"How can traditional Chinese acupuncture have such an immediate and instantaneous effect on mental illnesses?"
Bai Su didn't believe Chen Xiao's words at all. She shook her head instinctively, but seeing Chen Xiao's confident demeanor, she reluctantly let go of his arm. With a dejected expression, she said,
"Alright, alright, I'll let you try first."
However, considering Mo Shuting's violent tendencies, she stayed close to Chen Xiao, vigilantly observing Mo Shuting's every move, as if she were a bodyguard hired by Chen Xiao at great expense.
Mo Shuting saw Bai Su's actions and felt both amused and exasperated. She couldn't help but tease,
"Director Bai, why are you so nervous about Doctor Chen? Could he be your illegitimate son? Or perhaps your lover..."
Before she could finish, Mo Shuting realized that Chen Xiao could be more terrifying than a mental patient when he became violent. The word "lover," which was almost on the tip of her tongue, was swallowed back. Panicked, she quickly plastered a smile on her face and said to Chen Xiao,
"Dr. Chen, please don't be angry. I'm just used to joking with Director Bai, and my mouth slipped. Heh heh."
"Director Bai cares for her subordinates and loves me like her own child. What's there to be angry about?"
Chen Xiao smiled nonchalantly and shook his head. As he spoke, he took out a sterilized silver needle he carried with him and gestured for Mo Shuting to sit on the reception sofa.
"Where will Doctor Chen be needling? Do I need to take off my clothes?"
Mo Shuting quickly complied, her eyes full of anticipation.
Although she also felt that traditional Chinese acupuncture had little effect on mental illnesses caused by non-organic disorders, especially not immediate and instantaneous results, she had no other options and decided to try anything, even if it seemed hopeless.
Chen Xiao shook his head without hesitation.
"I will be needling the Shenting acupoint on your head. You don't need to take off your clothes."
With that, he quickly inserted the needle.
"What? Shenting... Shenting acupoint?"
Mo Shuting felt a chill run down her spine, her heart pounding. She instinctively wanted to dodge.
Bai Su was also terrified and quickly tried to stop him,
"Chen Xiao, stop! The Shenting acupoint is one of the thirty-six fatal acupoints on the human body. If you're not absolutely certain, don't needle it rashly..."
Before she could finish, Bai Su was stunned. She clearly saw that the silver needle in Chen Xiao's hand, which was slightly longer than an index finger, had completely entered Mo Shuting's head.
Mo Shuting couldn't see it, but she could feel it. Fearing that any slight movement would cause her to be injured or even killed by the needle already in her head, she had no choice but to maintain the awkward posture of dodging the needle, not daring to move an inch from head to toe, appearing as if she had turned to stone.
In an instant, the already empty director's office fell into a deathly silence.
"Gulp—"
About half a minute passed before Bai Su finally managed to recover from her shock. She instinctively swallowed and said with a near-tearful voice,
"Sister Mo, why have you suddenly gone silent and still? Don't... don't scare me!"
Mo Shuting's forehead was covered in cold sweat. She also felt like crying but couldn't. She spoke without daring to move her lips,
"Do I... dare to move?"
"This..."
Bai Su thought about it and agreed, becoming even more panicked, on the verge of tears.
"The entire needle is stuck in her head. This... this might require cranial surgery to remove! Chen Xiao, you're being too reckless!"
As she spoke, she reached for her phone, intending to arrange cranial surgery for Mo Shuting.
"Cranial... cranial surgery?"
Mo Shuting's composure completely crumbled. Tears streamed down her face, but she still dared not move. Her bones were about to give out. She deeply regretted coming to Chen Xiao for treatment.
"Uh..."
Chen Xiao couldn't help but feel a bit speechless, a wry smile on his face.
"Director Bai, Director Mo, you are both leaders at the Central Hospital and renowned medical experts in the city and even the province. You must have witnessed more medical treatments in your careers than I have lived years. Are you really so scared by my Taiyi True Needle?"
As he spoke, he took two bottles of drinks from the refrigerator and handed them to Bai Su and Mo Shuting, saying calmly,
"Calm down, both of you. If outsiders saw this, they would question the medical standards of our Central Hospital."
"I..."
Mo Shuting, tears streaming down her face, wanted to speak but hesitated. She dared not move, let alone reach out for the drink Chen Xiao offered.
Bai Su, however, angrily slapped away Chen Xiao's hand offering the drink and kept complaining,
"You brat, a silver needle that long stuck into the brain could be fatal at any moment. We must arrange cranial surgery immediately. How can you expect me to calm down..."
Before she could finish, Bai Su was stunned again. She clearly saw that the silver needle, which had previously been entirely submerged in Mo Shuting's head, was now silently revealing its tail. She couldn't help but exclaim as if she had seen a ghost,
"Chen... Chen Xiao, did I see wrong earlier? Why can I clearly see the tail of the needle that was previously completely inserted into Sister Mo's head?"
The needle was very thin and difficult to see amidst Mo Shuting's hair. As Bai Su spoke, she even leaned closer to Mo Shuting, her eyes wide open, examining it carefully.
