Chapter 45: He Has Nothing to Do With Me

Mu Lin said, "Let me think about it. After all, I'm living under someone else's roof, so I need to consider the consequences of my actions."

"What's there to consider? Ling'Er is already on her way. If you dare not to come, I'll have Ling'Er hug you and cry, and we'll see what that girl Li Xue thinks then!"

'Li Xue's attitude?' Mu Lin scoffed inwardly. 'What kind of attitude could she possibly have? She'd probably be thrilled.'

'We're a fake couple and already agreed to date whomever we want. What attitude could she possibly have?'

'But there's a patient waiting, and a doctor has a duty to heal. What choice do I have?'

"Sigh, fine, I'm coming. Let's not delay the patient's treatment."

Zhao Yang laughed heartily. "I knew you were soft-hearted and can't bear to see patients suffer. Just a moment, Ling'Er will be there right away."

He had just hung up when Zhao Ling'Er called.

"Mu Lin, where are you!"

Just as Mu Lin walked out of the building, he saw a bright red, very compact Polo. Zhao Ling'Er waved at him from the rolled-down window.

Mu Lin slowly walked over and plopped down into the seat. "Let's go!"

Zhao Ling'Er started the car, then asked, "You beat up Boss Yang from the pig farm today, didn't you?"

'How does she know about this?' Mu Lin wondered. 'For a doctor, you're certainly well-informed.'

"How did you know?"

Zhao Ling'Er stuck out her tongue. "Isn't the answer obvious? Yang Jian came in for treatment! My god, the injuries all over his body! It was terrifying. Did you do all that?"

Mu Lin said, "I didn't want to hit him, but he was going too far, so I had no choice but to fight back."

Zhao Ling'Er said, "Good for you! He's a huge pervert. I often hear about waitresses being held down and... you know..."

Mu Lin waved his hand. "Just drive. Didn't you say this was urgent?"

"Right! Right!" Zhao Ling'Er stepped on the gas, and the car shot forward with a WHOOSH.

Li Xue walked out of the building, feeling a bit dazed. She thought she saw Mu Lin in a car with a beautiful woman, talking and laughing.

Li Xue rubbed her eyes, but the car hadn't vanished, and neither had Mu Lin inside it.

Seeing Li Xue stop, her secretary asked, "President Li, is something wrong?"

Li Xue pointed in that direction. "Look over there. Is that Mu Lin?"

The secretary glanced over. "I don't know. He has a very common-looking face. It could be Mu Lin, or it could be someone else. I'm not that familiar with him, so I can't tell."

Li Xue pouted. "Well, take a closer look."

The secretary was confused. "President Li, even if it is Mu Lin, so what? What does that have to do with you?"

Oh. Right.

'Li Xue's heart skipped a beat. She's right. What *does* it have to do with me? The biggest connection between us is that there *is* no connection, isn't there?'

'My marriage to Mu Lin is a complete sham. I have no right to interfere with who he dates.'

'But why does my heart ache so much? It feels like it's being sawed at with a dull knife.'

'It hurts. It hurts so much.'

While she was struggling with her thoughts, Zhao Ling'Er drove away.

At that moment, the driver had already pulled the car up in front of Li Xue. Li Yinhe rolled down the window. "Xue'Er, what are you thinking about? Get in, let's go home!"

Li Xue got in the car and noticed her grandfather wasn't there. "Where's Grandpa?"

"He went to see a show," Li Yinhe said simply.

They had a circle, a sort of club made up of old men. They held regular events, which also served to maintain their network. When one of their companies had a special need, they helped each other out.

Li Xue said blankly, "I think I just saw Mu Lin get into a girl's car."

Li Yinhe waved his hand dismissively. "Who cares whose car he gets into? Even if he spent his days in brothels, it's none of your business. Once Grandpa's health is restored, we'll kick him to the curb. A clean break!"

Li Xue took a deep breath, hoping the painful feeling in her heart would dissipate with it.

But it wasn't very effective.

Inside Zhao Ling'Er's Polo, Mu Lin watched the scenery with interest. Many bubble tea shops had opened along the street, and every one of them had a long line.

Zhao Ling'Er asked, "Would you like some bubble tea? If you want, I can order one for you."

Mu Lin said, "Didn't you say the patient's case was urgent? Do we have time to be buying bubble tea?"

To be honest, that bunch of rich kids always saved a cup for him when they ordered bubble tea, so it was nothing new to him.

