He Said I Had Depression

After breakfast, Su Ziyang kept his promise and gave his mother a massage. The massage itself was nothing special; it was just the standard massage techniques he had learned at school.

Pressing, kneading, rolling, pinching, grasping, tapping, pushing, rubbing, shaking, vibrating, and tapping techniques.

After a series of rapid and skillful massages, Su Ziyang gave his mother a very comfortable massage.

After finishing his massage, Su Ziyang had just washed his hands when his phone rang. Su Ziyang glanced at it and saw it was his father calling.

"Hey! Son, come to the store. Something's come up!" Su Ziyang's father's voice came through the phone.

"What's wrong? Can't we say it over the phone?"

"Let's talk about it when you get here!"

After saying that, Su Ziyang's father hung up the phone.

"What's going on? Why are you being so mysterious!" Su Ziyang muttered, then got dressed and headed out.

"Where are we going?" Su Ziyang's mother was lying on the bed, enjoying her rest with her eyes closed.

"My dad wants me to go to the store..."

Since it was almost Chinese New Year and it was already past nine o'clock in the morning, there were already a few people strolling around on the street. Su Ziyang's father mainly sold custom-made clothes, so there were no customers in the store at this time.

Pushing open the door, I saw a tall, dark-skinned man sitting inside, chatting with his father, while his father was working at his desk, examining a piece of cloth.

"Hey, you're back? Ziyang!" The big, dark-skinned man greeted Su Ziyang as he entered the house.

Su Ziyang recognized this person; he was a friend of his father. Su Ziyang didn't actually know his father's name; he only knew that his father called him Erhei.

The nickname came about very simply because he was the second oldest child in his family and had dark skin, so his friends called him "Erhei".

"Yes, Uncle!" Su Ziyang nodded to Erhei.

"What's up, Dad!" After greeting Erhei, Su Ziyang was curious about what his father had said on the phone. "Why can't I say it on the phone?!"

Before his father could speak, Erhei blurted out, "I need your help, man!"

"Haha, don't be silly, uncle. I'm just a lowly doctor. Do you think someone like you, an official, would need anything from me?"

Su Ziyang knew that Erhei worked in a government department and had neither much nor little power.

"Haha, that's why I'm asking you for help, since you're a doctor!" Erhei chuckled.

Su Ziyang's father put down the cloth he was holding and said, "Something's really wrong. Your Uncle Erhei isn't feeling well. Go take a look at him!"

"Quick, quick, come here! Man, let me take your pulse!" Erhei said, rolling up his sleeves to reveal his wrist, which was as black as the back of his hand.

At first, Su Ziyang thought Erhei was joking, but after looking at Erhei's expression, it seemed that he really wanted to see him for treatment, not just playing around. So he took a stool, sat down next to Erhei, and started taking Erhei's pulse.

People from small towns have their own mindset, and people from big cities have their own perspectives.

In the place where Su Ziyang lived, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners had to be able to take a pulse, and they had to be able to accurately describe the patient's symptoms from the pulse even when the patient was not speaking, so that others would believe them.

This kind of thinking is deeply ingrained, and Su Ziyang can't possibly explain the four diagnostic methods of traditional Chinese medicine—inspection, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation—to each of them individually, because if you do, they'll think you're just making excuses for your lack of expertise!

This is why Erhei only said he was sick, but didn't say what was wrong; he wanted to test Su Ziyang.

After calming down, Su Ziyang began to take Erhei's pulse carefully. Despite his large size, Erhei's pulse was very thin and weak, like a woman's. Moreover, Su Ziyang also discovered that Erhei's left and right wrist pulses were different, one thin and sharp, and the other thin and rapid!

After taking Erhei's pulse, Su Ziyang gestured for him to look at Erhei's tongue coating, Erhei opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue.

The large tongue was covered with a thick layer of white coating, which was not very fine and was covered with lines that looked like cracked earth. The tip of the tongue was concave and a little red.

Having seen this, Su Ziyang had a general understanding of Erhei's symptoms, and tentatively asked, "Then let me tell you about your illness!"

"Tell me about it!" Erhei lowered his sleeves and looked at Su Ziyang with a smile.

"Your problem is sleep! Insomnia!" Su Ziyang pointed out the crux of the matter in one sentence.

Erhei's eyes lit up when he heard Su Ziyang's words, but he didn't say anything, gesturing for Su Ziyang to continue.

"Secondly, I have a weak spleen and stomach, resulting in a lack of appetite, poor digestion, and diarrhea! Thirdly, I experience mental stress and anxiety, feeling weak and sluggish all over!"

