Chapter 8: Smelly Breath

"You... what... what are you talking about?" Gao Yan took two involuntary steps back. "I said it's smelly. You know what I mean!" Neither Lin Zhiyuan nor Lin Momo understood what Qin Haodong meant. But Tang Tang hopped and cried, "I know! I know! Aunt Gao's breath really sticks. Once she did not wear a mask, and her breath smelled like fart and made me lose my appetite!" The others then realized that Qin Haodong meant that Gao Yan had halitosis and wasn’t referring to her offensive words. They had thought Gao Yan wore a big mask because of a doctor's natural obsession with cleanliness, but now they knew that she was covering up her bad breath. Although she took no offense to Tang Tang's words, Gao Yan was so ashamed that she wished she had disappeared. She didn't have bad breath as a child but somehow developed it in high school. In order to cure this unspeakable disease, she’d chosen to become a doctor. She had seen numerous well-known doctors, but her halitosis was still not cured and had even got worse over the years. Despite being quite pretty, she couldn’t even get a boyfriend, because no man could stand her bad breath. "Don't you believe in Western medicine? Why can't you cure yourself?" Qin Haodong addressed this question again. Gao Yan gave him a bitter look and replied, "So what? Western medicine is scientific, but there are also difficult and complicated diseases that it cannot cure at present. You can't deny the role of Western medicine just because of this." "Difficult and complicated disease?" Qin Haodong snorted with laughter. "Your halitosis is obviously caused by heavy stomach fire and gastrointestinal heat. In traditional Chinese medicine, this is a small problem that can be easily cured. But you don’t believe in traditional Chinese medicine, so you’ve brought this on yourself." "That's impossible. You're lying! I've had a standard examination of my stomach and intestines. There's nothing wrong. How could this be due to my stomach and intestine?" argued Gao Yan. "That's why I said you didn't know anything about traditional Chinese medicine. In traditional Chinese medicine, the stomach and intestines is a system of passages, not organs as in Western medicine. It is precisely because of the limitations of Western medicine that it cannot find the root of your disease and ridiculously labels it a difficult problem. It would only take me a few minutes to treat an ailment like yours." "What... What? You can cure my disease?" Gao Yan asked in disbelief. "Yes! Of course! Doctor Magic is amazing. He can cure any disease!" Tang Tang yelled, clapping her hands. She was now the biggest fan of Qin Haodong. In her eyes, her Doctor Magic was omnipotent. Gao Yan hesitated for a moment, then made a low bow to Qin Haodong, and pleaded earnestly, "Please, Doctor Qin, give me a hand. If you can cure my disease, I'll give you whatever you ask for!" Gao Yan had some faith in his medical skills now. What was more, she was almost driven mad by the disease and would jump at the slightest hope that it could be cured. "Doctor Magic, Aunt Gao is so pitiful. Please give her some needles! If she hurts, I can sing a song for her!" Qin Haodong lovingly stroked the little girl's head, turned to Gao Yan and said, "For Tang Tang's sake, I'll give you a little therapy." Then he directed Gao Yan to lie down on the couch before he did acupuncture for her. For Emperor Green Wood, healing the gastrointestinal blockage was a piece of cake. Five minutes later, he put away his needles. "It's over. Try and see if you still have bad breath." "So soon?" Gao Yan hesitantly took off her mask. Then she put her hands together, breathed into them, and sniffed. She used to frown at her bad breath when she did this, but this time she didn’t smell anything. "Is it true that the disease that has bothered me for more than ten years was cured in a last few minutes?" she wondered in shock. With an unbelieving expression, Gao Yan breathed again into her palms. Still, there was not any of the original bad breath. The little girl ran to Gao Yan and said with a silly look, "Aunt Gao, let me smell it!" With that, she lifted her face close to Gao Yan's mouth, her lovely little nose sniffing, and then clapped her little hands and shouted, "No bad smell, no bad smell! Aunt Gao's mouth no longer fart!" Gao Yan wept with emotion. She’d suffered the loneliness and humiliation of halitosis for so many years. "Thank you, Doctor Qin. Thank you very much indeed!" Gao Yan fell to her knees in front of Qin Haodong with a flop. "I was wrong. I was shortsighted. I apologize to you, to Chinese medicine. I'm sorry!" "Get up," Qin Haodong said. "I have cured you of your disease, but for your blind faith in foreign things, and for disparaging traditional Chinese medicine, I will punish you with three days of not being able to speak." He was infuriated at the woman for her unprovoked denigration of traditional Chinese medicine, so he’d his therapy slightly to instill a small