Chapter 36 Do You Believe I Can Get You Expelled from No. 1 High School?

Gu Ci immediately understood after listening that the reason Xiao Yang had insisted on having his cast removed and being discharged earlier was precisely because of this matter.

She looked at Xiao Yang’s leg, now wrapped in a thick plaster cast, and could easily imagine how heavy-handed the people sent by Cao Yue must have been.

Her fingers brushed over the silver cube on her bracelet, a cold glint flickering in her eyes.

Indeed, she had gone too easy on them just now.

Turning her head, she caught sight of Xiao Yang’s gloomy, anxious face. “Now you know you were wrong?”

Hearing even Gu Ci say he was in the wrong, Xiao Yang instantly wilted like a frostbitten eggplant. The light in his eyes faded as he looked pitiful beyond words. “I won’t get into stupid competitions anymore, and I won’t let myself be tricked by others again.”

But no sooner had he finished speaking than Gu Ci tapped him on the head. “Who told you that’s the problem? I think you’re incorrigible and still have no idea where you went wrong.”

Xiao Yang stared at her, confused and still a little aggrieved.

Gu Ci paid no heed to his grievance. “You got hurt and didn’t tell me. When I found out, you still tried to keep it from me. Xiao Yang, you’ve really got some nerve now.”

So…she was saying he was wrong because he hadn’t told her he was in trouble?

The grievance on Xiao Yang’s face instantly turned to stunned realization, and then quickly morphed into deep emotion. He opened his mouth. “Sister Ci…”

A thousand words stuck in his throat, uncertain where to begin.

Gu Ci made a halting gesture. “I don’t have such a foolish brother as you.”

She went to the bathroom to wash her hands with alcohol, then took out from her backpack an old-looking roll-up pouch.

She held it up to Xiao Yang’s leg, measuring and preparing to get to work.

Xiao Yang’s emotion lasted but a second before it was replaced by terror.

The moment Gu Ci took out that pouch, a flood of distant memories was instantly awakened deep within him.

He shivered involuntarily, watching her warily. “S-s-sister Ci, w-what are you planning to do?”

Gu Ci had already found a pair of scissors on the table and, with a snip, cut through the gauze on his leg. She replied calmly, “I’m removing your cast.”

Xiao Yang was on the verge of tears, but dared not move. “Sister Ci, have mercy on me. I really know I was wrong. I don’t want the cast off anymore, can’t we just leave it?”

Gu Ci didn’t stop, her voice steady as ever. “If I don’t remove it, how can I treat you?”

Her tone was so even, as if she were discussing the weather, that if Xiao Yang hadn’t personally experienced her “medical skills” as her former “test subject,” he might almost have believed she really could heal his leg in a week.

But he knew all too well—Gu Ci was perfect in intellect and strength, but when it came to medicine, her talent was absolutely negative!

Seeing the way Xiao Yang recoiled as if from a venomous snake, Gu Ci had to pause and speak patiently. “Xiao Yang, trust me.”

Xiao Yang shook his head desperately.

Gu Ci maintained her patience, tossing a knife from the pouch onto the bed with a blank expression. “Which do you want to pick?”

Xiao Yang was on the verge of tears, and finally nodded with resignation.

Fine, if he was going to die, so be it!

At last, Gu Ci smoothly removed his gauze. From the pouch, she took out five silver needles of varying lengths and was about to begin acupuncture when a sharp female voice suddenly rang out at the door. “What are you doing?”

Huo Shuyue rushed into the ward, pushing Gu Ci aside and demanding angrily, “Gu Ci, what do you think you’re doing to Xiao Yang?”

Huo Shuyue’s injuries weren’t as bad as Xiao Yang’s. When her uncle suddenly suggested coming to visit her classmate, she was delighted and came at once—never expecting to walk in on such a scene!

“Huo Shuyue, don’t make a fuss. Sister Ci is treating my leg,” Xiao Yang explained, secretly relieved.

“Treating your leg?” Huo Shuyue sneered, her eyes blazing with anger and anxiety. “Xiao Yang, are you stupid? Is she a doctor or something? Just because she says she can treat you, you believe her? Are you just dying to have her ruin your leg?”

