Outside the intensive care unit of the City People’s Hospital.

The air was so heavy it felt like it might start to drip.

Wang Jianhao clutched the ballpoint pen in his hand, which felt as if it weighed a ton.

The tip of the pen hovered over the surgical consent form, but he couldn’t bring himself to lower it.

His hand was shaking violently, his palm slick with sweat.

’Which one do I choose?’

’Endoscopy or open surgery?’

’No matter which one I pick, I’m gambling my own son’s life on a slim chance at a future.’

Just as he was about to close his eyes and blindly sign his name,

the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

He answered the call numbly.

On the other end of the line was the anxious voice of his Third Aunt from the village.

"Hello! Is that you, Jianhao? It’s your Third Aunt. Listen to me, stop waiting around at the City People’s Hospital. Hurry up and take the child to the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. You have to find that Divine Physician who does acupuncture. My granddaughter was at the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine..."

Over the phone, his aunt quickly recounted the story of how her granddaughter had been saved by acupuncture.

After listening to her, Wang Jianhao,

whose heart had been like dead ashes, suddenly felt a glimmer of hope.

He remembered it now.

A few days ago, he had indeed heard the villagers talking about how his Third Aunt’s granddaughter had almost died from a pig bone stuck in her throat, but was later cured by a Divine Physician.

At the time, he had just treated it as a strange anecdote and hadn’t paid it much mind.

But now that the same misfortune had befallen his own son, this "strange anecdote" had become his last straw to clutch at!

Acupuncture!

’No incision, no surgery... just a few needles can make him cough up the bone on his own?’

Although it sounded unbelievable, to a man who had reached a dead end, it was undoubtedly music to his ears!

"Thank you, Third Aunt! I understand, I understand!"

Wang Jianhao hung up the phone, feeling as if he had grasped a lifeline.

He threw down the pen, rushed to the doctor’s office, and said anxiously to the stunned attending physician, "Doctor, we want to transfer to another hospital!"

The attending physician frowned and asked, "Transfer? To where? Why?"

"We’re going to the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. They have a Divine Physician there who practices acupuncture."

Wang Jianhao said quickly.

"Acupuncture?" Hearing this, the attending physician almost laughed in exasperation.

He looked at Wang Jianhao as if he were an idiot and explained patiently, "Sir, calm down. Have you been listening to some charlatan? Let me tell you, in your son’s condition, the nail has already entered his stomach and intestines. This is a physical obstruction. How could acupuncture possibly get a nail out? Don’t be ridiculous and waste the child’s best window for treatment!"

’This couple is unbelievably ignorant,’ he thought.

But Wang Jianhao’s mind was made up. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

After all, there was a real-life precedent.

And if they stayed here for the surgery,

the success rate wasn’t high either.

He couldn’t bear to face the surgical consent form, which was filled with the risks of death.

"No, we’re going to the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. We have to try!"

he insisted stubbornly.

The attending physician wanted to persuade him further, but another doctor beside him quietly pulled him aside.

"Old Li, forget it."

The doctor lowered his voice. "Since the patient’s family wants to transfer, isn’t that for the best? Ask yourself, what are your chances with this surgery? The child is too young, and the risks are enormous.

If, and I’m just saying if, something goes wrong during the surgery, it won’t just affect our department’s and the hospital’s evaluations for the year. It could also spark a major doctor-patient conflict.

Since they’re willing to take this hot potato off our hands, let the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine deal with the headache. Why should we stand in their way?"

Hearing this, the attending physician fell silent.

A moment later,

he let out a long sigh and acquiesced.

And so, with everyone in agreement, the transfer procedures were completed with extreme speed.

Soon, an ambulance carrying the critically ill Wang Zimo sped away from the City People’s Hospital, its siren wailing as it headed toward the City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

...

City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Emergency Department.

Director Han looked at the young patient who had just been brought in, then at the diagnostic records and clear X-ray transferred from the City First Hospital, and was so furious he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Nonsense! This is absolute nonsense!"

He fumed in his office, bristling with anger. "What are those guys at the City People’s Hospital playing at? Shoving such a difficult patient onto us? They sure think highly of us, don’t they!"

He wasn’t just furious about them passing the buck.

It was also because

he knew in his heart that their Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine simply couldn’t treat this patient.

Their hospital’s overall medical expertise and equipment were both inferior to the City People’s Hospital.

If even the experts at the City First Hospital found the case to be a headache and didn’t dare to operate rashly, how were they supposed to treat him?

But now the patient was here, and the family was insistent. As the director of the emergency department, he could only bite the bullet and accept this "hot potato."

"Doctor," Wang Jianhao said, looking at him with an imploring expression, "I heard your hospital has a young doctor who is amazing with acupuncture. We came here specifically for him!"

The moment Director Han heard this, he understood.

’So, this is the fallout from that incident,’ he thought.

The story of Doctor Li Xu curing the patient with the pig bone stuck in their throat using acupuncture had apparently gotten out.

He couldn’t help but smile wryly to himself.

"Sir, please calm down first."

Director Han explained patiently, "I know who you’re talking about. But your son’s current situation is completely different from that other patient’s!"

"That day, the patient had a bone stuck in their throat, which is in the upper digestive tract. Doctor Li used acupuncture to stimulate the flow of qi and induce vomiting. From a traditional Chinese medicine perspective, there’s some logic to that.

But your son has a nail that has already reached his stomach. That’s the lower digestive tract.

Tell me, no matter how much acupuncture you perform, it’s not going to fly back up from his stomach and out of his mouth, is it?

Besides, if it moves around in the stomach and punctures the stomach wall, wouldn’t that be even more dangerous?"

While Director Han painstakingly explained, he immediately made a call to summon others for a consultation.

This situation was far beyond what he, a mere director of the emergency department, could handle.

Soon, Lin Guorui from Internal Medicine arrived with Hu Qiming, followed by Director Du from Pediatrics, and Zhu Quanxin, the director of the Acupuncture Department. They all hurried to the emergency room.

Even Xue Shuheng, being an in-house expert, was notified to join the consultation.

A group of experts gathered around Xiao Momo’s hospital bed and his various test reports, beginning an emergency consultation.

"Director Zhu,"

Director Han looked first to Zhu Quanxin. "You’re our hospital’s leading authority on acupuncture. The patient’s family is requesting acupuncture treatment. In your opinion, is there any possibility of removing the nail with acupuncture in a situation like this?"

Zhu Quanxin shook his head vigorously. "Are you kidding me? That’s absolutely impossible. Acupuncture is for regulating qi and blood and clearing the meridians; it’s not magic. Once a nail is in the stomach, not even an Immortal could get it out with acupuncture. That’s common sense!"

...

PS: Thank you to ’Tian Bian Yi Pian Yun’ for the 100-coin tip.