—

As was her custom, she began with a scan, then moved on to pulse diagnosis. Su Fuling found that this man was also a target.

This early in the morning — was the hit rate really this high?

She examined him without betraying a flicker of expression. As she took his pulse, she confirmed that he was genuinely ill. She had seen this condition before; it reminded her somewhat of the militia captain who had once taught her.

Some people suffer from prolonged malnutrition, compounded by frequent injuries and blood loss, and the body deteriorates as a result. In youth one can push through it, but once a person grows a little older, the damage makes itself known.

This, Su Fuling could not cure.

Her medical skill had not yet reached that level.

Su Fuling said, 'Sir, your body needs tending. And it needs a highly skilled practitioner of traditional medicine to design a course of treatment for you.'

Chen Shan gave a small smile. 'I feel fine.'

'Forgive me for asking — when you were young, did you often go hungry? And when you fell ill, did you never properly rest? When you were injured, did you never properly recuperate?'

Chen Shan: '...'

Su Fuling said, 'You tend to be short of breath and reluctant to speak. You perspire easily. And you catch colds often. You may think these are minor symptoms, but over time their effects will gradually surface.'

At those words, Chen Shan finally took Su Fuling's identity as a Doctor seriously.

He had raised Shasha on his own since childhood — he had to support the family, so he often went hungry while working. After joining the Four Directions Society, he had clawed his way up with everything he had, never daring to rest. Even when he was slashed and covered in wounds, he would get himself bandaged and discharge himself from hospital immediately.

If not for that relentless drive, he could never have reached this position at such a young age.

'Is there a way to treat it?' Chen Shan asked.

Now that his circumstances were a little better, he still hoped he could live a little longer. Long enough to keep looking after his younger sister Shasha. Without him, the people he had made enemies of would surely bully her.

Su Fuling said, 'I'm sorry — I don't have that capability right now. Your condition is a matter of damage to the body's foundation. You would need a well-rounded practitioner of traditional medicine to design a proper course of treatment for you.'

Hearing this, Chen Shan felt a quiet deflation. Where was he supposed to find a Doctor like that? Never mind that he now controlled several city blocks — in the eyes of those people, he was nothing more than a gang boss. Accomplished practitioners of traditional medicine were guests of honour in wealthy households; not just anyone could engage their services.

'Thank you. Twenty dollars well spent.' Chen Shan said, and rose to his feet.

Su Fuling noticed the faint despondency in his manner and guessed that he probably had no intention of seeking treatment.

She felt a sudden itch in her hands — it was rare to encounter a ready-made case this challenging. Since this man was not planning to pursue treatment, could she try? She made a suggestion: 'Sir, if you trust me, I can prescribe some medicines to help regulate your condition.'

Chen Shan turned and looked at her.

As an honest Doctor, Su Fuling said plainly, 'I genuinely don't have the ability to design a complete treatment plan for you right now, but I can prescribe some gentle restorative formulas. As changes appear in your body, I'll adjust the prescriptions accordingly... I can't guarantee success, but I'll do my best. The process will likely take a long time — after all, there is a saying in traditional medicine: blood that has form cannot be swiftly replenished.'

Chen Shan blinked, then understood. 'Doctor Su, are you using me as a guinea pig?'

Su Fuling pushed back at once. 'How is this using you as a guinea pig? I'm not prescribing recklessly — every time I prescribe, I have to be confident in what I'm doing. The process will simply be longer. But if you can find a more capable Doctor to treat you, that would certainly be better. What I mean is... it's still better than no treatment at all. I'll admit this is genuinely an opportunity for me to accumulate clinical experience, so I'll only charge you for the medicine, not for the consultations.' Subsidising the cost of the herbs herself was out of the question — she was broke. Living in someone else's place, running a shop that was also someone else's...

Chen Shan looked at Su Fuling, and finally understood why both Shasha and Li Liang trusted this Doctor Su.

This Doctor Su was a rare thing: a clever, good-hearted person.

And she was genuinely a good Doctor.

Since there was no real prospect of finding anyone else to treat him, Chen Shan simply sat back down. 'All right, Doctor Su. I trust you.'

Su Fuling said, 'Thank you for your trust.'

'Don't mention it. My younger sister is Chen Shasha.' Chen Shan said.

