Seventeen

Zhao Facao had barely left when another visitor approached her stall—an uncle in his fifties.

'I heard you give free face readings in the morning?'

Su Fuling: '...'

'Wait a moment.' Su Fuling hurried to rewrite her price list and set it to one side.

Zhao Facao sneaked over to look, and saw that Su Fuling had written on the paper that morning consultations remained free, but checking one's health status for the day cost twenty dollars per person. She had also added a note: 'Medical consultations only, no fortune-telling.'

The uncle was immediately displeased. 'Didn't you say it was free?'

Su Fuling said, 'Here, medical consultations are free. Checking your physical condition for the day is twenty dollars per person.'

The uncle said, 'What's the difference?'

Su Fuling said, 'If you feel unwell and come to me for a consultation, it's free. If you're not feeling anything in particular and just want a check on your physical condition for the day, it's twenty.'

Of course she had to charge! Otherwise a stream of healthy people would come for fortune-telling, and she wouldn't earn a single Merit Point. Not only would it be a waste of time, but eventually everyone would treat her as a fortune-teller, not a Doctor.

The uncle said, 'Then how much for fortune-telling?'

Su Fuling smiled and pointed to the last line on her signboard. 'Uncle, here I only do medical consultations. No fortune-telling.'

The uncle immediately stood up in a huff and left. He muttered to himself that he'd been swindled. 'It's all a scam!'

No sooner had he gone than others came to watch the commotion.

After all, yesterday's spectacle with He Li's family had spread through the neighborhood. Everyone knew there was a Master who could even predict Stock movements accurately. This had been personally verified by the famous local gang brother, Brother Liang.

There was some credibility to it.

Combined with the earlier promotion of free medical consultations, naturally people came to join the excitement.

But once they heard there was a charge, many of the curiosity-seekers were deterred.

Some came for actual medical consultations and enjoyed the free treatment.

So all morning, Su Fuling's stall was quite lively.

When Su Jueming came to check on Su Fuling, he saw people sitting at her stall with others standing in line beside her. For a moment it felt surreal.

'Has A-Ling established herself here so quickly?'

But then he remembered Su Fuling's side was free, and figured it was because of the free service.

'Ah, I hope A-Ling sees reality and focuses on her studies. I need to earn money quickly too, to send A-Ling to school. I can't let a young girl set up a stall here.'

Su Fuling had indeed faced reality. Though people came for consultations, not a single one was willing to follow her medical advice.

These people would rather believe she could tell fortunes than trust her medical skills.

This was also related to the medicines she prescribed being Chinese herbal medicine.

Chinese herbal medicine is more complicated to take than simply buying Western medicine. For people with only minor ailments, Western medicine is more convenient. Su Fuling didn't have a license, and there were some Western medicines she couldn't prescribe.

So even though she had seen many patients, she still hadn't earned a single Merit Point.

It seemed Merit Points would still have to come from that Li Liang.

Su Fuling felt somewhat defeated at the thought of still having to rely on others to look after her business. Her medical skills weren't good enough. She needed to study medicine harder! The System's help was only temporary; in the end, she had to rely on her own genuine abilities.

...

Li Liang's injury naturally required notifying the gang.

When they heard about his injury, the gang brothers all wanted to visit him.

He Li stopped them.

She had already decided: she wasn't going anywhere today, and she would close the door to visitors. Tomorrow she would go to the Master to have her fortune read again.

Li Liang was bored stiff and quite speechless about it. He explained to the brothers, 'There's nothing I can do. The Master told me to be careful lately, or I'll have bad luck. My mommy takes the Master's words very seriously now.'

'What Master? You still believe in this stuff?'

Li Liang's gang brother Chen Shan asked.

'Aiya, as long as my mommy believes, that's fine. Oh right, help me remind Ah Si and the others to take their medicine. Otherwise I'll beat them up.'

'Why are you so concerned about Ah Si and the others now?'

'Why do you have so many questions? Just help me out, will you?'

Chen Shan said, 'Wait, I heard Auntie Li was scammed out of money. Do you need the brothers to help?'

Hearing this, Li Liang got really fired up. 'Help me find that Ghost Qiang's whereabouts. Once I'm better, I'll deal with him myself.'

