"We–"
Liang Xia inexplicably felt that his teacher's attitude toward him seemed to little bit disdainful. Shamefaced, he followed after Gu Pingming. "Afterwards, I just couldn't help but worry so I came back to have a look. I then ran into Dr. Lu. He caught some bastard who'd been hanging around outside and asked where you went. I just happened to also be on duty over there…"
Under Gu Pingming's scrutiny, Liang Xia couldn't help feeling very guilty and his voice became smaller and smaller.
Gu Pingming placed down the things he was carrying and his eyes fell on him. "And then you took Dr. Lu there?"
Liang Xia's face was burning hot and he nodded.
Lu Baiyu was not a policeman. His physical fitness was average and he wasn't carrying any real weapons on hand. And yet, he was actually taken to a scene where a fight could have broken out at any time.
At that time, Liang Xia hadn't thought much of it but now that they were mentioning it, he realized how dangerous his action had been.
Gu Pingming did not speak. He simply walked over to the bed and sat down.
"Brother Gu, you have no idea. At the time, Dr. Lu really frightened me—like, really badly! I hadn't even come to my senses yet but he already figured out what was going on and what needed to be done. That little hooligan was scared shitless by him. Now, I know why you're so willing to listen to him…"
Gu Pingming was scariest when he refused to say a word like this. Liang Xia mustered his courage and approached him. He squatted by his bedside and kept persistently singing Dr. Lu's praises.
"He told me to pretend to be checking for drunk driving outside. I was not to go in unless he sent me the signal. He said that it might just cause trouble for you instead. We made arrangements. If things inside didn't finish, we would immediately pretend like we were doing our daily rounds and no matter what, I was to pretend that I didn't recognize you…"
At that time, the young doctor was too imposing. Passing like thunder and moving like the wind, he asked Gu Pingming's whereabouts and finalized a plan to help him out of trouble, leaving Liang Xia little room for objection.
When Liang Xia recovered, Lu Baiyu had already entered the bar, scalpel in hand.
Although it felt unbelievable looking back on it now, Liang Xia at that time was really won over by Lu Baiyu's aura and it was not until this morning that he felt there was something not quite right about that whole thing.
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.
Hearing his endless praise of Lu Baiyu and that there were still police officers outside at the time, Gu Pingming's expression improved slightly. His eyes on Liang Xia though were still as heavy as before. "There won't be a next time."
ZpH RCHs lpwE jUWeaHs iC Wiaj Uf ijCUASE. YC wpiiEj vepi, DU opaOU WeCUSQH'i epcE ipbEH CH WUle QpHsEj iC eawWESh AO lCwaHs aH QUjaHs WUle p WaiUpiaCH veEjE p ieE SaiiSEWi Wfpjb vCUSQ lCUSQ lpUWE CUijasei vpj.
"IeEjE vCH'i. IeEjE pAWCSUiESO vCH'i. YEri iawE N vCH'i ipbE Lj. DU iC WUle p QpHsEjCUW fSplE HC wpiiEj vepi."
uEEaHs eaW piiaiUQE WChiEH, DapHs dap haHpSSO SEi CUi p Wase Ch jESaEh. REfEpiEQSO HCQQaHs eaW eEpQ, eE iCCb ieE aHaiapiacE iC eESf eaw falb Uf eaW lpHE pHQ WEi ai AO eaW AEQ. npjEhUSSO, eE pWbEQ, "ojCieEj mU, zUWi vepi ErpliSO epffEHEQ iC OCU SpWi Hasei… BjE ieEO ACieEjaHs OCU?"
"I have some disputes with them. It's all going to be resolved soon."
Gu Pingming didn't plan to discuss with him in detail and threw out a few words in response. After a bit of hesitation, he changed the subject, "Don't worry about this, just handle your own matters and — remember to bring me an electric pot, the kind for making rice porridge when you have time."
Doctors were busy and their schedules were uncertain. Nine out of ten have stomach problems. Lu Baiyu's body was not very good to begin with. At the least, he should eat some rice porridge and try his best to take care of his stomach.
The topic turned around so quickly that Liang Xia was taken aback. After confirming that he hadn't heard wrong, he nodded and questioned him closely about his requirements for the electric pot. He was about to stand up to sensibly take his leave when he was stopped by Gu Pingming raising his hand. "Wait a minute."
Liang Xia quickly turned around, and Gu Pingming glanced at him, nodding slightly.