punishment. Gao Yan got up from the ground, attempting to speak and failing. Only then did she realize that the magic of traditional Chinese medicine was far beyond the imagination of people like her, who studied Western medicine. Even with this punishment, Gao Yan looked at Qin Haodong with gratitude and admiration. Three days of silence was a small price to pay for finally being rid of her halitosis. When Tang Tang saw that Gao Yan was suddenly unable to speak, she quickly covered her mouth with her two small hands and said to Qin Haodong, "Doctor Magic, I'm a good girl. Please don't make me unable to speak!" The remark, full of childlike innocence, created a burst of laughter which dispelled the awkwardness in the room. Lin Momo looked at Qin Haodong, her eyes alight with admiration. She felt a lot better about allowing Qin Haodong to be Tang Tang’s godfather. "Doctor Qin, thank you for helping Tang Tang recover. Your medical skill is such an eye-opener to me!" Lin Zhiyuan said. He was old enough to know the importance of a skilled doctor to a family. With Qin Haodong, the Lin family had an extra lifeline. Thus, his enthusiasm for Qin Haodong was combined with respect. Now, none of the Lins dared to question Qin Haodong's medical skills. All the ruckus caused their cook and nanny came into the living room to see what was going on. Since nothing appeared to be wrong, the cook, Zhang Dafu, said, "Mr. Lin, breakfast is ready. When would you like to eat?" With Tang Tang ill, Lin Zhiyuan hadn’t been in the mood to eat a few minutes ago, but her recovery had lightened his mood, and he decided to have breakfast immediately. "Thank you very much, Doctor Qin. Please come and have breakfast with us." He then politely invited Qin Haodong into the dining room and offered him his seat of honor. "I want to sit next to Doctor Magic," the little girl cried as she climbed into a chair next to Qin Haodong's seat and held his hand lovingly. "Mama, sit here," she said to Lin Momo, patting the chair beside her with her little hands. Lin Momo took the seat. As she took a glance at Qin Haodong, a strange feeling came over her. It was like a family of three sitting together for breakfast. The Lin family had a big breakfast, both Chinese and Western food. "Tang Tang, what do you want?" Lin Momo asked her daughter gently. "Mama will help you to get the food." Having a look at the food on the table, Tang Tang wrinkled her nose and replied, "I don't want to eat, Mama!" "No, it's not good for your health. If you are not in good health, you will be vulnerable to illness," said Lin Momo, filling a bowl with porridge, preserved eggs, and minced meat. "Tang Tang, have some porridge. Porridge for breakfast is good for your stomach!" Looking at the porridge in the bowl, the little girl waved her hand to refuse, "No! No! Mama, I don't want to eat anything." "No, you can't skip breakfast. You must have some, or Mama will be angry," Lin Momo threatened her, putting on an angry face. "Miss Lin, Tang Tang just had a fever, and it's normal for her to have no appetite," Qin Haodong explained. "Let me cook Tang Tang some porridge. She will love it." Lin Zhiyuan quickly said, "Doctor Qin, how can we let you do such a thing? You are an honored guest!" "Tang Tang just recovered from illness. It's okay for me to make something delicious for her," Qin Haodong said, looking at his daughter. Hearing the conversation, Zhang Dafu, who had been serving at the table, came forward and said, "Doctor Qin, how about you explain the cooking to me and I'll do it?" "No, I'll do it." said Qin Haodong, getting up from his seat. "Great, great, I want to eat the delicious food Doctor Magic cooks!" Tang Tang said, clapping her hands happily. Zhang Dafu was a little upset. This was belittling his cooking. "Doctor Qin, your medical skill is masterful, but you are not a cook. Your cooking is not as good as mine." He was in a position to be proud. His grandfather was the imperial chef of the former dynasty, and his father had made a state banquet for the senior officials of China. He himself was a top chef well-known in Jiangnan City, and the Lin family spent a lot of money to employ him as their cook. Not caring what he said, Qin Haodong laughed and said, "Maybe Tang Tang likes my cooking!" "Yeah! Yeah! I want to eat the delicious food Doctor Magic cooks!" The little girl immediately came out in support of Qin Haodong. "All right, thank you, Doctor Qin," Lin Zhiyuan agreed before he turned to Zhang Dafu and said, "Take Doctor Qin to the kitchen!" If Qin Haodong was in the mood to cook, they might as well let him do as he pleased. Maybe he would waste some ingredients, but the Lin family was wealthy enough that it wasn’t a problem. Zhang Dafu wasn’t happy with it, but he also wasn’t willing to disobey Mr. Lin. "This way please, Doctor Qin." "Doctor Magic, let me help you!" Tang Tang exclaimed. She climbed down from the chair, grasped one of Qin Haodong's fingers, and they entered the kitchen together.