Chapter 127: Massage by Kneading, Tapping, and Pressing

The next day.

The targets for health inspection started to shift to the members of the level 3 healthcare target group.

Relatively fewer people were classified under the level 1 healthcare target group. Although some cadres were deputy governors in a city like Yun Hua, the number of cadres who still stayed in Yun Hua or still stayed in Centurial Beach Sanatorium were starting to diminish.

The old members of the Red Army who took part in the war before the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937 were even fewer. There was only one man like this in Centurial Beach Sanatorium. Everyone in the sanatorium served him like a precious piece of treasure, and when it was his time to carry out his rounds, it was the chief physician who walked into his room with some men he brought along. That ninety-two-year-old old man who was once just a little boy was now geriatric. As of now, his only enjoyment was to sit at the balcony gazing at the large ships in the open sea.

He could no longer see clearly, but as long as there was someone by his side telling him that there was a large Chinese ship passing by with a Five-Star Red Flag hanging on it, he would reveal a joyous smile and mutter some words that others would find incomprehensible.

The deputy bureau directors who were in the level 2 healthcare target group were the largest in number among the level 1 and level 2 healthcare target groups. The corresponding number of war veterans were also slightly higher. There were more or less ten of them, but their ages were similarly high. Most of them could not even walk, and it was the chief physicians who brought their teams with them to perform checkups.

Compared to them, there were a lot more members of the level 3 healthcare target group. In fact, they made up the majority. Most of them were aged between sixty to eighty. They could still bear the strain of travelling for two to three hours. Every year, they would pick a different sanatorium and use up around half a month of their free credit. It was a past time that brought them great joy.

The health inspection was also one of the activities they concerned themselves with the most.

As for retired division heads, if their children only had an average rate of progression in their careers, when they reached the age of sixty or seventy, these retired division heads would no longer have any special privileges to be used. The special-grade senior teachers in high school and elementary schools, university professors, and leading entrepreneurs with senior professional titles could not even dream of experiencing these privileges. They also needed to get a number when they arrived at the hospital. At most, they could enjoy better treatment if they were admitted, and when they could spend less money on medicine.

To them, the annual body check-ups and health inspections were obviously essential. A lot of people would prepare a small notebook, ask the doctors questions, and some would even help their children ask questions.

Those doctors who participated in the health inspection would answer them with much patience.

This time, Yun Hua Hospital sent out nearly hundreds of doctors and nurses at once. Each department had basically sent a few members to join the health inspection team. With so many members conducting check-ups for hundreds of the elderly in the span of three days, it was only natural that they need not be in as much of a hurry as when they performed inpatient and outpatient consultations.

Ling Ran followed Doctor Zhou as he rubbed his hands.

The doctors sent out by the Emergency Department this time were of junior level. They only sent a medical intern, a resident doctor, and an attending physician. To the patients, attending physicians were not entirely trustworthy, so Doctor Zhou was naturally arranged to the long table located furthermost of the area.

The kind-hearted Doctor Zhou did not mind this one bit. In fact, he kept on declining his seat with much modesty and allowed a few attending physicians who were somewhat mindful of their positions to be placed ahead of him.

Doctor Zhou used his own finger to poke at his nameplate so that he could arrange it neatly. He then gently lifted a thermos flask and drank from it in great satisfaction.

Ling Ran sat behind him on a stool which he had carried over. There was a resigned look on his face.

He was thinking about his nameless colleague outside. That colleague of his was currently surrounded by a group of children, and even if he was sacrificed, he would not be rewarded for it.

As Ling Ran was thinking, he peeked at Doctor Zhou’s nape.

Doctor Zhou was considered to have a normal body size among doctors. He was not too skinny nor too fat, and he rarely worked out. The muscles on his body were formed because of his busy work, and it was accompanied by all sorts of occupational diseases.

If an X-ray scan were to be performed on Doctor Zhou’s neck, the biological curvature indeed would definitely show that it had changed. It was possible that he had osteophyma. Most likely, he would fail the Naffziger’s Test.

Another old man came by, took a look at Doctor Zhou’s nameplate, and left.

Who with a sound mind would be willing to trust an Emergency Department doctor to perform their medical checkup? The hospital initially intended to give him some specialist’s nameplate, but had had rejected it. Who in their right mind would go force themselves to work?

