The Master’s Mask Unveiled Again
Chapter 960 - 959: A Game Between Both Sides

Chapter 960: Chapter 959: A Game Between Both Sides

Ye Jinwen’s voice caught Du Changyi’s attention.

Only then did Du Changyi lift his head to look outside the crowd. When he saw Ye Jinwen and Ya Ling, two familiar faces, his expression stiffened slightly, caught off guard.

"Doctor Ya?" Du Changyi looked around, confused about why she was here.

Could it be that Ya Ling knew the Lu Family?

Du Changyi was well aware that due to issues surrounding Fu Yu’s surgery and the special medication, he and Ya Ling had clashed several times. Normally, they were mutually disdainful of each other at the hospital and avoided crossing paths.

Meeting under such circumstances today, especially after he’d just listed two conditions for the surgery, made Du Changyi feel both guilty and awkward. He chuckled sheepishly.

It wasn’t that he wanted to recommend Ya Ling, nor was he particularly optimistic about this young surgeon. It was simply because this surgery was extremely risky, and the patient was someone he couldn’t afford to provoke. He didn’t want to shoulder the responsibility, so he thought of handing it off to Ya Ling, the "renowned beacon of surgery."

"Doctor Du?"

Lu Yutian and Yang Can didn’t know Ya Ling personally—they had only heard of her reputation. Upon hearing Ye Jinwen’s refutation, they didn’t pay much attention to it.

Yang Can turned to Du Changyi, "Doctor Du, the situation is urgent. Please help us introduce Doctor Ya Ling."

Lu Yutian added, "Money isn’t an issue."

"Introduce her to you?" Du Changyi paused for a moment, suspecting they were teasing him. "Ya Ling is right here. You can talk to her directly, can’t you?"

"Huh?"

After a moment of stunned silence, Lu Yutian and Yang Can followed Du Changyi’s gaze to the woman with red lips and long, wavy hair standing nearby.

"She’s Ya Ling?" Yang Can was clearly shocked.

Du Changyi nodded.

Cold sweat seemed to rush from Yang Can’s feet to his head. He stared dumbfounded at Ya Ling, utterly at a loss.

So she was Ya Ling?

The renowned surgeon of the Central Hospital?

Having accompanied the elder to the Central Hospital for treatment multiple times, Yang Can naturally knew about Ya Ling’s reputation—and several times, he had even tried to seek her help for the elder’s illnesses.

But there was simply no way to reach her.

Now, the "beacon of surgery" was standing right in front of him, and yet, he’d somehow managed to offend her...

Yang Can’s tongue felt tied in knots. His mouth hung open, but he was unable to utter a single coherent word.

He quickly recalled throwing Ya Ling’s work badge just moments ago, and his heart filled with panic!

So, that was what Lu Mian meant by "indeed not comparable to my friend"!

Even Lu Yutian hadn’t anticipated that someone who appeared ordinary could have such an impressive identity. She blamed herself for grouping Ya Ling with Lu Mian, as birds of a feather flock together, and people inevitably jump to conclusions.

Lu Yutian felt uneasy.

The Nourishing Elixir was provided by Lu Mian, alleviating her grandfather’s symptoms.

Ya Ling was also Lu Mian’s friend, and the best surgeon for her grandfather’s operation.

After analyzing everything, she hadn’t managed to exclude Lu Mian from the equation—instead, the Lu Family now owed her a great debt!

This was not the outcome she wanted.

She turned her back in frustration, lowered her gaze, and began to contemplate other solutions.

Yang Tao, being more composed, immediately dragged his son over to Lu Mian and Ya Ling for the sake of the elder’s surgery.

"Apologize immediately!"

Yang Can was filled with regret and stammered several apologies to Ya Ling in quick succession.

However, all his apologies were directed at Ya Ling; deep down, he still harbored resentment toward Lu Mian.

