There's a section of steps on the Badaling Great Wall that's very steep. If you don't want to smell the sweat on the people in front of you, you can only see their calves at most. Besides, it's better to stay far away so that you don't fall and get hurt. This steep slope, which is almost a 90-degree right angle, looks terrifying. Even Lin Yao, who considers himself an expert, doesn't dare to look back down. He always has the feeling that he's about to fall and tumble down.
"Daddy, let's do our best to surpass Lili." Nannan nestled in Ge Yong's arms, her embrace perfectly proper. The children couldn't climb these steps on their own, some of them even exceeding forty centimeters. The men were the ones doing the hard labor at this time, but Ge Yong and Lin Yao were clearly not among those reluctantly doing it.
Alina was clearly overjoyed. Since giving birth to her daughter, she had never had such a carefree opportunity to play. For years, she had been constantly battling for her daughter's life, living in constant fear. At this moment, she seemed to have returned to her eighteen-year-old self, a beautiful and lively Bai girl. Her joy and cheers, combined with her delicate figure and face, made it hard to believe that she was already a thirty-year-old woman. This attracted the attention of the men who had stopped to rest on both sides of the Great Wall, who stared intently at her, only to be pulled or scolded by their female companions. The men without female companions brazenly groped her with their eyes.
Alina and Ruan Lingling rushed to the front. Alina went first, while Ruan Lingling was not as physically strong as the Bai women and struggled to climb. She would occasionally glance back at Lin Yao, pretending to care about Xiao Guli.
The temperature at Badaling Great Wall was several degrees lower than in Beijing. With Lin Yao's secret help, Xiao Guli didn't feel cold, but Nannan could only rely on her thick clothes to keep warm. People climbing the steps at the gate didn't feel the temperature was very low. Among the group, Nannan's condition was used to control the time spent playing.
The city gates, walls, watchtowers, and beacon towers—these magnificent military engineering works, standing for thousands of years, leave all later generations in awe. A few people tagged along for a tour guide's explanation for free. This female guide, around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, was very eloquent, recounting historical stories and legends in a captivating and engaging manner. Lin Yao and his group followed her for quite a distance until the angry female guide glared at them repeatedly, at which point they sheepishly left. Only a few college students, male and female, shamelessly continued to follow, making Alina laugh at Lin Yao and Ge Yong's stinginess.
Shang Wenge's culinary skills are truly remarkable. After learning about Shang Wenge's identity from Situ Hao, Lin Yao was astonished that the Minister of Foreign Trade could possess such superb cooking skills. He thought to himself that Chinese men are indeed outstanding, able to shine brightly in any position.
After playing all day, Guli and Nannan slumped listlessly on the Italian leather sofa. The milky white sofa had left black marks from the two little ones rubbing their shoes on. Xiaolin kept shifting her four restless little legs. She wasn't very angry, but just kept talking to the two little ones, just wanting to hear them call her "beautiful sister" in their childish voices a few more times.
Lin Yao accompanied him in the kitchen, but to put it nicely, he just stood around watching. He would occasionally help wash vegetables, but he wasn't even qualified to chop them. He had been weak since childhood and had little opportunity to do housework, which was all done by his father, Luo Jimin, and mother, Lin Hongmei. At this moment, he also wanted to experience the life of an ordinary person, and cooking was something he had to learn. It was really unacceptable for a Chinese man not to know how to cook. Although almost all men would proudly say that they didn't know anything about cooking and were hands-off at home, in reality, in most Chinese families, the man was the one who did the cooking.
"I'll do it, Xiao Lin, you just stay here and chat with Uncle Shang." Gan Mei snatched the work from Lin Yao's hands and pushed him aside. "When your Uncle Shang is cooking, he'll be even more pleased to have an audience."
“What are you saying? You’re making it sound like I’m some kind of vain person. Do I really love showing off that much?” Shang Wenge turned and denied his wife’s point of view, his smug smile betraying his true thoughts.
Lin Yao stood aside, smiling without saying a word. This family was very warm and loving, just like his parents at home. He missed and longed for this kind of cozy life. Although he was sick before, he was very happy when his family was together. Now, he guessed that such opportunities would be rare. His parents had become very busy, and he had his own things to do.
"Could I ever experience the joys of cooking like this myself?" Lin Yao wondered to himself, the image of the pink-clad girl surfacing in his mind, imagining the radiance of her smile in the kitchen. He just wondered if the pink-clad girl could do housework. What if she was just a pretty face? Would he have to do all the housework himself? Or hire a maid?
