Chapter Forty-Nine: The Art of Healing

Luo Yang, who came to Li Yancheng’s house daily to administer acupuncture, was the section chief of the city’s Inspection Department One. Few people knew about this; within the neighborhood committee, only Director Liu was aware. Of course, he had no idea what illness Luo Yang was consulting Li Yancheng about.

He hadn’t told anyone about this matter.

So when the plaque was hung on the Li family’s door, the neighbors in the alley buzzed with speculation. Several deputy directors and staff at the neighborhood committee were equally puzzled. They couldn’t understand how Li Yancheng, who ordinarily seemed so honest and unassuming, suddenly got connected to a city leader.

The one who felt the worst about this was actually Cai Yihe, the father of Cai Fangchao.

But Li Yancheng didn’t care whether Cai Yihe was upset or not. At that moment, he was preoccupied with the matter Luo Yang mentioned before leaving—the book.

Should he let him take it away or not?

While he stood at the doorway lost in thought, Jin Wenning, who had just run back and then out again, bounced back excitedly. Behind her came Jin Zhihai and his wife. The joy on their faces was unmistakable, especially Jin Zhihai’s, as if he wanted the whole world to know his wife was pregnant. No wonder they had returned so late.

“Brother Da Cheng,” Jin Wenning called out.

“You’re sweating so much from running; go inside and wipe your face. Don’t drag your cotton coat around—be careful not to catch a cold.”

Seeing the little girl panting with sweat beside him, Li Yancheng tenderly ruffled her hair and reminded her.

“Got it, Brother Da Cheng.”

Like her brother, she smiled like a fool at that moment.

Indeed, the family was about to grow. This was certainly a cause for joy.

The Jin family, which had only two siblings left, was about to become four.

At the thought of this, a flicker of envy appeared in Li Yancheng’s eyes.

When he lay alone in bed at night with no one to talk to, he had wondered if he should find someone else.

But whenever he thought of his habit of talking in his sleep from his previous life, he immediately backed off.

He wasn’t sure if this flaw had healed after his soul transferred. The secrets he carried were too great. If he accidentally spoke aloud at night and the person beside him heard… he couldn’t even imagine the consequences.

Watching the couple approach, Li Yancheng pushed aside the chaotic thoughts in his mind and adjusted his mood. Having a good friend who had a family now was something worth celebrating with a few drinks.

...

The Spring Festival of the nineteenth year of the founding of the nation passed quietly.

That Spring Festival was no different from not having one at all.

Li Yancheng remembered how many people had said in his previous life that the Spring Festival was becoming increasingly meaningless, lacking any festive spirit, and exhausting because of the endless visits to relatives and friends that felt like going to war.

He thought to himself that they should be brought to the present day to truly experience what it means to lose the festival’s flavor.

Time slowly moved to the twenty-third day of the first lunar month—February 21st by the solar calendar, a Wednesday.

In the internal medicine consultation room No. 2 of the First Hospital, Li Yancheng was now administering acupuncture to an elderly patient suffering from chronic cold-induced leg pain.

Behind him stood not only the patient’s family but also Director Sun of the internal medicine department, who furrowed his brows and bent over to watch Li Yancheng’s technique carefully.

It had been a month since Li Yancheng returned from rural medical support. Nothing seemed to have changed much, yet there was an indescribable difference.

For Director Sun, who was over sixty and versed in both Western and traditional Chinese medicine, the most noticeable change was that this young man, who had transferred from the military hospital over a year ago, seemed to have improved his medical skills remarkably in this short time.

What caught his attention the most was the change in this young man’s therapeutic methods.

The patient currently receiving treatment was his relative, brought deliberately. More accurately, pushed over, since the patient was in his seventies, suffering from chronic cold-induced arthritis in his knees. The pain was agonizing, making it impossible to walk. The patient had been brought in a homemade wheelchair by his children.

Over the years, he had seen many doctors—both traditional and Western—but no effective treatment had been found, only slight relief and some painkillers.

But overuse of these drugs leads to tolerance. What once required one or two pills now needed five or six, and even then, the effect was minimal.

This February in the capital city saw more rainfall than usual, with the weather alternating between cold and warm spells. The patient had suffered greatly.

Chronic cold-induced leg pain differs from rheumatism. It typically causes lower limb pain centered on the knee joints during cold or rainy weather, without obvious swelling at the joints.

Rheumatism, however, is an autoimmune disease affecting multiple joints and organs, usually accompanied by joint pain and redness during flare-ups. Long-term illness can lead to joint deformities.

Director Sun, in his sixties, understood both Western and traditional medicine. Due to broader social circumstances, he adopted a laissez-faire approach with doctors in his department. As long as they followed their schedules and showed up for work, he rarely interfered.

Therefore, his knowledge of his doctors’ skills was superficial at best.

The reason Li Yancheng caught his attention after returning from rural aid was that some time ago, a patient with rheumatoid arthritis came looking for treatment. Director Sun happened to be absent that day. The patient, having come all the way, decided to visit Li Yancheng’s consultation.

Originally, he just wanted to get some painkillers. But Li Yancheng suggested acupuncture as an alternative. The patient agreed to try it.

The effect was remarkable—the pain vanished immediately after the treatment, and it hadn’t recurred for nearly a month.

When Director Sun later met the patient, he inquired casually and learned of this outcome. That was when Li Yancheng entered his field of vision.

After observing for a few days, he realized this young man now almost always used acupuncture first before prescribing any medicine. Yet nothing unusual appeared in the prescriptions.

Still, patients treated by him seemed to experience remarkable relief. Saying the acupuncture cured the illness outright might be an exaggeration, but the effects were undeniably good.

Hence, today he brought his relative over to observe up close.

Director Sun knew some acupuncture himself, but the way Li Yancheng located acupuncture points and manipulated the needles was completely different from what he remembered. He watched long and hard but learned nothing.

Though he gained no insight from watching, the results spoke for themselves.

Half an hour later, seeing his cousin stand up and slowly walk around the room, his nephews rejoiced, but he himself was stunned.

This... this was a bit too much, wasn’t it?

Decades of chronic cold-induced leg pain, and it was cured just like that?