"Lin Jie, how dare you toy with me!"

Lin Jie's words made Han Wenbin furious. He started looking around the clinic's lobby, seemingly trying to find something handy to teach Lin Jie a lesson.

The tightly-wrapped woman hurriedly followed, grabbing his arm and shouting, "Han Wenbin, don't be impulsive. Lin Jie has no reason to toy with us."

Her voice was like sawing wood, making people feel uncomfortable from the bottom of their hearts, without any smoothness.

Though the voice was unpleasant, it seemed to have an indescribable magic that calmed Han Wenbin down. He just glared at Lin Jie angrily.

As the woman gradually removed her baseball cap, large sunglasses, and mask, Lin Jie finally understood why she, Xiaoxiao, covered her face so completely.

Xiaoxiao's face was covered with acne, bumpy and somewhat daunting.

She gave Lin Jie a bitter smile, pointed at her face, and said hoarsely, "Mr. Zhou said it's a side effect of the herbal medicine. As long as I stop drinking it, it'll naturally disappear in ten days or so."

Xiaoxiao confirmed, "Lin Jie, are you really the expert rumored to have treated Du Feixue's voice?"

Lin Jie nodded, saying, "Indeed I am, though it sounds a bit unbelievable!"

"How is that possible? You're so young! It's not like I don't know some things about you!" Han Wenbin exclaimed.

"Wenbin, I believe it!"

Xiaoxiao looked at Han Wenbin and softly said after he calmed down, "Think carefully, not just one person has drank from my special drink. Why is it that only Lin Jie tasted a sip and deduced there was a problem with the drink?"

"And about the confidentiality agreement we just signed—if there's a real expert, why go through the trouble?"

"Du Feixue and Zhang Daya from Zhujia Port are real examples; this is not fabricated out of thin air."

"And more importantly, in the whole Binhai City, there might be people daring to mess with you, but I'm certain Lin Jie here is definitely not one of them."

Listening to Xiaoxiao's thorough analysis, Lin Jie came to understand that those who succeed in any industry aren't just talented; they're definitely not fools in terms of intelligence.

Han Wenbin's expression also softened a bit, nodding, "Indeed, in all of Binhai City, there's truly no one who dares to mess with me, or I'd make them regret being born by their mother."

He shifted his gaze to Lin Jie, clasped his hands, and said, "I'm sorry, Lin Jie. I was just too impulsive and shocked earlier. Please don't take it to heart, and please make sure to heal Xiaoxiao's voice."

"I also know your sister is a fan of Xiaoxiao and loves listening to her songs. She's definitely hoping with all her heart for Xiaoxiao to recover her original voice!"

Lin Jie now saw Han Wenbin differently, not just as a spoiled rich kid who was arrogant and impulsive. He could bow down and take a more circuitous emotional route.

He pointed to the examination chair beside him and said to Xiaoxiao, "Have a seat. Let me check you first!"

Using visual inspection and tools like a laryngoscope, Lin Jie found Xiaoxiao's vocal cord polyps were seriously overgrown, with the average thickness nearly twice that of a normal person's.

After the examination, Lin Jie pondered for a moment and said, "Removing the polyps is actually a very simple procedure. Any qualified laryngologist can do it, but the challenge lies in restoring the voice's authenticity."

He looked into Xiaoxiao's eyes and said, "To be honest, I am confident of achieving over ninety-five percent vocal similarity, but a hundred percent—it's absolutely impossible."

"Any surgery causes some damage to the body, so a hundred percent recovery is impossible."

Xiaoxiao nodded, saying, "I understand this principle, but I've always held out hope."

She glanced at Han Wenbin and then back at Lin Jie, determinedly saying, "Expert Lin, I trust you. Just for the fact you made Du Feixue's voice so beautiful now, if you operate, my voice won't worsen."

"Actually, there was an element of luck in Du Feixue's surgery!" Lin Jie candidly said.

Xiaoxiao chuckled, "Luck—I don't lack that. Even if my voice isn't perfect after recovery, it's fine. I might not necessarily continue singing..."

She turned her gaze to Han Wenbin, emotionally saying, "This unexpected event opened my eyes to many people, clarified many things for me, and made me meet the one I should cherish most!"

Another wave of public displays of affection, and Lin Jie rolled his eyes disdainfully, thinking, I'm in a relationship too, okay?

"Lin... Expert Lin!"

Han Wenbin was somewhat unfamiliar with this new title, but his tongue was quick, "Please do your best to restore Xiaoxiao's voice. Singing is her passion, and if she can't sing in the future, I think her smiles will be much fewer."

"For this surgery, whatever you need, just say it. Money is not an issue."

Lin Jie grandly waved his hand, saying, "I'm not the kind of person who would take advantage of the situation to demand a high price. Your surgery fee will be the same as Du Feixue's. Fifty thousand for the clinic's surgery fee, five thousand for anesthesia, and fifty thousand for my expert fee."

Han Wenbin was startled and said, "How can that be! Xiaoxiao can't be compared to Du Feixue. Your expert fee should be at least five hundred thousand."

Lin Jie laughed, taking the opportunity without hesitation, "I never refuse more money. If you insist on giving it, I won't decline."

"Regarding the surgery time, if you don't have any special plans, let's schedule it for the day after tomorrow, Thursday night at nine!"

After exchanging glances, Xiaoxiao and Han Wenbin both nodded and said, "Alright, let's set the time for Thursday night at nine!"

Lin Jie reiterated some pre-surgery precautions and preparations to Xiaoxiao and suddenly remembered something, curiously asking, "Xiaoxiao, is it true or false that the news says you received a two million voice insurance payout?"

Xiaoxiao said somewhat bitterly, "That's true. It was taken out by my former agency as a publicity stunt. I didn't expect the policy would actually be valid."

Lin Jie uttered an "oh" and continued to ask, "If my surgery helps your voice recover fairly well, would the insurance company try to reclaim the money?"

"That won't happen!"

Xiaoxiao smiled, "Before the insurance company paid out, they consulted several well-known medical experts domestically. They unanimously concluded that my voice could be greatly improved through surgery, but returning to its original state was impossible."

"In other words, my original voice is deemed irrevocably damaged, meeting the policy conditions."

Lin Jie nodded, saying, "Indeed, your voice can't be restored to its original state."

After sending off Han Wenbin and Xiaoxiao, Lin Jie spent a long, boring night.

After dawn, he diligently worked through another day, and only at sunset did he drive back to the city.

Lin Jie took a detour to pick up Li Ting from Binhai University since she didn't have evening classes.

This time, Li Ting sat directly in the back seat, crossed her arms, and said angrily, "I need to keep a distance from you, avoiding you, the big pervert, from doing anything bad."

Lin Jie started the car, smiling, "The little lamb is ultimately going to be eaten by the big bad wolf. You'd better behave."

"Not necessarily!" Li Ting retorted, "Even now, the gray wolf hasn't caught a single lamb."

"That's because the gray wolf has a red wolf, doesn't it? Do you want me to find a red wolf?"

Li Ting didn't continue bantering with Lin Jie but instead looked worried, "Lin Jie, do you remember the two roommates we met the day before yesterday, Chen Lili and Fang Yan?"

"I remember, what's wrong? Did you have a fight?" Lin Jie asked casually.

"No! Since we parted, Fang Yan hasn't come back. Though she has been staying out all night quite often this past half-year, she never skipped classes. But now she's missed two days of classes consecutively, and we're all worried!"

Lin Jie was taken aback, asking, "You mean Fang Yan is missing?"

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