"Miss Xue, what is this...?" Lin Yu was somewhat confused.

  "Not enough? Fine, I'll add another two million." Xue Qin raised an eyebrow, a hint of mockery in her heart. *This guy really has the audacity to ask for more.*

  Her initial good impression of Lin Yu vanished instantly—turned out he was just another greedy man.

  "Miss Xue, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not here for money—I’m here to treat your illness," Lin Yu said helplessly. "Didn’t Elder Song tell you?"

  "Illness? What illness? I don’t even know of any!" Xue Qin scoffed, thinking Lin Yu couldn’t even come up with a decent lie. Her grandfather was a renowned physician—if she were sick, wouldn’t he have told her?

  Lin Yu hesitated. Based on her complexion, she didn’t seem to have any illness, so he said, "I’m not sure of the specifics yet. I’ll need to take your pulse to confirm."

  Xue Qin glanced at Lin Yu, a trace of disgust flashing in her eyes. "Mr. He, drop the act. I’m grateful you helped save Mr. Bain, but that doesn’t give you the right to be presumptuous with me!"

  She had no fondness for men and naturally despised their touch. Once, during a company medical checkup, a doctor had tried to take advantage of her. She responded with a knee strike that ensured he’d never be a threat to any woman again.

  Years of navigating the business world had made her mature beyond her years and highly guarded. Even the most cunning old foxes in the industry couldn’t get the better of her, let alone someone like Lin Yu.

  "Miss Xue, your grandfather really did send me," Lin Yu said, exasperated. He had already noticed Xue Qin’s stubbornness at the hospital and now felt Elder Song had thrown him into the deep end without even giving her a heads-up.

  "Sis!"

  At that moment, Song Zheng walked in. He looked surprised to see Lin Yu, but his expression quickly darkened. "What are you doing here?"

  "Grandpa sent him to treat me. Isn’t that ridiculous?" Xue Qin smirked, glancing at her cousin. Clearly, this guy was a fraud.

  "Uh... Sis, that part is true. Grandpa did mention it," Song Zheng scratched his head.

  "What? What illness could I possibly have?" Xue Qin was baffled. "If I were sick, wouldn’t Grandpa have told me himself?"

  "I don’t know either. He wouldn’t explain, just acted all mysterious about it," Song Zheng said, equally confused.

  "Miss Xue, may I take your pulse now? If there’s an illness, I’ll diagnose it. If not, all the better!" Lin Yu explained, growing increasingly frustrated. This Xue大小姐 clearly looked down on him, and it was starting to grate on him.

  If not for Elder Song’s sake, he would’ve walked out long ago.

  "Dream on. Do you think you can just touch me whenever you want?" Xue Qin frowned coldly.

  "Sis, calm down. He’s only here because Grandpa asked him to."

  Song Zheng sighed. His cousin’s temper was notoriously bad, and she had an innate aversion to men—almost a phobia. Aside from him and their grandfather, no man could get close to her without triggering her disgust.

  The whole family was deeply concerned about her future prospects.

  "Since Miss Xue’s body is too precious for me to touch, how about this: find some silk threads, and I’ll perform *thread-pulse diagnosis*," Lin Yu said, his patience wearing thin. He had been called here to help, yet she treated him like this?

  "*Thread-pulse diagnosis*?"

  Song Zheng’s expression shifted. He had heard of the technique in traditional Chinese medicine but had never seen it used outside of legends—most famously in *Journey to the West*.

  "Don’t listen to his nonsense," Xue Qin rolled her eyes. Though she had been impressed when Lin Yu saved Mr. Bain, *thread-pulse diagnosis* sounded like pure fantasy.

  Still, she wanted to get rid of him quickly and didn’t make further trouble. She had her assistant bring in some silk threads.

  Lin Yu took a few strands and had Song Zheng tie them to Xue Qin’s wrist. He then sat opposite her, holding the threads taut with four fingers lightly resting on them.

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  *Thread-pulse diagnosis* was a specialty of Lin Yu’s ancestors, and he had never misdiagnosed using it. Yet now, he was puzzled—Xue Qin’s pulse showed no signs of illness. Aside from some fatigue from work stress, she was perfectly healthy.

  "Miss Xue truly has no illness. Just be mindful of overworking yourself," Lin Yu said after a long pause.

  "See? I told you I wasn’t sick," Xue Qin said triumphantly to Song Zheng.

  Song Zheng scratched his head, equally confused. But Grandpa’s serious expression at the time hadn’t seemed like a joke.

  "Thank you for coming all this way, Mr. He. Since there’s nothing wrong, I won’t see you out," Xue Qin said coolly. "Oh, and please take the check on the table."

  "No need," Lin Yu replied coldly and stood to leave.

  "Let’s go, Xiao Zheng. I’ve arranged to meet the family of that employee. We should head out now," Xue Qin said as she gathered her things.

  "Alright," Song Zheng nodded.

  "President Xue! President Xue! Something terrible has happened!"

  Just as Lin Yu reached the door, Xue Qin’s secretary rushed in frantically, nearly colliding with him.

  "S-Sorry!" The secretary quickly apologized to Lin Yu.

