Bai Mu Ning automatically ignored the small mole issue. After all, in modern society, removing a mole without leaving a scar is easy enough and not surprising.
The main thing was that everything else matched up—then he could feel at ease and confidently make his move.
The employer said the target liked younger men, ones full of youthful energy. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have sought him out. He fit the criteria in every way.
Youthful energy was his strong suit, but there was one tricky issue: he had recently been diagnosed with kidney deficiency. How was he supposed to prove he was full of vitality like this?
It was a question worth pondering.
Since it was Saturday, there were more patients than usual. Sanwen Hall was bustling with people coming and going, and waiting for the medicine took quite some time.
As the Chinese medicine were placed into the decoction pot, thick steam soon rose, carrying the medicinal scent through the air. It entered through his nostrils, which wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but the faint bitterness was discomforting.
Bai Mu Ning was someone who even found coffee too bitter, so he had no idea how he was supposed to drink this herbal concoction. Could he add sugar and milk?
Just as he was worrying over this, he received a call from an employer—a woman in her 30s, a full-time housewife who was currently in the process of divorcing her husband.
She and her husband had met at university, dated for four years, and married right after graduation. There was a popular phrase, “from campus to wedding gown”, symbolizing how unwavering and destined love could be.
But once love was entangled with the trivialities of daily life, it became fragile. That once unwavering love and resolute devotion had quietly turned into a joke.
Not long ago, she discovered her husband was cheating. She hadn’t cried or made a scene but had instead taken a serious look at their marriage.
After careful consideration, she sought out Bai Mu Ning to investigate the mistress and gather evidence of her husband’s infidelity during the marriage, ensuring she could secure the best possible outcome in the divorce.
At first, the employer wanted to salvage the marriage and opted for the mistress deterrence service. But after thinking it over, she figured—why keep someone else’s used trash? Wasn’t that disgusting? So, she changed her mind again.
It was reasonable today that this case was already closed, so Bai Mu Ning wasn’t sure why the employer was reaching out again.
“Li-jie, what’s wrong?”
Li Li said, “Xiao Ning, do you take jobs cursing people out? Next Thursday, I’m going to the Civil Affairs Bureau to finalize the divorce. I need someone to be my mouthpiece.”
Ever since she had torn into that scumbag, Li Li had been in high spirits. Even her tone carried a sense of joy.
Bai Mu Ning had a broad range of services—he was willing to take on anything, whether it was being a mouthpiece, going on blind dates for others, dealing with scumbags, investigating mistresses, and so on.
After all, as long as there was money to be made, he was open to anything.
“Li-jie, I’ll take it. Do you have any specific requests?”
Cursing someone out was a skill—it had to meet the employer’s needs and couldn’t just be done haphazardly.
Bai Mu Ning had roughly categorized his approach into three types. The first was the vulgar curse, which involved thoroughly greeting the target’s parents, siblings, and ancestors up to eighteen generations. The more offensive, the better. This method required strong breath control and a seamless flow, intending to leave no way for the other to live.
The second was the elegant curse, which avoided any greeting of ancestors. Instead, it relied on presenting facts, citing evidence, and using reason to scold the target. The key to this method was logic and momentum, overwhelming the other party.
The third was the high-level curse, which took the sophisticated route. It avoided any explicit vulgarity, instead using complex sentence structures that the person doesn’t understand, leaving them confused, unsure whether they were being insulted, and entirely unable to counter.
“I want my ex-husband to feel miserable and stifled at the Civil Affairs Bureau that day, powerless to the point where he can’t even refute.”
Bai Mu Ning understood. The employer needed a high-level curse.
“Got it, Li-jie. No problem on my end.”
After confirming the time, Bai Mu Ning ended the call.
Just as he set his phone down, Wen Jing walked out of the consultation room, still on a call.
It seemed to be an important call. Bai Mu Ning couldn’t hear the content clearly, but he noticed that Wen Jing’s expression wasn’t good. In fact, he looked like he wanted to hang up.
Wen Jing strode out quickly, and in the rush, Bai Mu Ning caught a few words spoken in a lowered voice: “When are you breaking up with your boyfriend?”
“My patience is limited. Don’t force me to come find you.”
It seems Wen Jing really was a love brain. He appeared cold and detached, even pretending to be gentle, but unexpectedly, when it came to relationships, he was utterly irrational.
Bai Mu Ning glanced at his phone. He needed to get Wen Jing’s personal number. Otherwise, he’ll hook up with fart.
Sanwen Hall did have contact information, but those were just customer service lines that wouldn’t connect him directly to Wen Jing. That was useless to him.
