Chapter 11

Ding Lanhui woke early that morning feeling genuinely rested — the best sleep she'd had in days. Still, she was up before the sun, because today there was something important to be done and she couldn't afford to let it slip.

After a night like that, she was even more convinced that Dr. Soo was a master with real ability. The scales inside her tilted further toward believing what the master had said.

So she went and waited outside the exchange first thing, and the moment it opened she walked straight in.

What she hadn't expected was that the Stock had already climbed by morning.

That wasn't what the master had said at all.

'Ah Xiang, you're here this early too?' Ding Lanhui was still staring at the big board, wavering, when someone tapped her from behind.

It was her mahjong friend He Li.

He Li was one of the people who had bought Stock alongside her. They'd all been sitting at the same table when the tip came through, and everyone had bought in.

He Li had always had more nerve than Ding Lanhui. Right now she wasn't nervous in the slightest — the market was looking magnificent and she was over the moon. She grabbed Ding Lanhui by the arm and pointed at the big board. 'Ah Xiang, looks like Ah Qiang didn't lie to us after all! It really went up — we're going to be rich this time!'

Ding Lanhui couldn't share the excitement. If she hadn't run into the master yesterday, she'd probably be just as thrilled right now. But the master had said the outcome would be bad, and that made it impossible to feel happy.

'Ah Li, I want to sell off my Stock. I'm afraid it'll drop any minute.'

He Li stared at her, baffled. 'Why would you sell? The trend today is great, isn't it?'

'You don't know — yesterday I met a very formidable master...'

Ding Lanhui told her everything that had happened the day before.

He Li burst out, 'Are you stupid? Those people are all con artists. How could you possibly run into some genuine sage on the street? Don't let them trick you out of your earnings. Ah Lan, don't do something foolish. Everyone will laugh and call you a muddleheaded auntie.'

Ding Lanhui began to waver.

After all, the Stock trend on the big board really did look good.

She swung back and forth inside, her nerves pulling tighter, until even her scalp ached with a dull numbness. She quickly tried mimicking the way Soo Fuling had pressed her head yesterday, pressing her own temples — but it did nothing.

She rummaged through her bag for some medicated balm, and in the rummaging she didn't find the balm but turned up the prescription Soo Fuling had written her yesterday.

'If you have so little confidence in something, and it isn't something you absolutely must do, why force yourself to do it?'

The master's words from yesterday hit her like a whiff of that balm — she snapped awake in an instant.

She gripped the prescription, stared at the line climbing straight up the screen, hesitated a moment, then gritted her teeth: she would sell half.

Greed was fine, but not too much greed. You always had to leave yourself a way out.

She stood up and went to sell off half her Stock.

He Li tried to stop her and failed completely, watching her go with an expression of furious disappointment. 'You deserve to stay poor — opportunity knocks and you won't answer. You're making me furious. Ah Qiang is definitely going to laugh at you. And that woman Ah Hui — she's going to laugh at you too. She hired a professional trader for this round, she's going in big, and you're scared of even this much.'

Having secured half her exit, Ding Lanhui felt the tension ease. She thought: listening to the master really does pay off. 'She has more money than me. It's fine — this way, whether it rises or not, I still make something.'

Soo Fuling had opened for business that morning too, but hadn't earned a single Merit Point.

Every beginning is hard — hers was proving especially so.

In this line of work, successfully treating someone required the patient to be willing to trust her and follow her instructions. Without that, the treatment didn't count as a success.

Never mind running a street stall — even back home, not everyone followed medical instructions. Some people took their medicine home and forgot to take it.

Here, people didn't just forget — they simply didn't take it at all. The patients who came in that morning either had nothing wrong with them and were purely there for the spectacle, or they listened to the diagnosis out of curiosity and had no intention of taking any medicine.

Either way, after Soo Fuling finished diagnosing and wrote out a prescription, the System gave no notification of Merit Points earned — which meant the System could predict whether a patient would follow instructions or not.

