Chapter 13 - The Shrew’s Illness

Ling Yun looked tenderly at the young man who allowed her to tease him all the time with a grin on his face.

She knew that Ding Ning had buried too much pain and too many stories in his heart. He merely kept them to himself. What he always expressed was his carefree side.

She gently held his hand and helped him massage between his eyebrows, trying to resolve the pain in his heart. She patted his arm like she was coaxing a child. “Be good. Don’t be afraid. I’ll always be with you.”

Like a drowning person holding onto a life-saving float, Ding Ning clutched her hand without letting go. His knitted eyebrows gradually relaxed as the corners of his mouth curved ever so slightly. He began drifting to dreamland like a child.

Ling Yun was pushing the door in when the sun spilling into the ward woke Ding Ning up. She was holding breakfast in her hand.

Rubbing his face, Ding Ning sat up and smiled sheepishly. “Master Yun, what good food did you make for this little one?”

Ling Yun walked over with a large stride, her small buttocks swaying behind her. She placed the breakfast that she traveled far away to buy on the bedside table. “Go wash your face and brush your teeth. This great one especially prepared Four Great Vajrapanis for you.”

“Wow! I just knew it’s going to be Four Great Vajrapanis! I can smell the fragrance from afar.”

Ding Ning climbed up from the bed, eagerly pulled on some clothes, and ran off to wash up.

Large flatbread, fried dough sticks, glutinous rice rolls, and soy milk were the most famous breakfast of Ninghai, dubbed the Four Great Vajrapanis. They were also Ding Ning’s favorite breakfast.

Watching Ding Ning wolf down his food, Ling Yun with dark circles under her eyes wore a satisfied smile. If he loved the food, it wasn’t a waste of effort for her to travel dozens of kilometers early in the morning to help him buy them.

Ding Ning was a thoughtful person. The Four Great Vajrapanis weren’t sold anywhere near this place. Ling Yun must have traveled quite a distance to buy breakfast for him.

He would keep this show of kindness in his heart but not show it. After being friends for five years, they had come to a tacit understanding that was hard to explain.

Ling Yun wasn’t a sentimental person. If Ding Ning told her something emotional out of gratitude, this little girl might very well become the queen of violence.

It was only in front of Ling Yun that Ding Ning could put down his disguise. He would act as weak and dainty like a uke, without any masculinity whatsoever. This was their unique way of getting along with each other.

To Ding Ning, Ling Yun was the first person he befriended after arriving in Ninghai. She was also the only girl who sincerely treated him well.

Back when Ding Ning came to Ninghai for the first time, he found it hard to adapt to life here. Ling Yun, only sixteen-year-old that year, accompanied him through his most difficult times like a little adult.

He deeply cherished this feeling. That was why he would follow her temperament and pretended to be a little uke to satisfy her desire to protect others.

“Come, Master Yun. This little one will give you a massage.”

After breakfast, Ding Ning made Ling Yun lie down and began massaging her face like an obedient henchman.

Ling Yun leaned on Ding Ning’s thighs and enjoyed his massage unabashedly. She had never doubted his magic skills.

From fevers and common colds in her childhood, menstrual pain in her teen years, and finally cholecystitis as an adult, she had never needed to see a doctor. Ding Ning had resolved all kinds of diseases she had over the years.

It wasn’t his first time helping her eliminate dark circles and refresh herself. With just several minutes of Ding Ning’s massage, not only would her dark circles immediately disappear, but her skin would also become pinkish, smoother, and brighter.

“What… What are you two doing?”

Unfortunately, they had forgotten that they were in a hospital, not Ding Ning’s rented room. When Zhang Li, who had come to take over the shift, pushed the door open and caught this intimate moment, she screamed as if she had seen a ghost.

To Zhang Li, Ling Yun had always been an aloof bitch who loved pretending to be a saint. The latter had mercilessly rejected the harassment of countless male doctors. She had never seen Ling Yun acting so intimate with any man before.

Ling Yun jumped up in a panic. She felt an inexplicable stab of guilt as if she had been caught in bed with her illicit lover.

