"Why? Did he do something bad?" During the time the two of them were together, Jie Xu had been quite friendly toward Ling Sui. Although Ling Sui was cold and aloof, unwilling to engage with people, that was just how he was with everyone. The two of them had never had any conflict or direct confrontation.
So the hostility they mentioned must have been the way Ling Sui and Jie Xu had always interacted with each other.
The only thing she could think of was that Jie Xu had done something to wrong her, and Ling Sui had found out but hadn't told her. "If that's the case, you can tell me now."
"No." Ling Sui said bluntly. "It's just that I don't like him myself."
Meng Luobai was slightly taken aback. "When did that start?"
Ling Sui: "From the very beginning."
Meng Luobai slowly lowered her gaze. "Sorry, I didn't know before that you didn't like him." Back when she was with Jie Xu, she had even taken the initiative to bring Ling Sui along to hang out with them—it must have made him uncomfortable.
Ling Sui looked at Meng Luobai. "What about you? Do you still like him?"
Meng Luobai said, "It's been so many years."
Ling Sui smiled slightly, and his expression immediately improved a great deal. "Let's go eat hotpot."
It was already well past mealtime, so there weren't many people in the hotpot restaurant. The two of them found a quiet spot and sat down.
Meng Luobai had already eaten after all, so she ordered two dishes she liked and handed the tablet over to Ling Sui. She lowered her head and looked at her chat page with Zhi Qian.
[Meng Luobai: Don't make jokes like that. Ling Sui is my younger brother.]
[Zhi Qian: I can tell. You haven't seen each other in so many years, and yet your relationship has become this good again. If it weren't sibling affection, then it would be some truly terrifying romance.]
The words sounded a bit strange. [It's definitely sibling affection. Ling Sui has a girl he likes.]
At that moment, Ling Sui handed the tablet to the server and said to her, "I've ordered."
Meng Luobai put her phone down. She asked, "How did you know I was at Wanxiang Hotel?"
"I asked Aunt Meng. Aunt Meng told me."
Meng Luobai: "Oh."
"I didn't mean to interrupt your gathering." Ling Sui said. "It's just that every time you met with the Chen family before, you never ended up happy. If you wanted to leave, I could take you away."
Meng Luobai: "Today wasn't a meeting with them—just a get-together among classmates."
Ling Sui: "But all those classmates came because of your cousin. It was her event."
Meng Luobai smiled a little. "Are you afraid she'll bully me?"
Ling Sui: "You're a bit slow."
Meng Luobai: "…"
If Ling Sui weren't sitting across from her, she really would have wanted to knock him on the head. "How am I slow?"
Ling Sui said seriously, "That uncle of yours and his family—they're shameless and devoid of any sense of decency, yet you still play along with the act."
Meng Luobai was briefly stunned. "…"
"I know you'll say it's because Grandma is good to you, so that's why you go. But since your grandmother is good to you, you can just go and honor her. Why force yourself to put on a performance of a loving, harmonious family? She should know what your uncle's family has done. If you found an excuse not to go, she should be able to understand what that means. If she doesn't understand and keeps urging you, then she's just taking advantage of the fact that you're young and thin-skinned, and can't easily refuse."
"…Maybe she just wants to see the whole family reunited." Meng Luobai said. In her memory, every New Year, holiday, or special occasion, the entire extended family would gather together.
"Their family can't get together because of their two sons—one cheated, and the other treated you and Aunt Meng poorly. If you don't go, would they really not be able to reunite?"
Meng Luobai lowered her eyes slightly. Of course she knew that too. But the connections between people were never something you could just cut off at will. Those tangled obligations, the relationships built up over time, little by little wrapped around her, pushed her along, leaving her with no choice, slowly turning her into the person she was today.
Of course, there was also her unrealistic fantasies about family affection and her own weakness mixed in there.
"You're right." Meng Luobai let out a sigh. She was the one who had put herself in that position. "I really did bring this on myself. I'm being stupid."
Ling Sui furrowed his brow slightly. "I'm not trying to say you're stupid. I just feel bad that you still have to see them."
Meng Luobai blinked slowly, then looked up at Ling Sui. "…I'm not living with them anyway. It's only recently, with Chen Luojing's wedding, that I've had to see them. I won't be seeing them much in the future either."
Hearing her words, Ling Sui gazed at her deeply, and after a long moment said, "I'll go with you tomorrow."
