Chapter 27: The Huge Medical Bill

  A person wandered around the street for more than two hours, and when the dawn shrouded the entire city in a haze, Cong Ye finally reached the seaside. The quiet seaside, the waves gently lapping at the shore, the cries of seagulls, seemed particularly loud. Standing on the beach, Cong Ye faced east and began his daily breathing exercises. When the sun showed half its face, he stopped and turned to walk towards Rizhao Lane.

  On the way, Congye bought breakfast for two people and when they arrived at the small courtyard, they found that the house was quiet, obviously his sister-in-law had not gotten up yet. Congye turned around and sat down in the abandoned clinic in front, waiting.

  "Cong Ye, zao ah."

  Translation: " Cong Ye, good morning."

  Congye saw his sister-in-law coming from outside and felt a bit surprised.

  "Sister-in-law, have you gone for a morning exercise?"

  "Yes, it's been a long time since I last exercised in the morning, and my body feels somewhat bloated."

  "Where is it? Auntie's figure is no worse than that of an 18 or 19-year-old girl."

  This was the first time Yan Qingcheng had ever heard Cong Ye praise himself, her cheeks flushed slightly as she walked towards the backyard, saying:

  "Sister-in-law is almost thirty years old now."

  Cong Ye looked at Yan Qingcheng's back as she walked away, and under the set-off of her sportswear, she seemed so full of energy and so lithe and elegant, where was the shadow of a woman who was almost thirty years old that he usually saw?

  After having breakfast, the two of them came to the clinic together. Just as they sat down, Zhī Jiālì arrived. Accompanying him was also the middle-aged woman who stood beside the patient's bed last night.

  "Good doctor."

  Qī Jiālì walked in and saw that the one wearing a white coat was a slender and beautiful girl, while Lóng Dàfū from last night was dressed in casual clothes, and he couldn't help but pause for a moment. As if suddenly understanding something, he looked at Yán Qīngchéng and asked Lóng Yè:

  "Mr. Cong, what is this beautiful nurse's name?"

  Originally, Qiji Li yelled "Cong Daifu" as soon as he entered the door, Yan Qingcheng was already puzzled to death, and now he actually regarded himself as a nurse, it seemed that the doctor of this medical clinic was Cong Ye.

  "Brother Qi, this Yan Dafu is actually the real doctor of the medical hall, I don't count."

  The middle-aged woman walked in and just smiled and nodded at Cong Ye, but when she heard this, she couldn't help but walk over to the wall where the doctor's qualification certificate was hanging and take a look. Sure enough, the name on it was "Yan Qingcheng". She turned around and asked Yan Qingcheng:

  "Are you Yan Dafu?"

  "Yes, big sister."

  "We have come today to give Doctor Cong the medical expenses for last night's house call."

  It's clear that the middle-aged woman didn't want to bother understanding who was in charge of the clinic, Lian Ye or Cang Yan, and got straight to the point.

  "How much is the bill?"

  Yan Qingcheng looked at Cong Ye with a puzzled expression, seemingly wanting an explanation.

  "Sister,......"

  "Mr. Cong, this is my little aunt."

  "Oh, Auntie, let's just forget about the diagnosis fee, I already told Qi last night that I didn't do anything."

  "What kind of reason is that? You're called out at midnight to see a patient, and after you've finished, they don't even pay the consultation fee. If this gets out, we'll be too ashamed to show our faces!"

  A middle-aged woman doesn't speak, but once she does, her words leave others speechless.

  Uncle Qiji's aunt had just finished speaking, and Qiji was already taking out money from the bag he had casually picked up. Ten thousand yuan at a time, five stacks in total, neatly placed on the table in front of Yan Qingcheng.

  "Brother Qi, what do you mean by this?"

  "Jianjin, the reason I said I'd send it over early yesterday was that there wasn't so much cash at the time. As soon as the sky brightened this morning, I went out to find an ATM, otherwise I would have come over earlier."

  "Brother Qi, even if you gave me a medical allowance, it wouldn't be this much."

  "That's all, and Grandpa still said it was too little."

  "Has the old man returned home?"

  "Went to the hospital for a check-up, the hospital said it was nothing serious, and then came back."

  "Alright brother Zhi, I'll accept 100 yuan for the medical expenses, but you can take the rest back."

  Cong Ye pulled out one from the fifty thousand yuan and pushed the rest with his hand, meaning to let Qi Jiali put them in her bag.

  "Cong Daifu, don't be polite anymore. If Grandfather finds out you didn't accept everything, he'll definitely come over again later. When I and Aunt came, Grandfather wanted to follow us too, it was hard to persuade him not to."