Chen Shan immediately said, 'Got it. You're really not coming out to eat today? Everyone's going singing together.'

Li Liang was truly tempted, but seeing He Li watching hawkishly from the side, he had to painfully decline.

After hanging up, his face was bitter.

He Li was satisfied. 'Good boy, Liang-zai. Once you're better, as long as the Master says it's fine, you can go out and play as much as you want.'

Li Liang collapsed onto the sofa. 'Sigh...'

At the Four Directions Gang's Yau Ma Tei branch, after hanging up, Chen Shan found Ah Si, who was bragging with someone, and told them Li Liang wasn't coming today.

Ah Si and the others were overjoyed.

Then they heard Chen Shan say, 'But he wants me to supervise you taking your medicine.'

'Huh?' Ah Si's face turned bitter.

Chen Shan said, 'What's going on? Why is Ah Liang so concerned about you guys now?'

Ah Si said, 'It's all because of what that Master said...'

Another Master?

Chen Shan, smoking a cigarette, asked curiously, 'What Master?'

Ah Si said, 'Aiya, it's not really called Master, should be Doctor Su...'

Ah Si told yesterday's story like a wuxia legend, but Chen Shan didn't really believe it.

As Li Liang's elder brother, he'd been in the life for years and been through countless fights and killings. How could he believe in this stuff?

Besides, he'd gone out with the gang bosses and seen some of the world.

Some of the high-level mystical bigshots had big reputations, but in reality they were just smooth talkers. No real skills.

Anyway, he didn't believe it.

Chen Shan was somewhat curious, though. Seeing how Auntie Li looked, she seemed to really believe it.

He waved his hand and called over his sister Chen Shasha, asking her to test the true worth of this Master who had Li Liang fooled.

Chen Shasha was also hot-tempered. 'Are we going to teach her a lesson? How dare she deceive even our Four Directions Society people. She's got some nerve.'

'Just let her do a reading for you, see if it's accurate. Don't do anything else, or Ah Liang won't be happy.'

Before things were clear, it was best not to do anything out of line. Otherwise, making Ah Liang and Auntie Li unhappy would backfire.

Chen Shasha laughed. 'No problem. My boyfriend happens to really believe in this stuff. Let's go get our romance fortune read.'

Chen Shan said, 'That pretty-boy type doesn't look reliable. Be careful.'

Chen Shasha said, 'I like that type. I don't like you guys fighting and killing all day.'

...

Su Fuling had just seen off a patient with a cold when a young couple sat down.

The girl's vibe was similar to that Liang-zai—brown dyed hair tied up, bright earrings in her ears.

The man wore glasses, had a side-parted haircut, and wore a white shirt. He looked refined and scholarly.

The shirt man said, 'Shasha, this person is so young, she definitely can't read accurately. Let's find someone else.'

Chen Shasha said, 'Someone this young setting up a stall here might actually have some skill. There are plenty of older Masters around. Someone this young is the special one.'

Su Fuling said, 'Are you here for a medical consultation?'

'How dare you say that? Do we look sick to you?' The shirt man said unhappily, his eyes subtly taking in Su Fuling's fair complexion. Though on the surface he still wore a look that dismissed everyone.

Su Fuling pointed at her own signboard.

Chen Shasha had come with a purpose this time. She had heard Ah Si's account in advance and naturally knew this person's strange rules. She smiled and said, 'Doctor Su, I've heard about you. I want my romance fortune read. Help me take a look. Money is no object.'

'You have money, but I can't read romance fortunes.' Su Fuling spread her hands.

Ah Cheng: '...' Such an honest fortune-telling Master? Such an honest swindler?

This didn't even require testing.

Chen Shasha asked, 'Then what can you read? Help me with everything.'

Su Fuling smiled and pointed at her signboard, telling them the fee schedule.

Chen Shasha's boyfriend, seeing this, said, 'Looks unreliable at first glance. Let's switch.'

Chen Shasha said, 'No rush. Let's check health first. Doctor Su, please check our health first.' She wanted to see what this Doctor Su could actually say.

At least it would give Brother Ah Shan something to report.

She took out forty Hong Kong dollars and put them on the table.

