Chapter 4: Book an Appointment with My Wife

Su He was speechless. She would have to be tired of living to take her uncle’s terrible advice.

If she arrived openly as Nil, the celebrated surgical prodigy, would she ever have a peaceful day again?

“Then I’ll announce that you’re a member of the Su family,” Su Tianyi said, perfectly justified in his own mind. “This hospital was meant for your mother in the first place.”

Su He had nothing to say to that.

“Uncle, why don’t you tell me what you actually called me here for?” She changed the subject.

Of everyone at the hospital, Su Tianyi was the person she most needed to avoid. Rumors didn’t frighten her. The trouble they brought did.

Dealing with trouble was a waste of time, and she would much rather spend that time resting.

Su Tianyi stopped beating around the bush. He picked up a folder and brought it over.

She accepted it with a questioning look.

“A patient needs heart valve surgery,” he explained. “His identity is rather sensitive, and so far no doctor has dared take the case.”

Su He opened the medical records.

So it was him.

The surgery was technically demanding, complicated, and high-risk. Add in the fact that this was no ordinary patient, and it was understandable that no one wanted to take it on.

To her, though, a patient was a patient. Status made no difference.

“I can do it, but I’ll need my own team in the operating room. And another thing—”

“Don’t worry. I know your rules,” Su Tianyi interrupted. “I’ll make sure the family keeps it confidential.”

She nodded, closed the file, and stood.

“If that’s all, Uncle, I’ll be going. It’s my lunchtime.”

“Why don’t you have lunch with me today?”

“No, thank you, Director Su. Have mercy on me. I’ll come over for a free meal at your house when I’m free.”

Su Tianyi didn’t insist. He saw her to the door, then suddenly remembered something.

“Susu, when will you operate?”

“I’ll let you know,” she replied without turning around.

Watching her tall figure walk away, he shook his head, helpless but filled with affection and pride.

After his sister died, his father had gone to the An family and brought Su He back to raise her himself.

She had been exceptionally bright from childhood. When the old man discovered her interest in medicine, he had trained her personally.

Even so, no one had imagined she would become a world-renowned surgical genius.

After leaving Su Tianyi’s office, Su He called her assistant.

“Ella, arrange for the medical team to come to Yuecheng,” she said in her cool voice.

Ella paused briefly. “All right.”

Su He usually hung up as soon as she had given her instructions, so Ella hurried to ask, “Aren’t you on vacation? I thought you weren’t taking any operations.”

What had persuaded her to make an exception?

Everyone who knew her understood that once she declared herself on leave, she would not operate as Nil.

Su He supplied a convenient excuse. “I have to do my uncle a favor once in a while.”

“Fair enough.” Ella knew what she was like. Before hanging up, she remembered something else. “By the way, Bai Yang says people on both sides of the law have been quietly looking for you lately.”

“For me?” Su He raised an eyebrow. “What for?”

She had been keeping a very low profile. She hadn’t done anything.

“My guess is the patented invention you developed before you went back.”

That interested her even less. “I’ve already said I’m not selling it.”

Ella fell silent.

Or had no one offered enough yet?

She hoped Su He wouldn’t end up eating her words again.

*

A knock sounded at the top-floor office of DK Group.

“Come in.”

Jiang Feng opened the door.

“Fifth Master, Elder Long’s son just sent word. Nil has agreed to perform the operation.”

Jiang Yan turned and settled back into his chair, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Doesn’t she refuse all surgery while she’s on vacation?”

“Apparently Director Su at City First Hospital used his connections to ask Nil for help.”

Jiang Feng found it strange too. They had offered an enormous fee before and still failed to persuade her.

No—she had agreed once.

That had been for Miss Tang’s operation.

Jiang Yan considered this. “When?”

“Tomorrow morning at nine. City First Hospital.”

“Postpone that day’s meetings.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jiang Feng was about to leave when Jiang Yan stopped him.

“Wait.”

“Anything else, Fifth Master?”

Long, well-defined fingers tapped idly against the desk. “Book me an outpatient appointment at City First Hospital this afternoon.”

“What?” For a moment, Jiang Feng failed to follow. “Why an outpatient appointment there? Are you feeling unwell? Should I call Dr. Xiao?”

Xiao Si was Jiang Yan’s private physician.

He had no idea that, as of this moment, his employment prospects were in jeopardy.

Jiang Yan glanced at his assistant, dark eyes unfathomable. His voice was unhurried, yet sharp as a winter wind.

“Why do you think?”

Jiang Feng’s skin seemed to tighten. He felt chilled all over.

His mind raced.

Last night, the Fifth Master had unexpectedly ordered him to check his wife’s outpatient schedule.

Wasn’t she seeing outpatients this afternoon?

“I understand, Fifth Master. I’ll take care of it right away!”

A second later, he practically shot out of that treacherous swamp of an office.

…

By the end of an afternoon seeing patients, Su He’s back and waist ached from sitting.

Resting her hands on her shoulders and neck, she stretched her spine. “Lu Zhenyu, how many more?”

“Just one.”

“All right. Send them in.”

“Okay.”

The consultation-room door opened a moment later.

Lu Zhenyu looked up and froze before he could speak.

Wasn’t this the powerful man who had accompanied the famous Tang Sirou yesterday?

What was he doing here?

When Lu Zhenyu read the name on the list, this man had been the first person to come to mind. Jiang Yan was certainly a familiar name, and he knew of someone with that name. But a man of that standing would never book an ordinary outpatient appointment.

He had assumed it was a coincidence. Plenty of patients shared names.

Now that he saw the man himself, he was dumbstruck.

A man who associated with Tang Sirou, was named Jiang Yan, and looked this handsome and distinguished—there could only be one.

The young master of the Jiang family, the pinnacle of Yuecheng’s wealthy elite.

But someone of his status had his own private doctor. Why book an appointment at their hospital?

During those few seconds of astonishment, Jiang Yan had already entered and seated himself.

Su He had turned to get her water cup just as he came in, so she didn’t see him immediately.

She took a sip and turned back. Before she could swallow, she caught sight of the man across from her and choked.

She forced the mouthful down.

“Cough… You…”

Jiang Yan frowned at her flushed face.

Was he that frightening?