Chen Ping'an had the waiter bring paper and a pen to write out a prescription.
Another ten minutes later, Chen Ping'an produced his silver needles.
"All right. Take the medicine continuously for ten days. If you still feel any pain or have difficulty breathing, we'll follow up with acupuncture. If those symptoms are gone, you don't need to worry about it anymore. Eat what you like, drink what you like, and put your mind completely at ease."
Suddenly remembering something, Chen Ping'an took back the prescription and solemnly wrote a single character on the back—*Live*.
"Little Chen, what does this 'Live' mean?"
Jiang Shangkun leaned forward, looking at Chen Ping'an in bewilderment.
"Personal habit," Chen Ping'an said as he put away his silver needles. "Every prescription I write has either 'Live' or 'Die' written on the back. 'Live' means that if you follow my treatment plan, you will survive. 'Die' means the opposite; writing the prescription is just to give the patient peace of mind, nothing more."
"You're not writing a medical prescription there, you're writing in the Book of Life and Death."
Jiang Shangkun burst out laughing. Daring to determine a patient's fate with a prescription alone was enough to show Chen Ping'an's absolute self-confidence.
He was arrogant, but he had the capital to be arrogant.
"Mm, you could say that."
Chen Ping'an nodded faintly. The concept of the Book of Life and Death was something many people in Huludao Third Prison had already talked about.
Silver needles in hand could save lives or take them.
A prison doctor—was that title ever earned for nothing?
"All right, you guys enjoy your meal slowly. I have matters to attend to and will be leaving first. Contact me anytime if anything comes up."
Chen Ping'an had no intention of staying for food and drinks. He left his phone number and hurried out of the private dining room.
Eating and drinking—could that possibly be more important than accompanying his girlfriend?
"Where are they? Did they all leave?"
Arriving in the lobby, Chen Ping'an couldn't help being slightly surprised to see Su Muxue sitting alone.
"They just left. Are you done with your things over there?" Seeing Chen Ping'an come out, Su Muxue's face once again blossomed with a calm, gentle smile that made people feel wonderfully at ease and warm inside.
"Ping'an, you didn't eat a single bite just now. Would you like to eat a little something?"
"No more."
Chen Ping'an glanced at the messy table. How could he possibly have any appetite left?
"Then wait a moment, I'll go settle the bill, and then we can go out for a walk."
"Let me. There's no reason to make a lady pay."
Chen Ping'an hurriedly stopped Su Muxue. He understood the rules of courtship.
Before marriage, the man pays; after marriage, the woman handles the finances.
A standard, happy, henpecked husband.
"..."
Su Muxue couldn't stop him and had no choice but to let Chen Ping'an go pay the bill.
"Table number eight, how much?"
Chen Ping'an pulled out his phone, ready to pay.
"Two thousand one hundred."
"How much? Twenty-one hundred?"
Just as he was about to scan the QR code to pay, Chen Ping'an froze in his tracks.
The hotpot at this restaurant certainly tasted good, but the prices had always been down-to-earth. Six people eating hotpot, where he hadn't touched a single bite, cost twenty-one hundred?
"Give me the bill, let me look at it."
Chen Ping'an knitted his brows, feeling rather displeased.
"What? Worried we're overcharging you and want to check the bill?" The cashier was also somewhat displeased. She was very busy right now, and if everyone started asking for itemized bills, it would only add to her workload invisibly.
"Why shouldn't I look at the bill? It's my right..."
Displeasure showed on Chen Ping'an's face.
"Well, well, if it isn't Chen Ping'an! You came to this place for hotpot too?"
At that moment, another customer walked in through the entrance.
Chen Ping'an looked back and thought, *Well, talk about a familiar face.* It was Zhang Dawei, a college classmate of both Chen Ping'an and Su Muxue. After graduation, he had attached himself to Gaoyang and was now working in the hospital's laboratory department.
"Here's your bill. Take a good look. Aside from the dishes, you also ordered a bottle of Feitian Maotai. Is charging you twenty-one hundred too much?" With that, the cashier printed out the bill and slapped it down in front of Chen Ping'an. "Hurry up and pay, don't block the customers behind you."