After Su Ziyang finished speaking, his Second Brother jumped up from his stool and patted Su Ziyang's father on the shoulder. "Damn, brother! Your son..."

The excited Erhei couldn't finish his sentence, so he gave Su Ziyang and Su Ziyang father a thumbs-up, took a breath, and continued, "Man! You're amazing! You're amazing! Just look at your pulse-taking skills, you've got it! Really! You've got it! Your dad didn't waste his money sending you to school! If you go back to the county's TCM hospital, we'll definitely give you a director position!"

"Haha, Uncle, you flatter me!" Su Ziyang didn't expect Erhei to be so excited, as if Su Ziyang's accurate description of the symptoms had cured all of his ailments.

"No flattery, no flattery!" Erhei patted Su Ziyang Su Ziyang's father on the shoulder again and said, "Great job! Your good son!"

Su Ziyang's father looked at his son, who had suddenly become quite skilled, with amusement in his eyes and said nonchalantly, "What kind of skill is this? He's only been studying traditional Chinese medicine for a few years! He still has a long way to go!"

"Oh my! Hahaha! Okay! Brother! You're being modest on behalf of your son!"

He then pulled a pack of Yuxi from his pocket, lit one for Su Ziyang's father, and then looked at Su Ziyang and asked, "Hey buddy, wanna have one?"

"I don't smoke, Uncle!" Su Ziyang waved his hand.

"Okay, not smoking is healthier!" Erhei puffed smoke from his nostrils, then pulled up a stool and moved closer to Su Ziyang: "You were so busy being happy, you forgot about my problem! Should I take some medicine, or what should I do?! We need to figure out a way to fix this!"

"Haha, have some herbal medicine!" Su Ziyang chuckled. "I'll write you a prescription! This illness requires some herbal medicine."

"Okay! Okay!" Erhei nodded.

"I feel like you've had this illness for a while now. Have you taken any medication before?" Although he already had a basic understanding of the situation and a general idea in mind, Su Ziyang still asked the question as usual.

"Don't even mention it!" Erhei clicked his tongue as he said this. "I've had this illness for about a year now. I started having trouble sleeping last year. I tossed and turned all night, unable to fall asleep. It was also because of work last year; my boss kept bothering me! But when it comes to this illness, it's all that colleague's fault! Just thinking about it makes me angry!"

Erhei took a drag of his cigarette and continued angrily, "Last year, my unit was incredibly busy. So I was sent to the south on some business. After I was sent there, I still had some work to do, and the head of my unit assigned it to one of my colleagues! That guy is an idiot! He can't do anything right! I was on the assignment, incredibly busy, and I even had diarrhea from the change in environment. Then one day, I had just fallen asleep when this colleague called me, saying he couldn't figure out that task!"

"I told him, if you don't understand, ask someone else! And then this person started calling me constantly, harassing me. I didn't sleep a wink all night! From that day on, my sleep has been terrible. At first I could sleep for a while, but then it got really bad!"

Erhei spoke angrily, puffing on his cigarette butt until it glowed red, then threw it away and lit another one. He continued, "You know, I can't blame him for this, since it was work-related. Later, I went to see a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, recommended by an acquaintance! I went there. I've forgotten what medicine he prescribed, but oh dear! It was incredibly sour, so sour it burned my throat, what was it called again!"

"Sour jujube seeds!" Su Ziyang said from the side.

"Yes, yes, that's it. That TCM doctor told me my illness wasn't serious! But the medicine tasted awful, and it cost me over ten thousand yuan, and it didn't work at all. I did sleep for a while the first day I took it, but then it stopped working! Can you believe it?!"

"Haha, he probably prescribed Sour Jujube Seed Decoction, which is a classic prescription for treating insomnia!" Su Ziyang laughed.

"Sigh, later I realized this couldn't go on forever. I was incredibly busy at work, so I went to the hospital. At first, I saw a friend at the county hospital, and this guy said I had depression!" Erhei sighed. "I thought, this is a serious illness, I have to get treatment! I need to get treatment quickly! So I went to the provincial capital! The doctor there gave me some kind of questionnaire, and he also said I had depression!"

"Huh?" Su Ziyang looked at Erhei in surprise. "Why?! You're saying you have depression just based on a form?!"

"Of course!" Erhei, smoking a cigarette with a hint of exasperation.

"Haha, you can even be depressed! You can talk more than anyone else all day long!" Su Ziyang's father laughed from the side.

"Yeah, even though not being able to sleep has made me a bit tired, I'm still in a good mood and I don't feel depressed at all!"

