Volume 1, Chapter 43: So They Were Professional Medical Disruptors!

"You heartless manager of Jishi Hall! Not only are you passing off forest-cultivated ginseng as wild ginseng to swindle customers out of their hard-earned money, but in order to make the ginseng aroma of this cultivated root smell richer, you've also coated it heavily with ordinary ginseng powder for a prolonged period.

"Because of this, you've inadvertently altered the medicinal properties of this forest-cultivated ginseng, making its potency far stronger and fiercer than that of a normal root. If anyone with a weak constitution were to consume this ginseng from your hands, it would trigger a severe adverse reaction. By then, this tonic would transform into poison!"

Every single word uttered by Lin Xiaoxu was resonant and powerful, carrying a piercing momentum that shook the hearts of everyone present. All the customers in the shop were completely dumbfounded.

The gentleman holding one end of the bank card suddenly tightened his grip, preventing the old manager from pulling the card away to process the payment. Lin Xiaoxu's words had reignited the gentleman's suspicions, causing his hand holding the card to tense up and frustrating the old manager's attempt to complete the transaction.

A venomous glare flashed across the old manager's eyes as he stared at Lin Xiaoxu!

How could this dirt-poor country bumpkin, young as he was, possibly possess such sharp discernment? The forest-cultivated ginseng in his hands was fifteen years old. In terms of its five-element features and six-body characteristics, it closely resembled wild ginseng. Most importantly, its appearance bore a ninety-percent resemblance to the genuine wild ginseng originally kept in Jishi Hall.

The only flaw was its exceptionally faint aroma.

Using ginseng powder to coat the root over a long period was the only natural trick available. It was a flawless scheme, yet today, it had been exposed by a country bumpkin?

What the hell!

"You country bumpkin, stop pretending to know things you don't! If you don't get lost right now, I'm calling the police to have you thrown in jail!" the old manager snapped, driven to shame by his anger.

"I'm practically begging you to call the police right now. Let's see who ends up behind bars!"

Lin Manru wore an anxious expression. She trusted Lin Xiaoxu's character; he would never groundlessly accuse the veteran manager of Jishi Hall of selling fake goods. Yet what she couldn't understand was why Xiaoxu had stepped forward to expose this matter in the first place.

Moreover, this ginseng wasn't even being sold to them. That gentleman possessed an extraordinary background; spending over half a million yuan was no different to him than spending fifty yuan. If he discovered it was fake afterward, even the owner of Jishi Hall would likely have to bow and scrape, returning the five hundred and eighty-eight thousand yuan overnight.

She was merely a farmer and could never win a fight against such wealthy and powerful people. In this day and age, it was always wiser to mind one's own business rather than court trouble.

After whispering two words to Lin Manru, Lin Xiaoxu strode toward the old manager.

"Whether this is a forest-cultivated ginseng or a genuine wild ginseng, we just need to bring in a few professionals to identify it, and the truth will reveal itself!"

The gentleman narrowed his dark eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them as he looked at the old manager. Their gazes met momentarily, and the old manager panicked, hurriedly lowering his gaze to avoid eye contact.

This gentleman was no ordinary person. His name was Qi Xiangfu, and he was the helm of Xilaifu, the only four-star grand restaurant in Jinchang County. Just from the old manager's evasive glance, Qi Xiangfu had already pieced together the general outline of the whole affair.

"Sob, sob, sob..." The old manager suddenly burst into tears.

"As you all know, before my retirement, I was a doctor at the county hospital. I spent my entire life as a physician, upholding professional ethics, adhering to practice standards, and saving countless lives. A few years ago, when I retired, it was my fault for not being able to stay idle at home, combined with the owner of Jishi Hall warmly inviting me to join as resident physician. I felt I was too old to practice medicine, so I eventually agreed to serve as the manager..."

The old manager, whose name was Li Donghai, had indeed been a doctor at the county hospital before his retirement, and many people recognized him. Seeing that Li Donghai was nearly seventy years old and yet being bullied to the point of tears in public by some country bumpkin, dozens of customers at the scene immediately turned their anger on Lin Xiaoxu, shouting curses at him.

"Li Donghai! Do you still remember me?" Lin Xiaoxu demanded with a stern voice and a murderous glint in his eyes.

"And you are?" Li Donghai rubbed his eyes, examining the young man before him with a guilty conscience.

To be honest, having spent his entire life as a doctor, he never possessed any lofty spirit of saving lives and healing the wounded. All he knew was how to slack off at work and idle the hours away. The patients didn't understand medicine anyway; he would put them through a battery of unnecessary tests, prescribe high-commission medications, and if they recovered, he would collect red envelopes and commemorative banners.

If the patients didn't recover, that was even better—he would relentlessly prescribe even more expensive drugs and continue raking in high commissions! Either way, he never lost out.

Qi Xiangfu looked at Lin Xiaoxu with keen interest, sensing that there was deep-seated hostility between this handsome young man and Li Donghai.

"Years ago, my parents were struck and killed by a drunk driver! When the two of them were rushed to the county hospital, you, Li Donghai, were one of the utterly despicable and greedy doctors on duty that night!"

"So you're just professional medical saboteurs! No wonder you tried to frame my wild ginseng as mere forest-cultivated ginseng!"

Li Donghai reacted with extreme agility, instantly finding a loophole in Lin Xiaoxu's words. If things were allowed to continue this way, he would lose his job. How else would he manage to secretly swap out genuine goods, replace them with inferior ones behind the boss's back, and smuggle the good items out of Jishi Hall to sell for a profit?

The real wild ginseng in Jishi Hall had long been sold privately by Li Donghai for five hundred thousand yuan, and he had used secret channels to acquire a fifteen-year-old forest-cultivated ginseng for eight thousand yuan to take its place. If he successfully sold this substitute for five hundred and eighty-eight thousand yuan, he would pocket a five percent commission on top of that. The thought alone brought him immense joy.

"A professional medical saboteur? When my parents were brought to the county hospital for treatment, they had already drawn their last breath! What kind of sabotage do you think I'm running here, you bastard?!"

Lin Xiaoxu roared, scaring Li Donghai so badly he almost jumped out of his skin. Remembering what Li Donghai had done back then made Lin Xiaoxu wish he could tear the man limb from limb on the spot!

When his parents were struck by Xu Weilong's drunk driving years ago, a kind passerby had called the 120 emergency hotline. Lin Xiaoxu's dying parents were loaded into an ambulance and rushed to the hospital, and Li Donghai was one of the doctors on the night shift, alongside another male nurse.

Lin Xiaoxu, who had just graduated from junior high school at the time, received the hospital's notification, sought help from Lin Guohua, and the two of them rushed in a panic from Taoyuan Village to the county hospital.

Yet by the time Lin Xiaoxu and Lin Guohua arrived, his parents had already been pronounced dead by the other on-duty male doctor, delivering a heartbreaking tragedy!