"Sit down, I'm going to teach you a little bit more today and next time, you'll have an exam."
Having some casual interactions with a new policeman fresh out of the police academy should not have been reason enough for those people to immediately doubt his reasons. At best it could only be regarded as an indirect confirmation method. For his identity to suddenly be under suspicion meant that something must have gone wrong with the higher ups.
The situation was getting less and less optimistic and maybe it result in disputes at some point. He alone was not enough. In order to absolutely guarantee Lu Baiyu's safety, he must at least have a reliable helper for when he's stuck in a situation he can't get away from.
"Lessons are good! But exams—there's no need for exams, Brother Gu…"
It hasn't been long since Liang Xia has gotten free from the clutches exams. His excitement from hearing the first sentence was completely dissipated by the second. He haggled with his heart in his mouth, "I swear that I will study diligently. I will learn everything that you say. Can I not take the exam?"
This junior had the talent and was clever enough but he was lazy by nature and always lacked that bit of drive. If you don't force him, he would always remain as a bottle that was not quite full.
Gu Pingming swept his eyes over him, remaining unmoved. He took out a book and spread it out. "If you get less than eighty points even once, you better not come looking for me anymore."
…
Liang Xia immediately shut his mouth. He sat up straight and listened intently to the lesson.
The police academy's best graduate at the time had been undercover in a crisis-ridden world for seven years. Even if Gu Pingming's knowledge and experience had been somewhat squandered away, it was far more thorough and detailed than the lessons of the police academy professor.
Liang Xia listened intently for a while, all worries about the exam were driven from his mind. He instinctively reached out for paper and pen to take notes, but Gu Pingming raised his hand to stop him.
"Brother Gu——"
Liang Xia was a bit startled and looked up at him. Gu Pingming's eyes surged for a moment. He then he withdrew his hand and nodded slightly. "Keep everything in your head. If you can't remember, ask me again."
Whether it was out of confidentiality rules or for self-protection to avoid danger, he has become too accustomed to not leaving any traces of himself anywhere.
Liang Xia has walked close by him for some time and he's made progress. He now knew to not do something he was clumsy at. Once someone sees what he'd written on the paper, it might just be used to link up with Gu Pingming's true identity.
At this point, they couldn't afford the consequences of his carelessness.
Liang Xia was not stupid and has already guessed Gu Pingming's identity. Hearing this sentence, the light in the bottom of his eyes shrank and he couldn't help but say, "Brother Gu——"
There was a soft knock on the door.
"We'll stop here today. Go back and master it. You'll take the exam tomorrow."
Hearing the knock on the door, Gu Pingming's originally dark expression almost instantly turned warm. He waved his hand at random and quickly walked over and opened the door. "You're so early. Aren't you busy today?"
A gentle voice came from the door, carrying with it a brisk warmth. Liang Xia couldn't help craning his neck to have a look. It really was that Doctor Lu who came back to check on his patient.
It was just yesterday that he had taken the good doctor to a danger-laden scene. Liang Xia was feeling quite guilty. Hearing the young doctor and Gu Pingming mention things like "rehabilitation plan", "start" and other such words, he immediately took the opportunity to take his leave and hurriedly walked out of the patient's room.
The protagonist fled in defeat. As soon as Lu Baiyu's gaze fell curiously at his back, his line of sight was subtly blocked by Gu Pingming's figure. He raised his hand and ushered the person into his room. "Are you feeling any discomfort today? Yesterday, you slept so little. Rest here for a while. I'll lock the door…"
Before he could finish speaking, he was taken into the warm embrace of the person in front of him.
Lu Baiyu extended his arms and hugged him; until the tense aura around his body from having his past come back gradually eased. He then raised his head from his shoulder, his black eyes dyed with a warm and peaceful smile. "I'm fine. I'm here to take you to your rehabilitation."
His chest and shoulders were warm. His heartbeat was steady against his chest, briefly dragging him away from the dark deep wind.
Gu Pingming dropped his gaze and plunged into his clear and warm black eyes. The countless storms beneath his eyes were quietly calmed into a gentle breeze and quiet scenery.
His little doctor…
Gu Pingming tightened his arms. He lowered his head and smiled at him. With a soft and low tone of voice, "This—is this also part of the rehabilitation process?"
"There is a charge for the rehabilitation program. This is counted as a bonus. One each morning."
