Chapter 728: Try It Yourself First

"Every time I see scenes like this, I think it's just too ridiculous," Meng Qingfei said. "My take is: a tough guy doesn't talk much. If you really have that kind of ability, who goes on and on yapping before making a move? Finish the job, pack up, and go home to sleep—wouldn't that be better?"

"Voldemort was a chatterbox too, insisting on communicating and talking. You're already sworn enemies, for God's sake, yet he still had so much to say."

Ji Xiang knew that Meng Qingfei had no leads, so he was just saying whatever came to mind.

The reason he spoke this way was that, deep down, he surely also believed there was a small chance the Patient was suffering from some bizarre, supernatural phenomenon that science had yet to define.

At this thought, Ji Xiang remembered Shen Lang.

The impact Shen Lang had on Ji Xiang was so great that, even now, Ji Xiang would think of that gossipy character whenever he had a spare moment.

He pricked up his ears and, mimicking Shen Lang's smiling expression, said, "Meng Laoshi, I've thought about this question too."

"You think so, right?"

"That's not necessarily the case."

"Hmm?" Meng Qingfei opened his eyes, slumped in his chair, and turned his head to look at Ji Xiang.

"Let me give you an example."

Meng Qingfei sat up and looked at Ji Xiang.

"Coordinate correction, target position 3, 5, 7, distance 27, high explosive, proximity fuze, one unit!"

Ji Xiang said this very formally, mimicking lines from a game.

Meng Qingfei was taken aback.

"Second squad to seventh squad, bearing 171, scale 225, elevation 12, correct right 3, high explosive loaded, fuze 30, 5-round rapid fire, fire!"

"..." Meng Qingfei understood what Ji Xiang meant. He started to find it absurd, but then, thinking it over, it seemed to make some sense, and he burst into laughter.

"Xiao Ji, what you said actually seems to hold some water."

After the digression, Meng Qingfei's mood seemed to improve a little.

He took out his phone while the Patient went for tests and they waited for the results, as there were no new patients.

Ji Xiang knew Meng Qingfei was going to look up the illness online again.

Meng Qingfei's way of looking up illnesses online was different from ordinary people; whatever content he found, he would perform a Differential Diagnosis first.

The online suggestions only provided Meng Qingfei with a fresh line of thinking.

But this time, Meng Qingfei was disappointed. He searched for several minutes, and by the time the Patient returned with the report, he still hadn't found any relevant content.

After finishing the prescription and the Patient had left, Ji Xiang asked, "Meng Laoshi, any breakthroughs?"

"The search terms were wrong," Meng Qingfei said. "What do you expect me to search for? 'High fever persists and starts counting money'? Or 'Patient sits on the bed embroidering'? Both of these sound unreliable just hearing them."

Ji Xiang scratched his head as well.

Indeed, looking at the Patient now, none of the symptoms seemed to have a perfect explanation on the internet.

Even,

a Differential Diagnosis couldn't be made.

Differentiate what? The difference between a burly man embroidering and an old lady embroidering?

Nonsense.

Watching the bewildered Meng Qingfei, Ji Xiang also felt helpless; he held his breath, focused his mind, and entered the System Operating Room.

"Teacher." Ji Xiang recounted the situation of the Patient he had encountered outside to the system NPC.

"Oh, I see." The system NPC nodded slightly.

"Teacher, the Patient is sick, right?" Ji Xiang looked at the system NPC full of expectation.

"Of course it's an illness, what else would it be?"

The system NPC suddenly smiled, the wrinkles on his face blooming all at once. "Doctor Xiao Ji, you didn't come in right away—were you trying to solve the problem yourself?"

Ji Xiang nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Asking the system NPC whenever he encountered a problem made Ji Xiang feel like a child running to a parent, something he had been trying to avoid lately.

"You did the right thing." The system NPC gave Ji Xiang a definitive answer. "How about we treat this as a task, then?"

"A task?"

The system NPC said, "Normally, if it were Zhou Congwen, the task would have been issued to you long ago, complete with breadcrumbs to guide you toward solving the problem."

"..."

Ji Xiang was stunned for a moment.

What the system NPC said seemed to have a deeper meaning.

"I'm not used to that. To be honest, if we're talking about being a teacher, that kid Zhou Congwen is more suitable."

"Teacher, no need for a task." Ji Xiang bowed. "I just wasn't sure if it was something science couldn't explain or if it was truly some kind of disease. Since you said it's a disease, I'll go give it a try."

Ji Xiang had absolutely no confidence when he said this.

But he was somewhat unconvinced, because after the system NPC heard his description, that look of "everything is under control" had appeared on his face.

Yet he himself still had no leads at all.

The system NPC knew what Ji Xiang was worried about and smiled slightly. "Go give it a try. I'll give you 6 hours. If you can't find the answer, come back and I'll tell you what the disease is."

"Don't be discouraged either; this disease is even harder to diagnose than a Heart Tumor." The system NPC then encouraged Ji Xiang. "You can still see a few cases of Heart Tumor a year—the numbers are low, but they exist. But the Patient's situation is quite special, and you..."

Hearing the system NPC say this, Ji Xiang felt his spirits lift.

"Teacher, any hints?" Ji Xiang asked.

The system NPC laughed, waved his hand, and Ji Xiang's vision blurred; he immediately left the System Operating Room.

"Xiao Ji, let's do this." Meng Qingfei was deep in thought, holding a pen and pulling a sheet of blank paper from the printer. "The Patient's current symptom is fever. What could counting money and embroidering count as?"

"Psychiatric symptoms!" Ji Xiang immediately followed Meng Qingfei's line of thought.

"Right, psychiatric symptoms. Although quite rare, they fall under psychiatric symptoms." Meng Qingfei wrote "high fever" and "psychiatric symptoms" on the blank paper.

"Singing, humming little tunes—I think that falls under Delirium," Meng Qingfei added.

Delirium is an impairment of consciousness, emotional instability, and is often accompanied by delusions and illusions; generally speaking, it is a manifestation of brain damage.

High fever leading to delirium is also logical.

"But have you ever encountered a case where delirium manifests as singing, Meng Laoshi?"

"I've encountered it twice. In one instance, a 16-year-old boy had delirium from a high fever. You guess... never mind, you wouldn't guess it. He started singing 'Where the Peach Blossoms Bloom'. That voice was so rich and full that I thought Li Shuangjiang had possessed him... Hahaha."

"Uh... such a thing really happens." Ji Xiang was speechless.

"The key is that the little boy was usually tone-deaf and couldn't sing at all. But when in delirium, he sang with perfect diction and tone; no one can explain why."

"At the time, an old Doctor told me he had encountered a country woman who sang opera after a high fever, and she sang in the style of an old male lead. When he was examining her, he heard her sing a couple of lines and almost shouted 'Bravo'."

It seemed he still knew too little, Ji Xiang evaluated himself in his heart.

"What else? Help me recall, Xiao Ji."

"The Patient embroidering." Ji Xiang began to imitate the Patient's action of sitting on the bed and embroidering.

Although it was a performance without props, Ji Xiang imitated it vividly, even "performing" the action of wetting the thread with his mouth, then straightening and smoothing it out.

For a split second, Meng Qingfei felt a bit dazed.

"Meng Laoshi, what is this action called?" Ji Xiang asked after finishing the imitation.