"Feitian Maotai? When did I ever order Feitian Maotai? I didn't even lay eyes on a bottle of liquor."
Twenty-one hundred wasn't an exorbitant sum, but Chen Ping'an had to get to the bottom of it. Even if you have money, you shouldn't spend it recklessly.
"Tsk tsk tsk, look at that. An ex-con is even starting to drink Feitian Maotai now. Moving up in the world, aren't we?"
Hearing that Chen Ping'an had actually been drinking Maotai, Zhang Dawei felt somewhat aggrieved inside.
What right did some stinking ex-con have to drink Maotai?
"He's an ex-con?"
Hearing this, the cashier's expression changed drastically.
Chen Ping'an turned his head and stared right at Zhang Dawei. "Say that again."
"I said it, so what? Aren't you an ex-con? Back then you dared to—"
"Bang!"
Before Zhang Dawei could finish his shout, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen, and his hundred-and-fifty-pound body went flying backward.
Chaos erupted on the scene!
"Ping'an!"
Su Muxue rushed over in a panic, wrapping her arms tightly around Chen Ping'an's waist. "Don't be impulsive, don't be impulsive."
"Relax, I won't beat him to death."
Chen Ping'an took a deep breath, cold light flashing in his starry eyes.
"Ah! He's hitting someone! He's hitting someone!"
The cashier screamed at the top of her lungs, while someone nearby called out, "Quick, call the authorities! Notify Six Doors to come over."
Hearing this, the cashier hurriedly started placing a call.
"You fucking dare hit me?"
Clutching his stomach, Zhang Dawei struggled to his feet from the floor, his bloodshot eyes filled with resentment.
"If you ever dare talk nonsense again, I'll smash your mouth to pieces! Which of your eyes saw me serve time? Do the characters 'ex-con' happen to be carved across Chen Ping'an's forehead?"
He was already feeling depressed over the twenty-one-hundred-dollar bill, and Zhang Dawei's shout of "ex-con" undoubtedly hit Chen Ping'an right where it hurt. If he didn't get a beating, who would?
Not killing him outright was already letting him off easy.
"Hmph! Three years ago you were arrested and imprisoned, expelled from school, and kicked out of the hospital—who doesn't know about it? What? Trying to whitewash yourself now?"
Zhang Dawei sneered repeatedly. "And you even dared to kick me? Just wait until the people from Six Doors get here; I'm going to make you drop to your knees and beg for mercy!"
Zhang Dawei was an educated man.
These days, fighting usually had only two outcomes: win and go to prison, lose and go to the hospital.
He was going to send Chen Ping'an right back inside to sew mailbags!
"Zhang Dawei, don't go too far."
Hearing those words, Su Muxue felt a mix of anxiety and anger.
She was terrified that Chen Ping'an would be sent back to prison for assault, but she was even angrier at Zhang Dawei for deliberately provoking him.
"Clearly you were the one who spoke rudely first and insulted Ping'an, yet now you're trying to turn things around and blame him. Do you have any conscience left at all?" Su Muxue was so anxious her eyes turned red.
"Isn't he an ex-con?"
Zhang Dawei refused to let the matter drop. Instead of backing down, he turned to lecture Su Muxue. "Classmate Su, you're supposed to be our school's top student and a key talent being nurtured by the hospital, yet you hang around with an ex-con day in and day out. Aren't you degrading yourself a bit?"
"Who I hang out with has nothing to do with you—"
"Who reported the incident?"
At that moment, Wang Zuo walked out from the private room, having finished putting on his clothes.
Strictly speaking, a minor matter like this shouldn't have required the personal intervention of Chief Administrator Wang Zuo. However, the Six Doors network had a tracking system where everyone was equipped with a locator, and the tracker showed Wang Zuo was right in the neighborhood, so he was dispatched to handle the call.
"Who's an ex-con?"
Wang Zuo spotted Chen Ping'an's furious expression at a glance, then glanced over at Zhang Dawei, and immediately understood what was going on.
"Who the fuck are you? What does it have to do with you who's an ex-con?"
Zhang Dawei was extremely arrogant and didn't take Wang Zuo seriously at all, having no idea who he was.
