Although the fine isn't much this time, what about this month's bonus? According to everyone's estimation, the Pediatrics Department's bonus this month should be at least 3,000 yuan. Moreover, the cancellation of the year-end appraisal meant an even more significant loss in the annual bonus assessment. This was especially true since the hospital was thriving, and the reduction would definitely be keenly felt by everyone. With such a precedent, I certainly won't choose the previous approach to end this treatment. Besides, Du Heng is here now; he can cover for me. Why should I do something that goes against my conscience and offers no real benefit? The worst that could happen is losing face in front of Du Heng. Anyway, losing face in front of Du Heng isn't a big deal. Firstly, he's the Dean, and secondly, his skill level and industry status are well established, so it's really not an issue.

"Uncle, I'm not quite sure about your condition. I'll ask our Dean to come and take a look. Please wait for a moment."

The old man looked a bit surprised and quickly asked, "Is my illness very serious?"

Doctor Ma was startled by the old man's reaction and hurriedly explained, "No, no, it's just that I'm not quite sure about your pulse. I'll ask the Dean to come and take another look. Treating a disease requires getting to the root of it; otherwise, it would be like your previous visits to the clinic – you spent a lot of money but ultimately got no results. By then, not only would you have wasted money, but also missed the best time for treatment."

The old man sighed in relief, nodding vigorously. "Doctor, you're right. You truly are a good doctor."

How embarrassing! Doctor Ma smiled awkwardly and then called Du Heng, explaining the situation before hanging up.

Then Doctor Ma said to the old man, "Uncle, please wait outside for a little while. I'll see the next patient. When our Dean arrives, I'll call you, alright?"

The old man was quite understanding. After hearing what Doctor Ma had said, he immediately stood up and walked outside voluntarily. "Okay, I'll wait outside."

Doctor Ma let out a long sigh of relief at the old man's cooperation.

Fifteen minutes later, Du Heng strolled into Doctor Ma's consultation room with his hands in his pockets. Seeing Doctor Ma prescribing medicine to a patient, he took a seat directly across from him, waiting for the consultation to end. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Doctor Ma, completely focused, calmly diagnosed and prescribed medicine.

"Dean."

"Which patient has you stumped?"

Doctor Ma looked embarrassed and hesitant. "There was an elderly patient just now, sixty-eight years old, male. His left hand had a deep, slow pulse, but his right hand had no pulse at all. I couldn't feel it in the inch, bar, or cubit positions."

Du Heng blinked with interest. He didn't ask Doctor Ma if he had misread the pulse, because he knew that even if Doctor Ma's skills were lacking, he couldn't possibly make such a basic mistake. "Where is the patient? I'll take a look."

Doctor Ma got up, walked out the door, and called in the old man who was waiting at the entrance.

After hearing the introduction, the old man looked at Du Heng somewhat suspiciously. For a moment, he felt that Doctor Ma was fooling him. The Dean introduced to him was clearly even younger than Doctor Ma. He believed Du Heng was the Dean; after all, he had heard about the societal trend of 'younger cadres,' even if he hadn't witnessed it himself. However, he found it hard to believe that this young man's skills could surpass Doctor Ma's.

However, older people are often shrewd, and this being a hospital, he trusted Doctor Ma wouldn't dare deceive him. So, after a brief moment of surprise, he took a seat across from Du Heng.

Du Heng didn't waste any time and directly began to take the pulse in both hands.

As Doctor Ma had said, the left hand pulse was normal, but there was indeed no pulse in the old man's right hand.

However, Du Heng didn't panic like Doctor Ma. Instead, his three pulse-diagnosing fingers moved directly along the radius bone, turning them outward toward the outer side of the wrist.

The old man couldn't help but interject, "You're the Dean, right? You take the pulse at the wrist; you can't feel it on the outside."

But Du Heng merely smiled faintly, his three fingers stopping on the outer side of the radius bone. Then, a broader smile appeared on his face. "Other people's pulses are on the inside of the wrist, but yours needs to be felt here."

This remark surprised the old man. He looked incredulously from Du Heng to his own wrist and back.

Doctor Ma had been confused all along. But when he saw Du Heng's three fingers move outward and stop at the outer edge of the radius bone, he suddenly had a flash of clarity. A long-forgotten, dust-covered piece of knowledge instantly became clear in his mind. Shame and embarrassment immediately flooded his heart.

Du Heng grabbed the old man's arm with interest and examined it carefully. However, he couldn't see anything from the surface of the skin, so he then began to press and palpate the old man's radius bone and ulna.

When his fingers were about four finger-widths from the wrist, a smile appeared on Du Heng's face.

The old man was puzzled. "This, Dean, why are you smiling?"

"When you were young, did you injure this forearm?" Du Heng asked softly.

The old man nodded in astonishment. "Yes, that was over forty years ago. I'd just started at the factory and was still learning the ropes. While working with my Master, I misjudged the angle and got hit by a large hammer."

Du Heng grimaced. Getting hit by an iron hammer sounded painful. "Didn't you have surgery?"

The old man shook his head, dragging out his words, "No~o~, back then, we believed surgery would damage our original qi. Moreover, our factory had a factory hospital at that time, and there was a very skilled senior doctor in bone setting. Whenever we had any bone problems, we would ask that senior doctor to handle them, and there were never any issues."