Fair enough. The System even knew whether someone would suffer a shock tomorrow.

'System, at this rate, these Merit Points are going to be very hard to earn.'

The Merit System replied: 'You may use this System's diagnostic function to provide patients with more precise assessments.'

'I only get one chance,' Soo Fuling said. 'What if I use it on someone who won't believe me anyway?'

The Merit System replied: 'You handled it very well yesterday.'

'That was because she already thought I was a fortune-teller and believed in that sort of thing — and it was a coincidence that she happened to be in the middle of something urgent. If the person I read has nothing pressing going on, it's all for nothing. And besides, I'm a Doctor...'

Deep down she had always carried an ambition: to become a truly renowned physician.

Watching Soo Fuling slumped at her stall sighing, Zhang Qiang — who had been lurking nearby — finally relaxed. The way things were going, he figured his niece would give up soon enough.

Zhang Qiang sighed, turned, and went off to find an old associate he knew from before. Starting today, he'd be taking on shady work. At lunch he'd need to come up with an excuse to keep the shop open late into the evening.

Zhang Lei, who had been waiting around for a spectacle, was growing bored. He muttered, 'She's not really going to stay away, is she.'

Zhao Facao was in the middle of reading someone's romantic fortune. Hearing Zhang Lei's words, he let out a quiet snort — some people really did love watching the world burn. If trouble actually came, wouldn't it affect everyone's business?

Still, he had to admit he was a little curious himself about what exactly had happened yesterday. If it wasn't a performance, had Soo Fuling's reading been right or wrong?

***

The Stock kept climbing, climbing fast enough to make hearts race.

He Li was elated, and equally busy blaming Ding Lanhui for being swindled.

'Look at you — even if you tried to buy back in now, you couldn't. Nobody's selling. You really are the most foolish auntie alive!'

Ding Lanhui felt a pang of regret, but regret was useless now. And even if someone told her to buy back in, she genuinely couldn't work up the courage. What if — what if the master had been right?

At lunch, He Li insisted on treating, and they had Western food at a nearby restaurant. Afterward, He Li wanted Ding Lanhui to take her to settle scores with the fortune-teller.

'Relax,' Ding Lanhui said, 'I still have half my money in there.'

'You're just too easy to fool.' He Li was furious — thinking of how much her good friend had missed out on made her ache.

'Why don't you pull some out too,' Ding Lanhui said. 'I'm a little worried.'

'The afternoon session is almost over. I'll pull out in the last half hour. Don't worry — I know what I'm doing.'

He Li was supremely confident.

Mainly because today's Stock really was performing beautifully — the trend was too good. It might even keep rising tomorrow.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. So after lunch she called her son Li An.

Li An ran with a gang and had some standing on the street.

'An-zai, the more I think about it the angrier I get. Your Auntie Xiang could have made so much money, and now she's been cheated. If you get a chance, go find that swindler and teach her a lesson. See if she dares cheat anyone again.'

Li An said, 'It's a woman? I can't really lay hands on a woman, Mummy — I have principles.'

He Li snapped, 'Since when do swindlers come in genders? Then just frighten her. Make sure she can never show her face on that street again.'

Li An thought it over and decided that was fine. 'All right, Mummy.'

Soo Fuling went home for lunch. Her aunt by marriage, Zhou Huijuan, asked how business was going.

'Not bad,' Soo Fuling said. 'I already saw a few patients this morning.'

Zhou Huijuan said, 'I just dropped off your uncle's lunch. He says you're not charging?'

'That's right — I want to build a reputation first. I'm still so young; it's hard to get people to pay to see me.'

'True. Your uncle's clinic had a rough start too. He charged very low prices at first, and that's how he slowly built up a clientele. If that bigger clinic hadn't opened across the street, his business would actually have been quite good.'

Nothing too serious, but everyday headaches, bone-setting, bandaging — all manageable. The ordinary neighbors around here mostly had small complaints like those. Sometimes he'd even help fetch medicine for people. Thinking of how slow business was now, she felt a pang.

