Chapter 105: Cooperating to Open a Clinic
"Cooperate to open a clinic?" Charlotte was somewhat surprised.
He knew that Diana was initially attracted to his talent, but he didn't expect her to have such a plan.
"There are four large medical centers in the Abyss, and only our Harriman family is missing," Diana explained with a smile. "Based on your abilities, I believe you can run a large medical center, and we can protect you in the Abyss."
"I know that running a medical center can be profitable, with a fee of 10,000 copper coins per person..." Charlotte smiled helplessly.
"But that's for other people's medical centers. The one I run is a private clinic, and the average fee per patient is 200 copper coins.
Even if I see a hundred patients a day, the revenue is only 20,000 copper coins, and I often encounter patients who can't pay and have to mortgage their belongings."
"That was before. If you hang the Harriman family's signboard, you can charge 10,000 copper coins per patient, and I can guarantee that you will receive the full consultation fee," Diana said confidently.
"More importantly, we will use your reputation to recruit some healing magic practitioners to join the clinic and expand its scale."
There was no joy on Charlotte's face as Diana had expected. Instead, he suddenly became calm.
"I started studying surgical operations because I couldn't stand the fact that magical healing cost 10,000 copper coins.
As a result, the idiotic doctors' association framed me and deprived me of my magical source, forcing me to come here.
The Abyss shouldn't be without a clinic for the poor. Should the poor people who can't afford 10,000 copper coins just accept their fate and die?
I don't think so.
That's why I charge 200 copper coins and allow them to pay with equivalent goods.
You may think I'm foolish, but I won't accept a situation where I charge 10,000 copper coins for stitching a wound in my clinic.
By opening a clinic, I want to make healthcare accessible to the poor."
Diana's red lips slightly parted as she looked at Charlotte in astonishment.
In the past few days of getting to know him, she had seen him as a down-and-out, talented but unlucky, opportunistic, not very ambitious, and somewhat lustful little physician.
When she extended the olive branch and offered to cooperate with him under the Harriman family's banner, he should have been ecstatic and grateful.
But he... refused!
His impassioned words made her feel deeply moved.
Looking at the man in front of her, Diana felt like she was seeing him in a new light.
In this world, some people didn't care about money.
And it was this kind of fool that was... strangely likable.
"I understand what you mean," Diana nodded slightly and continued, "I respect your ideals. Even if we cooperate to open a clinic, you can still treat and charge according to your standards. However, at the same time, we can recruit healing magic practitioners, and if patients need magical treatment, we can use the market's fee standards."
"You want to recruit healing magic practitioners based on my reputation, but do you know how bad my reputation is in the industry?" Charlotte's expression was somewhat peculiar.
"The pride of the Calva Medical Academy, the talented alchemist, the shining star of the medical world," Diana listed them one by one.
"Your information is three years outdated," Charlotte laughed and then pointed to himself.
"The shame of the Calva Medical Academy, the fallen alchemist, the despicable medical butcher! That's me."
"That's just the dirt thrown at you by the Doctors Association," Diana shook her head.
Charlotte laughed self-deprecatingly.
"The Doctors Association is the most prestigious and authoritative institution for managing physicians on the Isor continent. All the dirt they throw at you represents absolute authority. They can even revoke your medical license."
He was a veterinarian. How could he possibly...
Forget it, with limited conditions, let's not pursue professionalism and all that.
In this world where medical resources were extremely scarce and exceptionally dangerous, being able to keep patients alive was what made a good doctor.
Therefore, he set himself a goal: to strive to become a qualified surgeon himself while simultaneously training Vivian to become one.
It seemed unreliable.
"But as long as she continues to practice magic, she can become a very promising healing magic practitioner. Would it be a waste of her talent?" Charlotte pondered.
"No, who said she has to give up magic? A true doctor should wield magic in one hand and a scalpel in the other." Charlotte quickly convinced himself.
"After work, I have to urge her to practice magic seriously and not waste her talent."
...
Early the next morning, Vivian was still waiting for him outside the villa to go to work together.
Buddy drove them to the temporary clinic.
"Vivian, have you been neglecting your magic practice lately?" Before opening for business, Charlotte looked at Vivian with a serious expression and asked.
"I... I was afraid of being discovered while staying in the manor, so I didn't dare to practice," Vivian replied softly, feeling for a moment like she was facing her strict magic teacher.
"These past few days can be forgiven, but remember, you are someone who is born to do this. Wasting such magical talent is the greatest blasphemy against the Goddess of Life." Charlotte admonished.
Vivian's eyes widened as she looked at Charlotte, swallowed nervously, and asked softly, "Boss, is this what your teacher used to say to you?"
"How did you know?" Charlotte was surprised.
"I've heard this phrase so many times that my ears are calloused," Vivian rolled her eyes.
Charlotte: ...
He didn't expect that teachers would use the same lines on prodigies. It's unoriginal.
"Boss, you said you would teach me suturing yesterday but disappeared in the afternoon. When will you teach me suturing?" Vivian approached, grabbed his sleeve, and looked at him expectantly.
"I was researching anesthetic potions yesterday and forgot about it." Charlotte felt guilty and quickly promised, "I will teach you suturing this afternoon."
"Well, you better keep your word," Vivian nodded and then curiously asked, "Did you successfully refine the anesthetic potion? Is the prescription real?"
Charlotte opened the medical kit he carried with him and took out a bottle of colorless and transparent potion.
"Is this the anesthetic potion? It looks like plain water," Vivian opened the bottle and gently waved her hand over the opening, sniffing it.
"It even has a faint fragrance. Does it have an anesthetic effect?"
"I tested it on Jerry#1 and Jerry#2, and it should have some effect," Charlotte nodded.
Bang, bang!
"Doctor! Doctor! Help, doctor!"
Suddenly, a loud knocking sound came from outside the door, accompanied by an anxious voice.
Outside the door, a girl with wheat-colored skin wearing a fur bandeau and a short skirt stood knocking on the clinic door, holding a wooden board.
On the wooden board lay a sturdy young man with four arrows in himtwo in his legs, one in his abdomen, and one in his arm.
His soles were also soaked in blood as if they had been pierced by a sharp object, and he groaned in pain.