Chapter 36: Burning the Bridges After Crossing the River

  Qin Di did not hesitate and did not add any embellishments, he told the whole story from start to finish in a straightforward manner.

  The old man listened and didn't say a word, just smiled slightly and continued sipping his tea.

  He turned to Ji Zhongxin beside him and said a very official phrase: "Dr. Qin, rest assured that the law will give the victim justice." He seemed afraid that Dr. Qin wouldn't understand the deeper meaning of this sentence, so Ji Zhongxin paused for a moment before making it clear: "Actually, my dad was thinking that with Dr. Qin's exceptional medical skills, it would be a pity to waste them. Coincidentally, he needs a personal physician, and since Dr. Qin is not interested in practicing medicine, we can't force him."

  Qin Di was taken aback, and he keenly caught the most important meaning of these words, which was "not forcing others to do what is difficult".

  This is hinting and reminding Qin Di not to expect the Ji family to help him again, nor to use the Ji family's name as an excuse for his misdeeds. Fortunately, Qin Di has never expected the Ji family to hold him in high esteem, nor does he want to cling to their legs. He is not disappointed at all and doesn't think Ji Zhongxin's words are too self-serving, after all, this time Ji Zhongxin wants to take down a district party secretary, he also needs to pay a certain price, let alone Qin Di's behavior today, in Ji Zhongxin's eyes, is simply no different from that of an ordinary Jianghu rogue.

  A doctor who knows no bounds, only knowing how to fight and kill, Xi Zhongxin felt that he should be given a warning. Moreover, in the eyes of Xi Zhongxin, a high-ranking official like him, Qin Di's medical skills may be exceptional, but he is just a doctor. Someone at his level has no shortage of brilliant doctors, and he won't go out of his way to protect Qin Di just because of his impressive medical skills. This time, he intervened only because Qin Di had cured Xi Lao's illness, repaying the favor. Now that the favor has been returned, if Qin Di doesn't learn to control himself next time, the Xi family will not help him again.

  Qin Di wasn't stupid and naturally understood the implication, nor did he think that the Ji family was being ungrateful. After all, relationships between people were just a matter of interests. However, despite this, Qin Di still felt somewhat uncomfortable in his heart, thinking to himself: "Is your father's life only worth this much sentiment? Is it too cheap?" Qin Di was very displeased in his heart. Originally, he had planned to give Ji Lao another check-up this time, because he discovered that apart from liver cancer, Ji Lao seemed to have problems with other organs as well, especially the kidneys and spleen, which were not optimistic at all. Even if this illness was cured, given Ji Lao's physical condition, it wouldn't be long before he would be in trouble again.

  After all, in another year, Old Lady Ji will be a full hundred years old. At such an advanced age, how could her body not have other ailments?

  As soon as he heard this, Qin Di immediately changed his mind. He remained calm and said, "Thank you, Secretary Ji, for trusting me, but I'm not capable of taking on such a heavy responsibility."

  "Since Dr. Qin's will is not here, let's just drop it." Ji Zhongxin said magnanimously, some things are better left unsaid, going too far would be offending people, and besides, his own father's life was still in the other person's hands, so Ji Zhongxin didn't want to really offend them either.

  "Thank you, Secretary Ji, for your understanding." Qin Di said very politely.

  The old man remained indifferent, not saying a word or offering any comment. He neither agreed nor disagreed with his son's words, nor did he care about Qin Di's feelings. Young people need to be disciplined, otherwise they will become arrogant and eventually cause big problems. The only thing the old man felt was that his son's words were too self-serving, which was also the only place where he was dissatisfied with Ji Zhongxin. Otherwise, with his son's intelligence, his achievements in politics would have been far greater than those of his older brother Ji Zhongming.

  Of course, the old man wouldn't scold his son in front of outsiders with a straight face either, nor did he want to continue this matter, so he said: "As for the illness, I still need to consult Dr. Qin about it."

  "It's too kind of you!" Qin Di said with a smile, "You can just call me Qin Di or Little Qin."

  He was completely a very "humble" and "cautious" junior, but there was one thing that the Ji family didn't notice, that is Qin Di's way of addressing had changed, from "you old man" to "Ji Lao", which was a change in attitude.

  The old man obviously didn't hear it, and he was very satisfied with Qin Di's performance at this moment. He said, "What does little Qin think I should do next to treat my illness?"

  "I'll take Lady Ji's pulse first!" Qin Di sat up straight.

  "Good!" The old man was also straightforward, stretching out one wrist and saying: "If I could have invited a doctor like Little Qin earlier, I think I would have been spared this suffering!"

  "Even if I came earlier, I'm afraid it would only be possible to slightly alleviate Old Lady Ji's pain compared to other doctors," Qin Di replied cautiously.

  The old man smiled and didn't say anything, thinking that the other person was just being modest.

  Qin Di's hand touched the old man's pulse, and he didn't say another word.

  The old man stopped talking and knew that when a doctor was taking his pulse, no one else was allowed to disturb him.

  Ji Zhuxin took advantage of this opportunity to change another pot of tea, but this time she didn't walk away, instead waiting for Qin Di's diagnosis result.

  Only a minute later, Qin Di's hand was still on the old man's wrist, and his calm expression had become more serious.

  This subtle change was apparently noticed by Ji Zhu, who suddenly became anxious in her heart, thinking that either Grandfather's condition had changed or Qin Di had detected some problem.

  Two minutes later, Qin Di's hand was still on the old man's wrist pulse, his expression serious and shocked, his eyebrows furrowed as if he had discovered a major problem.

  Three minutes later, Ji Zhongxin straightened his body, a pair of eyes staring motionlessly at Qin Di's face, afraid to hear any bad news from Qin Di's mouth.

