Chapter 491 - One-stop Bathhouse
When Su Tao walked out, Ms. Han waved her hand in his direction. "Deputy Director Liu has invited you to his office."
Su Tao was somewhat surprised as he followed her to an office with simple renovations and saw a middle-aged man walking over. After Ms. Han left, the man shut the door and sighed, "I'm your Senior Brother; we have the same master. I'm ranked 9th, and my name is Liu Yi!"
Hearing those words, Su Tao was instantly left stunned. It was no wonder why Song Sichen told him a few days ago that he didn't have to worry about anyone bullying him, it turned out that he had a Senior Brother looking after him.
"Master never mentioned you to me, which is why I did not pay you a visit." Su Tao modestly smiled.
Waving his hand, Liu Yi straightforwardly replied, "Teacher is too cautious, and he's afraid that if we were too close together, someone might use it to create a scandal. Actually, he was too overly concerned. Although I'm responsible behind the National Healer Selection's administration, I don't have any actual authority to make decisions. Even if someone tried to make use of our relationship to create a scandal, it wouldn't be a big deal."
Su Tao knew that Liu Yi must have called him over in regards to his late arrival. Thus, he said, "A small issue occurred in the morning, I'm really sorry to have made you worried."
Waving his hand, Liu Yi replied, "I'm still fine, but Teacher nearly got a heart attack from the anxiety."
Feeling apologetic, Su Tao asked, "I have a request that I would like to ask Senior Brother. Do you think you can help me call Master and tell him that everything went smoothly?"
Bursting into laughter, Liu Yi replied with a question, "Isn't it more appropriate for you to make the call yourself?"
"Isn't it because Senior Brother has a bigger face? I'm worried that Master might reprimand me." Su Tao smiled in embarrassment.
Taking out his phone, Liu Yi gave Song Sichen a call that, despite a small incident, Su Tao smoothly got through the examination phase.
Hearing those words, Song Sichen finally felt relieved and told Liu Yi to take good care of Su Tao.
As Liu Yi agreed, he hung up the phone and turned to Su Tao with a smile before he sighed, "Teacher has a good temperament, and he's happy that you can smoothly pass through the examination phase, so you don't have to be too worried about it."
"Thank you for your help, Senior Brother!" Su Tao immediately expressed his gratitude.
Su Tao exhibited his excellent interaction skills by asking Liu Yi for a favor, which directly lowered his status. Liu Yi was naturally satisfied and felt that this Junior Brother wasn't only talented in his medical skills, but also modest. Thus, he naturally felt the need to take good care of this Junior Brother.
After that, Liu Yi shared some experience with Su Tao in the office.
Putting it in a nutshell, the ruling phase was a contest between medical skills to search for outstanding talents.
The method and patients in the ruling phase weren't the same every year, and there were even some bizarre topics that would catch the candidates off-guard.
Coming out of Liu Yi's office, Su Tao let out a deep breath and felt a heavy load in his chest. He's not alone in this National Healer Selection as he bears the expectations and hopes of both Song Sichen and Dou Fanggang. Thus, he couldn't afford to let them down.
Liu Jianwei and Xia Yu have been waiting for him outside for a long time. When they saw Su Tao coming out, Xia Yu smiled. "Looking at the boss' expression, it's clear that he must've passed smoothly."
Patting his shoulder, Su Tao turned to Liu Jianwei and smiled. "Let's go and find a place to eat. Although my meals were provided in the detention center, the food was too fucking terrible."
Hearing a vulgarity from Su Tao, Liu Jianwei, and Xia Yu smiled as they exchanged a glance.
The three of them came to a hotpot restaurant in Beijing, where they ordered food and chatted while they ate.
Letting out a burp, Liu Jianwei chucked down the beer and said, "I'm afraid the Witchcraft Sect won't let it go so easily. With their nature, they will surely come looking for you again."
Nodding his head, Su Tao replied, "We can't always be left in a passive state in this matter. Make a trip to Shenzhou City, bring Bassoon along to have more people help out in the investigation."
As Liu Jianwei acknowledged, he continued to dump ingredients into the hotpot.
"According to my analysis, Wang Guofeng has already joined hands with Qin Jingyu, and I'm afraid that he won't be easy to deal with." Xia Yu said.
When this topic was brought up, Su Tao instantly wore a grave expression.
"Wang Guofeng is just a defeated dog, but Qin Jingyu isn't a pushover. With our current strength, I'm afraid that we're still incapable of dealing with him."
He knew that Qin Jingyu still hasn't personally made a move against him. He had never considered Su Tao as a proper opponent, which was why he manipulated Wang Guofeng from the background to apply pressure on him.
"The Dragon Group of the Qin Family is powerful, and the more I looked into them, the more fearful I get. It feels as if I've fallen into a quagmire." Xia Yu solemnly said.
Raising his hand, Su Tao instructed, "Don't touch the Qin Family for now, since it will only put you in danger. Right now, you just have to focus on the branches. At least for the time being, Qin Jingyu won't take any action against me."