  "Yes, Doctor Cong, just take the money happily. As the old man said, which time did he go to the hospital and not stay in the ICU? Which time didn't it cost 100,000 or 800,000 yuan to get out? The money is a small matter, but the suffering inside, are you not tired of it, or am I not tired of it?"

  "Uncle Cong, what my aunt said is actually grandfather's own words. Grandfather retired from the army and always gets his way. If you don't accept it, I really won't dare to go back and face grandfather."

  Qī Jiālì's aunt and niece were chatting, and they quickly made Qīngyè laugh. Who calculates the cost of a doctor's visit like that? And there's no need to force someone to pay the fee either. Seeing Qīngyè wanting to say something, Qī Jiālì's aunt pulled Qī Jiālì's arm, and the two walked towards the stairs while saying to Yán Qīnchéng:

  "Yan Dafu, trouble you to help Cong Dafu receive it, okay?"

  After the aunt and niece left, Yan Qingcheng, who had been standing beside Cong Ye without speaking, could no longer hold back.

  "What happened at night, Cong Ye?"

  After Cong Ye recounted what happened at night one by one, Yan Qingcheng's eyes were even more surprised.

  "You mean, without surgery and without a chest tube, you cured the old man's pneumothorax?"

  "Sister-in-law, it was all just a misunderstanding, a coincidence."

  "Have you really practiced qigong?"

  Cong Ye nodded, fearing that Yan Qingcheng wouldn't believe him. He reached out and grabbed Yan Qingcheng's wrist, his three fingers pressing on the inch, guan, and chi points. The heat flow in his body instantly transmitted into Yan Qingcheng's hand taiyin lung meridian. Originally, Cong Ye just wanted to prove it to Yan Qingcheng, but as soon as his heat flow reached the Lieque point on Yan Qingcheng's hand taiyin lung meridian, he discovered something abnormal.

  "Sister-in-law, relax, your hand has some blockage in the Lieque acupoint of the Lung Meridian, let me help you clear it."

  One side gestured for Yan Qingcheng to sit down, while the other guided the hot flow in her meridians to start unblocking Yan Qingcheng's Lieque acupoint. After unblocking it, Cong Ye thought, why not take the opportunity to unblock some of his sister-in-law's other acupoints as well. He continued to guide the hot flow, moving forward through the back, lungs, and stomach, finally reaching the Zhong Jiao (Middle Jiao). He found that except for the Lieque acupoint being slightly blocked, everything else was fine, and slowly withdrew the hot flow. He said to Yan Qingcheng:

  "I just helped your sister with the Hand Taiyin Lung Meridian, if she doesn't feel any discomfort afterwards, we can work on other meridians next time."

  When Cong Ye finished and let go of Yan Qingcheng's wrist, Yan Qingcheng sat in the chair, dazed for a long time. The surprise in her heart could no longer be described with words. The warmth from Cong Ye's fingertips had brought her an indescribable comfort as soon as it entered her meridians. Especially when the warmth passed through her throat and into her middle burner, she felt like there was a warm hand massaging her belly button. As soon as she thought that this warmth came from Cong Ye's body, Yan Qingcheng's cheeks flushed red.

  "Sister-in-law?"

  "Ah, Cong Ye, is all of this really true?"

  "Sister-in-law, of course it's true."

  He immediately pointed at the money on the table.

  "Sister-in-law, put it away first, otherwise it won't look good when others see it."

  Yan Qingcheng didn't say anything, and simply accepted the money into her drawer. Afterwards, she looked at Cong Ye and asked:

  "Cong Ye, what are you going to do next?"

  Obviously, Yan Qingcheng also took into account the problem that Cong Ye considered in the middle of the night.

  "Sister, after I returned from the Qi's house at night, I didn't sleep. Instead, I wandered around on the streets for over two hours, thinking about this issue. In the end, I decided not to make it public. As for the Qi family, I'll find an opportunity to have a good talk with them later. Don't tell anyone outside."

  "Will they listen to you?"

  "I also don't think they will never speak, but as long as the old man is alive, it shouldn't be."

  Yan Qingcheng understood the implication of Cong Ye's words and couldn't help but smile wryly. At this moment, Cong Ye was no different from a big child, actually thinking of using treating the elderly for illness to coerce the Qi family members into silence.

  "Congye, I suggest that from now on, you learn more about traditional Chinese medicine knowledge to prevent any accidents in case it is made public."

  "Sister-in-law is worried that I don't want to make it public because I'm afraid of this. In a while, I'll go to the bookstore to buy books."

  "Let's wait until noon and I'll go with you."