.

Su Fuling: "..."

She looked at Li Liang. "I know you've come to make trouble, but let's get the facts straight first. I didn't take any money yesterday. There's no benefit to me in deceiving her. Could there be some misunderstanding?"

"Misunderstanding? Heh heh. My Auntie Xiang was about to make a killing on that stock, and you told her it would end badly, so she sold it. You're not going to deny that, are you?"

Su Fuling: "...What is a stock?"

Li Liang: "...You don't even know what a stock is, and you dare to tell people's fortunes?"

Su Fuling explained, "I'm a doctor. I saw she was weighed down by something, not sleeping well, anxious—so I advised her not to push herself. Severe anxiety can cause shock."

Li Liang was seething, huffing and puffing. What kind of nonsense was this?

Auntie Xiang, deceived by a person like this!

If this weren't a girl, he'd have beaten a swindler like her half to death.

"So you're trying to dodge responsibility now?" Li Liang asked.

Su Fuling said, "I'm not dodging responsibility. First, I'm a doctor treating patients. Second, this matter of yours hasn't reached its conclusion yet, has it? Has she actually lost money?"

A bystander said, "The market hasn't closed yet."

Li Liang shot the bystander a withering look.

"It's been climbing since morning. You can't even buy in now. You think it's going to drop?"

Su Fuling said, "Since there's no result yet, you can't prove I deceived anyone. If you want to make trouble for me, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm small and alone, but Ms. Ding Lanhui and I had a pleasant enough encounter yesterday. If I'm wronged, I don't think she'd be very happy about it."

Li Liang: "..."

Auntie Xiang truly didn't know about this.

He glanced at his watch. An hour and a half until close.

"Fine. I'll wait a bit longer. If it turns out your fortune-telling was wrong, how will you compensate?"

Su Fuling said, "I have no way to compensate. How about this—if I'm proven wrong, I promise never to tell fortunes for anyone again."

Li Liang: "..." She had said the very thing he was about to say. What was the point?

Too embarrassing.

One of the younger brothers behind Li Liang suggested, "Ah Liang, she's so pretty—why not have her act in films to earn money? Lots of films these days, heh heh..."

Li Liang swung around and slapped him. "Scram. Would the Four Directions Gang do something like that? That's the Gray Fox Society's kind of business."

Those kinds of films did make money, but the Four Directions Gang had rules.

Some things could be done. Some could not.

And Li Liang himself wouldn't engage in such despicable acts.

He had a mother of his own. He wouldn't make women sell their bodies.

Li Liang stabbed his dagger into the table again. "That's what you said. If you dare go back on it, I'll make sure you can't stay here. Whoever on this street lets you set up your stall, I'll make sure they can't do business."

The onlookers stepped back.

Su Fuling asked, "Treating illness only, no fortune-telling—is that acceptable?"

Li Liang said, "No. How would we know you won't keep deceiving people?"

Seeing the situation, Su Fuling had no choice. Hong City really was different from the Mainland.

"System, you absolutely have to calculate this right, or we'll have no choice but to go back home."

Merit System: "This System does not make errors!"

Though the System was arrogant, Su Fuling was infected by its swagger—the more arrogant, the more confident.

Now Su Fuling didn't need to panic. As long as no one was shouting for blood, nothing counted as a real problem.

She'd encountered similar situations before. Grandfather had prescribed medicine, the patient had taken it wrong, then come knocking. It had dragged on forever.

A doctor's mindset must be steady. Faced with any chaos, one must not lose composure.

She set her medicine box on the table. "Since the result isn't out, you can't prove I'm a swindler. Can I keep my stall open this afternoon to see patients?"

Li Liang: "...See patients? Fine. Examine me first. Let me see if you're really that capable—even predicting the stock market."

Su Fuling said, "Three yuan per consultation." She had planned to offer free slots in the afternoon, but she wasn't willing to give this sort of person a freebie.

Li Liang said, "As long as your reading is accurate, I'll pay."

Su Fuling placed a wrist pillow on the table and gestured to Li Liang. "Put your hand up."

Li Liang dropped into the chair without ceremony and stretched out his hand with a swagger.

In his heart he privately pitied Su Fuling—so pretty, why become a swindler?

Su Fuling first had the System activate its target-search function, scanning everyone around her to see who was a target client.

That way she could determine who was healthy and who needed a diagnosis.

She could also check whether Li Liang was healthy. Combined with her own diagnosis, she'd be virtually certain.

