Chapter 514: Chapter 513: 487: Achieving Perfection

“How much?!”

“20,000 an hour, which comes out to 5.55 per second.”

“Why don’t you go rob a bank instead?”

“Robbing a bank is illegal, but practicing medicine isn’t. It’s a free market, and nobody’s forcing you to come to me. You can take it or leave it. Is your son’s future not worth a few bags to you?”

There’s really no other choice but to accept Xiao Qian’s terms, as Aunt can’t find anyone else.

If Professor Liu knew about the price Xiao Qian was charging, he’d probably be furious. Ordinary doctors only charge a few tens or even less per hour. Liao Fugui was right when he said Xiao Qian was distorting the market price.

But people seeking Xiao Qian’s help are desperate, and they don’t care about the price, especially since they feel she’s worth it. On top of that, they’re all keeping each other’s deepest secrets, so no one’s going to complain.

Under immense pressure, Aunt grits her teeth but doesn’t dare to oppose Xiao Qian. Although Mother Yu thinks the price is high, she doesn’t say anything considering Aunt’s actions.

Uncle doesn’t care about the cost, as long as the child gets better.

“I’ll give it to you!” Aunt’s husband says to Xiao Qian, but Xiao Qian shakes her head and points to Aunt.

“I have a quirk. I follow my own rules, and I only accept payment from the person I specify. If she doesn’t pay, I won’t treat you.”

“I… will pay!” Aunt painfully says.

She has a stash of cash and a house under her name. When it comes to health, money is a non-issue. For her son, she has to swallow her pride and pay up.

“If treatment requires your cooperation, you must obey unconditionally. Understand?” Now that she’s secured payment, Xiao Qian wants to make Aunt bow down to her authority and establish a sense of hierarchy, making sure she behaves in the future.

“…Fine, can you check on Li Zhen now? His condition is worsening…”

“There’s no rush. Go to the kitchen first and help my aunt prepare a meal.”

“Li Zhen’s condition is getting worse, and you want me to cook?!” Aunt hasn’t cooked for years.

She never helped out at home when she was young, didn’t do anything at Father Yu’s house and lived like a pampered lady after marrying Father Li. There were two maids handling everything at home, so she never had to worry about a thing.

“This is part of the treatment. You can choose to do it or not. It’s up to you.”

Upon hearing that this is part of the treatment, Aunt doesn’t hesitate to go to the kitchen. Mother Yu is surprised.

“With the sun shining like this, I need to go in and check, or she’ll burn my kitchen down…”

By the time Xiao Qian goes with the food to see Li Zhen, it’s already three hours later. No one else is allowed in the room as she speaks to him alone.

“How are you feeling?” Xiao Qian asks Li Zhen, placing the food tray on the bedside table.

“Alright… My parents are worried, aren’t they? Did I overdo the act earlier?”

Before leaving, Xiao Qian had entered the room with Yu Minglang and asked Li Zhen for a favor.

If his parents come to Xiao Qian for help, he should feign illness to buy them some time. Cry out in pain, convulse, do whatever it takes. Their only goal is to make the doctors think his condition has worsened. In other words, Aunt was forced to kneel because Li Zhen pretended to be sick.

“Benevolent white lies can help your family. Here, try this. Your mother and my future mother-in-law prepared it.”

Xiao Qian opens the container and takes out the soup. When she looks up, she sees Li Zhen’s eyes welling up with tears.

“Hey, you’re not going to cry are you? A real man shouldn’t shed tears easily.”

“She hasn’t cooked in a long time; I doubt it’ll taste good.”

Li Zhen genuinely feels touched. He knows what kind of person his mother is. For her to cook, let alone cook with his aunt, is truly a rare gesture.

“Let me get a straw for you to drink. From now on, I am your psychologist, so you need to listen to me. There’s no clear division between mental and physical health. To treat mental illness, you must first be physically well. Drink some soup to regain your strength, and then I’ll start treating you.”

“I don’t have an appetite.”

“Oh, that’s fine. You don’t have to eat. I forgot to mention that my treatment fee is hourly, starting from the moment I came in. It’s 20,000 per hour, 333 per minute, and 5.55 per second. You’ve just wasted a few dozen already. Of course, you can choose not to drink, and I’ll just wait for you to finish before I start. Your mother paid for this with her secret stash, and I’m not sure if there’s enough. If it’s not enough, she’ll have to sell the house. If you still don’t cooperate with me, I’ll take her to sell her kidney to repay the debt—hey, slow down; don’t choke.”

In the monitor room, Mother Yu and Aunt see Li Zhen eating and clasp their hands together in excitement. They knew Xiao Qian could help!

But after their moment of joy, they both feel something’s not right and release their hands, turning their heads away from each other.

“Your daughter-in-law is quite the businesswoman, charging by the second for treatment…” Aunt didn’t mind spending the money for her son’s health when she was desperate. But now that she’s calmed down, she starts to feel the sting of the expense.

An hour’s worth of treatment equals a lost designer bag!

“Maybe you haven’t knelt enough?” Mother Yu glances at her, and Aunt keeps quiet.

Aunt has genuinely learned her lesson this time. Xiao Qian has all the advantages, and Aunt can’t rely on anyone for support. Aunt has to play nice if she doesn’t want to offend Xiao Qian. More importantly, she’s now counting on Xiao Qian to cure Li Zhen.

Li Zhen can’t take another bite after a few sips.

“Chen Papi, can you start now? I really can’t drink anymore…”

“You have to call me Dr. Chen!”

Chen Papi? What on earth is that?

“You vampire, charging by the second for treatment… My mom doesn’t have that much money. Why would you want to charge so much? Don’t tell me you’re going to treat me for dozens of hours? I’d rather die.”

“If you question my medical skills again, I’ll raise my prices even more. I can totally do that.”

It’s not just her claiming she can do that; she’s actually quite skilled at it.

“…Are you an angel or a demon?” Li Zhen has a hard time figuring Xiao Qian out.

At first, she did all those things out of revenge against Jianren – taking pictures, delivering food, and so on, all of which were terrifying. And she’s charging sky-high fees for her medical services.

But she doesn’t seem all that bad, either. She helped him and pulled him back from the clutches of the death god.

“My teacher taught me not to be an unethical person and to treat anyone with an illness. But I’m also someone who loves themselves. Some people, like your mother, are unbearable. If I want to stay true to my teacher’s teachings and be fair to myself, this is how I have to handle things~”

“Hey!”