Chapter 66: The Aftermath of the Medical Dispute

After tonight.

The matter fermented increasingly, transforming into a traffic magnet.

An escalating number of self-media bloggers published video news related to it.

The comments underneath were roughly divided into two factions.

One was the affirmative faction, supporting Zhou Chen's actions. They believed that a doctor with genuine medical skill and ethics should not be restricted by a mere qualification certificate, and they felt that this incident was a frame-up orchestrated against Zhou Chen behind the scenes.

The other was the opposing faction, who felt that no matter how remarkable Zhou Chen's medical skills were, he should still abide by the law and obtain a practicing certificate before treating patients. They argued that he should not act unilaterally just because he possessed superior medical skills.

However, whether affirmative or opposing, both factions believed that Zhou Chen's complete cure of cancer was false.

The affirmative faction thought it was merely a fabricated gimmick by those framing Zhou Chen.

The opposing faction felt that Zhou Chen was somewhat hot-headed and overly arrogant.

This was the general trend of public opinion.

As for how the situation would eventually develop, it required further investigation by the police.

Those who had previously caused a ruckus and blocked the entrance of Huaxin Hospital were still being interrogated at the police station.

There were fifteen people in total, of whom eight confessed that they had accepted bribes to frame him.

The remaining few insisted that they would only confess after Zhou Chen cured their terminal illnesses.

Moreover, the chief of the police station intentionally leaked this information to reporters.

Then, with the media's fermentation, whether they confessed or not became meaningless.

This group of troublemakers were indeed criminal suspects hired to frame Zhou Chen.

They were called criminal suspects because they had already constituted the serious crime of false accusation.

Under the deliberate arrangement of the police, each of them was sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from over three years to under ten years.

However, serving time in prison no longer mattered to them, as each of them was suffering from terminal illnesses and had not long to live.

The matter was far from over.

Because there were indeed patients who had been treated by Zhou Chen and subsequently died.

Yet, through police investigation and evidence gathering, this too proved to be a frame-up targeting Zhou Chen.

Take the aforementioned elderly woman, for instance: her husband had taken out an insurance policy, so she colluded with her lover to brutally harm him.

It was a shocking revelation—having an affair in one's eighties.

Furthermore, according to the investigation, none of her children were fathered by her husband.

Consequently, after the elderly woman passed away, her children all refused to claim her body, finding it far too humiliating.

Of course, that is a story for later.

In short, once Zhou Chen's innocence was proven, he could at least avoid a prison sentence, needing only to pay a fine before leaving the police station.

Due to the severe public opinion impact generated by this incident, the relevant laws were indeed revised and perfected just a few days later.

Zhou Chen did not even need to pay the fine.

The Yanhuang Health Commission established new qualification certificates across administrative health departments nationwide—namely, the Special Clinical Physician and the Special Professional Physician.

The Special Clinical Physician was akin to Zhou Chen, all-encompassing with superlative medical skills.

Meanwhile, the Special Professional Physician represented achievements in a specific medical field.

For instance, a Special Orthopedic Physician, while authorized to practice legally, could only treat aspects related to orthopedics.

This "professional" designation could also refer to a single disease, such as heart disease.

The condition was that aside from heart disease, no other illnesses could be treated; otherwise, it constituted illegal practice.

Ultimately, this truly validated Cai Yameng's words: There is nothing wrong with my secret crush; the problem lies with the laws of Yan.

Because of this affair, Zhou Chen was thoroughly pushed into the spotlight.

Students of Peking University directly hoisted him to the top spot on the Peking University Charm Ranking.

There are three rankings at Peking University: the Campus Belle Ranking, the Campus Hunk Ranking, and the Charm Ranking.

The Charm Ranking is not restricted by gender or appearance, focusing solely on personal charisma.

Originally holding the top spot was Student Union President Luo Ya.

Yet she was now unseated by Zhou Chen, who led by a wide margin of over three thousand votes.

The resulting consequence was that Zhou Chen did not even dare to attend military training anymore.

Whenever he walked down the path, passing students would approach him to seek medical consultations.

This left Zhou Chen quite helpless.

Still, it was not a major issue; the internet has no memory.

After a short while, he would be pushed out of the limelight by even more sensational news.

The students of Peking University would gradually have their attention captured by various fresh novelties.

During the following days until the end of military training, Zhou Chen immersed himself entirely in consultations at Huaxin Hospital.

He consulted patients continuously from eight in the morning until eight in the evening, with Zhang Bingnan bringing him lunch at noon.

Since Zhou Chen no longer participated in military training, Cai Yameng came to Huaxin Hospital every day as well. Doing nothing in particular, she simply sat in Zhou Chen's consultation room, watching him treat patients.

Zhou Chen's such dedication also stimulated the enthusiasm of other doctors at Huaxin Hospital, prompting physicians in other departments to exert themselves even more in treating patients.

Patients came from far and wide by reputation to seek out Zhou Chen, though he only treated terminal illnesses or particularly tricky conditions.

If the problem was minor, he would pass the patient off to physicians in other departments.

After all, being the First Affiliated Hospital of Peking, the other doctors in the Traditional Chinese Medicine department possessed exceptional skills as well, albeit not as freakishly formidable as Zhou Chen's.

Zhou Chen was hardly showing sheer dedication; the hospital did not pay him a salary.

Everything he did was for his own benefit.

Because among those who came to him for treatment were numerous high-ranking officials and nobles, all of whom served as stepping stones on his path of immortal cultivation.

Tycoons paid for medical treatment with money, while officials paid with precious traditional Chinese medicinal herbs.

Not only that, Zhou Chen would also have them forge partnerships with Yunmei Auction Company to expand its network of connections.

Of course, the most crucial purpose was the growth of the Disease-Devouring Insects.

In modern times, the one thing in endless supply is sick people. Due to better living conditions coupled with the exhaustion of heaven and earth spiritual Qi, human physical bodies lacked robust resistance against illnesses. Consequently, if one picked a random person off the street, they were bound to have ailments.

During this period, the strength of the Disease-Devouring Insect clan grew by leaps and bounds.

On September 15th.

The evening after military training concluded.

The level of the maternal Disease-Devouring Insect reached Level 4, matching the Soul-Devouring Insects.

Under its command were two Level 3 filial Disease-Devouring Insects;
five Level 2 filial Disease-Devouring Insects;
fifteen Level 1 filial Disease-Devouring Insects;
thirty Level 0 filial Disease-Devouring Insects (eggs).

At present, the Disease-Devouring Insects had spread from their original confinement in the TCM department to the entire Huaxin Hospital, substantially boosting the recovery rate of patients in the hospital.

Because the vice president and his secretary engaged in illicit affairs in the office and died of excessive excitement, Zhang Ming旭 (Zhang Mingxu) was appointed to take over the position of vice president.

Upon taking office, Zhang Mingxu's first action at Huaxin Hospital was to carry out a massive purge, subjecting all personnel from the former vice president's faction to investigation.

Those deserving of sentencing were sentenced; those deserving of dismissal were fired.

Huaxin Hospital finally saw the clouds part to reveal the sun.

Disgusting practices like overprescribing medications or prescribing random drugs that caused patients' conditions to drag on without improvement were thoroughly eradicated.

Furthermore, Zhou Chen was promoted to the head of the TCM department at Huaxin Hospital, and all doctors in the department were required to obey his directives.

This was genuine authority. After all, Zhou Chen now held the Special Clinical Physician qualification certificate, and the other doctors universally recognized and adored his medical prowess, leaving no room for anyone to raise objections.