Ya Ling remained silent, neither agreeing nor declining. She clipped her work badge onto the position near her chest and strolled about leisurely, clearly not planning to enter the emergency room yet.

She wasn’t in a hurry, but Lu Yutian was.

If anything happened to her grandfather, it would lead to major complications for both the family business and internal affairs of the clan.

Lu Yutian approached Du Changyi, "Doctor Du, do you have any other surgeons to recommend?"

Her attitude carried an air of arrogance. Since Ya Ling hadn’t immediately accepted, it was obvious she was playing hard to get, leveraging her position. But Lu Yutian had no plans to waste time on just one person—she certainly wouldn’t indulge anyone’s bad habits.

There were plenty of famous surgeons. She refused to believe Ya Ling was the only one capable of handling this operation.

Du Changyi sighed, "This brings us to the second condition. Globally, Ya Ling is the only one to have performed a surgery using the special medication, with a 100% cure rate."

Other surgeons?

Not many have even had the opportunity to work with the special medication. And Ya Ling’s dexterous hands in surgery—few could compare.

Although Du Changyi didn’t get along with Ya Ling, he had to admit: for this surgery, it could only be Ya Ling!

Lu Yutian’s high-and-mighty attitude crumbled on the spot, silencing her awkwardly.

Yun Sang, Lu Xun, and Yun Zhishu also tactfully chose to remain quiet without relying on their status to meddle in this matter.

Everyone knew what was right and wrong.

While the urgency of the situation was undeniable, respecting the other person’s personal choices was equally important.

Xiao Jianli, Xiao Qimo, and Ye Jinwen didn’t say anything either, though pride was evident in their expressions.

Yang Can and Yang Tao were sweating profusely from anxiety.

"Doctor Ya! With a healer’s heart, you can’t stand by and watch someone die!" Yang Tao pleaded earnestly.

"Doctor Ya, I’m sorry! It was my blindness—please go take a look at the elder!" Yang Can apologized repeatedly.

In truth, Yang Can still wanted to say: how could a doctor let personal feelings affect their professional responsibilities? Isn’t saving lives their duty?

But ultimately, he believed the root cause stemmed from Lu Mian. Clearly, Lu Mian was using this opportunity to stir up trouble, aiming to extract more benefits from the Lu Family!

He had long seen through this woman.

But, since the Lu Family wasn’t indulging her antics, as a mere secretary, he certainly wouldn’t agree to anything either.

If they refused to cooperate?

Then they’d wait it out.

He didn’t believe Lu Mian would truly ignore their elder’s condition—would she dare to challenge the authority of the Lu Family like this?

The hallway suddenly fell silent, as though both sides were engaged in a psychological tug-of-war.

This battle could be summed up as: whoever spoke first would lose.

Ya Ling, frankly, was utterly exasperated with the Lu Family members. They had clearly done wrong, and the truth had come to light—but still couldn’t bring themselves to offer a single apology.

Putting on those lofty airs—who were they trying to impress?

Fuming inwardly, Ya Ling wanted to say more, but Lu Mian shook her head, motioning for her to stop.

To Lu Mian, apologies from others mattered little; she didn’t care.

Instead, in this moment, she stepped forward calmly and gently told Ya Ling, "Zero, go check on him."

With this simple line, the stalemate was broken.

Yang Can, Yang Tao, and Lu Yutian snapped their heads up to look at her in astonishment.

It didn’t make sense...

Lu Mian remained unbothered by their reactions. Slowly and methodically, she helped Ya Ling tie her wavy hair back, exuding calm serenity.

She had never participated in this so-called competition; the only ones struggling for power were the Lu Family members themselves.

Though the Lu Family may have "won," they had also lost every shred of dignity and morality in the process.

Only now did Ya Ling finally nod in agreement.

"Alright."

Her lips curved into a slight smirk as she leaned casually against Lu Mian, her seductive yet understated voice carrying a playful lilt, "Mian, let me make it clear—this is all for you."