Physician's Odyssey

Chapter 313 - Follow or not to follow the rules

Translator: Thyaeria

Seoul’s evening horizon was tainted with a golden radiance. Devouring the golden radiance, the grey horizon was colored with fiery clouds. Suddenly, waves of laughter resounded from the room with the television turned on. As a soft muttering resounded from the television in South Korean, Liu Ruochen’s eyelashes moved as she listened to Su Tao’s stories while holding onto a teacup. Her finger was making circulation motions on the brim. She has never felt so relaxed. Perhaps it was because she was overseas, and she was away from all the vexing matters in the sect, or maybe it was Su Tao’s jokes that brought her joy.

“There was a nurse in Jianghuai Hospital. She was fond of finding subjects to practice her needlework. Shortly into her internship, she found a patient who was sleeping soundly. Hence, she practiced her needlework on that patient. Without her knowing, she had inserted needles from his head to his feet. Just when she was finding another location to insert her needles, the patient suddenly jumped up and started cursing. Did you really think that I was dead asleep?! Hearing those words, the nurse was startled and fled in panic. But when she came to work on the second day, the president held onto the nurse’s hand and thanked her constantly. Guess what the president said to her.” Su Tao asked with a smile.

“That patient must have been a troublemaker and was behind in payments. He must also have a fiery temper and feigned sickness to stay in the hospital. So, the president was praising the nurse for making him leave.” Liu Ruochen felt that the story was somewhat childish, but she still played along with him.

“Your imagination is pretty strong, but you guessed wrong! The President said these words to the nurse. That patient, who was in a coma in the hospital for eight years, was treated by your needles!” Su Tao smiled.

“So, that’s the reason!” Liu Ruochen was amused by even the weakest joke, before she asked, “Is that how you usually swindle girls?”

Shaking his head, Su Tao righteously replied, “You can’t use the word ‘swindle’. The correct term is ‘teasing’!”

As Liu Ruochen stood up, she kept the smile on her lips and sighed, “I’ll leave in a while and join up with the team.”

“You can continue to stay if you’re not willing to leave. Since the Park Family owes me a favor, they will be more than happy to let you stay here.” Su Tao smiled as he peeled a banana and took a big bite at it.

“No need. I better help you probe the situation so that your relationship with Murong Hong won’t be too stiff.” Liu Ruochen smiled as she left for her room. After a brief packing, she folded all her clothes and packed them into her luggage.

After taking a shower, Su Tao laid on his bed and rested. Pondering if Liu Ruochen might come to bid her farewell, he left the door unlocked with a small gap.

When Liu Ruochen pulled the curtain next door, the lamps were already turned on by the roads. She dragged her luggage to Su Tao’s door. Just when she wanted to press on the doorbell, she noticed that the door was open. After a brief hesitation, she pushed the door open.

However, Su Tao was nowhere to be found in the living room, which left her somewhat surprised before she headed to the bedroom. She was astonished when she saw Su Tao hugging the blanket with his back facing the door in a deep sleep. He was wearing a bathrobe that was provided by the hotel with the corner of it on the floor, revealing a big patch of his butt.

Liu Ruochen first sighed before she sourly smiled. She placed her luggage carefully against the corner and tiptoed her way over. Bending down, she lifted the blanket. Just when she tugged it in, Su Tao suddenly smacked his lips and turned around on the blanket. One of his arms were draped on her shoulder.

Her first response was that Su Tao must be pretending to be asleep. Just when she wanted to reprimand him, she raised her eyes and a red tint of shyness was shown on her face. What caught her eye was a towering pillar, so she immediately shut her eyes and held her breath. She did not dare to move. But after noticing that there was no movement from Su Tao after three to five minutes, she gently dragged his thigh and tucked it into the blanket before she left the room in a panic.

Just when she was about to close the door, she gently patted herself on the forehead and went back in to retrieve her luggage. After that, she left through the corridor in a hurry and got into a cab. Her heart was still throbbing, and her emotions were complicated. That situation from before was too awkward, and if Su Tao was just pretending to be asleep, then that fellow was too bad!

Hearing the gradually fading sound of heels knocking against the floor, Su Tao slowly opened his eyes and kicked the blanket away. He was acting. He could only posture himself to be asleep when Liu Ruochen abruptly came in.

Truth be told, in that distance from before, with only three to four centimeters apart, he couldn’t imagine what erotic scene it would develop into if he stuck his crotch out.

However, he soon dispelled those filthy thoughts. It was all Hwang Ji-yeon’s fault for opening a new excitement in him. Otherwise, how could his thoughts become so licentious?

That was humanity. The moment there was a nick in one’s desire, it would be akin to a flood trying to release itself. As a result, the nick would grow into a huge hole.

Lying on the bed, Su Tao laid in a “太” position as he pondered his next step.

The battle between Kim Jung-ho and him was inevitable, and the reason why he took the initiative was due to the emotions that were suppressed in his heart reaching the limit. Last year in China, Kim Jung-ho humiliated TCM. Now that he was in South Korea, he naturally had to return the favor.

The reason why he appeared to be so casual was so that he could cause Kim Jung-ho to feel unbalanced in his psyche.

