After finishing breakfast, they returned to the pharmacy to look after the sick child.

Gao-Yuan’s expression remained as calm as ever, while Zhao Huanzhang couldn’t hide his anxiety, frequently checking on the child’s condition.

Doctor Qiao and Doctor Xiao Tian also dropped by from time to time to take a look.

The child’s mother sat nervously at the bedside, unable to leave for even a moment.

Fortunately, after the acupuncture and medication, the child didn’t experience the terrifying symptoms from earlier, but the fever remained severe, and the child was still in a heavy stupor, making the condition critical.

Soon, three hours passed.

Qi Dongsheng stood up and looked at Gao-Yuan, showing a questioning expression.

Gao-Yuan nodded slightly and said, “Administer the second dose of medicine.”

“Alright.” Trusting Gao-Yuan, Qi Dongsheng agreed without hesitation.

Zhao Huanzhang looked like he had something to say but remained silent.

Zhang Yuancai hurriedly fetched another bowl of medicinal soup and helped feed it to the child.

Zhao Huanzhang watched nervously, fearing any sudden change in the child’s condition.

Luckily, nothing unexpected happened. At one point, the child woke up and went to the bathroom, where he passed an extremely foul-smelling stool. Afterward, the child fell back into a deep sleep, though there were still some occasional spasms, but at a much lower frequency.

After the prior discussions, Qi Dongsheng seemed less worried now and approached Gao-Yuan with a question: "Doctor Gao, just now my grandson had a bowel movement. Is this the 'drastic healing process' you mentioned?"

Gao-Yuan shook his head, “No.”

“Huh?” Qi Dongsheng was taken aback.

Gao-Yuan explained, “A drastic healing process causes new discomfort, making it seem like the illness is worsening. However, our treatment method involves purgation. The bowel movement was precisely the intended effect of the medicine.”

“Oh,” Qi Dongsheng nodded in understanding.

Seeing the child pass a stool, Zhao Huanzhang’s expression relaxed slightly.

Another three hours passed, and it was time for the third dose.

After the medicine, the child had another bowel movement, again passing foul-smelling stools.

After this, the child’s condition visibly improved. He was much calmer, the spasms stopped, vomiting ceased, and the headache was gone. The child awoke, looked around at his family, and softly called out, “Mom.”

“Yes, yes…” The simple call brought the child’s mother to tears. She had spent the past day and night in anguish, fearing for her son’s life due to the deadly disease of encephalitis.

She had watched her son deteriorate into a dreadful state, but now he could recognize people and call out to them. Her heart shattered with relief, and tears streamed down her face.

Qi Dongsheng hurried to the bedside, calling anxiously, “Jun, Jun! Look at Grandpa, are you feeling better?”

“Mm…” The child responded faintly before closing his eyes in exhaustion.

Qi Dongsheng looked at Gao-Yuan again and asked, “Doctor Gao, this... this...”

“Let’s take his temperature first,” Gao-Yuan replied.

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Qi Dongsheng quickly went out to call for help.

Doctor Qiao and Doctor Xiao Tian rushed over. After hearing the situation, Doctor Xiao Tian fetched a thermometer to take the child’s temperature.

Everyone watched him intently.

As Doctor Xiao Tian removed the thermometer, he briefly felt as if he were the center of attention.

“How is it?”

Doctor Qiao’s voice snapped him back to reality.

“Huh?” Doctor Xiao Tian looked down again at the thermometer, then announced, “The fever has gone down.”

With those words, the room fell into a momentary silence, as everyone was overwhelmed by feelings of joy, relief, and disbelief.

After a short while, Qi Dongsheng, tears welling in his eyes, rushed forward and grabbed Gao-Yuan’s hand, his voice trembling: “Thank you, Doctor Gao, thank you!”

Gao-Yuan only smiled and nodded in response.

...

As Gao-Yuan and Zhao Huanzhang left, Doctor Qiao and Doctor Xiao Tian remained in a daze.

“Teacher, has the child escaped danger?” asked Doctor Xiao Tian.

Doctor Qiao nodded, “He’s essentially out of danger.”

Doctor Xiao Tian continued, “It’s only been seven or eight hours, though. Even the city hospital wouldn’t have achieved such results this quickly.”

The two exchanged a glance, recalling Gao-Yuan’s bold statements that morning. Could it be that what the city hospital couldn’t cure, he could?

