Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“He is the person my daughter fell in love with, so I have to make sure he is a decent person for my own peace of mind,” Song Ruiping said. To be honest, she always put her daughter ahead of herself.
“I’m happy as long as he is a decent guy. We don’t need anything from him,” Su Xianghua said.
Given their family background, it was both easy and hard to find the best match for their daughter. They didn’t really have many choices. Most importantly, Song Ruiping felt that no young man in the other prestige families was good enough.
…
Wang Yao was standing on top of Nanshan Hill looking north. Since she missed him, why not visit her? He hadn’t been to Beijing for a long time.
To be honest, Wang Yao was not keen to visit Beijing. He didn’t like that busy city. Beijing was a place full of trouble and danger. There were poor and rich people there. People were valued by their power and wealth.
At the same time, two men were talking into a hotel in Lianshan.
“Why could we find these kinds insects in such a small place here?” a man in his 30s asked. “And, they are actually two different insects.”
“They are different but not completely different. I think I know what kind of insects were in the hot springs at Li Family Creek,” the man in his 40s said.
“Is it because of the high temperature under the ground?” the younger man asked.
“Yes, the temperature caused changes in those insects, which contained heat toxin themselves. The toxin is very strong,” the older man said. “Haven’t several people in that village been poisoned?”
The two of them left Wang Yao’s village for Li Family Creek again. They found a third type of insect on the hill near the hot springs resort. The third type of insect was also strongly poisonous.
“Maybe the insects we found in the other village is a variant of this type of insect,” the older man said.
“Variant? But their shapes are totally different,” the younger man said.
“Since they are the variant, it is possible their shape has changed, too,” the older man said.
“What about the poison?” the younger man asked.
“Not exactly the same,” the older man said.
Suddenly, his body trembled as he was talking.
“Brother?” The younger man was concerned.
“I’m fine,” said the older man, who looked really ill. It seemed that he was trying to put up with strong pain.
After a while, he took a long breath of relief. “The toxin is really strong.”
He had deliberately got bitten by the insects. After successfully capturing the two types of insect, the first thing he did was allow the insects from Li Family Creek bite him. He wanted to feel the toxin. He looked at his wrist, which had two bite marks.
“Because of the temperature, the insects transformed and created poison,” he said. “They became very violent and tend to attack anything different to them.”
“I don’t think the villagers are aware how horrible these insects are,” the younger man said. He took out the wooden box. “Let me give it a try, too.”
“I don’t think that is a good idea,” the older man said. “If you couldn’t resist the toxin, it would be really dangerous. If you really want to try, wait until my condition is stable.”
“OK,” the younger man said. “But, I can’t wait!”
The night passed slowly. The sun came out to shine the earth next morning.
Wang Yao put a sign on the door to indicate he was not going to open the clinic.
“This doctor just does whatever he wants,” a patient coming to the clinic said. “When he doesn’t want to see patients, he just close the clinic.”
“Yes, he is like that,” another patient said.
Compared to the last time he didn’t open his clinic, only a few people came this time. After Wang Yao registered a Weibo account, most of his patients knew in advance when the clinic would be closed. He used the account to notify patients when he was away to avoid wasting other people’s time. However, he couldn’t guarantee that everyone would receive the notice. So, there were still people coming.
“Let’s go,” a patient said.
Although they were upset, they had to leave.
Wang Yao was actually inside the clinic at that time. He had left the door of his clinical room open, so he could hear his patients from inside.
He was going to spend the day reviewing medical notes. To improve his efficiency, he bought a high-functioning computer and portable hard drive.
When I’m finished with this, I’ll go to Beijing.
It didn’t take Wang Yao long to review the notes. It took him less than one day. However, he had one more thing to solve. He wanted to cure the poisoned villagers. He brewed decoctions for them overnight.
The next day, he gave those patients the decoctions before examining them. All the three patients recovered well.
“Dr. Wang, you are going to travel?” Zhen Weijun asked.
“Yes, I’m going to visit Beijing. Please help me look after this village,” Wang Yao said.
“Leave it to us,” Zhen Weijun said.
Since he had planted a lot of trees on the hill, Wang Yao asked his parents to look after them while he was away.
“I’ll stay on the hill the next few days,” Wang Fenghua said.
“You don’t need to stay there overnight, just water the trees for me when you have time,” Wang Yao said.
“Just leave him there,” Zhang Xiuying said with a smile. “I can take care of the house myself.”
After he had arranged everything, Wang Yao went back to Nanshan Hill to check the plants and herbs and make preparations. Some of the herbs, especially several licorice roots, had bloomed. They required extra attention since they would probably start to grow very fast.
After finishing arranging all his business in the village, Wang Yao left for the airport to take the plane to Beijing.
“Did he say who he is going to see in Beijing?” Zhang Xiuying asked.
“He said he was going to see a friend,” Wang Fenghua said.
“Do you think he’s going to see the girl who came here last time? That very pretty girl?” Zhong Xiuying asked.
“Stop speculating,” Wang Fenghua said.
