Ye Chen's Socially Awkward Moment

Ye Chen's voice echoed through the banquet hall.

Everyone stopped what they were doing.

Wine glasses paused in mid-air, chopsticks hovered over plates, and conversations abruptly ceased.

Hundreds of pairs of eyes turned in unison to look at the young man standing in the center of the hall.

Ye Chen was wearing an ill-fitting dark blue suit; his tie was crooked, and his cuff buttons were undone.

His hair was somewhat disheveled, his eyes were bloodshot, and a dark stubble covered his chin.

Compared to the impeccably dressed, sophisticated elites and dignitaries surrounding him, he looked like a beggar who had mistakenly wandered into a royal palace.

But he was completely oblivious to this.

His eyes were solely focused on Su Qingxue.

"Qingxue! Listen to me!"

Ye Chen took another step forward, his voice filled with urgency.

"Shen Fei is a person of wicked intentions! He is just using the Su family's predicament to control you! You won't have a good end if you stay with him!"

"Come with me! As long as I'm here, I can definitely solve the Su family's problems!"

The entire hall fell silent for two seconds.

Then, whispers spread like a tidal wave.

"Who is this? How dare he crash in here dressed like that?"

"I think his name is Ye something... That bodyguard next to Su Qingxue?"

"You've got to be kidding me? A bodyguard ran into the Jinling Chamber of Commerce banquet to snatch someone away?"

"He said he would help the Su family solve their problems? What is he going to use? That cheap knockoff suit?"

Laughter erupted from every corner.

At first, it was just suppressed snickers, but it grew louder and more unrestrained.

No one took Ye Chen seriously.

In this banquet hall, even the cheapest pair of leather shoes cost tens of thousands. Yet Ye Chen's entire outfit combined was probably worth less than five hundred.

Every word he said sounded like a joke to these people's ears.

Ye Chen's face flushed bright red.

But he didn't care what these people thought of him.

He only cared about Su Qingxue.

"Qingxue!"

His gaze pierced through the crowd, staring fixedly at the main table.

Su Qingxue sat there, motionless.

Her face was pale, her lips pressed tightly together, and she looked at Ye Chen with a complex expression.

But she didn't stand up.

Nor did she respond.

Ye Chen felt as if his heart had been ruthlessly squeezed.

"Qingxue, look at me!"

He took a few more steps closer, his tone bordering on pleading.

"I know you came here for the sake of the Su family! But you don't have to compromise yourself! You don't have to be Shen Fei's date!"

"Even though I, Ye Chen, don't have much money right now, I have skills! I am a once-in-a-century genius of the Xuantian Sect! My medical skills are unmatched in this world! Just give me time, and I can give you anything!"

He shouted himself hoarse, wishing he could rip his heart out and lay it bare before Su Qingxue.

The banquet hall grew even quieter.

But this silence wasn't out of being moved.

It was because everyone present was staring at him as if looking at a clown.

Some shook their heads.

Some sneered.

Some even raised their phones and started recording.

Ye Chen stood in the center of the banquet hall, like a joke illuminated by a spotlight.

He himself was completely unaware.

Shen Fei hadn't spoken a word the entire time.

He sat in the seat of honor, one hand resting on the armrest, the other holding a wine glass, his posture as relaxed as if he were watching a play.

In this play, Ye Chen was the leading actor, and the entire high society of Jinling was the audience.

And he was the director.

Shen Fei unhurriedly set down his wine glass and finally spoke.

"Mr. Ye."

His voice wasn't loud, but the entire banquet hall instantly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Ye Chen shifted his gaze away from Su Qingxue and looked at Shen Fei.

Their eyes met.

Ye Chen's eyes were filled with anger, unwillingness, and hatred.

Shen Fei's eyes held nothing; they were as calm as still water.

"You say your medical skills are unmatched in this world."

Shen Fei stood up and adjusted his cuffs.

