Xia Jun glanced at Lu Jiu and then at his grandson.
Honestly, his education level isn't high, and he doesn't understand medical stuff at all.
But for some reason, he feels what Lu Jiu said makes sense.
Since the previous approach has issues, perhaps it's no big deal to try a different one.
Besides, Lu Jiu's grandfather, Lu Mountain, used to treat him often and was a skilled Chinese medicine practitioner.
He said nothing, indicating that Lu Jiu was likely speaking the truth.
So, for his grandson's health, why not give it a shot? There's nothing to lose anyway.
"Alright, I'll listen to you and discuss with his mom when I get back. Just tell me what he should eat." Xia Jun laughed.
Lu Jiu smiled and said, "Keep it simple. In the morning, make some millet porridge; if he likes something sweet, add a bit of Chinese yam or something, but not too much. If you want to change flavors, buns and fried dough sticks work too—it's not necessary to be so rigid. Lighter options are fine. For lunch and dinner, continue as before, just serve fewer vegetables. It's normal for kids to dislike vegetables, so just let him eat a bit; there's no need to force him to eat them every meal. As for fruits, it's best not to eat them too late; after three o'clock, our body's absorption function decreases, so calculate the time yourself. And certainly don't drink milk before bed. Ensure these things, and the child shouldn't be lacking in nutrition. There's no need to worry about height."
To put it plainly, Lu Jiu's dietary plan hasn't changed much, only reducing lots of unnecessary nutrients.
Things like vegetables and fruits are indeed—nutritional science says many vegetables and fruits are good, some can even prevent various diseases.
However, most of these vegetables and fruits are quite sweet and sour, like apples, bananas, watermelons, oranges, etc. Children's spleen and stomach are developing; eating too much of these not only doesn't benefit them but can be harmful.
The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor also mentions that grains are for nourishment, fruits assist, livestock benefits, and vegetables supplement.
Grains are the main meal, while fruits only serve as supplemental snacks; treating them as staple food every day is evidently incorrect.
Thus, disregarding personal conditions to indiscriminately supplement because something is nutritious or beneficial is clearly unscientific.
In fact, no matter how good the things advertised on the market are, if they're of no benefit to you, then they're not supplements but poison.
"Alright, I've noted that. Do we need any medicine?" Xia Jun asked.
Lu Jiu waved his hand, "No need for medicine. The child's symptoms aren't severe; lighten the load on his spleen and stomach, have him be more active, play and see the sunlight, which can also have a spleen-strengthening effect. Children have plenty of Yang energy and recover quickly."
Even if symptoms were slightly more severe, as long as they don't affect the child's quality of life, Lu Jiu wouldn't recommend medicine.
Because the body inherently has self-healing functionality; many ailments can resolve with lifestyle changes.
Children are at a developmental stage; many medications have heavy effects and aren't as gentle as dietary supplements.
So, changing lifestyle habits and adjusting the dietary structure is essentially Lu Jiu's prescription.
"Really no need?" Xia Jun glanced at Lu Mountain as he spoke. Seeing Lu Mountain nod subtly, he felt reassured. "Alright then, thank you, Xiao Lu."
"You're welcome; come to me anytime if there are any issues," Lu Jiu replied.
"I certainly won't hold back, hahaha, Uncle Lu, let's go." Xia Jun paid and cheerfully led his grandson out of the clinic.
In one morning, Lu Jiu only saw two patients, much fewer compared to when he was at the hospital. But, well, seeing patients at home is comfortable; no rules and regulations to worry about, no meetings or reports to write—the most important part is that.
The downside?
Less money.
After going home for lunch and taking a short nap, Lu Jiu returned to the clinic to continue seeing patients; Lu Mountain held a small teapot, lounging leisurely on a deck chair enjoying the sun.
[Patient Zhang Yu, Spleen deficiency recovery progress 2%, Qi deficiency recovery progress 20%, symptom recovery progress exceeds 10%, activate ordinary reward, claim?]
Oh?
Interesting.
Seems like Zhang Yu must've taken the medicine.
When prescriptions match the symptoms, results are often immediate; the kind that prescribes a few courses and takes a month without improvement is usually a blind prescription, either off-target or purely money-driven.
Alright then, let's see what reward this system offers.
[Claim]
[Reward obtained: Basic Acupuncture!]
Basic Acupuncture?
Lu Jiu felt slightly disappointed.
He expected this peculiar system to surprise him, but it turned out to be just Basic Acupuncture.
Though the Lu Family heritage primarily focuses on classic prescriptions, there were several acupuncture documents a few centuries ago; yet, due to the times, Lu Family's acupuncture techniques gradually got lost.
However, the loss of special techniques doesn't mean Lu Family completely lacks acupuncture skills; over hundreds of years, the Lu Family had many talents who learned from various teachers and occasionally passed down insights.
Unfortunately, none formed a cohesive system, and fewer descendants pursued medicine. By Lu Mountain's generation, they only had basic understanding.
Lu Jiu was even less proficient than his grandfather, merely learning the basics, making it currently difficult to treat with this method.
But just as Lu Jiu was feeling disappointed, a surge of immense knowledge filled his mind, instantly revitalizing his entire being.
"The essentials of fine needles: easily explained yet hard to master. Coarse observance focuses on form; superior observance focuses on spirit. Divine mastery is subtle and reserved. Without understanding its essence, how to grasp its origin? The subtlety of needling lies in speed and delay. Coarse observance guards the physical; superior observance captures the moment. The motion of opportunity doesn't detach from its void; within emptiness, opportunity is clear, tranquil, subtle—cannot anticipate its arrival, cannot trace its departure. Those who know the Dao of opportunity cannot articulate it; those ignorant of opportunity strike without effect. Understanding its flow, one can meet its timing... Those moving are contrary; those approaching are compliant; knowing contrary and compliant, one acts effortlessly. Meeting and seizing eliminates void; pursuing and aiding eliminates fullness. Meet, follow, and harmonize with intent; the Dao of acupuncture is thereby complete."
