Liu Yuan's face was dark. Facing the cook's scolding, he was very firm. He said, "Didn't I instruct you to decoct the medicine according to the method on the prescription to unleash its efficacy?"
"But you, you gave the patient the medicine before the decocting time was even up. His fever didn't come down because of this reason, yet you're here to make trouble. Don't you know who's right and who's wrong?"
"Bah, you're clearly shirking responsibility."
The middle-aged cook, You Fuguo, was furious, pointing at Liu Yuan and yelling, "I clearly followed the method on your prescription and decocted it for over an hour before giving it to my apprentice. But look at his eyes, not only has the illness not improved, but it's also worse than yesterday. Isn't this your fault, you quack doctor?"
"How dare you! Who are you calling a quack doctor? Try saying it again, and I'll tear your mouth apart!"
Liu Yuan's young assistant, his apprentice named Zhang Ping, was enraged when the cook You Fuguo called his master Liu Yuan a quack doctor. He cursed furiously, his face arrogant and his attitude extremely hostile.
"He is a quack doctor, tear my mouth if you have the guts..."
You Fuguo was also provoked. Clearly, the prescription written by this doctor was no good. He had come to reason with him today, only to be met with this sarcastic retort from the assistant named Zhang Ping. This made him furious, and he started cursing, leading to this scene.
"Old Liu, what's going on?"
Tian Xiangrong, Zhang Shunchang, Wu Shengbai, and Xue Tonghua also came over, not knowing what was happening. It had been a long time since such a medical dispute had occurred in their medical halls.
Liu Yuan's face was dark. Facing the cook You Fuguo's direct insult as a quack doctor, he was very annoyed. For any TCM practitioner, the two words they cared most about being insulted or demeaned were "quack doctor"!
Even if you cursed his medical skills as poor, or anything else, only the words "quack doctor" were of utmost importance to a TCM practitioner like Liu Yuan.
His apprentice Zhang Ping and the other assistants in the medical hall protected Liu Yuan, pointing at You Fuguo and Zhou Shan and cursing them. When Wu Shengbai and Zhang Shunchang came over, Liu Yuan briefly explained Zhou Shan's condition to them...
"Master, please calm down."
Tian Xiangrong and Zhang Shunchang put on a posture of impartiality and said to You Fuguo and his apprentice Zhou Shan, "Doctor Liu has already explained very clearly that it was your incorrect decocting method that caused his illness not to improve. Therefore, this matter cannot be blamed on Doctor Liu."
"Nonsense, it's clearly his rotten medical skills, and the prescription he wrote is useless. He also made us spend eight hundred yuan on herbs. He's a quack doctor." You Fuguo's face was flushed red with anger, his emotions agitated, pointing at Liu Yuan, who was being protected by Zhang Ping and the other assistants, and shouting.
"Hey, hey, what's wrong with you?"
Tian Xiangrong pointed at You Fuguo and said, "You keep calling him a quack doctor. Don't you know that Doctor Liu's father is a paramount figure in the current TCM world, known as a national master physician? His Liu family is a family of TCM practitioners. How can you belittle him so carelessly because of a small mistake of yours, and even straightforwardly call him a quack doctor? If you continue to make trouble like this, we will call the police to resolve it."
"Bah, what kind of bullshit national master physician, family of TCM practitioners? They are just titles you quack doctors praise each other for."
You Fuguo didn't care about their families of TCM practitioners. In his eyes, these people were just scammers disguised in TCM to cheat money. He continued to curse, "He can't even cure a simple fever. I can't believe I confidently brought my apprentice here to see him yesterday. If I had known this, we might as well have stayed at the hospital for treatment."
"If you have the ability, call the police. Let the police come and judge. Let everyone see how you TCM practitioners cheat people!"
"You..."
Facing You Fuguo's stubborn and unyielding attitude, Tian Xiangrong and Zhang Shunchang didn't know how to explain. After all, they didn't understand TCM. Even if they explained until their mouths were sore, if the illness wasn't cured, they would all think it was the doctor's fault.
In a moment, more and more passers-by gathered. You Fuguo also wanted to escalate the matter. He pulled his apprentice Zhou Shan, turned his head, and shouted to the surrounding onlookers, "Everyone, come and see these useless doctors! My apprentice should have a fever, his eyes are red and he can't see. Yesterday I brought him to this Liu Ping Tang to see this Doctor Liu. He only prescribed one prescription, which cost eight hundred yuan. I took it back and decocted it for my apprentice to drink. As a result, this Doctor Liu said he would guarantee his illness would be cured in a day."
"But look at his eyes, not only has the condition not improved, but it has become even more severe. Now I've come to reason with them, but their attitude is very bad, and they insist that my decocting method was wrong, trying to shirk responsibility. Everyone, please judge for me, who is right and who is wrong?"
When the passers-by heard this, many of them pointed at You Fuguo and his apprentice Zhou Shan, discussing amongst themselves. Some even mocked, "Brother, only you believe these TCM doctors. They are all scammers who sell dog meat under the guise of sheep. They can turn small ailments into big illnesses, and a prescription costs thousands. If they don't cure it today, they just want to trick you into continuing treatment with them, then prescribe more medicine, and not cure it, thus slowly stringing you along to cheat money!"
"Exactly, a friend of mine had a minor ailment that could have been resolved with a few thousand yuan at the hospital. But he listened to TCM and found a doctor who claimed to be an old TCM master, and spent over ten thousand yuan. In the end, his illness wasn't cured, and he only got better after going to the hospital."