Lin Yao, whose thoughts were drifting further and further away, began to feel conflicted, standing blankly behind Shang Wenge.
"Xiao Lin, Uncle Shang has something to tell you." Shang Wenge didn't turn around, continuing to stare at the spatula. He tried to keep the atmosphere casual, as he was also a little embarrassed to speak.
Lin Yao remained unmoved, still preoccupied with the dilemma of what to do if the pink-clad girl couldn't do housework.
"Xiao Lin?" Shang Wenge was a little surprised when he didn't get a response for a long time. Logically speaking, the other party should not have such an attitude before he had even mentioned the specific matter. Turning his head, he saw Lin Yao with a blank look in his eyes and his brows furrowed, as if he had encountered a difficult situation.
"Huh? Oh." Lin Yao was startled awake by Shang Wenge's louder voice. "Uncle Shang, what did you say? I was thinking about something and didn't hear you clearly."
"Oh, haha, I thought you were thinking about some beautiful girl." Shang Wenge laughed and teased Lin Yao.
"Disrespectful to elders, no manners at all." Gan Mei stopped washing vegetables, walked over and poked her husband's forehead with her wet fingers. "Xiao Lin, your Uncle Shang has something he wants to ask you for a favor. See if you can help."
"What is it? Uncle Shang, please tell me." Lin Yao certainly wouldn't adopt that kind of selfless, righteous attitude of patting his chest and taking charge. Now that his status was different, he had to be more careful in his actions.
"That's how it is." Shang Wenge chose the right time. After cooking a dish, he handed the spatula to Gan Mei next to him, rubbed his hands together, and said to Lin Yao in a serious tone, "I have a friend whose father also suffered a stroke due to cardiovascular disease two years ago. He is paralyzed in bed and cannot move or even speak clearly. So, I would like to ask you to take a look."
So that's how it is. No wonder Shang Wenge took the initiative to invite me to his home. Was he trying to build a relationship or did he have an ulterior motive? Lin Yao immediately understood the reason for this family dinner and thought to himself that everyone was right when they said that no one gets up early without a reason.
After a moment's hesitation, Lin Yao looked up at Shang Wenge seriously and said, "Uncle Shang, let me be frank with you. I can't treat patients casually. The specific reasons can't be explained in a few words, but there is one principle: the minimum consultation fee is two million, depending on the situation, and it could even be tens of millions."
Seeing that Shang Wenge's expression had turned sour, Lin Yao immediately continued to explain, "The price I pay for treating patients is very high, so I set this rule. Of course, the consultation fees are all after-tax prices, and we have signed an agreement to pay income tax on your behalf."
Turning to look at Gan Mei, who was staring in disbelief, Lin Yao smiled and said, "Aunt Gan, my family is very poor. We need to find a way to make up for the losses from this disaster relief effort. You don't really think that the cost of each bottle of beverage is only one dollar and twenty-five cents, do you?"
"Oh." Gan Mei suddenly realized, her expression returning to its usual composure. She shook the water droplets off her hands and said to her husband with a smile, "Old Shang, Xiao Lin is right to do the right thing. It's easy to choose between one person and a large group of people."
Shang Wenge's expression softened somewhat. He hadn't experienced such a blunt rejection in many years, and he still felt a little uncomfortable. After considering it for a moment, he stared into Lin Yao's eyes again and asked seriously, "Would you take action if I offered two million?"
"Uncle Shang, it's like this." Lin Yao felt a bit troubled. It would be very inconvenient to operate after these people in important positions knew his identity. Although he himself was fine, Minhong Pharmaceutical still needed to continue operating. "Because there are restrictions on how I can act, and the cost is also very high, I generally let Situ Hao in the outer living room be in charge of selecting patients. Oh, he is a businessman from Beijing who runs a supermarket."
“In principle, we only treat businessmen, or those with a clear source of income. Not all businessmen can be selected. It’s complicated and hard to explain in a short time.” Lin Yao felt a headache coming on. He couldn’t very well be cursing a monk, so he painstakingly organized his thoughts before continuing to explain, “Although I’m just a small doctor, I don’t want to be an accomplice to evil.”
Shang Wenge remained silent, processing Lin Yao's words. Gan Mei's eyes lit up, and she interjected, "Situ Hao? No wonder that name sounded familiar. So you're... an angel?"
