34 Threa

Ji Shizhen walked to the medical records desk and began the process of checking the patient that was under his care.

\"I've come to pay for the medical bill of Lu Chen, he is the male patient that was seen by Dr. Wu.\"

The young doctor did not know what came over him as he lied smoothly to the medical receptionist who wore a navy-blue scrub and pants.

\"Dr. Ji there is no one with that name that was checked in, are you sure that is the right name?\"

A frown appeared on the thin face of the receptionist as he faced the doctor that stood at the counter. Ji Shizhen schooled his face to remain calm while choosing not to back down nor change his story.

\"Ms. Li, the patient was not in the right frame of mind to tell us his name when he first came in, but now he is settled and in a better frame of mind. I was able to obtain his name, there was so much going on that I forgot to send one of the nurses to provide you his name. Do you have an unnamed male between the age 20-39 years of age?\"

Ji Shizhen sent a questioning look at the woman who then began to fidget at the intensity of the doctor's gaze. The purpose was clear, he wanted to make her give in so that he could be on his merry way.

\"I… The person that I took over from mentioned that there was a man that the paramedics couldn't identify his name, is that whom you are referring to?\"

Li Xiaotong's face became reddened at the awkward situation she was in, shifting from one leg to another in nervousness.

\"That's about right, he is the one that you didn't know of, can you tell me how much his entire bill is so that I can pay for it?\"

In a no-nonsense tone, the doctor stirred the conversation back to what brought him to the receptionist's desk.

\"I…. I didn't mean to get carried away… the payment due is 3.540.70 Yuan.\"

Looking at the screen of the computer, Li Xiaotong called out the figure of the medical expenses incurred by the demon lord.

\"3.540.70 Yuan? Can I use my employee discount? He is a family friend.\"

Ji Shizhen told another lie and this time it came with a nice gentle smile on his face.

\"Employee discounts are used for family, I don't think this applies, Dr. Ji!\"

The medical receptionist's voice rose slightly higher to turn down the request of a fellow staff at the hospital.

\"Are you sure? Because I have seen discounts been used by some of your colleagues for their neighbors. Unless you want me to take it up with HR!\"

Li Xiaotong's face froze, the finger she laid across the keyboard trembled with unimaginable fear. Should the doctor choose to report what they at the medical receptionist desk did, then HR would not hesitate to lay them off for good. That was a too good an opportunity to pass off on hiring fresh faces into the emergency room.

\"Why is Dr. Ji like this? I thought he was a really nice man!\"

\"So, what do you want to do? Should I drop a voice message for HR to listen to the next day or you do me this small favor and I wouldn't expose you and your friends?\"

\"Ha! He sure has a way with words! But if I refuse to do as he says and he goes ahead to report me to HR, I would be homeless! I live paycheck to paycheck! What am I going to do if the hospital fires me for abusing the system?!!!\"

Li Xiaotong's face broke into cold sweat, she could see a bleak future ahead of her with thoughts of eating noodles from cellophane cups and using old newspaper as her blanket at night.

\"I have to give in, moreover if he joins in too then he would not be able to report any of us!\"

Satisfied that she was doing the right thing, the receptionist gave a quick nod at the doctor.

\"Hold on, let me get my employee discount card and pay card from my wallet.\"

Smiling broadly, Ji Shizhen reached into the side pocket of his lab coat and pulled two cards to hand to the receptionist.

\"ZhenZhen, this is your birthday gift. It's a prepaid card that you can shop wherever you want, most merchants would accept it. Happy Birthday my dear son!\"

Ji Shizhen's thought went back to how he got the prepaid card, which was a gift from his mother. Although he wouldn't have minded having some other type of gift, yet he felt grateful to have the card in hand.

\"With the discount your balance is 2.478.49 Yuan, I'll be swiping your other card.\"

In a sour tone, the receptionist after keying into the system the employee number on the purple card, she went on to swipe the red prepaid card by the portable payment machine by the computer.

\"You have 7.521.51 Yuan on your card, here is your receipt, Dr. Ji.\"

Tearing the white paper with some printed numbers on them, Li Xiaotong hand the cards and receipt to the doctor.

\"10.000.00 Yuan, that card was worth that much? I thought I would have to pay the rest with cash or my debit card!\"

Inside of him, Ji Shizhen was ecstatic that he wouldn't have to pay a dime out of pocket.

\"Thank you, Dr. Ji, I hope you have a great evening.\"

In a tone that was anything but welcoming, the woman had to force herself to be professional to the staff that was of a higher rank than her at the hospital.

\"Thank you for all your help Ms. Li, do I need to sign anywhere?\"

Ji Shizhen saw the way her face tightening up in anger before quickly dissolving into a forced smile.

\"No, Dr. Ji you don't have to do anything else.\"

At a few feet from where Ji Shizhen stood, a demon lord with no memory began looking around at an unfamiliar environment.