Transaction details
Liao, the blacksmith who made a living in the village, was known for his smooth-talking and shrewdness. He often mediated disputes among his neighbors. Now, he held a bowl of his own homemade dishes, a smile plastered on his dark face, a mixture of ingratiation and shame. He was inwardly furious—the villagers wanted Wang Chunsheng to continue providing them with low-priced medical care, but none of them could bring themselves to ask. So they elected him as their representative to try and appeal to Wang Chunsheng's emotions, hoping to achieve their goal.
But he's just tactful; he's not really shameless. He doesn't know what to do about this kind of embarrassing situation!
But with dozens of eyes watching him expectantly from behind, Liao the blacksmith felt a heavy responsibility on his shoulders and had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.
"Dr. Wang, this is a freshly stewed free-range chicken that my husband made. I brought it for you to try. It's been a long time since we've seen each other." As she spoke, she handed the bowl of glossy chicken to Wang Chunsheng.
The chicken was very small, less than a year old, when it was slaughtered. Chicks are rare; normally, they are raised to adulthood to be sold on the street or used for laying eggs for the family to eat.
Wang Chunsheng looked at the young rooster that had died prematurely and shook his head with a sigh.
Liao the blacksmith thought he had seen through everyone's intentions and was therefore unwilling to accept them, which made him extremely embarrassed.
However, he was quick-witted. He casually stuffed the stewed chicken into the hands of a villager walking behind him, rubbing his hands together and chuckling as he said, "I had a fight with my wife these past few days. She threw a tantrum and killed the chicks. Just as you came back, she made me bring it to you. —Old Li!"
As he spoke, he turned and winked at the villager behind him who had been inexplicably given a bowl of chicken. "Doctor Wang just got back, he must be exhausted. Help him take the chicken inside."
Old Li said "Oh" twice and quickly carried the basin into the house.
"Hey—no need!" The speed was so fast that Wang Chunsheng had no time to stop her.
Liao the blacksmith cheered himself up: At least the chicken was given away, keep up the good work!
The chicken set a good precedent, and the other villagers followed suit, bringing their own home-cooked meals and household items into their homes.
The medicinal herbs and medical instruments used for consultations in this small house had long been moved to the Xinglin Medical Clinic. Even when Wang Chunsheng occasionally returned with Erhei, they would leave in a hurry before they could even clean up. As a result, the courtyard appeared empty yet dirty and messy.
Liao the blacksmith, with his keen eye, noticed the layer of dust on the ground and picked up a broom to sweep it up.
The others also helped tidy up. Some of them wanted Wang Chunsheng to come back and continue to treat them, while others were grateful for the help Dr. Wang had provided to them over the years.
Unable to refuse their hospitality, Wang Chunsheng looked at his suddenly crowded home and the neighbors and villagers who were busy helping him, and his eyes welled up with tears.
He actually wanted to do something for these people. Most of their ancestors had come from all over Anguo, because Mingzhou City was the most prosperous imperial city, and they wanted to come here to seek a good future and a good life. However, not all of them were rich or noble.
Although Mingzhou was a good place, it was difficult to get ahead. Their ancestors had failed, but they were unwilling to leave in disgrace. So they settled in this remote outskirts of Mingzhou, where they either sold goods or farmed. The once desolate village gradually grew stronger.
But poverty remains an indelible part of their lives.
They live frugally in their daily lives, occasionally struggling to pay the high cost of living in Minnesota, and when they fall ill, they don't have enough money to seek medical treatment.
Wang Chunsheng once harbored a youthful heart. Back then, he came to Mingzhou full of ambition, thinking he could make a name for himself with his medical skills and establish his own brand. However, due to his ignorance of the world and the complexities of Mingzhou, he ended up in prison. Helpless, he came here, only to unexpectedly see people here living in similar hardship. Once he arrived, he couldn't leave.
That day, Qiu Qing also made a deal with him. The young girl, who was still young and lived a life of luxury and was inexperienced in the ways of the world, easily saw through his current predicament.
He wanted to help those who couldn't afford medical treatment, so he repeatedly reduced or waived his consultation fees, but he himself didn't have the resources to support all of these expenses.
Even though they are struggling to make ends meet, they still fantasize about doing good deeds.
So Qiu Qing suggested that he open a clinic and invite him to practice medicine there, since his medical skills were superb and he didn't want to be confined to this place.
The little girl gazed at him calmly, her words ethereal yet powerful: "Perhaps leaving a place is for a better return."
Using the name "Xinglin" (杏林, a traditional Chinese medicine clinic), Qiu Qing would help him build a renowned brand in Mingzhou City—something he had longed for in his youth but no longer desired. Therefore, Wang Chunsheng refused.
But the girl told him that there is no distinction between the poor and the rich when it comes to healing people. It is hard to say which is right and which is wrong, but both are too extreme. He couldn't stand the different classes in the world and entered the world alone with nothing to his name. It is also hard to say which is right and which is wrong, but both are too extreme.
