Chapter 1: Miss, You’ve Got the Wrong Person.

“Auntie Huang, as usual, I’m only charging you five bucks for the prescription. Remember, take one dose each time, twice a day. With this recipe, your daughter-in-law will surely give you a big, healthy grandson. If it doesn’t work, I’ll call myself your grandson!”

After seeing off the woman whose daughter-in-law couldn’t produce a grandson, Lin Yu prepared to pack up his stall. Today had gone well—he’d sold three prescriptions and earned fifteen bucks. Tonight, he could afford noodles with both vegetables and meat, maybe even add an egg!

“Divine Doctor Lin, my father is gravely ill. I beg you… please come to Jinling and save his life!”

A beautiful woman in a blue-and-white porcelain cheongsam knelt before him.

The exquisite curves of her figure under the cheongsam were faintly visible, making it hard not to take a second glance.

“Miss, you must have the wrong person…”

“Divine Doctor Lin, I am Su Ruoxi of the Su family in Jinling. My father is seriously ill. I beg you to help him!” Su Ruoxi’s eyes were red with tears.

“Miss, you must be mistaken. I’m just a swindler eking out a living. Saving lives? That’s not something I can do!” Lin Yu slung his belongings over his back, ready to leave.

“Please, Divine Doctor Lin, wait!” Seeing him about to go, Su Ruoxi hurriedly called after him and, in desperation, kowtowed before him. “Divine Doctor Lin, we went through so much to find you. There’s no mistake…”

“Divine Doctor Li said you’re likely the only one in this world who can save my father. I beg you…!”

“Divine Doctor Li?” Lin Yu frowned.

“Divine Doctor Li Xueyang!” Su Ruoxi explained, then prepared to kowtow again. “As long as you agree to save him, I, Su Ruoxi, will repay you any way I can. No matter how dangerous or difficult, I won’t hesitate!”

Lin Yu pondered for a moment, steadied himself, and glanced at the kneeling Su Ruoxi. “Alright. Since Li Xueyang sent you and for the sake of your filial devotion—”

He set down his belongings, took out paper and pen, and swiftly penned a prescription, handing it to Su Ruoxi. “Follow this prescription, morning and night, for two days. Come back here for me in two days.”

Su Ruoxi accepted the prescription, looking hesitant. Though Divine Doctor Li had recommended this man, he hadn’t even asked what illness her father had. Could a single prescription really help a man on the brink of death last two more days?

Before she could ask, Lin Yu had already vanished into the crowd.

…

One thousand prescriptions.

That was the promise Lin Yu had made to the old man.

Back then, when he was still a boy, Lin Yu wandered into this place. The villagers and the old man had saved him. Kind-hearted folks brought chickens, ducks, vegetables, and eggs so he could grow up healthy.

Before he died, the old man told Lin Yu that he must write one thousand prescriptions for the villagers before he could leave. It was both a promise and a debt of gratitude.

By now, Lin Yu calculated, he had written over nine hundred prescriptions—just a few left to go! That’s why he’d told Su Ruoxi to come back in two days.

The old man had been a reclusive master, not only raising Lin Yu but passing on his life’s knowledge of medicine and nearly invincible martial arts.

All these years, the old man never told Lin Yu why he’d ended up there.

Until many years ago, when Li Xueyang brought a gravely ill little girl to the old man. The old man cured her.

Before he died, he gave Lin Yu an ancient, elegant box, telling him that the little girl was his betrothed. The marriage contract was inside. Once Lin Yu finished the thousand prescriptions, he was to go to Jinling to find his young fiancée.

Xu Qingcheng.

The name written on the marriage contract.

…

The next day.

Lin Yu set up his stall in his usual spot.

No sooner had he arranged his things than a refreshing fragrance wafted into his nose, clearing his mind.

He looked up and saw a cold-faced woman standing before him, dressed in a sharp business suit. Her curvaceous figure was perfectly outlined by a pencil skirt, and her long legs were clad in Lin Yu’s favorite black stockings.

Judging by her icy expression, Lin Yu wondered if perhaps her married life was less than harmonious.

“Miss, are you here for a consultation? Just extend your hand, and I’ll check your pulse!”

“Name your price,” the woman said frostily.

“My price? Miss, I treat the villagers here for all sorts of ailments, but payment is always after treatment, never before. I haven’t even checked your pulse yet—how could I prescribe the right medicine?” Lin Yu scratched the back of his head, helpless.

“My name is Xu Qingcheng. I believe you’ve heard of me. I’m not here for treatment. I want to talk about the engagement.” Xu Qingcheng’s tone was cold as ice.

She’d only recently learned from her grandfather that, to save her life as a child, she’d been betrothed to a man she’d never met.

Xu Qingcheng was outstanding in every way. Upon reaching adulthood, she’d already earned dual business management degrees from the nation’s top university. Under her leadership, the Xu Group had become Jinling’s leading enterprise. How could an independent woman like her accept an arranged marriage?

“So it’s you!” Lin Yu said in surprise.

Who would have thought that the sickly little girl from years ago had grown into such a stunning beauty?

“Since you know who I am, Mr. Lin, let’s not waste words. I’m here to end the engagement. Name your price—whatever you want.”

So she had come to break off the engagement. Lin Yu studied Xu Qingcheng carefully; she was certainly shrewd, knowing to strike first. It was clear this fiancée he’d never met was no ordinary woman.

“Mr. Lin, before coming here, I looked into your background. Life hasn’t been easy for you. You barely make a living at this stall. If you hand over the marriage contract and dissolve the engagement, you’ll never have to worry about the basics of life again.”

From her investigation, Xu Qingcheng had seen that a man like Lin Yu would accept the right price. Any problem that could be solved with money was no problem at all—and money was the one thing she had in abundance.

She handed him a blank check.

“Fill in any amount you like.” Her tone remained as cold as ever.

“Any amount at all?” Lin Yu chuckled.

“Of course,” Xu Qingcheng replied, a slight smile breaking through her icy demeanor. “If money can solve it, it couldn’t be simpler.”

Lin Yu accepted the check and quickly filled in a long string of numbers.

Satisfied, he nodded and handed it back to her.

So that’s all it took, he thought. In the end, every person, no matter who, bends for a bowl of rice.

As Xu Qingcheng took the check from him, the fleeting smile vanished from her face, replaced by a flash of anger.

She glared hard at Lin Yu. “Are you mocking me?”

Her fury was as sharp as Lin Yu’s careless grin.

He had filled every available digit before the decimal point on the check, then added several more, making it a twelve-digit sum.

“Miss Xu, you said I could fill in any amount. Are you going back on your word?” Lin Yu smiled broadly.

“I said you could write a reasonable amount, not this nonsense!”

Xu Qingcheng was fuming; she was certain now that the man before her was making a fool of her.