He was confident since he had the Shui Family backing him. After all, Qin Jingyu couldn't possibly shed all pretense to deal with a physician.
As the three of them chatted, Xia Yu suddenly asked Liu Jianwei, "So, when are you going to get yourself a woman?"
Rubbing his buzzcut, Liu Jianwei replied, "My life was too insane for the past few years, and I just want to rest for now."
Liu Jianwei wasn't boasting, he had spent all the money he earned in the underground arena on women.
"You can't possibly stay single forever, right? Why don't you visit a one-stop spa house tonight?" Xia Yu sourly said.
Looking at him in disdain, Liu Jianwei asked, "You're the one that wants to go, right? Furthermore, you're only just talking about it. Aren't you afraid Yuqin might skin you alive?"
With a weak sigh, Xia Yu responded, "You're the one that's going for the one-stop services, I'm only going there to shower!"
Seeing the two of them bickering amongst each other, Su Tao took out a few bills from his pocket and waved his hand to the waiter for the bill. After that, he looked at Xia Yu and Liu Jianwei, who were sitting by his sides. "We'll settle with that, then. We'll head over later, and no one is allowed to escape."
Smacking his lips, Xia Yu failed to resist the temptation in the end and silently agreed to it before saying in depression, "When my wife asks about it, I'll just tell her that my boss forced me!"
Hearing his words, Su Tao couldn't help rolling his eyes and mocked, "What a useless henpecked husband!"
Beijing never lacked in anything, especially entertainment. The three of them found a spa house nearby. Aside from showering, you could also enjoy the sauna and other services.
After they paid the bills and changed their clothes, Su Tao's phone started to ring. When he took it out from his pocket, it was a call from Shui Junzhuo.
He was kept in the detention center for the past two days, and couldn't contact the outside world during this period. When Shui Junzhuo asked around and finally found Su Tao's location, he was already released before she could even visit him.
"Where are you right now?" Shui Junzhuo unhappily asked.
"I'm… at the library!" Su Tao lied, which caused Liu Jianwei to look at him with disdain.
"Which library are you at? I'll come and look for you right now!" Shui Junzhuo pursued.
"Alright, fine. I'm actually not at the library, but I'm in a spa house with two friends right now. I was locked up for so long, and I wanted to wash the bad luck off me." Su Tao knew that it's impossible to hide it from Shui Junzhuo. Hence, he came clean with her and hid the part about getting healthcare.
"Alright, it's good that you're fine now; I'll not interrupt you!" Shui Junzhuo sounded depressed and quickly hung up the call.
Hearing the busy signal, Su Tao also felt a little depressed.
Since Xia Yu could guess Su Tao's thoughts, he smiled. "Go and coax your girl."
Although Su Tao briefly hesitated, he still decided to look for Shui Junzhuo in the end. For some reason, he wanted to see her at this very moment, or perhaps he was worried that she might feel a grievance.
No matter how he looked at it, Shui Junzhuo was definitely more important than getting a healthcare service.
When Su Tao saw Shui Junzhuo, she was standing outside his apartment in white casual clothes that piqued the tenderness in his heart.
Walking over, he immediately took her in his embrace, which startled her.
He had no idea why he felt such a strong urge to protect her. He clearly knew that she's the princess of the Shui Family, and she did not need his protection. But he still couldn't help that urge rising in his chest.
"You're finally here!" Shui Junzhuo replied. But fortunately, she did not push Su Tao away.
"I've already tried my best, but the traffic was terrible. Even after paying the driver twice the amount, he still drove like a snail." Su Tao pushed the blame to that unfortunate cab driver.
"I'm still touched that you can leave your friends behind to see me." Shui Junzhuo took a step back and pointed at the door. "Open the door, why are we standing outside?"
Taking out his keys, Su Tao asked, "Don't you have the keys? Why didn't you go in first?"
"Because I want to see you open the door!" Shui Junzhuo smiled and gave a silly reply, which she even rolled her eyes in the process.
Seeing her response, Su Tao was instantly captivated. This was the first time he has seen Shui Junzhuo acting like a little girl. When she rolled her eyes earlier, he felt that his soul was leaving his body with his heart throbbing.
After he opened the door, he suddenly turned around and hugged Shui Junzhuo again.
"What are you trying to do?" Shui Junzhuo widened her eyes as if she was sneering at Su Tao's actions.
"Secret!" Su Tao gave a simple reply before he suddenly pulled her closer and planted a kiss on her lips.
If Qin Jingyu hadn't appeared in their lives, perhaps he would feel that Shui Junzhuo was out of his reach. But it was precisely after having a dominant competitor, that his attitude for Shui Junzhuo changed.
Facing Qin Jingyu's threat, anyone in their right mind would choose to withdraw. But Su Tao was that unusual and he would never bow to Qin Jingyu's threats. Thus, he decided to launch an even more domineering pursuit for Shui Junzhuo.
But thinking about it now, Su Tao did not find Qin Jingyu that hateful. On the contrary, he had to thank the latter that got him and Shui Junzhuo closer. Strictly speaking, he had directly brought them together!