Chapter 1116 - 1088: Quite a Contrast
After listening to Balan’s description, Yu Minglang laughed.
"Haha, what a coincidence. My wife just finished giving me a crash course on hypochondria today, and tonight one just walks in."
Seeing the worry in Balan’s eyes, Yu Minglang patted his shoulder. "Relax. My wife specializes in treating all kinds of psychological problems, she’s an expert."
For this kind of case, handing it to Qian was nothing at all. Yu Minglang wasn’t worried.
But when Balan heard Yu Minglang say that Qian was an expert, instead of feeling relieved, he actually got even more weighed down.
On Qian’s side, the treatment went exactly as Yu Minglang had predicted—very smooth.
The old man had hypochondria, with a bit of anxiety disorder thrown in. His family was very filial; even though he was already over eighty, they were still doing everything they could to get him treated, and had gone to several psychiatry experts before who all said the problem wasn’t serious.
But none of them could treat him, because the moment the old man saw a doctor he’d start yelling that they were there to harm him, cursing and hitting them as he drove them out, absolutely refusing treatment.
The problem wasn’t serious, but if the patient wouldn’t cooperate, then the illness simply couldn’t be treated. The Li Family could only keep looking for someone for the old man, and it just so happened that Shi Touyu’s father mentioned Qian once, saying his daughter’s friend-for-life was a top private psychologist in China, and that no matter how tricky the case was, it wouldn’t be a problem for her.
Last time when the Shi Family had trouble, Qian dragged in two "big mountains" to help Shi Touyu out of it. Although at the critical moment Mr. Shi himself came back and they didn’t end up needing Qian’s money, they never forgot that favor. With such a lucrative case, of course they’d go all out to recommend Qian.
Qian currently only had the lowest-level psychologist certification. The reason she dared to jack her rates up so high in the circle was entirely because she was relying on the influence of several of her friends, who had gone all out promoting her. Whether it was Zheng Xu, Shi Touyu, or Shuixian, they were all big consortiums entrenched in their own territories. When these families spoke, it naturally carried weight.
Take this case from the Li Family, for example. It really wasn’t anything major. If they went to the public psychiatric department, a thousand or so yuan would be enough to get it fixed up.
But coming to Qian, the other side opened straight away with 20,000 an hour, and added one more condition: if she could cure the old man, they’d throw in another 200,000.
In recent years, wages had gone up a bit; a regular worker might make a little over 800 a month now. For them to come in offering that kind of money right off the bat was not only because they were desperate to cure the old man and had money to burn; there was another important reason: even though Mr. Li’s illness wasn’t serious, this stubborn old guy refused to cooperate with any doctor. If Qian could succeed, she’d be the only cure, and no amount would be too much.
They originally thought Mr. Li would be just like before, cursing and hitting as he kicked the doctor out. But unexpectedly, the moment the old man saw Qian, that wrinkled old face actually bloomed with a hint of the bashfulness he’d had in his youth, looking rather embarrassed.
Qian chatted with him a bit. Whatever she asked, he answered. Qian thought to herself that this old man was pretty nice and completely different from the rumors about him refusing treatment.
The Li Family also found it strange when they saw this, but finally having a doctor the old man would listen to was a huge blessing. They hurriedly cleared space for Qian so she could work.
When Qian finished the first treatment, Mr. Li personally saw her to the door and kept insisting she come again tomorrow.
The Li Family thought it was way too strange.
After Qian left, Mrs. Li finally asked the old man,
"Dad, why are you being so nice to this doctor?"
At first the old man didn’t want to say. Later, pressed by his daughter-in-law, he finally told the truth.
"She looks exactly like my first love."
Seeing an over-eighty elder show such an embarrassed expression, the daughter-in-law wanted to laugh but didn’t dare, so she could only go along and coax him.
"That’s wonderful, that’s fate too. Dad, you have to cooperate with Mr Chen."
When the old man’s son came home and heard Mrs. Li mention this, he pulled a like-he’d-seen-a-ghost expression.
"Dad said that girl looks like his first love?!"
"Yes, that’s what the old man said. I think Mr Chen has a very distinctive look—maybe she really does resemble her."
Mr Li showed an exasperated, amused expression. "If she really looked like her, that would be the ghostly part. Do you know what Dad’s first love is?"
Mrs. Li shook her head. What daughter-in-law would dare to pay attention to her father-in-law’s romantic past?
"Hold on, I remember that newspaper you were reading yesterday had a photo that looked quite a bit like that woman. Let me find it..." Mr. Li pulled a fashion magazine from the bookcase, opened to a page, and handed it to his wife.
Mrs. Li took one look and was speechless.
"This, this, this looks way too different from Mr Chen. What’s with Dad’s eyesight?"
Mr. Li had flipped to a commercial page—an ad for a weight-loss center. It featured a slab of meat at least nine layers thick, a woman whose weight was visually estimated at over 300 jin, looking downright ferocious.
No matter how you looked at it, she and the slender, elegant Mr Chen were worlds apart, right?
"Could Dad be... getting senile?" Mrs. Li stared at the photo, her head aching.
Mr. Li agreed. "It really does look like he’s muddled. Obviously they look nothing alike, yet he keeps insisting they do. But if we say Dad is truly muddled, that thing he’s clutching in his hand and refusing to let go... that’s really..."
Hearing Mr. Li mention "that thing," Mrs. Li also sighed.
"Right now all we can do is hope Mr Chen can cure the old man quickly and get him to hand that thing over as soon as possible. The longer this drags on, the more chances for trouble. This really isn’t a good situation."
"This Mr Chen sounds very young? I heard from Shi that she’s practically still just a youngster." After having gone through so many doctors without results, Mr. Li didn’t have very high expectations of Qian.
"She is young, but I think she handles things very steadily, and she speaks in a very proper way. She actually seems quite capable."
"Find a time to talk to her, ask her to hurry up with your dad’s treatment. Our timeline is already very tight. If necessary, just give her more money—add another hundred or two hundred thousand—and have her get it done faster."
Thinking of the matter weighing on his mind, Mr. Li couldn’t help reminding her again and again.
Mrs. Li nodded her agreement. She planned to find a chance to talk to Qian alone.
Qian came out from the Li family’s place and saw Yu Minglang’s car waiting outside for her. What surprised her was that besides Xiaoqiang and his green-tea dog, there was also an unfamiliar man sitting in the car.
Even sitting down, you could tell his legs were long and he was tall, with a strongly built frame.
Even though it was already winter, he was still wearing a relatively thin jacket and didn’t seem to feel the cold, with solid muscles faintly visible.
But what made the deepest impression was his features; one look and you could tell he had foreign blood, not the typical look of someone from our country.
"Wifey, this is the friend I told you about, the one with even better shooting talent than me. He’s Balan." Yu Minglang introduced Qian and Balan to each other.
"Balan, this is my wife. Gorgeous, right~"