Demons Beside You

“Come in, but if you do anything to me, I’ll bust your balls.” The woman was still guarded against Chen Zhao.

“You’re the one who needs a doctor?”

“It’s me.”

“Where do you feel discomfort?”

The woman hesitated. She stared at Chen Zhao as if unwilling to speak. After all, she still saw Chen Zhao as a pervert who’d held her poster.

“I’ve seen many diseases during my career, so you don’t have to worry about me judging you for some embarrassing condition. There’s no need.”

After another pause, the woman finally spoke. “Do you promise you won’t tell people?”

“This is probably why you chose an illegal doctor, right? We also have the rule of keeping our patient’s conditions confidential.”

“My boyfriend discovered he had STDs before he broke up with me. Recently, I feel itchy down there and there are a lot of small red dots. I don’t know if I got infected too.”

The woman studied Chen Zhao’s expression closely, but he was undisturbed.

“Did you wear a condom when you had sex with him?”

“Yes.”

“If you had condoms, then you should be less likely to get infected. Can you describe what it looks like in detail?”

“Should I take off my pants to show you?”

“If you’re willing, I can diagnose you more accurately by looking with my own eyes.”

This woman didn’t have many taboos. After revealing her condition, she opened up and took her pants off right before Chen Zhao.

He looked without using his hands. “It’s not STDs and just an infection. You can use some over-the-counter cleansers. It’s nothing serious. Of course, if you’re not sure, you can do a full check at the hospital. The result should be like what I said though.”

Hearing his reply, the woman let out a long sigh of relief. “Then…can I put my pants on now?”

“Yes.”

“Can you prescribe some medicine?”

“I told you. You don’t need medicine or prescriptions for the cleanser. You can just buy it.”

“I can’t go buy it.”

“Well, I don’t have any with me… Aren’t you a celebrity? Don’t you have assistants?”

“I haven’t had time yet. I just got to America.”

“You aren’t a Hollywood celebrity?”

“You don’t know me? You were holding my poster earlier.”

“Would you believe me if I say that poster isn’t mine?”

“I’m from Australia. My name is Lucy. I’m pretty famous in Australia, but I’m only a rookie in Hollywood.”

“You can call me Chen. I’m from China.”

“Sorry about what happened.”

“It’s okay… If you can’t buy a cleanser now, I can prescribe some Chinese medicine to get rid of the bacteria.”

“Okay. Please prescribe some.”

Lucy was very relieved after learning she was okay. For foreign celebrities like her, developing in Hollywood was already very difficult. If she had a scandal, such as having STDs, she could basically bid farewell to the circle.

It wasn’t just Hollywood. She might not be able to get rid of this scandal even in her own country.

“Go to a Chinese pharmacy and have the staff get the ingredients from this prescription. Even if other people get this list, it’ll still be hard to distinguish what it’s for.”

“Thank you.” Lucy looked at Chen Zhao. “What else do you need?”

Chen Zhao’s eye twitched. “The payment.”

Was this girl so full of herself that she forgot about his?

“Oh, I’m sorry. How much do I have to pay you?”

“One thousand dollars.”

“That expensive?”

“Yes.” Chen Zhao didn’t refute it. It was just that expensive.

Lucy was a celebrity, so $1,000 wasn’t much, but no matter where one went, that money for a doctor’s visit was super expensive.

Lucy had some money, but this was still a considerable expense for her. After handing $1,000 to Chen Zhao, she said, “Can it be cheaper next time?”

“No, I’m sorry.” Chen Zhao accepted the money with a smile. “I don’t decide the price.”

…

Chen Zhao returned to Ethan’s motel and tossed him $800. Ethan counted the cash happily.

Chen Zhao glanced at him. “Why are you counting? You think I’ll cheat you?”

“You don’t understand. I’m not trying to count the money. I’m enjoying the process… Wait…I think you’re missing ten dollars.”

“You must’ve counted incorrectly. Where’s my dinner. Auntie Li, is dinner ready?”

“You want to get free food from me again… Don’t change the topic. I’m missing ten dollars.”

“Count again.”

Another call came while Chen Zhao and Ethan were eating dinner.

“Hi, I’m Ethan.”

“Mr. Ethan, the suit you rented from us is two days overdue. When will you return it? Oh, there’s a $100 fine too.”

“What?” Ethan yelled “You want $100 just because it’s two days overdue? Are you a dress shop? Are you sure you’re not robbers?”

“If you have any questions or suggestions, please call the complaint number.”

“What’s the complaint number? I’m going to report you.”

“It’s this number. Oh, the customer service is me too.”

Ethan hung up in anger. “Chen, return my suit when you go home.”

“It’s not along the way.”

“You can drive to the shop first.”

“But that would be $30 more for Vincent.”

“You get free food and drinks here every day. You’ve eaten at least $100 and you’re still shameless enough to get hung up over $30?”

“Yes, I’m shameless.”

In the end, Chen Zhao still took the suit and went out of his way to the shop. When he got there, he brought the suit in.

“Hey beauty, we meet again.”

“You’re the one returning it? Where’s that perverted fatty?”

“He doesn’t want to hear you judging him like that, so he had me return it.” Chen Zhao glanced in the store. “Where’s Chris? Is she not working today?”

“She quit.”

“She quit?”

“Yeah, yesterday. I felt like she was strange. When she looked at me, she was like a poisonous snake… You might think I’m joking, but I really feel like Chris turned into something scary.”

Chen Zhao furrowed his brows. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll get going. Bye.”

“Bye. Call me when you’re free. I like boys like you.”

Chen Zhao walked out with a heavy heart. He still remembered how lost and panicked Chris had been. Did she run into trouble?