Ss poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Matthew.


    His hand froze in mid-air as he heard Matthew''s words. "W-What do you mean?" he asked. "Am I being targeted? Am I really that important?"


    Matthew took the cup and said with a smile, "You''re like a hot ticket item right now, and everyone wants a piece of you."


    Ss shot him a re and said, "You''re quite the smooth talker. Spill it. Who''s after me, and what do they want?"


    Matthew shook his head and replied, "I''m not a mind reader. I have no idea what they''re up to."


    Ss felt that Matthew was being too casual, almost as if he were joking. "You''re not just messing with me, are you?" he asked.


    Matthew pointed to the cars parked outside and said, "See those? Those cars have been stationed outside your clinic the whole time. I initially thought they might belong to Rhett''s people, but now I don''t think so." Ss jumped up, staring in shock at the cars outside as thought it was the first time he was seeing them.


    Matthew waved his hand with a smile and said, "Why are you so worked up? It''s enough just to be aware."


    Realizing he had overreacted, Ss slowly sat back down and anxiously asked, "What should we do? Maybe we should leave. I want to be a doctor, but I want to stay alive more."


    Matthew, however, was less concerned. He said, "These people don''t seem like they''re here to kill you. They''re not foolish enough to be so obvious. It might be something else."


    As they were talking, the doors to one of the cars outside opened. A man in his 30s, Joel Warren, stepped out of the car and walked directly toward the clinic.


    Ss suddenly looked nervous and said, "He''sing over. What do we do?"


    Matthew smiled and reassured him, "Be confident. I''m here. Don''t be afraid of anything."


    Ss straightened up, trying to stay calm, but his darting eyes and fidgeting hands betrayed him.


    Joel entered the clinic and took a


    seat in the patient''s chair. He


    introduced himself, saying, "My


    name is doel Warren, but you can et


    call me Joel. I''m a business representative for a hospital. We''re preparing to open and are looking to hire top doctors withpetitive sries."


    Ss rxed once he realized the visit was about a job offer.


    He let down his guard and regained his confidence. "I''m not going anywhere," he said. "I''m staying here to run my clinic."


    Joel smiled and said, "You might not


    fully grasp what I mean bypetitive sry. For example, if you''re making 10 thousand dors a month here, you could be making 100 thousand dors at our hospital. We aim to ensure that doctors'' abilities and earnings are matched."


    Ss was genuinely shocked to hear about the tenfold increase. The offer seemed absurdly high, almost as exaggerated as scam emails. However, he wasn''t interested in being constrained. "Sorry, I''m not interested in working for someone else. I want to run my own clinic."


    Joel appeared to read Ss''


    thoughts and said, "If you''re


    concerned about our sincerity, we can offer a year''s sry in advance. Work with us for a year, and we could even advance the sry for the second year.


    "We''re making this offer to demonstrate our sincerity and prove that we genuinely want you to join us, not because we have too much money to spend." Ss was indeed shocked, but his desire for money wasn''t strong enough to sway him.