I told the doctor I was fine, just having insomnia. He prescribed some medication, and when I looked it up, it turned out to be a damn antidepressant! Later, when he insisted on selling me this medication, I asked him, "How long do I have to take this?" Guess what the doctor said to me?!

Erhei blinked its little eyes and stared at Su Ziyang. Su Ziyang asked with a puzzled look, "How long will it last? A year!"

"Keep eating!" Erhei's voice was a bit loud. "No, tell me, man! Is this what a doctor is? He told me I have to eat this for the rest of my life! When I heard that, I thought, 'Screw you!' I turned around and came back! Fine, I'm not getting treatment anymore! It's just that I can't sleep, I'm not sleeping! I've already given up on treatment. That's why I came to see your dad today. We were chatting just now, and your dad said he wanted you to take a look at me!"

Hearing about Erhei's bizarre medical experiences, Su Ziyang chuckled, "Uncle, why do you always go to those quack doctors? Haha!"

"It really wasn't some quack doctor. The one who treated me in the provincial capital was the vice president of the Provincial Capital Fourth Hospital. The one I saw at the county hospital was also the head of the neurology department." Erhei waved his hand. "Alright, let's not talk about them anymore. I have another question for you, man!"

"What do you need? Just tell me what's wrong!" Su Ziyang said with a smile, looking at the humble Erhei.

"I looked it up online, and it said that massaging the Taixi Acupoint is effective for my condition. But when I pressed this spot, look, I rubbed the skin raw! It still didn't work. Is this acupoint fake? Does it really work?" Erhei was very puzzled.

"Where did you press? Let me see!" Su Ziyang asked.

Erhei pulled up his trouser leg, revealing his ankle, then pointed to the spot where he had rubbed off the skin and a scab had formed. "This!"

"Haha, you're pressing the wrong spot! When you press this spot, do you feel a swelling or numbness?" Su Ziyang laughed and poked the scab on Erhei's leg.

"No, I didn't feel anything! Did I press the wrong place? I saw online that this is the place!" Erhei was even more confused.

Su Ziyang Erhei n't explain to Erhei. He gently tapped the spot half an inch below the scab with his thumb. Erhei cried out and put his crossed legs down, "Holy crap, what is this spot! It's numb, not just numb, but also a little swollen!"

"This is the Taixi Acupoint I'm pressing! Uncle, the spot you're pressing is just a little bit too high! Press it yourself now, does it feel numb and swollen?"

Erhei lifted his leg up again and gently pressed on the spot where Su Ziyang had pressed. "Hey, it really is there. I can feel it here. No wonder it didn't work. Turns out I was just pressing randomly before. You have to be a professional to know what you're doing!"

"Haha, Taixi Acupoint is located five fen behind the medial malleolus, in the depression of the calcaneal artery. Men and women with this acupoint will live if they have it, and die if they don't. It is the acupoint of the Kidney Meridian of Foot-Shaoyin. Regular massage can also nourish the kidneys! Uncle!" Su Ziyang gave Erhei a wink.

"This kid's trying to pick me up! Making fun of your uncle, hahaha!" Erhei pointed at Su Ziyang and chuckled, but his fingers pressed the Taixi Acupoint even faster!

"Stop fooling around, let's write a prescription for your uncle!"

Su Ziyang's father watched the two joking around with a smile.

"Okay, Dad, give me some paper and a pen, I'll write down a prescription!"

Su Ziyang got paper and pen from his father and wrote down several medicinal ingredients on the paper:

15g of ginger and Pinellia

10g of Atractylodes macrocephala

10g of cinnamon twigs

10g of Poria cocos

10g of kudzu root

5 slices of ginger

7 pay.

"Uncle, take this prescription and go to the First Pharmacy to get the medicine; their herbs are of good quality. When you come back and decoct it, add five slices of ginger yourself!"

Su Ziyang handed the written prescription to Erhei.

Is ginger the same ginger used in cooking?

"Yes, yes! Then cut it to be about the thickness of a one-yuan coin, and a little larger than a one-yuan coin! There's no precise measurement!" Su Ziyang instructed again.

"Ziyang, I know these two medicines. That traditional Chinese medicine doctor prescribed them for me last time!" Erhei pointed to the medicines on the paper.

"Which two?" Su Ziyang looked in front of him.

"Poria cocos and Atractylodes macrocephala! They were in the medicine I prescribed last time!"

What about the others?

"Nothing else!"

"Please eat it! Hahaha. It's all wrapped up, okay?"

"I believe you!"