need to worry. Divine Doctor Li already knew the cause of the illness when he saw me yesterday," Wu Chao said helplessly. Li Se's medical skills were indeed quite good.
He looked intently at Li Se and said, "Divine Doctor Li, let's begin."
Zhu Long said in a deep voice, "Mr. Wu, you'd better reconsider. If even my special medicine doesn't work, then your condition is beyond hope. It's useless for anyone to come, let alone acupuncture. This is completely reckless, playing with your own body."
"Just because you can't cure it doesn't mean others can't. As for your special medicine, I see no difference between it and trash," Li Se said coldly.
Zhu Long was somewhat annoyed. "My special medicine was brought back from abroad. You can't even buy it in the country; you need a special channel. And one bottle is very expensive. How dare you say there's a problem with my special medicine?"
"That medicine you have can affect your cardiovascular system. It's not a cure, just a stimulation. It will create a dependency, and if you take too much, it can even be harmful to your life!" Li Se attacked without hesitation.
"You're talking nonsense!" Zhu Long shouted, his face darkening. How could he not be angry that Li Se dared to slander his special medicine like this?
"Whether it's true or not, you know in your heart!" Li Se snorted coldly.
Seeing that Zhu Long still wanted to argue, Wu Chao quickly said, "Alright, Doctor Zhu, Divine Doctor Li. Regardless, you were both invited by me, and I will pay the consultation fees as agreed."
He paused, then looked at Li Se and added, "However, if you can't cure it, I won't give you the medicinal herbs."
Zhu Long snorted coldly and said no more.
Li Se nodded, channeled his true qi into the silver needles, and began to acupuncture Wu Chao. This illness was not a major one for Li Se, so after a round of acupuncture, it only took about ten minutes.
"I... I'm having a reaction?" Wu Chao exclaimed excitedly.
"Really?" Ruan Cuiyun's eyes lit up with hope.
"Thank you, Divine Doctor Li!" Wu Chao felt a genuine reaction and was grateful to Li Se.
"I'll write another prescription..." Li Se was about to say something.
"Mr. Wu, are you really sure a few needles are enough to cure it?" Zhu Long suddenly asked from the side.
"What do you mean?" Wu Chao didn't quite understand Zhu Long's words.
Zhu Long said smugly, "What I brought is a special medicine, meticulously screened and certified, and used by many people. It's extremely effective in treating this condition. I just remembered, this special medicine needs some time to take effect. Therefore, it was my special medicine that cured you, and it has nothing to do with those few needles!"
"This..." Wu Chao was suddenly unsure whether it was the special medicine or Li Se's acupuncture that worked.
"You are truly shameless," Li Se said with disdain. "You just admitted yourself that the special medicine didn't work, so why are you saying it does now?"
"Didn't you understand what I said? This special medicine needs a little time to be absorbed. The effect of the special medicine is now showing. How can medicine work immediately after taking it? Therefore, Mr. Wu has recovered because of my special medicine!" Zhu Long insisted that his medicine was the cause of the recovery.
Li Se had encountered shameless people, but never one this shameless, resorting to such aggressive tactics. He sneered, "Doctor Zhu, you probably forgot that you just said it was useless for anyone to treat Mr. Wu's illness. And now, just a few minutes later, it's cured by your medicine?"
Zhu Long immediately looked at Wu Chao and Ruan Cuiyun and said, "Mr. Wu, Mrs. Wu, tell me, is it my medicine that had an effect?"
Wu Chao and Ruan Cuiyun couldn't judge at that moment whether it was Li Se's acupuncture or the special medicine that cured him. After all, Zhu Long's words were not unreasonable. Recovering with just a few needles seemed too easy. And Zhu Long, having graduated from a renowned foreign medical university, was undoubtedly skilled. Therefore, they were more inclined to believe Zhu Long than Li Se.
Zhu Long spoke eloquently, "Mr. Wu, Mrs. Wu, there's no need to think about it. How could it be cured with just a few needles? I think he just knew that my special medicine would have this effect, so he deliberately pretended to be performing acupuncture. This is clearly an attempt to steal the credit. I've seen many people like him; he's just a fraud. And calling himself Divine Doctor Li, have you ever seen such a young TCM practitioner?"
"Honey, I think Doctor Zhu is very right. We haven't sought out TCM practitioners before, but I've never seen one this young," Ruan Cuiyun had started to believe Zhu Long's words.
This was not surprising. One was a graduate of a famous foreign medical university, and their skills were unquestionable. The other was a TCM practitioner in his early twenties. Many people would believe Zhu Long in such a comparison.
Moreover, the illness was cured so easily with just a few casual needles. It seemed too simple. If it were truly that easy, Wu Chao's illness would have been cured long ago.
"Mr. Wu, am I right? How can there be such a young TCM practitioner?" Zhu Long said triumphantly.
"Mr. Wu, you say it," Li Se said faintly, too lazy to argue with Zhu Long.
"This way, I will pay both of your consultation fees. As for the medicinal herbs..." Wu Chao no longer wanted to give Li Se the herbs. After all, they were very precious and he had bought them at a high price at auction. For Li Se to just insert a few needles, possibly pretending, and then want to take his herbs, was simply too much.
"Mr. Wu, your illness is not completely cured yet. Are you sure?" Li Se frowned.
Ruan Cuiyun said somewhat angrily, "It's already good that we're paying you consultation fees. What else are you saying? My husband is kind-hearted; otherwise, anyone else would have kicked you out!"
"Exactly, taking advantage and then acting superior," Zhu Long said with a mocking expression. "Don't worry, with my special medicine, Mr. Wu's condition will definitely be no problem. Just take your consultation fee and get lost!"