This seems like... the Spiritual Pivot section of the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, the words of Qi Bo, right?
A downside of studying medicine is the vast amount to memorize.
But Lu Jiu has a good memory, frequented the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, so he's quite familiar with the original text.
This passage appeared in his mind, bringing with it a familiar yet extraordinary realization.
It felt as though someone was teaching Lu Jiu how to grasp the Qi during acupuncture, knowing that the key to all acupuncture treatments lies in "Qi". If the Qi is not correctly identified, it's as if the diagnosis is not clear, and in severe cases, it could lead to fatal consequences.
This is also the core content of the first chapter of the Spiritual Pivot of the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor.
After this bout of knowledge baptism, Lu Jiu felt that the acupuncture he had learned previously was merely foundational. Compared to this realization, it could only be considered entry-level.
This is a bit exaggerated!
Going forward, wouldn't it mean that as long as he kept curing patients, his medical skill would soar like a rocket?
Ha!
Two hundred thousand a year?
A joke, being a National Master of Chinese Medicine is his true goal!
Already somewhat confident, Lu Jiu was now feeling a bit inflated!
But this arrogance was just momentary. Lu Jiu knew well that to earn the rewards, there was a prerequisite: he must give his all to cure every patient.
Lying down waiting for rewards to arrive is certainly impossible.
[Patient Zhang Yu, Spleen deficiency recovery progress 2%, Qi deficiency recovery progress 50%, symptomatic recovery progress over fifty percent, activate skill reward, would you like to claim?]
Oh, it seems the efficacy of the medicine is continuing to take effect.
[Claim]
[Reward received: Qi]
Qi?
Lu Jiu understood this all too well. If grasping Qi is the key to all treatments, then getting Qi is the beginning of all treatments.
Getting Qi under the needle signifies that the healer has stimulated the patient's acupoints with the finest needle, and up next, special techniques can be used to evoke the Qi gathered at the acupoint to treat various diseases.
Of course, even without special techniques, as long as Qi is acquired, it is a form of treatment.
One could say that only by achieving needle-induced Qi can one be considered a qualified acupuncturist.
Lu Jiu was ecstatic.
The knowledge of Basic Acupuncture had already been beneficial, and now it directly bestowed him with the ability to achieve needle-induced Qi.
Extraordinary!
This system is too much of a bug.
With it, what worry does he have about not becoming a National Master of Chinese Medicine?
It's set!
Next, he just needs to focus wholeheartedly on curing patients; the rest need not be considered.
Restraining the joy in his heart, Lu Jiu retrieved a box of finest needles from the drawer. He had bought them to practice acupuncture, thinking he wouldn't have time to practice on his first day of clinic, but it turned out he overthought.
Opening the package, he took out a finest needle and directly performed acupuncture on his own Hegu Acupoint.
Almost instantaneously, Lu Jiu watched as the skin around his Hegu Acupoint gradually reddened, initially faintly red, and then the color approached pink until it no longer changed.
Indeed, after obtaining the skill, Lu Jiu became much more proficient in needle-induced Qi compared to before, almost reaching a level of ease.
At Lu Jiu's age, if not specializing in acupuncture as typically a Chinese medicine practitioner would, it would be impossible to reach this level.
Adding his achievements in classical formulas, it would be hard to find a few young Chinese medicine practitioners in all of Huaxia who understand classical formulas and play with acupuncture like he does.
This is because the current teaching model adopts a specialty education approach: first learn the basics, then split into specialties—those studying pharmacy do pharmacy, those studying classical formulas do classical formulas, and those learning acupuncture learn acupuncture.
Many students majoring in Chinese pharmacology in universities, basically after graduation, hardly know how to diagnose illnesses, most of them working in pharmaceutical companies, and if they enter a hospital, usually pursue certifications related to their specialty.
Students studying classical formulas generally don't have an in-depth understanding of medicine, with most knowledge stemming from textbooks, never having ventured into identifying and gathering herbs.
This leads to a situation where a book says a particular medicine has certain characteristics and functions, then it simply does. But learning this way often fails to yield treatment effects in clinical applications.
Take Danggui as an example, which is depicted in books as invigorating blood and promoting blood circulation. However, in reality, the head of Danggui raises blood upward, with the ability to invigorate blood, the body nourishes blood, and the tail breaks blood.
If a patient needs blood activation, and you're unaware of Danggui's properties when using Danggui's tail, not only will it fail to produce therapeutic effects, but it might aggravate the patient's condition.
Similarly, take ginger, a medicine commonly seen in daily life, often used when cooking.
Yet its properties and meridian associations vary based on preparation, shredded ginger enters the Heart Meridian, cut into blocks enters the Lung Meridian, and grilled enters the Stomach Meridian.
Such is the transformation of traditional Chinese medicine, both diverse and... amazing!
Its inherent regional and seasonal characteristics mean that the same seeds planted in different areas will have vastly different properties, regardless of how similar their molecular structures might be, the therapeutic effects are incomparable.
Thus, knowing medicine but not treatment, or knowing treatment but not medicine, is untenable.
Of course, among the common folks, there are some family-inherited practitioners like Lu Jiu, and perhaps not a few who are comparable to him.
After all, the concept of "inheritance" has been the most valued by Huaxia people throughout history, sometimes even more important than life itself!