Doctor Liu was very displeased when he heard this: "Yesterday evening when you came for a consultation, I asked you if you wanted me to see the patient personally. An old manâs consultation fee is a bit expensive. At the time, you spoke grandiosely, saying you didnât lack money and insisted on a personal consultation. Now, youâre complaining about the cost? What do you mean by this, are you trying to skip out on the bill?"
Tian Xiwang was at a loss for words, recalling that Doctor Liu had indeed asked them. However, he protested, "You only said it was a bit expensive, how were we supposed to know it would cost so much silver? You deliberately didnât make the fee clear, itâs obvious you want to extort us!"
Doctor Liu snorted coldly, "I clearly stated that the consultation fee is what ordinary wealthy patrons pay for their sons or daughters. Do you know how much the wealthy in the prefecture pay for me to see them? As much as a hundred taels, at least thirty taels, and now I only charge you thirty taels, what more do you want?"
Pointing at Tian Xiwang, he continued, "Do you dare complain that I didnât find a major illness for your daughter, do you so wish for her to have a terminal illness? Last night, I spent an hour checking to see if she was poisoned, doesnât that deserve payment? I also gave her a lot of good medicine and provided you with a meal. The consultation fee, medicine fees, poison examination fee, meal, and accommodation, all add up to just thirty taels. Iâve never done such charity in my life, yet you still find it expensive!"
"Iâve noticed that your family looks affluent but isnât actually that wealthy. Seeing that youâre not well-off, I didnât calculate as clearly with you. Since you donât appreciate it, letâs settle this account line by line."
With that, he immediately called his apprentice, "Old San, bring the account book for Tian Huiâer, and settle the account with them line by line. If they dare to default, weâll report them to the authorities!"
"Yes." Doctor Liuâs third apprentice brought over Tian Huiâerâs account book and started accounting with Tian Xiwangâs family. It turned out just the ginseng chicken they ate last night cost twenty-six taels of silver: "The chicken isnât expensive, but the ginseng used was the finest wild mountain ginseng from the clinic. You said Tian Huiâer fainted and could only have something like ginseng chicken soup. We offered to sell you a bowl, but you got greedy, saying you hadnât eaten either, and took the whole pot. By the time the attendant informed me and I rushed over to persuade you, only a pile of chewed chicken bones was left."
This family was particularly ruthless, not even letting the chicken bones go, chewing them to extract all the flavor before spitting them out.
Tian Xiwang nearly fainted upon hearing how much the ginseng chicken cost, pointing at Doctor Liuâs apprentice and cursing, "Swindlers, swindlers! Why didnât you say anything when we were eating such expensive things?"
Doctor Liuâs apprentice sneered, "The attendant informed you before eating. After eating, I also told you the ginseng chicken was expensive, but you claimed your family had a wealthy son-in-law, with money piling up like a mountain at his house. You didnât mind the cost."
An attendant nearby pointed at Tian Xiwangâs son, "Your son even went to our clinic kitchen this morning and cooked ten eggs. If the kitchen staff hadnât stopped him, he wouldâve eaten the whole basket of eggs."
"Another ten eggs?" Doctor Liu was furious, pointing at his apprentice, "Old San, mark that down!"
This Tian family boy must have been reincarnated from a starving ghost. Eating ten eggs at once, itâs not your familyâs eggs, so of course, you donât feel the pinch.
"Canât mark it down, canât mark it down." Tian Xiwang was anxious and didnât want to pay for the eggs.
While the chaos of settling accounts continued outside, Tian Huiâer was helped out by Tian Xiwangâs wife.
Tian Huiâer looked at Doctor Liu and asked, "Doctor, have I been poisoned?"
She wasnât foolish and knew she fainted right after Gu Jinli poked her with something, so she immediately came out to ask when she heard Doctor Liu had tested her for poison last night.
Doctor Liu saw her, felt very displeased, but still replied, "Youâre not poisoned, youâre perfectly fine."
Tian Huiâer frowned, "I donât believe you."
Doctor Liu was so angry he wanted to stab Tian Huiâer with a needle to make her faint: "Ha, you little girl, you donât believe it? I wasted a good hour last night and used quite a few expensive detoxifying herbs, all to check you. Youâre not poisoned."
Adding another sentence: "If you donât believe it, you can go to the Capital to find an Imperial Physician to test you for poison. In Jianghuai, you wonât find a better expert than me on toxins!"
Thatâs how formidable he was!
Tian Huiâer furrowed her brow, extending her hand to Doctor Liu, saying, "Doctor, someone poked me with a needle last night, thatâs why I was poisoned. Look at my wrist, thereâs a needle mark."
Doctor Liu replied impatiently, "Your wrist doesnât have just one needle mark, but a bunch. Last night, I applied acupuncture to save you, pricking all the acupuncture points on your wrist."
So now youâre asking me to look at needle marks, are you looking for trouble on purpose?
Doctor Liu couldnât be bothered to waste words with the Tian family, saying, "I give you two choices: either pay up quickly and leave, or continue to default, and Iâll take you to the authorities to work off your debt in prison!"
"No authorities, no authorities, please." The Tian family was still very afraid of the government, having just secured their freedom, and feared that being taken to the government office would mean a beating.
Tian Huiâer also feared going to court. As an unmarried girl, being taken to court was akin to being sold into a brothel, a big blow to her reputation.
Thus, Tian Huiâer thought for a moment, "Doctor, we didnât bring that much silver with us, please send an attendant to the Gu Family..."
Tian Huiâer paused, unsure if it was a good idea to ask the clinic staff to go to the Gu Family for money.
Tian Xiwangâs wife, hearing this, laughed and said, "Doctor Liu, the Gu family boy is my future son-in-law. We were guests at their home yesterday. If you send someone to the Gu Family and tell them Huiâer is sick, theyâll surely send silver."
"Gu Family? First Place Guâs family?" Doctor Liu frowned, very skeptical of their claim: "Are you out of your mind? How could First Place Gu possibly be your son-in-law?"
No matter how blind Gu Jinâan is, he couldnât blind himself to this extent, right? The Tian family looks like bloodsuckers, and if Gu Family marries into them, even a mountain of gold and silver wouldnât be enough.
Tian Xiwangâs wife said, "How could he not be my son-in-law? My Huiâer is so beautiful, why wouldnât she be suitable for the Gu family boy?"
Doctor Liu snorted, "Not suitable anywhere."
Tian Huiâer heard this, her face turned sour, but after a moment of silence and suppressing her anger, she said to Doctor Liu, "Doctor, we really canât come up with that much medical money. We only know the Gu family in the prefecture... Please send an attendant and say our family is borrowing silver to save a life from theirs."
Tian Huiâer changed it to borrowing money instead, which yielded her two advantages.
Firstly, by having the Liu Family Clinic approach the Gu Family, it suggested to the entire city that she had an unusual relationship with Gu Jinâan, misleading the townsfolk into thinking they were engaged.
Secondly, borrowing money sounded more respectable and wouldnât offend the Gu Family. Both Gu Dashan and Mrs. Cui were reasonable people who would surely lend money if they heard she was borrowing it to save a life. Her family could also use repaying the debt as a reason to stay connected with the Gu Family, preventing their relationship from ending when the Gu Family left the prefecture.