Meng Luobai: "No need. Tomorrow you—"
"Tomorrow's Saturday. You're paying so much in gift money anyway, I might as well tag along for the banquet. Besides," Ling Sui propped his face on one hand, looking at her, "when I go, will someone be talking bad about me?"
Meng Luobai pressed her lips together and smiled. "You're a public figure after all. Outsiders have the right to judge you."
Ling Sui: "But you talked back to her."
"One thing at a time." Meng Luobai said. "Her talking bad about you in front of me definitely won't fly." Although Meng Luobai had never been in the same class as Tang Lingyu, she could still hear about her reputation from classmates—she was good friends with the three sisters from the dressing room, liked to form cliques, and talked behind people's backs.
Ling Sui's eyes were clear and bright, looking at her, a smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
Just then, the waiter came to bring all the dishes, and they started eating hotpot.
Meng Luobai had always felt comfortable around Ling Sui. In the past, he spoke very little, but he always answered when asked, never made excessive demands, and was always quiet and well-behaved.
And today, looking at Ling Sui again, although he talked more, it felt no different from how they used to get along.
Meng Luobai brought up a topic. "These past few years in grad school, do you still have plans to compete?"
"Not this year. I got injured in a previous competition and haven't fully recovered. I need to rest for a while."
Meng Luobai: "A shoulder injury?"
Meng Luobai remembered that before the Asian Championships, there had been rumors that Ling Sui's arm had been locked by an opponent, and he was slammed down hard on his shoulder, suffering a serious injury to his shoulder and back. But afterward, his team came out to deny the rumors, and Ling Sui went on to win the Asian Championship. She really had thought it was just a rumor.
"So you knew about my shoulder injury." Ling Sui smiled, his eyes bright, as if he was happy that Meng Luobai knew about it. "It's an old injury on my shoulder and back. The doctor advised me to stop training and rest for four months."
Stop training and rest?
Meng Luobai furrowed her brow. "What exactly is the situation with your injury? Would you mind letting me see your medical records?"
Ling Sui instinctively rubbed his shoulder line, his voice light. "I don't have them on me. I'll just rest for now and see. It's not a big deal."
Meng Luobai: "You must at least have the electronic version, right?"
Ling Sui paused for a moment, his gaze falling lightly on her. "The records… are at home."
Meng Luobai reached for the shared ladle by the pot, scooped up some meat, and put it into Ling Sui's bowl. "Eat up. After we finish, I'll go to your place with you, take out those records, and take a look."
Ling Sui's Adam's apple moved slightly, his tone carrying a hint of casual reassurance. "No need to rush. The injury is already there, it's not going anywhere. Looking at it a couple days later won't matter."
Meng Luobai set down her spoon. "Then it wouldn't hurt to let me take a look. I know doctors in the specialized field—what if we can help even one step earlier?"
Ling Sui quietly looked at her for two seconds, then finally relaxed his shoulders. "Alright, I'll listen to you."
After dinner, it was already very late by the time they returned to Zhuo Garden. In the house next door, only the light in the room of Meng Luoyu, the night owl, was still on.
She and Ling Sui walked into the villa one after another. She was very familiar with Ling Sui's home, so without waiting for his guidance, she walked in with practiced ease, her gaze sweeping across the living room—the decor and layout unchanged, the old sofa still sitting in the same place.
Ling Sui walked beside her. "The medical records are in the study on the second floor."
Meng Luobai nodded and headed toward the stairs, following the direction she remembered. "Do you live here alone? Isn't Butler Xu here?"
Ling Sui followed slowly behind her, the two of them walking one after another, then naturally falling into step side by side as they climbed the stairs at the corner. "He's at Xishui Manor. He has other things to take care of there."
After reaching the second floor, they walked toward the easternmost room.
Ling Sui took out a file folder for her. Just as Meng Luobai was about to open it, Ling Sui tugged at her sleeve. "Let's go sit over there."
This room had a balcony, and near the balcony entrance there was a long sofa. The two of them sat down together. Meng Luobai opened the file folder, which contained neatly organized medical records, examination sheets, X-rays, and MRI reports from the past two years. She pulled out the top one and flipped open the most critical page—the diagnosis.
Meng Luobai was a doctor. A few lines scanned through, and her professional instinct immediately knitted her brows into a deep frown.
