At that shout, the crowd of uncles and aunties halted.Lin Feng stepped out from behind the desk, took two strides to face them, and said, "Since you've come all this way, leaving without a try is something you'll regret."He turned to "Stable-Horse" and said, "I can locate the lesion in your brain within ten seconds. How about it?"
"T-ten seconds?" Stable-Horse tapped his temple with his middle finger. "Brag to my face and you'll get slapped for it!"
"Fine. So you can slap me hard—just give me your hand and I'll know by the pulse," Lin Feng said coolly.
"Ha ha ha…" Stable-Horse let out a mold-dry cackle. "Alright, ten seconds! And if you're wrong?"
"If I'm wrong, I'll apologize to everyone."
"An apology is enough? You have to recieve us all at the barbecue stall across the street—every one of these forty people, not a single one missing!"
"Deal," Jiang Yan smiled. "I can afford that."
Stable-Horse grinned. "Everyone, keep time! Free skewers coming!"
"No problem!""We'll definately keep count!"
Lin Feng sat back at the desk.Stable-Horse followed and sat opposite him, rolling up a sleeve to bare half his forearm. "I've always liked slapping faces. But for Xiao Liu's sake, if you regret it now, I'll let you off."
"Quit yapping. Let's begin."Lin Feng's index and middle fingers were already set on Stable-Horse's cun-guan-chi points.
"One… two… three…"When the count reached "nine," Lin Feng lifted his hand.
"What's wrong—giving up?" Stable-Horse dropped his sleeve, gloating.
The aunties and uncles were sure Lin Feng couldn't diagnose anything and began chiming in:"Speak up!""Come on, say it!""If you can't, just admit it! We can skip the skewers and save you money.""Admitting a mistake is nothing—you're young, life is long."
All kinds of "kindly advice," full of that special malice of bad people grown old.
Lin Feng picked up his pen, wrote a line on the diagnostic slip, and flicked it to Stable-Horse.Necks craned to read it. Someone murmured:"'Lower left cerebellum, tumor diameter 1 cm.'"
"Ah?"A startled cry."Could he really be right?""Stable-Horse, isn't that what your last CT showed?""You posted it in the group."
Stable-Horse tossed the slip on the desk. "Head Nurse Liu, you gave him my case file beforehand, didn't you?"
Jiang Yan held her temper. "I did not."
"You didn't?" Stable-Horse slammed the desk and stood. "Then how could he be spot-on?"
"Don't splash dirty water yet," Lin Feng said coldly. "Keep calm and watch. Second patient—'Purple Hydrangea', are you here?"
Several people nudged out a plump elderly lady.
"Have you ever been treated at Baikang?" Lin Feng asked.
"No. But last week I had a CT at the City People's Hospital. They said there's something wrong in my brain. I didn't believe it. I heard in the group you can diagnose, so I signed up."
"So Head Nurse Liu couldn't possibly know your condition?" Lin Feng smiled.
The old lady smiled too. "Not only she doesn't know—my own daughter doesn't either!"
"Good. Please sit and give me your hand."
She sat, set her wrist on the foam rest, a little nervous.Lin Feng felt her pulse for a while, nodded slightly, and wrote:"'Anterior pineal region, thrombosis 2 cm.'"
He slid the slip to her. "Granny, this clot is dangerous. Don't delay—be admitted right away."
Her face changed. She pulled a paper from her bosom with trembling hands and spread it on the desk. "The same—the same!"
Everyone leaned in. It was a CT report:"'Anterior right-偏 pineal region, branch vessel occlusion, length approx. 1.5 cm…'"
"Ah?"A chorus of gasps!It never occured to anyone the young doctor would be right.
"Amazing!""Incredible!""Just by feeling the pulse, he read what's inside the head!"
Stable-Horse couldn't sit still. He snorted. "He didn't even guess right! The CT says 1.5 cm; he wrote 2 cm. What, the extra half-centimeter is the CT's mistake? Ha!"
Lin Feng gave a thin smile. "If you still don't admit her, check again next week—it should be 3 cm."
Purple Hydrangea shivered and grasped Lin Feng's hand. "Doctor, yes, yes—you're right. The doctor told my son-in-law that if we don't treat it, it will grow fast…"
The crowd boiled over."A divine doctor!""A true master!""Stable-Horse, the older you get, the muddier you are!""We were almost misled by you!""Right—at your age, can't you store up some virtue? Look how you slandered Dr. Jiang!""Dr. Jiang is so composed!""Stable-Horse, you've got the nerve to stay here?"
Face dark as pig liver, Stable-Horse shoved people aside and stormed out, shouting:"You're all duped! I'm quitting the group! A den of frauds!"
Someone jeered, "You're not the mattress president—who cares if you quit?""With a mouth like yours, it's a shame to share a group!""Quit—if you don't, you're the grandson!"
"We'll see!" he howled, bursting from the clinic and vanishing.
People surged toward the desk, arms waving before Lin Feng:"Doctor Jiang, check me!""Doctor Jiang, me too!"
Jiang Yan raised her voice with a smile, "Uncles and aunties, don't crowd, don't crowd—everyone will get a turn. Line up, I'll call numbers, one by one…"