Chapter 65.1 – I've Got This Undercover Agent's Back (4)
Liang Xia: ?!
Liang Xia felt that his teacher had changed.
The doctor in the room looked young. His dark eyes looked between the two, showing a bit of surprise. He couldn't help but ease his expression.
At least it's not the old director. When he catches people, he lectures them until they are unable to tell which way is up. Liang Xia breathed a sigh of relief and turned sideways to slip into the hospital room. Just as he was about to laugh it off, the young doctor, who seemed to be about his age, nodded to Gu Pingming. He praised him warmly, and gave him a candy from his pocket as a reward.
Seeing that doctor actually raise his hand to grip Gu Pingming's arm, Liang Xia's heart gave a jump. He hurriedly spoke up to warn him, "Doctor, wait-"
Gu Pingming had his own way of thinking. He carried an uninhibited gangster aura around him. He looked easy to get along with but inside he was wary of people. If he was touched casually like this, he might be tempted to throw you over his shoulder.
Liang Xia was helped by him once, at the beginning, but this didn't mean that he got to know the other smoothly. It took several days of him standing in the snow at the gate of Cheng's house, before he finally got Gu Pingming to take pity on him and give him guidance. These days, they had finally established some tacit revolutionary-fate friendship due to hiding cigarettes and sneaking out of the hospital. He finally got rid of the treatment of being pinned on the table by the shoulder every time he inadvertently invaded the other's personal space.
The doctor in front of him didn't look familiar. He was probably new here, not yet aware of these inexplicable habits of Gu Pingming's.
Liang Xia, afraid that he would hurl the doctor away, pulled his sleeve to stop him. However, Gu Pingming's demeanor had already completely changed to a gentle appearance. He even took the initiative to raise his hand to take the candy.
"Did you sleep well? Are you hungry yet?"
Contrary to his perceptions, Gu Pingming's entire body showed a positive attitude. He peeled off the wrapper of the candy and bit down on it with a crunch. He handed over the cake in his hand, and leaned over a little to speak tenderly.
"I brought you lunch at noon. I saw you sleeping and couldn't bring myself to wake you up. I don't know if it's still any good. If you can eat, keep it. Remember to eat it if you're hungry during your shift ..."
We're sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we're going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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"Don't mind him, he never has anything serious to talk about."
Gu Pingming turned back and waved him away. He carefully scrutinized Lu Baiyu's face for a while. Seeing that his eyes were shining brightly, he finally felt completely at ease. "Going back to work? Is the internship also this busy?"
"I'm going back and turn in my shift. I also have to finalize details for your rehab plan for tomorrow."
Lu Baiyu nodded with a smile. Looking at Liang Xia's almost overflowing desire to speak again, he didn't continue to delay. He waved his phone in front of him. "There are a few patients that I need to handle. I won't be coming over tonight. I'll come to you tomorrow morning, and we will start with the new rehab program."
… …
Meeting Gu Pingming's eyes, Liang Xia felt an unexpected chill down his back. He understood immediately why and raised his hand to speak, "I won't take the whole night, I'll leave in half an hour! Ten minutes will do!"
"I know, I'm the one with a lot of things going on."
Lu Baiyu couldn't help but smile lightly, patiently responding with a slight nod towards this inexplicably seemingly oppressed protagonist. Taking out two more pieces of candy and placing them in Gu Pingming's palm, he specifically instructed, "Don't go to sleep too late, rest well."
There were a few cases among the emergency patients last night that weren't so simple. While not under his supervision, they still needed to be taken care of as well. Today, he needed to hand over the detailed shift, to check on the patient's recovery, and to implement Gu Pingming's new rehab plan into the various concerned departments. There wasn't quite enough time in one night.
Fortunately, he only chose to intern as an attending physician. If he had been a level higher, he wouldn't even know how many more patient rooms he would have look after.
Gu Pingming had been in the hospital for a little over half a year. He naturally knew how busy the doctors were. Nodding at what he heard, he no longer delayed him and only pressed gently on his back. "You too."
Although the injury wasn't as good as healed yet, the palm covering his back was still as thick and solid as before. Lu Baiyu smiled and nodded gently. Carrying the bag of cake snacks, he quickly headed back to his office.
The white-clad figure completely disappeared outside the door. Gu Pingming stood there for a while, squeezing the candy's wrapper. He used his fingertips to flatten it out, and put it between the pages of the closed book on the table.