Wang Zuo narrowed his eyes and pulled out his identification credentials on the spot.
"Does it have to do with me now?"
"Six Doors Chief Administrator Wang Zuo?"
Zhang Dawei was instantly terrified, but he reacted quickly and nodded repeatedly at Wang Zuo. "It does, it certainly does! Hello, Chief Administrator Wang! Just now, this brat gave me a kick—I'm the victim here."
Seeing Zhang Dawei pointing at Chen Ping'an, Wang Zuo's expression remained unchanged. "Why did he kick you?"
"Because I... I called him an ex-con!"
"Then why did you call him that? Did he provoke you?"
Wang Zuo's gaze turned sharp, like two blades pressed against Zhang Dawei's neck.
"I, I..."
"Who made the report just now?"
Ignoring Zhang Dawei, Wang Zuo fixed his gaze directly on the cashier. "You tell me, what happened here?"
"I, I..."
When had the cashier ever laid eyes on an official as high-ranking as a Six Doors Chief Administrator? She was momentarily frightened out of her wits.
"Don't be nervous. Tell me what you saw and what you heard."
"Oh." Comforted somewhat, the cashier wasn't quite as scared anymore. After collecting her thoughts, she pointed at Chen Ping'an and said, "This gentleman came to pay the bill and questioned the total amount. I went to get the bill for him, and this gentleman stated that he hadn't ordered any Maotai. Just as I was about to explain, that man over there walked in."
"They must know each other. The moment that guy walked in, he called him an ex-con and started running his mouth, saying things like ex-cons don't deserve to drink Maotai. This gentleman must have gotten angry and kicked him."
The cashier didn't dare talk nonsense, and since there were surveillance cameras anyway, reviewing the footage would make everything clear.
"So, you're the one who started this?"
Wang Zuo turned his head and stared fixedly at Zhang Dawei. "Infringing on someone's reputation—once the charge is established, whether or not he's an ex-con is up in the air, but you just might become one!"
"B-but he hit me!"
Zhang Dawei's expression turned somewhat flustered.
Calling someone an ex-con shouldn't be that big a deal, right? Do ex-cons even have a right to reputation? What kind of nonsense was that?
"Hit you?"
Wang Zuo suddenly laughed. "Young man, you should thank the law for saving you. Don't you know the saying: you can say anything you want, but you can't just say anything you please?"
"As an adult, you have to take responsibility for your actions."
"..."
Zhang Dawei instantly shut his mouth. He had simply been running his mouth for the thrill of it, helping Boss Gaoyang thoroughly humiliate Chen Ping'an. Who could have guessed the guy would actually dare to fight back?
Judging by the sound of it, he wouldn't even be allowed to call the guy an ex-con anymore.
"Of course, him resorting to physical violence was indeed wrong, but I don't see any injuries on you. Do you want to press charges against him, or shall we call it even?"
Naturally, Wang Zuo stood firmly on Chen Ping'an's side.
"Uhm, let's just call it even."
After thinking it over, Zhang Dawei chose to swallow his anger.
"Good. Keep your mouth shut from now on and stay out of trouble, or you'll just end up getting beaten again." Wang Zuo warned him.
"..."
Rubbing his stomach with a dark expression, Zhang Dawei turned and left, having lost all appetite for hotpot.
"What's the deal with this bill?"
Wang Zuo took the bill and scanned it. "The unit prices are certainly correct. Whether this gentleman ordered the Maotai or not—can't you just check the surveillance footage to find out?"
"Oh, please wait a moment."
The cashier no longer dared to find it troublesome and immediately started pulling up the surveillance footage.
Wang Zuo remained uneasy, afraid that Chen Ping'an had been scammed, and kept his eyes glued to the screen.
In no time at all, the cashier located the footage, pointed at the screen, and said, "Look, look right there! That's their table, table number eight, ordering a bottle of Feitian Maotai. And look, that guy even stuffed the bottle into his clothes and walked away with it!"
"But that person isn't him..."
Wang Zuo's face turned livid. Of course he recognized the person who had taken the Maotai!
—Zhang Longhai, the very same bastard who had just tried to toast him!
