Chapter 34: I Am Just a Doctor
Page (1/3)
Throughout the drive, Deputy Factory Director Li did not say a word. He seemed somewhat nervous.
Although Lin Shaowen had his eyes closed, his mind was racing.
He was trying to figure out why Deputy Factory Director Li’s father-in-law had sought him out.
Twenty minutes later, the car stopped in the courtyard of a small Western-style villa. The house had three floors, and the ivy covering its walls, along with the flowers blooming in the courtyard, immediately put Lin Shaowen at ease.
A bourgeois lifestyle, was it?
Still, when one rose high enough in rank, one did not always have to pursue luxury personally. There were plenty of people eager to show good judgment.
Lin Shaowen followed Deputy Factory Director Li inside. The moment he entered, he saw two familiar faces.
“Teacher,” Lin Shaowen greeted first.
“So you do still remember me as your teacher?”
Qin Zhong kept a stern expression, but his eyes were full of amusement.
He had originally worried that this disciple, whose parents had died young, would be unable to navigate the ways of the world. Several times, he had nearly gone to the Steelworks to check on him himself.
But that familiar form of address revealed the young man’s emotional intelligence. Back at school, Lin Shaowen had always called him “Dean.”
He had shown sufficient respect, but not enough warmth.
“How could I forget? I only graduated a month ago,” Lin Shaowen said with an awkward grin.
“All right, come here.”
Qin Zhong pulled him to his side, making his position perfectly clear: This is one of mine.
Lin Shaowen immediately went over, then called out to Zhang Yuyang, “Dean Zhang…”
“Mm.”
Zhang Yuyang nodded, though his expression was somewhat grave.
“We asked you here to examine Old Zhao. Don’t put any pressure on yourself. Just do your duty.”
“All right.”
Lin Shaowen nodded, then glanced at the elderly man seated at the place of honor.
His hair was mostly white, and he looked to be in his sixties or seventies.
A smile rested on his face, but the murderous aura he revealed unconsciously made it clear that this old man was no ordinary man.
“Doctor Lin, come feel the old man’s pulse.” Zhao Qingming extended his hand with a smile.
“Yes.”
Lin Shaowen nodded, composed himself, and stepped forward to take his pulse.
But the moment his fingers touched the man’s wrist, his pupils contracted violently.
A death pulse?
Seeing his expression, Zhao Qingming smiled. “I know my own body. Don’t be afraid.”
Lin Shaowen did not look at Qin Zhong or Zhang Yuyang. Instead, he pressed his fingers to the old man’s wrist once more.
The contents of the Blue Satchel Manual raced through his mind.
Page (1/3)
Page (2/3)
No stomach qi, no spirit, no pulse—a pulse signifying certain death with no hope of survival…
No. That was not right.
Ignoring the astonished gazes around him, Lin Shaowen seized Zhao Qingming’s hand and lifted it beside his ear.
“Doctor Lin…”
Deputy Factory Director Li called out once.
“Shut up.”
Qin Zhong and Zhang Yuyang shouted at him simultaneously. Zhao Qingming also raised his brows in mild displeasure.
Sweat immediately appeared on Deputy Factory Director Li’s forehead, and he did not dare say another word.
Lin Shaowen had not been recommended by him, but he was still his man. If anything happened to the old master, the Zhao family would inevitably hold him responsible. All he hoped was that Lin Shaowen would do something perfunctory and keep him from taking the blame.
Half an hour later, the room remained utterly silent.
The roar of a car sounded outside. A middle-aged man entered with a young girl. When he saw Lin Shaowen holding Zhao Qingming’s hand beside his ear, he said nothing. He merely nodded to Qin Zhong and the others before quietly taking a seat.
The girl beside him, however, watched Lin Shaowen with open curiosity. Clearly, she had no idea what he was doing.
Lin Shaowen lowered Zhao Qingming’s hand. Seeing that it was trembling slightly from being held aloft for so long, he rose and motioned for him to lie down.
Zhao Qingming was straightforward enough. Without a word, he lay down on the sofa.
Lin Shaowen flexed his fingers, then began massaging him.
“Ah!”
