"Divine Doctor Zhao, could you please prepare five portions of the herbs on this list for me?"
Mu Lin's other reason for coming out was to buy medicinal herbs. Elder Li's old, deep-seated injuries were difficult to cure with common herbs, but they could be managed with other types of medicine.
After the herbs were prepared, Mu Lin stayed at the Medicine Hall for a long time. Seeing that it was getting late, he finally got up and prepared to head to the meeting spot to wait for Li Xue.
Zhao Yang had Zhao Ling'Er see Mu Lin out.
"Mu Lin, you should come hang out at our Medicine Hall more often when you're free. I'm usually here." After chatting for a few hours, Zhao Ling'Er had developed a very favorable impression of Mu Lin.
"Definitely."
The two waved goodbye to each other.
Mu Lin waited at the designated spot for a short while. He saw a red sports car in the distance getting closer and closer and figured it must be Li Xue's.
Li Xue slammed on the brakes, stopping beside Mu Lin. He opened the car door and once again sat in the passenger seat.
"At least you know your place. Did you get the phone?" Li Xue's tone was sharp.
"I did." Mu Lin took the phone out of his pocket.
Li Xue snorted coldly. "You certainly have good taste."
She, of course, knew her products. The phone was this year's latest model, priced at nearly eight thousand yuan. 'This country bumpkin sure doesn't hold back when spending other people's money,' she thought.
Just as Mu Lin was about to tell Li Xue that it was a gift from Zhao Ling'Er, Li Xue had already turned her head to face forward, stating coldly, "138..."
"That's my number. Dial it, wait for it to ring, then hang up. I don't need to teach you how to do that, do I?"
Mu Lin skillfully operated the phone and saved her number in a moment.
Mu Lin now had three numbers in his phone. The first, of course, was Zhao Ling'Er's. As soon as he'd gotten the SIM card, she had taken the phone and saved her own number in it.
The second, naturally, was Zhao Yang's.
SCREECH!
Suddenly, Li Xue slammed on the brakes.
BANG!
A Volkswagen van had collided with Li Xue's sports car. The other vehicle had suddenly pulled out from the side. Thankfully, the collision wasn't too severe.
Li Xue took a moment to compose herself, then hurriedly opened the door and got out. Mu Lin followed her. From the van that had ignored the traffic rules, four burly men, all over 185 centimeters tall, emerged.
Li Xue realized something was wrong and instinctively took a step back. Mu Lin, however, stepped forward to shield her, a dark glint flashing in his eyes.
The lead man paused for a fraction of a second. He had seen that kind of look in the eyes of a few major figures before. But he quickly recovered, flicked his right wrist, and a foldable, spiked iron baton slid out from his sleeve. Without a word, he viciously swung it at Mu Lin.
Four silver needles appeared between Mu Lin's fingertips. He channeled his energy to the gaps between his fingers and, with a subtle flick, sent all four needles flying into an acupuncture point on each of the four thugs' kneecaps.
THUD! THUD THUD! THUD!
The four men stumbled simultaneously and all collapsed to the ground.
"Get in the car!"
Mu Lin urged Li Xue. She scrambled inside, and Mu Lin followed right after. Li Xue gripped the steering wheel, slammed the accelerator to the floor, and the sports car shot forward.
"Someone's out to get you. Who did you piss off?" Mu Lin said with certainty.
"It's not necessarily me! When you come from a prominent family, you make a lot of enemies," Li Xue shouted back, her voice harsh with the lingering panic of a near-death experience.
When Li Xue thought of how Mu Lin had just shielded her, she felt a pang of guilt. She took a few deep breaths and said awkwardly, in a softer voice, "When we get back, I'll have my dad send someone to investigate. We'll find out then."
「Meanwhile.」
After Mu Lin and Li Xue had driven away, the burly men who had ambushed them were pulling long, thin needles out of their legs. "What the fuck? Where did these needles come from?"
Because Mu Lin had moved so quickly and his actions were so well-concealed, they hadn't seen a thing, even with eight eyes between them.
"Brother Datou, you think that kid just now was the one who did this?" one of the men asked. His right leg was so numb he could barely feel it, as if it wasn't his own anymore.
The leader of the group was silent for a moment, a murderous, bloodthirsty glint in his eyes. "I didn't see clearly, but if it really was him, then we're lucky to be alive."
"We got careless. We thought we were just dealing with some scrawny little woman. Never expected to trip up this badly."
The four brutes could only get back in their van and leave in failure.
