Chapter 105: Cooperating to Open a Clinic
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."
Diana fell silent, looking at the man in front of her.
Somehow, she felt a pang of pity.
Her information wasn't outdated.
She had read about Charlotte's entire life.
He was born into a noble family but lost his parents at a young age. With his genius, he graduated from the Calva Academy and became the youngest fourth-tier advanced mage, earning the title of the pride of the Calva Medical Academy.
But then, because he performed surgery on someone abandoned by the gods without authorization, causing the patient's death, he was persecuted by the Doctors Association, imprisoned, stripped of his magical source, and even rejected by the daughter of the city lord, resulting in his expulsion from Calva. He was forced to enter the Abyss and open a small clinic.
His short first half of life was filled with tragedy and brilliance, and it seemed like the god of fate was always toying with him.
But despite all that, he stood here and rejected her recruitment, still striving for the well-being of the poor.
"That's it then. The clinic is currently running smoothly. When I have enough ability to support a large clinic, maybe I will come to you," Charlotte smiled faintly, got up, and walked towards his room.
Tick-tock, tick-tock!
Charlotte heard it, and his heart was bleeding.
He... refused the invitation of a wealthy woman looking for an easy life.
That was a bowl of rice that he could comfortably eat for the rest of his life with open arms.
Why was this damned mouth so stubborn?
Thousands of years later, when someone digs up his grave, they should still find a mouth that hasn't decayed, right?
Closing the door, Charlotte almost couldn't resist slapping himself twice.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Charlotte quickly calmed down.
Diana's invitation was indeed very tempting and a good opportunity for his advancement.
But he couldn't charge 10,000 copper coins. He had seen a minotaur whose wife had cheated on him and was stabbed hundreds of times, a tailor and his daughter persecuted by magical potions and a goblin who used a white cat as collateral...
If the clinic hung the Harriman name and had fox guards standing at the entrance, would they... still dare to come in?
Money can be earned slowly, but once your conscience is lost, it won't grow back.
I don't care about this money!
Charlotte opened the attribute panel and used the wealth he earned today to buy two bottles of Powerful Potion to calm himself down.
Sitting in the bathtub, Charlotte began to seriously contemplate the future development of the clinic.
Today's business made Charlotte realize something clearly: relying on him alone, the clinic's capacity to receive patients was extremely limited.
Even though he was working at full capacity this morning, he only managed to treat twenty-five patients.
Even if his reputation increased and the number of patients grew, he would still be able to see less than a hundred patients in a day if he worked day and night.
Looking at Vivian, he saw a new direction.
If he trained Vivian to become proficient enough to handle things independently, the number of patients the clinic could receive would double.
If he could cultivate 100 qualified surgeons, the number of emergency patients the clinic could handle would increase by a hundredfold.
Of course, this was an idealized situation.
Talents like Vivian, who had a solid foundation in medicine and quick learning ability, were few and far between.
In professional medical schools, it took five years to train a qualified medical student, and after entering a hospital, it would take another three years of residency to become a preliminary qualified doctor.
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.