"Miss Lin, since your knee is injured, there's no need to get washed up. We can start directly."
Jiang Xinghai opened his arms, swept Lin Liping up into a princess carry, and walked toward the treatment bed in the corner.
"Thank you."
Lin Liping stared blankly at Jiang Xinghai, resting her head gently against the man's neck.
This was the very first time in her life she had been held by a man in a princess carry, so a little shyness was inevitable.
"Miss Lin, you just need to remove your top and lie down."
Jiang Xinghai placed Lin Liping on the treatment bed and prepared to wash and disinfect his hands.
"Could you… pull down the rolling shutter first?"
Lin Liping glanced at the wide-open entrance, her expression reserved.
'I'm about to expose myself for such a private treatment. If a crowd of customers were to walk in and see, I'd simply die of embarrassment!'
Jiang Xinghai smiled in understanding. "You're right. Some things shouldn't be seen by others."
He started toward the entrance, but then he saw a fashionable and glamorous woman rushing over.
"Where's Lin Liping?"
The woman wore an exquisite and expensive pearl necklace, which added an air of nobility and elegance to her.
But when she walked past Jiang Xinghai and saw Lin Liping on the treatment bed, she turned into a shrew, spitting venomous words. "Lin Liping, I, Yang Yanni, was your classmate for six years, and you scammed me by selling me fake ointment!"
"Yanni, are you talking about the Hundred Herb Ointment?"
Lin Liping looked at her old classmate's furious expression and, ignoring the injury to her knee, tried to get off the bed. "Yanni, my Lin Family's Jishan Hall has a hundred-year-old legacy. We never sell fake medicine. I can absolutely guarantee the authenticity of the Hundred Herb Ointment!"
"Miss Lin, wait."
In the blink of an eye, Jiang Xinghai was standing in front of the treatment bed. "Your knee is injured. Just stay seated."
"Oh my, Lin Liping, are those capri pants the latest trend?"
Yang Yanni crossed her arms, her eyes filled with mockery. "And I must say, that split design, so similar to a qipao, is very unique!"
Lin Liping's face flushed with shame, and she hurriedly tried to cover herself with her hands.
But Jiang Xinghai had ripped her capri pants all the way up the seam, so there was no use trying to hide it.
"Oh! So you injured your knee."
Yang Yanni continued her taunts, "I seem to recall you were so focused on studying medicine that you didn't want a boyfriend. Couldn't stand the loneliness and decided to secretly keep a man on the side after all, huh? And I must say, you two little lovebirds are really getting wild with your fun and games. You've even scraped your knees raw!"
"Yanni, stop spouting nonsense! This is the Divine Doctor, Doctor Jiang Xinghai!"
Lin Liping's face alternated between pale and red. She gave up and just sat firmly on the treatment bed, staring at Yang Yanni.
"Him… Divine Doctor, Doctor Jiang?"
Yang Yanni couldn't help but size up Jiang Xinghai, her eyes filled with contempt. "Liping, so what if you're secretly keeping a man? It's not a big deal. There's no need to force this 'Divine Doctor' identity onto him."
"Whether you believe it or not is none of your business," Lin Liping said, her elegant brows furrowed.
"Heh heh. Actually, this handsome man has a pretty strong build. I bet his 'skills' in other areas are quite good too, otherwise, you wouldn't have had so much fun that you could endure scraping your knees raw." Yang Yanni spoke with extreme frivolity, tracing a finger across Jiang Xinghai's chest.
"You... had better apologize to Miss Lin immediately."
Jiang Xinghai hadn't wanted to get involved, but Yang Yanni's words and actions were just too aggressive.
"Tsk, tsk. You, this little pretty boy, are telling me to apologize to her?"
Yang Yanni glared at Jiang Xinghai. She had come here specifically to cause trouble for Lin Liping. 'Why would I ever bow my head and apologize?'
"I'll take that as a refusal to apologize!"