Su Fuling was surprised. 'So Shasha is your sister.' She looked Chen Shan over. 'You do look a little alike.' Only the expression was different — Chen Shan's eyes carried a far older weariness.

Chen Shan said, 'I hope you won't mention my condition to Shasha in the future.' He had brought it up himself because, now that they would be meeting regularly for treatment, he was worried word might somehow reach Chen Shasha.

Su Fuling thought of the pride in Chen Shasha's voice whenever she spoke of her brother. She really did have a good brother.

'Don't worry. Without your consent, I won't say a word.'

Su Fuling first wrote out a gentle formula for regulating qi and blood.

The prescription was a general tonic — mild, with no significant side effects.

Once the prescription was written, Su Fuling suddenly heard the System chime: 'Merit Points +15.'

Su Fuling: '...!!!'

Without changing her expression, she handed the prescription to Chen Shan and told him where to have it filled.

Chen Shan said, 'Does it have to be filled there?'

Su Fuling said, 'There's no strict requirement, but I've already spoken with the owner there — any patient I refer must be given quality herbs. At other places, I have no way of knowing the quality of the ingredients. Even if a single herb falls short of standard, the efficacy won't be what I intended.'

Chen Shan took this in thoughtfully. 'I understand. Thank you, Doctor Su. I'll be on my way — I'll come back in a few days for a follow-up.'

Su Fuling smiled and watched him leave.

The moment he was gone, Su Fuling turned to the System at once. 'System, I don't even have confidence that I can cure him yet — why are you giving me so many Merit Points?'

The Merit System replied: 'This System has determined that the treatment outcome of this case meets the criteria for Merit Points distribution.'

Su Fuling said, 'So the patient will continue to receive my care, and I will indeed be able to cure him?'

She had spent so long calculating things for others, and now, for once, she had calculated something for herself. Su Fuling was genuinely pleased.

No wonder everyone loves fortune-telling. This feeling of knowing in advance that you'll succeed — it really is something.

No, no — she couldn't get too proud. Grandfather always said: pride goes before a fall.

'I should use today's examination quota to give him a more detailed check. He's contributed so many Merit Points, after all.'

The Merit System replied: 'If the host has need of it, it may be used.'

'But he's already gone.'

The Merit System replied: 'When this System performed the scan, the subject's data was retained.'

So the System could actually retrieve all the information in a single scan — it had simply withheld some of it.

Part free, part paid.

A true capitalist System.

Su Fuling thought it over and decided to use the quota.

The patient had trusted her and given her this opportunity; the least she could do was get to the bottom of his condition and cure him sooner. The reward had already been credited in advance, after all.

Soon, the System laid out Chen Shan's full condition before her.

Su Fuling hurried to write it all down.

...

Across the street, inside the Dessert Shop, Wang Sihua had been sitting there eating, eyes fixed on this side of the road the whole time.

He had arrived just as the earlier commotion broke out.

If Chen Shan hadn't appeared when he did, Wang Sihua would have gone over himself. But Chen Shan had resolved the situation, so he had stayed out of it. His purpose here, after all, was to investigate the car accident.

The accident had not caused catastrophic harm, but many people had been injured. The nature of it was troubling. If no evidence of human involvement could be found, the case would have to be closed. But once a lead appeared, he couldn't rest easy until he had followed it through.

So from yesterday afternoon he had been watching this side of the street. And just a short while ago, he had noticed something odd: that Master Zhao, rather than reading fortunes for people, had been hovering around a young woman. Nothing about it had the bearing of a master.

And that morning, He Li and the others had left looking cheerful after their consultations — nothing like the usual manner of people who had just seen a Doctor.

Wang Sihua had graduated from the police academy. Even if his investigative experience was not yet deep, the habit of scrutinising details was firmly ingrained. Putting it all together, his suspicions had only grown.

Watching Chen Shan walk away with that grave expression, he was more convinced than ever that this young woman was not simple.

With Master Zhao nowhere in sight, Wang Sihua set down his teacup, wiped his mouth, and rose to cross the street.

Su Fuling was in the middle of recording Chen Shan's condition.

She noted everything down in careful detail, adding her own impressions and intentions alongside.

She planned to spend the evening searching the System for similar cases to study.

The patient had contributed so many Merit Points — she had to be willing to put in the work.