His desire to practice medicine, help the poor and needy, does not conflict with his desire for fame. In fact, he can achieve both simultaneously, and they complement each other.
Qiu Qing also wanted to help him open a clinic on the most bustling street in Mingzhou City, treating the city's powerful and wealthy and earning the highest fees. The more money they made, the better medical resources they could then use to provide for the underprivileged, hidden in the shadows of the city.
It's just like the Robin Hood stories in folk tales.
He had thought about these things when he was young, but they were too difficult to do. After even the last bit of his initial naivety and enthusiasm had been worn away, he somehow got stuck in a rut, thinking that he had to give up one of the two.
It turns out it was so simple.
He has returned to Xinglin Garden briefly, and will leave again in a few days, but he knows that it is so that he can stay for a long time.
He looked at those people and said, "Let me take your pulses."
...
Lin Yi hadn't had a moment's rest in a long time. But she wasn't idle; piles of books awaited her reading, though she wasn't in the mood.
Although the saying goes "once, twice, but never a third time," those who want to mess with her won't give up easily.
First they secretly tampered with the medicinal herbs, then they openly smashed up the shop, so what about the third time? What kind of trouble will come next? Lin Yi felt it was necessary to strike first.
So, taking advantage of the few days the business was closed, she racked her brains, analyzing the situation. She needed to know who was manipulating everything behind the scenes so she could take appropriate action.
It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. Judging from the previous two times, the methods and tricks used were not particularly clever. They just did things cleanly and left no clues or evidence, which precisely illustrates some issues.
Such underhanded, petty tactics couldn't possibly be the work of any powerful figure in the imperial court—if they had so many ways to bring down a medical clinic silently, they wouldn't have failed twice in a row. It seemed more likely to be sabotage between competitors, but Lin Yi guessed there must be powerful backing involved.
The person behind it all only provided the mastermind with a little help to clear her name, or was happy to see someone cause her some trouble, and did not want to really get involved—after all, that would mean making enemies of the Qiu family and the Yong'an Marquis's family.
Lin Yi sadly discovered that although he tried his best to distance himself from the medical clinic and the Qiu family's forces, he would still think of this connection first when something happened.
She had no intention of doing so, yet she felt perfectly at ease enjoying the protection offered by the daughter of the Academy Envoy.
Lin Yi shook his head, forcefully banishing the inappropriate emotions at this moment and forcing his thoughts back on track.
Since the mastermind is not an unshakeable local authority, then we can find the person responsible.
No matter how many people are still eyeing his shop, she can make an example of him to deter others.
The previous two times, it was impossible to verify the information.
Lin Yi could only wait for the next opportunity, prepare herself, and wait for the rabbit to run into her trap. But she really didn't know where the thieving rabbit would start. Perhaps it would use the same old tricks, or perhaps it would find a new and unexpected way to catch her off guard. What should she do? She had no clue what to do.
At this point, her qualities as a logically rigorous forensic science student became apparent. Every crime has a motive, even if the perpetrator himself is unaware of it.
Lu Yanran's motives stemmed from jealousy and revenge. To this end, she deliberately publicized the medical skills of Xinglin Medical Clinic, which would inevitably arouse the envy of her peers.
So, what do these envious competitors want? Nothing more than forcing Xinglin Medical Clinic out of the industry.
Simply causing trouble is not enough; it's best to make things so bad that the business can no longer operate.
How to make things work? Lin thought of two possibilities.
One possibility is that the other side, in a desperate situation, resorted to violence, openly and secretly targeting the people at the medical center, forcing us to make mistakes.
Secondly, there's the issue of fabrication. Since you don't make mistakes, then let mistakes find you. After all, even in the 21st century, the phenomenon of maliciously extorting money from medical disputes and profiting from it is still commonplace.
She knew she was being too simplistic. Her mind, long immersed in academic pursuits, could only glean limited experience from the domestic dramas and case deductions she had watched over the past twenty years.
But now that we've thought of it, let's start preparing for these two things first.
First and foremost, it is essential to ensure the safety of the medical staff. The most feasible solution is to hire someone to provide constant close protection. However, the exorbitant commissions are the biggest challenge in achieving this.
As for the other possibility, the set of preventative measures taken last time, which were thought to be effective because Lu Yanran would feign illness and frame someone, were indeed very effective, but they could only target specific individuals.
She couldn't possibly let the clinic leave the well-purchased medicinal herbs from southern Anhui unused, forcing patients to buy medicine from other stalls. Not only would that result in a loss of money, but it would also add another step to the treatment process for patients, who were already troubled enough by being sick.
However, if the medication is continued, it will be too easy for unscrupulous people to exploit the medicinal materials and make a big fuss about it.
If her opponent really uses this as a starting point, how should she respond and break the deadlock?
There were too many things involved, so Lin Yi locked himself in his room and kept it all to himself for three whole days, finally writing an extremely long feasibility analysis.
A stack of papers was covered with dense scribbles and corrections. Lin Yi looked at his masterpiece and smiled with some satisfaction.
Hopefully, this time, she made the right bet.
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