Damn it, Zhang Longhai was one of his own men!
How humiliating!
"Still, they were eating at the same table, and since he came to settle the bill, he should definitely be the one to pay for it."
The cashier's logic held up.
"I'll pay this bill."
Rebuffed, Wang Zuo felt he had wronged Chen Ping'an and pulled out his wallet to pay.
"No need, I'll pay for it myself. I just needed to know who took the Maotai."
Chen Ping'an scanned the code directly and walked away, not even bothering to say goodbye to Wang Zuo before leaving.
Wang Zuo was fit to be tied with anger!
Back in the private room, right in front of Jiang Shangkun, Wang Zuo placed a call to the captain of his subordinate inspection team. "Ask one of your subordinates named Zhang Longhai—what the hell, has he never tasted Maotai in his life?"
"Damn it, what an embarrassment!"
Meanwhile, driving his secondhand Lavida back home, Zhang Longhai suddenly sneered—er, sneezed...
"Ping'an, I'm so sorry. I didn't know Meiling and the others took a bottle of wine, I..."
Su Muxue felt deeply guilty. After all, Wu Meiling was her cousin, but Zhang Longhai's character was simply atrocious. He came to a free meal and stole things on top of it; a single bottle of Maotai cost more than the consumption of all of them combined.
Because of this, Chen Ping'an had even been subjected to public humiliation and a police report.
"It's fine. I don't blame you."
Chen Ping'an gave a faint smile, brushing it off completely.
"Ping'an, how about I transfer the money to you? I..."
Su Muxue knew that Chen Ping'an had just returned, had only recently started working, and was in a difficult financial situation at home. With a family member suffering from leukemia, bone marrow matching, surgery costs, later convalescence, and everything else, it all added up to no small expense.
"Muxue, seriously, there's no need."
Chen Ping'an naturally understood what was going on in the woman's mind. Su Muxue's kindness only made him feel even warmer inside.
"First of all, I'm not short on money. Just now, I only wanted to figure out why twenty-one hundred was spent—not because I begrudge the money, but because I want to know where I stand."
"Furthermore, I'm a man. I'm the man chosen by you, Su Muxue. Can't I even handle the bill for a single meal?"
"Trust me, I won't let you wait in vain for seven years."
Chen Ping'an took the woman's hand, their eyes meeting in a gaze of infinite tenderness. At that moment, the most natural next step would have been an embrace, a kiss, and an elevation of their romance.
However, the ringing of the phone in Su Muxue's pocket broke out abruptly.
"Ahem, ahem."
Chen Ping'an, who had just been about to move in and kiss those red lips, could only fake a light cough to mask the awkwardness.
Su Muxue's face flushed red as well. Lowering her head, she fished out her phone, saw the caller ID, and wore a helpless, bitter smile.
"Hello, Mom? Have you gotten home yet? I..."
"You wretched girl!"
Before Su Muxue could finish speaking, Wu Qiuyun's harsh voice blasted through the receiver.
"What time is it, and you're still not home? Did you go check into a hotel room with that ex-con friend of yours?"
The words were extremely unpleasant to hear, and Chen Ping'an caught every single one of them.
Yet Chen Ping'an didn't get angry; given his current identity and status, it was indeed hard for people to trust him easily.
"Mom, what kind of nonsense are you talking about!"
Hearing that, Su Muxue felt a mix of embarrassment, anger, and helplessness.
She had only officially started dating Chen Ping'an a single day ago, and her mother was already accusing her of going to a hotel?
"Don't give me that!"
Wu Qiuyun wasn't going to listen to any of it. She had slowly chewed over the events of the dinner party just now, and no matter what kind of relationship Chen Ping'an had with Jiang Shangkun, it couldn't change the fact that he was an ex-con.
Wu Qiuyun had just asked He Fen to help investigate Chen Ping'an's background—what he had been imprisoned for years ago, his family background, and so on.
Until everything was thoroughly checked out, she absolutely could not let her daughter get involved with him physically!
That was why, even though it was only nine-thirty in the evening, Wu Qiuyun was already calling to urge her precious daughter to come home.
"If you're not home in twenty minutes, I'm calling the authorities immediately and reporting that an ex-con is harassing you. Hmph!"
