"Just confirm whether this prescription was written by you. Take a good look at the handwriting."

  Lin Yu handed the prescription to Song Zheng.

  Understanding Lin Yu's intention, Song Zheng carefully examined it and then nodded. "This is indeed the prescription I wrote. No mistake about it."

  Lin Yu compared it with the medicine dispensing record and then turned to the man in yellow. "The prescription is completely correct. There's no way it could have killed anyone. Did you accidentally add any other herbs when decocting the medicine?"

  "No! Absolutely not!" the man in yellow said firmly.

  "There are so many herbs here. If you don’t understand traditional medicine, it’s easy to make mistakes," Lin Yu said, frowning. He didn’t understand why the man was so confident.

  "My sister-in-law was afraid of making a mistake, so she specifically asked our neighbor who runs a Chinese medicine shop to decoct it for her," the man in yellow said calmly, then glanced back at the woman in red.

  The woman in red nodded. "I knew you’d try to deny responsibility, so I brought our neighbor along. He’s also a doctor."

  As soon as she finished speaking, a man in his forties stepped out from the crowd. Dressed in a traditional Zhongshan suit with a goatee, he had an air of otherworldly refinement.

  "That’s right. I’ve been the one decocting the medicine for them these past few days. I can guarantee that the herbs and dosages were absolutely correct. I anticipated you’d try to shirk blame, so I even brought the leftover dregs from the decoction."

  The goateed man spoke calmly, then gave the woman in red a look. She immediately pulled out a pot of herbal dregs from a bag behind the wheelchair and handed it to Lin Yu.

  "My husband was poisoned right after drinking this decoction," the woman in red said angrily.

  "What about before? Was he fine after drinking it previously?"

  Lin Yu glanced at the dregs in the pot and inwardly sighed. It seemed these people had come prepared.

  "Before, he was fine. But this time, right after drinking it, he became extremely distressed and couldn’t even breathe properly," the woman in red recalled.

  "If he was fine before, why would this time be any different?"

  Lin Yu frowned, sniffed the pot, then raised an eyebrow as he looked at the goateed man.

  "What are you implying?! Are you saying I messed up the decoction this time? If you don’t believe me, check the dregs yourself! Or better yet, let’s take it to the health bureau for testing!" The goateed man’s face flushed with anger, his tone full of confidence.

  "The dregs are indeed correct."

  Lin Yu carefully sifted through the pot. The twenty or so herbs, whether in type or dosage, were all accurate.

  "Then the problem must lie with your prescription or the herbs!" The goateed man’s face lit up with triumph. He pointed at Lin Yu and sneered, "You’re defending Jishitang so fiercely—they must’ve paid you off, huh? Birds of a feather!"

  "Yeah, like attracts like. He’s probably no good either!"

  "Exactly, a bunch of scum! Since you’ve admitted it, just pay up already!"

  "I say we sue them! Sue them until they’re bankrupt!"

  "I used to buy medicine from Jishitang all the time. Now I’ll have to go to the hospital for a check-up!"

  "A garbage shop like this deserves to shut down. Traditional medicine is a joke!"

  The crowd, seeing Lin Yu admit that both the prescription and dregs were correct, immediately erupted in uproar, demanding justice from Jishitang.

  The man in yellow grew even more agitated. He picked up a rock from the roadside and hurled it into Jishitang’s storefront. With a loud *crack*, the glass door spiderwebbed with fractures.

  The onlookers followed suit, ready to pelt the shop with whatever they had on hand.

  "Brother He!" Song Zheng’s face turned pale. He had never seen such a scene before. With his grandfather absent, he was utterly at a loss and could only pin his hopes on Lin Yu.

  "Everyone, STOP!"

  Lin Yu infused his voice with a surge of internal energy, making it piercingly clear and cold. The crowd shuddered, instantly falling silent as they looked at Lin Yu with a trace of fear.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  They realized that this seemingly ordinary young man now exuded an aura of undeniable authority.

  "I only said the dregs in this pot are correct—not that the medicine the patient drank was fine!" Lin Yu swept a cold gaze over the goateed man. "I suspect some of the dregs were deliberately removed before you brought this here."

  "What are you implying?!"

  The goateed man glared furiously. "Fine, let’s take it to the health bureau right now and see if there’s anything else in it!"

  "No need. They wouldn’t find anything. Because all you did was mix some raw *banxia* with processed *banxia*. They’re the same herb, just prepared differently. Of course, tests wouldn’t detect it."

  Lin Yu’s voice was icy as he stared at the goateed man. If not for his acute sensitivity to herbal scents, he might have been fooled.

  "You—you’re slandering me!" The goateed man trembled, using anger to mask his panic.

  The crowd murmured in surprise. Even those with only basic knowledge of Chinese medicine—or who had been sick before—knew that improperly consumed raw *banxia* could indeed cause poisoning.

  And the patient’s symptoms matched those of raw *banxia* poisoning perfectly.

  "Slander?" Lin Yu snorted. "All we need to do is take this patient to the hospital for a blood test, and the truth will come out. And then, you’d be guilty of *premeditated murder*!"

  "W-what?!"

  The goateed man’s face drained of color. His legs shook violently before he suddenly collapsed to his knees in front of Lin Yu, wailing, "Big brother, I was foolish! Please, spare me! I never meant to kill anyone—I just wanted to ruin Jishitang’s reputation!"