Doctor Xiao Tian glanced at Zhao Huanzhang’s retreating figure and then at Gao-Yuan’s, unable to help but ask, “Teacher, if this traditional doctor had treated the son of Accountant Sun from the cement factory, do you think that child might still be alive?”

Doctor Qiao also looked at Zhao Huanzhang’s back and then at Gao-Yuan’s silhouette. He murmured, “Gao-Yuan.”

...

The next day, during the second consultation.

The child’s temperature had slightly fluctuated, with a low-grade fever of 38°C. He was short of breath, sweating, and weak, but his consciousness was clear, and he could communicate normally, no longer appearing as miserable and frightening as the day before. Upon checking his tongue and pulse, his tongue was red, and his pulse was rapid.

Gao-Yuan diagnosed the child with depleted energy and fluids, with his vital energy on the verge of collapse.

He adjusted the prescription by reducing the gypsum by half, removing Yushu powder, nitrate, and antelope musk, and adding five maces of American ginseng, seven maces of Ophiopogon, and three maces of Schisandra. He prescribed two more doses, each to be taken in six portions, every three hours, around the clock.

Before leaving, Gao-Yuan finally brought up his request to Qi Dongsheng.

Hearing it, Qi Dongsheng frowned and said, “I understand your need to delay collecting the overdue payments for some time, but why are you suddenly asking for a large batch of cold medicine?”

Gao-Yuan replied, “There’s been a lot of colds and flu recently, and I’m worried that if it spreads, it will become hard to control. With transportation being inconvenient, the supply of herbs might not keep up with demand. It’s better to be prepared early.”

Zhao Huanzhang looked at Gao-Yuan in surprise, not expecting this to be the other important matter he mentioned.

Qi Dongsheng chuckled and said, “Doctor Gao, you might be overthinking this. It’s the season for colds and flu; it happens every year; no need to panic.”

Seeing that Gao-Yuan wanted to say more, Qi Dongsheng added, “Besides, if you take in such a large batch of herbs now, your debt will only grow. If you can’t use them all and they get spoiled, the loss will be even greater. I can help you apply for a delay in repayment, but suddenly asking for such a large loan, that might be difficult.”

Zhao Huanzhang also looked anxiously at Gao-Yuan and asked, “Doctor Gao, should you think it over carefully?”

“Well…” Gao-Yuan was at a loss for words.

Zhang Yuancai chimed in, “Doctor Gao, there’s no need to worry too much. It won’t spread that badly. Even though the herb market is managed by our company, we still have quotas to meet. We can’t just buy in bulk whenever we want. Please understand our situation.”

Gao-Yuan furrowed his brow.

The atmosphere became a bit awkward.

Just then, a young man came running up.

“Xiao Huang? What’s going on?” Qi Dongsheng asked.

Xiao Huang, out of breath, replied, “Director, there’s an urgent notice. You need to go to the health bureau for a meeting right away.”

Qi Dongsheng was confused. “Right away? What happened?”

Xiao Huang answered, “There’s been an outbreak of flu in the neighboring county. It’s getting serious. There’s a risk of it spreading to our county, so the bureau needs you to attend a meeting immediately to coordinate the supply of medicines.”

Upon hearing this, both Qi Dongsheng and Zhang Yuancai looked at Gao-Yuan in astonishment.

Xiao Huang was equally puzzled by their reactions. Why had they all stopped looking at him after hearing the news?

Gao-Yuan quickly pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Qi Dongsheng. “Director Qi, this is the list of herbs I need. Please expedite the process.”

Taking the list, Qi Dongsheng, still in shock, asked, “You had this prepared already?”

...

That evening, the county's top traditional Chinese doctor, Li Runyu, who had been away, finally rushed back. Upon hearing that Director Qi had come to the clinic to ask for his help earlier, he hadn’t even taken a sip of water before hurrying to the county hospital to save a life.

By the time he arrived at the hospital, Director Qi’s grandson had finished his final dose of medicine, the residual heat had completely subsided, and the child was asking for food.

Li Runyu rushed into the ward, only to find the little boy happily slurping down a large bowl of food.

The two of them stared at each other in confusion.

Out of breath, Doctor Li asked, “You called for help?”

The child timidly replied, “You could call me Jianjun.”