Chapter 44

Zhu Xiaozhu shook her head before retrieving another needle to stick into the patient’s back.

Once the needle was accurately inserted, her body swayed dangerously. Her legs seemed to lose their strength, and she collapsed towards Ling Chen.

Seeing that the situation had taken a wrong turn, Ling Chen hurriedly supported her tiny waist and prevented her fall.

“Miss Zhu, how are you feeling right now?”

With Ling Chen’s broad palm supporting her, the two were pressed rather tightly together. Being in close contact with the dashing and heroic aura that Ling Chen was exuding, Zhu Xiaozhu’s face reddened. She struggled free from his embrace, coquettishly saying, “I’m fine.”

“Miss Zhu, you already depleted your internal energy. If you persist on using the needles you may cause damage to your body. Why don’t I help you?”

“Can… Can you?”

Zhu Xiaozhu was hesitant. Using acupuncture was no joking matter and concerned the patient’s very life.

Ling Chen cracked a smile. “Don’t worry, I would never play around with someone’s life.”

Initially, when he carried out operations during his early years, injuries and wounds were a typical affair. Thus, he picked up some medical skills. Although they were surface level, coupled with the knowledge in the book of legacy, his elementary skills were not as simple as they seemed.

With that, he used one hand to press down on the patient and successively retrieved two needles. He aimed directly at two pressure points and fiercely pressed down.

Heguan, Taichong

After the last two needles were inserted, the patient, who had initially been thrashing about, calmed down and went still.

“All done.”

Ling Chen let out a heavy sigh of breath and turned his head to look at Zhu Xiaozhu, only to see the latter gazing at him with interest.

He touched his face and asked puzzledly, “Miss Zhu, why are you looking at me like that? Could it be that there’s a flower growing on my face?”

Zhu Xiaozhu’s beautiful eyes flashed with a dazzling gleam and her lips curled into a slight grin.

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just that I was thinking that though Mr Ling is a practitioner of martial arts I never expected your medical skills to be so profound as well.”

She had not given any reminder to Ling Chen just now. Yet, he had accurately pinpointed the locations where the needles needed to be inserted. That went to show that his medical skills were not superficial.

Ling Chen waved a hand, keeping a humble face.

“Miss Zhu, you’re overestimating me. I’m just an amateur, I’m far from able to match up to you.”

“Mr Ling, it’s been hard on you. If you are free, please join me on my break. I heard that the tea house opposite the hospital is quite good.”

Since the beauty had spoken, Ling Chen naturally did not reject.

He returned to the hospital room where Zhong Wei and the rest were staying to say goodbye, before leaving together with Zhu Xiaozhu.

Summer Phoenix Teahouse

The teahouse had an exquisitely crafted wooden architecture and a majestic vintage design. Although the place was crowded with people right now, it still exuded an aura of elegance and tranquillity.

Zhu Xiaozhu seemed to be a frequent customer. The moment she entered, the waiter did not say anything, immediately bringing them to a private room.

There were no seats in the private room, only a long tea table with cushions placed at its four sides.

The two sat adjacent to each other and after a brief wait, the waiter brought over a delicate tea set.

Looking at Zhu Xiaozhu’s graceful actions when handling the tea set, Ling Chen revealed an admiring gaze.

True beauty does not lie in outer appearances, but rather in innate character. Only a woman who possessed both exceptional temperament and flawless beauty can be described as the perfect woman.

Zhu Xiaozhu was precisely this kind of pinnacle; her every action emanated a gentle and refined aura. Being with her made all his worries seemingly dissipate without a trace.

“Mr Ling, please have some tea.”

Smelling the dense, aromatic tea scent wafting into his nose, Ling Chen praised, “I would not have thought that Miss Zhu was actually a master at brewing tea.”

“I dare not to proclaim myself as a master. Brewing tea is merely a passing hobby of mine.”

