Li Guigui was even more bewildered, assuming that Kang Jiamei and Lin Zhenyi had been coerced by Chen Xiao's might to kneel. After a moment's hesitation, he suppressed his fear and feigned righteous indignation, saying:
"Chen Xiao, didn't Director Lin tell you that Mrs. Lin is Deputy Director Kang's sister? How dare you force her to kneel and clean the trash cans, you must be tired of living."
As he spoke, he moved to help Kang Jiamei and Lin Zhenyi up.
"Your mother! Who asked you to stick your nose where it doesn't belong?"
Lin Zhenyi, desperate for the Jin Kui Shun Qi San, didn't even care that his own father was in jail. Yet, Li Guigui suddenly jumped out to cause trouble. Enraged, he cursed and, unable to restrain himself, grabbed the trash can and directly placed it over Li Guigui's head.
Kang Jiamei, equally at her wit's end, became like a tigress, grabbing Li Guigui and tearing and scratching him, snarling:
"You bastard, didn't you hear me tell you to get lost?"
"Ah—"
Li Guigui had already been beaten black and blue by Chen Xiao in the director's office. He had limped all the way to examination room number eight, wanting to see Kang Jiamei teach Chen Xiao a lesson. Instead, he found himself subjected to a barrage of blows from Kang Jiamei and her son. Utterly confused, and with the trash can still on his head, he cried out and stumbled towards the door like a headless fly.
"Wait!"
Chen Xiao had no intention of letting Li Guigui off so easily. He grabbed Li Guigui and yanked him back, causing him to fall heavily to the ground. Then, he kicked away the trash can covering Li Guigui's head.
"Do you think this is your toilet? Come and go as you please after you've done your business?"
Lin Zhenyi, eager for an opportunity to curry favor with Chen Xiao, nodded vigorously like a pecking chicken and said:
"Exactly! Dr. Chen hasn't even agreed yet, how can you leave?"
Kang Jiamei, having thrown all pretense of dignity to the wind, nodded in agreement:
"Li Guigui, why don't you kneel down for Dr. Chen?"
"You... you all..."
Li Guigui looked at Kang Jiamei and Lin Zhenyi, who had obediently knelt down again while speaking, and was completely stunned. He finally realized that Chen Xiao was not someone he could afford to offend. In a panic, he quickly knelt on the ground and began cleaning up the trash.
He clearly understood how to clean better than Kang Jiamei and Lin Zhenyi, even using his sleeve to wipe the floor stained by the trash. Soon, the mess was spotless.
Chen Xiao watched, unsure whether to laugh or cry, and said:
"Not bad, not bad! Deputy Director Li, the floor you've cleaned is even cleaner than what the janitor does. You should really apply to transfer to logistics and ask Director Bai for an opportunity. That way, your talents would be fully utilized. Now, get out!"
As he spoke, he casually took a small packet of Jin Kui Shun Qi San from his drawer and tossed it in front of Lin Zhenyi, like throwing a bone to a dog.
For the more than three-hundred-pound Lin Zhenyi, one packet of Jin Kui Shun Qi San was clearly not enough. However, he no longer dared to linger. With Kang Jiamei's help, he quickly got into a wheelchair and pushed the door open, leaving in a sorry state. When he encountered the curious glances of the waiting patients in the hall, he immediately and loudly praised:
"Ladies, if you need to see a doctor, please go to examination room number eight and find Dr. Chen Xiao. Although he is young, he has noble medical ethics, superb skills, and most importantly, he is handsome!"
Li Guigui, who followed behind limping and in disarray, wished Chen Xiao dead. But he knew his own limitations. Lin Chenggang was already in jail, yet the usually arrogant Kang Jiamei and Lin Zhenyi were kneeling to Chen Xiao and cleaning trash cans, and praising him to everyone they met. Having fawned over the Lin family for decades, he understood what he had to do at this moment. He followed suit, loudly and insincerely praising Chen Xiao:
"Yes! That's right! It's exactly like that! I, Li Guigui, as the Deputy Director of the Central Hospital, personally guarantee that Dr. Chen Xiao in examination room number eight is absolutely a young, handsome, and Super Doctor King. Come to him if you're sick, and come to me if you have problems!"
To the emergency patients in the waiting hall, Lin Zhenyi's words carried little weight. After all, he was a stranger, and his obese physique and repulsive appearance did him no favors. However, Li Guigui, as the Deputy Director of the Central Hospital, had been in his position for over a decade and had appeared on television representing the hospital more than once. His words naturally carried significant weight.
As he followed Kang Jiamei and Lin Zhenyi into the elevator, the anxious and restless patients in the hall could no longer wait. They scrambled to take out their phones and change their appointments to Dr. Chen Xiao in examination room number eight, especially the young and attractive female patients.
On a long bench in the corner by the window in the waiting hall, Chen Mingxi, pale-faced, was waiting with her mother Wang Xiaoxia and a man named Gao Fei for examination room number one to call Meng Baobao. She inadvertently overheard Lin Zhenyi and Li Guigui mentioning Chen Xiao. Her eyes lit up, and she subconsciously grabbed Wang Xiaoxia's arm and asked urgently:
"Mom, is the Dr. Chen Xiao they mentioned my brother? Didn't you say he was interning in the inpatient department? Could it be just a coincidence of names?"