Her mind raced as she took in the still chaotic ward, then suddenly thought of something. “Did Cao Yue’s people come by? Did they tell you to show up in person this weekend… Did you agree?”

Xiao Yang’s head ached. He scratched his head in frustration. “Enough, just leave it alone!”

Huo Shuyue grew even more anxious. “Xiao Yang, don’t you know you’re in no condition to compete this weekend? Why did you agree? Do you not want your leg anymore?”

Still, Xiao Yang remained silent.

Huo Shuyue stamped her foot and looked toward the door.

Her tone grew soft, almost pleading. “Uncle, please help Xiao Yang contact Dr. Gu. I know you’re the only one who can reach him. Please, as long as you agree to help me, I’ll do anything you ask.”

These last few days, Huo Shuyue had consulted many doctors and searched through countless resources.

Dr. Gu was a renowned orthopedist in the whole province, famed for his skill, but he was elusive. No one even knew his full name—only that his surname was Gu. After thinking it through, she realized her uncle was probably the only one who might be able to reach him.

And perhaps only Dr. Gu could help Xiao Yang now.

Xiao Yang was startled and followed her gaze, spotting the strikingly handsome man leaning against the door.

It was Rong Ye.

Rong Ye gave Huo Shuyue a meaningful look. “I can try, but I can’t promise Dr. Gu will be able to heal him in such a short time.”

In truth, Rong Ye knew that no doctor could make a fracture heal in a matter of days. He’d agreed only to let the girl give up hope and to see her fulfill her “promise.”

But Huo Shuyue was deeply grateful. She nodded eagerly, “That’s all right, Uncle, as long as you can help me reach Dr. Gu.”

Rong Ye raised an eyebrow. “Don’t forget what you just promised.”

With that, he called Rong Shan and told him to get in touch with Dr. Gu.

Relieved, Huo Shuyue turned and glared at Gu Ci. “Did you hear that? Dr. Gu is coming. You’re not needed here. You can leave now!”

Gu Ci glanced at Rong Ye and jerked her chin toward Huo Shuyue. “Can you take her away?”

Huo Shuyue scoffed, folding her arms. “Gu Ci, are you joking? Do you know who this is? This is my uncle! Are you telling him to kick you out or me?”

But Rong Ye stepped into the ward, took the silver needles from Gu Ci’s hand, and said, “You’ve seen your classmate. Let’s go home together?”

Gu Ci knew her uncle? And… what did he mean, “go home together”?

Huo Shuyue’s eyes widened in shock, as if the world had turned upside down.

Gu Ci looked at Xiao Yang and shook her head. “You go on ahead.”

With that, she took each silver needle back from Rong Ye’s hand.

“All right,” Rong Ye didn’t insist. He called to Huo Shuyue, “Let’s go.”

Huo Shuyue protested, “But Uncle! Gu Ci is about to—”

Rong Ye raised an eyebrow. “Already forgotten your promise?”

Huo Shuyue immediately covered her mouth, afraid he’d refuse to help Xiao Yang if she argued further.

Seeing Rong Ye already heading out, she stomped her foot and hissed at Gu Ci, “If you dare do anything to Xiao Yang, I’ll never let you off!”

With that threat delivered, she hurried after Rong Ye.

In the corridor, Huo Shuyue trailed after him, probing, “Uncle, do you know Gu Ci?”

“Grown-ups’ business, kids shouldn’t meddle,” Rong Ye replied lazily, hands in his pockets, not answering directly.

Huo Shuyue was momentarily speechless. Gu Ci was no older than she was—so why was she the “kid”?

She grumbled inwardly but dared not speak up, instead asking carefully, “So Uncle, is Gu Ci really good at medicine?”

“Mm.” Rong Ye recalled how she’d treated his wounds on the mountain, and his gaze softened.

The girl’s medical skills should be quite impressive.

But he also knew that for injuries that required time to heal, no matter how skilled she was, there was little she could do.

His niece’s hope that Xiao Yang would recover in a week was utterly impossible.

Hearing this, Huo Shuyue still curled her lip in disdain. Even if Gu Ci had some skills, she was only a teenager—how good could her medicine really be?

Once her uncle left, she was determined to rush back and keep Gu Ci from doing anything reckless to Xiao Yang.