“Miss Zhu, since you invited me to share a cup of tea with you, this shows that you treat me as a friend. I think friends can be more casual with each other. Please drop the honorific and call me by name. I’m not used to being called mister at all.”

Zhu Xiaozhu nodded. “My friends all call me Xiaozhu.”

“Xiaozhu, I heard it from Mr Ye last time, but shouldn’t you have returned to the capital?”

“The hospital had a sudden influx of patients, so it would inconvenience them if I left now. Thus, I stayed for a few more days. After you left Qingyun dojo that day, Elder He could not stop talking about you. He said that even though your age is young, you have an unrivalled talent for martial arts and are a rarely seen genius. After witnessing your medical skills today, I’m really curious who your master is.”

Ling Chen took a sip of tea and replied, “I have no master, and many things were a result of me blindly fumbling in the dark and finding them out myself. Martial arts and medical knowledge have many points of reference between them, I just applied the principles behind one to the other.”

“Learning everything on your own, you are far more talented than me.”

Talent, my ass!

Ling Chen cursed inwardly. He had no choice but to learn them, else if not for the few medical skills he possessed, he would have long ago died a dog’s death overseas. It could be said that his “talent” was forced onto him by extenuating circumstances.

“Ling Chen, what are you working as now?”

“Bodyguard.”

“Oh?”

Zhu Xiaozhu’s eyebrows revealed a trace of surprise. She had personally witnessed Ling Chen’s capabilities. To think a person of his calibre would actually be a bodyguard. That seems like a gross waste of talent to her.

“Being able to hire someone like you, seems like your employer has a truly deep background.”

Ling Chen casually mentioned, “Donghai City’s Nanrong family, you should have heard of them.”

“Nanrong Wanqing?”

When this name was mentioned, a strange glint flashed in Zhu Xiaozhu’s eyes.

“You recognise her?”

When he uttered that question, Ling Chen knew that he had asked a pointless question.

Ye Liangyong had once said that the East has Nanrong, the North has Xiaozhu, how could these two widely renowned beauties not know each other?

“She is a peerless woman that Donghai City is famous for, how could I not know her? Ai, but it’s really a pity what happened to her…”

Zhu Xiaozhu did not complete her sentence, but Ling Chen knew what she was referring to. Nanrong Wanqing was perfect in every aspect, but alas the only unfortunate thing about her was her crippled pair of legs.

“Xiaozhu, do you think there’s still hope of curing her legs?”

“I can’t say for sure, I’d need to take a look first. Based on my knowledge, the Nanrong family invited many famous doctors and physicians, but they were all helpless.”

Ling Chen playfully smiled. “Since your medical arts are so good, why didn’t they invite you?”

“They will never invite me.”

“Why not?”

Zhu Xiaozhu did not reply to him, merely bowing her head and sipping her tea in silence. Ling Chen seemed to have sensed her reluctance and had no interest in pursuing an answer.

After accompanying Zhu Xiaozhu to chat for half an hour more, he knew that she still had patients to attend to at the hospital. Ling Chen did not want to take up any more of her time and thus stood up to leave.

“Xiaozhu, when are you going back to the capital?”

“Next week, why?”

“It’s nothing, I was just casually asking. If we have the opportunity, let’s definitely catch up next time.”

“When you’re free, please remember to visit Elder He. After you left, he could not stop talking about you.”

“I know, I’ll definitely visit when I have the time.”

Watching Ling Chen’s departing back, Zhu Xiaozhu had an inexplicable look in her eyes. Intuition told her that Ling Chen was definitely not as simple as he seemed. Yet, for some reason, he was actually laying low in Donghai City and was willing to resign himself to being a mere bodyguard.

This person must have a story behind him.

Thinking about it to this point, Zhu Xiaozhu suddenly came to her senses. She seemed to have developed an overly keen interest in him, and this realisation dyed her cheeks crimson.

When Ling Chen exited the tea house, he managed to catch up to Zhong Wei, and the two drove to the Nanrong family.