  His own pharmacy was on the adjacent street, but his exorbitant prices had driven customers away ever since Jishitang opened. So he had devised this "brilliant plan" to smear their name.

  He had nearly succeeded—until Lin Yu appeared out of nowhere.

  The crowd erupted in outrage. The man in yellow, his sister-in-law, and his younger sister were stunned. The goateed man they had trusted had been the one sabotaging them all along.

  The mob quickly turned their fury on him.

  "Scum! Treating human life like dirt—how dare you call yourself a doctor?!"

  "It’s because of black-hearted quacks like you that people can’t afford medical care!"

  "Someone like you deserves to be torn apart!"

  Amid the shouting, the crowd hurled the debris they had intended for Jishitang at the goateed man instead.

  "You bastard! After all these years as neighbors!" The man in yellow roared, rushing forward to kick and punch the goateed man.

  "Ahhh, spare me!" The goateed man curled into a ball, howling in pain.

  Just moments ago, he had been triumphantly leading the charge against Lin Yu and Jishitang. Now, he was being beaten to a pulp.

  "You vile trash—I’ll sue you until you’re bankrupt!" Song Zheng snarled, finally exhaling in relief. He shot Lin Yu a grateful look.

  Lin Yu watched coldly, making no move to intervene. For a medical practitioner without ethics, he felt no sympathy.

  "Song Zheng, lend me your acupuncture pouch. I’ll detoxify this man."

  Song Zheng hurried to fetch it and handed it over respectfully.

  Lin Yu removed the IV from the patient and swiftly inserted needles into points like *Chize*, *Yuji*, *Yanglingquan*, and *Taichong*. Channeling his spiritual energy through the needles, he rapidly cleared the heat from the patient’s lungs and detoxified his liver.

  Within minutes, the patient’s complexion regained its color, his breathing steadied, and he suddenly looked revitalized.

  "Young miracle doctor, thank you!" the patient said excitedly, his demeanor now completely normal.

  "A miracle! A true miracle!"

  "Unbelievable—he recovered in minutes?"

  "Now *this* is what real traditional medicine looks like!"

  The crowd buzzed with awe.

  "Young doctor, where do you practice? We’d like to come see you!"

  "Yeah, we’ll go to you from now on!"

  "With skills like yours, we’d pay any price!"

  Doctors as capable and responsible as Lin Yu were rare these days. Most hospitals prioritized profits, leaving countless patients paying exorbitant fees without getting proper treatment.

  "You’re too kind. I do plan to open a traditional medicine clinic soon. Everyone’s welcome to visit!"

  Lin Yu smiled, realizing that while helping Jishitang, he had also advertised his future practice.

  "Please let us know when you open! What’s your name, young doctor?"

  "Oh, I’m He Jiarong."

  "He Jiarong! The one who competed with Old Man Song—the miracle doctor He Jiarong!"

  Someone in the crowd recognized the name, sparking excitement. Though many hadn’t seen Lin Yu before, his reputation preceded him.

  The crowd unanimously vowed to support Lin Yu’s future clinic.

  "Brother He, you’re opening a clinic?" Song Zheng asked in surprise. "Have you found a location?"

  "Not yet. I’ve been worrying about that." Lin Yu smiled wryly, then added, "You don’t mind, do you? Jishitang won’t take offense?"

  "Brother He, how could you say that? You just helped us immensely—we owe you thanks! Besides, we have more patients than we can handle. We’d *welcome* another clinic to share the load."

  Song Zheng spoke earnestly, his former arrogance completely gone.

  "If you haven’t settled on a place, I have a suggestion."

  Xue Qin suddenly stepped out from the crowd.

  She had arrived shortly after Lin Yu and witnessed the entire confrontation. The calm confidence he exuded had captivated her, so she had stayed hidden until now.

  She described the location to Lin Yu, who nodded approvingly. "That’s actually a great spot. How’s the pricing?"

  "It belongs to a friend of mine. If you rent it, there’ll be no charge—consider it my investment."

  "Let me think about it."

  Lin Yu hesitated, unwilling to commit immediately—especially with a jealous wife at home.

  When the police arrived, the goateed man was taken away, and the man in yellow and Song Zheng were summoned for statements. Lin Yu headed straight home.

  That evening, he broached his idea to Jiang Yan—though he framed it as a "small business venture," omitting the part about it being a traditional medicine clinic. Her response was a cold, firm *no*.

  Lin Yu sighed. With Jiang Yan controlling the purse strings, his clinic dream seemed doomed.

  Remembering Xue Qin’s offer, he muttered, "If you won’t give me the money, I’ll just have to accept Xue Qin’s investment. She said the space would be free..."

  Jiang Yan whirled around, biting her lip before huffing, "How much is the rent?"

  "Based on location and size, about 100,000 a month!" Lin Yu perked up, sensing an opening.

  "I mean *buying* it. How much?" Jiang Yan steeled herself. As long as it kept Lin Yu away from Xue Qin, she was willing to pay.

  *Pfft!*

  Lin Yu nearly choked. Buying the property outright had been his ideal plan—he just hadn’t dared suggest it.

  He gave Jiang Yan a thumbs-up, moved. "Yan-jie, from now on, you’re my *real* sister!"

  "Shameless!"

  Jiang Yan’s face flushed as she cursed inwardly. *Sister? What kind of sister shares a room with you?*