Lu Baiyu's eyes curved. He let go and straightened up. He took out from his pocket a timetable that he'd written up earlier and placed it on the table for him. "You have to do it carefully and you can't miss even a single item. I will check regularly."
One each morning was simply too little.
Feeling it was a great pity, Gu Pingming lowered his head and looked at the detailed schedule, trying to figure out whether he could apply for any more rewards.
Although he had not voiced these thoughts out, his thoughts were not the least bit disguised. It was clear and plain to see in the eyes of the young doctor.
Lu Baiyu raised his head to look at him. With a soft smile in his eyes, he pressed a quit-smoking candy in his hand and tapped his palm with his fingers. "If you do your rehabilitation program well and you pass your medical examination. You can apply for an evening discharge and you can just come back to the center by nine tomorrow morning."
His eyes brightened quickly. Gu Pingming found warm and sincere confirmation in those black eyes. His eyebrows rose up and the corners of his lips couldn't help but raise up as well. "I'll start on it right now. Would you like to supervise, Dr. Lu?"
Encouraged by the possibility of leaving the rehab center for the night, Gu Pingming threw himself into the new rehabilitation program with extraordinary enthusiasm even without Dr. Lu's supervision.
Lu Baiyu's plan was very detailed and fully suited to Gu Pingming's physical condition. Each item was designed to make use of every possible minute to completely pull out his body's potential. Together with the evening massage and medicinal compresses, plus three nutritious meals a day, Gu Pingming himself could clearly feel that his body that had once been seriously injured was becoming more and more responsive.
With the wave of a hand, a week had almost passed by. In the blink of an eye, it was already the day when he was scheduled to be discharged from the center.
Lu Baiyu was on duty today. Today was one of Gu Pingming's rare days off and he stayed idly in his hospital room, staring at the golden millet in the electric pot, turning it over and over with his spoon.
"Brother Gu!"
Liang Xia peered in and open the door of the room. Seeing him in the room, he happily bounced in, carrying some things in his hand. "You're finally going to be discharged from the rehab center. Are you happy? I brought you rice dumplings and you're just in time for the Dragon Boat Festival. Banish the Five Evils, may you have good health and good luck for the entire year…"
"What 'discharge'? My body hasn't fully recovered yet."
Rehabilitation centers weren't like hospitals. Their main objective was to completely restore a patient's ability to manage their life. The longer the patient undergoes the center's physical therapy, the better the patient's prognosis. At the beginning, Gu Pingming didn't trust them and insisted on leaving the hospital early. The chief physicians took turns and they finally managed to hold him down for a week.
At first, he was the one being stubborn, insisting on being discharged, now he was the one who changed his mind and had to find an excuse to stay longer.
Gu Pingming was in the middle of thinking about how to apply for an extension of his stay in the rehab center without appearing blunt when Liang Xia's greeting struck against the very matter he was worrying about. Following the voice, he raised his head and waved his hand. He caught a glimpse of the rice dumplings Liang Xia had brought and raised his eyebrows. "Is it the Dragon Boat Festival already?"
"That's right. It's my turn on holiday today!"
The person who a week ago was hell-bent on leaving the rehab center has now gotten addicted to staying in it. Liang Xia couldn't help being surprised but he sensibly didn't dare ask. He squatted beside him and eagerly peeled open a rice dumpling. "I see you looking so exhausted these days. Today, we can finally relax. Is the doctor off duty too? How about we—"
"How can the doctor possible have time to take a holiday? I'm on break today and I'm going to see Dr. Lu later. There won't be any lessons today."
Liang Xia hadn't yet finished his invitation when Gu Pingming already interrupted him. He picked two perfectly shaped red jujube dumplings from Liang Xia's hand and conveniently picked up a small packet of colored threads from the side.
Lu Baiyu preferred sweet things and he liked to eat these. However, if he ate too much, he could easily get a stomachache. Two rice dumplings were just enough for a little snack.
He's been training and resting in the rehabilitation center day after day and before he knew it, it was already the Dragon Boat Festival. He'd heard that there was a lantern festival nearby and maybe he could take the little doctor out tonight to have a look.
If he didn't test him on what he taught yesterday, he was going to forget!
Liang Xia wept disconsolately in his heart but didn't dare remind him. He tried to switch the topic as best he could. "This is a gift from the rice dumplings seller. He said its some-five colored string or something. I don't really understand. But since it looked good, I brought it along anyway… "
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.
