Physician's Odyssey

It was perfectly reasonable for Wang Qiaozhen to interrogate Su Tao. After all, which mother wouldn’t want their daughter to find a good man?

Su Tao might be the benefactor of the Ni Family, but Wang Qiaozhen wouldn’t accept him as her son-in-law so easily. She had strict requirements for her son-in-law. At the very least, she couldn’t allow her daughter to suffer any hardships, especially after the failed engagement with Huo Kun. That made Wang Qiaozhen even more cautious when it came to Ni Jingqiu’s marriage.

So despite the fact that Su Tao was young and promising, Wang Qiaozhen wasn’t too bothered by it.

First of all, the biggest obstacle was their age. Su Tao was younger than Ni Jingqiu. Women’s youth were generally shorter compared to men. So Wang Qiaozhen was worried that Ni Jingqiu’s attraction might diminish when she was no longer young. Secondly, Wang Qiaozhen knew that Su Tao had a close relationship with Shui Junzhuo. Everyone in Beijing’s circle knew about it. So there was no way Wang Qiaozhen could allow her daughter to be someone’s mistress.

Then again, Wang Qiaozhen also knew the reason why her daughter was attracted to Su Tao. Su Tao was handsome, humorous, and talented. She was worried that Su Tao might walk into her daughter’s heart because of the emptiness in Ni Jingqiu’s heart. This was the reason why Wang Qiaozhen kept telling Ni Jingqiu to break up with Su Tao.

Ni Jingqiu naturally knew what her mother was thinking. She might be a shrewd businesswoman in front of others, but she was an obedient daughter at home. This was probably the reason why Ni Jingqiu never took that step out with Su Tao in the end.

Looking at Wang Qiaozhen getting busy in the kitchen, Ni Jingqiu held onto a teacup and started building sandcastles on the balcony. All of a sudden, she patted herself on the forehead. She should’ve driven Su Tao!

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Su Tao flagged a cab. Sitting in the car, he began to consider his relationship with Ni Jingqiu. Last night felt comfortable, albeit to the fact that they did not take that last step. He felt trust between him and Ni Jingqiu.

Sometimes, conquering a woman didn’t mean conquering her physically, but getting her to trust and rely on you.

Su Tao never believed in spiritual love. But his relationship with Ni Jingqiu had gone beyond being physical. Otherwise, how could he explain the itch he felt in his heart last night?

When the cab arrived at the appointed hotel, Su Tao walked in. Someone immediately came greeting him and asked, “Are you Su Tao of the Central Healthcare Bureau?”

“I am.” Su Tao knew that this person had looked into his profile in advance.

“Hello. Please, come this way!” This person seemed to be in his thirties with a swept-back hairstyle along with a jacket that was commonly seen on government employees.

Chinese tunic suits, western suits, and jackets were commonly seen attire. The first two were more formal, while jackets were more casual. The main reason was because politicians have been wearing jackets when making public appearances. So jackets gradually became the uniform for government employees.

Following the staff to the ninth floor, Su Tao met Mr. Xue, who had been waiting for a long time. Mr. Xue waved his hand at Su Tao and took him to a room. After Su Tao sat down, Mr. Xue explained, “Vice-Premier Xiao is currently having a meeting with local officials to understand the implementation of some policies. At the same time, he’s also giving a wake-up call to them.”

Su Tao never expected that Mr. Xue would reveal so much to him and smiled, “Vice-Premier Xiao must be under a lot of pressure. He’s admirable.”

Mr Xue waved his hand and sighed, “Work for the past few years has been especially heavy. It’s mainly because when policies are introduced, it’s not being properly implemented.”

Su Tao did not comment about it and smiled, “It’s mainly a transitive issue. When one person passes on the news to five, different people have their own understanding of those words.”

“Your analysis is straightforward and simple.” Mr. Xue slapped his thigh.

“Don’t mind me. I’m just muttering nonsense. I’m just making an analysis from human nature, so it’s nothing.” said Su Tao, modestly.

Shaking his head, Mr. Xue replied, “Others think that there’s a deep knowledge in the government sector. But it’s not actually that complicated. It’s mainly just implementing and whether you can understand human nature well enough, doing things to fit the interest of many.”

In just one simple sentence, Mr. Xue shared his years of experience as an official.

“That’s deep.” Su Tao smiled.

“I’ve been taking some time to read medical books recently. There are many things that I don’t understand. Do you mind if I clarify them with you?” Mr. Xue laughed.