Doctor Zhou was drinking his candied goji berries, longan, and jujube tea when he suddenly felt a chill on his neck.

In a martial arts novel, if the antagonist felt this, it would mean that he was about to die in two seconds.

Doctor Zhou shut his eyes, and he looked as if he was about to die in comfort.

At this time, which man would still care about the person who was touching his neck?

Ling Ran was also discreetly feeling for Doctor Zhou’s cervical vertebrae structure, and he cross-referenced the knowledge in his mind to the information he gained.

The cervical vertebrae was the easiest to remember in the human body. It was considered part of the ‘free marks’ section in a medical exam. Although the cervical vertebrae itself was a very complicated structure, as long as they numbered the vertebrae one by one from one to seven in a descending manner from the first vertebrae, they would be fine. It was something even a monkey could do!

The ligaments grew in a manner that was easily remembered. There were the anterior longitudinal ligament and the posterior longitudinal ligament that looked like entangled roots, the intertransverse ligament, the flavum ligament, and interspinal ligaments. It was as “medical student friendly” as neurotomy, and just like the cervical vertebrae, the spinal nerves were named as the first spinal nerve, the second spinal nerve… up the eighth spinal nerve.

The muscles were slightly more complicated, but Ling Ran pushed them diagonally downwards. He first used the rubbing technique to help the muscles relax before he placed one of his hands on Doctor Zhou’s forehead and the other on his cervical vertebrae. He then applied the pulling technique from the top to the bottom of his neck. At the same time, he applied pressure on the spinal Hua Tuo points [1] before he applied the rolling method at the shoulders…

Ling Ran rhythmically tightened and loosened his grip, and Doctor Zhou grunted because he was too comfortable.

And then, Ling Ran pulled and twisted the muscles.

*Crack*

Doctor Zhou cried out, before moving his neck about. He felt as if his neck was much more relaxed than before.

“Ling Ran, this method… Wow…” Doctor Zhou twisted his neck once more, and he felt that he had recovered from the damage done to him from the two months of working overtime.

Ling Ran gently nodded and spoke at such a soft volume that he sounded as if he was talking to himself, “Master Level Osteopathic Massage.”

Doctor Zhou had excellent hearing, and when he heard that, he immediately praised him, “Master Level, it definitely is Master Level.”

Ling Ran turned and squeezed out some alcohol gel, and he rubbed it with both hands while he said humbly, “I am just a master in spinal massage.”

Doctor Zhou gave him a thumbs-up in earnest, “It is hard to say whether there is anyone who is better than you in a Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital’s Massage Department.”

Ling Ran smiled. Since he was of Master Level, that meant that he was one of the many skilled medical personnel in Yun Hua City. Yun Hua Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital did not place emphasis on the Massage Department, but the question of whether or not anyone had achieved that standard, and whether or not that person was still working as a first-string practitioner, was still debatable.

When he thought of this, Ling Ran asked in his heart, ‘System, system, what is my ranking in Yun Hua City for spinal massage?’

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The system said, “You rank number one in Yun Hua for spinal massage.”

Ling Ran was shocked, and naturally came to a thought, so he asked,

‘System, system, am I the best in Changxi Province for spinal massage?’

The system said, “Yes.”

“How about all of China?”

“The level of skill you have in spinal massage ranks 43th in China. If you complete one thousand to two thousand massages correctly, you will rise by one rank.”

Ling Ran pursed his lips. Needless to say, these doctors who were highly skilled in massaging were just like the other types of doctors, all of them gathered in the capital city or Shanghai.

However, spinal massage remained to be Ling Ran’s highest ranked Master Level skill, although it was only limited to just one part—the cervical vertebrae. But this also meant that massaging was not a very popular skill, especially when its high-end offense was relatively weak.

Ling Ran was not surprised. In terms of clinical medicine, massaging ranked at the lowest, and was often held in disdain.

However, it did have a certain effect on some retrograde illnesses, and could still be applied in many areas of clinical medicine. It could be considered as a form of treatment that had its advantages and disadvantages in aiding rehabilitation.

