“This is…?”
Ye Jin looked at the black bottle suspiciously and asked.
The bottle was very plain and did not have any packaging instructions. It looked dark and thus stood out amongst the pile of medicine.
“Oh, this was given to me by the attending doctor for free. He said that it makes the medicine more effective.” The man smiled and said, “I always get my treatment here.”
“Always? How long have you had the sore?” Ye Jin frowned deeply.
“It’s been almost half a year, but it looks like it’s getting better soon.”
“Half a year?” Ye Jin inhaled sharply. Generally speaking, an injury like that should only last one to two months at most.
He opened the black bottle and smelled it. His face turned gloomy in an instant.
“This is from the doctor?” Ye Jin asked incredulously.
The man nodded.
“This is a corrosive agent. It doesn’t help the wound and all but will make it rot instead. That way, the wound would not worsen, but it will never be healed.” Ye Jin had a very unhappy tone. It was too much of a shock to see such a thing. He could hardly imagine such a thing happening in the hospital!
“C-c-corrosive agent?” The man was stunned as well and he subsequently became angry. “I was wondering why it stung when I applied it. The doctor even said it was normal! I’m going to demand an explanation from him right now!”
When he finished talking, he rushed to the doctor’s office with the concoction.
“You charlatan! Come out right now!” The man was getting aggressive as he rushed immediately into the ward. “Everyone, don’t ever seek treatment from this quack doctor again! I have a wound, and he gave me a corrosive so my wound will never go away!”
As soon as those words came out, everyone’s complexion changed slightly. The patients became suspicious, while the doctor’s face was pale and he had a flustered look in his eyes.
That feeling was quickly replaced with fierceness and shame, and the doctor then screamed, “Where did this mountain villager come from? You dare to behave like a goon here and defame my reputation? Be careful, or else I’ll sue you for slander!”
“Everyone, look here. What is this?” The man raised the black bottle high and showed it to everyone. “This is the medicine that this quack doctor prescribed to me. I didn’t know it then but I know now that this is a corrosive agent. My wound did not heal for half a year because of this!”
Whoa!
Chaos soon ensued.
Everyone looked at each other skeptically.
“That can’t be right. How could a doctor do such a thing?”
“Metropolis Hospital has just cured Wind-Heat Syndrome Flu. They have a reputation, and that’s why we came here to visit the doctor.”
“Really? If that’s true, then this doctor’s medical ethics are corrupt!”
“This man was just in here for treatment, so I don’t think he’s lying.”
The doctor was wearing glasses and a white coat. He sat there pretending to be calm and said coldly, “You’re simply going to take something and use it slander me? Trust me, I’ll make sure you go to jail!”
“You fart!” the man growled and his eyes were red. “Everyone can see what medicine this is. If you don’t believe it, let an expert identify it!”
“Oh, I don’t even know what this medicine is. I’ve never given it to you!” the doctor protested coldly. “The prescription I gave you was plain and clear. There’s no mention of this medicine at all. You’re spreading lies!”
“You… You’re shameless!”
The angry man pointed at the doctor. His face was flushed red, and he was both aggrieved and angry. “May lightning strike me if I lie!”
“Kick out this nonsense person now!” the doctor waved his hands impatiently and said.
A security guard was ready to step forward.
“Don’t come near me! If we don’t clear things up today, I’ll bring your hospital down with me!” The man’s face was ruthless.
“Yes, it’s better to clear things up today. Why are you rushing him out in such a hurry? Is it because of a guilty conscience?” Ye Lingchen and his parents hurried over and said.
The man saw Ye Jin and welcomed him in immediately.
“Who are you?” The doctor’s eyesight was poor and he tried hard to look at Ye Jin.
“I’m also a doctor and this black bottle really is filled with a corrosive agent!” Ye Jin proclaimed.
“Oh, it turns out that my colleagues are here to find fault with me! Where are you from? You’re spreading lies about me. Believe me, I’ll make sure you won’t practice medicine anymore!” The doctor’s eyes flashed coldly, “Even if it’s a corrosive agent, what of it? It’s none of my business at all! ”
He was well prepared when he did those deeds. He handed it to the patient and left no evidence at all, so the patient would have no evidence despite the protests.
“I bring you two big flower carps[1] whenever I visit you! I’m deeply grateful to you, but you’re actually conning me?!” The man shouted helplessly, “Give me back my fish!”
Many people looked over and saw a big bag in the corner of the office. There were two big fish that twitched from time to time.
The fish were both very large and was likely caught the man himself. It was a good quality fish.
Ye Lingchen’s eyes lit up and he looked at the doctor, saying, “You gave him this corrosive agent because he gives you fish every time he comes over. You’ll be able to receive all that fish for as long as his wound remains unhealed. He will also have to come by often to buy medication from you.”
“That’s nonsense!” By then, the doctor’s complexion could only be described as ashen. “Hurry up and take away this bunch of rogues!”
“I won’t go! Is anyone regulating this kind of quack doctors? Is there even any justice?” The man screamed, “I fish for a living and I need to enter the water every single time, that’s why I have sores on my feet. The wounds haven’t healed for the past six months. Do you know how much it affected me? You have to explain yourself!”
“Social standards are getting worse by the day! How could a doctor do this kind of thing? Didn’t you learn medical ethics when you first studied medicine?” Ye Jin was more disappointed than sad.
It was Capital’s Metropolis Hospital, no less!
The most authoritative hospital in the country as well the largest and most trusted.
How chilling to think that something like that happened there!
“No wonder my child’s cold never gets better. Could this doctor have done something to cause it?”
“Oh f*ck! We only came here because we can trust them. Are they exploiting us?”
“This doctor receives quite a lot of gifts. Last time he hinted at me to give him some red packets!”
“How should this be settled? We’re all vulnerable groups! Our lives are in the hands of others!”
People around began to talk about it too. One-by-one, patients who passed by stopped walking and crowded the room so densely that it was impenetrable. Many began gesticulating and pointing their fingers.
Others started to take out their mobile phones to record the situation and post it online…
[1] 大花鱼 is translated here as flower carp. The species is Percocypris pingi and does not have an English vernacular name, hence the necessity to coin one. The Chinese vernacular name 大花鱼 is an alternative name, and the fish is more commonly referred to as 鲈鲤. Ichthyologists consider it a member of the carp family, but without any proper placement in subgenera as yet.