This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

Just as Du Heng finished speaking, Director He’s smile stiffened slightly, and he shifted aside. ”Doctor Du, your appointment may have to be canceled.”

Du Heng squinted, but his smile remained. Before speaking, he glanced at Kang Zhirong and saw that he had already picked up the camera. Only then did he ask, ”Director He, what do you mean by that?”

Director He laughed awkwardly again and pointed to the junior fellow apprentice by his side. ”Let Doctor Guan’s junior fellow apprentice explain.”

The junior fellow apprentice coughed lightly and stepped forward in front of Du Heng. ”Doctor Du, you and I...”

Before he could finish, he saw a camera pushed from the side and aimed straight at his own.

He immediately stopped talking, took a step back, and, pointing at the camera, said to Du Heng, ”Doctor Du, what do you mean by this?”

Du Heng chuckled. ”As you probably know, I’m an Internet Celebrity Doctor, and I need some video material. Today is also a special day. I’m set to compete with a student of a National Medical Master at the renowned Luqi Hospital. This is an occasion worthy of pride and commemoration, so I must record it with a camera.”

As Du Heng spoke, his gaze turned cold.

One should not harbor malicious intentions, but one must always be vigilant against others. Even in a large hospital like Luqi, despicable people still exist. Doctor Zhang Zuo already said that Guan Bo’s Critical Illness led to his transfer to the Psychiatry Department. This was also corroborated by Zhang Dewen’s emotional state yesterday. That meant Guan Bo was very likely unable to complete the competition he himself had initiated. And having been transferred to the Psychiatry Department, even if Zhang Dewen managed to cure him overnight, Guan Bo wouldn’t have the energy to participate in today’s competition. Du Heng himself was an expert in treating critical illnesses; he knew very well that recovering from any critical illness would consume a significant amount of original qi. So, from any perspective, they should have notified him about the competition’s cancellation yesterday, or last night at the very latest. But they had deliberately waited until now, when he had already arrived at the hospital, to tell him. The feeling of being toyed with was too strong.

After explaining with a smile, Du Heng asked softly, ”What was this doctor just about to say? Were you going to say that the competition between Doctor Guan and me is about to start?”

Then he chuckled. ”Don’t worry, I’ll head over after a word with Director He. Rest assured, my colleagues and I are taking today’s competition very seriously. We will record the entire process and faithfully present the footage to the audience, letting the wider online community know that we practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine can indeed treat illnesses, and treat them well.”

”Record the entire process?” The junior fellow apprentice’s mouth twitched.

Du Heng raised an eyebrow. ”Is there a problem?”

The junior fellow apprentice suddenly reached out to block the camera lens and said to Du Heng, ”Doctor Du, can you lower the camera? I have a few things to say. We can film after I’m done.”

Kang Zhirong was very agile; the injury on his buttocks didn’t affect his nimbleness at all. When the junior fellow apprentice reached out to block, Kang Zhirong deftly took two steps back, once again getting a clear shot of the junior fellow apprentice’s face.

Du Heng glanced at Kang Zhirong, then looked directly at the junior fellow apprentice and said earnestly, ”There’s nothing that can’t be said openly. Besides, this is a competition between Doctor Guan and me. For the sake of both our reputations, it’s better to speak in front of the camera. Otherwise, people might say you’re tipping me off, and that wouldn’t be good. If you don’t want to appear in the video, that’s fine; we’ll pixelate your face. Or, if what you have to say is unimportant, we can edit out your appearance and voice entirely.”

The junior fellow apprentice became very hesitant. It seemed he had rather painted himself into a corner. Judging by Du Heng’s stance today, he must have already anticipated what was about to happen. If I state my purpose, I’ll likely face a barrage of questions from Du Heng.

As the junior fellow apprentice hesitated, Du Heng continued, ”If this doctor won’t speak, then please step aside. I’m heading to your Chinese Medicine Department now. By the way, the Department Director of the Chinese Medicine Department is surnamed Zhou, isn’t he?”

With this last question, Du Heng looked at Director He.

Director He was also speechless, watching the junior fellow apprentice. He couldn’t understand three things. First, why would Guan Bo be so foolish as to challenge an internet celebrity with ten million fans to a competition? Was he that desperate for fame? Second, why would the Chinese Medicine Department and the hospital agree to such a ridiculous competition? Were they that confident in Doctor Guan’s skills? Third, since Doctor Guan could no longer compete due to his physical condition, and Zhang Dewen had met Du Heng yesterday, why couldn’t he have explained the situation face-to-face then, instead of sending such an incompetent person this morning? Did they look down on this young doctor with ten million fans and a provincial-level research project? Or were they simply trying to mess with him? Besides, didn’t they consider that Du Heng was a doctor from another province? Did they really think they could use their East Hill connections to intimidate a doctor from Jinzhou?

Now, seeing Du Heng about to leave, Director He also wore a troubled expression.

No matter how disgusted he was by this whole affair, the Chinese Medicine Department was, after all, part of his hospital, and Zhang Dewen was still one of the hospital’s leading experts. If he just let Du Heng go over there like this, especially with a camera rolling to capture the expressions of everyone in the Chinese Medicine Department, it would be a monumental embarrassment.