A soft groan escaped Zhao Qingming, his expression relaxing in comfort.
“Doctor Lin’s technique is impressive,” Zhang Yuyang said in surprise.
“Of course. Whose disciple do you think he is?” Qin Zhong said proudly.
Inside, however, his thoughts were churning like a storm.
The boy had already been outstanding at school, but Qin Zhong had never imagined that he was concealing so many other abilities.
A massage technique like this would take three to five years of practice even for someone highly gifted.
As for someone without the aptitude… it was better not to try at all.
Ten minutes later, Zhao Qingming sat in the living room, his complexion rosy. The admiration in his eyes for Lin Shaowen was entirely undisguised. If his body had not truly reached the end of its strength, he might even have tried to recruit Lin Shaowen as his personal physician.
“Shaowen, what is your conclusion?” Qin Zhong asked solemnly.
Lin Shaowen did not answer at once. He only glanced at Zhao Qingming.
“Doctor Lin, this old man has crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. I cannot claim that I am unafraid of death, but compared with my old comrades, I have already lived a good long life. So speak freely…” Zhao Qingming laughed heartily.
“A death pulse.”
Lin Shaowen uttered four words.
Apart from Zhang Yuyang and Qin Zhong, everyone present changed color.
They might not understand what a death pulse meant, but the single word “death” was enough to throw them into panic.
Page (2/3)
Page (3/3)
“Old Qin and I reached the same diagnosis,” Zhang Yuyang sighed. “Certain death, with no hope of survival.”
Upon hearing this, Zhao Qingming’s smile remained unchanged, though a faint glimmer of tears appeared in his eyes.
Anyone who learned that they were about to die would find it impossible to remain unmoved. Even so, he was handling the news better than most people ever could.
Deputy Factory Director Li’s face had gone ashen. He had still hoped to bring down Yang Weiguo.
While Zhao Qingming was alive, he could rely on the influence of the Zhao family. But if Zhao Qingming died, the rest of the Zhao family already looked down on him. They would consider it a blessing merely not to kick him while he was down.
“There is one way…” Lin Shaowen began slowly.
“Shaowen.”
Qin Zhong glared at him and called his name.
His meaning was obvious: A doctor had to know how to protect himself.
“Hahaha!”
Zhao Qingming threw back his head and laughed.
“Old Qin, when I personally taught you how to shoot back in the day, you were never this timid. Don’t tell me you’re worried that, if I die, someone will take their anger out on Doctor Lin?”
Qin Zhong said nothing. He merely stared intently at Lin Shaowen, signaling him to keep quiet.
“Doctor Lin, don’t listen to this old man. I’ll make this clear today: If anyone tries to make trouble for you after I die, my good-for-nothing sons will protect you,” Zhao Qingming declared.
“There is no need. I am a doctor. I only do what I ought to do.”
Lin Shaowen’s voice was calm.
Qin Zhong and Zhang Yuyang both trembled, shame rising in their hearts.
They had spent many years navigating the official world, and avoiding danger while chasing advantage had long since become instinctive. Yet somewhere along the way, they had forgotten the duty of a doctor.
“Well said,” Zhao Qingming praised loudly.
Lin Shaowen took out a pack of cigarettes and handed them around.
When Zhao Qingming reached for one, an elderly woman stopped him.
“Old Zhao, show some self-restraint.”
“I’m practically a dead man already. Why should I care about that?”
Zhao Qingming took the cigarette and drew deeply on it.
“It isn’t quite that bad yet.” Lin Shaowen exhaled a ring of smoke and said gravely, “Given your current condition, if you receive no treatment, you will not last more than six months. But I have one method. If it fails, you will have at most another month. If it succeeds…”
“You will remain safe and sound for five years. As for what happens after that… only Heaven knows.”
Zhao Qingming stood frozen in place. The elderly woman, too, stared at Lin Shaowen several times in astonishment, a trace of respect appearing in her eyes.
If this young man was not a political gambler who fawned on the powerful, then he was truly an exceptionally noble doctor.
Which kind of man was he?
The elderly woman watched Lin Shaowen, her gaze flickering.
Page (3/3)