"I’m afraid if you see the money, you’ll think I’m bribing you, and then in a fit of anger, you’ll take back the opportunity you gave . I’ll just give it to you later."
"Money?" Mr. Liu didn’t expect it to really be money in there.
"Yes, Wang Yafei found last night and wanted to give a consultation fee. I believe this money acknowledges our abilities, so I shouldn’t refuse it. But now I don’t have a license, and taking it is like practicing dicine without a license, so I want to give it to you."
So that’s what it was, Mr. Liu nodded, took the envelope, opened it, and his brow furrowed again.
"Why ask for so much?"
"... This is already a lot? No wonder you’ve been researching all your life and still live in a shared apartnt."
"I do have a house, but I sold it — return all of this, and leave the remaining amount for your senior brothers and sisters as research funds. This is for you."
Mr. Liu took out 20 yuan from his pocket, and Qian was on the verge of tears.
"Teacher, am I worth only 20 yuan to you?"
The few thousand yuan that Wang Yafei gave wasn’t much to begin with, and the teacher returned so much, leaving her with just 20. Doing this would make you lose friends!
"In my heart, you are priceless, and can’t be asured by the vulgarity of money, understand? Wang Yafei’s family condition isn’t good either. Although he earned a lot before, it all went to supporting his family, and now he has no inco while receiving treatnt. How could you accept so much from him?"
"But it costs money to see a doctor everywhere, and just because we don’t prescribe dicine doesn’t an we should be cheap labor all the ti. Teacher, you’re disrupting the market price. Really, your peers will hate you." Qian felt what she asked wasn’t expensive.
Qian always charged a lot for consultations, thriving like a fish in water with connections in every industry. In contrast, her teacher always focused on the lower strata of society, saving on consultation fees repeatedly, while offending many peers.
"Chen Xiaoqian, which direction will you develop in the future?"
"I plan to go into high-end private consulting, as that area is still a vacancy — if I don’t do it, soone else will, and we can’t let our fat sheep go abroad and give money to others, plus our ethics and morals aren’t necessarily understood by foreigners."
The implication was that in the future, Qian would not seek the cheapest, but the most expensive, to ruthlessly slaughter the fat sheep!
Qian wanted to speak frankly from the beginning, her general direction wouldn’t change, she couldn’t achieve the teacher’s integrity, and low prices or even free service wasn’t suitable for the wealthy. Those with certain status would feel that cheap ant inferior service.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Liu wasn’t angry at Qian’s blunt words but nodded calmly.
"Everyone has their own ambitions. I won’t force you to be like , and what you said isn’t without rit, the high-end private consulting market is indeed still a blank slate, it’s just—"
"Just that I shouldn’t forget to help the poor while taking from the rich and not associate everything with money, right? Rest assured, teacher, if I really achieve sothing in the future, besides helping the wealthy, I will also take on so low-cost cases to give back to society within an appropriate range."
She did exactly that in her previous life.
Mr. Liu shook his head, "That’s not what I ant, actually, I just want to tell you that the fees aren’t the criterion to asure a doctor. As long as you rember your profession at all tis in the future and enjoy the happiness it brings, our sense of achievent sotis cos not only from money, but there are other things that can make us happy. You’re a talented child, I don’t want to see you beco a money machine, I hope you can enjoy the joy of being a doctor."
Mr. Liu hadn’t said these words to Qian in her previous life, and she was deeply moved after hearing them.
"So teacher, do you often take on free cases to enjoy happiness?"
"Yes, each consultant gives a different feeling. Interacting with them and experiencing their worlds allows to improve myself, which money can’t buy."
"Then how co after so long... you still have the air of soone who sees the world as dirty while being pure, and everyone else is drunk while you alone are sober, in a way that’s not welco?"
Mr. Liu suddenly felt like smacking her; this little girl was getting more and more cheeky.
"Teacher, there’s actually a question I’ve wanted to ask you, sothing that’s been on my mind for a long ti, it’s about Hu ijing."
Since the conversation had reached this point today, Qian decided not to hide it any longer and directly brought up the matter of Hu ijing.
"What about her?" Upon hearing Hu ijing’s na, the teacher imdiately beca serious.
"When I was treating Chu Xuan, I also gave ijing a set of test questions. You know, when a family mber has a psychological problem, other family mbers are usually affected to varying degrees. I found out that Hu ijing..."
"She’s a bit introverted, is that it?"
"It was like that at first, but then I found out that when I ntioned the theory of two souls, her reaction was a bit unusual. Considering she is your goddaughter, I wanted to ask you, hoping you—"
Qian tried to speak smoothly without leaving any loopholes, but Mr. Liu just shook his head and flicked her forehead.
"You must have discovered sothing. I knew you wouldn’t be easy to fool, you’re too smart. Hu ijing doesn’t have multiple personalities but alternate personalities, known in psychology as dissociative fugue. You should already know Hu ijing’s identity, so it’s pointless to keep pretending, tricky little girl!"
Qian was first stunned, then her face heated up, realizing that after all her efforts to cover her purpose, the teacher saw through it at once.
Truly a capable ntor, with high intelligence and easily seeing through Qian’s facade; thus, Qian felt embarrassed to hide anything further.
"Yes, I know. She has alternate personalities, but I don’t quite understand... Teacher, why do you take such a big risk and endure emotional pain to do this? What is it all for?"
Since everyone was intelligent, they decided to be frank. Qian, speaking honestly, was truly concerned about her teacher.
"I knew you were worried about , so I’m not angry... child, how old are you this year?" Mr. Liu sighed, asking Qian, and at that mont, she didn’t sense the usual aloofness of a highbrow intellectual, just a senior’s concern.
"I’m 19, but I’ve tested my psychological age; it’s over 40."
Mr. Liu smiled and shook his head, "Even if your psychological age is over 40, in my eyes, you’re still a child. Perhaps at your age, a child can’t understand my actions, but there’s a reason for what I did."
"What reason?"
"There are two reasons: one is from a professional standpoint as a doctor, I have the obligation to develop what I believe is an appropriate treatnt plan for alternate personalities, but the more significant reason is—"
Mr. Liu looked into the distance, and Qian suddenly understood.
"Is it because you want to fulfill your son’s wish and take care of the people he cared about?"
Mr. Liu nodded, then shook his head.
Yes, and no.
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