"You said this once at my house, once at the Zhao family's house, and now you're saying it again."

He looked around at the guests present.

"Coincidentally, there are a few seniors from the medical field seated here tonight. Since Mr. Ye is so confident, why not let everyone witness it?"

Ye Chen was taken aback.

The entire hall was also taken aback.

Shen Fei raised his hand and pointed to a table in the corner.

"Sitting over there is Professor Qian from Jinling Medical University, a national authority in the field of gastroenterology."

He then pointed to another table.

"That is Director Sun from the Provincial People's Hospital, a cardiac surgery expert who has performed over a thousand open-heart surgeries."

Finally, he pointed to a seat by the window.

"And there is Elder Zhou, the founder of the Institute of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, a figure at the level of a national grandmaster of medicine."

As the three names were announced, the surrounding people showed expressions of sudden realization.

These three were all titan-level figures in Jinling's medical field; any one of them could cause an uproar in academic circles.

The reason they appeared at the Chamber of Commerce banquet was that they had their respective medical groups and pharmaceutical companies behind them, making them half-businessmen themselves.

Shen Fei looked at Ye Chen, his tone as casual as if they were just chatting.

"Mr. Ye, you say you are an unmatched divine doctor. Then why not have a spar with these seniors and open everyone's eyes?"

The entire hall was in an uproar!

This move was too vicious!

Everyone present was shrewd and instantly saw through Shen Fei's intentions.

Ye Chen claimed to be a divine doctor, fine, then I'll find real medical authorities to compete with you.

If you really have skills, then you're truly impressive.

If you don't, then the signboard of 'unmatched divine doctor' will be smashed to pieces in front of all of Jinling.

This wasn't slapping someone's face with a fist.

This was slapping their face with the rules.

Slapping their face with status.

Slapping their face with a dimensional strike.

Ye Chen stood rooted to the spot, his expression shifting several times.

Of course he had skills.

He had the inheritance of a Medical Immortal; his acupuncture skills were extraordinary, and his pulse diagnosis was infallible. When it came to the practical ability of treating illnesses and saving lives, no one present was his match.

But Shen Fei said "spar."

He wasn't asking him to treat an illness.

He was asking him to compete with medical professors in "medical knowledge."

A crack suddenly appeared in Ye Chen's confidence.

He had grown up on a mountain, learning the ancient medical arts passed down orally by his master and the secret prescriptions from the Medical Immortal's inheritance.

He could take a pulse, apply acupuncture, and formulate all kinds of incredible prescriptions.

But he had never attended a single day of school.

He hadn't read a single modern medical textbook.

Pathology, pharmacology, molecular biology, evidence-based medicine—he hadn't even heard of them.

His medical skills were profoundly mystical "talent-based" skills, not systematized "academic" skills.

At treating illnesses, he was top-tier.

But taking a test...

Ye Chen secretly clenched his fists.

"What? Is Mr. Ye too scared?"

Shen Fei's voice rang out again, neither light nor heavy.

But to Ye Chen's ears, it was no different from a slap in the face.

The eyes of the entire hall were focused on him.

Some were mocking, some curious, and some gloating.

Ye Chen's pride didn't allow him to back down.

He had never chickened out in his entire life!

On Kunlun Mountain, he was a once-in-a-century genius!

After coming down the mountain, he used his medical skills to bring people back from the brink of death; even a severe case like Zhao Wanshan's three-year hemiplegia was an easy fix for him!

What did he have to be afraid of!

"Then let's compete!"

Ye Chen flicked his sleeves and strode to the center of the hall.

"I, Ye Chen, have studied the way of medicine since childhood. Whatever the questions are, bring them on!"

Shen Fei didn't say anything more; he just gave a slight nod.

The three medical titans exchanged a glance, stood up, and walked to the center of the hall.

Professor Qian spoke first, pushing up his gold-rimmed glasses, his tone calm but rigorous.