The higher one climbs in their position, the more they pay attention to their health. Their conversations were usually on health maintenance and stabilizing the economy.

“Sure.” Su Tao smiled.

Mr. Xue enquired some of his doubts on herbs, which Su Tao answered all of them. All of Su Tao’s answers gave Mr. Xue an insight. Mr. Xue smiled, “You’re truly worthy of being an expert in TCM. It’s simply brilliant!”

“TCM has the 18 and 19 verses. The 18 herbs that cannot be used together or it may cause toxic reactions and 19 herbs that cannot be used together or it will reduce the efficiency of the herbs, canceling each other’s effects. The predecessors have already summarized it for us.” Su Tao smiled.

“TCM is truly a profound study.” Mr. Xue smiled.

“TCM is built by the experience of our predecessors.” Su Tao smiled.

The two continued to chat before the employee who previously came to fetch Su Tao entered and whispered in Mr. Xue’s ears.

“I got it.” Mr. Xue nodded his head.

After that employee left, Mr. Xue sighed, “According to the original schedule, you’re supposed to take a look at Mr. Xiao after his meeting with the officials. But Mr. Xiao asked everyone to leave and he doesn’t seem to be in a good mood.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be careful later when I meet Mr. Xiao..” Su Tao understood what Mr. Xue was trying to say.

Mr. Xue felt that Su Tao was truly smart to get the meaning hidden in his words in a second. He then stood up and led Su Tao to the room at the end of the corridor.

When Su Tao walked in, he found himself in a bigger and brighter room than before. There was a thick carpet on the floor, wallpapers that decorated the waller, and a large bookshelf behind.

Mr. Xue reported, “Mr. Su is here.”

“You can leave first.” Vice-Premier Xiao frowned with his eyes glued to the papers on the desk.

Mr. Xue turned around and gently closed the door.

After Vice-Premier Xiao went through a few more documents, he rubbed his brows and smiled, “Is ten minutes enough?”

“Then I’ll have to hurry up.” Su Tao stood up.

Vice-Premier Xiao was briefly stunned before he laughed. Su Tao walked over and placed a small pillow before he started taking Vice-Premier Xiao’s pulse. After two minutes, Su Tao checked Vice-Premier Xiao’s tongue, ears, nose, and eyes.

The entire process took about eight minutes before Su Tao got a general idea of Vice-Premier Xiao’s health. Writing down a prescription, Su Tao instructed, “You’ve been taking good care of your body well. But you’re lacking sleep and there are some damages to your liver. So you’ll be fine after taking this prescription to calm the heat in your liver.”

“You’re not afraid that I’ll throw my temper?” Vice-Premier Xiao was slightly taken aback.

Su Tao smiled in response. With Vice-Premier Xiao’s eyesight, how could Su Tao hide anything from him?

In the end, Su Tao said bluntly, “Although I don’t know why you canceled the activities with the other officials, the heat in your liver will affect your judgement.”

“You’re saying that I have a bad temper?” Vice-Premier Xiao spoke in a deep voice with his brows raised.

Shaking his head, Su Tao explained, “Someone must’ve angered you to cause the heat in your liver. But if you’re healthy and your liver is fine, you won’t get angry so easily. Simply putting it, it’s easy for you to get angry even without any external interference.”

Vice-Premier Xiao finally understood what Su Tao meant. Now that he thought about it, he had been training his ability to tame his anger for years. So it was truly abnormal when he threw his temper at a deputy governor. He finally understood what was going on with Su Tao’s explanation.

Vice-Premier Xiao smiled, “You have a unique way of calming someone down. Fine, I’ll continue meeting them later.”

“You’re open-minded, Vice-Premier Xiao.” Su Tao smiled.

“No wonder Sire Shui was full of praises for you. You’re truly talented when it comes to interacting with others. Oh, right. Aside from calling you over for my health checkup, I also want to ask if you’re interested in training yourself in the government?” Vice-Premier Xiao razzed.

Su Tao was startled by those words. He never expected that this was the purpose why Vice-Premier Xiao looked for him. He smiled, embarrassedly, “I’m too undisciplined. I don’t feel that I’m suitable.”

Waving his hand, Vice-Premier Xiao smiled, “You have to try everything while you’re still young. How do you know that you’re not suitable if you’ve not tried?”

Vice-Premier Xiao’s words made Su Tao speechless. He couldn’t find a reason to refute.