Chapter 684 - 684: Ganging Up on the White-Eyed Wolf

"Trying to leave? It's not that easy!"

The diners surged forward, surrounding the caustic-looking middle-aged man and his companion.

The guy was terrified. His face was pale and his voice trembled as he said, "What do you think you're doing? I'm warning you, assault is illegal!"

His warning didn't scare anyone off. The crowd didn't lay a hand on him, but simply shouted:

"Apologize!"

"That's right, apologize to Dr. Zhao!"

"If you don't apologize today, don't even think about leaving!"

Zhao Yuan was moved by the crowd's reaction. It affirmed his belief that while there were some shameless scoundrels in the world, there were far more good people.

He also spoke up. "Not only do you need to apologize, but you also need to pay my consultation fee."

The caustic-looking middle-aged man was stunned. "Why should I pay a consultation fee? None of them did!"

Zhao Yuan replied, "I was happy to diagnose them for free. But for you, I'm not."

"And if I don't pay? What can you do to me?" the caustic-looking middle-aged man asked, a disgruntled look on his face.

"You'll have to ask everyone else," Zhao Yuan said with a shrug, his expression clearly saying, 'If you want to dig your own grave, I won't stop you.'

The crowd played along, putting on fierce and menacing expressions. Someone even cracked their knuckles with a loud "CRACK CRACK".

Seeing this, the caustic-looking middle-aged man lost his nerve. He asked, "How much is the consultation fee?"

"That's up to you. Pay whatever you think your health is worth."

Zhao Yuan didn't actually want the money. With his current net worth, why would he care about such a small amount? He just wanted to teach this caustic-looking man a lesson—to let the jerk know that when people are nice to you, it's because they're kind, not because they owe you anything. If you don't appreciate it, then you'll have to pay the price.

The caustic-looking middle-aged man hesitated for a moment, then pulled out ten dollars. Before Zhao Yuan could even speak, the surrounding diners started jeering.

"Damn, ten dollars? You have the nerve to offer that?"

"Even a basic registration fee at a hospital costs more than ten dollars these days, right? You're doing this on purpose to insult him, aren't you?"

"So your health is only worth ten dollars? That's less than an animal!"

Even his companion couldn't stand it anymore and complained, "Xing Hexin, oh, Xing Hexin, if you want to get yourself killed, do it alone! Don't drag me down with you."

Xing Hexin's face paled and flushed from the ridicule. He demanded, "Fine, then you tell me! How much should I give?"

"Give him all the money you have on you!" someone shouted.

The suggestion met with everyone's approval. "That's right! We won't make it hard on you. Just hand over all the cash you have on you as the consultation fee!"

Of course, Xing Hexin was unwilling, but facing the furious crowd, how could he dare to refuse? With a miserable expression, he could only take out all the cash he had on his person.

'Robbers! They're all robbers! As soon as I get out of here, I'm calling the cops and having every last one of you arrested!' he seethed and muttered through clenched teeth.

It was actually a lot of money—at least ten or twenty thousand.

But Zhao Yuan didn't take the money. He turned to the restaurant manager standing nearby and said, "Please donate this money to a charity. We can consider it helping him do a good deed and build some good karma."

As soon as he said this, he was met with a chorus of praise from the crowd.

"Dr. Zhao is truly a man of integrity!"

"See that? Dr. Zhao is helping you do a good deed. Hurry up and thank him!"

"You should learn from this. Do more good deeds in the future, and stop being such a disgusting person."

Xing Hexin was furious when he heard this, but no matter how angry he was, he had to suppress it and didn't dare let it show.

He really didn't want to get beaten up.

"I've paid the consultation fee. Can I go now?" Xing Hexin asked. He felt like crying. A consultation fee of ten or twenty thousand—this was one extravagant check-up.

"Go where? You haven't apologized yet!" the crowd replied.

"But I already paid..." Xing Hexin said with a miserable look.

"Paying is one thing, apologizing is another," the crowd corrected him.

The situation was out of his hands. Xing Hexin had no choice but to apologize to Zhao Yuan. Afterward, he asked cautiously, "Can I go now?"

"Go on," Zhao Yuan said with a wave of his hand, lecturing him, "Try to be a better person from now on. I'm kind-hearted and easygoing. If you had offended someone else, you wouldn't have gotten off so easily."

Xing Hexin was fuming and complained internally: 'I just lost ten or twenty thousand, for crying out loud! And you call yourself kind-hearted and easygoing? Could you be any more shameless? And what the hell is this "be a better person" nonsense? It's not like I just got released from prison!'

He grabbed his companion and was about to leave when the manager of Lakefront House called out to him, "Wait a moment."

"What is it now?" Xing Hexin asked, a hint of a sob in his voice. 'I just want to leave this place! Are you people ever going to be done with me?'

The manager replied, "You haven't paid for your meal yet. Will you be using a card or paying with cash?"

'Pay with cash? Do I look like I have any damn cash left?'

Xing Hexin really wanted to curse out the manager, but in the end, he swallowed his anger. He obediently took out his bank card, paid the bill, and then bolted, terrified that if he were a second too slow, he'd be called back again.

Watching his pathetic retreat, the diners burst into uproarious laughter, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.

Zhao Yuan cupped his hands in a gesture of thanks to the crowd. "Thank you all for your help."

"Don't thank us! We should be the ones thanking you!"

"Yeah, you sacrificed your own time to give us free consultations. It must have been hard work!"

"We're not a bunch of ingrates who take kindness for granted."

Everyone started talking at once. Their words were simple but sincere, and Zhao Yuan was deeply moved.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Zhao Yuan excused himself and followed the manager to the employee break room nearby.

Zhao Ling had already finished the test questions, and several teachers were in the process of grading them.

As soon as Zhao Yuan entered the break room, he cupped his hands in apology. "I'm so sorry to have kept you teachers waiting."

"It's no problem. It actually gave us the time to finish assessing Zhao Ling," Xu Yang said, looking up.

"Thank you for your hard work." After expressing his gratitude, Zhao Yuan asked, "How is my sister's academic performance?"

Xu Yang glanced at the graded tests in the other teachers' hands and replied, "Zhao Ling is quite good in subjects like language and mathematics. However, she's a bit behind in English and chemistry. If she's going to get tutoring, I'd suggest focusing more on those subjects."

After all, the school Zhao Ling had attended had limited educational resources. While subjects like language and math were fine, the instruction in English and chemistry was indeed subpar, so it was normal for there to be a gap.

The other teachers also pointed out Zhao Ling's weaknesses and offered suggestions for tutoring. Both Zhao Yuan and Zhao Ling listened very attentively, taking every word the teachers said to heart.