He was trying to hint Kim Jung-ho with his act that the latter was nothing in his eyes. It was actually a psychological battle, which he won. Although Kim Jung-ho appeared to be confident, Su Tao could tell that the pressure Kim Jung-ho felt was greater than him.

Murong Hong’s words were right. Even if the battle between Su Tao and Kim Jung-ho was privately agreed amongst themselves, it took place in the period of the International Medical Summit. Hence, that meant that both sides would represent their own country.

Therefore, he had to win this battle. TCM had lost once in the past, and he couldn’t lose in his battle with Kim Jung-ho, nor could he, himself, afford to lose!

Just as how Kim Jung-ho has looked into him, he has also investigated Kim Jung-ho. Not only was the foundation of the latter’s skills sturdy, but he was also versed in both Western and Traditional Korean Medicine. Furthermore, this fellow would improvise his treatments based on his knowledge and create a new technique. Compared to Wang Guofeng, who stuck to the old ways, Kim Jung-ho was more flexible. That also meant that Kim Jung-ho would be a tough opponent.

Aside from Kim Jung-ho, Su Tao still had another problem to resolve. He had to deal with Master Qian, who was hiding in the shadows. Since they’re both in South Korea, then he had to grasp this opportunity. But compared to Master Qian, who had believers under him, Su Tao had no powers he could utilise.

That meant that he had to come up with a flawless plan and find Master Qian to resolve the enmity between them.

Because of the conflict between the Park and Kwon Family, the Park Family was an option for him. However, the Kwon Family was clearly stronger, and he had to come up with a plan to defeat them with a weaker force, since he wouldn’t be in South Korea for a long time. He would have to return to China the moment the International Medical Summit ended.

Suddenly, the sounds of heels knocking against the ground dragged him back from his thoughts. When a beep sounded from the next room, Su Tao tiptoed from the bed and walked to the door before peeking outside. He saw Liu Ruochen’s figure flashing past, and after confirming that it’s her, a smile rose on his lips. She didn’t leave after all! She probably can’t bear to leave!

Although the two of them stayed in different rooms for days, they built a mutual reliance. In such a big city where only the two of them could communicate with each other, it would be easy to build a relationship between them.

Walking towards her room, Su Tao slowly opened the door. Liu Ruochen had removed her coat and shoes. She was bending down and retrieving clothes from her luggage with her ample butt facing the door.

Knocking the door, Su Tao asked, “So, why did you come back?”

“I was already in the cab when I noticed that I forgot my room key. After a brief pondering, I decided to stay for the night since I’m back here.” Liu Ruochen lifted strands of hair to the back of her ear and glanced at the door. She asked with a smile, “Why, you don’t welcome me here?”

“Why would I?” Su Tao adjusted his bathrobe and walked in. His gaze fell on the purple underwear on the luggage and suggested, “Can we talk?”

“No, thanks!” Liu Ruochen waved her hand and purposely distanced herself from Su Tao. “What would the others think if they saw you walking around in my room in a bathrobe?”

Scratching his head, Su Tao closed the door and locked it. “Now, no one will be able to see anything.”

“You didn’t close your door.” Liu Ruochen locked her brows as she reminded, “You’re not afraid of thieves?”

“Well, I don’t have anything valuable, anyway!” Su Tao looked at Liu Ruochen. His gaze was on the cabinet and took the stack of poker cards beside a condom. “Why don’t we play cards?”

Nodding her head, Liu Ruochen arranged the chair amndSu Tao started opening the cards. Taking out the jokers, he shuffled the deck several times before he divided it into three piles. Pushing one of them to Liu Ruochen, he smiled, “You first!”

After she arranged her cards, Liu Ruochen threw out a pair of 9s. With a smile, Su Tao took out a pair of 6s and placed it on the 9s.

“Su Tao, what kind of rules are these?” Liu Ruochen asked as she patted on the cards.

“There are many tiring rules in the world, and I don’t want to follow any of them! Who says that 6 cannot beat a 9?” Thereafter, Su Tao took out two cards from his hand and shove them into Liu Ruochen’s hands.

Sourly glancing at Su Tao, Liu Ruochen faked an angry expression. “So are we playing cards or not?”

With a smile, Su Tao looked at Liu Ruochen’s hands and replied, “That isn’t important. Most importantly, why don’t we discuss if we should follow the rules?”

“Su Tao, I know what you’re hinting, but everyone has their own bottom line and rules. Don’t behave in this manner because I don’t like it!” Liu Ruochen clearly panicked. She stood up and wanted to leave, but when she recalled that this was her room, she pointed at the door and said, “Please leave. I’m tired, and I want to rest!”

Letting out a sigh, Su Tao walked to the door before turning around to catch the last glimpse of Liu Ruochen and squeezed out a smile. “Ruochen, I just want to say the words in my heart so that I won’t have any regrets.”

“If you and I really...” Liu Ruochen briefly paused. In the end, she swallowed down the ‘one night stand’ that she wanted to say and changed her words, “I know that you like me, and I’m happy about it. But I’m a traditional person, and there are some rules that I will follow.”

Walking towards the desk, Liu Ruochen took the pair of 9s from beneath and placed them on top of the pair of 6s.