Physician's Odyssey

Chapter 514 - Nutjob and Mental Case

Translator: Thyaeria

Although a nutjob and mental case might sound similar, there’s a drastic difference. Calling someone a mental case was more or less an insult, but a nutjob comes with some intimacy. Most of the time, when a woman calls a man a mental case, it mostly comes from their annoyance. On the other hand, nutjob sounded somewhat sweet.

When he came out of the bathroom, he saw Cai Yan sitting on the couch, watching television and eating snacks with her hair wrapped in a towel.

She looked extremely adorable as she stuffed her mouth full of walnut kernels while watching a recently popular romance drama playing on the television, Youth Triumph.

“It has been a long time since I’ve watched such an innocent drama. It’s mostly those imperial-harem dramas nowadays that give me a headache from the twist in the plot.” Cai Yan suddenly said.

Rubbing his nose, Su Tao analysed, “This sort of drama isn’t popular on the market, mainly due to the young audience. So they might not be able to understand such a deep drama.”

Nowadays, youngsters had a habit of searching for related information on the drama online that they watched, and Cai Yan wasn’t an exception. As she searched on her phone, she suddenly said, “I’ve just looked up on this drama. It seems that the author is extremely famous! Furthermore, this drama has a high rating with a huge advertisement budget; I bet that this drama will definitely be popular! I would often see information about this drama on my newsfeed, too!”

Shrugging his shoulders, Su Tao emphasised, “This drama is more suitable for those older audiences, and those younger ones won’t be able to understand the drama; they’re mostly just joining in on the fun.”

“Isn’t it good? If you’re talking to someone and suddenly talked about recent hot topics, wouldn’t it be embarrassing if you knew nothing?” Cai Yan smugged.

“There’s nothing embarrassing about that. I can talk to them about health, and I can guarantee that I will definitely be able to get out of any embarrassing conversation!” Su Tao smiled in disdain.

Sourly jabbing at Su Tao’s forehead, Cai Yan replied, “Look at how smug you are acting!”

All of a sudden, Su Tao grabbed onto Cai Yan’s soft hand and bit on it, which made the latter frown from the pain. Cai Yan’s hand was tender with a flowery fragrance. Looking at her, Su Tao smiled from the bottom of his heart before Cai Yan immediately pulled her hand back.

Looking at Su Tao in alert, Cai Yan stood up and no longer dared to sit beside him, then snapped, “Are you a dog?!”

Thereafter, she returned to her room.

Just when Su Tao was wondering if his actions angered Cai Yan, he saw her coming out from the room with a bag and tossed it to Su Tao with an order, “Go and try them on!”

But when she saw that Su Tao wasn’t moving, she walked over and retrieved several clothes out from the bag. “Summer is coming soon, and you’ll definitely get a heat rash if you stick to your robes, so I bought a few clothes for you to wear for casual outings.”

However, Su Tao responded by raising his hands up, signaling for Cai Yan to change his clothes for him.

Sourly rolling her eyes at Su Tao, Cai Yan directly put the shirt on for Su Tao while the latter sat still as he looked at her prideful body moving before him and felt intoxicated.

Perhaps because he had moved too closely to Cai Yan, she noticed his lecherous gaze when she was putting clothes on for him. Instantly, her face blushed and she hugged her chest.

“You’re not a kid, so can’t you wear them yourself?!”

As Su Tao wore the shirt, he noticed that Cai Yan was truly meticulous to get his measurements so perfectly. Walking to the mirror in the living room, he casually spun before the mirror and smiled. “Not bad, but I’m sorry to make you spend money.”

Looking at the picture on the shirt, Cai Yan replied, “It’s nothing much. I volunteered because your time is precious, and I’m sure you won’t spend your time getting clothes.”

“It’s natural for men to earn money for women to spend.” Su Tao smiled.

“In the future, I’ll leave all my clothes to you.”

However, Cai Yan did not continue on that topic and talked business, “There will be at least three branches to open soon. There’s no issue with the funding, but we do have an issue with the manpower.”

“I’ll talk to Liu Ruochen about that!” Su Tao nodded his head.

Su Tao had always kept in contact with Liu Ruochen. Whenever she encountered any interesting cases, she would share them with Su Tao and discuss the treatment method.

Hearing Su Tao’s words, Liu Ruochen fell into a brief silence, then replied, “I’ll discuss this matter with my Master tomorrow. After all, the first batch of people that we’re sending to Three Flavour Hall must be experienced.”

“Remember to give a list of the people to Cai Yan for us to prepare for training!” Su Tao reminded.

“Training?” Liu Ruochen was baffled and asked, “You don’t trust me? The people that I’m sending to the Three Flavour Hall are definitely talents.”

“We’re mainly conducting training on our company’s culture. As a chain store, the company’s culture is important, and I’ve already prepared some standards that all employees of the Three Flavour Hall are required to abide by.” Su Tao immediately added.

Hearing his words, Liu Rucohen fell into a brief silence before she smiled. “It does seem like a huge enterprise now! Right now, the quality in TCM isn’t standardised, and the training might have a pretty good effect. But I’m just worried that...”