“He is not that young anymore,” Zhang Xiuying said with a sigh.
It was nice and sunny in Beijing. The shops were filled with people, and the streets were filled with vehicles. Beijing was as busy as ever.
To Wang Yao, Beijing was a fast-paced city. He felt stressed for no reason by looking at the people and vehicles in a hurry. The city did have its strength. It had a rich history and was the capital city of China. It was full of opportunities, wealth, and talented people.
Many people wanted to stay in Beijing, even if they were struggling there. They would rather live on a pathetic wage of $5,000 a month and like a dog than returning to their hometown, even if they could get paid the same amount. It never occurred to them that it was much more relaxing to live in their hometowns. Plus, the property prices in their hometowns were much lower.
Wang Yao couldn’t tell whether those people were persistent or stupid. Or, maybe they were both.
He checked the time after getting off the plane and sent a text message to Su Xiaoxue. [Hi Xiaoxue, I’ve arrived in Beijing.]
Su Xiaoxue was in a building with creeper covering its wall, holding her fist excitedly. Yeah! Her beautiful eyes turned into the shape of a new moon.
“Are you OK?” her friend asked with surprise.
“Yeah,” Su Xiaoxue said.
This girl, who always obeyed the rules in the university, lifted her hand up to request to leave the classroom. Her excuse was that she felt unwell.
“That’s fine, take care,” an old professor said.
A request from such a lovely girl had to be satisfied.
With permission, Su Xiaoxue left the classroom, even though she didn’t look ill at all given her graceful gait. This was the first time she had escaped a university lecture.
“Hi, Auntie Lian,” Su Xiaoxue said as she arrived home.
“Hi, Miss Su, where are you going? Shouldn’t you be in the university now?” Chu Lian asked.
“I received a message from Dr. Wang. He’s here in the airport now. I’m going to pick him up,” Su Xiaoxue said.
Chu Lian was surprised. “He is here? So quick!”
“Shall we go now?” Su Xiaoxue asked.
“Oh, sure,” Chu Lian said.
She drove Su Xiaoxue to Beijing airport. Su Xiaoxue couldn’t stop smiling.
Silly girl, Chu Lian thought. “How long is Dr Wang going to stay this time?”
“I’m not sure. He didn’t say, and I didn’t ask,” Su Xiaoxue said.
“I see. Is he going to stay in the cottage?” Chu Lian asked.
“I’m not sure. He can stay wherever he wants,” Su Xiaoxue said.
Chu Lian didn’t ask any further questions. She didn’t need to say anything else. She supposed Su Xiaoxue would even agree to spend a night with Wang Yao in the jungle.
I have to let Ms. Song know that Dr. Wang has arrived, Chu Lian thought.
Even at this time of the day, the traffic in Beijing was not smooth. Beijing was probably the most crowded city on the planet.
“Gosh, so slow!” This was the seventh time Su Xiaoxue complained about the traffic. “Dr. Wang must be feeling impatient now.”
“We’ll get to the airport soon after passing this section,” Chu Lian said.
Wang Yao was waiting in the airport. In fact, he could have just gone to Peking University by himself. However, Su Xiaoxue insisted on picking him up. Therefore, he had to wait for her. As he had nothing to do, he started to walk around the airport. Unexpectedly, he raised the notice from the security guard, who didn’t leave him alone until making sure he was fine.
“Beijing is so unique,” Wang Yao murmured.
“Hi, Dr. Wang!” A pleasant voice rang out.
Looking towards the voice, he saw a beautiful young woman. She was full of energy and passion. After experiencing that horrible disease, god seemed to have compensated her with all the good things.
“Sorry about the wait, Dr. Wang.” Su Xiaoxue almost ran all the way from the car park to where Wang Yao was.
“That’s fine. Thank you for coming to pick me up,” Wang Yao said.
“Welcome to Beijing, Dr. Wang,” Chu Lian said.
“Thank you,” Wang Yao said.
“Shall we go?” Su Xiaoxue suggested.
“OK,” Wang Yao said.
All of them got into the car. Chu Lian was the driver. Su Xiaoxue and Wang Yao sat in the back.
“How long are you going to stay here this time?” Su Xiaoxue asked.
“About a week,” Wang Yao said.
“A week?” Su Xiaoxue immediately started to plan how to escape a week’s lecture to be with him.
“Are you busy with university lectures?” Wang Yao asked.
“No, not at all,” Su Xiaoxue said.
“Do you want to stay in the cottage like usual?” Su Xiaoxue asked.
“No, I’ll stay in a hotel,” Wang Yao said.
“Why? The cottage is always available for you to stay,” Chu Lian said.
For Su Xiaoxue’s family, Wang Yao was their prestigious guest. They had to look after him well, just as they did when he came to treat Su Xiaoxue. Now that she had fully recovered and started to date him, they wanted to look after him even better.
“No, thanks. I think I should just stay in a hotel this time,” Wang Yao said.
Chu Lian booked a room in a hotel for him.
