Chapter 13

After Ah Si's embarrassing episode, Li Liang became obsessed with using his underlings to test Su Fuling's medical skills.

He called over his other two lackeys and had Su Fuling take their pulses.

Su Fuling didn't look down on them. As a doctor, she didn't pick and choose her patients—if someone was sick, she treated them. Besides, she had nothing better to do at the moment, and this was a chance to draw a crowd, so she patiently took their pulses.

Even without the system's diagnostic function, Su Fuling had plenty of experience with these minor ailments.

Relying on observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking alone, she could pretty much name every little problem the two gang members had, leaving them dumbfounded.

They'd only ever dealt with Western medicine before, so this traditional Chinese diagnostic skill of looking, listening, asking, and feeling the pulse genuinely struck them as novel.

Of course, take medicine they would not. It wasn't any serious condition—who'd want to bother taking medicine for that?

Li Liang watched from the side and confirmed that Su Fuling really did have some medical skill.

He had no idea whether her prescriptions actually worked, but at least her diagnoses were accurate.

Since she was a real doctor, as long as Su Fuling promised not to tell fortunes anymore, he wouldn't make things hard for her.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Li Liang ran with a triad—he had his own bottom line. He normally collected protection fees for the gang, but he always left people a way to survive. That was the rule of the Four Directions Society. So wherever the Four Directions Society operated, things never got as chaotic as they did in Grey Fox Society turf. With the merchants, it was money on one side and protection on the other—they kept other gangs from causing trouble there.

If this pretty girl hadn't first scammed his Auntie Heung, he couldn't have been bothered to come make trouble.

Watching the spectacle, Li Liang completely forgot about the market's closing time. It was one of the onlookers who remembered and, happy to stir the pot, reminded him. Only then did he go find a phone to call the exchange and reach his mother, He Li.

But the exchange was in an uproar on the other end. No one paid him any mind, and hearing he was looking for his mom, they simply hung up on him.

Li Liang cursed at the phone before slamming it down. He figured his mom and Auntie Heung had made money anyway, and this pretty girl was a real doctor, so he'd let the scamming thing slide. Going forward, there'd even be one more person paying him protection fees.

Thinking of it that way, he decided not to keep bothering Su Fuling.

When he got back to the stall, he said, "I couldn't reach my mom, so I don't know how it turned out. Forget it. Since you've shown some real medical skill today, I won't make things difficult for you. Just don't tell anyone's fortune from now on."

"Exactly. How could someone so young possibly read fortunes accurately?" one of the fortune-tellers watching from the sidelines chimed in snidely.

These fortune-tellers had a grudge against Su Fuling.

Her careless talk had drawn these triad types over. What if she offended this bunch and their whole trade ended up under surveillance here because of it?

Li Liang couldn't care less about them. He'd only come after Su Fuling because she'd scammed someone close to him. Everyone else was none of his business.

These people paid protection fees to set up their stalls here.

Drive them away and that was less money coming in, wasn't it?

If he really did that, the gang bosses would discipline him.

Li Liang just rolled his eyes at them, then said to Su Fuling, "As long as you promise not to tell fortunes anymore, we'll call this settled."

Su Fuling said, "But we don't even know the outcome yet. Isn't it a bit early to draw conclusions?"

This was no longer about whether she promised to stop fortune-telling—it was that she couldn't accept this bad reputation.

If people really believed she had a history of scamming, who would dare come to her for treatment in the future?

Seeing that she was the one refusing to let it go, Li Liang couldn't understand it. "Hey, I'm giving you face here, and you won't take it?"

Ah Si, standing nearby, instantly perked up at this. The face he'd just lost could finally be won back, and he immediately backed his boss up. "Yeah, our Brother Liang has spoken, and you still won't give him face? Are you asking for a beating? Careful, or Brother Liang will make sure you can't survive around here."

Ding Lanxiang squeezed through the crowd and heard these words, feeling as if her vision had gone dark.

She walked over and shoved Li Liang and Ah Si aside.

Pushed away before he could react, Li Liang cursed, "Which bastard pushed me? Are you blind?"

He'd barely finished cursing when He Li, right behind him, smacked the back of his head. "Your mother pushed you. Got a problem with that?"

Li Liang jumped, clutching his head. "Ah, Mom, why are you here?"

He Li ignored him and hurried off to find Ding Lanxiang—and most importantly, to find the master!

Ding Lanxiang, her eyes brimming with tears, was anxiously asking whether Su Fuling had been frightened, apologizing over and over. "I truly never imagined it would cause such a misunderstanding. Master, I believe in you. After I went home, I took my medicine on schedule, and today I sold off my stocks too. I truly believe in your abilities. I absolutely never thought of sending people to make trouble for you."

Su Fuling didn't know if she was telling the truth, but seeing her attitude, she was now certain the system really could predict future events.

She quietly relaxed. The greater the system's power, the more effective help it could give her.

That gave her even more confidence. "As long as your matter is resolved, that's good. But they said they were standing up for you." As she spoke, Su Fuling pointed at Li Liang and the others.

Li Liang: "..." What was going on?

Ding Lanxiang sighed. Her old friend's temper really could stir up trouble. This time it wasn't that she was being disloyal—she truly couldn't afford to offend the master and had to explain everything clearly. After all, repaying kindness with enmity would only compound her sins.

She told the truth. "It was my friend who brought them here. It really has nothing to do with me. But she only did it out of concern for me—it's all just a misunderstanding... She's in a terrible state now too. She lost a lot of money..."

He Li: "..."

Hearing about the lost money genuinely pained her.

Then she thought about how she could have asked the master for help, only she'd offended the master in advance...

