"Those Ji Family Brothers are completely lawless!" Zhao Yuan gritted his teeth in anger after hearing the coal miners' stories.
Since the coal miners were too pressured and threatened to report the Ji Family Brothers, he would do it for them. He immediately took out his phone and photographed everything inside and outside the Ji Family Coal Mine, intending to use the pictures as evidence.
While he was taking pictures, a few more miners' conditions worsened. Although they didn't collapse and suffocate like Pan Ping had, they were in extreme discomfort. They only found relief after Zhao Yuan helped them.
The miners couldn't understand why their conditions had all suddenly worsened today, but Zhao Yuan had figured out the reason. 'It must be because of the Golden Gourd!'
The Golden Gourd contained Metal Qi from the Five Elements, and in the human body's five viscera, the lungs belong to Metal. After Pan Ping obtained the Golden Gourd, all the miners at the Ji Family Coal Mine benefited. The Metal Qi released by the Golden Gourd strengthened their lungs, which was why their conditions were brought under control and even lessened.
But now, Pan Ping had given the Golden Gourd to Zhao Yuan, who had placed it in his Storage Ring Space. The miners had lost the support of the Metal Qi, and their lungs had instantly reverted to their previous weakened state, so their conditions naturally worsened.
In fact, based on Zhao Yuan's observations, the support the Golden Gourd provided was merely a temporary fix, not a real cure. One could even say it was like drinking poison to quench a thirst.
While the Metal Qi could strengthen the lungs, it also harmed the other organs, especially the liver, which belongs to Wood in the Five Elements. The damage there was the most severe! Using his Qi Observation Technique, Zhao Yuan had already discovered that several miners had problems with their livers and gallbladders. Even if he hadn't come and taken the Golden Gourd, it wouldn't have been long before the miners here suffered from serious illnesses or even died due to the damage to their other organs!
Seeing the miners' bodies, which could be described as nothing short of riddled with holes, Zhao Yuan felt he couldn't just leave. As a doctor, besides helping them expose and report the Ji Family Brothers, he also had to help them treat their illnesses and regain their health.
Zhao Yuan sought out the old miner, knowing he was highly respected here and that everyone listened to him.
"Uncle Li, since everyone can't afford to go to a big hospital to treat their silicosis, why not let me take a look at them?" Zhao Yuan said. Fearing the man would doubt his abilities due to his age, he brazenly praised himself a little.
The old miner's surname was Li, and his full name was Li Qingbo.
After hearing Zhao Yuan's words, he took a drag from his long-stemmed pipe and said, "Kid, we all saw your medical skills just now. They're quite good, or else Pan Ping wouldn't have been revived. But this silicosis we have... we've seen Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors for it before. They prescribed a lot of herbal medicines, but they had no effect..."
"I'm not like those other Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors."
Of course, Zhao Yuan couldn't mention that the medical texts left by Wu Peng recorded a treatment for silicosis. He could only weave a white lie: "My university recently conducted academic research on silicosis and other occupational diseases. After discussions among many domestic experts and professors, several effective treatment plans were developed. I was fortunate enough to participate in this work and learned these treatment methods."
Li Qingbo's eyes instantly lit up. He asked excitedly, "Really?"
Zhao Yuan nodded. "Absolutely. There's no reason for me to lie to you about this."
Li Qingbo thought about it and agreed. 'People only ever try to trick you out of money or for sex. Who would trick someone into accepting medical treatment?' So he said, "Kid, you have a good heart. Whether our silicosis can be cured or not, I have to thank you!"
Zhao Yuan waved his hand. "Don't mention it. Uncle Li, I'll have to trouble you to talk to everyone."
"What's there to talk about? It's their honor to have someone willing to diagnose and treat their illnesses!" Li Qingbo said. He immediately gathered all the miners, relayed Zhao Yuan's words, and had someone bring a pen and paper.
Although they were still a bit skeptical about whether Zhao Yuan could cure their silicosis, everyone was very grateful for his kindness. In that instant, a large amount of Wish Power surged into Zhao Yuan's body.
At Li Qingbo's command, the miners lined up, waiting one by one for Zhao Yuan to diagnose and treat them.
When it comes to treating illness, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western medicine have a key difference: TCM treats the 'person,' while Western medicine treats the 'disease.'
To put it simply, when a TCM doctor treats an illness, they prescribe different medicines based on each individual's condition. Thus, it's common for several people with the same disease to receive completely different prescriptions. Western medicine, on the other hand, doesn't consider these factors. For the same disease, everyone gets the same medicine.
For this very reason, Zhao Yuan had to be extremely meticulous when diagnosing and prescribing medicine for the miners, adjusting the medication for each person's unique condition to provide tailored treatment.
For someone with a lung Qi deficiency, the prescription needed to focus on replenishment, first building up the lung Qi before detoxifying and clearing out dust. For someone with damp-heat accumulating in the lungs, the focus would be on clearing heat, detoxifying, expelling dust, and resolving phlegm...
One after another, Zhao Yuan wrote out TCM prescriptions and handed them to the miners. At the same time, he carefully explained how to decoct and take the herbal medicines, as well as daily maintenance and other precautions.
Seeing how knowledgeable he sounded, the miners all listened intently, carefully committing his words to memory.
But just then, an angry roar echoed through the coal mine: "What are you all doing standing around here instead of working? Every last one of you, all you know is how to slack off! Motherfucker, a herd of pigs would be more useful than you lot! What are you looking at? You got a problem with me saying a few words? Get the fuck back to work for me. Otherwise, you can forget about getting paid this month, you motherfuckers!"
Zhao Yuan followed the voice and saw a bald man with a brutish, fleshy face walk out of the only three-story building at the mine, cursing furiously at the miners.
"Who's that? One of the Ji Family Brothers?" Zhao Yuan asked.
Pan Ping whispered back, "That's the mine's foreman, one of the Ji Family Brothers' lackeys. We don't know his real name, we all just call him Master Tie."
Li Qingbo called out in a loud voice, "Master Tie, we just worked a full night shift underground..."
Master Tie didn't give him a chance to explain, cutting him off forcefully. "So what? You worked all night, so you think you can slack off? I was playing cards all night, and I'm not resting, am I? Cut the fucking crap and get to loading up this coal! If you delay the shipment, not a single one of you will get away with it!"
Suddenly, he spotted Zhao Yuan in the crowd and raised an eyebrow. "Who's that kid? Where did he come from?"