"Old rotator cuff tear, with chronic degenerative changes in the subscapularis muscle."
Her gaze lingered on that single short line, her fingers unconsciously tightening around the medical record.
This was not an acute injury that a single competition could cause.
It was an old injury that had never fully healed, forcibly dragged back into high-intensity training. Day after day of strain and compression had caused the already-torn tendon to deteriorate further under chronic overuse, eventually forming irreversible degenerative changes.
Meng Luobai flipped through the other examination sheets, then silently raised her head to look at Ling Sui. Ling Sui was propping his chin on one hand, wearing a completely casual, relaxed expression, as if he were looking at someone else's medical records.
Meng Luobai was a little angry. "Do you know your condition is quite serious?"
Ling Sui met her gaze, froze for a moment, then tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I have a general idea. But in competitive sports, if you want results, there's no avoiding those moments when you have to push yourself to the brink. I've gotten used to it."
Hearing Ling Sui say this, Meng Luobai was momentarily at a loss for words. She lowered her gaze back to the medical records.
"Don't worry," Ling Sui said. "The doctors treating my injury are very professional. They've studied the best rehabilitation plan. Maybe I'll even be able to compete again next year."
Meng Luobai's profile was striking, fine strands of hair falling down, making her cheeks look especially fair and delicate. She looked down at the examination sheets without speaking.
"…Alright." Ling Sui's throat bobbed. "I really am taking good care of the injury. I'll recover soon."
Meng Luobai asked, "Can I show this to a doctor I trust?" Although she knew that Ling Sui's medical team was absolutely the best, she still wanted to consult a professional physician on her side.
Maybe there was a chance? What if there was?
Ling Sui: "You may."
Meng Luobai was organizing the medical records when a hand suddenly landed on her forehead, gently brushing her brow.
The soft, warm touch made Meng Luobai freeze for a moment. She looked up at Ling Sui. "What are you doing?"
"Stop frowning. I know my own condition well." Ling Sui's eyes were so clear they almost reflected her image back at her. "I won't push my body recklessly, and I certainly won't destroy myself for results. These injuries are very common among athletes."
"Of course I know you wouldn't do that." The tension on Meng Luobai's face eased slightly. "I just saw your injuries and got a little worried."
Seeing her begin to relax, Ling Sui let out a low chuckle from his throat, a clear yet earnest light hidden in his eyes. "Since you're so worried…" He paused, his tone slowing down, carrying a hint of subtle probing, "Why don't you just become my personal physician?"
Meng Luobai was silent for a few serious seconds, thinking in a professional manner. "I don't have experience specifically caring for athletes. I can recommend a more specialized sports injury doctor for you—"
"I don't want that." Before she could finish, Ling Sui cut her off decisively. The light fell across his brow, his presence quiet yet commanding. "If I truly wanted the most professional doctor, I could easily find one. I just want you."
"…" Meng Luobai's heart gave a slight leap, and she froze for a moment.
"Someone who knows me inside and out, someone I don't need to build trust with, someone who genuinely cares about me." Ling Sui curved his lips slightly, the smile so faint it was almost invisible, yet enough to make one's heart tremble. "Do you think anyone else is more suitable than you?"
Meng Luobai lowered her long lashes, her gaze shifting away for a brief moment, her fingertips unconsciously tracing the pages of the medical records in her hands as she pondered—she did fit the requirements Ling Sui had just mentioned, but she also had some reservations. She had never cared for a professional athlete before. What if her lack of expertise affected Ling Sui's recovery?
Seeing her brow furrow slightly again, looking torn and hesitant, Ling Sui suddenly smiled. "Stop agonizing over it. Even if I had no injuries, I'd still need a personal physician. Besides, you know me well, I trust you, and your home is so close to mine. From every perspective, no one is more suitable than you."
What Ling Sui said was indeed true. She raised her eyes and spoke in a steady tone. "Alright."
"Compile all your past medical records, imaging films, and examination reports and hand them all to me. I'll do a comprehensive assessment first, then create a personalized rehabilitation plan for you. The hospital's expert panel will evaluate and file it."
"Alright." Ling Sui remained in that calm, indifferent manner, showing little emotion, except for a faint, steady smile rippling in the depths of his eyes. He looked up at her, a light yet serious curve tugging at his lips. "Then I'll be in your care, Dr. Meng."