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Chapter 150 Angels Only Love the People
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Lin Yao was taken aback, genuinely surprised. He had only asked Situ Hao to introduce him to a few patients, so how did his identity spread so quickly, even reaching Gan Mei? He didn't immediately answer Gan Mei's question, but instead asked with a hint of doubt, "Aunt Gan, how do you know all this?"
“Oh, my work is closely related to the medical system, so naturally someone would pass on these confidential news to me.” Gan Mei didn’t think it was difficult to obtain this information and said it was only natural. “Beijing is not a big city, but it’s not small either. Situ Hao has reached a certain level of success, so it’s natural that people would care and inquire about his daughter’s recovery. The news was supposedly confirmed by the wife of a real estate tycoon. In Beijing, who doesn’t have some ailments? This kind of news spreads the fastest.”
Lin Yao had calmed down. He now possessed a certain level of self-defense ability. If Xiao Cao recovered, she wouldn't be afraid of even a Heavenly-level expert, so he didn't need to worry too much about the consequences of his identity being exposed. He was quite at ease with Situ Hao. Apart from Gan Mei's family, no one else knew that the angel was him. Even if they did know, so what? Could they really hold a knife to his throat and force him to undergo treatment?
"Oh, haha, the news travels fast." Lin Yao chuckled dryly and continued to Shang Wenge, "Uncle Shang, that's how it is. You must have heard the rumors that Angel is an unscrupulous doctor. My fees are very high. Two million is the base amount. It's actually very difficult to find a consultation fee as low as two million. Even for a cold, I charge two million."
"Then why only punish the merchants?" Shang Wenge was a little confused because he had been rejected, and he couldn't understand the meaning Lin Yao was implying.
“It’s very simple,” Gan Mei interjected, explaining, “It’s because we’re worried about treating corrupt officials. Although it’s hard to say whether this is right or wrong, it’s not without reason. If it weren’t for the occasional encounter with Xiao Lin needing to do something, we probably wouldn’t have been able to afford the medical fees, and your illness would have been in danger.”
Lin Yao continued to chuckle dryly without saying a word. That was exactly what he meant: curing a bad person would indirectly harm the interests of many more people. Those bad people should die and be reincarnated sooner rather than later. It wasn't worth making Lin Yao the villain, as that would diminish his good karma.
"Oh." Shang Wenge finally realized what was going on, and looked at Lin Yao with a strange expression. "So, does my illness count as abusing my power for personal gain? If it weren't for you, Lin Yao, approving my application, would you have simply ignored my life or death?"
Lin Yao knew that Shang Wenge's inner conflict had not been resolved, so he could only continue to explain, "It's not like that, Uncle Shang. Actually, besides you, I also treat patients for free. Not to mention the costs, the value of the medicinal materials used alone is astronomical. It depends on fate. If I encounter someone and it's suitable, I'll help. There aren't so many rules and regulations."
"Uncle Shang, we're quite destined to meet. Regardless of the specific circumstances, it's fate that we met in my hometown, and your family happens to have this kind of status. Actually, we don't need to worry too much about the advantages that our status and position bring. These are just personal resources." Lin Yao had completely figured it out. Even if he really offended Shang Wenge's family, it wouldn't matter. At worst, he could open clinics all over the country and sell Chinese medicine in his own stores. No one would say anything, and there were no restrictions on this under the country's laws and regulations. At worst, Minhong Pharmaceutical could just do direct sales and not need the license.
"If it were an honest official, they would never be able to come up with two million or even more money. Wouldn't they be doomed?" Shang Wenge continued to nitpick, still somewhat unhappy.
“Uncle Shang,” Lin Yao said, his smile fading and his expression turning serious. “An honest official is a human being, and an ordinary citizen is a human being too. No one’s life is more precious than another’s; everyone is the same. To put it bluntly, I’m just using my limited resources to maximize my profits, raise funds for Minhong Pharmaceutical, expand production, and help more ordinary people.”
“I am not the only doctor in this world. Society will continue to function without me. If the opportunity arises, I will treat both honest officials and ordinary people. It’s just that the opportunities are not many.” Lin Yao said eloquently. “Modern medical technology is also very advanced. I will treat patients as needed. You don’t think that hospitals across the country should close down because of me, do you? I don’t owe anyone anything. You shouldn’t put such a responsibility on me.”