Wang Xiaoxia, as the head chef of the Central Hospital's first cafeteria, had heard much about Chen Xiao's exceptional performance recently. Especially after Chen Xiao caused a scene at her elder brother Wang Hailong's home, she was eager to find an opportunity to please him. However, due to her prejudice against Chen Xiao, she still believed that Chen Xiao's exceptional appointment as a clinical resident physician and his consultation in examination room number eight were due to his connections with Zhou Wanning and Bai Su, rather than his medical skills. She said dismissively:
"Mingxi, Chen Xiao has indeed been specially appointed as a consulting physician in examination room number eight. But his medical skills are certainly not comparable to Dr. Meng in examination room number one. Since you took time off specifically to come back for treatment, seeing Dr. Meng would be more reliable."
Beside them, Gao Fei, dressed in a sharp suit, followed up with feigned politeness:
"Yes, yes! Mingxi, my aunt is the only deputy chief physician in the outpatient department of the Central Hospital's emergency department. She has decades of experience and a sterling reputation, renowned far and wide. Her medical skills are comparable to experts in Mingzhu City. Let's wait patiently. If we can't get an appointment by noon, I can call her. We shouldn't affect fairness."
Gao Fei and Chen Mingxi's family were neighbors. Although he hadn't even finished primary school, he had managed to get a job at "Exquisite Design," a well-established company ranked in the top ten in Juxian City, through his parents' connections, earning hundreds of thousands annually.
In terms of appearance and education, he was no match for Chen Xiao, whom Wang Xiaoxia secretly disliked. However, his parents were influential figures. Therefore, Wang Xiaoxia, despite knowing that her daughter had no affection for him, spared no effort to matchmake them, even bringing him along for medical appointments.
Chen Mingxi said indignantly:
"Hmph! In terms of medical skills, my brother might not be as good as Dr. Meng, but since he's been appointed as a consulting physician, he can definitely treat me."
As she spoke, she had already taken out her phone to re-register.
"Don't!"
Gao Fei immediately became anxious and quickly tried to persuade her:
"Mingxi, if I remember correctly, your cousin just graduated from university not long ago? Even the large hospitals in Mingzhu City couldn't find the cause of your frequent stomachaches, so how can he?"
At this moment, several young and beautiful female patients had already entered Chen Xiao's examination room number eight. They went in quickly and came out quickly. While Chen Mingxi and the others were talking, two patients had already come and gone. Gao Fei watched and couldn't help but add sarcastically:
"Those two patients who went into examination room number eight came out so quickly. It's probably because your cousin doesn't have the ability to treat them. It's understandable. New graduates usually have to intern for a year before they can be officially appointed, and they must obtain a practicing physician's license first. Him being a consulting physician is, to put it nicely, an exceptional promotion, and to put it bluntly, it's through connections and favoritism."
Gao Fei had always been jealous of Chen Xiao, who was taller, more handsome, and better educated than him, despite being the same age. Now that he had an opportunity to badmouth Chen Xiao, he naturally wouldn't miss it.
"Heh heh."
Chen Mingxi chuckled and ignored Gao Fei. Instead, she changed her appointment to Chen Xiao and then got up and headed straight for examination room number eight, saying without looking back:
"Mom, it's almost lunchtime. You go busy yourself in the cafeteria. My brother will take care of me."
"Mingxi, you..."
Gao Fei was left standing there, his face turning green. He wished he could turn around and leave.
Wang Xiaoxia, seeing that the situation was not good, quickly and quietly comforted him:
"Gao Fei, please accompany Mingxi for me. Later, when Chen Xiao is helpless with her stomachache, you can take her to your aunt, wouldn't that be even better?"
"Hmm?"
Gao Fei was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up. After a perfunctory exchange with Wang Xiaoxia, he quickly hurried to catch up with Chen Mingxi.
In just a short while, three more female patients emerged from examination room number eight.
Although their visits lasted less than a minute, their expressions had changed from worried and pained upon entering to beaming and giggling upon exiting. This stark contrast did not escape Chen Mingxi's sharp eyes.
For a moment, Chen Mingxi forgot about sending Gao Fei away. Eagerly, she entered the room and called out crisply:
"Brother!"
Chen Xiao, who had effortlessly treated several female patients with minor ailments and was chatting with Xu Jingyin, was surprised to see his sweet and beloved cousin:
"Mingxi, why are you here?"
As soon as he spoke, he noticed Chen Mingxi's unhealthy complexion and frowned slightly. The mysterious, wordless golden prescription in his mind immediately activated. His heart skipped a beat, and without another word, he quickly pulled Chen Mingxi to sit at the examination table and took her pulse.
He had actually seen Chen Mingxi at Wang Hailong's housewarming banquet a couple of days ago. However, at the time, he was too preoccupied with dealing with those eccentric relatives to pay her much attention.
Chen Mingxi was currently curiously observing Xu Jingyin, who looked about her age but was tall and stunningly beautiful. She didn't notice Chen Xiao's grave expression and said with a hint of sourness:
"I took time off work specifically to come home, and you, as my brother, are busy with work all day and don't have time to spend with me. I had no choice but to come looking for you!"
Gao Fei, who had followed them in like a persistent fly, clearly hadn't expected Chen Xiao to be accompanied by such a beautiful nurse. His jealousy of Chen Xiao intensified, and his tone became even more sarcastic:
"Chen Xiao, Mingxi took time off specifically to see a doctor. Even the large hospitals in Mingzhu City couldn't find the cause of her illness. Don't waste time. I'm busy taking her to see my aunt for a diagnosis!"
As if mesmerized, he secretly glanced at Xu Jingyin. As soon as he finished speaking, he couldn't resist showing off:
"Oh, by the way, Meng Baobao in examination room number one is my aunt!"