But before Liu Ruochen could finish her words, Su Tao interrupted, “You don’t have to worry about it. The instructor will be an administration member of the TCM Alliance, such as my Master, Dou Fanggang. He’s a celebrity in the TCM industry, so I’m sure that those physicians will cooperate no matter how prideful they are.”

“The TCM Alliance is now developing swiftly, and it has already caused the TCM Association to crumble.” Liu Ruochen smiled.

The membership of the TCM Alliance and TCM Association were exclusive, so you could only hold a membership to one of them. That meant that if you’re in the TCM Association, you wouldn’t be able to join the TCM Alliance. Thus, many members of the TCM Association withdrew their memberships, which created a considerable commotion in the TCM industry.

After all, an opportunist abandons an unfavorable cause.

The TCM Association was now an empty shell, and the talents in there could be numbered on one’s hand. On the other hand, most of the talented physicians have joined the TCM Alliance, not to mention that the TCM Alliance would often host activities such as charity healthcare events with charity organisations like the Qihuang Charity Funds.

“The reason is that most of the core members in the TCM Association are merchants, so they’re destined to be eliminated.” Su Tao confidently replied.

After a few seconds of pause, Liu Ruochen said, “You’re getting closer to your goal now!”

When they ended their call, Su Tao gave a call to Song Sichen and Dou Fanggang as well. Although he was confident that Liu Ruochen could provide sufficient talents, he would always have a backup plan. Thus, he called his two Masters for help.

After all, Song Sichen and Dou Fanggang were both TCM Grandmasters. Although their resources weren’t as powerful as a sect like the Aqua Cloud Stream, they still had a bunch of disciples and even third generation disciples. Furthermore, the reward given by Su Tao was also tempting. Thus, both elders immediately agreed to pick a few capable disciples to assist the Three Flavour Hall.

After Su Tao finished his calls, Cai Yan had brewed a pot of tea, which filled the apartment with a fragrance and created a romantic atmosphere.

The night was silent and the dim lights reflected on Cai Yan’s face made her look like a saint. Although Cai Yan wasn’t wearing much clothing, which revealed her impressive figure, Su Tao had no profane thoughts.

A goddess?

That was the evaluation from Su Tao’s heart.

Perhaps it was because of her new career, but she looked sexier now, which changed her temperament.

Su Tao’s gaze fell on the tea leaves in the pot and changed the topic. “Is Uncle Cai and Aunt She doing well?”

Nodding her head, Cai Yan answered, “My father went into antiques again. Recently, he took in quite a bit of antiques and earned quite a bit. Right now, Aunt She trusts my father a lot, and she will often discuss with him in many matters.”

“Do you think that it’s possible for the two of them to get together?” Su Tao smiled.

Immediately shaking her head, Cai Yan replied, “Aunt She is someone that lives an exquisite life. On the other hand, my father isn’t educated, so stop matchmaking the wrong couple.”

However, Su Tao shook his head upon hearing her words and said with a deadpan expression, “There aren’t many differences between people, and no one can say for certain about relationships. Who knows if Aunt She likes someone like your father?”

Tapping on her lips, Cai Yan pondered for a long time before she smiled. “If the two of them got together, then a wish of mine would be fulfilled. I can tell that my father has some feelings for Aunt She, but he can’t say them out loud because of his face and status.”

Waving his hand, Su Tao encouraged, “When a man pursues a woman, he must not feel embarrassed and take the initiative. Uncle Cai first needs to be confident and conquer the inferiority in his heart. Actually, I can tell that Aunt She’s heart is empty, and she lacks a sense of security. So if Uncle Cai can give her sufficient reliance, she will definitely be moved by him.”

“Ever since I came to know things, my father has never shown any interest in any woman. I’ve also never seen him bring a woman home, so I’m afraid that he was hurt badly by my mother.” Cai Yan shook her head.

“There’s a story in this?” Su Tao was curious, since he had never heard Cai Yan mention her mother before.

“My mother left my father when I was a kid. Back then, my father spent all the money on antiques, so my mother ran with another man.” Although Cai Yan was smiling, her eyes were watery.

“So since I was young, I’ve taken up the household responsibility to take care of my father. Aren’t I capable?”

Feeling a little heartache for her, Su Tao patted her shoulder. “Are you sad? You can borrow my shoulder anytime!”

Hearing his words, Cai Yan instantly glared at Su Tao. “I won’t fall for that!”

“Estranged! Has your heart changed?!” Su Tao said with a somewhat angered and depressed tone.

As Cai Yan smiled at Su Tao, she placed her head on his shoulder, to which Su Tao could feel that his shoulder was becoming wet from her tears and mucus.

“Will you abandon me one day?” Cai Yan gently asked.

“Never ever!” Su Tao replied sincerely.

“How ever?” Cai Yan suddenly turned into an innocent little girl as she asked a childish question.

“Even if mountains are empty of tombs; when the river dries up; when thunder roars in winter; when summer snows, I will never abandon you.” Su Tao transformed into Chiung Yao as he spoke those emotional words.

Indeed, Cai Yan was touched. She closed her eyes with only her gentle voice sounding out, “Kiss me!”