Chapter 65 - You Like Him, Don't You?
Zou Ruoming was still recovering from the shock as well- the image of Heibao Bro's twisted limbs and b.l.o.o.d.y face had taught him one simple lesson: to stay the f.u.c.k away from Lin Yi. The guy was a merciless monster, and he wasn't ready to be taking on a lunatic like that.
It didn't sit well with him, especially taking into consideration his position as the school's top two. One of the Big Four, p.i.s.sing himself over some transfer student? He'd lose his standing if word of that caution got out,
Ruoming's logic was simple: if he left Lin Yi alone, then it was only natural that Lin Yi would then, in turn, leave him alone as well.
The thought provided Ruoming relief as he contemplated Zhong Pinliang's situation. The guy was digging his own grave- what was the idiot doing, going after some transfer student while completely unprepared and oblivious to his background, or who the guy actually was?
"Hey, Yao Yao, you think Lin Yi'll be okay? That Song Lingshan looked so furious- I wouldn't be surprised if she was coming at Lin Yi for revenge!!" Yushu voiced her thoughts softly to Mengyao, who was busy with her English textbook.
"Who cares? Hope he gets sentenced to prison or something, I'd really rather not have to see him anymore." Mengyao only hmphed coldly in response. "It'd save money for my dad, too!"
"You sure that's what you want?" Yushu tested, smirking a little at her friend.
"What the-! Shu! What's with that look?!" Mengyao frowned. "Of course that's what I want! Can you stop talking to me, I'm trying to study here!"
"Oh, okay…" Yushu's smirk widened as she pointed at the English textbook in Mengyao's hands. "You know, Yao Yao… your book's upside down…"
"Ah!" Mengyao's face reddened, staring at the upside down textbook for a while before slamming it shut. Had she been looking at an upside down textbook all this time, right in front of Yushu? She shot a glance at Yushu before flipping it open again. "Look, I just don't want him to be in trouble because of what I did, okay? He kicked Zhong Pinliang's b.u.t.t under my orders, remember? I called Li Fu; he'll take care of it!"
"Haha…" Yushu laughed, her face still full of suspicion.
Mengyao turned away from Yushu's gaze, trying to focus on the textbook in front of her, to no avail- Yushu's eyes were burningly fixed on her! A thought crossed her mind. "You know, Miss Shu, you're always Lin Yi this, Lin Yi that- you're not in love with him, are you?"
"Me? Haha, yeah, I guess. So what?" Yushu grinned as she looked at Mengyao, evidently not embarra.s.sed at all. She let out a breath of relief upon learning that Li Fu was helping Lin Yi- the man did have power in Songshan, Yushu knew that much. She was even planning to involve her grandfather if things got too serious, but that didn't seem necessary any longer.
"Wha-!!!" Mengyao's mouth went wide open as she stared in complete disbelief. "H-huh..? Y-you like him…?!"
"Hah? Yeah, what're you panicking for? Stuttering too, I see? Are you jealous?" Yushu started laughing as she looked at Mengyao's fl.u.s.tered expression.
"Jealous? Go, go then! Go chase after him if you like him so much, he'll be very happy if that happens, I'm sure." Mengyao said, her expression returning to normal as she put on a nonchalant face.
"Yeah, I will! I'll go confess to him and stuff, don't you regret anything when I do!" Yushu retorted, sounding very serious and committed to her claim.
"H-haha, yeah, you go do that. I won't be regretting anything, don't you worry……" Mengyao said with a soft shake of her head. She didn't know why, but an indescribable discomfort washed over her as she spoke.
"I'm kidding!! Haha!!" Yushu decided to stop teasing Mengyao- the girl didn't seem as affected as she had antic.i.p.ated. "I'm just p.i.s.sed at Lingshan, she's trying to do stuff to our Lin Yi, you know?!"
"Y-yeah, Lin Yi's my follower, he's our guy!" Mengyao, naturally, didn't understand why she felt relieved.
The sensations always came out of nowhere, for no reason at all! Mengyao decided not to think too much about it.
Zhong Pinliang maintained his composure and stature in front of his followers, but he was, in actuality, the most afraid of them all- not so much of Lin Yi's revenge against him, but the probability of Heibao getting him involved when the police questioned him!
He'd be the main perpetrator if things went down that way, and the involvement would most likely result in punishment from his father- he might even get transferred to another school if that were the case.
