****
Liu Qianqian smirked, thinking her taunts had hit their mark. She pressed harder, sneering, "Shishi, don't say I'm cruel. We were best friends, after all."
"Apologize to Master Chu now, and I'll put in a good word. It's not too late."
"Master Chu can cover your dad's surgery. No guarantee he'll make it, but it's something, right?"
*Bai Shishi, you've looked down on me since I got with Chu Ying, haven't you? Hate my choices? Fine. I'll drag you down with me. Let's see who's clean then.*
Chu Ying's eyes burned with desire as he stared at Bai Shishi. Liu Qianqian was fine, but Bai Shishi was on another level. If he could have her, he'd gladly pay for her father's treatment.
"What Qianqian said goes for me too," he added. "Regret your choice? I can still cover the surgery and get the best doctors."
"Director Huang—you know him, right? Legendary Chinese doctor, cured cases that stumped experts. I pulled strings to get him here, and he's treating Qianqian's grandpa now."
Chu Ying puffed up with pride. Director Huang, a man who cared little for money and lived for medicine, wasn't easy to hire. Only the Chu family's clout had swayed him.
Bai Shishi's stomach churned at their smug duet, their hypocrisy laid bare. How had she ever considered Liu Qianqian a friend?
Her gaze turned icy. "Liu Qianqian, I was blind to call you my best friend. From today, we're nothing to each other."
With that, she turned and walked away, her heart heavy but resolute. Their presence was suffocating.
Liu Qianqian's face twisted with rage, her fists clenched as she glared after Bai Shishi. *Damn you, Bai Shishi. I'll ruin you one day. Let's see how proud you are then.*
Chu Ying's disappointment simmered. He'd heard how much Bai Shishi cared for her father and expected her to cave for the surgery money. Her refusal surprised him.
*Is she really that unfilial? Or just stubborn?*
He'd checked—Bai Shishi's relatives shunned her, and she had no powerful connections. Without him, she was out of options.
"Hmph, acting all high and mighty," Chu Ying muttered darkly. "I always get what I want, Bai Shishi. Soon, you'll beg me."
Just then, the ward door opened, and Director Huang emerged, his face grim.
Liu Qianqian rushed forward, anxious. "Director Huang, how's my grandpa? You can save him, right?"
Her heart sank at his expression, but she clung to hope.
Chu Ying's confidence faltered. Was the old man's condition so bad that even Huang couldn't help?
Huang removed his mask, sighing. "Every field has its limits. I'm not equipped for this case. I can only extend his time slightly."
"That's a temporary fix, not a cure. Maintaining it would cost a fortune and cause him great suffering. My advice? Let him pass comfortably."
Liu Qianqian's world collapsed. She sank to the floor, vision darkening, mind blank. Grief and despair battled within her.
Her family was poor, like Bai Shishi's, but her life was harder. Orphaned young, her grandparents raised her. Her grandmother died last year, and now her grandfather was slipping away.
Was fate stripping her of her last family?
Chu Ying felt little. Liu Qianqian's grandfather wasn't his concern—helping her was just a means to an end. As long as she was his, dead or alive, it didn't matter.
Still, he pressed Huang. "Director, isn't there another way? You're the hospital's top Chinese doctor. There's got to be something."
Huang shook his head, bitter. "Prolonging his life is my limit. I'm out of options."
Liu Qianqian's last shred of hope shattered.
Chu Ying frowned, about to console her with empty words, when a commotion erupted down the corridor. Nurses, doctors, even security guards rushed toward it.
He grabbed a passing nurse. "What's going on?"
The nurse, wide-eyed, replied, "A family member in a ward up ahead treated a patient on their own!"
Director Huang scoffed. "Happens all the time. People think they're smarter than doctors. Why the fuss? Just eject them."
As a top expert, Huang was familiar to the nurse, who answered respectfully, "Director Huang, you haven't heard the half of it."
"They used acupuncture and—get this—cured the patient's leukemia. Isn't that wild?"
She grew animated. "I didn't know leukemia could be fixed with needles! I'm heading over to see!"
"Gotta run, Director!" She darted off.
Huang stood frozen, dumbfounded.
*Leukemia? Cured by acupuncture?*
*What in the world?*
If true, this acupuncturist was no ordinary healer—they were a master beyond comprehension.
As a Chinese medicine expert, Huang knew acupuncture's depth. It was a complex art, mastered by few. Most practitioners, including himself, used it for minor ailments, as a supplement to other treatments.
But legends spoke of true masters who could treat grave conditions with needles alone.
Chu Ying, equally stunned, turned to Huang. "Want to check it out?"
Leukemia cured by acupuncture was beyond his grasp—beyond human understanding.
Huang nodded, excitement flickering in his eyes. "If this is real, that person's a master. They might even save this old man's condition."