She hastily explained, “Don’t scream, Elder Sister Li. It’s not what you think. Ding Ning is… He’s treating me.”

“Treating you? He’s treating you with you lying on his thighs? Do you think I’m a fool? Ling Yun, oh, Ling Yun! You’ve always acted like a saint. I really didn’t expect you to have such a coquettish side.”

Zhang Li wore the triumphant smile of a person exposing another person’s false mask. Inside, she was contemplating whether to smear Ling Yun’s reputation or get Ling Yun indebted to her. She could threaten Ling Yun and make her take shifts for her if she had nothing else to do.

Ling Yun’s face darkened. She was interning in the hospital and this involved her work. Her reputation was crucial to her.

Zhang Li was both hideous and fat, yet she loved lusting over men. She was vain, snobbish, and even mean. To make things worse, she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

She didn’t mind being thought of as Ding Ning’s girlfriend, but being intimate in the hospital was never leave a good impression of her.

Based on her usual style, she even had the thought of silencing Zhang Li with her death now.

Just as she was wondering how to tyrannize Zhang Li, the shrew, until the latter would keep her mouth shut, Ding Ning suddenly spoke.

“Elder Sister Li, right? Ling Yun and I are neighbors. She had a headache just now. I learned traditional Chinese medicine from my ancestors and has some medical expertise. That’s why I helped treat her earlier. Don’t misunderstand.”

“You know medicine? Can you stop joking around? Both of you are clearly sleeping with each other and about to do something shady in the ward. Stop making these ridiculous excuses. If you’re a doctor, what are you doing here in the hospital?”

Zhang Li didn’t believe his explanation at all. She sneered suggestively.

Ding Ning found her so ridiculous that he smiled. “Do you think doctors won’t stay in a hospital if they get sick? Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of the saying that doctors don’t treat themselves.”

Zhang Li was so embarrassed that she flew into a rage after hearing this. She snorted coldly and said, “I won’t believe you no matter what pleasing explanation you give. You two are definitely fooling around in the ward. Did you think the hospital is a free hotel room?”

“Zhang Li, I’m warning you not to talk rubbish. Do you think I won’t tear you apart?!”

Ling Yun was trembling with anger. She had seen countless gangsters falling at her feet in her many years of dominating Fuxing Road. She didn’t believe that she couldn’t deal with a single shrew.

“You little bitch…”

Zhang Li rolled her strange eyes and was about to retort when Ding Ning interrupted her. “Elder Sister Li, you have bad breath and constipation. Moreover, you have a bad temper. That’s because you’re suffering from Yin-Yang imbalance, depletion of the spleen, and hyperactivity in the liver. You’re obese because of Qi deficiency and phlegm retention. Your beard is heavy because you had surgery three years ago and took medicine that contains hormones, leading to an endocrine disorder and excessive testosterone in your body. Do you wish to cure your disease, restore your health, and become beautiful?”

Zhang Li opened her mouth in astonishment. She was about to curse when she suddenly stopped, and a strange look crossed her eyes. She excitedly asked, “How… How do you know?”

“Of course, I know. I’m a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. I also know that Senior Sister Li was once a very beautiful girl with a gentle and virtuous character. It’s an operation that turned you like this, isn’t it?”

Ding Ning sounded very confident as he spoke.

“Yes, yes, yes! What you said is all true! That, Dr. Ding, can you help me with my illness?”

Zhang Li was so excited that she trembled all over. She looked at Ding Ning expectantly, no longer doubting his medical expertise.

The cause of her illness was entirely that operation. The endocrine disorder caused by randomly taking medicine after the operation also turned her from a pretty, sweet-tempered, and amiable beauty to an ugly shrew who was hated by people.

Over the years, she had used more than ten kinds of depilatory drugs alone, but all of them treated her symptoms but not the root cause of it. Her beard would grow in every few days, turning her gentle personality into cynical, irritable, and mean.

“Now you ought to believe that I was treating Ling Yun earlier. Not only did you misunderstood her, but you also made rude remarks. I can help you treat your disease, but before that, you still owe Ling Yun an apology.”

