Chapter 36: A Smelly Diagnosis

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: A Smelly Diagnosis

"Ma’am, I’m a doctor from the Affiliated Hospital!"

Yan Feifan began by introducing himself.

As soon as he said this, he noticed the woman with the hair bun’s expression soften considerably.

In today’s society, the relationship between doctors and patients wasn’t always harmonious, and the public was full of complaints about various hospital fees.

But most people still held doctors in high regard.

At that moment, Ye Lin jumped in, saying almost defiantly, "And let me tell you, my friend is no ordinary doctor."

"He’s a clinical medicine Ph.D. from Binhai University Medical College and the youngest resident physician at our Affiliated Hospital."

"He’s the famous medical genius of our hospital..."

"Alright, stop hyping me up!"

Yan Feifan cut Ye Lin off. He looked at the woman with the hair bun and said in a gentle tone, "Even at this hour, there are hardly any loose strands in your hair bun."

"I’m guessing..."

"You’re a meticulous and self-disciplined person. You probably don’t usually eat foods that cause gas, like soybeans, sweet potatoes, or radishes, right?"

The woman with the hair bun grunted in agreement, then explained, "My job requires me to visit clients often, so I have to pay attention to details like my appearance."

"I usually eat mainly vegetables and fruit."

Yan Feifan asked again, "You’re wearing quite a thick layer of foundation. Are you trying to cover up a dull, sallow complexion?"

"Do you usually have digestive issues?"

This question seemed to annoy the woman again.

She looked like she wanted to glare at Yan Feifan, but at the last second, she just grunted again and explained, "I used to be able to eat spicy food, but it damaged my stomach. My digestion has been poor ever since."

"Because of that, my complexion isn’t very good either."

The woman repeated, "For the last year or two, I’ve been eating a fairly light diet, mostly vegetables and fruit."

"And recently, I’ve been taking traditional Chinese medicine to regulate my system."

Yan Feifan said, "I see." Then he suddenly asked, "How long has the smell of your farts been this strong?"

The woman hesitated for a moment, then replied quietly, embarrassed and awkward, "A month or two, I think!"

She then asked worriedly, "Doctor, is this really a sign of an illness?"

Yan Feifan didn’t answer directly. Instead, he explained, "There are many reasons why a person’s farts might smell bad."

"The most common are indigestion, a flare-up of a gastrointestinal disease, or eating too much meat..."

Seeing that the woman with the hair bun was listening intently and that the dozen or so people around them had also perked up their ears with looks of concern, Yan Feifan raised his voice a little.

"Other possibilities include inflammation in the intestinal tract caused by stagnant, accumulated blood from digestive tract bleeding. It could also be bleeding from enteritis, amoebic dysentery, or ulcerative colitis."

After a brief pause, Yan Feifan continued, "Besides those, there’s one other cause..."

He added more weight to his tone, emphasizing, "If there’s cancer in the gastrointestinal tract, and the cancerous tissue begins to break down, it will release a smell like rotting protein..."

Yan Feifan offered a comparison, "A foul odor, like rotten eggs."

Hearing this, the woman with the hair bun’s expression froze.

The dozen or so people around them either looked at her with dawning comprehension or with faces full of sympathy.

A moment later, the woman with the hair bun suddenly questioned him sharply, "You look so young. Are you really a medical Ph.D. from Binhai University?"

"First you deliberately throw around a bunch of professional terms, and then you tell me I have cancer based on nothing but a fart, without doing a single test."

"Who do you think you’re trying to scare?"

"Who has the time to scare you?"

Ye Lin couldn’t contain her anger. "Who do you think you are?" she snapped. "Do you really think a doctor from the Affiliated Hospital has nothing better to do than to trick you and scare you?"

"Believe it or not, it’s your body, after all."

Yan Feifan hadn’t realized that Ye Lin, this petite beauty, had such a fiery temper.

He glanced at Ye Lin, signaling for her to say less.

Yan Feifan turned to the woman with the hair bun and said calmly, "Your digestion has always been poor, the smell of your farts has suddenly become strong, like rotten eggs, and it has lasted for quite some time..."

