Seeing Miss Qiu quietly lower her eyes and eat her cereal without saying a word, Pei Cizhou realized what she was worried about. He cleared his throat twice. “Don’t worry. Since Miss Qiu said she doesn’t want anyone else to know and cause unnecessary trouble, I won’t mention this to anyone. We’ll interact just as we did before. All right?”
Qiuyun looked up.
Well, at least he knew how to listen. That counted as a virtue.
“Thank you for understanding, President Pei.”
Pei Cizhou pushed the fruit platter a little closer to her, his eyes curving with a smile. “It’s only right.”
Just after they finished eating, the guards and nurses throughout the medical examination center suddenly became tense. Guards even took up positions on both sides of their seats.
“Hmm?” Qiuyun set down her bowl.
Pei Cizhou didn’t seem surprised. “A senior official must be here for a checkup.”
And probably on short notice. If it had been scheduled in advance, the medical center wouldn’t have remained open to anyone else.
“Oh.”
With armed guards on both sides, Qiuyun silently put down her bowl. “What about our reports?”
“Once we get them, we’ll go to the doctor in the outpatient department up ahead. We won’t be staying here long.”
Just then, several people hurried through the entrance.
Despite having lived in a modern era for so long, Pei Cizhou still retained some of the habits from his past life. He raised his eyes to see who had arrived, while Qiuyun quietly lowered her gaze and didn’t look over.
“Please, right this way.” The director of the medical center came forward personally to receive the guest.
Pei Cizhou raised his brows slightly, then leaned down and whispered in Qiuyun’s ear, “What a coincidence. It’s someone we know.”
Qiuyun was curious and sneaked a glance from the corner of her eye.
Sure enough, it was someone familiar.
At the very center of the crowd was none other than Mr. Wenchuan, who had handed her his business card on the cruise ship that day.
Two people were sitting in the lounge area. Their already striking looks, taken together, were twice as eye-catching. Yu Wenchuan swept his gaze around and immediately spotted the handsome man and beautiful woman. He recognized Qiuyun at once.
“Hey, isn’t that the little girl from the cruise?” Yu Wenchuan stopped in his tracks. “I went home and waited for your call. How come you never called?”
Everyone around him stopped as well, looking curiously at the people their leader had paused to speak to.
Qiuyun quickly stood up. “Well… I’m actually not very proficient in the appreciation of ancient paintings. I didn’t dare embarrass myself in front of you with my insignificant knowledge.”
“Hey, how could that be called embarrassing yourself? Friends with the same interests should exchange pointers.” He then shifted his gaze to Pei Cizhou. “Young Master Pei, I heard you studied under Yang Chenqing a while back?”
Pei Cizhou nodded. “I did.”
“For how many years?”
“Ten.”
Yu Wenchuan nodded. “Not bad, not bad. Secretary Liang.”
He beckoned to his secretary. “Give the two young people invitations to the literary gathering.”
Then he said to the two of them, “I’m the one organizing this gathering. Usually, it’s mostly attended by old fellows, so it’s not easy to get some fresh blood in. You two must be there on time.”
Secretary Liang politely handed the gilded invitations over to them. Qiuyun had no choice but to accept hers. “We definitely will.”
Satisfied, he nodded. “See you at the gathering.”
“Goodbye.”
The entire entourage swept past the lounge and left in a grand procession. Qiuyun looked down at the gilded invitation in her hand and sighed.
She really hadn’t been lying. Her identification of that painting had been nothing more than a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse. She had simply been lucky enough to have seen the genuine article before.
As for the poetry, music, and wine-floating rituals associated with literary gatherings, she had only ever seen them at banquets. She had never actually taken part in one!
Before long, their medical reports were ready.
Pei Cizhou took them and led Qiuyun away by the wrist.
“Stop frowning. He clearly wasn’t giving you any chance to refuse.”
Qiuyun immediately arranged her expression. “I feel a little like I’ve been forced into this without preparation.”
The two entered the elevator. Pei Cizhou leaned slightly forward until he was looking her straight in the eye, his gaze calm and steady.