'Excuse me, is it possible to see a Doctor here?'

Su Fuling looked up at the voice. A person of entirely opposite bearing to Chen Shan walked in.

Rather unusual, actually — most of the people who had come to her for consultations so far had been older. Li Liang and his few associates aside. This person looked like a perfectly ordinary young man.

Her patients were becoming more varied in age. A sign that she had genuinely been earning people's trust lately.

She nodded. 'Of course. Please sit. Morning consultations here are free.'

Wang Sihua had sharp powers of observation and immediately spotted the promotional text on the sign beside her. 'I see it says same-day health check is free. What is that?'

Su Fuling explained, 'Some people have no illness but want to know whether there are any hidden conditions, so I added this service. Because a person's health can change, I only guarantee the result for the same day.'

Wang Sihua looked at the sign, then looked at Su Fuling, and thought the service was quite a racket. The key thing was, from his earlier observation, everyone who had come in here had paid money.

The more irregular something seemed, the more Wang Sihua wanted to find out what was really going on.

'Then I'll try that service.'

He reached for his money.

Su Fuling: '...' Were people in Hong City really this generous when it came to medical consultations? There was a free option right there, and he insisted on paying.

Honestly, Su Fuling genuinely disliked taking this service. But after her reputation had spread, making it free would only bring more people. So she had deliberately priced it higher. She hadn't expected that to be no deterrent at all.

She nodded. 'All right then.'

The scan opened — and the red indicator was unmistakable.

'...'

Su Fuling carefully took the pulse of the man before her.

Wang Sihua took the opportunity to make conversation. 'Doctor, do you read the papers? I just saw a report — there was a major car accident yesterday near the Tsim Sha Tsui Wharf.'

Su Fuling recalled the accident from yesterday; she supposed this was what he meant.

But she had no desire to discuss it. 'I don't read the papers.'

That was the truth. She preferred medical texts to newspapers.

Wang Sihua said, 'Do you think an accident like that could really be a coincidence? Is it possible it was deliberate?'

Su Fuling said, 'I wouldn't know. Sir, could you please stay quiet for a moment — pulse diagnosis requires a calm environment.'

Wang Sihua fell silent, though he continued to observe Su Fuling quietly.

He found that she was genuinely focused on reading his pulse. The look on her face was not the look of someone performing.

Had he come to the wrong person after all? Did this person truly know nothing?

Su Fuling withdrew her hand and gathered her thoughts. Then she said, 'There's nothing seriously wrong with your body, but your complexion is a little off. You should be especially careful in everything you do today.'

That was all she could say.

Wang Sihua frowned. 'Why especially careful? What does that have to do with complexion?'

Su Fuling said, 'Complexion is an outward expression of the body's functioning. It indicates that various aspects of your condition may be mildly affected. In any case, being extra careful in whatever you do under these circumstances is never wrong — especially when it comes to situations where injury is likely. People are prone to accidents when their mind is not fully present. You understand that, I'm sure.'

Wang Sihua: '... But I feel perfectly sharp.'

Su Fuling said, 'Some things you yourself cannot perceive — just as some people have hidden conditions they're unaware of, which only become apparent when a Doctor examines them.'

No matter how Wang Sihua turned the words over, he couldn't quite make sense of them.

In fact, he thought that if you interpreted them a different way, it sounded exactly like what those fortune-telling fraudsters always said — that someone had a calamity of blood and injury ahead. Was this woman a disciple of Master Zhao?

Wang Sihua said, 'Doctor, can it be treated?'

Su Fuling said, 'What you need is rest. Go home and rest for a day and you'll probably be fine. Medicine can't treat this.'

Wang Sihua probed, 'I notice this place used to be a fortune-teller's stall. Are there perhaps some... metaphysical methods available?'

Su Fuling's expression turned serious. 'Sir, I am a Doctor. I do not deal in metaphysics. As a young person, you should trust in science and trust in medicine.'

Wang Sihua: '...'

Looking at Su Fuling's earnest, grave expression, he had the strange sensation that she was the police officer and he was the credulous victim. He felt a momentary reversal of roles. He laughed inwardly — it seemed he had come to the wrong person after all. 'Thank you for the reminder, Doctor.'

Su Fuling smiled and nodded. 'Do be careful.' That was all she could offer him.