"It started five days ago."
Ms. Lin looked at the unsightly red spots on her hands and felt a surge of complaint. "It began with just a few spots, and they were itchy, but I didn't pay much attention, thinking it was just an allergy. The next morning, however, red spots appeared on both my hands and neck, even on my chest. Young man, you see..."
As she spoke, she reached for her collar, startling Wan Yunting, who quickly stopped her. "No need, no need. I'm quite certain I know what your condition is."
"Alright."
Seeing this, Ms. Lin released her collar and said, "At first, I went to the hospital, and they prescribed medication for me to apply. But after two days of using it, not only did the red spots not disappear, they actually increased. Only then did I seek out Doctor Gu, and he arranged for me to come here today to be examined by you all. It's so crowded; it would be terrible if someone recognized me..."
Listening to Ms. Lin’s endless chatter, Wan Yunting found it amusing. He suddenly asked, "Ms. Lin, do you happen to really like wearing gold?"
"Yes, I do."
Ms. Lin nodded, lifting her hands to show Wan Yunting her gold bracelets and rings. "I've loved gold since I was a child, but my family was very poor before. After I started my own company and became wealthy, I bought gold from all over the world. These bracelets, rings, and the necklace were all purchased abroad last month. Look how exquisite the craftsmanship is..."
Looking closely at the gold bracelet on her wrist, Wan Yunting raised an eyebrow and asked, "Could you take it off for me to examine?"
"Certainly."
Ms. Lin took off the gold bracelet and handed it to him. Wan Yunting held it, examining it closely, then brought it to his nose and sniffed it a few times. A smile then touched his lips as he returned the bracelet to Ms. Lin. "Alright, Ms. Lin, I understand the cause of your illness. Thank you for your trouble."
With that, Wan Yunting stood up, ready to return and write down her diagnosis. Ms. Lin quickly said, "Young man, can we add each other on WeChat?"
Wan Yunting paused, then turned and offered Ms. Lin a polite smile before returning to his seat. He picked up a sheet of paper, smoothed it out, then picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and began to write: "Rash and red spots, caused by toxic gold. Use honeysuckle vine, mugwort..."
After finishing, Wan Yunting put down his brush, stood up, flicked the paper a couple of times, and handed it to Deng Hongsheng. Deng Hongsheng, in turn, passed it to Gu Yuanbai. Gu Yuanbai read the prescription written by Wan Yunting, and upon seeing that the cause was gold, he immediately smiled and nodded at Wan Yunting below.
"Wow, this Jin Ti script is truly exquisite," Wei Datong exclaimed, looking at the prescription Wan Yunting had written in the "Slender Gold" style.
"Indeed, I'm beginning to understand why Old Gu and Old Jiang recommended Wan Yunting for the position of Vice Chairman of the association," Song Chengqi stroked his goatee and said with a smile. "Although I admit my granddaughter, Song Sinan, is also very accomplished, just from the fact that Wan Yunting insists on writing prescriptions with a brush, the person who taught him must be a highly principled master who adheres to ancestral teachings!"
"Yes, I agree with Old Song," Zhang Fenglin, Zhang Xiaoyu's father, nodded. They could see a temperament in Wan Yunting that was absent in young people of his age! Calm, experienced, humble, and discreet; he acted neither hastily nor slowly, and was kind to others. Such qualities in a young man were rarely seen in today's impetuous youth, which was enough to earn the admiration of Ding Huixiang, Sun Yutang, and others.
After Wan Yunting and his group had diagnosed Ms. Lin, Gu Yuanbai and Jiang Yichun, the judging panel, conferred and then Gu Yuanbai announced, "Next, I will explain the cause of Ms. Lin's illness!"
Gu Yuanbai looked at Wan Yunting, Song Sinan, and the others present and said, "Ms. Lin suffers from ordinary rash and red spots. However, what is unusual is that her rash and red spots are very specific, caused by external toxins leading to her skin allergy!"