This time, she was even more disbelieving of her own eyes. She clearly saw the silver needle slowly retracting from Mo Shuting's head, as if an invisible hand were slowly pulling it out.
"This is... this is uncanny! Why is the needle pulling itself out?"
"What?"
Mo Shuting was greatly alarmed, her reason instantly losing control. She no longer cared about the fatal consequences of moving her body. She instinctively took out her phone from her pocket and used it as a mirror to check her head. Indeed, she saw the needle that had nearly scared her to death slowly emerging from her head.
In just this short time, nearly half of the needle had emerged.
In an instant, she instinctively cast an incredulous gaze at Chen Xiao, her expression filled with shock and confusion.
Bai Su, even more impatient, pressed,
"Chen Xiao, why is the needle able to pull itself out?"
Chen Xiao saw their expressions and chuckled inwardly. He explained ambiguously, with a mix of truth and falsehood,
"This is the miraculous aspect of my family's ancestral Taiyi True Needle in treating mental illnesses caused by non-organic disorders. Let's drink our beverages first. When the needle completely detaches, Director Mo's illness will naturally be completely cured."
"Is there truly such a miraculous acupuncture technique in the Chinese medicine world?"
Bai Su and Mo Shuting were speechless, their faces filled with undisguised shock.
This time, they no longer refused the drinks Chen Xiao offered.
Seeing hope for her mental illness, which had troubled her for many years, Mo Shuting gradually shifted from shock to joy. With a look of excitement, she said,
"Director Bai, if Doctor Chen's acupuncture can truly cure my illness, I request that we immediately grant him an exceptional appointment as the Chief Physician of our Psychiatry Department. Such a young and promising Super Doctor King being in the Emergency Department is a waste of his talent. With just his Taiyi True Needle, he could easily rewrite the medical convention that non-organic mental illnesses are difficult to cure, and even the history of psychiatry in the global medical community!"
"That might not be possible!"
Bai Su stared at Chen Xiao dreamily, her breathing gradually quickening, her ample chest heaving violently.
"Not long ago, Old Director Lin told me that Doctor Chen has mastered the 'Life-Extending Acupuncture Technique,' Sheng Sheng Zao Hua Zhen, which was lost during the Tang and Song dynasties. With just one needle, he can extend the life of a patient who is still breathing for one day, and up to nine days at most. Such a divine skill that can bring the dead back to life, restore flesh to bones, steal yin and yang, and seize creation is enough to grant him an exceptional appointment as a full-spectrum specialist at our hospital!"
Before this, Bai Su hadn't believed that Chen Xiao had mastered Sheng Sheng Zao Hua Zhen, even though Lin Huichun himself had told her. But now, having witnessed the absurdity of the Taiyi True Needle with her own eyes, she found it hard not to believe.
"With just one needle, he can extend the life of a patient who is still breathing for one day, and up to nine days at most?"
Mo Shuting was dumbfounded, her jaw almost dropping to the floor.
Although Chen Xiao's astonishing act of reviving Song Kaichao with Sheng Sheng Zao Hua Zhen a while ago had caused quite a stir in the Emergency Department, insidious individuals like Gou Shunquan and Lin Chenggang, who coveted the Sheng Sheng Zao Hua Zhen, had actively suppressed the news. Mo Shuting, who was over fifty and focused on treating patients and her own health, naturally hadn't heard of it.
However, she knew that neither Lin Huichun nor Bai Su would lie. Amidst her shock, she quickly expressed her support,
"If that's truly the case, I unconditionally support the exceptional appointment of Doctor Chen as a full-spectrum specialist at our hospital. If the higher authorities don't approve our application, I'll make a fuss until they do!"
"Yes! Exactly!"
Bai Su acted immediately. She strode to the desk and turned on her computer, saying excitedly,
"I will now write an application to the higher authorities in the name of the hospital director, and then have Old Director Lin personally negotiate. Chen Xiao, you'll have to make do with my office for now. Once the application is approved by the higher authorities, I'll arrange a better office for you."
As the saying goes, a tree that stands out in the forest will be destroyed by the wind; a person who excels above others will be criticized by the masses.
Chen Xiao had already provoked enough people recently. While he wasn't afraid of trouble, he disliked it. Without a second thought, he quickly shook his head and refused,
"Director Bai, Director Mo, I appreciate your kindness, but I'm not interested in being a full-spectrum specialist for now. I'm still young and single. Besides doing my job well, the most important thing should be dating."
He deliberately said the latter part to Bai Su, as he knew better than anyone how to "handle" her.
Fearing that he wouldn't be able to persuade Bai Su and Mo Shuting to change their minds, he added immediately after speaking,
"Oh, right, Director Mo, the Taiyi True Needle on your head should be falling out completely soon. Aren't you going to check if your illness has recovered?"
"Ah? Right! Right! Right, right, right!"
Mo Shuting remembered that the silver needle on her head was still stuck in her Shenting acupoint, about half a centimeter. She became so excited that she lost all composure and rushed out of the room as if injected with adrenaline, disappearing in a flash.
With no outsiders present, Bai Su no longer concealed her affection for Chen Xiao. Her eyes fixed on him, she asked with a gossip-filled tone,
"Do you have someone in mind?"