His contemplation led him to turn his eyes on Mengyao and Yushu, who were chatting away happily. He was feeling quite troubled- he was technically a celebrity at this school, and he didn't even have a girlfriend! How big a joke was that? Other Big Four members like Zou Ruoming had been shuffling through plenty of girls while he remained single! The guy had his eyes set on some commoner beauty already, and what was Pinliang doing?
Zhong Pinliang actually started paying some attention to Tang Yin because of Zou Ruoming. The girl was like a refined gem, and even her school uniform failed to conceal any of that gentle beauty. Though, the commoner beauty was still some distance away from the school beauties like Chu Mengyao and Chen Yushu.
Both Mengyao and Yushu had powerful family backgrounds, moving around in a luxury car to school and back; It was only natural that a girl of a common one would have less of an impact. Take that aspect out of the comparison, however, and they'd be left with a battle of appearances, a battle that Tang Yin wouldn't lose in- her figure even exceeded Mengyao's, after all.
A powerful family background really did change things quite drastically- the two girls had that cold air about them, as if they were unapproachable G.o.ddesses. Zhong Pinliang didn't see that as a bad thing- it gave him an advantage: he was the only one b.a.l.l.sy and qualified enough to chase after a girl like Chu Mengyao.
It was for that fact that Pinliang took his advances slowly- he had the patience and confidence to win her heart piece by piece. Yet this Lin Yi-! He had come out of nowhere, disrupting his original plans and even forcing him to call someone like Heibao Bro into the school, completely disregarding any consequences due to how frustrated Lin Yi made him! That gun Heibao Bro pulled out made things even worse still- what the h.e.l.l was that, anyway?!
His situation had been changed on a fundamental level from that point onwards- employing the use of gangsters to threaten students was one thing, but the crimes got really serious with Heibao Bro firing a gun at school. Heibao exposing Pinliang as the guy behind all this was the highest concern on his mind right now- he wouldn't even be allowed in the school anymore, let alone chase after Mengyao!
Lin Yi took a look at his watch upon exiting the police station- it was eleven. There weren't any cla.s.ses around this time, and Yang Huaijun's injuries were still fresh on his mind. He'd also forgotten to bring his medical stuff with him when he moved to Songshan, as well. He hesitated for a moment, and decided to get in a cab. "Get me to Songshan's largest bookstore."
"There's Newchina and Schola.r.s.ea, kid. They're pretty much the same, but what kinda books are you looking for?" The driver asked.
"Oh.. I'm looking for medical books, but what's the difference between the two?" It was a first for Lin Yi to be out shopping for books on his own- it was always Old Lin who did that for him.
"It's Newchina for literature and miscellaneous books- it's a more well-rounded establishment. Schola.r.s.ea would be for more academic and scholarly collections, so probably where you wanna go. It's filled with students and researchers over there."
Chapter 66 - Hospital Director
The taxi pa.s.sed by Songshan's First School before stopping in front of Schola.r.s.ea Bookstore. The bookstore wasn't far from the school; he could walk to cla.s.s after tfinishing with the books.
Lin Yi paid the driver and made his way into Schola.r.s.ea. He went to one of the staff for questions, and started walking to the medical section.
There weren't a lot of people in the bookstore, and lesser still in the medical section. There was only one scholar looking elder flipping through one of the books as he stood in front of the bookcases.
Lin Yi searched through the categories until finding what he wanted- a book detailing the rarer Eastern medicines. Huaijun's injuries were extremely complex, his bodily functions all messed up from the sedative painkillers he'd been taking. Lin Yi had no idea why the guy was still alive- Huaijun's family background must've gotten him other masters of medicine, probably confused at the condition as well.
"You interested in Eastern medicine, young man?" The scholarly looking old man had arrived beside Lin Yi, starting a conversation with him upon seeing what Lin Yi was reading.
"I have some background with it." Lin Yi nodded, smiling.
"Are you a medical student? What university are you in?" The scholar continued.
"Nope, I'm from Songshan's First School." Lin Yi replied. He didn't mind the old guy- he could see that he was a genuine academic. Lin Yi wouldn't have responded at all if the man was after something, like the scammers back on the train.
"Oh? A high school student?" The scholar was taken by surprise- he didn't expect a man so young to be interested in something like medicine! There were plenty of medical students in college who went through medical books simply for the sake of their exams, but a lot of them weren't actively seeking information on Eastern medicine the way Lin Yi was. Guan Xuemin had been searching for a pupil all these years who would inherit his mantle, but to no avail… Until now.