"Mr. Ye, let me start with a basic question. In the early diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction, what is the detection window for cardiac troponin I? Compared to CK-MB, what are its specific advantages?"

The entire venue fell silent.

Everyone looked at Ye Chen.

Ye Chen stood there, his mouth falling open slightly.

Cardiac troponin I?

CK-MB?

Detection window?

Specific advantages?

These terms hit him over the head like rocks; he couldn't understand a single one of them.

He knew how to take a pulse.

He could determine if there was a problem with a person's heart within three seconds just by feeling their pulse.

But what on earth "the detection window for cardiac troponin I" was, he genuinely had no idea.

Ye Chen's face visibly froze.

He remained silent for three seconds.

Three seconds of silence, in a setting like this, felt longer than three hours.

"This... this is Western medicine. What I study is traditional Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine emphasizes observing, listening, asking, and taking the pulse; it doesn't need these cold statistics..."

He tried to steer the conversation back to his area of expertise.

But Professor Qian didn't give him the chance.

"Mr. Ye, you just said your medical skills are unparalleled in the world. Being unparalleled should mean making no distinction between Chinese and Western medicine. If you only know the observation, listening, questioning, and pulse-taking of Chinese medicine, isn't the scope of your 'unparalleled' skills a bit too narrow?"

Laughter erupted from all around.

Some covered their mouths to snicker, while others laughed out loud.

Ye Chen's face flushed the color of pig liver.

Director Sun stepped forward and threw out the second question.

"Let me ask a simpler one. What is the classification standard for Stanford Type A and Type B aortic dissection? What is the preferred treatment plan for Type A?"

Ye Chen froze again.

He scoured his mind through all the contents of the Medical Immortal's inheritance.

Nothing.

The Medical Immortal's inheritance contained thousands of precious prescriptions, long-lost meridian charts, and acupuncture techniques that ordinary people could never learn in a lifetime.

But there was no "Stanford classification of aortic dissection."

Because this was a classification system of modern medicine, a product of the industrialized age.

And what he had learned were ancient medical techniques from three thousand years ago.

"I..."

Ye Chen's lips moved, but no sound came out.

The laughter around him grew louder.

People were already beginning to whisper to one another.

"This is the unparalleled divine doctor?"

"He can't even answer basic questions..."

"He's probably just a quack, isn't he?"

Sweat beaded on Ye Chen's forehead.

Finally, Elder Zhou stepped forward.

He was a leading authority in the field of integrative medicine, and logically, he should have been the one most likely to speak up for Ye Chen.

But the question he asked was even more fatal.

"Young man, you say you have studied medicine since childhood. Then let me ask you a question about traditional Chinese medicine."

Ye Chen's eyes lit up.

Chinese medicine!

This was his domain!

Elder Zhou stroked his beard and spoke unhurriedly.

"In the Shaoyang Disease chapter of the Treatise on Cold Damage, what are the seven medicinal ingredients that make up the Minor Bupleurum Decoction? What are the contraindications after taking it? If the patient simultaneously presents with a concurrent syndrome of Yangming Bowel Repletion, how should the prescription be modified?"

Ye Chen's mouth opened.

Minor Bupleurum Decoction.

Seven ingredients.

Bupleurum, Scutellaria, Ginseng, Pinellia, Licorice, Ginger, and Jujube.

He knew this one!

"Bupleurum, Scutellaria, Ginseng, Pinellia, Licorice, Ginger, and Jujube!"

Ye Chen blurted out, his voice growing a bit louder.

Elder Zhou nodded.

"Correct. And the contraindications?"

Ye Chen's mouth closed again.

Contraindications?

When his master taught him, he had never mentioned any contraindications.

His master had only taught him prescriptions and acupuncture techniques. As for medical theory... his master had only said one thing: "You are extraordinarily gifted. Just do as I do, and don't ask why."

So Ye Chen knew how to use this prescription, but he didn't know why it was used that way.

