Chapter 104: Drink Some Mung Bean Soup to Cool Off

"Amanda Vance? What are you doing here?!" Shirley Vance stared at her in disbelief. Her gaze fell on the white coat Amanda was wearing, and a sudden thought struck her. "Don’t tell me you’re the doctor."

She glanced down at the registration slip, her expression twisting.

She hadn’t paid attention at first. The nurse had only said that the best traditional medicine doctor here was Doctor Vance, so she registered without asking for a full name.

She never would have imagined she’d run into Amanda Vance here.

Amanda was sitting in her chair, her hand resting on a patient’s wrist. She was clearly the doctor here.

Remembering the praises she had overheard from people outside, Shirley’s mood soured completely. A crafty look appeared in her eyes, and she sneered. Glancing at the people around them, she declared loudly, "Someone who was expelled after only two years of university dares to treat patients? Ha! That’s the biggest joke I’ve heard all year."

Amanda was writing a prescription and didn’t even look up. "Such a fiery temper. You should go home and drink some more mung bean soup."

Finished, she raised her head, a faint smile playing on her lips. "I won’t charge you for the consultation. Consider it a gift."

"You!" The moment she heard the words "mung bean soup," Shirley’s face changed. She was instantly reminded of the humiliating incident at the school festival, when she had fallen headfirst into a pot, getting mung beans in her mouth, nose, and hair. Even now, the memory made her think she could smell it again.

The maids at home didn’t dare make mung bean soup anymore. She couldn’t believe Amanda had the audacity to bring it up.

Clenching her fists, Shirley gritted her teeth. She looked at the curious onlookers and sneered, "Don’t give me that crap. You’re practicing as a doctor here, but do you even have a medical license? Hah, doesn’t Central Hospital do background checks when they hire? I bet they don’t know why you were expelled."

Amanda looked at her impassively, her gaze calm, as if she wasn’t the least bit afraid of what Shirley might reveal.

Shirley seethed inwardly. ’Impossible. She can’t be unafraid. She just thinks I won’t actually say it.’

Seeing more people gathering around, she was inwardly delighted. She pointed at Amanda and shouted, "Do you people know who this is? Do you know what she’s done? She was expelled from Auden University and had her name struck from her high school’s records! She’s a shameless slut with a promiscuous private life! She only studied medicine for two years and didn’t even get a diploma. Do you dare let her treat you?"

As her words fell, the crowd erupted.

Amanda’s expression remained unchanged as she deftly twirled a pen between her fingers.

"Bullshit!" Before Amanda could speak, two people pushed through the crowd. The woman in front was slightly heavyset and looked quite sturdy. She shot Shirley a harsh glare. "What nonsense are you spouting?"

Shirley glanced at her. Seeing so many people around, she figured the woman wouldn’t dare get physical and grew bolder. "Everything I just said is true! You can find it with a simple search online! She’s nothing but a quack who swindles people! Don’t you dare let her fool you! She’s..."

Before she could finish, her hair was suddenly yanked by the very woman she thought wouldn’t dare to lay a hand on her.

"I smelled a stench from all the way over here and wondered who was spewing such filth. So it was you. My son was in a car accident yesterday and was critically injured. The doctors said he couldn’t be saved, but Dr. Vance was the one who treated him and pulled him through. And you dare say her medical skills are no good? Ptooey! I can tell you’re no good just by looking at you. Saying all that... you’re just jealous of Dr. Vance, aren’t you?"

The woman shot Shirley a contemptuous look. Ignoring her struggles and screams, she held her hair with one work-hardened hand and pinned her arm with the other. Looking at the whispering crowd, she announced loudly, "My son’s name is Charlie King! He’s right here in this hospital, in the inpatient wing, nineteenth floor, room twenty-three! You can all go see for yourselves! A lot of people saw his condition yesterday. You can just ask around to see if I’m lying! And it’s not just my son! Dr. Vance has saved many others! Just ask anyone, and you’ll find out what kind of person Dr. Vance is! Not only are her skills incredible, but she’s also kind-hearted! She fainted from exhaustion after treating him yesterday!"

Taking a deep breath, Paddy’s Mother let go and bowed deeply to Amanda. "Dr. Vance, thank you. Thank you for saving my son."

Paddy’s Father, who had followed her, also quickly expressed his thanks, and the couple bowed together.

Amanda stood up and helped them rise. "It was my duty."

Then, she turned to Shirley. "Shirley Vance, are those the only things you know how to say? Others might not know what really happened back then, but are you telling me you don’t?"

Her tone was utterly flat, which made Shirley and Sarah Sullivan a little nervous.

Shirley glanced at Paddy’s parents, who were glaring at them menacingly. Her scalp was still throbbing with pain. She finally realized she couldn’t continue this today.

She shot Amanda a resentful look, huffed, and said viciously, "Fine, if you all want her to treat you, go right ahead! We’ll see how she ’cures’ you! When something goes wrong, you can all cry your hearts out with regret!"

Hearing this, Paddy’s Mother swung her arm back to hit her again but was stopped by Amanda, whose eyes had also grown colder. "Shirley Vance, do you want the Vance Family to go completely bankrupt?"

"You..." ’Why would she say that?’

Shirley stared at her. She thought about the recent troubles at the company, then looked at Amanda’s cold expression and suddenly understood. "It was all your doing!" she roared.

’The person who nearly bankrupted the company... it was her!’

Shirley screamed and lunged forward.

"Dr. Vance, watch out!" Paddy’s Mother cried out.

The words had barely left her mouth when Shirley went SPLAT on the floor, her chin smacking hard against the ground. It looked painful just to watch.

For a moment, even Paddy’s Mother was stunned.

Amanda retracted her hand inside her sleeve, unnoticed. She looked at Shirley with feigned surprise. "What are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re trying to pull a scam."

Paddy’s Mother caught on quickly and immediately shielded Amanda. "Don’t worry, Dr. Vance, I’ll be your witness. You didn’t touch a single hair on her head."

Then, she shot Shirley a harsh glare and added, "You all saw that, right? Dr. Vance didn’t touch her at all."

The people around them nodded. It was true; she had fallen on her own.

People started to wonder if there was something wrong with the woman. She had shown up spouting nonsense from the get-go; she clearly wasn’t a good person.

At that point, someone in the crowd grew displeased and stepped forward to defend Amanda. "Young lady, you look decent enough, so why do you spout such nonsense the moment you open your mouth? We patients know best how skilled Dr. Vance is. You wouldn’t happen to be jealous of her, would you?"

Once that was said, it seemed more and more likely.

The two were about the same age. If it wasn’t jealousy, why would she say such nasty things?

Someone else chimed in, "Young lady, you need to have a good heart. If you think you’re not as good as Dr. Vance, you should just work harder yourself. What’s the use of being jealous? And slandering her on top of it? That’s even worse."

’My heart isn’t good?’

The pain in Shirley’s chin had just started to subside when these words almost made her faint from rage.

"Nonshensh..." Shirley spat, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she realized she was lisping. There was something hard in her mouth. When she spat it out and saw what it was, she was about to explode.

She let out a piercing scream. "AHH!"

Staring at the bloody tooth on the ground, the blood rushed to her head. She scrambled up from the floor. "Amanda Vance! I’ll kill you!"