Lu Baiyu had tidied up the room for him before leaving. The bed quilt was neatly folded, the things on the table were also properly arranged. Obviously they were still the same things, but now they created a warm and peaceful atmosphere.
The bottom of his eyes were dipped in warmth. The corners of Gu Pingming's lips ticked up, his palm sweeping over the neatly arranged color-coded books on the table. "What's the matter?"
"Brother Gu, do you know anyone from over there?"
Seeing him return to his usual manner whenever they interacted, Liang Xia was relieved. Dragging a chair to sit down and lowering his voice, "Recently, someone has been asking about you, saying that you still owe them something. There were people hanging around the rehabilitation center these last two days – did you provoke anyone there?"
"Around here?"
Gu Pingming frowned slightly. His heart sank.
The "over there" that Liang Xia was talking about was where he was sent undercover since he graduated from the police academy. It's a world that was completely different from the peaceful and happy world in the eyes of ordinary people.
He had been there for seven years. He didn't just know them, practically half of the bigshots there recognize him and have had dealings with him.
The undercover mission was aborted due to his injuries. But the situation back then was too chaotic to successfully extricate himself without a deadly escape. When he awoke from his coma, everyone on either side knew that he had survived, having narrowly escaped death.
The two sides had been fighting for so many years, and neither side was stupid. If a living man suddenly disappeared completely, he would be identified as a police's undercover the moment they turn around. If he didn't get off cleanly enough, he would immediately be subjected to a storm of brutal retaliation.
In order not to alert their suspicions, he could only settle down with his fabricated identity. When his body has completely recovered and the preparations have been completed by the higher ups, he would take the opportunity to get himself out of the situation, either by accepting a new assignment or leaving this place for good.
From the time of his injury until now, he had remained hidden without revealing his identity. Even Liang Xia only knew that he had a secret past that was unknown to the public, never pursuing it deeper.
Those people's revenge tactics were something he had seen before, not only him, but everyone around him could be used to threaten him. Now that even people were nosing around near the rehabilitation center, there was no telling what would happen if Lu Baiyu became involved.
"Yeah, I just came after them."
Liang Xia scratched his head and nodded in response. He tried sneaking off to get the candy he had placed on the table. "But they don't have a visiting pass. They can only wander outside the building. They should still not be able to come up ..."
Gu Pingming slapped his hand away, taking the two candies into his palm with a flip of his wrist and pocketing them. "I don't know anyone from there. Maybe it's not for me. Don't worry about them."
Stingy!
Liang Xia screamed in his heart, but he could only resign himself to his fate, suffering in silence. He rubbed the back of his red hand. "Fine, fine. It's none of my business.– Brother Gu, last time you said that based on footprints, you could identify the suspect's physical height. Can you tell me more specifically ..."
He and Gu Pingming were just casual acquaintances, but he unintentionally discovered that Gu Pingming was almost like a natural treasure trove, full of criminal investigation experience never taught in the police academy! So he rushed up to learn something every time and only gave up pestering him when he did.
His little doctor won't come to check on him tonight. Gu Pingming clutched the two pieces of candy in his pocket and sighed softly. He solicitously made some space for him at his desk.
… …
By the time Liang Xia left, satisfied, the sky was already darkening.
Only when he had disappeared out of the gates of the center did Gu Pingming brace himself and stand up. His gaze fell on the edge of the table, and after a moment's hesitation, he took the cane he had placed in the corner.
He'd been a little anxious about today's rehab, adding a whole set of exercises. He still felt the aches and pains, weakness coming from his body. It would be much better to have a cane to support his body if the occasion called for it.
Liang Xia didn't know anything. Every time he came to him it was using his own private identity. It probably wouldn't be enough to leak his identity. But using people close to him to threaten him was the most common tactic used by those people. Once someone had doubts about his identity, it would affect Lu Baiyu sooner or later. It seemed necessary for him to take a personal trip to resolve the matter, before it became more troublesome.
Sneaking out of the rehab center was no trouble. When the last wave of nurses on rounds left, Gu Pingming changed his clothes and left the room without a word.
Chapter 65.2: I've got this Undercover Agent's back (4)
The night was dark.
Gu Pingming leaned back against the sofa on the corner of the bar, playing with the tall glass in his hand. His gaze fell on the noisy crowd in the dim light.