But the position of the Rehabilitation Department in the hospital was already somewhere at the bottom. At some point in time, departments like the Neurosurgery Department had initiated their own rehabilitation programmes, and they even snatched patients from physiatrists.

If someone compared massages and rehabilitation side by side, they would find that the general public’s awareness towards massages was slightly higher. Patients would not expect as much either. It was enough if it could solve the patients’ current troubles, such as dizziness, aches, fatigue, and other problems brought by problems in the cervical vertebrae. It could be said that the most common complaints could be solved by massaging.

But speaking in terms of clinical medicine, dizzy spells, aches, and fatigue were not considered as severe illnesses. There were medicines that could also alleviate such symptoms. No matter how great massaging was, there was a limit to its greatness.

The eyes of clinicians were always fixed on heart transplants, cancer treatments, and other areas.

In such an environment, it was only natural that few doctors were willing to systematically learn how to perform massages.

Of course, even a clinician also enjoyed the relief and relaxation in their bodies brought by a good massage.

Doctor Zhou shook his neck and asked in a surprise, “Where did you learn this? What technique is this?”

“It’s orthodontic tendon manipulation. I just pressed, rubbed, grabbed, tapped, rolled, pulled, stretched, and twisted.” Ling Ran stopped for a moment before he answered Doctor Zhou’s previous question, “I learned it at home.”

“It’s your family’s massage technique?” The free female attending physician by the side who was about thirty-years-old was also curious.

Doctor Zhou coughed twice. “Ling Ran’s family owns a clinic called Lower Groove Clinic. It is said that they have a few physicians in charge who are quite skilled…”

As he continued speaking, he found himself unable to continue.

The attending physician by his side took the hint and smiled. “A few years ago, there were quite a number of famous doctors practicing outside the hospitals, and our hospital has also employed them before… Doctor Ling, my cervical vertebrae doesn’t feel too good either. Could you help me take a look?”

She had never spoken to Ling Ran alone before, but there was not a single person in Yun Hua Hospital who did not know who Ling Ran was.

Ling Ran also did not say much. He nodded and said, “Please sit straight.”

The female doctor immediately straightened up obediently.

Ling Ran’s hands carried a tangerine scent. It was from the alcohol gel. He grabbed her neck.

“Oh…” The female doctor was in such a state of comfort that she could not even control her voice anymore.

Ling Ran also started at the same point. He was trying to understand the application of massage skills in actual operation.

He needed to perform one thousand to two thousand massages correctly to rise up a single rank, but to Ling Ran, one thousand or two thousand times of repetitious work was not a burden. Strictly speaking, he needed half an hour to perform a surgery using the M-Tang technique, and as for a massage, he only needed a few minutes. It was much shorter.

Needless to say that if he rose by one in the ranking, he would rise from 43rd to 42nd. He could also imagine that if the current massage therapist ranked 44th knew that if he could rise by one in the ranking by massaging two thousand times, he would be snatching people from the left and right to carry out massages.

Ling Ran’s mind began to wander. ‘Going to the street and grabbing people to massage them seems like a good idea.’

*Snap.*

As Ling Ran twisted her neck, the female doctor’s cervical vertebrae also emitted a crispy, loud noise.

“Your cervical vertebrae is still fine. Nothing major.”

Ling Ran gave post-surgery advice.

“Now I feel even more comfortable.” The word “refreshed” radiated from the female doctor’s entire being.

“Doctor Ling…” A junior nurse saw the change on their side. She obediently placed her hands together, as if they were bound. She looked like a cat.

Ling Ran nodded his head and took the alcohol gel in one smooth motion.

He thought, ‘Sanitizing my hands continuously will be bad for me.’

So, he passed the gel to the junior nurse and said, “Apply it on your neck.”

The junior nurse obediently sat opposite to Ling Ran and started to squeeze out the gel before rubbing it from her first cervical vertebrae to the seventh. Then, she rubbed the alcohol gel at the front of her neck all the way to her collarbone, and even an area lower than the collarbone, leaving behind a faint layer of gel on her skin.

“Doctor Ling, I’m ready,” the junior nurse straightened her neck and said in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Translator’s Note:

[1]Spinal Hua Tuo points: Also known as Hua Tuo Jiaji points, located over the lamina of the vertebrae.