It took them only half the usual time for Mu Lin and Li Xue to get back to the villa.
As soon as Li Xue got out of the car, she ran straight to Li Yinhe's study to tell her father what had happened.
"Are you hurt anywhere?" Li Yinhe's expression was grim. He looked Li Xue up and down, unable to suppress his worry.
"We got away quickly. We're not hurt."
Li Yinhe finally breathed a sigh of relief, but then he looked confused. "You're saying those four huge thugs suddenly fell down in front of you and couldn't get up? And then you and Mu Lin just got in the car and left?"
"Yes..." Li Xue nodded slightly.
"Don't tell me that kid Mu Lin did it?"
Li Xue answered with certainty, "Definitely not. He was at least three or four meters away from them. He never made contact."
Li Yinhe pondered for a moment before saying, "I'll arrange a few skilled bodyguards for you. I have a good idea of who was behind this, so don't worry too much. Just be more careful when you go out from now on."
"And as for that Mu Lin, he's just a scrawny kid. He can't protect you. Try not to go out with him in the future, lest he drag you down."
Li Xue was about to tell her father about how Mu Lin had protected her, but Li Yinhe cut her off. "Your grandfather wants me to arrange a job for him at the company. Monthly salary of two hundred thousand. What are your thoughts on that?"
Hearing this, Li Xue completely forgot what she had been about to say. In disbelief and anger, she said, "I really don't know what Grandfather is thinking."
"I asked your grandfather, but he wouldn't say anything about Mu Lin," Li Yinhe said with a frown.
Li Xue was furious. Two hundred thousand wasn't a lot of money to her—it was less than what she'd spend on a handbag—but why on earth did someone like Mu Lin deserve it?
"Put him in the Special Projects Department," Li Xue said, her tone turning cold after she calmed down a bit. "I'll find someone to make sure he keeps messing up, and then we'll dock his entire salary."
"The Special Projects team... All right, we'll do as you say. But it's best we keep this from your grandfather."
Li Yinhe added, "Five months at the least, a year at most. I'll make sure that punk leaves on his own."
Downstairs, Mu Lin was helping Mrs. Li brew some traditional medicine. Mrs. Li spoke in a gentle, warm voice, "You're so thoughtful, Mu Lin. Your grandfather's health isn't what it used to be. With your care, I'm sure he'll recover day by day."
"Next time you see him, remember to thank the Divine Doctor for us."
As she spoke, Mrs. Li began to stir the herbal brew. "Let me handle brewing the medicine," she said to Mu Lin. "You go over and chat with the Elder."
"Okay, I'll leave it to you then."
After Mu Lin's Seven-fingered Golden Needle treatment, Elder Li's vitality improved day by day, which made him more and more fond of Mu Lin. "Xiaolin, come sit. Do you know how to play chess? Come play a few rounds with this old bag of bones."
Mu Lin sat down. The Elder was playing Xiangqi.
They played three games in a row. Two wins, one loss. The winner, of course, was Elder Li.
"Ah, Xiaolin, you don't have to humor an old man like me. Show me what you've really got. Let's play again."
"Grandmaster Li, your chess skills are just too superb. I really can't beat you."
"Is that so? HAHAHAHA."
Elder Li was delighted and insisted on playing several more games with Mu Lin before finally stopping.
As for the vicious thugs they'd encountered on the way back, Mu Lin felt there was no need for him to say anything more. The Li Group's influence in Anhua City was immense. For someone to make a move against the Li Family's heiress was like an egg trying to smash a rock.
After dinner, Mu Lin stayed downstairs, reading the manual to familiarize himself with the phone's functions before heading upstairs.
He gently pushed the door open, and the first thing he saw was a pair of long, sexy legs—shapely, fair, and smooth, dangling right before his eyes.
Li Xue was wearing a lace nightgown, video-chatting with her best friend as usual.
"AH!"
Li Xue shrieked, mortified and flustered. She grabbed the nearby ice-silk comforter and wrapped it tightly around her bare legs, leaving only her small head poking out. Face beet-red, she glared at Mu Lin. "Who told you to come in!"
Mu Lin helplessly spread his hands. "The Elder is downstairs keeping watch. You want me to go to the guest room right in front of him?"
"...Argh."
Li Xue let out a helpless, aggrieved cry, venting her frustration.
Even so, she was still mortified. She truly didn't know how to accept the sudden presence of an adult man in her room at night.
Moreover, she was only wearing a thin, sexy nightgown... with nothing underneath.