This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

The wide-eyed girl was very excited, her hands trembling slightly. At first, because this was her first time doing something like this, she was scared and nervous. She deliberately chose the edge of the crowd, starting with the aunties in small groups at the very edge. But now, she was nervous with excitement.

Each registered phone number and name represented at least 1,000 yuan in sales for tomorrow. And according to her 20% commission, she could pocket at least 200 yuan per person. Looking at the nearly twenty phone numbers she had already recorded, the girl’s hand began to tremble more noticeably.

On their journey today, they had passed many villages, and there were many other villages in different directions. Those dilapidated houses, those rustic farmers—they were no longer objects of her ridicule, but her patrons, her golden geese. Every name she wrote down felt like the smell of money, a smell that made her, a young woman, feel weak-kneed and utterly captivated.

Her attitude became increasingly affectionate. ”Auntie, my name is Wu Zhouzhou. This is my phone number. If you have any issues tomorrow, you can call me anytime.”

Seeing the auntie’s happy smile, as radiant as a chrysanthemum, Wu Zhouzhou also smiled happily.

RUMBLE.

The sudden sound of a car engine starting made Wu Zhouzhou look over. Seeing it was their car, Wu Zhouzhou assumed it was blocking the way and needed to be moved for the crowd. She didn’t want to waste time; she wanted to record more phone numbers—that meant more money.

But why wasn’t the car stopping? Why did it just drive away? What about the others? Why were they all gone? What did this mean?

Wu Zhouzhou was dumbfounded. Being on the outermost edge, she had no idea that something had gone wrong. Furthermore, her biggest problem was that her cellphone was still in the car. What should she do? Had they abandoned her? Why?

Li Jun was still driving. He floored the accelerator as if possessed by Schumacher, and the car’s speed shot directly to 60 on the rough mountain road, yet it felt like driving on flat ground. Before he could even finish a long exhale, the Village Committee building was out of sight.

”Phew, that was scary.”

”Team Leader, Zhouzhou didn’t get in the car; she’s still back there.”

The voice of another girl made Li Jun slam on the brakes.

Looking back, Li Jun became anxious. ”Where is she?”

”She was on the periphery, writing down phone numbers, and didn’t get in.”

”Why didn’t you all call out to her?”

”You drove too fast! Besides, we were terrified too. The look in the eyes of those old men and women was horrifying.”

Li Jun was completely dumbfounded.

What should he do? These were farmers from deep in the mountains. They thought they’d been deceived, and their eyes looked fierce. If they went back, what if the villagers couldn’t get over being tricked and decided to beat them up? But if they didn’t go back, it was still the same problem. These were ignorant and unruly peasants from the mountains; there were bound to be many bachelors among them. If she were to be... ’violated’ by one of them, it could very well cost a life. Even though it was just a chance, who would dare gamble on such a possibility?

Li Jun, still possessing a conscience, thought for a moment. He had the others get out of the car to wait on the side of the road, then drove back to get Wu Zhouzhou. Getting beaten up was one thing, but it was far better than Wu Zhouzhou being defiled.

Wu Zhouzhou was petrified; she had never experienced anything like this. Especially when she saw the man with a smile on his face approaching her. Left all alone, an unspeakable fear gripped her.

”What are you trying to do?”

”’HEH. Your buddies just left you behind like this?’”

The white gown he wore offered her no sense of security, and his ’HEH’ laugh made her think of scenes from certain movies.

”Don’t you dare try anything funny!”

”’You? With that scrawny build of yours? Who’d bother messing with you?’” Wu Buwei had a contemptuous look on his face. He reached out, snatched the small notebook from Wu Zhouzhou’s hand, and started perusing it. ”’Damn, you’ve even recorded all the details.’”

”’Give it back to me!’” Wu Zhouzhou shouted, but her hands didn’t dare to move; she could only let Wu Buwei flip through it.

Wu Buwei chuckled at her words but didn’t return the notebook. Instead, with a ”RIP!” he tore out the page with the names on it. ”’A bunch of scammers, and you still dare to ask for this back? What for? So you can keep swindling old folks?’”

”’I’m not a scammer!’” Wu Zhouzhou was terrified.

”’TCH!’” Wu Buwei scoffed. ”’Scammers never admit they’re scammers. A pretty young woman like you, what aren’t you capable of doing? Why resort to deceiving the elderly?’”

With that said, Wu Buwei glanced at Wu Zhouzhou contemptuously, tossed the remaining notebook back to her, and turned to leave.

At this moment, Wu Zhouzhou could clearly see another person in a white gown standing beside the table among the crowd.

”Folks, anyone who comes waving a ’free’ banner, inviting everyone to listen to expert lectures and get free check-ups, they’re all scammers. Whether it’s the Health Clinic, the District Hospital, or even the Municipal Hospital and Provincial Hospital, when they come to the countryside for free clinics, they will contact our village first. They will contact either the Village Committee or the village clinic. They wouldn’t just show up unannounced like this.

”Once you believe them, they will give you lectures, do free check-ups for you, and even let you collect free eggs. But think about it, does pie really fall from the sky? Of course not! This is a scam specifically designed to target elderly people who are concerned about their health and fearful of illness.

”Once you arrive at their location, an ’expert’ will take the stage and start trying to fool you, exaggerating the severity of your illness, scaring you half to death. Then, after a check-up, it ’just so happens’ your body has the exact condition they described. If you don’t get treatment, don’t take their medicine, you supposedly won’t live more than three months. After a barrage of such scares, they start selling you their medicine. Once you’re thoroughly frightened and bewildered, wouldn’t you buy at least a little?

”Perhaps someone might say, ’I won’t bring any money tomorrow. I just won’t buy. Let’s see what they can do.’

”Actually, it’s simple. On the spot, they’ll claim their medicine stock is low. They’ll arrange shills—their own people—to frantically pretend to snatch up the remaining medicine. Seeing this, wouldn’t you get anxious? Wouldn’t you feel pressured to buy then?

”Even if you didn’t buy it on the spot, they’d still take you back home. Then, they’ll start calling you, saying you’re one of the lucky ones—they’ve urgently sourced another batch of medicine, so they’re giving you advance notice. In the call, they’ll also urge you to order immediately, warning that if you delay, it will be gone.

”Fine, so you still refuse to buy. Next, they’ll pay you a personal visit. They’ll claim they’re looking out for farmers in remote mountainous areas by giving you a special discount—the government has supposedly reimbursed a portion, so you only need to pay half the price. Will you buy it then? You’d almost certainly feel compelled to. It’s half price! Such a huge bargain, how could you possibly resist buying it?”

The village head hitched the thick cotton coat on his shoulder higher and asked loudly, ”Doctor Du, what if we still don’t buy then?”

Doctor Du chuckled. ”If you still don’t buy, they’ll give up on you. There are so many other villages, so many other people; they can’t afford to waste all their effort on you.”

”Doctor Du, what if we buy those medicines you mentioned? Will they be useful?”

”They will.”

”They will?”

”Yes. Eat enough of them, and they’ll fill your stomach. That stuff is mostly flour and starch—just little noodle kernels.”

”’Noodle kernels?!!!’” The village head looked utterly bewildered, as did the listening villagers.

”’That’s right. You spend several hundred, or even up to a thousand, yuan just to buy a pile of noodle kernels.’” Doctor Du smiled. ”’Alright everyone, please form a line. Let’s continue with the check-ups.’”

And this time, the people were even more enthusiastic.