"External?"
This statement astonished Qin Mengxue, Ren Xingbang, Xu Yuanhang, and Lu Xinjue, as their diagnostic results indicated that Ms. Lin's allergy was due to improper food consumption.
"That's right, it's the gold Ms. Lin is wearing!" Gu Yuanbai said with a smile.
"Oh yeah, I knew it."
Huang Jingshan, Shen Yingrui, Miao Yanzheng, Ding Zipeng, Wei Renxin, and others erupted in excitement. This was because when they were diagnosing Ms. Lin earlier, they had inquired about the onset of her rash and red spots and the medications she had used. Logically, if it were a common allergic rash, it should have started to improve by the second day with the prescribed hospital medication. However, Ms. Lin’s condition worsened, leaving only one suspect: something on her person causing the skin allergy. Ultimately, Huang Jingshan and Shen Yingrui and others concluded it was the gold jewelry Ms. Lin was wearing!
"What?"
These words also startled Ms. Lin. She turned to Gu Yuanbai and said, "Doctor Gu, that's impossible! I've worn gold before without any problems. How could it be the gold causing my skin allergy?"
"Ms. Lin, that's because the gold you're wearing now isn't normal gold!" Wan Yunting interjected.
Ms. Lin was confused, and even Song Sinan, Huang Jingshan, Shen Yingrui, Wei Renxin, and Ding Zipeng beside her wore looks of bewilderment. While they had deduced that Ms. Lin's allergy was caused by wearing gold, Shen Yingrui and the others believed it was due to Ms. Lin's skin being incompatible with gold, thus causing the rash and red spots, rather than the gold itself being the problem!
"Young man, you need to clarify what you mean by 'my gold isn't normal'," Ms. Lin turned back to Wan Yunting and questioned him with confusion.
Wan Yunting smiled and asked, "Where did you buy this gold?"
"India."
Ms. Lin replied, "I went on a business trip to India last month and bought it at a famous local gold jewelry store."
"That explains it."
Wan Yunting nodded and smiled. "Although India has the largest gold reserves in the world, ordinary people are unaware that their lower castes have developed a method of refining gold by extracting materials from sewage. Through a special process, they refine a type of gold that is not of very high purity. This gold is known locally as 'sewage gold'!"
"What? There's such a thing as this kind of gold..."
Everyone present was shocked to hear this, and Ms. Lin was stunned.
Wan Yunting spread his hands and chuckled, "I met a guy in prison who specialized in dealing with this kind of gold, and he told me all about it. They extract impurities from sewage to produce gold of lower purity, then blend it with normal gold to create a neutralizing and concealing effect, before selling it to jewelry stores to make various ornaments."
"Therefore, I suspect you purchased this toxic gold in India, Ms. Lin. And as you mentioned, you've never had this skin allergy before when wearing gold. But now, wearing gold you just bought from India, you've developed this condition. Ms. Lin, do you understand what's going on now?"
"Oh, damn those Indians, they're too unethical..."
Now Ms. Lin recovered from her shock. She immediately took off her gold bracelet and rings, pulled off the gold necklace from her neck, and threw them on the ground, exclaiming, "If I had known that Indian gold was refined from sewage, I would never have bought it, no matter what! This is infuriating!"
Seeing Ms. Lin with her hands on her hips, her chest heaving with anger, Wan Yunting stepped forward to help her pick up the gold jewelry from the ground. He smiled and said, "Ms. Lin, your rash is caused by this gold, and you will recover quickly with the prescribed medication. As for this gold, you should keep it and return it to those Indian jewelry stores. Perhaps they might even compensate you."
"Alright, I'll listen to you."
Ms. Lin sighed and opened her bag, allowing Wan Yunting to place the gold jewelry inside. She no longer dared to touch the jewelry, feeling disgusted at the thought of it being refined from sewage materials. She decided she must return to India and sue that jewelry store...