Truly rotten luck. Rotten to the core!

He Li's face was full of bitterness as she looked miserably at Su Fuling. "It was me... I thought Ah Heung had run into a scammer, so I found people to come..." The word "teach a lesson" stuck in her throat.

But Su Fuling knew what she hadn't said.

Standing up for a friend was a show of loyalty, sure—but since the person being taught a lesson was Su Fuling herself, she had no spare energy to appreciate it.

Still, she wasn't in the mood to hold it against them either. After all, she was just a small fry. She had at least that much self-awareness.

So she only advised, "We have a saying in the mainland: no investigation, no right to speak. I hope that in the future, before you make any decisions, you'll investigate things clearly first."

Hearing Su Fuling's words, He Li nodded hastily.

But Ding Lanxiang's heart grew heavy. She could tell—the master was angry. Now, on top of her guilt, she worried the master would never give her guidance again. To encounter a true master—what incredible fortune that was!

If she missed this chance, she'd regret it for the rest of her life.

Ding Lanxiang quickly tried to salvage the relationship. "Master, today's misunderstanding was my fault. How about this—let me treat you to a meal as an apology. And I'll have Liang-boy set out a proper spread to apologize to you too?"

At this, He Li immediately cooperated, dragging her son Li Liang over. "Master, punish him however you like."

Li Liang: "..." Mom, what is going on? "Don't tell me she got it right?" Ah, this was so awkward—he'd been threatening her just moments ago, and now it turned out they were wrong.

He couldn't even look at Su Fuling, feeling thoroughly slapped in the face. So he changed the subject. "Mom, what about your stocks? Did you sell early?"

At the mention of stocks, He Li's chest tightened.

Then she looked at Su Fuling hesitantly. "Master, I was wrong today. I admit my mistake. I'll make whatever amends you want—I only ask for your guidance. Is there still any chance to recover from this? Don't worry, I'll reward you handsomely."

Ding Lanxiang slapped her forehead. What timing was this? Offending the master and then immediately asking for her advice—what kind of behavior was that? Not a shred of sincerity.

Meanwhile, Master Zhao, watching from the sidelines, was left dazed by this stunning turn of events. This young woman had actually predicted it correctly.

A coincidence. It had to be a fluke!

This time he didn't suspect it was staged—after all, triad members had shown up in person.

A girl fresh from the mainland could never pull off something like that.

So this was a blind cat stumbling onto a dead rat?

Her luck was absurdly good.

Zhang Lei, who had spent the whole day watching the excitement, also widened his eyes. "Doctor Su, you can tell fortunes? So you were lying to me before."

Su Fuling had no intention of admitting to fortune-telling.

Judging by the trouble Li Liang had caused, fortune-telling was something people easily mistook for a scam.

This time they called it a misunderstanding, but who knew what trouble would come next time?

So she would absolutely never admit to telling fortunes—because it wasn't fortune-telling anyway.

"I'm a doctor. All of my advice comes from a medical perspective, from the standpoint of protecting my patients' health. It's all science."

The onlookers: "..." Who was she trying to fool? Medicine could predict the stock market now? Then wouldn't every doctor in the hospitals be rich?

He Li figured Su Fuling was angry, and her voice softened. "Master, I truly did wrong this time. Please, give me some guidance."

At this point, He Li really didn't dare suspect it was fake anymore.

The stock market had been fine all day, then suddenly crashed—and she'd predicted exactly that. Wasn't that downright miraculous?

What's more, He Li had just suffered for not believing Su Fuling, so now she truly didn't dare doubt her again. She only regretted believing too late.

Her son Li Liang, though, was skeptical. He'd never much believed in these street-stall masters. Sure, he prayed to Lord Guan often enough, but that didn't mean he trusted the mouths of these roadside fortune-tellers. The key thing was that he genuinely believed Su Fuling was a doctor—and if she was a doctor, how could she tell fortunes? He said to He Li, "Mom, maybe it was just a coincidence. She really is a doctor—her diagnoses for us today were spot on."

Ding Lanxiang snapped, "Liang-boy, shut up."

He Li added, "Exactly. If you don't understand things, don't speak."

Li Liang said, "Trust me, it was probably just one lucky guess. That kind of thing happens. These people run into it all the time too."

He pointed at the fortune-tellers in the crowd.

"If you don't believe me, ask them."

The masters all took a step back, and none of them made a sound. Who would dare admit it? Admitting it would mean everything they normally predicted was just guesswork. Wouldn't that smash their own reputations to pieces?

He Li: "..."

After all this commotion, she couldn't help wavering again. Could it really have been a coincidence? Then wouldn't she have no hope of earning her money back?

But looking at Su Fuling, she still clung to hope. "Master, please, give me some guidance." Thinking her sincerity might be lacking, she pulled money from her wallet and even emptied her son's pockets, laying it all earnestly before Su Fuling. "There'll be a generous reward once it's done!"

Ding Lanxiang gave her a push and reminded her, "Doctor Su doesn't like being called Master. You have to call her Doctor."

He Li: "..." What a strange quirk. But she corrected herself. "Doctor Su..."

Su Fuling waved her hand, her face earnest. "I really am just a doctor. I don't tell fortunes. And I've said it before—great trends like this can't be changed by any one person. If people really could change their fortunes, why would there be so many failures in this world?"

Hearing this, He Li felt her vision truly going dark. And then, all at once, it really did go dark—she fainted.

"Mom!"

"Ah Li!"

"Auntie!"

The group immediately crowded around He Li.

As a doctor, Su Fuling didn't freeze for even a second at a moment like this. Instinctively, she moved to save her. "Step aside, step aside—let me take a look!"