'Ah Ling, don't rush — today is only the first day. Take it slowly.'

Soo Fuling smiled. 'I know, Auntie.'

After the meal, Soo Fuling helped clear the dishes. Zhou Huijuan told her she was starting a career now and shouldn't waste time on housework.

'It's fine,' Soo Fuling said. 'I'm not busy.'

Seeing how diligent and sensible Soo Fuling was, Zhou Huijuan's heart softened a little.

'Ah Ling, don't put too much pressure on yourself.'

Soo Fuling smiled and nodded. 'I know, Auntie.'

On her way out, Soo Fuling paused at the door and told her little cousin Soo San, 'Wait for big sister to come back and bring you sweets.'

Zhou Huijuan suddenly remembered something. 'Oh — take the house key with you, in case you come home and no one's here. I need to bring your uncle his dinner tonight. He's working late.'

'Uncle's that busy these days?'

'He says a regular client can only come in the evenings lately. You have to look after your regulars, so that means overtime.'

Soo Fuling nodded. She'd been through that herself often enough. Everyone was busy — so busy they couldn't even find time to see a Doctor. Which meant the Doctor just had to work late.

Soo Fuling figured she'd probably be working late this afternoon too.

Because today's Merit Points still hadn't come in.

She had enough in reserve to last another day, but leaving today's task for tomorrow wasn't her style — not unless there was truly no other way.

Hard. Everything was hard.

Soo Fuling decided that this afternoon she'd change the sign — put up something about two free consultation slots, that sort of thing. Whatever it took. She'd also ask Zhao Facao what books he'd read and how he'd learned to run a business. Working as a Doctor on this street meant understanding commerce too.

Zhang Qiang's home wasn't far from Fortune Street. Soo Fuling walked there in about ten minutes.

Before she even reached her stall, she spotted several young men sitting in her chairs.

Zhang Lei, who had been lurking nearby for the show, had gone quiet.

Zhao Facao looked like he didn't dare make a sound. The moment he saw Soo Fuling, he called out, 'Ah — here she comes, here she comes...'

The young men in the chairs followed his pointing finger and found Soo Fuling.

One of them blinked. 'She really is a looker.'

Soo Fuling took one look at the unfriendly welcome and wanted to run — but then she thought: Zhao Facao knew where she lived, and where her uncle lived. If she ran and they went to make trouble for her uncle instead, what then?

She walked over.

Zhao Facao, seeing her approach, immediately said, 'Dr. Soo, you're finally here — what you did yesterday has come to light. They're here to make trouble for you.'

Zhang Lei helpfully added, 'Just apologize quickly. These are bosses from the Four Directions Gang — they won't make it too hard on you.'

Zhao Facao added, 'Ahem — you didn't actually charge anyone yesterday, as I recall.'

Soo Fuling thought the two of them were decent enough — they still dared to speak up at a moment like this.

'You two are speaking up for this swindler?' Li Liang picked at his ear.

Zhao Facao immediately retreated into his little booth. Zhang Lei moved even further away.

The onlookers pressed in around them in a ring.

Soo Fuling looked at the young man in the floral shirt with a gold chain around his neck. 'Are you a family member of Ms. Ding Lanhui?'

'Auntie Xiang is my mummy's friend. You cheating her money is the same as cheating my mummy's money — the same as cheating my money.' Li Liang produced a small knife and drove it into the surface of Soo Fuling's table. 'Hmph. Brother Liang has never been cheated before. You'd be the first.'

Soo Fuling consulted the System: 'How accurate are you, really? Look — someone's come to make trouble.'

The Merit System replied: 'This System does not make errors.'

'Then whose fault is it right now?' Soo Fuling said. 'Logically, if the thing she'd been worrying about had actually gone smoothly, she wouldn't be so easily shocked into fainting by something else. Did I reason it wrong, or did you give me the wrong information?'

The Merit System replied: 'It is definitely the other party's fault.'