He knew how to prescribe medicine, but he didn't know the pharmacology.

He knew the how, but not the why.

Elder Zhou waited for five seconds and sighed.

"What about the modifications?"

Ye Chen remained silent.

Elder Zhou shook his head and retreated to his seat.

He didn't say anything harsh, but that shake of the head was more devastating than any criticism.

Even the grandmaster of Chinese medicine had shaken his head.

No one in the audience still thought Ye Chen was some "unparalleled divine doctor."

The laughter had turned into outright jeering.

"This is way too embarrassing, right?"

"He can't even fully answer a question on Chinese medicine, and he calls himself unparalleled?"

"I think he's just a half-wit who knows a few acupuncture tricks and came out to swindle people."

"Good thing I didn't let him treat me. With this level of skill, he wouldn't even know how he killed his patients."

Ye Chen stood in the center of the hall, all the blood in his body rushing to his head.

His fists were clenched tight, the veins bulging on the back of his hands.

He wanted to retort!

He wanted to shout, "Let me treat a patient and show you!"

His medical skills were genuinely effective! Zhao Wanshan had been paralyzed for three years, and he had restored the old man's sensation with just one needle!

But no one gave him this opportunity.

This wasn't a hospital, nor was it a clinic; there were no patients for him to demonstrate on.

This was a social event, a vanity fair, a battlefield for the right to speak.

And on this battlefield, the rules were set by Shen Fei.

Shen Fei hadn't lifted a single finger from beginning to end.

He simply switched the track.

He pulled Ye Chen from his strongest suit, "practical application," into his weakest suit, "theory."

A dimensional strike.

To be precise, an alternate-dimensional strike.

Ye Chen felt like a fierce tiger locked in a colosseum, with sharp claws and pointed fangs, but instead of throwing him prey, his opponent had tossed him a math problem.

He had power but nowhere to exert it.

He was so frustrated he felt like he was going to explode.

Right at that moment, Shen Fei's voice rang out.

Unhurried.

Effortlessly casual.

"Mr. Ye, I have a question."

Ye Chen stared at him dead on.

Shen Fei held a wine glass, standing there casually.

"You practice medicine and treat illnesses in Jinling, and you've collected medical fees from quite a few people."

"But as far as I know, you do not possess a Medical Practitioner's License of the People's Republic of China, nor are you registered to practice at any legitimate medical institution."

His voice wasn't loud, but every single word was delivered clearly into the ears of everyone present.

"Someone who doesn't even have a medical license dares to call himself a divine doctor?"

The entire hall fell dead silent.

Then, it erupted into an even louder uproar of discussion.

"What? He doesn't have a medical license?"

"Treating people without a license? Isn't that illegal medical practice?"

"This guy is too bold! What if he kills someone during treatment?"

Ye Chen's mind buzzed and exploded!

A license!

He had never considered this issue!

On Kunlun Mountain, his master never needed any license to treat illnesses and save lives!

In his understanding, medical skill was just medical skill; as long as you had the ability, who needed a damn license!

But he had forgotten.

This wasn't Kunlun Mountain.

This was modern society.

Modern society had laws, rules, and systems.

No matter how brilliant your medical skills were, without a license, you were practicing medicine illegally.

This was an ironclad rule.

No one was an exception.

Ye Chen opened his mouth to say something, but it felt as if an invisible hand was choking his throat.

He couldn't speak.

Because what Shen Fei said was the truth.

He really didn't have a medical practitioner's license.

He really was practicing medicine illegally.

This wasn't something he could just brush off by saying "my medical skills are superb."

Ye Chen stood in the center of the hall, his face deathly pale.

He was surrounded by mocking gazes and hushed laughter.

He felt as if he had been stripped naked and thrown into the crowd on display.

This feeling was ten thousand times worse than taking a physical beating.

Right then, he saw the one scene he least wanted to see.

Su Qingxue.

Sitting beside Shen Fei, the expression on her face was no longer one of struggle or dilemma.