There were medical students well read in Eastern medicine, but the vast majority tended to lean towards the Western counterpart. Reading into Eastern medicine was for broadening the span of their knowledge in those cases- they never considered it to be related to their careers as doctors, after all. This disappointed Guan Xuemin to a great extent.
The pupil he seeked needed to have genuine interest in Eastern medicine- what was the point of handing his mantle over if the pupil preferred Western medicine as the superior of the two?
"Young man, which do you think is stronger- Eastern or Western medicine?" Xuemin couldn't hold the question in anymore.
"They both have their strong points, but I prefer Eastern medicine." Lin Yi said as he closed the book, pulling out another one from the bookcase. "Western medicine deals with what's on the outside, but Eastern medicine tackles the problem internally, at its core. In some cases you can only deal with the core after curing the external sickness, but it still remains that the core has to be cured, for the patient to be cured."
Lin Yi's statement seemed ambiguous, but it was what Guan Xuemin wanted to hear- he wasn't stubbornly fixated on Eastern medicine and against Western medicine, either. Quite the contrary, he was very well versed in Western medicine as well. Both had their pros and cons- combining them into a complementary unison was the strongest approach to a genuine cure.
"Are you interested in applying to a medical college?" Xuemin asked. He was starting to take a liking to the kid.
"Uh… Never thought that far before… Depends on my parents I guess." It was the truth. This wasn't something for Lin Yi to decide- the task was for Old Lin and Chu Pengzhan. Though, he'd be packing for home rather than thinking about what college to go to, should the chairman decide to fire him.
"I see……" Xuemin couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed at Lin Yi's words, but he wasn't ready to give someone so rare up, just like that. He pulled out his card and handed it to Lin Yi. "Here's my card, young man- you can talk it over with your parents if you're interested in a medical path. I'm able to have things set up and prepared for you, should you wish."
Lin Yi wasn't expecting this kind of development, but he took the card regardless.
Guan Xuemin, Director of Songshan's First Hospital.
This man was indeed able to set things up for him- even a department head in Songshan's First Hospital was more than powerful enough for that, let alone the director of the hospital.
"Of course." Lin Yi wasn't planning on pursuing a medical career, but maintained his courtesy regardless.
"Don't hesitate to give me a call, as well, should any problems involving Eastern medicine arise. I'd be glad to help." Xuemin hadn't achieved his objective for getting himself an inheritor, but he still looked forward to Lin Yi's calls.
"Thanks, Director Guan." Lin Yi nodded in response.
Xuemin had other matters to attend to. He picked up a stack of books he'd picked out, and left.
Lin Yi didn't think much of the little episode. After all, there wasn't anyone on Old Lin's level, in terms of medical prowess. He'd heard about a story of when Old Lin was young- he'd point out a couple of things and offer some advice to a common Eastern doctor, and that very doctor would go on to become an absolute master.
Although, the story did come from Old Lin's own drunk mouth, so the truth of it wasn't guaranteed. What Lin Yi had learned from his old man, however, spoke volumes.
Lin Yi put the books back, having learned what he'd come for. Buying books like that and bringing them back to school would bring him too much attention, and Lin Yi would rather not be in that sort of position.
It was most likely impossible at this point, however, not after what he'd done this morning. Everyone knew who he was by now.
Lin Yi bought some fruits from a stall on his way back- the cafeteria might be empty already.
He then made his way to cla.s.s directly, opening the door only to see Mengyao and Yushu watching "Pleasant Goat and Bad Bad Wolf" in their seats again. Yushu noticed Lin Yi, giving him a glance before poking a finger into Mengyao.
Mengyao raised her head for a look as well, before turning her attention back to the mp4. Lin Yi didn't pay them any more attention either as he walked to his seat, as well.
"Hey, Yao Yao, Shield Guy's back! He doesn't look hurt or anything." Yushu had expected more physically violent interrogation, from what she'd read in her novels.
"Hmph, as if Song Lingshan would do anything to her precious Lin Yi. She's gotta be the one who let Lin Yi back out so fast." Mengyao said with a curl of her lips, seemingly displeased at how fast Lin Yi returned.
"Heh… You think maybe they… did that in the police station…?" Yushu grinned wickedly as her imagination got to work.
"That's vulgar, Shu." Mengyao said with a frown. "Please, don't put that disgusting image in my head- I don't wanna throw up."
The words 'throw up' reminded Yushu of the whole saliva incident, where Mengyao had multiple tastes of Lin Yi's saliva. A soft chuckle escaped her lips.