The System scanned—and Li Liang really was a target client.

Seeing this, Su Fuling was relieved.

He had an illness. Good. Though the thought was unkind, this person was so overbearing—if he had nothing wrong with him, he'd surely make things difficult for her again.

Su Fuling took his pulse carefully. His pulse was steady and grounded—no sign of any problem at all.

She observed his complexion, noting his abundant qi and blood, his calm breathing.

"Let me see your tongue."

Li Liang said, "So much trouble. Your doctor identity isn't fake too, is it? If you can't read it accurately, from now on I'll have my boys expose you as a swindler whenever they see you."

Su Fuling frowned. By his logic, even if she was proven innocent regarding Ding Lanhui's matter, if she missed his diagnosis, people would still doubt her medical skills.

She said, frowning, "Let me examine first. Diagnosis isn't something that happens in a moment. Even a hospital checkup doesn't finish that fast."

Li Liang opened his mouth to cooperate with the examination, wanting her to be thoroughly convinced.

Seeing Su Fuling's serious expression—truly rather doctor-like—he said, "Don't worry. If you read it right, I'll give you a bonus."

Su Fuling ignored him, carefully sensing his pulse, examining the color of his tongue and face, including his eyes.

Her gaze was so focused that Li Liang felt a chill run down his spine.

Su Fuling asked him, "Have you felt unwell recently?"

Li Liang said, "You need to ask that too?"

Su Fuling said, "When you go to a hospital, don't you tell the doctor your symptoms? Not only do you need to say, you need to say truthfully. Whether Chinese medicine or Western, this step is crucial!"

Li Liang thought about it. Seemed like they did ask. So he thought carefully. "Nothing wrong. I eat well, sleep well. I had two bowls of rice at noon."

Su Fuling examined him again in detail.

After the examination, she truly couldn't find anything wrong.

She suspected her own technique wasn't up to par.

Perhaps she'd missed this person's illness.

It wasn't impossible. Her skill wasn't refined enough to be all-seeing. And some illnesses were indeed hard to detect.

Now Su Fuling was curious. What illness could it be—looking so healthy on the surface, yet already requiring treatment?

Su Fuling's heart itched. She felt she might have discovered a new case today. She was already planning to record this case in her grandfather's compendium of medical records.

"System, activate today's detection function."

Su Fuling decided to use today's single quota on this person. She wanted to see what illness it was.

It would also serve as a test of whether the System could err.

[Patient name: Li Liang; Sex: Male; Age: 23. Primary condition: None. Patient symptoms: None. Predicted condition change: Tonight at 8:22 PM, the arm will sustain a slash wound, causing blood loss and external injury.]

Su Fuling: "..."

"System, does this count as a target client?"

"Any client who develops a condition today can be counted as today's target client."

Su Fuling: "...This counts as developing a condition?"

Merit System: "Anything requiring treatment counts."

Su Fuling had finally discovered the System's shortcoming. It was like a single-track mind—no turning. As if someone had pre-programmed exactly how it must behave, and it could only do that.

Even when its host raised an objection, it refused to admit error!

Li Liang, seeing Su Fuling silent, said, "Hey, are you done looking?"

Su Fuling withdrew her hand. "You're very healthy."

Li Liang snorted. "You looked that long just to say that? I was already in great shape. But you should be glad you didn't invent an illness to cheat me out of money—otherwise I wouldn't have let you off."

Su Fuling looked at him, thinking of the System's prediction that he'd be slashed tonight. Given his behavior, it hardly seemed surprising.

Now Su Fuling hesitated over whether to warn him.

As a doctor, watching an impending patient felt like something she could prevent. But she didn't want to deal with this overbearing person.

These sorts of gang fights were probably routine. And even if she warned him, he certainly wouldn't believe her—and would accuse her of fortune-telling fraud again.

Li Liang said, "Fine. Since you weren't lying, I won't hold it against you."

Then he turned to the younger brother behind him. "Ah Si, didn't you say you weren't feeling well? Let her take a look. See if she can spot anything."

The Blondie called Ah Si immediately dragged himself over in his slippers and sat down.

Su Fuling: "..." Such a windfall?

Though this person only meant to test her medical skills, by a fortunate accident he'd helped her out. Su Fuling's mood lifted somewhat.

Another thought struck her—were gang members more prone to injury? In that case, could she...

