Chapter 1223 - 1223: 784 First think, second scold, third catch a cold.

This time, with a purposeful inspection, Du Heng noticed many things.

The old man looked quite good; not every person in their sixties or seventies would necessarily possess Sun Jiaxiang's current vitality.

But to say the old man was now full of energy and in robust physical health would be pure nonsense. After all, he was a man in his nineties.

It was just Du Heng's judgment that the old man's current state wasn't yet at a stage where he needed to worry about death. With his current condition, if no sudden illness befell him, there would be no problem with him living comfortably for another three to five years.

Of course, if the old man had any hidden health issues that hadn't been revealed, that would be another matter altogether.

For a moment, Du Heng genuinely couldn't get a read on Sun Jiaxiang, so he could only explain using a literal analogy, "There's a problem in elementary school math that aligns well with the human body's development cycle."

Sun Jiaxiang looked quite interested, his eyes crinkling slightly at the corners. "Oh? What problem?"

"The water tank problem," Du Heng grinned. "A water tank has one pipe pouring water in and another outlet draining water out. The question is, when will the tank be full?"

Sun Jiaxiang was puzzled. "What does this have to do with what I said?"

Du Heng smiled faintly and continued to explain, "The human body is like this water tank. When we are young, our bodies are constantly adding 'water' to this tank, but at the same time, due to the consumption of daily life, it's constantly being depleted.

However, at this stage, the inflow is greater than the outflow.

But by the time we reach around thirty, the 'pipe' for the body's energy inflow starts to narrow, while the 'pipe' for outflow becomes wider and thicker.

Consequently, the water in the tank continuously decreases. This means our life-force is constantly draining away, leading to problems like aging and lowered immunity."

Du Heng coughed lightly and continued, "Actually, at this point, as everyone says, when people reach middle age, they start putting medlar in their thermoses—it's time for health preservation.

And this health preservation, I summarize in four words: 'increase sources, reduce outflow.'"

Sun Jiaxiang didn't interrupt Du Heng but, once again showing interest, asked with a smile, "What do you mean by 'increase sources, reduce outflow'?"

"'Increasing sources' means exercising more. For instance, activities like running, basketball, or table tennis—sports that involve a good amount of movement but aren't overly strenuous—are very helpful for enhancing the circulation of qi and blood.

This is 'drawing from within.' Simultaneously, one can also 'draw from without.' For example, men can consume more items like medlar and codonopsis, which are beneficial for tonifying qi and blood."

After Du Heng spoke softly and paused briefly, he continued, "As for 'reducing outflow,' that's even simpler: just reduce or avoid activities that deplete qi and blood.

For example, staying up late and excessive drinking are behaviors that severely harm the liver.

The liver stores blood; if the liver is severely overtaxed, the body's essence and blood will naturally become insufficient.

Then there are matters between men and women. If individuals lack restraint and act recklessly, it can lead to kidney essence deficiency.

And since the kidney receives qi, insufficient kidney essence results in weak qi circulation.

Only when qi and blood are sufficient can a person be considered healthy. This way, the aging process will also slow down."

Listening to Du Heng's explanation, Sun Jiaxiang nodded slowly, seemingly in agreement with Du Heng's statements.

Of course, aside from the somewhat novel water tank analogy, the rest of what Du Heng said were things long familiar in daily life. It's just that many people nowadays, especially the young, don't pay much attention to these matters. Therefore, it wasn't really a question of whether Sun Jiaxiang agreed or not.

His eyes shifted slightly, and he asked Du Heng again, "I know all these things you've mentioned, but they don't seem very applicable to a ninety-year-old man, do they?"

Du Heng's expression stiffened for a moment. He'd gotten carried away while speaking and hadn't realized he hadn't directly answered Sun Jiaxiang's question; his response had gone a bit off-topic.

"A ninety-year-old man, indeed." Du Heng sighed softly. "Yes, for an elderly person of this age, 'reducing outflow' is a certainty. As for 'increasing sources,' the only remaining path is supplementation with medication.

Moreover, due to the degeneration of various bodily organs, they can't just casually take a couple of tonics to supplement themselves like middle-aged people can.

So, it really depends on the specific circumstances. For you to ask me like this now, I genuinely find it a bit hard to give a definitive answer."

Sun Jiaxiang didn't show any disappointment at Du Heng's answer. He merely nodded lightly before asking an unrelated question, "Mr. Du, before you came to the Capital, you were a doctor in your Provincial Health Group, correct?"

Du Heng nodded gently.

Sun Jiaxiang then asked, "Have you participated in treatments?"

Du Heng nodded again. "Only once."

Then Sun Jiaxiang laughed. "Alright, then I won't take up any more of your time, Mr. Du. You should head back now."

Afterward, he had Xiao Zheng, who was beside him, exchange contact information with Du Heng, and then he bid Du Heng farewell.

Du Heng was left completely baffled. What was all that about? After a puzzled glance at Sun Jiaxiang's retreating figure, he also turned and walked towards his car.

「In the following days,」

Du Heng finally obtained Zhang Sumei's consent and, just as he had wished, held his daughter in his arms. Watching her little mouth, which would occasionally make little smacking sounds, he felt as if his entire being was melting away.