"Sharpening the axe doesn't delay chopping the wood. No matter how urgent it is, this little bit of time won't matter. Besides, as long as the doctor is good enough, a patient would gladly wait even a dozen years."

Mu Lin was speechless.

"If you want one, go ahead and get it. I'm a little sick of it these past few days."

Zhao Ling'Er pressed the call button on her steering wheel, dialed a bubble tea shop, and ordered seven or eight cups.

'So it's also for the other doctors and apprentices at the Holy Medicine Hall. That makes sense!'

After Zhao Ling'Er hung up, Mu Lin said:

"So, tell me about this patient. Someone willing to wait that long must be in an extraordinary amount of pain."

Only extreme pain would make a patient overcome their anxiety and listen carefully to what a doctor says.

Zhao Ling'Er sighed. "This patient's condition is very strange. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought it was complete nonsense."

"Her body, whether by the standards of a Western medical exam or a Chinese medicine pulse diagnosis, is impossibly healthy. But her spirit is listless, her complexion is terrible, and she's on the verge of death. It's like the grim reaper is coming for her overnight."

"Grandpa tried everything, but none of his efforts had any effect on her, to the point that the patient herself started to give up hope. But Grandpa didn't give up. He kept persuading her to continue treatment. It wasn't until he met you that he felt there might be some hope."

Mu Lin scratched his head. Divine Doctor Zhao had so much confidence in him, it made him feel a bit awkward.

'Those sappy compliments... if you tweaked them a little, they'd be perfect for brown-nosing. Incredibly effective.'

"Grandpa said that human effort has its limits, and he's already exhausted his last options. If this patient dies, the Holy Medicine Hall's reputation will be ruined."

Zhao Ling'Er said, "So we're counting on you to save the day, Brother Mu!"

'So, after all that beating around the bush, she'd finally laid out the whole situation.'

Mu Lin chuckled. "Ling'Er, I don't think it would be a big deal if the Holy Medicine Hall's reputation gets ruined. With your silver tongue, it's a real shame you're not in sales!"

Zhao Ling'Er's face darkened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Mu Lin thought about what he'd said and realized it came out wrong. He lightly tapped his own mouth. "Sorry, I'm bad with words. I was trying to compliment you, but as you know, I'm not very eloquent. I always put my foot in my mouth!"

Zhao Ling'Er said, "Unless you hurry up and cure this patient, I'm not speaking to you ever again!"

Mu Lin wracked his brain to console her for a while, but Zhao Ling'Er remained resolute, leaving Mu Lin at a complete loss.

"I'll do my absolute best, alright? Good grief."

The car stopped in the Holy Medicine Hall's private parking lot. Mu Lin pushed open the door and got out.

Following behind him, a sly smile crept onto Zhao Ling'Er's lips.

'Getting Mu Lin to promise he'd give it his all was really difficult...'

As they reached the entrance of the Holy Medicine Hall, they saw a man in understated but high-quality clothes smoking. The clouds of smoke he exhaled completely enveloped him.

Through the mist, the man's face was visible, full of sorrow. Mu Lin had no idea what was going on.

When the man saw Zhao Ling'Er, he hurried forward. "Miss Ling'Er, you're back? Did you bring the Divine Doctor?"

Zhao Ling'Er smiled. "Mission accomplished! I brought him for you. Let me introduce you. This is Mu Lin, a young Divine Doctor. He's cured many difficult and strange diseases. My grandfather desperately wants to take him as his master, but he just won't accept!"

The man almost misheard, thinking Divine Doctor Zhao wanted to take Mu Lin on as a disciple. But when he parsed her words, he realized she actually said Divine Doctor Zhao wanted to become Mu Lin's disciple.

Zhao Ling'Er continued the introduction, "Brother Mu, this is Mr. Qiao. He's a businessman and is wonderful to his wife. He's been by her side constantly throughout her treatment. It's really touching!"

The man's manners were impeccable; he patiently waited for Zhao Ling'Er to finish her introduction before turning to go inside.

Seeing Mr. Qiao turn and walk away without a word, Zhao Ling'Er felt a sense of unease and quickly followed him inside.

She saw Mr. Qiao stride up to Zhao Yang's desk and slam his hand down on it with a SLAM.

"Divine Doctor Zhao, I put aside my work in the provincial capital and brought my wife here to Anhua City specifically for your treatment. I trusted you so much, but why are you trying to fool me with this kind of attitude? I am so disappointed."