Chapter 6: A Lesson for You

"Spying?" Harve Garrett slowly shook his head with disdain, "Do you know this matter has almost spread throughout the entire hospital? Is there a need for me to spy?" He almost blurted out an expletive, but swallowed it back down. He suddenly remembered that this incident wasn’t just known to him, Petros Cannon, and Gavril. After all, there were many medical staff outside the MRI room at that time. It seemed someone had overheard their conversation and relayed it to him. With this realization, he decided not to engage further with Harve and instead turned to address Wilton Ford, the dean, saying solemnly, "Dean, hiring Fabricio wasn't solely my decision, but a joint recommendation by Petros and me." "As for the reason behind the recommendation, it's not because of any backdoor dealings, but his exceptional medical skills. You have no idea, just moments ago..." Before he could finish, Harve interrupted with exaggeration, "Exceptional medical skills? Him? A greenhorn without even a medical license? Graydon, if you're going to lie, at least find a more believable excuse." "Harve, you're nearly sixty years old, don’t you know that interrupting others is extremely rude?" "You..." "Both of you, please, let's speak calmly," Wilton Ford interjected, feeling a headache coming on. He knew these two honorary vice-deans were at odds but never imagined things would escalate to this extent, turning into a verbal spat. Sighing lightly, he helplessly shook his head, "Harve, I know Graydon well. He wouldn’t offer favors without reason, especially not a joint recommendation with Petros." "I believe this young man truly has real talent." Speaking without giving Harve a chance to refute, Wilton swiftly turned to another side and said quickly, "However, Graydon, for matters like this, you could've called a meeting and explained openly to avoid misunderstandings." "After all, what Harve said isn’t entirely without merit. Fabricio is indeed quite young, don’t you think?" "What do you mean by 'misunderstanding'?" Facing Wilton's attempt to smooth things over, Harve was unyielding. He shouted, "Old Wilton, do you know this kid practices traditional Chinese medicine?" "What!?" Wilton's face changed instantly. It wasn’t surprising, as everyone knows that age and experience are highly valued in Chinese medicine. Anyone under thirty-five claiming to be a practitioner would be dismissed outright. And if you're over thirty, patients would still be skeptical. Traditional Chinese medicine relies on age; the older, the more credible. But this kid? He couldn’t be more than 23 years old. At this age, even claiming to be a Western doctor would be met with disbelief, let alone a practitioner of Chinese medicine. "This..." Wilton hesitated. Seeing this, Graydon's face darkened again. He said sternly, "What’s the matter? Dean Wilton, do you doubt Petros’s and my professional judgment?" "Ha!" Harve exclaimed, "Starting to flaunt your qualifications when you can’t win the argument?" Then, his demeanor changed instantly, filled with disdain, "Professional judgment? For such a whippersnapper, even if you talk till you’re blue in the face, could you make him into a living Hua Tuo?" "Harve, you..." "Dean Zeigler." Fabricio, pulling back the infuriated Graydon, shook his head and said calmly, "Since the matter started because of me, let me resolve it." Was this truly because of Fabricio? Of course not. He was merely caught in the crossfire. But as the saying goes, even a clay figure has its anger, let alone a young and spirited Fabricio. "You want to fight, to argue, that's fine. But why endlessly slander me? Do you think I'm easy to bully?" Without waiting for Graydon to speak, Fabricio looked directly at Harve, his eyelids slightly drooping, "Vice-Dean Harve, right? From what I've heard, you're questioning me on two things." "One, my age, and two, my medical skills. Right?" Harve forced a smile, "What? You want to prove your strength?" "Prove?" Fabricio repeated softly, then shook his head with a light smile, "No, I'm here to teach you a lesson." At these words, everyone's expressions changed. Wilton frowned deeply, his eyes filled with displeasure, while Harve's face turned frosty, his tone icy, "Do you even know what you're talking about? Teach me a lesson? Do you think you're qualified?" Fabricio chuckled softly, "Whether I'm qualified or not, let's find out." "Alright, alright!" Harve pointed at Fabricio's nose with a ferocious smile, "Then I'll give you a chance. But don't blame me for not warning you, kid. If you can't convince me today, I'll make sure you never set foot in the medical field again!" "Don't worry, I will convince you thoroughly." With that, Fabricio didn’t give Harve a chance to continue his tirade and said directly, "Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes 'inspection, auscultation and olfaction, inquiry, and palpation.' Today, I'll teach you about 'inspection.'" As soon as he finished speaking, everyone felt a momentary daze. It seemed... something had changed in Fabricio's eyes. Like light, or some kind of charm, or an indescribable... feeling? Before anyone could delve deeper into their thoughts, Fabricio's expression suddenly turned peculiar. He stared intently at Harve, examining him from head to toe. After a long while, he said playfully, "I didn’t realize, Vice-Dean Harve, even at your age, you’re quite the libertine. Every night, taking medication? Wow, even blue pills? Aren’t you afraid of suffering from Yin Jué Syndrome?" ...What? Libertine? Nightly medication? Blue pills? That was utterly absurd. Harve was 57 years old; how could he engage in such behavior? But just as this thought crossed their minds, they suddenly heard Harve's incredulous exclamation, "You, how do you know..." ...What!? Everyone turned their heads in shock to see Harve's eyes bulging, mouth agape, clearly shocked to the core. Seeing everyone looking at him, his face flushed red, and he shouted in a panic, "You, you're talking nonsense, utter nonsense." "Kid, I warn you, you better apologize immediately, or I won't let this go!" The others were speechless. Ignoring his previous almost-confirmatory exclamation and his subsequent words, they could tell how baseless his claims were. Report him? If things blew up, would the vice-dean of the People's Hospital look good in the public eye? But before Wilton and others could interject and comfort, Fabricio chuckled and shook his head, "Vice-Dean Harve, don’t be so quick to deny it. I told you, I’ll convince you."