"Mom, why are you being so unreasonable? Mom..."
Before Su Muxue could protest, Wu Qiuyun had already hung up the phone.
"Ping'an, I..."
Su Muxue felt even more guilty inside.
She knew Chen Ping'an had eaten practically nothing earlier and had been plotted against by Zhang Longhai, who scammed them out of a bottle of Feitian Maotai. She had originally planned for the two of them to take a stroll together and grab some late-night snacks or something, but with her mother's phone call—well, there went that plan.
"It's fine. We have plenty of time ahead of us."
Chen Ping'an wasn't angry at all; instead, he found the mother-and-daughter dynamic rather amusing.
"You waited for me for seven years, so what's wrong with me waiting for you for seventy?"
Chen Ping'an practically shoved Su Muxue into her car. "I'll work hard and prove to your mom as soon as possible that I have the ability to give you happiness. Trust me, I won't make you wait much longer."
"Mhm."
Su Muxue was deeply moved, a bright sheen of tears shimmering in her eyes. "Drive slowly, and give me a call when you get home."
"Alright."
Because Wu Qiuyun had only given her a twenty-minute window, Su Muxue had no time to drive Chen Ping'an home and could only drive off first.
"Well, so much for that date."
Watching the woman's car disappear into the distance, Chen Ping'an gave a wry smile and rubbed his stomach. He was feeling a bit hungry, so he decided to grab a quick bite from a street vendor and then head home.
Along the riverbank, next to numerous KTVs and bars, many pushcart vendors and barbecue stalls were set up. Chen Ping'an ordered a serving of grilled cold noodles and a bottle of iced beer, eating while planning out his next moves.
The most urgent priority was to let his family live a good life, find a way to clear the Blood Mold Poison from Xiaosong's body, and investigate how he was poisoned and who had poisoned him.
After that came settling accounts with that pair of dogs, Liu Dan and Gaoyang!
A wedding?
He would definitely arrange a grand wedding for the two of them!
And after that was dealing with his relationship matters with Su Muxue.
She had waited for him for seven years, so he would guard her for the rest of his life!
"Master... Mr. Chen, what, what are you doing eating here?"
While Chen Ping'an was lost in thought, he happened to run into Xi Jiu.
Xi Jiu's appearance scared the street vendor so much that his hair stood on end, and many customers who had originally planned to eat there simply detoured around them.
Clearly, Xi Jiu's fierce reputation in Tianhai City preceded him.
"What are you doing here? Following me?"
Chen Ping'an glanced around, his sword-like brows knitting together as a flash of killing intent burst from the slits of his eyes.
"No, no, no."
Xi Jiu waved his hands repeatedly, pointing at a nearby bar named "Dream." "That's my turf. I came over tonight to audit the accounts, never expecting to have such a coincidence with Mr. Chen, so—"
"Your turf?"
"Right."
Chen Ping'an pondered for a brief moment. "Let's go inside and talk."
"I wouldn't want anything more. Please!"
Hearing this, Xi Jiu was overjoyed. He had been looking for a chance to report to Chen Ping'an about the dump truck incident anyway.
"Mm."
Chen Ping'an paid for his food and stepped into Dream Bar.
Most bars were pretty much cut from the same cloth. The moment you pushed open the door, a wave of heat hit you head-on, with men and women swaying wildly in the huge dance floor as if they had lost their minds.
Under the dim lights and amid the blasting music, the air was saturated not only with the smells of alcohol and cigarette smoke, but also with hormones.
Chen Ping'an merely frowned slightly without saying much, and led by Xi Jiu, he went straight up to the third floor.
"Mr. Chen, is there anything you'd like to eat or drink? Should I call a few girls to keep you company?"
Xi Jiu presented a pot of top-grade Tieguanyin tea with both hands, then bowed slightly to hand over a cigarette, raising his eyebrows to observe the changes in Chen Ping'an's expression.
"We have quite a few girls here, both yellow-skinned and white-skinned. Would you like to get one?"
There was no such thing as a man who didn't lust after women.
On this point, Xi Jiu was utterly convinced.
"Cut the useless crap."