Jiangling City is divided into four districts: east, south, west, and north, with Dongling District being the commercial center of the entire city and the most prosperous area in Jiangling City.
As evening approached, Dongling Square bustled with activity. Residents living nearby, having finished their dinner, would bring their families to the square for a walk. Gradually, Dongling Square spontaneously transformed into a famous night market area. As night fell, various street vendors sprouted up like mushrooms after rain, covering the entire square, and their shouting and hawking turned Dongling Square upside down with noise.
In a relatively remote area at the northwest corner of Dongling Square, a scatter of stalls offered fortune-telling and various ointments. Their vendors were either blind, humpbacked, monks, or Taoist priests, with only one stall standing out as quite unusual.
Compared to the other stalls, this one looked more shabby, with no table or chair, and the stall owner was just a young man in his late teens. In his hand, he held a bamboo pole with a black and tattered rag, obviously picked from some garbage heap, tied to it. The rag was scribbled with a few lines of oracle bone script which upon close inspection read: Palm-reading and face-reading to find your match, cure infidelity, vagina tightening and membrane restoration, Miraculous Doctor is on the way to help.
Clearly, this Miraculous Doctor was none other than Ye Wutian, or Divine Doctor Ye.
There was a reason why he was squatting here running a stall at this moment.
After lunch, Ye Wutian had called the phone number on the hospital record, but instead of the beautiful girl, an old con artist answered, leading him to this address. He believed that the girl, having lost the number, would certainly come in person.
Moreover, running a stall here might also earn him some extra cash, and who knows, luck with the ladies might just come his way.
"Miss, there's a sinister omen about you! I'm the only one who can solve it, how about... Hey, don't go, we can discuss the price."
"Beauty, your brow bone points to the sky, your eyes gleam with spiritual light – truly the reincarnation of Guanyin or a fairy descended to earth. I've exposed the secrets of heaven, and although I will inevitably face misfortune, it is my destiny. Even if I have to face great danger, I will give you a complete reading. Today our store is running at a loss, providing a huge discount, a 80% off across the board. A full reading for just five hundred yuan, only five hundred yuan!"
"Eh, sir, I see a gloomy face on you, surely your wife has found another man? I have a secret recipe here, after taking it for three courses, I guarantee your wife will no longer need any man." "Ptui! It's your mother who has another man." "Damn, your mom's a virgin!"
...
After an hour, Ye Wutian's mouth was nearly broken from shouting, but he hadn't secured a single deal. He could only sit on the ground, forlornly watching the neighboring stalls bustling with business.
After sitting for a while, Ye Wutian's eyes suddenly lit up, and he instantly perked up because he saw a familiar figure. "I didn't expect this girl to find this place so quickly," Ye Wutian thought with great joy, his eyes shining brightly...
At this moment, Su Mengli and her best friend Hu Xue'er were walking hand in hand into the area selling ointments.
Hu Xue'er clung tightly to Su Mengli's hand, feeling uneasy under the wolflike gazes around them. "Mengli, I think we should go back. These people are clearly nothing but con artists and old charlatans. How could they possibly cure your aunt?"
"No matter what, I have to try. This is my last hope," replied Su Mengli, her face reflecting utter despair. Every time she saw her mother's emaciated face on the hospital bed, her heart ached as if pierced by needles.
Five years ago, her mother had shielded her from a car with her own body, giving Su Mengli a second chance at life; however, her mother had since been bedridden due to brain death. Since brain death is irreversible, the hospital had advised her multiple times to give up on treatment, yet seeing the faint fluctuations on the electrocardiogram screen, how could Su Mengli bear to let go?
Thus, her mother had lain in bed for five years. Su Mengli had tried every possible method, hoping to pull her mother back from the brink of death, but in the end, all efforts were in vain.
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In the past five years, just the daily cost of the ventilator, various monitoring devices, and specialist nursing care came to forty to fifty thousand. Originally, Su Mengli's family could afford these expenses, and her father, with the memory of her devoted filial piety, did not obstruct this.
However, over the last two years, as her father's company incurred increasing losses and their financial situation worsened, the daily nursing fees of forty to fifty thousand had become a huge burden for the entire family, making her father's temper worsen by the day.
Some time ago, her father introduced her to a suitor named Zheng Jian, a notorious playboy from Jiangling City who was five years older than Su Mengli. His biggest asset was his father, Zheng Guowen: the president of the City Bank of China in Jiangling City. For Su Mengli's father, Su Zhiyuan, marrying his daughter to Zheng Jian meant he could leverage the bank president's position to easily secure a loan that could alleviate the company's current difficulties.
Because Su Mengli vehemently refused, the matter was dropped in the end. However, just yesterday, while Su Mengli was still seeking treatment in the United States, Su Zhiyuan suddenly called to bring up the matter again and even threatened to stop her mother's treatment if she did not agree, prompting Su Mengli to rush back hurriedly.
If she hadn't been driven to a corner, Su Mengli would not have put her last hope on these charlatans.
"Didn't Uncle already freeze all your bank cards? What will you pay them with?" Hu Xue'er asked, puzzled.
Su Mengli smiled coldly and said, "He can freeze my bank cards, but he'll never be able to freeze the most valuable thing on me."
"What's that?" Hu Xue'er asked curiously.
"It's myself," Su Mengli responded matter-of-factly.
Hearing this, Hu Xue'er immediately became anxious: "Mengli, you, you don't mean to sell yourself to save your mother, do you?"
"My mother gave me life twice. If it could truly cure my mother, not just selling myself, I'd be willing to sacrifice my life as well," Su Mengli declared without hesitation.
"Mengli, think it through, these people here are not worthy of you," Hu Xue'er cautioned worriedly.
Su Mengli smiled miserably and said, "No matter what, it's still better than marrying that playboy Zheng Jian. Xue'er, stop trying to persuade me. After all, the hope is very slim. Of course, if this can truly cure my mother, sacrificing myself would be worth it."
As they spoke, the two women had arrived in the middle of the alley where the charlatans' stalls were set up.
After stopping, Su Mengli looked around and shouted loudly, "Listen up, anyone who can cure my mother's illness, I am willing to marry him."
Su Mengli's declaration was absolutely stunning, with her looks, these charlatans would be willing to climb mountains and swim through seas of fire for her.
Several fortune-tellers who were squinting their eyes while telling fortunes suddenly opened their eyes wide in shock, startling their customers, while the hunchbacks straightened their backs, and monks and Taoist priests became green with envy. The cripple even threw aside his crutch and dashed toward Su Mengli at the speed of a hundred-meter sprint.
In a matter of moments, the surrounding eager charlatans vied with each other to crowd around Su Mengli, and Ye Wutian, the biggest swindler of all, naturally took the lead.
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