Instead, it was a coldness he had never seen before.

Like she was looking at a stranger.

Then, Su Qingxue made a move.

She raised her hand and took the initiative to link arms with Shen Fei.

Willingly.

Not at Shen Fei's request, nor forced.

It was a choice she made herself.

She chose to stand with Shen Fei.

Chose to draw a clear line between herself and Ye Chen.

Right in front of everyone.

The moment Ye Chen saw this, he felt something shatter in his chest.

His eyes grew bloodshot.

Not out of anger.

Not out of resentment.

But a deeper trauma, stemming from the very depths of his soul.

He had done so much for Su Qingxue.

Saving her life on the mountain.

Backing her up after coming down the mountain.

Curing Zhao Wanshan and subduing Zhao Debiao, all to help the Su family.

He had never expected anything in return.

He just wanted Su Qingxue to know that even though he, Ye Chen, was poor and lacked a prestigious background, he was capable and trustworthy.

But now, Su Qingxue was holding another man's arm, looking at him with the eyes of a stranger.

In front of everyone.

Ye Chen's lips trembled, his voice so hoarse it didn't sound like his own.

"Qingxue... you too..."

Su Qingxue didn't look at him.

Her gaze fell elsewhere, her face devoid of any expression.

Like an ice sculpture.

Shen Fei glanced down at Su Qingxue, then looked up at Ye Chen.

He didn't speak.

But that look was crueler than any words.

It was the composure a victor has when looking down on a loser.

Calm.

Indifferent.

Even carrying a faint hint of boredom.

As if saying: Look, the person you care about the most is now by my side.

Ye Chen was trembling all over.

He turned and stumbled toward the door.

No one stopped him.

No one cared about him either.

He was just a clown who had crashed the banquet; the show was over, and it was time to exit the stage.

The moment Ye Chen walked out the banquet hall doors, a burst of long-suppressed laughter erupted behind him.

The laughter pierced his back like needles.

Needle after needle, dense and relentless.

He quickened his pace, practically fleeing the hotel.

The night wind poured down his collar, so cold it made him shiver.

He stood on the steps at the hotel entrance, gasping heavily for air.

His phone screen lit up, popping up a news notification.

It was a video someone had recorded in the banquet hall just now.

The title was already set.

[Uninvited Guest Shocks Jinling Chamber of Commerce Banquet! Self-Proclaimed "Peerless Divine Doctor" Doesn't Even Know Basic Medical Knowledge! Entire Hall Erupts in Laughter!]

The video's view count was climbing rapidly.

One hundred.

One thousand.

Ten thousand.

Ye Chen stared at the screen, those glaring numbers reflecting in his pupils.

All of Jinling would see it.

All of Jinling would laugh at him.

He, Ye Chen, a once-in-a-century genius of Kunlun Mountain, the closed-door disciple of the Third Elder of the Profound Heaven Sect, the inheritor of the Medical Immortal's legacy.

Publicly slapped in the face at the highest-level social event in Jinling.

Crushed into powder by a playboy heir in the most effortless way possible.

Ye Chen shoved the phone back into his pocket.

His eyes turned red.

Not from sorrow.

From hatred.

"Shen Fei..."

His voice was low, like the roar of a wild beast.

"I will remember this."

...

Inside the banquet hall.

Shen Fei watched Ye Chen's departing back and withdrew his gaze.

He looked down at his system panel.

[Child of Fortune Ye Chen publicly humiliated, social reputation collapsed! Minor cracks have appeared in his Dao Heart!]

[Ye Chen's Fortune Points: -600]

[Current Ye Chen Fortune Points: 5888 -> 5288]

Shen Fei picked up his wine glass and gently clinked it against Su Qingxue's.

"Thanks for your hard work tonight."

Su Qingxue kept her head down and didn't reply.

The hand she used to hold Shen Fei's arm never let go.

In fact, it even tightened slightly.