"This is a custom in the north. It's used to ward off evil spirits and dispel poison."
zGt ECUF He UCEYQ-MHEHbts YGbtisN tZHxts NHUt EHRK-iKH UtUHbQtN QR DC kQRKUQRK. j btEiBts EHHx MiUt HZtb GQN etiYCbtN. At FQMxts i etn YGbtisN iRs YbQts QY HR GQN GiRsN. jN Gt YbQts YH btMiEE YGHNt, Gt NEHnEW nHZt YGt YGbtisN QRYH i NYbQRK iRs YGtR ebHU GQN xtW bQRK, Gt btUHZts i NUiEE NQEZtb ItEE iRs MHRRtMYts QY YH HRt He YGt bts NYbQRKN.
"akSb Sb c UcUr Kcj-off foU joL. noL bkoLxK to pcCX No UrxcJ. akrUr'b io irrK No cxDcjb Cowr xooXSit foU wr. akr rJcw Cci DcSN LiNSx cfNrU Nkr IUctoi vocN PrbNSmcx koxSKcj."
…
oQiRK OQi niN btsCMts YH i MbWQRK ECUF, Gtis QR GQN ibUN, RtBY YH YGt tEtMYbQM FHY.
The colorful threads were used to send well-wishes, with the implied meaning to ward off evil and dispel poison. In the blink of an eye, Gu Pingming had already woven them into a narrow band. He held it up against his wrist. He was planning to adjust the length according to Lu Baiyu's wrist before closing the loop. Suddenly, there was a strange noise in the corridor.
Gu Pingming's expression suddenly changed and he immediately got up.
"I'm going to go see!"
Liang Xia instinctively jumped up, but before he could even raise his leg, he was pressed back down by Gu Pingming. "Your identity is too eye-catching. Don't go causing trouble for me. — Look after the rice porridge. I'll go take a look."
The noise came from the direction of the duty room. Gu Pingming didn't dare to delay in the slightest. He hurried out the door and towards the direction of the gathering crowd.
Lu Baiyu was being blocked in the duty room.
＊
When Gu Pingming parted the crowd and rushed in, the man armed with the knife, red-eyed, was still terrorizing at the door of the duty room.
The duty room was in a mess. Several iron cabinets containing documents had fallen to the ground. all skewed and slanted. Lu Baiyu was guarding the two interns behind him. He had already retreated to the corner, with his right hand hanging to his side. His face was slightly pale but his eyes were still calm.
The nurse frantically called the security guards. The onlookers were all patients and their families. No one dared to rashly step forward.
"The patient's condition was inherently risky. I understand your feelings. If you really want an explanation, please let the students out first and I will explain for you."
Lu Deng kept his voice calm. He shielded the two students behind him and set his eyes on the man.
The one creating this ruckus just happened to be a family member of the patient who had gotten sick when he had been on duty last time. He did emergency treatment on that same day. Later, when he found that the patient's sickness had recurred, the patient was immediately sent to a higher-level hospital for treatment.
It was originally a treatment process that couldn't be more standard but unexpectedly, after the patient's condition deteriorated, the family member believed that it was the rehabilitation center's responsibility and suddenly rushed to the center to demand an explanation.
He had already asked the system to adjust his body data back to his original levels but he still couldn't be making any rash moves. The other party had a knife in his hands and there were too many onlookers. He was certain of being able to escape unscathed but there was no way to guarantee that the two students and the onlookers would also be safe.
"Explanation? I heard that you handled it that day. You must have deliberately worsened his condition in order to scam more money out of us!"
The man wasn't listening to him at all. He roared and waving the knife in his hand, was about to jump in.
There was no use talking this out.
He once again found himself in a familiar situation. Lu Deng took a deep breath, a sharp light flashed under his eyes. He was about to risk it but a familiar figure had already broken in.
This was the first time he was seeing Gu Pingming's fighting skills.
His moves were simple and neat, leaving no room for allowances. If he hadn't held his strength back a little bit, it would have been a swift and fierce killing blow. No one saw it clearly but the machete in the man's hand dropped to the floor. And with a cry of pain, the man himself was firmly pressed to the ground.
"I am a patient of Dr. Lu's and I know that patient in your family."
Gu Pingming kept him pinned down. His tone was cold and he continued in a deep voice, "No. 5205, he's called Li Ping, right? Dr. Lu went the whole night with hardly any sleep for your patient. For the next few days, he worked with your attending physician to stabilize his condition. Just counting the times I've seen it, I counted no less than four or five times that I've seen him holding his medical record, preparing for reports and discussions."