However, a cold light flashed in Jiang Xinghai's eyes. "Someone with a foul mouth like you, shouting and screaming here when your pancreas is failing? Slap!"
SLAP!
The slap completely sobered Yang Yanni up.
Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, and the red mark of a handprint appeared on her cheek. Yet, she didn't fly into a rage. Instead, she stared at Jiang Xinghai with an indescribable expression. "You… how did you know I have a problem with my pancreas?"
"Of course, I discovered it using the Observation Technique, one of the four diagnostic methods of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The whites of your eyes are murky and yellow, your skin has a yellowish tint and is covered in scratch marks. Am I wrong?" Jiang Xinghai said with a half-smile.
"You!"
Yang Yanni nodded dumbly.
She was completely stunned by Jiang Xinghai's deduction.
He was right!
She had just gotten her test results from the hospital. She had pancreatic cancer, the "king of cancers"!
The result was like a bolt from the blue, and she was the only one who knew!
It had even made her want to end her own life.
Her coming to Jishan Hall this time, ostensibly to confront Lin Liping about the anti-itch cream she'd bought here being useless, was, in reality, just a pretext. Since she had pancreatic cancer, she had come here to vent the bitter feelings in her heart.
"Mr. Jiang truly is a Divine Doctor!"
At that moment, Lin Liping could tell from the change in Yang Yanni's expression that Jiang Xinghai's diagnosis was correct.
"In all the world, only my master is worthy of being called a Divine Doctor. I still have a long way to go."
Jiang Xinghai smiled humbly, the image of his master, Yao Gu, appearing in his mind's eye.
Lin Liping's eyes glowed with fervor as she grabbed Jiang Xinghai's hand. "Then Yanni's illness shouldn't be difficult for you, right?"
"Yes, yes! Divine Doctor Jiang, you see, my condition…"
Yang Yanni shot Lin Liping a grateful look, then also grabbed Jiang Xinghai's hand with both of hers.
Ever since Jiang Xinghai had stated her illness, she was convinced that this man was a Divine Doctor!
"When I treat patients and save lives, there are three types I will not save."
Jiang Xinghai shook off Yang Yanni's hands and said coldly, "First, I do not save those who do evil and harm others. Second, I do not save traitors who sell out their country for personal gain. And third, I do not save those whom I do not wish to save!"
"Uh…" Yang Yanni was instantly dumbfounded.
'His words were very clear. He doesn't want to save me!'
"Mr. Jiang, Yanni is actually a good person. Her personality must have become strange because of her illness. I'll plead with you on her behalf, what do you say…?" Lin Liping said with an awkward expression, trying to get Jiang Xinghai to change his mind.
"We'll see how she behaves."
Jiang Xinghai shook his head. Whether to save her or not depended entirely on his whim.
Just then, he suddenly received a WeChat message from Shen Lingxue: *The National Medical Saint Hand from Central State just arrived in Jizhou. Come quickly!*
"Miss Lin, time is short, and I have urgent business to attend to. I won't be able to do your acupuncture and massage today. Let's reschedule for another day. You and Miss Feng can come together then, and I guarantee you'll both be satisfied, alright?" Jiang Xinghai had to leave immediately.
"No problem," Lin Liping nodded at once.
"Divine Doctor Jiang, as long as you're willing to treat me, I'll give you my entire family fortune…"
At that moment, Yang Yanni suddenly dropped to her knees and hugged Jiang Xinghai's legs.
"Do you think I'm a man who's short on cash?" Jiang Xinghai asked with a faint smile.
"No, no, no, a Divine Doctor like you certainly isn't short on cash."
Yang Yanni's heart skipped a beat. 'How could someone with such miraculous medical skills be short on cash!'
In her desperation, an idea struck her. She hurriedly added, "Right, Divine Doctor Jiang, what do you think of… my body? As long as it makes you happy, you can… play with it however you want. I can absolutely guarantee I'll be cooperative enough…"