Chapter 307: Retesting Spiritual Power
When Shi Lan took off the holographic device, before Ye Ming could even speak, the director grabbed her hand, her face beaming. "Lanlan, you’re very talented. Would you like to be a member of my team?"
Initially, Shi Lan thought she hadn’t done well. After all, she had missed the first few small spheres because her clumsy movements had left her flustered, and she only managed to get the hang of it later on.
Now, hearing the director’s praise, she subconsciously thought she was just being polite.
Just then, an inexplicable look of vicarious pride and joy appeared on Ye Ming’s face. "I told you," he said. "Lanlan is amazing."
"Yes, yes. Ming’er’s wife is wonderful."
The director had never seen such an expression on her son before. It was a far cry from his usual, deliberately icy and distant demeanor. Now, he had a spark of life to him; he no longer seemed so sullen and was much more vibrant.
And Shi Lan had brought about all these changes.
The director’s gaze on Shi Lan grew even gentler. She had always worried that if her son remained so cold, he would lose his human emotions. Thank goodness Shi Lan had appeared.
Facing their gazes filled with admiration, Shi Lan belatedly realized that she might actually be quite remarkable.
Perhaps it was because she had treated He Hanshi and the others that she was more confident in her control over spiritual power. Not to mention, she had recently absorbed the residual Spiritual Poison from their bodies, strengthening her spiritual power and adding another tendril to her Plant Control.
She pulled herself from her thoughts. Facing the director’s eager gaze, she nodded. "Yes, I would be honored to join you."
"Since that’s settled, why don’t you rest today and come in starting tomorrow?"
Shi Lan wanted to get started as soon as possible and get more practice.
She shook her head, declining the director’s offer. "That’s all right. I can start today."
The director had secretly hoped for this, but she had been afraid of scaring Shi Lan off by being too eager. Now that Shi Lan had agreed, the director’s expression relaxed. She looked over at Ye Ming. "Ming’er, I’ll take good care of Lanlan. You can head back now."
This was the first time his own mother had ever urged him to leave, but he wasn’t the least bit unhappy. He simply pressed his lips together, his gaze falling on Shi Lan.
Shi Lan chimed in, "Ye Ming, you go on and get back to your work. You can come pick me up later, and we can get dinner together."
"Okay."
Upon hearing this, the corners of Ye Ming’s lips curled up before he finally departed.
After he left, the director pulled out a digital contract. "Lanlan, let’s discuss your compensation package."
"My team isn’t very large at the moment—only about twenty people. Aside from two B-level members, the rest are all A-level. You will be our first S-level female."
"In the team, the base salary is tied to one’s Spiritual Power Level. On top of that, there are commissions, which depend on the patients treated, as well as some special allowances."
"This is the standard contract for S-level members. Please, take a look."
"However, the hospital doesn’t have a large number of patients at the moment. To prevent everyone’s healing ability from getting rusty, I take the team on a medical tour across the universe every year during the school holidays. This year is no different, and we’ll be leaving in about a week. I wanted to be upfront about all this so you can consider it carefully. Of course, you’re S-level, so if you really don’t want to participate in the medical tour, that’s fine too..."
The director clearly laid out the team’s current situation and future plans, and Shi Lan had no objections.
She looked at the digital contract, her eyes widening as they fell upon the salary section. "This... this much?"
The Imperial First Hospital had offered her a salary of 300,000, but the director was offering 500,000. And that was just the base pay, not including commissions and other bonuses.
A smile flickered in the director’s eyes. ’This child thinks 500,000 is a lot?’
’As a rare S-level female, she’s worth even more.’
’Then again, what about Ming’er? Does he not usually spend money on his wife? Is 500,000 really enough to surprise Lanlan this much?’
The director said, "This is the compensation you deserve as an S-level female. Don’t overthink it. After all, the patients assigned to S-level members are bound to be more challenging."
Shi Lan nodded dazedly. No wonder most females in this era were so wealthy. Especially on Capital Star, every female she had met seemed to come from an affluent family. Apparently, being a doctor here was quite lucrative.
Then again, it made sense. She had earned millions just by treating He Hanshi and the others. Of course, now that she was married, she couldn’t very well charge them for treatment.
After reviewing the contract, Shi Lan readily pressed her fingerprint onto the holographic digital contract. The director sent her a backup copy, and she officially became a member of Zhenxin Hospital.
The director put the contract away but then decided to take her back to the spiritual power testing room. "Your talent far surpasses my own," she said. "I’m also an S-level female, but when I first tested my control ability, I missed more than half of the targets. So, Lanlan... is it possible your spiritual power is actually above S-level?"
After witnessing her ability, many thoughts had flashed through the director’s mind, including one bold conjecture.
’Why were Ming’er and his friends so fond of Shi Lan that they were willing to let her leave Black Star? And how could it be a coincidence that the risk posed by their collapse values suddenly dropped soon after?’
Her gaze deepened. Such a thing was unheard of. Since Ming’er and the others were deliberately hiding something, she could only suppress her questions for the time being.
Shi Lan didn’t know how to answer the director’s question. After all, Dr. Ai had indeed said last time that her spiritual power readings didn’t seem like those of an S-level.
However, the highest possible reading on the current machines was S, so she couldn’t be certain.
Shi Lan shook her head. ’The director is someone Ye Ming trusts,’ she thought, ’and I don’t sense any malice from her.’ So she answered honestly, "I’m not sure, but Dr. Ai said the same thing last time."
"Hmm."
The director grew pensive and led her to the testing room. "Let’s have you test it again."
Shi Lan was a little bewildered. The testing equipment here was different from Dr. Ai’s, and she didn’t know how to use it.
The director patiently instructed her, helping her connect the device to her hands and placing a mechanical helmet on her head.
"You don’t need to do anything special," the director explained. "Just use your Willpower to focus on the spiritual power within your spirit sea."
"Okay."
Shi Lan complied, closing her eyes and beginning the process.
Beside her, the director’s eyes were glued to the detector’s display.
Perhaps Shi Lan’s focus wasn’t sharp enough at first, as the numbers on the meter fluctuated wildly. But after a few dozen seconds, the reading began to climb rapidly.
The director’s pupils contracted.
She watched as the value on the detector finally settled at 180.
In truth, the director also had her own research lab. But unlike Dr. Ai, who focused on the Insect Clan, her research was centered on the spiritual power of females.
In her view, spiritual power was like human potential. Since one’s spiritual power could change and improve upon reaching adulthood, it stood to reason that there would be opportunities for growth later in life as well.
Just as a person’s potential can be unlocked through hardship and training, she believed the same could be true for spiritual power.
That was why, over the years, she had developed her own spiritual power detector. Unlike the commercially available models, hers could detect readings that surpassed the S-level.
Just as Shi Lan’s had.