  "What’s going on? Why the panic?" Xue Qin’s expression darkened. She had reminded everyone countless times to maintain professionalism in the office.

  "President Xue, Sister Liu... Sister Liu has gone mad!" the secretary gasped.

  "What?" Xue Qin’s face paled. "Take me to her!"

  She hurried out, Song Zheng close behind.

  Hearing the word "mad," Lin Yu couldn’t help but wonder. Companies like this usually conducted health screenings before hiring—how could someone suddenly lose their mind out of nowhere?

  He didn’t leave immediately, curiosity getting the better of him as he followed.

  The eastern half of the office was an open workspace with no partitions, housing dozens of employees.

  A young woman in a white blouse was darting around the area, screaming and flailing. She groped at others or grabbed their hands to touch her, all while babbling incoherently.

  The other employees were terrified, scrambling away from her.

  Xue Qin’s expression darkened further. This was the second employee to go mad in a short time. She had never heard of madness being contagious.

  "Sis, was the last person who went mad acting like this too?" Song Zheng asked.

  Xue Qin nodded, saying it was almost identical.

  Originally, she had planned to take Song Zheng to visit the first employee—a man—that afternoon. But before they could leave, another one had lost their mind.

  "Don’t worry, Sis. I’m here. There’s nothing to fear," Song Zheng reassured her.

  He then called over a few burly men to help restrain Sister Liu, pinning her to the ground.

  Sister Liu screamed wildly, her face twisted. "Let me go, or you’ll all die! All of you!"

  Song Zheng instructed the secretary to fetch his medical kit from Xue Qin’s office while he checked Sister Liu’s pulse.

  After the examination, he had the men tie Sister Liu to a chair. "It’s nothing serious, everyone. She’s likely suffering from *mania* due to work stress. The company just opened, and her tolerance for pressure is low."

  "Don’t panic, everyone. My cousin here is the grandson of the renowned Dr. Song of Jishi Hall and the most skilled young physician in our family. If he says it’s fine, then it is."

  Xue Qin quickly reassured the staff. One case of madness was manageable, but two in such a short time had everyone on edge.

  "Xiao Zheng, are you sure? Can you treat her?" she whispered to him.

  "Don’t worry, Sis. This is nothing. In TCM, it’s called *mania*—in Western terms, a neuropsychiatric disorder. Since it’s her first episode, I’m confident I can cure her," Song Zheng said with a confident smile. He had seen similar cases before and was sure of his approach.

  Relieved, Xue Qin relaxed slightly.

  The tension in the room eased as the employees sighed in relief.

  The two recent incidents had shaken them. First a male colleague, now a female one—who would be next? Some even wondered if it was something supernatural.

  But Song Zheng’s medical explanation put their minds at ease.

  He then wrote a prescription and handed it to the secretary. "Go to Jishi Hall immediately to get these herbs, along with a box of *Wuling Capsules* and *Kuntai Capsules*."

  The secretary nodded and rushed off.

  "Her condition is complex. You shouldn’t prescribe medication so hastily," Lin Yu suddenly spoke up. He could tell the woman was indeed suffering from *mania*, but her symptoms were far more severe than usual. Something felt off.

  Yet he detected no trace of sinister energy around her or the environment. It had to be a medical issue.

  "Ha! He Jiarong, I know you’re skilled, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us are idiots!" Song Zheng’s anger flared at Lin Yu’s interference. "Do you think you’re the only one who knows medicine?"

  "I’m not saying you don’t know medicine. I’m advising caution. Even *mania* has many subtypes," Lin Yu said earnestly.

  "Oh, I know, *Great Doctor He*. Hers is *phlegm-fire disturbing the spirit*. A dose of *Cheng’s Iron Fall Brew* to clear liver fire and dissolve phlegm will wake her right up," Song Zheng declared arrogantly. He was utterly confident in his diagnosis.

  Lin Yu said nothing more. Song Zheng’s prescription was correct—consistent medication could alleviate or even cure her condition.

  "*Dr. He*, as I said earlier, I’m busy and won’t see you out. My cousin can handle this. Your help isn’t needed," Xue Qin said coldly. Her opinion of Lin Yu had hit rock bottom. He might be skilled, but his showboating was insufferable.

  "I suspect someone died in this office before you moved in," Lin Yu said, deciding to leave but unable to resist a final warning.

  The room erupted in laughter.

  "What nonsense!"

  "Are you some kind of fraud, spouting superstitions here?"

  "This place was brand-new before we moved in! How could anyone have died here, idiot?"

  The commercial district was newly developed, and the office building was freshly constructed. Xue Qin had purchased the entire floor months ago and moved in after renovations.

  They were the first occupants—how could there have been deaths here?

  The crowd mocked Lin Yu openly, some even suspecting he was trying to scare them for some ulterior motive.

  "Take my advice: let your employees leave by 5 PM. If you keep them working late into the night, more will lose their minds," Lin Yu said quietly to Xue Qin before turning to leave.

  "Shameless! Mr. He, please leave!"

  Xue Qin raised her voice sharply, her tone icy.