Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Everyone looked over.
Belle stood at Humanity Hallâs entrance with a look of disdain. âYou may not know that Clarence here is the son-in-law of the Murphy family. Heâs merely junior-high-educated.
âHe knows nothing about medicine. Do you dare to consult a man who knows nothing about medicine for free?â
The crowd exploded uproariously.
âWhat? Junior-high-educated?â
âHe knows nothing about medicine!â
âHoly sh*t, no one would dare consult such a doctor unless they had a death wish.â
The patients who had wanted to try out Thirteen Hall gave up..
Free consultation was attractive, but their lives mattered more.
Seeing that the patients had walked back into Humanity Hall, Belle looked at Clarence defiantly. âClarence, do you want to fight us? Wait till the next life.â
Just as Belle turned around to go back to Humanity Hall, the old lady Clarence had seen that morning ran out with her grandson in her arms.
âHey, old lady. Why are you running? Your grandsonâs still sick.â Melody ran after the old lady and grabbed her by the sleeve.
The old ladyâs face was full of supplication. âForget it. Weâre not proceeding with the treatment. We canât afford it.â
Melodyâs face was cold. âYouâre not proceeding just because you canât afford it? Are you kidding me?
âHumanity Hallâs doctors have been working on your grandson all morning.
âNow that weâve identified the cause and designed a treatment plan, youâre saying you donât want to proceed with it?
âWhoâs going to be responsible for Humanity Hallâs loss?
âYou have to proceed with the treatment today, even if you donât want to!â
Melodyâs pretty face looked solemn and mean.
A passerby stopped. âWhat happened?â
The old lady looked helpless. âMy grandson has experienced a fever, a headache, and vomiting over the last few days, so I thought Iâd bring him to Humanity Hall.
âHowever, Humanity Hallâs doctors examined him all morning and said he has polio.
âTheyâre charging me twenty thousand dollars for a treatment plan.
âMy son died young, and my daughter-in-law left, leaving me only one grandson.
âI collect garbage for a living. Twenty thousand dollars is more than a yearâs income.
âHow can I afford such an expensive treatment?â
Melody folded her arms and looked at the old lady with amusement. âTwenty thousand dollars is a good price to cure your grandsonâs illness. Youâll need spinal surgery if you go to the hospital, and you wouldnât be able to do that without one hundred thousand dollars.
âHumanity Hall uses alternative medicine to help you cure illneses slowly.
âWith all sorts of medicines available and famous doctors working on your grandson all morning, whatâs wrong with charging you twenty thousand dollars?
âEven if you donât want to proceed with treatment, pay the doctorsâ labor fee. There are four doctors. Each cost two thousand and five hundred, so that would be a total of ten thousand dollars.â
âHuh?â The old lady turned pale with fear, trembling as she held her grandson in her arms.
âGrandma... My stomach hurts...â
Suddenly, the little boy in the old ladyâs arms spoke up weakly. He was now a far cry from his lively appearance this morning.
The old lady hurriedly comforted, âYouâre going to be fine. Iâll take you home and boil an egg for you.â
She had just finished speaking when the boy began to shake violently. He started throwing up, foaming at the mouth.
Melody shrieked as if she was escaping the plague. âOh! Take your grandson away, you old hag.
âDonât die in Humanity Hall!â
Onlookers glared at Melody with anger on their faces.
Belle realized something was wrong and quickly said, âAs you can see, it didnât happen to the little boy in Humanity Hall. He was fine when he left just now. It happened outside.â
Melody nodded. âYeah, we have surveillance in Humanity Hall. You canât blame Humanity Hall, you old hag.
âHurry up and pay the ten thousand dollars fee. Then, take your grandson away.â
The passers-by around them could not stand it any longer. Someone stepped out and roared, âIs this how you run a clinic?
âYouâre still thinking about money when the old ladyâs already so unfortunate?
âThereâs a saying that doctors care about their patients like theyâre the doctorâs own children. Are you heartless?
âHumanity Hall used to be great under Dr. Wandaâs management. How come itâs turned out like this in your hands?â
Peony used to run Humanity Hall.
Peony was not well and had been staying at home to rest lately, so Belle and Melody were in charge.
Many patients had already begun complaining within a week.
Melody was stubborn. âWhatâs wrong with me? Doesnât this old lady have to pay for a consultation?
âWe run a clinic, not a charity.â
âBoo hoo hoo...â
The old lady held the little boy helplessly while the crowd argued. âCan somebody help me? My grandson is dying.
âHelp!â
Her grandson was twitching in her arms while foaming at the mouth. He had rolled his eyes back into his head, and his face was deathly pale. It did not look good.
âTake him to the hospital!â Someone stomped their feet in panic and took out their phone to call an ambulance.
âLooking at the childâs state, itâs too late to go to the hospital now!â
âWhat should we do, then?â
Clarence walked over while everyone was at a loss.
Without another word, he squatted down beside the old lady and took one look at the little boyâs symptoms. âOld lady, thereâs hope. If you believe me, take your grandson to Thirteen Hall.â
âOkay! Okay! Okay!â
The old lady nodded as if she was clutching at straws.
Clarence held the little boy and headed toward Thirteen Hall.
Belle looked at Clarenceâs back and shouted, âClarence, Iâm warning you, polioâs an illness with a sudden onset and a very high death rate.
âIf you take him back to Thirteen Hall and he dies there, donât blame Humanity Hall.â
Melody added, âAlso, donât blame the Murphy family. If thereâs a medical accident, youâre on your own. Donât even think about making the Murphy family pay for you.â
Clarence ignored them and went straight back into Thirteen Hall with the little boy in his arms.
Trevor and Greyson watched the spectacle happening across from the clinic.
Trevor rushed out from behind the counter. âNonsense! Hurry and send him to the hospital. Why carry him back?
âThe medical care here isnât fit enough to treat this level of illness!â
The scientific name for polio was âpoliomyelitisâ.
It was a neurotropic virus, primarily affecting motor neurons in the central nervous system, with the anterior horn motor neurons of the spinal cord being the main focus.
It could lead to paralysis, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy in children.
In severe cases, death might result directly.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Greyson frowned and warned, âClarence, what are you doing? You donât think you can cure polio, do you?
âListen to Professor Hughes and get him to the hospital right away, or youâll kill the kid.â
Clarence snapped, âShut up. Itâs too late to send him to the hospital.â
The only way that Clarence would have a chance of ensuring survival was if he forced the virus out of the little boyâs body with Thirteen Hellâs Gate Acupuncture.
Clarence undressed the little boy and prepared to insert a needle into his spine.
Trevor lunged forward, grabbed Clarenceâs hand, and yelled, âWhat are you doing? The spine is the most vulnerable part of the body. There are countless nerves in it. What if you insert needles at random and paralyze him?â