Besides, he couldn’t keep coming to the hospital just for checkups—it wasn’t exactly wallet-friendly. The best approach was to get Wen Jing’s contact details and start flirting with him through chatting first.
Having made up his mind, Bai Mu Ning eagerly trotted after Wen Jing. Wen Jing, noticing the little tail suddenly appearing behind him, turned around with furrowed brows and glanced at him.
Bai Mu Ning caught the faint warning in his gaze and silently mouthed, Dr. Wen, I need to talk to you.
Wen Jing ignored the tag-along and walked straight out of Sanwen Hall to continue his phone call outside.
Out of courtesy, Bai Mu Ning didn’t follow him but stood by the entrance, waiting.
Through the glass door, he noticed the pronounced veins on the back of Wen Jing’s hand gripping the phone. The conversation didn’t seem pleasant; if anything, it looked like it was raising his blood pressure.
At this moment, Jingnan had already entered winter, and it had just snowed yesterday. Yet, Wen Jing wore only a thin white coat and showed no sign of feeling cold.
As expected, tall and sturdy men have great resistance to the cold ah!
Before long, Wen Jing ended the call and walked back in. He was skilled at managing his expressions—his face now carried a warm and gentle smile as he asked what Bai Mu Ning needed.
Bai Mu Ning secretly marveled at Wen Jing’s ability to control his emotions so effortlessly.
As he lifted his gaze, he realized Wen Jing was much taller than him. Unable to resist, he stood on tiptoe, trying to match their heights.
Even on tiptoe, he barely reached Wen Jing’s eye level. That enviable height of over 1.8 meters, while he was just one centimeter short of 1.8.
Wen Jing raised a questioning brow as if silently saying, You better have a reason for this.
Bai Mu Ning cleared his throat to ease the awkwardness and said, “Dr. Wen, could I have your contact information?”
“Sure.” Wen Jing pulled a business card from the pocket of his white coat and handed it to Bai Mu Ning.
It was the customer service number. Bai Mu Ning didn’t want that.
“Could I have your personal number instead?” Bai Mu Ning bit his lip, putting on a shy act, and said in a small voice, “I feel embarrassed contacting the front desk. You know, I have some issues in that area, so I thought it’d be more convenient to reach you directly.”
Bai Mu Ning was going all out for Wen Jing’s number. He didn’t even care about losing face, he outright admitted that he was incapable.
He kept his eyes on Wen Jing, whose face remained emotionless, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Bai Mu Ning asked hesitantly, “Is that a no?”
If it doesn’t work, he’d have to think of another way.
Wen Jing extended his hand toward him. “Phone.”
Bai Mu Ning was overjoyed—so it was this easy to get Wen Jing’s number?
Seeing Wen Jing’s number appear on his screen, he grinned happily.
Some people ah, may seem difficult to approach, but in reality, they’re quite easy to hook.
A little scumbag move, perfectly executed.
Carrying a bag of medicine, Bai Mu Ning returned to his dormitory.
It was Saturday, everyone had either gone home or was out with their girlfriends. He was the only one still in the dorm.
By now, it was dinner time, but Bai Mu Ning didn’t go to the cafeteria to eat. Instead, he ate instant noodles in the dormitory.
After preparing the noodles, he placed the Chinese medicine packet into a container filled with hot water to warm it up.
Since he already bought it, it’d be a waste not to drink it. No matter how bitter it was, he’d just have to endure it.
The dormitory door swung open from the outside. His roommate, Li Anche, had returned, carrying several bags filled with things he had brought from home.
“I thought you went home? Why are you back so early?”
Li Anche was a local from Jingnan, and his house was only a ten-minute walk from campus. Bai Mu Ning had visited a few times—his family was well-off, with both parents working at a bank.
Setting his things down, Li Anche walked over and frowned at Bai Mu Ning. “Mu Ning, why are you eating instant noodles again? That’s so unhealthy.”
Having just come in from outside, he still carried the chill of the cold air.
“Instant noodles are my baby—they keep my stomach full. Look, there’s meat, vegetables, and carbs. If anyone dares say it’s not nutritious, I’ll start cursing them out.”
Bai Mu Ning fiercely defended his beloved instant noodles, unwilling to let anyone misunderstand them.
Li Anche sighed. “I brought braised beef and some side vegetable dishes from home, my mom made them. But since you already have meat, forget it, I’ll just eat them myself!”
Bai Mu Ning, a master of switching faces, wasn’t much worse than Wen Jing. “Classmate An An, I’m willing to share both the sweetness and the pain with you.”
After dinner, Li Anche brought up the topic of graduation. They would be graduating next year, and it was time to start looking for internships and jobs.