To be fair, he didn't really like this kind of chaotic and disorderly place. But those people insisted on only meeting in this kind of crowded and fishy place. Since he had to prove his identity, he could only follow the news coming from there and arrived at this bar early.
"Is Boss Gu feeling better?"
It didn't take long before a several figures came over and sat down in front of him.
The gentleman at the head of the group leaned forward and took a seat. He greeted him in a friendly manner. Gu Pingming's eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness. He raised his gaze slightly, and called out his name, "Han Rong."
"I'm honored that you remember me."
With a smile on his face, Han Rong ordered two glasses of whiskey on the rocks. He looked at him, unabashedly sizing him up. "So it seems that Boss Gu became quite thinner compared to before. Recently, I heard that you have abandoned the life of an outlaw…."
He narrowed his eyes and would have said more, but his chest and stomach had been pushed with one end of the cane under the table. Gu Pingming tapped it twice to make him move an inch.
Gu Pingming picked up his drink and shook it twice. "Thank you for your concern. Continue."
Han Rong instinctively wanted to back away. But sensing some disdain flowing out of the other's eyes, he sat up straight again, annoyed, his arm tensing. "Boss Gu isn't some new greenhorn. You know our rules. Give me a clear answer: who the hell are you?"
"I know you suspect me, and I know your people have been checking me out – abandoning this outlaw's life is simply a matter of me getting sick of working and not wanting to do it anymore. I'm leaving you something to trouble yourselves over. I'm just cherishing my life."
Gu Pingming withdrew his cane, took a sip of his whiskey and looked up at him. "I want to live my life in peace. If someone wants to mess with me, I won't go easy on him. You'd better get this into your heads."
"If you really just wanted to live in peace, no one would stop you. But we did hear a different story. Apparently, you've been getting pretty close to the police lately – either that or you've always been close ..."
Han Rong sneered, a sinister and ruthless glint flashed in his eyes. He suddenly threw the glass on the ground. A few people behind him immediately stood up. "What do you say – if you fight with us here, will anyone come to help you?"
We're sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we're going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Quickly going over the jurisdiction of this bar in his mind, Gu Pingming's heart sank. His gaze swept over the crowd who were eyeing the area around him, silently gripping his cane.
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There was no one to rescue him and Gu Pingming couldn't afford to take the risk. He'll just have to make this a quick fight. He was already bracing himself to stand up when a figure suddenly separated from the crowd and walked over quickly.
"Who dares!"
Han Rong was here today on orders to test Gu Pingming and find a way to completely expose him. He was eager to distinguish himself, wishing to prove that there was something wrong with the other party's identity. His eyes lit up as he saw someone rushing over. He couldn't wait to speak out harshly.
Gu Pingming looked over as well. When he saw who was coming, his eyes suddenly glazed over, flashing with some startled surprise.
Lu Baiyu was dressed in light casual wear, his right hand in the pocket of his hoodie. His eyes were on the glass of whiskey on the table, some disapproval evident in his gaze. His left hand placed two capsules in front of him.
Without his white uniform, the young doctor had less of the strict detachment given by his profession. With the band of his hoodie draped over his chest, in his simple jeans, white sneakers and black-framed glasses, he looked almost like a student who hadn't graduated yet.
Speechless, Gu Pingming opened his mouth, not knowing if he felt guilty or astonished. He lowered his voice to call him. "Bai Yu ..."
"I'm his doctor. The patient had two medications added today before bedtime. As he wasn't in his room, I came out to look for him."
Lu Baiyu covered his hand and pressed it lightly twice. Looking up at the few people in front of him, he spoke meticulously, his eyes falling on Han Rong at the head of the group.
"You can visit the hospital tomorrow if you need anything. It's open to the public from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. You can get in without a visitor pass."
Lu Baiyu recited this passage so smoothly and calmly. It was as if he had repeated it many times to many people.
No one had expected such a change. The originally tense atmosphere abruptly froze.
Han Rong's eyes flashed with anger and exasperation. He couldn't help but go forward and pull his collar. Gritting his teeth, he coldly said, "If you know what's good for you, get out of my way. You don't have any business here! Be careful, we may slip and chop you off too-"
He was only halfway through his threat. But before his hand could even touch the other man's clothing, the cane in Gu Pingming's hand had passed over Lu Baiyu and was pointed at his Adam's apple.