These days, an ordinary person's monthly salary was only about a thousand Hong Kong dollars. A day was only thirty-something. Su Fuling earning forty at once made the Masters sitting in a row not far away envious.

Zhao Facao was especially wide-eyed.

In his line of work, he could only see two or three clients a day.

He hadn't expected this Mainland girl to open for business so quickly.

Then he thought about how he had already given twenty to this Su girl earlier, and his heart turned sour.

Su Fuling took the money and activated her scan function. First, she determined whether these two were today's task targets, to judge whether they were healthy today.

The young lady was very healthy, not a task target. But the gentleman was a task target.

Su Fuling took both their pulses as usual. The lady's pulse matched the scan results—no problems. When she took the gentleman's pulse, she found his pulse was abnormal.

The pulse was thin as a silk thread, weak when pressed.

Su Fuling's eyes immediately narrowed.

Because she had never felt this pulse before. She had only found descriptions of this type of pulse in her grandfather's notebook.

Honestly, she had never actually seen this illness. Even her grandfather had only recorded it when he went to the county hospital for training and discussed it with other doctors. So Su Fuling couldn't be completely certain of her diagnosis.

Worried she might be wrong, she examined the pulse carefully again.

The man grew impatient. 'Hey, how long are you going to take?'

Su Fuling said, 'Sir, you have an illness. I need to examine carefully.'

Hearing this, the man withdrew his hand. 'What nonsense are you talking? How could I be sick? I'm perfectly fine.'

Su Fuling looked at him, then at Chen Shasha before her.

The woman was healthy. If the man had a hidden illness, Su Fuling felt she should warn them.

But she was worried about misdiagnosis. After all, pulses can be similar. She was only identifying these pulses based on her grandfather's notebook, never having personally experienced them, and couldn't be certain of the subtle differences between this illness and others. If she judged wrong, it would cause great trouble for the patient.

After thinking, Su Fuling used her one daily System check.

['Patient name: Lin Wenjie; Gender: Male; Age: 25, Primary condition: Gonorrhea; Patient symptoms: Chronic stage, post-urination dribbling, soreness and weakness in the lower back and knees. Predicted condition change: No significant change expected by tomorrow.']

Su Fuling, seeing this, was first satisfied with the accuracy of her pulse diagnosis, then noticed a problem. The last sentence was 'expected by tomorrow...'

She remembered the first time she used this function was on Ding Lanhui, also predicting the next day. Later with Li Liang, it was the same day. Today, the previous two had condition changes, while this person's no-change time was also limited to tomorrow.

In other words, this function currently only predicted one day's changes.

The white-shirt man urged, 'Are you done?'

Su Fuling released his hand. 'Sir, you do have an illness, but it's currently in the early stage. I recommend treatment—the earlier the better. I cannot treat this condition at present. I suggest you go to a major hospital for treatment.'

The white-shirt man, hearing this, said angrily, 'I don't feel any discomfort.'

Su Fuling said, 'Have you been having incomplete urination recently, and feeling soreness and weakness in your lower back and knees?'

The white-shirt man: '...' It actually was true...

Chen Shasha said, 'Could she be right? Darling, why didn't you say you were sick?'

The white-shirt man didn't want to damage his image and stubbornly said, 'I'm not sick. These are minor issues.'

'These are not minor issues.' Su Fuling said, 'Although the condition is currently in the early stage, it will worsen. It is also contagious. I hope you will be careful, sir. It's best to go to the hospital for a full examination and treatment as soon as possible.'

Hearing this, Chen Shasha immediately said, 'What illness?'

Su Fuling looked at the white-shirt man and said, 'This is the patient's private matter. I don't know if this gentleman would mind discussing it openly. After all, this illness involves some embarrassing privacy. This gentleman may not want others to know.'

Embarrassing? Chen Shasha looked at the white-shirt man. 'Ajie, you're not... unable, are you?'

The white-shirt man Lin Wenjie, furious with embarrassment: 'She's talking nonsense!' Then, turning to Su Fuling, said, 'Tell me, what illness do I actually have?'

Su Fuling sighed. 'You asked me to say it, so I'll say it. Sir, you have gonorrhea.'

'...'