Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 628

Steward thought about it for a moment and muttered to himself, "Wait, she's not a country girl. The host just called her Ms. Hawthorne. Didn't the country girl's last name start with a T? Like Star Todd? But those eyes... they look exactly like hers. Who the hell is she?"

Frustrated by the mystery, Steward roughly ran a hand through his hair, looking like he might pull it out entirely if he thought about it any harder.

Up on the mountain, the old masters were laughing heartily. "Our Little Star is doing amazing."

Even Kyson Sterling, watching the stream from Bay City, couldn't help but applaud. "She's bold, I'll give her that. Doesn't even care if people call her a shill. Still, that was a brilliant piece of free marketing."

With millions of people watching the livestream, the free publicity was priceless. Astral Pharmaceuticals was probably about to get flooded with orders.

Back on stage, the Yaran contestant, Mr. Morel, couldn't help but add, "Surgery is still the fastest way to cure him."

But he knew he had lost. She wasn't wrong—if the patient refused the surgery, the speed of the procedure was irrelevant.

Doctors had to respect a patient's consent; that was why patients had to sign stacks of release forms before any operation.

"I don't want surgery! I don't want to be cut open! Even if it's the fastest way, I won't do it! Miss, please, can you treat me?"

The patient with facial paralysis was still staring at Stella, desperately waiting for her to agree.

Stella looked at him, caught between amusement and exasperation. She was still in the middle of a competition, for crying out loud!

There were three more challengers waiting in the wings. How was she supposed to treat him right now?

"Go wait for me backstage. I'll treat you once I'm finished here."

The patient beamed. "Okay! I'll be waiting! Thank you so much!"

With three challengers left, the host turned to them and asked, "Do you gentlemen still wish to challenge Ms. Hawthorne?"

The three men shook their heads in perfect unison. "We concede to her. The three of us will just challenge each other instead."

They weren't stupid. They had seen enough to know that challenging her would end in utter humiliation, and they preferred to keep their dignity intact.

Stella agreed easily. "Sure."

It wasn't like she was using top-secret techniques. All she was going to do right now was apply some standard acupuncture; she couldn't exactly perform a medical miracle on the spot.

If they wanted to watch, let them. They wouldn't be able to replicate it anyway—all they could do was watch in envy.

The patient was wheeled back out from behind the curtain.

Stella focused completely on inserting the needles. Since they were only going into his head and neck, he didn't need to undress, so there was no need for privacy screens.

However, the three remaining challengers also desperately wanted to watch her technique. In fact, they abandoned their own matches entirely, swarming around Stella to observe her acupuncture up close.

The host blinked in disbelief. "Are you three not competing anymore?"

In all his years hosting events, he had never seen a derailment quite like this.