Lu Baiyu took a scalpel out of his pocket and slammed it on the tabletop with a bang.
Han Rong's throat hitched and he shut up.
"If you have anything to say, say it after he's been discharged. For now, the rehab center is fully responsible for any accidents that happen to the patient."
Lu Baiyu raised his head, his gaze flat. Sweeping over the few people who had just been acting all fierce and tough, he paused briefly before adding, "You should have heard that as a doctor, I have the means to stab seventeen to eighteen holes in your body. And it would only be judged as a minor injury ..."
Lu Baiyu paused and added, "There's no hospital nearby, only a rehabilitation center. But our facilities may not be able to treat it."
This saying was extremely widespread. Han Rong's gaze jumped on the sharp scalpel, feeling chills down his back for no reason.
One little doctor was naturally not enough. But there was also Gu Pingming.
Although he had been heavily injured, this man was still able fight off three people. Even now, his skills were not to be underestimated. If these two were to join forces, even if Gu Pingming only had to deal with the remaining ones, he might be slashed seventeen or eighteen times by this doctor, who suddenly appeared in front of him.
He was here today to test the waters, not to have a showdown. Since it's hard to tell what will happen if he causes a disturbance and attracts the police, there was no point in staying any longer.
Narrowing his eyes as he was stung by the glint of the sharp open blade of the scalpel, Han Rong glanced at it and grudgingly left without asking for trouble. He muttered vaguely about a later date, and hurriedly left the bar with his men.
A potential crisis was suddenly averted. Gu Pingming still couldn't figure out how Lu Baiyu could appear in such a place. He was about to open his mouth to ask but Lu Baiyu grabbed his wrist, picked up the scalpel and led the man outside.
A short distance away, he saw a police patrol car on the street.
Liang Xia was there, in his police uniform. He didn't greet him or even sent a slight glance towards him. He was fully concentrated on tugging at the guy who had just come out of the bar to send him to the traffic cop for a drunk-driving check.
Gu Pingming had walked forward some distance but he still couldn't help having some fear at how badly things could have turned out.
He had been so close. Once a real fight breaks out, the police force would inevitably be drawn over. With Liang Xia's experience and thinking, it wouldn't occur to him to pretend not to know him. Once he shouts his name in front of everyone, those people will suspect that he had a close relationship with the police.
Lu Baiyu tugged him forward. He kept his head down all the way, carefully distinguishing the uneven surface of the road through the dim moonlight, leading him to carefully avoid it.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Gu Pingming's heart moved and he couldn't help but speak. "Baiyu, can you really-"
"I can't."
As if guessing what he was going to ask, the young doctor shook his head with unusual honesty and smiled up at him. "I lied to them."
The ones circulating on the internet were baseless rumors. A doctor's combat power wasn't really that strong. But it can be useful to scare people away, so might as well toughen one's scalp and talk big once in a while.
Gu Pingming was speechless for a while and then laughed in spite of himself. He couldn't help but raise his hand to ruffle his short hair. "Thank you."
Lu Baiyu shook his head, his grip on his hand subconsciously tightened. He tried to speak, but his steps suddenly stopped.
He had climbed over of the wall to get out. He didn't pay attention to the fact that it was now too late. The front door of the rehab center was already firmly locked, and the door to the building where his hospital room was located was already dark, it was as good as completely locked.
As they say, when opportunity comes knocking…
He was able to climb the window back on his own. But whether it was climbing into his room on the fourth floor or the office on the thirteenth floor, it would be a little too difficult for Lu Baiyu.
Gu Pingming's Adam's apple moved and he looked down at the little doctor beside him. Only after a bit of a reverie did he cross his heart and speak in a low voice. "It's so late. We can't go back now ..."
"Host, I've built the house, right by the center! It's less than five hundred meters away!"
Knowing that the target would use this trick again, the system learned from its mistake and promptly spoke in Lu Deng's mind, "The host can go home to sleep! No need to get a room!"
Lu Deng was dumbfounded and smiled shallowly back at it. "Thank you, that's really helpful."
The system sang cheerfully, projecting the map to him. With a quick glance, Lu Deng managed to memorize the way. He looked up at Gu Pingming and held his arm that was holding his cane.
"My house is right by the center, less than 500 meters away. There's no need to get a room. Let's just go home and sleep."