Resolved, she reached the elevator and decided not to see him off any further. Smiling brightly, she said, “Uncle, I’ll see you off here. Take care!”

But the next moment, Rong Ye’s words shattered all her plans like a bolt from the blue.

“I see you’re nearly recovered. It’s time for you to be discharged. Come home with me.”

Huo Shuyue’s expression froze. “Uncle, I think I should rest a few more days.”

“No problem. You can recuperate at my place. Besides,” Rong Ye added kindly, “I can help you review that math even dogs can’t stand to watch.”

Terrified, Huo Shuyue took several steps back and let out a wail, “Uncle! You can’t do this!!!”

…

Meanwhile, in Xiao Yang’s ward, a similarly miserable cry rang out, “Sister Ci! You can’t do this!!!”

The gauze on Xiao Yang’s leg had been completely removed by Gu Ci, but that was nothing compared to what came next: his freshly injured leg was now covered in silver needles.

At that moment, Gu Ci held an especially long and thick needle, her expression making it clear she was preparing to insert it into his leg.

Normally, he wouldn’t have minded being Gu Ci’s guinea pig, but he had a competition this week!

Hence his desperate shout a moment ago.

Xiao Yang shrank back, trembling, trying to move his immobilized leg away, whimpering and on the verge of tears.

Gu Ci, holding the needle, was a bit exasperated at his look of utter terror.

Why did everyone around her seem to distrust her medical skills?

She rubbed her brow. “People improve, you know. Just because my medical skills were… lacking before, doesn’t mean they are now.”

Xiao Yang bit down on his blanket, his eyes wary and resentful. “Sure, people improve. When you were nine, one bowl of your medicine gave me diarrhea for a whole day. When you were eleven, one bowl nearly sent me to the ICU.”

Gu Ci’s brow twitched. She touched her nose guiltily.

If Xiao Yang hadn’t mentioned it, she might have forgotten the insane things she’d done to him.

Without another word, she swiftly plunged the needle into an acupoint on Xiao Yang’s leg.

“Ah!”

Xiao Yang’s face went pale.

That needle felt like it had flipped a switch in his leg, sending a tingling, numbing pain shooting upward, especially intense at the fracture site.

It felt as if a thousand ants were crawling over his leg, itching so much he wanted to scratch it like mad.

But Gu Ci stopped him. “If you want your leg to heal, keep still.”

Xiao Yang suppressed the urge to scratch.

Watching Gu Ci’s serious expression, curiosity gnawed at him. “Sister Ci, are you really trying to heal my leg?”

Gu Ci answered lazily, “What else?”

Her confident tone sparked a glimmer of hope in Xiao Yang.

Maybe Gu Ci’s medical skills really had improved?

But then he remembered how, years ago, she’d worn the same serious expression when tricking him into drinking her concoctions, and he wasn’t so sure.

Oh well—Dr. Gu would be coming soon anyway. He could get a second opinion then.

This thought put him somewhat at ease.

After finishing with the needles, Gu Ci left the ward.

In the corridor, she ran into Chu Shixian and her group emerging from another room.

Chu Shixian was simmering with anger.

She had brought Gu Zhiren to visit Meng Yueling, only to find Lady Bai cold and distant. After some probing, she learned Meng Yueling’s hospitalization was all thanks to Gu Ci!

Meng Yueling was covered in injuries, especially her right hand, the bones broken!

After listening to Lady Bai and Meng Yueling, Chu Shixian’s face had turned green. What should have been a chance to bond had turned into her standing by, apologizing repeatedly to Meng Yueling and Lady Bai.

Fortunately, her Zhiren had become Master Shen’s apprentice, and Lady Bai didn’t want to sour their relationship, so she hadn’t told the Meng family.

Otherwise, who knew how the Mengs would react!

After apologizing and promising that “Gu Ci’s parents” would come personally to make amends, Chu Shixian prepared to leave.

But as soon as she stepped out of the ward, she ran into Gu Ci!

Her anger instantly surged to the limit.

She strode forward in high heels, confronting Gu Ci with a barrage of scolding. “Gu Ci, so you do know how to visit people? When you were hitting someone, did you not consider the consequences? Afraid now, are you?”