Their school was only a vocational college, with two and a half years of coursework and a six-month internship. By next July, they would be graduating.
Bai Mu Ning hadn’t thought much about job hunting yet. He majored in aquaculture, a mediocre field, with few job prospects in the city. He couldn’t get into an aquatic research institute, so his only option was to switch fields.
Li Anche was in the same boat—same major, same job-hunting struggles.
But unlike Bai Mu Ning, Li Anche didn’t have to worry about finding work.
Slumped in his chair, Li Anche said dejectedly, “My mom arranged for me to work in a bank, but I don’t want to. I want to go work in another city.”
Hearing this, Bai Mu Ning immediately advised. “Young master, think this through ah. The job market is terrible right now. Where do you plan to struggle?”
“Listen, Classmate An An, if your family has connections, use them. Don’t listen to those people who say relying on family means you’re not capable—that’s just sour grapes. What’s wrong with relying on family? At least you have something to rely on. Look at me, I’ve got nothing.”
“Get your job and life settled first, then think about other things. Dreams and reality don’t always align, and reality always wins. People need to eat first ah!”
Li Anche let out a deep sigh as if wanting to argue but holding back. He knew Bai Mu Ning had a point, but he had his own considerations.
“What’s your plan ah?”
“Take one step at a time, I don’t know!”
With their kind of major, where graduates were practically unemployed right out of school, there wasn’t much to worry about.
Besides, Bai Mu Ning had chosen this major because the tuition was cheap in the first place. There was no need to stress over it now.
Noticing Bai Mu Ning struggling with a bag of Chinese medicine, Li Anche asked, “Why are you taking medicine? Are you not feeling well?”
“No, I’m fine. Just want to improve my health a little.”
“You would actually spend money to improve your health?” Li Anche looked at him in shock. “Ning ah, I now have a whole new level of respect for you.”
In Li Anche’s impression, Bai Mu Ning had always been incredibly frugal, treating himself harshly, reluctant to spend on food, clothes, or anything unnecessary, all while desperately trying to earn money.
Li Anche thought Bai Mu Ning was even thriftier than his grandmother.
His battle with the medicine lasted until 8 p.m. He had to drink it bit by bit.
He pinched his nose as he took the first sip, and his taste buds were instantly overwhelmed with bitterness. If it weren’t for how expensive the medicine was, he would’ve spat it out immediately.
The first sip was bitter. The second sip, bitter upon bitter. The third sip, about to vomit. But he still had to swallow it.
Finally finishing the medicine, Bai Mu Ning tossed the bag of Chinese medicine into the trash and picked up his phone to send a message.
Wen Jing’s number wasn’t linked to WeChat, so he couldn’t search for it. He had no choice but to text him instead.
Alright, time for some flirting. Let’s hit you with a direct and cheesy pickup line—warm up that cold and lonely heart of yours.
[The bright moonlight before my bed, good evening, Gege.]
After his shower and coming back, there was still no reply. Bai Mu Ning clicked his tongue—Wen Jing really was quite aloof.
Wasn’t he at least a little curious about who was bored enough to send this kind of text?
Li Anche also finished showering and climbed onto his bed, calling Bai Mu Ning to duo queue in their game.
Bai Mu Ning refused. It was already past nine, and he needed to prepare for sleep.
Li Anche was shocked. “The night is just getting started, and you’re going to bed?”
Bai Mu Ning lay down properly. “Mm, the doctor said I have to sleep before ten. Staying up late is bad for my health.”
Li Anche: “…?”
Who was it that said sleeping eight hours a day meant good health?
The next morning, Wen Jing still hadn’t replied. But Bai Mu Ning didn’t give up—he kept pestering him.
[Gege, do you know why people add friends? It’s to chat. So why aren’t you replying to me?]
Day three.
[The cold wind blows, the Yi River chills.[1] Can gege reply to my messages?]
Day four.
[Gege, what must I do to have you?]
By day five, Bai Mu Ning finally lost his patience and dialed Wen Jing’s number. He had to see for himself what kind of cold, heartless man could completely ignore his flirting.
The call connected quickly. Before Bai Mu Ning could say anything, a strange male voice came through—it sounded exactly like a customer service representative.
“Hello, Jingnan Men’s Health Hotline. How can I assist you?”
Bai Mu Ning: “…?”
Since when did customer service hotlines have 11-digit phone numbers?
Stunned for a moment, Bai Mu Ning hastily hung up.
Alright, well played. Man, you’ve successfully awakened my competitive spirit.
Author’s Note:
Bai Mu Ning: Chasing a man is hard. Chasing a cold and aloof man is even harder.
[1] It’s a line from the “Song of the Yi River” (易水诀)