“Lee Jung-hee, are you convinced?”
Ye Qiu’s voice boomed across the stage, resonating like thunder.
Lee Jung-hee’s face was pale, his hair dishevelled, his eyes burning with unwilling rage. Clenching his fists, he roared loudly:
“I’m not convinced!”
Ye Qiu shouted, “Not convinced? Then we keep going!”
“Keep going then, who’s afraid of who, argh…” Lee Jung-hee suddenly cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground.
He was gasping for breath.
He and Ye Qiu had competed in twenty matches without a break, losing every single one. His confidence had been utterly shattered.
Not only that, the twenty matches, from nine in the morning until six in the evening, were conducted without so much as a sip of water. Lee Jung-hee couldn’t hold on any longer.
He was drenched in sweat, his strength completely drained.
If the matches continued, Lee Jung-hee would be exhausted to death.
Lee Min-han quickly supported Lee Jung-hee, angrily shouting, “Ye Qiu, are you trying to kill my father?”
Ye Qiu said with a smile, “Which eye of yours saw me trying to kill him? I just want him to be convinced.”
“I’m not convinced! I’m not convinced!” Lee Jung-hee shouted twice before foaming at the mouth, his body convulsing.
Lee Min-han panicked, “Father, Father…”
At that moment, Ye Qiu said, “Alright, no more competing.”
Lee Min-han breathed a sigh of relief, but then Ye Qiu added, “We’ll continue tomorrow.”
Instantly, Lee Min-han’s face darkened.
He was deeply worried. Given today’s situation, would his father even make it off the stage alive tomorrow?
Regardless, the day’s events had finally come to an end.
Lee Min-han helped Lee Jung-hee leave.
In that moment, the audience’s applause roared like thunder.
The spectators had watched the competition all day, and even now, not a single person had left.
Ye Qiu’s dominant victory over Lee Jung-hee not only thrilled them but also left them in awe of his miraculous medical skills.
The applause ceased.
Ye Qiu stood on the stage, holding the microphone, and said, “Thank you, everyone.”
“I’m terribly sorry for taking up your entire day.”
“I didn’t expect we’d have so many matches today.”
“According to the original agreement, this China-Korea medical contest should have ended long ago, but I didn’t expect Lee Jung-hee to remain unconvinced.”
“This is an unofficial medical competition. Lee Jung-hee refuses to admit defeat, and I can’t force him to do anything, so I can only keep competing until he’s convinced.”
“You’ve all been here watching all day, and I’m sure many of you haven’t eaten yet, right? It’s getting late, so please go grab some food.”
“If you have time tomorrow, you’re welcome to come back and watch the competition.”
“Thank you all.”
Ye Qiu finished speaking and bowed to the audience.
The crowd began to disperse.
As Ye Qiu stepped off the stage, he was immediately surrounded by Zhang Jiuling and the others.
“Well done, Little Ye!”
“This time, you’ve brought honour to Chinese medicine, and we feel proud too.”
“Little Ye, if Lee Jung-hee keeps refusing to accept defeat, what do you plan to do?”
Ye Qiu smiled faintly and said, “My stance is clear: if Lee Jung-hee isn’t convinced, we’ll keep competing.”
“Until he’s convinced!”
“Besides, his medical skills aren’t bad. It’s nice to have him as free labour.”
Free labour?
The three Chinese medicine masters exchanged glances, momentarily confused.
Ye Qiu explained, “In the competition, all the patients treated are Chinese. Although Lee Jung-hee lost every match, he basically cured the patients.”
“And these patients didn’t have to pay him a penny.”
“If that’s not free labour, what is?”
The three masters finally understood Ye Qiu’s clever plan, and Li Chunfeng and Zhang Jiuling burst into laughter.
“What do you think, if Lee Jung-hee knew Little Ye’s intentions, would he be so angry he’d spit blood?”
“Not only did Lee Jung-hee lose the competition, but he’s also being used as free labour, how pitiful!”
Nie Xueliang asked Ye Qiu, “If Lee Jung-hee never admits defeat, does that mean this China-Korea medical contest will never end?”
Ye Qiu shook his head with a smile, “No, Old Nie, it won’t be like that. I believe Lee Jung-hee will be convinced soon.”
“If all goes as expected, this competition will be completely over by tomorrow.”
Oh?
The three masters glanced at Ye Qiu, wondering to themselves, did Ye Qiu already have a plan to make Lee Jung-hee admit defeat?
At that moment, Qin Gang approached.
“Ye Qiu, the academicians asked me to apologise on their behalf.”
“They’re getting on in years, and sitting here all day was too much for them, so I arranged for someone to take them back.”
“The academicians spoke highly of you, saying that Chinese medicine is fortunate to have a talent like you, a great fortune for the nation.”
Ye Qiu said humbly, “The senior academicians are too kind. It seems I’ll need to work even harder in the future.”
“Ye Qiu, no need to be modest, your strength is evident to all.”
Qin Gang suddenly dropped his smile and asked, “When do you plan to bring this competition to a complete end?”
“Tomorrow!” Ye Qiu answered without hesitation.
“It seems you’ve got everything under control, excellent…” Qin Gang glanced behind Ye Qiu, smiled, and said, “I’ll leave you to it, you’re busy!”
Ye Qiu was puzzled.
The competition was over for the day, what was he busy with?
Just as he was wondering, a sweet voice called from behind, “Dr. Ye!”
Ye Qiu turned to see Xu Changjin standing there.
Only then did he understand why Qin Gang had left so suddenly.
Xu Changjin walked over, handing Ye Qiu a takeaway bag, and said, “Dr. Ye, you haven’t eaten yet, right? I got you some fried chicken and a burger, eat up!”
“Thank you.”
Ye Qiu smiled in thanks. After competing all day, he was indeed starving.
The three Chinese medicine masters had wanted to chat more with Ye Qiu, but seeing a pretty girl with him, they decided to leave.
…
Outside the athletics field.
In the car.
After drinking a few sips of water, Lee Jung-hee finally caught his breath and cursed angrily, “That bastard Ye Qiu nearly killed me with exhaustion today.”
Lee Min-han said with a bitter expression, “Father, Ye Qiu said we’ll continue competing tomorrow, what do we do?”
“Hmph, compete then, even if it costs me this old life, I won’t let him have his way,” Lee Jung-hee said, “I am the Korean Medical Saint. I can lose the competition, but I will never lose my dignity.”
Lee Min-han said, “Father, we can’t keep competing.”
“Ye Qiu’s stance is clear: as long as you’re not convinced, he’ll keep competing with you. We can’t keep dragging this out with him.”
“We need to find a way to end this competition.”
Yes, the competition must end.
Otherwise, I’ll be exhausted to death by Ye Qiu.
But how do we end it?
I can’t exactly take my own life in public, can I?
“Min-han, do you have any ideas?”
Lee Min-han looked at Lee Jung-hee, hesitated for a moment, and said, “Father, why don’t we beg for mercy?”