  Four minutes later, even the calm and composed Old Lady Ji couldn't help but feel a little unbearable, let alone the feelings of the Ji father and daughter in these few minutes. They stared at Qin Di with wide eyes, extremely tense.

  "Alright!" Five minutes later, Qin Di let go of the old man's hand.

  "Dr. Qin, is there something wrong with my grandfather's condition?" Ji Zhu asked, unable to hold back.

  Qin Di seemed not to have heard Ji Zhu Xin's words, sitting in the chair, staring blankly, and his facial expression was sometimes serious, sometimes shocked, frowning tightly, without saying a word. Moreover, he suddenly stood up, walking back and forth in the study, muttering a few words in his mouth, the voice was not loud, but just enough to be heard by everyone in the room.

  It seems like a phrase "not optimistic" or something like that.

  These words, neither too light nor too heavy, fell into the ears of the Ji family like a thunderclap on a clear day.

  This startled Ji Zhongxin, his heart was in his throat, and the composure he had honed over the years in officialdom was somewhat insufficient: "Dr. Qin, is there something wrong with my father's illness?"

  Qin Di seemed to have finally come back to his senses from that "shock", ignoring Ji Zhongxin, and instead looked at the old man and said: "Old Ji, when you were young, had you ever been injured."

  "After eight years of resistance against Japan and three years of civil war, dozens of big and small battles, how could one not be injured in the hail of bullets?" The old man looked at Qin Di and replied seriously.

  "No wonder." Qin Di revealed an expression of "I knew it".

  "What's this? Do you have some new opinion about my illness?" the old man asked.

  "Old Ji's liver disease is nothing to worry about, he will fully recover in three months. I have no opinion on this matter, but I do have some thoughts on Old Ji's physical condition." Qin Di said.

  The old man said casually: "You say."

  Qin Di first sold a pass, saying: "Traditional Chinese medicine usually uses the five elements of generation and restraint to judge and analyze the patient's pathology. There is also another sentence that can understand the unity of heaven and man, and be able to predict the life and death of the patient."

  "What do you mean by this?" The old man sensed something was off.

  Qin Di replied: "My intention is very simple, I just want to ask Old Ji, how many more years do you want to live?"

  "What did you say?" Ji Zhongxin's face turned red with rage as soon as he heard the words, his eyes wide open and staring coldly at Qin Di.

  The old man also thought that Qin Di was talking nonsense, and he had the audacity to ask him how many years he wanted to live. It's as if he had eaten a bear's heart and a leopard's gallbladder. If it weren't for his own illness, he would have told Qin Di to get out of here.

  Ji Ji's bamboo heart couldn't help but scold Qin Di's ignorance, letting you see the illness, you actually cursed my grandfather to live a few more years, if you don't tell me clearly today, do you think the Ji family is easy to talk to?

  The old man's face, which had been in a good mood all along, suddenly turned gloomy and he said coldly, "Explain this to me."

  Qin Di ignored Ji Zhong's piercing gaze and said calmly, "To put it simply, I judged your lifespan through my observation of Old Man Ji's physical body, internal organs, blood and physiological state."

  "You're saying you know when I'll die." The old man was shocked, feeling that Qin Di's words were like a fairy tale. A doctor who could really predict the life and death of his patients would have to be incredibly skilled. At the very least, the old man had never met a doctor in his lifetime who could predict a person's fate.

  Qin Di obviously knew the old man's thoughts, and finally revealed his long-planned sharp words, saying lightly: "Does Old Ji think that my words are a bit too alarming and unrealistic? Does he think it's impossible for one person to judge another person's life and death time? But don't forget, I am a doctor, and a pretty good one at that. Not only did I discover that your liver has problems, but also that your kidneys, spleen, stomach, and many other organs have issues as well. These problems aren't caused by illness, but rather because you were injured too many times when you were young, so it's inevitable that you'll be plagued by illnesses in old age. More importantly, these injuries will lead to the decline of your organs, so even if your liver disease is cured, I reckon you only have about a year and a half left to live."

  The old man heard Qin Di's words, which were similar to a death notice, and although he had been through many ups and downs over the years and thought he was indifferent to life and death, he couldn't help but take a deep breath, because no one didn't want to live a few more years.

  Even the old man who had commanded thousands of troops in his heyday as a renowned general could not escape this common fate.

  On the other hand, Ji Zhongxin and his daughter were completely shocked. Now they hoped that Qin Di was just talking nonsense, but looking at Qin Di's affirmative expression and thinking of his medical skills, Ji Zhongxin fully believed him.

  "Dr. Qin, you didn't misdiagnose my grandfather's condition?" Ji Zhu calmed down and was shocked by this news.

  Qin Di didn't respond, he just nodded slightly.

  "Qin Doctor, is there a way to cure this illness?"

  "This is not a disease, but a law of nature, it's birth, aging, illness and death, it's heaven's will to take people away..."

  "Isn't there any way?" Ji Zhongxin was not giving up, the old man was too important to the entire Ji family, one of the last tigers of the Republic, as long as he didn't go to the Eight Treasures Mountain, the political enemies of the Ji family wouldn't dare or be willing to do anything despicable. So Ji Zhongxin wished that the old man would live on for another ten or twenty years.

  Just as Ji Zhongxin was about to accept this reality, that poor student who had always been a nobody in his eyes suddenly said: "There is a way, it's just a matter of whether the Ji family is willing to spend the money."

  One word shook heaven and earth.

  It seems that this is Qin Di's true killer move.

  ———————

  I've been sick for the past two days, and I've been on an IV drip both today and yesterday. As a result, there haven't been many updates, and my head is spinning, making it hard to think of what to say next. Hope everyone understands.