This was not originally Lu Baiyu's responsibility but because he happened to deal with the patient that night and was familiar with the situation, he kept working hard on this case and didn't get much rest during those days. It was after the patient was transferred to the hospital that Gu Pingming had half-detained Lu Baiyu in his hospital room to get half a day's rest to catch up on sleep.
These things were done by Lu Baiyu in private and no one knew of it. Gu Pingming only occasionally caught glimpses of what he was holding to gauge just how busy he was.
Although the situation was chaotic, the young doctor handled it calmly. Obviously, he wasn't letting the man's unreasonable accusations affect him and he had no intention to defend himself in the slightest.
However, Gu Pingming couldn't stand hearing this.
With the dubious gazes around him, Gu Pingming's eyes darkened. When he finally finished relaying everything he knew, this thread of discourse finally stopped.
Whether Lu Baiyu himself cared or not, he shouldn't be slandered like this.
The man was hearing none of it. He was struggling desperately against being pressed to the ground. Gu Pingming bent his knees and slammed it against his waist, telling him to behave himself.
The security guards finally arrived. Seeing that the situation was under control, they couldn't help being stunned: "Doctor Lu, this is—"
"He's a family member of the transferred patient. If possible, please have Dr. Li immediately come down here."
Lu Baiyu took the knife far away. After the light caught the welts on Gu Pingming's hand when he forcibly grabbed the blade, he quickly walked over to hold Gu Pingming's elbow. He said softly, "Pingming, I'm fine."
His words were gentle and calm and the security guards immediately came up to restrain the man. Gu Pingming let him pull his arm and he withdrew his hand. With a slight frown, he turned to him protectively. "Are you injured?"
Lu Baiyu smiled and shook his head slightly. He motioned for the two students to go back to the office upstairs first and nodded to the security guards. "Thanks for your hard work, please maintain order first and I will notify the director."
He took the phone on the table with his left hand, his right hand still hanging by his side.
Gu Pingming frowned and he walked over, wanting to check his right arm. But Lu Baiyu turned sideways to avoid him and shook his head slightly. "It's okay…"
If you say it's okay again – I'll kiss you.
Gu Pingming's figure drew in close and his eyes seemed to stop on his lips.
There were too many people around. Lu Baiyu couldn't help lightly pursing the corners of his lips. His earlobes turned imperceptibly red. He was forced to change his words, "I was knocked into by a cabinet. I can't summon a lot of strength in my right arm. It'll be fine in a while."
At that time, the filing cabinet was pushed down and it almost slammed a student to the ground. In his hurry to save the student, the corner of the cabinet hit his shoulder. Up to now, half of his arm was still half-numb.
The iron cabinet filled with documents was terribly heavy and even his body adjusted back to its original value could not resist against it. If the system had been a little bit slow in its adjustment might have been completely rendered useless.
Gu Pingming had undoubtedly quickly realized this. The light in his eyes quickly dimmed as soon as his eyes swept through the heavy iron cabinet.
He'd finished his call and the director and the doctor in charge of the patient in question quickly rushed to the scene.
Lu Baiyu had nothing to do with the whole thing and he didn't intend to explain more. He briefly explained the situation and was about to send Gu Pingming back to his room, when suddenly, there was an ear-piercing exclamation behind him.
In any case, everyone firmly believed that it must have been ghost distubed by the people of the rehab center, just when the situation was all under control, the man who had been remaining silent suddenly broke free from the hold of the security guard and picked up the huge vase that was placed to the side as decoration. He then threw it at people.
Noticing the stumbling steps and heavy swoosh of something quickly approaching, Lu Baiyu resolutely pushed away the doctors in front of him. He turned around swiftly and he was already instinctively raising his hand to pull Gu Pingming behind him.
Gu Pingming's eyes were already filled with dark light. His arms suddenly looped him around him. He twisted his body and grabbed the man's arm with a turn of his elbow, slamming the vase to the ground.
The sound of breaking accompanied by the splash of water shook everyone's ears.
Silence instantly descended upon the duty room.
Gu Pingming was calm. He pulled an infusion tube to tie the man up and then threw him to the security guard. He pulled over Lu Baiyu to check if he had any injuries. Still dripping wet in places, he walked over in front of the director. "Director, I pulled my arm during that fight, can I extend my stay at the rehab center?"