By the second week of inhalation treatment, Ning could climb the infirmary stairs with one pause instead of two. She still coughed after a long shift, but her breathing settled sooner when she stopped. Physician He recorded the change in her chart and asked how she had been managing the lower-exposure morning station.
“I’m keeping the inhalation break,” Ning said. “The sorting room is dusty, but I’m not standing at the Furnace Three vent.”
He nodded. “That is useful information. I brought the qi-strengthening supplement we discussed. It may support recovery, but the label says it can cause heat in the channels.”
Ning looked at the small bottle. Its seal was unbroken. “Do I need it now?”
“No. Your breathing has improved slightly with the inhalations and the work change. The supplement is optional.”
“Could it worsen the refinery irritation?”
“The evidence is mixed. Some patients tolerate it well. Others report more heat or coughing. We would have to watch what changes.”
Ning left the bottle on the desk. “Then I want to wait. I’d rather keep the inhalation plan alone for another week than add something and guess which treatment changed my breathing.”
“That is reasonable,” Physician He said. “We can revisit it after your next follow-up. You don’t owe us a decision today.”
He placed the sealed supplement on the clinic shelf rather than adding it to her order. Ning watched him mark it “optional—held at patient request” in the chart. The clerk checked the charge line and left it blank. Ning’s money stayed in her purse.
Yan arrived with a bowl of lunch and a paper-wrapped dumpling. He saw the bottle and paused before setting down the food. “Is that the supplement from the estimate?”
“It is. I’m waiting.”
He recognized the warming effect from the pill tests he had made for himself. He did not tell Ning that the System had changed his own cultivation-linked results. Her body and her treatment were hers to assess. “If you want to wait, I’ll support it.”
“Thank you.” Ning lifted the lunch bowl. “You brought enough for two?”
“One bowl and a dumpling.”
“Then you get the dumpling.” She pushed it toward him. “I ate before the appointment.”
Yan sat by the wall and opened the paper. “How did the stairs go today?”
“One pause. I used to stop twice.”
“Does the breathing feel different during the shift too?”
“I cough less after the morning shift. The room is still dusty. I want to see what the next week does before changing anything else.”
Ning took a folded symptom sheet from her pouch. She had marked each day with the number of pauses on the stairs, how often the cough woke her, the length of each inhalation treatment, and which station she worked. Physician He read the entries before checking her breathing.
“You had two nights with coughing after the shift,” he said. “Were those the nights you covered a late furnace break?”
“Yes. The wind had turned toward the quarters. I wrote it down so I wouldn’t confuse it with the inhalation treatment.”
“That is useful. The work exposure still matters.” He circled the two dates and asked whether she had experienced fever or breathlessness while resting. She had not. He recorded the answers without changing the plan.
Physician He checked her breathing and asked her to walk the short corridor. Ning walked at her own pace and stopped once near the far window. Her breath was audible but settled quickly. The physician recorded the modest improvement and did not add the supplement.
“Can I extend the morning shift trial?” Ning asked. “The two weeks are nearly done.”
“Yes, if the work steward allows it and you keep the inhalation break. We can review after another week.”
“I’ll ask Qiao to extend the schedule.”
The next appointment was written on the clinic card. Ning put the card in her treatment pouch. The sealed bottle remained on the clinic shelf, with the optional charge left blank.
A week later, Ning climbed the stairs with one pause again. Her breathing remained steadier than it had before the inhalation plan, though she still needed to stop after a long walk. She asked Physician He whether there was any reason to take the optional supplement now.
She brought the same symptom sheet, now filled through the next week. The cough had woken her only once, after the late furnace break. Her breathing settled sooner after the morning station, and she had used the inhalation herbs each evening. Physician He compared the two weeks side by side and said the improvement was modest but consistent with the work change and treatment.
“If I continue this plan, when should we review it again?” she asked.
“After another week, or earlier if the symptoms worsen. You can keep the inhalation treatment and the lower exposure. There is no need to add the supplement while this is working.”
Ning considered the bottle on the shelf, then shook her head. “I’ll stay with the plan that is helping. I don’t want to add the supplement.”
He recorded the decision without adding a charge. The clerk returned the sealed bottle to clinic stock. Ning left with her treatment schedule, a week’s worth of herbs, and the money still in her purse. Yan took the herbs and the lunch bowl. “Do you feel better?”
“I can climb with one pause, and I don’t cough as long after work. That is better. I’m not cured.”
“Would you like to keep the morning shift?”
“Yes, if Qiao agrees to extend it. I’ll keep tracking the stairs and the cough.”
They walked home slowly. The shift change and inhalations had made a modest difference, and Ning had chosen not to add another treatment. The sealed supplement stayed at the clinic, out of her home and out of Yan’s test notes. It would not be mistaken for her cough broth or for a pill he had tested himself.
At home, Ning placed the symptom sheet inside the treatment pouch and left the next appointment card beside it. The routine was clear: inhalation after work, lower exposure through the morning shift, and another check in a week. If her breathing worsened before then, she would return sooner. The supplement was not part of the plan, and no one had charged for it.
Yan set the lunch bowl by the wash basin. “I’ll ask the steward about your station tomorrow.”
“I’ll ask him. You can come if I need the ledger.”
He nodded. The new schedule had made room for her treatment, but Ning was still the one choosing which changes to make. She tucked the clinic card into the pouch and carried the herbs to the kitchen shelf, separate from the marked pill packets.