Su Fuling's heart skipped. She hesitated again. She truly didn't want to deal with these sorts of people.

Forget it. She'd endure.

Unless absolutely necessary, she shouldn't engage with them—lest she cause trouble for her uncle.

Once Blondie sat down, Su Fuling examined him carefully and immediately spotted the problem.

"It's nothing serious. This is chronic gastritis caused by stomach heat. Have you been eating a lot of spicy food lately, and drinking heavily?"

Blondie was startled. "You can tell all that?"

Su Fuling said, "There's an unusual odor in your mouth. That's one sign of stomach heat."

Blondie covered his mouth.

Su Fuling said, "If I'm reading this correctly, you're also feeling nauseous, even vomiting—and your urine is dark, with constipation."

Hearing this, Li Liang and several of the gang's younger brothers burst out laughing.

"Ah Si really did have dark urine today. Ha ha ha..." another younger brother with red hair said cheerfully.

Ah Si immediately stood up, refusing the examination, and accused Su Fuling, "How can you just say everything like that?"

Su Fuling said, "I'm a doctor. Of course I have to state the condition truthfully—otherwise the diagnosis would be inaccurate. Don't worry. I'll write you a prescription. A few doses and you'll be fine."

Ah Si said, embarrassed and annoyed, "I'm not taking any. You're just making things up."

But no one believed him. The way he looked, everyone knew she'd hit the mark.

Li Liang muttered to himself now. He looked at Su Fuling. "You really are a doctor. Then why did you deceive Auntie Xiang?"

Su Fuling said, "I told Ms. Ding Lanhui yesterday too that I'm a doctor. My advice was for her health—her anxiety was very harmful to her body. By the way, your consultation fee... who's paying?"

Li Liang: "..."

This person really was a doctor. So did he actually need to follow his mother's orders and drive her away?

At the exchange, He Li's face wore an expression of utter devastation.

It had crashed. Crashed hard!

In the final hour before close, it had plummeted in a straight line.

She hadn't even had time to react.

Before she could sell, all her morning gains had vanished—and she'd lost her principal into the bargain.

He Li saw the situation and knew it was bad. She hurried to sell, but it was too late. By then everyone knew things were bad, so even when she put her shares up, no one would take them.

Even selling at a loss was useless.

He Li was drenched in cold sweat. "What do I do? What do I do?"

She quickly called her mahjong friend Ah Qiang, but Ah Qiang wasn't answering at all.

She called Ah Hui next.

Ah Hui was even more agitated. "Don't come to me. We were all deceived by Ah Qiang. He took someone else's money to trick retail investors into buying in. People from several mahjong parlors were scammed."

He Li cried out, and the phone slipped from her hand and crashed down.

Seeing her unsteady again, Ding Lanhui—who was worried but not as frantic—hurried to steady her. "Ah Li, pull yourself together."

He Li clung to her. "Ah Xiang, we were scammed. Scammed by that bastard Ah Qiang..."

She repeated what Ah Hui had told her to Ding Lanhui.

Ding Lanhui was stunned.

A mahjong friend of over ten years—how could someone just turn around and deceive people like that?

If she hadn't trusted Ah Qiang so completely, she would never have put all her savings into that stock. Her earlier anxiety had been worry that Ah Qiang's tip might be wrong—she'd never suspected Ah Qiang himself was a fraud.

Truly impossible to guard against.

Fortunately, the master had advised her, so she'd kept half her savings. Otherwise now...

"Ah Li, if only you'd sold some like I did. The master was right—things we're not confident about, we don't have to do. Should we go find the master and ask whether this stock can recover?"

The master?

He Li was startled again.

That swindler master had actually predicted correctly.

No—not a swindler. A true master!

Then He Li froze. She remembered—at noon she'd told her son Liang to go give that person trouble.

"Oh no, I've offended that master."

Ding Lanhui asked, "What's wrong?"

He Li was nearly in tears, feeling her luck was truly rotten.

"I thought the master was a swindler who'd made you miss a big chance to earn money, so I told Liang to go drive that master away..."

Ding Lanhui, hearing this, shoved her in fury. "Ah, how could you act on your own? You really... you're going to drive me mad!"

Without waiting for He Li, she ran straight outside.

Her old friend had been scammed out of money—she was worried too. But the master was her benefactor.

Hadn't taken a single cent from her, and now was being bullied because of her. She truly couldn't face the master.

He Li, seeing this, hurried after her.