"Heh heh, so TCM is simply unscientific. It's better to go to the hospital if you're sick."
"Alas, young people, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand!"
An old man passing by retorted, "TCM is a treasure left by our ancestors. How can it be so casually slandered and denied? For prevention and treatment, we still rely on TCM."
A young passer-by said to the old man with a smile, "Grandpa, the TCM of today is not the TCM of your generation. The TCM of today are all calling themselves divine doctors or national master physicians, showing off and inflating their own value, but they are all for show and useless. They have no skills and are all cheats."
"That's right, look at them, they haven't cured the illness, but instead made it worse. This is an example, they are all quack doctors!"
"No, Doctor Liu of Liu Ping Tang's medical skills are still quite good..."
"Bah, he still has medical skills? They open medical halls just to cheat patients into buying medicine and making money..."
The passers-by, led by You Fuguo, caused more and more discussion about TCM.
It was a clamor, attracting more people to watch, and it suddenly became lively.
"Brother Liu, this matter is not easy to handle."
Tian Xiangrong and Zhang Shunchang looked at these passers-by, stirred up by You Fuguo, pointing at them and arguing. Xue Tonghua and the others raised their eyebrows, feeling that this medical dispute was a bit serious.
Wu Shengbai of Tong Ren Tang said, "Brother Liu, what kind of prescription did you give him?"
"Yes, let us see the prescription Doctor Liu wrote. Is there anything wrong with it?" Xue Tonghua immediately said to You Fuguo.
"I can't show it to you, lest you tear up the prescription."
You Fuguo held the prescription and showed it to Xue Tonghua and Wu Shengbai, saying, "But I can show it to you, but you can't take it..."
Wu Shengbai and the others looked at the prescription, then at Zhou Shan's condition, and said earnestly to You Fuguo, "Doctor Liu's prescription is fine. It's a formula that can relieve fire, or perhaps it's really your decocting method that was wrong, which is why it didn't work."
"Impossible, I decocted the medicine exactly according to his method. It's definitely a problem with his medical skills!" You Fuguo put away the prescription and pointed at Liu Yuan, who was being protected by Zhang Ping and the other assistants, insisting it was his problem.
"Sir, may I see the prescription?"
Wan Yunting, who was bringing Gu Luotang, Qi Miaomiao, Du Hua, and Wang Zhuyu, squeezed through the crowd of onlookers and smiled politely at You Fuguo, "I am a doctor who just opened Xiu Yuan Tang across the street. Can you let me see the prescription?"
When Liu Yuan, Tian Xiangrong, Zhang Shunchang, and Xue Tonghua saw Wan Yunting appear, they couldn't help but raise their eyebrows, not knowing what he intended to do.
"What's the use of showing you the prescription? Can you cure my apprentice's illness?" You Fuguo turned to look at Wan Yunting. His emotions were agitated, and his words were impolite.
Wan Yunting looked at Zhou Shan, whose eyes were red from the fire poison and couldn't even open. He smiled, "There is a lot of heat in his body. Seeing your chef's uniform and smelling the roast duck on you, you must be a master who often works by the fire furnace to make roast duck, right?"
"Yes, but so what?"
You Fuguo had a hot temper. He pointed his large hand at Liu Yuan, who was being protected by Zhang Ping and the others, and said, "He also knows we are roast duck chefs. My apprentice has a strong fire, so what? He still couldn't cure my apprentice's illness."
Wan Yunting glanced at Liu Yuan, his face grim. Their sharp eyes met, but Liu Yuan didn't speak, seeming to want to see what this young man was up to.
Wan Yunting shifted his gaze to Zhou Shan and said calmly to You Fuguo, "If I say I can relieve the fire in his body right now and allow him to open his eyes and see, would you believe me?"
"You?"
You Fuguo widened his eyes, looking Wan Yunting up and down.
The surrounding passers-by also pointed at him and discussed when they heard Wan Yunting's words. Some even recognized him, "Isn't this Wan Yunting, who often appears on the internet and in the news?"
"It is indeed him. When did he come here to open a medical hall?"
"Didn't the news report a few months ago that he wrote some evil sorcery, and was removed from his position as chairman by the Chinese Medicine Association? His character is questionable, how dare he open a medical hall to treat patients here?"
"That's not right. That evil sorcery mentioned in the news is actually the Thirteen Ghost Gate Needles passed down from Wan Yunting's master!"
"Exactly. If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense. Wan Yunting's master was a renowned figure in the past, known as the Ghost Hand Medical Saint who could snatch people from Yama!"
"Even the current Chinese Medicine Association was founded by his master. Someone deliberately slandered Wan Yunting, fabricated those news reports to create public opinion, and forced Wan Yunting to resign as chairman of the Chinese Medicine Association."
"Tch, let's not talk about his medical skills. He has several girlfriends at the same time, he's a scumbag, a character issue!"
"Sweat, beautiful lady, you're just trying to blacken him. We're talking about his medical skills here, why are you bringing up his private life? What man doesn't make some mistakes."
"That female passer-by tilted her head and said disdainfully, "Anyway, he's a big scumbag..."
Other passers-by could only shake their heads and wave their hands, not arguing with him about this issue...
After all, Wan Yunting himself had issues with his private life. However, what was being debated now was the issue of his medical skills...