Village Chief Ma was listening intently and couldn’t help but ask, "Doctor Li, is it difficult for ordinary people like us to determine the actual cause of our own impotence?"
Li Xu nodded. "Exactly. That’s why you must see a doctor when you’re sick. It’s very difficult for an ordinary person to accurately determine the cause of an illness.
"Take diarrhea, for example. It can be caused by all sorts of conditions, like spleen-deficiency diarrhea, damp-heat diarrhea, or cold-damp diarrhea.
"Furthermore, a patient might have multiple coexisting conditions and complex presentations, like true heat versus false heat, or true deficiency versus false excess.
"All of these require a doctor to perform a careful examination using observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking to arrive at an accurate diagnosis.
"We doctors must be extrely cautious in our diagnosis and treatnt to avoid misdiagnosis and delaying proper care."
Ding Kaifang also had a question. "Doctor Li, so can we take supplents on our own? For example, what about the common saying ’eat a body part to strengthen the sa part of your own,’ or drinking bone broth to supplent calcium? Are those ideas wrong?"
Li Xu shook his head, his tone firm. "The idea of ’eating a body part to strengthen your own’ is a huge misunderstanding of traditional Chinese dicine. Treating illness and promoting health in TCM is not so crude and simple.
"If you have a heart problem, are you just going to eat a pig’s heart?
"If your liver is weak, you eat pig liver?
"If you have kidney trouble, you eat pig kidneys?
"If diseases could be cured that easily, wouldn’t hospitals have gone out of business long ago?"
"As for drinking bone broth to supplent calcium, I ntioned this earlier—that’s not a concept from TCM.
"TCM doesn’t have the concept of ’calcium.’
"TCM believes that ’the kidneys govern the bones.’ If your kidney qi is strong, your bones will be strong.
"That’s why children’s teeth grow easily and their bones develop quickly—their kidney qi is abundant. In contrast, the elderly are prone to losing teeth and osteoporosis because their kidney qi is declining.
"The speed at which a bone fracture heals is also related to the strength of one’s kidney qi.
"Therefore, from a TCM perspective, bone broth is seen more as a way to nourish kidney qi, not to directly supplent what Western dicine calls ’calcium.’"
Village Chief Ma, Ma Xinhong, and the others looked at each other in bewildernt.
They never imagined that the "eat a body part to strengthen your own" belief they had all held was actually wrong.
Village Chief Ma then thought of another question.
"Doctor Li, many of us like to make and drink our own dicinal wines. Things like Goji Berry wine, wild kiwi wine, wild honeycomb wine, centipede-infused wine, black-tailed snake-infused wine... Can we still drink those?"
Li Xu’s tone turned serious. "So of the ingredients in these dicinal wines, like honeycomb, centipedes, and snakes, are indeed used in TCM, often to treat conditions like rheumatic pain. But the key is that they must be used as part of a professional formula and under a doctor’s guidance."
"The biggest problem with people making their own dicinal wine is the lack of professional formulation and improper dosage.
"You can’t properly counteract the undesirable properties of the ingredients, control their toxicity, or fully unleash their dicinal effects.
"And more importantly, your body might not be suited for that particular dicinal wine. If it doesn’t match your condition, it will cause problems instead.
"TCM treatnt is based on ’syndro differentiation and treatnt’—prescribing dicine that targets the specific condition.
"If your body constitution is damp-heat, but you drink a warming, tonifying dicinal wine, isn’t that just adding fuel to the fire?
"If your body is deficient-cold, but you drink a cooling dicinal wine, aren’t you just making a bad situation worse?"
"Therefore, I strongly advise against randomly eating wild animals and making your own dicinal wines. Chinese dicine must be used for the correct condition to be effective. Otherwise, in the best-case scenario, it will be ineffective. In the worst-case scenario, it could cause new side effects or even worsen your condition. The loss would far outweigh any potential gain."
Village Chief Ma nodded repeatedly, deciding on the spot to go ho and pour out all the dicinal wine he had made.
Li Xu then turned to Ma Xinhong and emphasized, "Your illness was caused by your damp-heat constitution combined with indiscriminately eating ’hot’ and overly nourishing foods. So, from now on, you must strictly control your diet. Eat light foods and avoid greasy, sweet, rich, spicy, and irritating things, as well as all sorts of ’hot’ tonic foods. I’ll write you a new prescription. Take it to a Chinese pharmacy to get the herbs, and be sure to take it on schedule when you get back."
Li Xu picked up a pen and adjusted the formula and dosage on Ma Xinhong’s original dical record.
"Doctor Li, thank you. I’ll never eat recklessly again."
Ma Xinhong took the prescription from Li Xu, thanking him profusely.
That evening, Village Chief Ma specially arranged another sumptuous farewell dinner for them.
During the al, Village Chief Ma repeatedly raised his glass to thank Li Xu for bringing a new business opportunity to the village.
He thumped his chest and promised that he would absolutely do a good job of growing the Aloe Vera.
"Village Chief Ma, once our workshop is built, we’ll be recruiting people from the village. We hope we’ll have your support."
Ding Kaifang said, raising his glass.
"Don’t worry, President Ding. This will help our villagers increase their inco. We’ll give you our full support."
After dinner, Li Xu and Ding Kaifang rested in the village.
Early the next morning, Village Chief Ma personally drove the two of them to the Jiangyou high-speed rail station.
Li Xu and Ding Kaifang took the high-speed train to Chengdu, then caught a flight from Chengdu Airport, and returned smoothly to Feng City.
This business trip involved two rushed days in Yuanjiang and more than two days in Jiangyou’s Anchi Village. Although it was a bit exhausting, they had finally solved the problem of sourcing Aloe Vera, so it was a very fruitful trip.
Back at the clinic, Li Xu pushed open the door and saw Song Sisi sitting at the front desk, busy with her head down.
When she looked up, Li Xu’s eyes instantly lit up.
Song Sisi had always been very beautiful, with fair skin and delicate features.
But now, after just a few days apart, the change in her was striking.
Her skin had beco even smoother and more delicate, like a peeled hard-boiled egg, glowing with a healthy luster.
Her complexion had also beco fairer, achieving that enviable "cool-toned fair skin." She looked altogether more radiant and captivating, and her overall aura had improved significantly.
"Sisi, you..."
Li Xu couldn’t help but walk over, reach out, and gently stroke Song Sisi’s cheek.
Feeling his touch, Song Sisi broke into a playful smile and showed off with a hint of pride, "So? Don’t you think I’m even more beautiful?"
Li Xu couldn’t resist leaning down and giving her a light peck on the cheek.
A blush instantly crept onto Song Sisi’s cheeks. She glanced around shyly, only relaxing when she saw no one else was in the clinic.
"This Aloe Vera Frost works way too well!"
Li Xu exclaid in amazent.
"Of course."
Song Sisi lifted her chin proudly. "I’ve been using it every day. In the few days since you left, I’ve noticed my skin getting better day by day. It’s not dry anymore, and it’s beco incredibly smooth and delicate. Even my blackheads have been reduced. Look, hasn’t my skin gotten much fairer?" As she spoke, Song Sisi brought her arm up to her cheek for Li Xu to compare.
Li Xu took a close look and saw that it was true.
The Aloe Vera Frost had not only improved her skin texture but had even brightened her complexion considerably.
"But," Song Sisi’s tone shifted, a hint of regret in her voice, "I’ve already used up that jar of Aloe Vera Frost. You have to make so more, quickly! I need to keep using it."
Li Xu smiled and squeezed her cheek. "Don’t worry, I won’t let you run out. In a little while, an even better Aloe Vera Frost will be available."
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