“If we’re not prepared, then we’ll prepare properly. Besides, don’t you still have me?”
For some reason, the confidence and composure in his eyes soothed Qiuyun.
Putting everything else aside, this Little Devil had a surprisingly high level of cultural and artistic knowledge.
They arrived at the outpatient department.
The doctor who received them was the same thick-haired old man from the video.
“Let me see, let me see.” He took the medical reports with a chuckle and examined them carefully. “There’s one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”
“…”
What a joker this military doctor was.
The corner of Qiuyun’s mouth twitched. “Um… let’s hear the bad news first.”
The doctor’s lips curled up as he deliberately said the opposite. “The good news is that the toxin level is minimal, and it was treated in time. Its metabolic half-life is short, so there’s a high probability that it caused no permanent damage. How about it? Feeling a little happier now?”
Qiuyun gave an awkward smile. Meanwhile, Pei Cizhou had already started losing patience.
“Can you examine her properly or not? If you can’t, I’ll find someone else.”
“Ahem, ahem.”
Qiuyun tugged at his sleeve.
The man was a military doctor despite his advanced age. Although his thick hair made his medical expertise seem questionable, it was still important to respect the elderly and be kind to the young. So what if he was a little playful? There was no need to be so rude.
Pei Cizhou softened his tone. “I was just getting impatient because he was taking so long to speak.”
The doctor narrowed his eyes and chuckled. “I was just about to tell you the bad news! The absence of permanent damage doesn’t mean there will be no residual effects. Little girl, have you experienced heart palpitations, emotional fluctuations, itchy or numb skin, or a sensation like ants crawling over you these past few days?”
Qiuyun thought carefully, then nodded. “Yes, I have.”
Pei Cizhou’s expression instantly turned serious. He looked at the doctor. “Is there a solution?”
“There is a treatment plan, of course.” The doctor leaned back, crossed one leg over the other, and held his thermos in one hand. Looking at Pei Cizhou, he said, “See that basin over there? Kneel down and give me three loud kowtows first.”
?
Qiuyun frowned. “Unless I’m mistaken, it’s the twenty-first century now, right? Do doctors in white coats still practice the customs of the old society?”
The doctor looked intrigued. “Oh? The little girl has a pretty strong sense of political awareness. Not bad, not bad.”
Since it wasn’t a serious illness in the first place, merely the residual effects of the toxin, Qiuyun stood up and decided not to bother with treatment.
Pei Cizhou frowned at the old man, who was clearly enjoying himself. He said solemnly, “Grandpa, stop fooling around.”
?
Qiuyun was a little stunned.
Um… wasn’t this a hospital?
Since when could the father of a capital magistrate take a position in the imperial medical academy?
Old Master Pei gave a cold snort. “Heh. Not a single person came to pay respects to me over the New Year. What’s wrong with giving me a kowtow? You should be apologizing, you know?”
Pei Cizhou rubbed his forehead. “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go. Wasn’t I locked up by my mother?”
“Oh? You slipped out plenty of times when you were a kid! Don’t make excuses. You can go to your grandmother’s place on the fifth or sixth day of the New Year, but you can’t come here, is that it?”
Pei Cizhou took a deep breath. “You want an apology? Fine. I seem to remember that Grandpa got a rare blue-and-gold macaw last year. The next time I visit, I’ll record a few choice swearwords for it to learn properly.”
“…”
Old Master Pei set down his thermos, straightened up, and began scribbling out several prescriptions. Then he warned, “Get lost. Don’t come back.”
Pei Cizhou gave a chuckle. “I’m going to your house next week to visit Grandma. Remember to have her prepare the New Year’s money I didn’t receive this year.”
Qiuyun: “…”
She finally understood where Pei Cizhou’s terrible personality had come from.
It was a full-blown family inheritance!
Only now, the student had surpassed the master. The crooked lower beam had grabbed the crooked upper beam by the weak spot and forced him to surrender.
Before they left, Old Master Pei called out, “Little girl, remember to come back to the house for a follow-up with this boy when you have time! I’m pretty good at taking pulses in traditional Chinese medicine too.”
