"Dr. Chen, I'm a bit constipated. Could you give me a couple of needles?"
At the nurses' station outside the hospital room, a female nurse in her thirties—blonde, but without blue eyes, and with a slightly chubby figure—asked Chen Yu with a hint of bashfulness.
The corner of Chen Yu's eye twitched unnaturally.
'That's enough. Do they really think acupuncture is a cure-all?'
However, seeing the hopeful look in the nurse's eyes, Chen Yu nodded.
'Whatever, I'm just farming EXP. It's not a big deal.'
'Besides, she's probably just in it for the experience and doesn't really care about the results. It's not like it can do any harm, so I might as well do it.'
He raised his hand.
The female resident who had asked questions in the hospital room earlier immediately handed him a sterilized silver needle.
Chen Yu thought for a moment and gestured for the nurse to lift her uniform.
She wasn't shy at all, generously lifting her uniform to reveal several rolls of fat.
'What a waste of that thick, blonde hair.'
"A longer needle."
Chen Yu handed the silver needle back.
'With this much fat, a short needle probably wouldn't even get through the adipose layer.'
Next was selecting the acupoints.
This kind of thing relied on experience and locating blood vessels, which was naturally difficult on an overweight person.
But Chen Yu had the Eye of All-Seeing, which made finding the points much easier.
He selected the Dachangshu and Tianshu points, then the Zhigou point on her hand.
"It really doesn't hurt!"
The nurse turned her head and shouted incredulously to the long line of people stretching over ten meters behind her.
Maybe it was because Mayo was too expensive or for some other reason, but the orthopedics ward didn't seem to have many patients. All these doctors, nurses, and orderlies actually had the time to stand here in a long queue.
After removing the needles, Chen Yu was about to advise the nurse that if this didn't work, she should just use a couple of suppositories, since that stuff was more effective than Acupuncture.
But unexpectedly, she raised an eyebrow and clutched her stomach.
"Oh my god, this is amazing! I need to use the restroom right now."
With that, she hurried off toward the restroom.
The eyes of the people in line behind her went wide. Chen Yu had already performed acupuncture on quite a few people, and they had heard that for any kind of pain, one needle was all it took to make it go away instantly.
But those cases were all focused on pain. Seeing it have such an immediate effect on constipation was truly astonishing.
"Chen, what acupoints did you just use? Which meridians did you utilize?"
To his left, Wash peeked out from behind the camera and asked excitedly.
At first, they were in Hill's hospital room.
But later, afraid of disturbing Hill's rest, they moved to the nurses' station.
Wash had even found a camera, saying she wanted to record this precious acupuncture footage for future research.
She held a notebook, and every time Chen Yu performed acupuncture, she would record which acupoints he used.
She even brought over a life-sized human anatomical model to mark the points on.
With her high IQ, she not only memorized a large number of acupoints in a short time but was also constantly talking about the Hand Taiyang and Hand Yangming meridians.
Chen Yu silently glanced at the system.
Just after he had removed the needles, he suddenly received a system notification.
[Congratulations. Through long and repeated practice, you have gained a preliminary mastery of acupuncture therapy and obtained Basic Acupuncture Therapy Techniques.]
[Basic Acupuncture Therapy Techniques: Increases the efficacy of your acupuncture treatments by 5%.]
A new technique had appeared on his system panel.
It was the first time Chen Yu realized that he could obtain techniques through extended practice, and that they came with an efficacy bonus.
This efficacy could also be stacked with treatment effects.
Since getting the system, Chen Yu had actually used Acupuncture quite a few times.
He would practice on Lexi whenever he had nothing to do.
'What about massage?'
Whenever he was free, Chen Yu often gave rehabilitative massages to Lexi and other patients.
He had practiced that far more often than Acupuncture.
'Logically, I should have gotten a specialized technique for it by now.'
'Could it be because I used the Gold Level treatment effect before?'
Chen Yu thought of a possibility.
Frequent practice could make perfect, but higher difficulty and higher quality treatments should provide a much bigger boost to his skill progression.
A single use of the Gold Level treatment effect was probably worth countless normal treatments.
Snapping back to reality, Chen Yu's enthusiasm surged.
'It seems I not only need to practice a lot, but I also have to do more research and take on some complex and difficult cases.'
"It was the Dachangshu, Tianshu, and Zhigou points."
Chen Yu told Wash the acupoints.
He guessed that the nurse had felt the urge to go just now because of the efficacy bonus from the specialized technique.
"Next."
Chen Yu beckoned to the next female nurse.
She was also an older woman.
Nurses in the United States were generally older. Young women who were pretty and had good figures wouldn't become nurses with those assets; they'd go straight to Hollywood.
Besides, although the pay and benefits for nurses were decent, the job was truly exhausting.
Chen Yu had previously read an industry news report stating that the average age of nurses in the United States was 42.3, and nurses under 30 only made up 8 percent of the workforce.
'Shocking.'
She smiled at Chen Yu and pointed to her throat, saying, "I have a sore throat."
Chen Yu fell silent.
'A sore throat means you have a cold. You should be taking anti-inflammatory medicine, not getting acupuncture.'
Nevertheless, Chen Yu silently picked up a filiform needle and inserted it into her Shaoshang point.
The Shaoshang point belongs to the Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin and is effective for stopping coughs and relieving sore throats.
A 5% efficacy bonus didn't seem like much, but the effect was quite noticeable. The older woman rubbed her throat and said it felt much better.
Chen Yu himself found the results incredible.
Beside him, Wash silently gave a thumbs-up from behind the camera.
The free clinic continued like this until evening.
Chen Yu's experience bar had filled up once.
But his luck was bad, and he didn't get a treatment effect.
Chen Yu was used to it.
Wash invited Chen Yu to eat in the cafeteria, excitedly telling him about all she had learned that day.
Towards the end of their conversation, Wash suddenly said, "Chen, since you've resigned, are you planning to open your own clinic? You should just come to Jacksonville. It's a great city, and that way, I can consult with you more often if I have questions."
'A clinic?'
Chen Yu put down his knife and fork.
Ambitious doctors usually opened their own clinics. As long as your skills were good, achieving financial freedom was easy.
'But the investment is huge. I'm still saddled with a loan of several hundred thousand US dollars; I don't have that kind of money.'
'Besides, my original goal has always been to be a team doctor.'
Still, just as Wash had said, Jacksonville, as Florida's largest city, was indeed a cut above Orlando and Miami.
"I haven't really thought about it yet."
Chen Yu gave a noncommittal answer.
After dinner, Chen Yu went back to the hospital room to see Hill.
Gabriel and Billings weren't there. Hill was lying obediently in bed, watching a game.
The Magic were playing today, a home game against the Charlotte Hornets.
By the time Chen Yu arrived, the first half was almost over. The Magic were trailing 44 to 50, down by 6 points.
Chen Yu sat down and first glanced at Hill's left ankle. The fluid buildup and everything had noticeably decreased.
'Pumping all those treatment effects into it had produced astonishing results.'
Hill stared intently at the television. During halftime, he commented, "Mike's doing well. While I'm out, he should be able to shoulder the team's responsibilities."
He was talking about Mike Miller. In the first half, he had gone 3-for-3 from the three-point line, scoring a team-high 11 points.
"And Tracy, he has a lot of potential. I remember the media reporting that he has congenital scoliosis and can't handle high-intensity games. They said even if he played, his career wouldn't last long. But looking at him now, he seems very healthy and full of potential."
"Huh?"
Chen Yu froze for a second, looking at number 1, Tracy McGrady, as he walked off the court on TV.
'This guy has congenital scoliosis and he can still play ball?'