He added tentatively, "And if I’m not mistaken, your stool has also been dark brown recently, hasn’t it?"

Seeing the corner of her eye and mouth twitch, Yan Feifan knew his guess was correct.

This made him even more certain of his diagnosis.

"Ma’am, I strongly suggest you go to the hospital for a gastroscopy and an abdominal intestinal ultrasound."

Fulfilling his duty as a doctor, Yan Feifan continued to persuade her, "The tests only cost a few hundred yuan."

"And if there’s nothing wrong, wouldn’t that be even better?"

At this point, a young man from the crowd also spoke up, "Miss, just think of it as a check-up. Pay for some peace of mind."

The wonton shop owner chimed in, "We should all get regular check-ups."

The woman with the hair bun was silent for a moment, then suddenly took out her phone and snapped a few photos of Yan Feifan and Ye Lin.

"I’ll go to the hospital for a check-up tomorrow."

"If they don’t find anything, I’ll expose you two frauds online."

Immediately after, she used her phone to transfer two hundred yuan to the wonton shop.

"Their meal is on me..."

Watching the woman disappear into the crowd on the food street, Ye Lin pursed her lips and said scornfully, "She didn’t say what she’d do if the diagnosis is correct!"

Yan Feifan said nonchalantly, "At that point, what mood would she be in to do anything else?"

He pointed at the shop door and asked, "Should we go back inside and finish?"

Ye Lin shook her head, saying with disgust, "That smell... Just thinking about it kills my appetite."

"Mr. Yan, let’s find another place, okay?"

That was exactly what Yan Feifan was thinking, so he turned and left with Ye Lin.

The dozen or so other people, seeing the show was over, also dispersed. Only a sparse three people walked back into the small shop...

"Mr. Yan, you can actually diagnose an illness just from the smell of a person’s fart."

"Mr. Yan, you’re amazing!"

Looking at Ye Lin, whose eyes were wide with admiration, Yan Feifan explained, "I’m not that skilled."

"It’s just that her fart was so strong and so unusual that I couldn’t help but notice."

"That, combined with her other physical signs and the information she revealed herself, is what allowed me to make an educated guess and a diagnosis."

Ye Lin let out a long "Ohhh" and giggled. "No matter what, for you to discover something just from a fart, Mr. Yan, that’s still incredibly impressive."

"There’s that movie, ’Scent of a Woman’."

"Tonight, Mr. Yan, you’re ’Scent of a Fart...’"

Ye Lin saw Yan Feifan’s expression darken, so she chuckled foolishly a couple of times and didn’t continue...

At Ye Lin’s suggestion, the two of them ate soup dumplings and stir-fried rice noodles.

Because of the late hour, they didn’t wander around any longer and went straight back to the hospital.

Ye Lin’s car was a red convertible Volkswagen Beetle.

Just a few hundred meters after driving out of the hospital’s east gate, Ye Lin suddenly pointed to a restaurant on the right side of the road and shouted, "Mr. Yan, look, it’s Dr. Yu!"

Yan Feifan followed her finger and looked over.

Ye Lin was pointing at the brilliantly lit and rather upscale Lotus Fragrance Restaurant.

Through the large, clear floor-to-ceiling windows, Yan Feifan saw Yu Suye having dinner in the main hall with several young doctors from the emergency department.

Ye Lin’s voice sounded in his ear again. "Dr. Li, Dr. Song, and Mr. Gao—the three of them—they swarm Dr. Yu the second they have any free time in the afternoon."

"Their intentions are so obvious. Hmph! Hmph!"

Yan Feifan looked away and said, "’Gentlemen will always pursue a fair lady.’ That’s perfectly normal."

Then, he warned her nervously, "Ye Lin, you need to focus when you’re driving. Keep your eyes on the road, don’t look around."

"Hey, Ye Lin, how many years of driving experience do you have?"

"Your car looks pretty new. You didn’t just buy it, did you?"

"How many miles have you driven? A few thousand? Or a few hundred?"

"Have you ever been in a traffic accident before...?"