Ding Ning spoke softly, showing no aggression whatsoever. He carried only the manner of someone virtuously serving the people.

“I believe it! I believe it! Younger Sister Ling Yun, it’s all my fault that I misunderstood you two. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have scolded you. I have a wicked tongue and has a poor mindset. Let me apologize to you. You must forgive me.”

Tears were falling off Zhang Li’s face as she spoke. In a choked voice, she continued, “I know everyone in the hospital look down on me. They call me a shrew, a tigress, and a fake woman behind my back. But I really wasn’t like this in the past. It’s the fault of that damned quack for recommending drugs at random for kickbacks after my appendicitis operation. In the end, I became like this. I couldn’t even find a boyfriend, sob, sob, sob…”

When Ling Yun saw Ding Ning winking smugly at her, a barely detectable bewitched look crossed her eyes.

No matter what she encountered, this little man would always imperceptibly minimize her problem.

If he could cure Zhang Li’s illness, he could ensure that not only would Zhang Li not talk nonsense out there, but she would also fiercely safeguard Ling Yun’s interests in the future.

For her to enter the hospital as a nurse with her current looks, she must not be without a certain background. The head nurse was her paternal aunt and her uncle was part of the hospital’s management team.

Helping Ling Yun befriend Zhang Li meant that the former’s career would become smoother in the future.

In particular, the sight of Zhang Li revealing her true feelings while weeping bitterly also made Ling Yun feel pity for her.

Though she was previously quite detestable, she had a reason for it. If Ling Yun was in Zhang Li’s shoes, she knew that her character would also be distorted.

“Elder Sister Li, I don’t blame you. You merely misunderstood us. It’s fine now that we cleared the air. Ding Ning has great medical expertise. I’ll definitely have him do his best to help you with your treatment.”

Even though Ling Yun was typically carefree, she was not one to bear grudges. She was still very kind-hearted.

“Thank you! Thank you, Ling Yun! I’ll treat you like my biological sister in the future. If someone bullies you, tell me and I’ll help you.”

Zhang Li didn’t gain her title of a shrew for nothing. After wiping her tears, she immediately patted Ling Yun’s shoulders and delivered her words with righteousness.

“Great. We’ll be sisters in the future,” Ling Yun said joyfully as she enthusiastically took Zhang Li’s hand.

Zhang Li suddenly whispered suggestively in her ear, “Girl, you must capture this handsome and capable man as soon as possible. It’ll be too late for regrets after someone else steals him from you.”

“Elder Sister Li! We’re just friends.”

Ling Yun rolled her eyes while putting up a coquettish protest. She glanced at Ding Ning guiltily, her face turning red as if she had brushed rouge on her cheeks.

“Hehe! I know, I know. He’s your friend, right? A boy that is a friend. Shortened, it’s called a boyfriend.”

Zhang Li made eyes at Ling Yun, teasing her. Ling Yu was so embarrassed that she lowered her head but surprisingly made no attempt to protest. She seemed to have tacitly confirmed this status.

When Ding Ning saw how delicate and charming a bashful Ling Yun was, his eyes immediately widened. This girl was becoming more and more feminine.

How shocking! The difficulty of turning the magnificent female gang leader of Fuxing Road into a sweet little girl was equivalent to turning a gay man straight.

For some inexplicable reason, Ding Ning felt a sense of indescribable guilt as he took in Lingyun’s bashful gaze. He immediately interrupted the two women’s whispered conversation with a dry cough. “Elder Sister Li, I’ll give you a few jabs with my acupuncture needles first before giving you a prescription. You can go and get some traditional herbs for decoction. As long as you take the medicine diligently, I promise that you’ll be able to overturn your disordered endocrine and return to your true appearance within three months.”

An overjoyed Zhang Li impatiently closed the door. She bashfully shot him an enticing look. “Do I have to take off my clothes?”

“No… No need!” Ding Ning’s stomach churned and he nearly spat out the Four Great Vajrapanis that he had just eaten. He suppressed his nausea and took out his silver needles. He patted the bed and said, “All you have to do is sit still.”