Secretary Lin’s back pain was relatively straightforward to address. The inflamed lumbar nerves, under the influence of Xu Ze’s bioelectrical energy, caused Secretary Lin, lying face down on the bed, to feel gentle waves of warmth slowly coursing through his aching spine.
With each surge of this warm current, the severe pain in his lower back gradually subsided step by step. The comforting sensation was so intense that Secretary Lin couldn’t suppress soft moans of relief. Since the onset of his disc herniation, he had never experienced such comfort in his back.
Watching from the side, Secretary Zhang couldn’t help but feel a mix of admiration and astonishment at Xu Ze, who with just a single needle had so noticeably reduced the Secretary’s pain. “No wonder the Secretary thinks so highly of him. He really is this skilled. I underestimated him before.”
Xu Ze, with his eyes slightly closed, gently held the needle’s tip between his thumb and forefinger, continuously channeling bioelectrical energy into the area, rapidly alleviating the nerve inflammation. A faint, confident smile played on his lips.
Aside from himself, absolutely no one else could relieve disc herniation pain to this extent. Moreover, one session of this acupuncture would at least guarantee freedom from severe lumbar pain for a considerable period.
Sensing that the nerve inflammation had completely dissipated, Xu Ze swiftly withdrew the needle, placed it back in its case, and said with a light laugh, “All done, Uncle Lin. The treatment is finished.”
Secretary Lin let out a long, comfortable sigh, then sat up from the bed. Taking the clothes Secretary Zhang handed him, he dressed and gently rotated his waist, feeling no hint of stiffness or pain. He looked at Xu Ze with deep appreciation. “Xu Ze… I wasn’t mistaken about you. Your acupuncture skills are truly extraordinary…”
“You’re too kind, Uncle Lin. I’m genuinely happy to help ease your suffering,” Xu Ze replied with a calm smile. He meant it sincerely. As a doctor, being able to effectively alleviate a patient’s pain and witness their relief and recovery brought a unique kind of satisfaction few could understand.
Downstairs, Auntie Lin watched in astonishment as Secretary Lin personally saw Xu Ze to the door. In her memory, aside from a select few city leaders, no one had ever received such an honor from her powerful cousin.
Just who was this young man named Xu Ze, to warrant such attention from her cousin?
However, after Secretary Lin saw Xu Ze off and explained the reason, Auntie Lin looked at her cousin, who hadn’t been this spirited in a long time, and suddenly understood. Her gratitude towards Xu Ze grew even more. She knew all too well how much her cousin had suffered from this disc herniation over the years. Finally having someone who could treat him was no small thing.
Back home, Xu Ze stood on the balcony, looking at Sun Lingfei’s darkened window not far away, and let out a soft sigh. He had been working very hard lately, trying to quickly enhance his own strength and influence. Yet, two months had passed, and the progress didn’t seem substantial.
Xu Ze clearly understood where his only current hope lay: relying on his formidable medical skills to gain greater influence, allowing him to acquire enough standing to catch the Sun family’s attention within the short span of two years. Only then could he possibly achieve his goal.
Although he now had the backing of two influential figures, Elder Tang and Elder Li, this ultimately wasn’t his own power. The Sun family wouldn’t accept him just because of that. So, he had to work even harder.
But two years was too short, and his disadvantages were too apparent. He was still just a fourth-year university student, with few opportunities to showcase his abilities. He could only occasionally display his skills through specific individuals.
Like Secretary Lin today—he could easily improve his condition, thereby gaining some recognition. With Secretary Lin’s influence, this might be a great help in the future. However, this was still a very limited sphere, and progress was far too slow.
It seemed he had been too conservative lately. Even at the hospital, others merely saw him as a somewhat talented student. He hadn’t gained genuine recognition.
“What does it matter if I haven’t graduated yet? What does it matter if I don’t have a medical license yet? As long as I can treat patients, why should I have so many reservations?” Thinking this, Xu Ze let out a long, relaxed breath, a look of ease appearing on his face. For a while now, he had been carefully hiding his true capabilities, restrained by far too many concerns.
Gently closing his eyes, Xu Ze immersed himself once more in the practice of energy circulation. He wasn’t far from reaching the twenty-seven cycles required for a Level Three Medical Corpsman—just three cycles away. He needed to break through to Level Three as soon as possible to enhance his strength.
In this world, strength still spoke loudest. If he no longer planned to keep a low profile as before, then power was naturally paramount.
“Go all out…” Xu Ze quietly told himself.
Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, two months passed, and the first semester of his fourth year was over. During this winter break, Xu Ze didn’t have much free time. He had agreed to continue his internship at the First Affiliated Hospital under Zhang Lide during this period.
Naturally, he had no reason to refuse Zhang Lide’s invitation. Over the past two months, he had shed his previous cautious approach of hiding his abilities. Instead, he would directly share his opinions on patients’ conditions with Zhang Lide.
While these opinions often left Zhang Lide astounded, he had gradually grown accustomed to the surprises Xu Ze delivered. The only difference was that he no longer treated Xu Ze as an ordinary student but placed him in a position nearly equal to his own.
When encountering patients with unclear diagnoses, Zhang Lide enjoyed discussing them with Xu Ze, who often provided many useful suggestions. Consequently, Zhang Lide didn’t even want to let Xu Ze’s winter break go to waste, insisting that he spend more time at the hospital.
Although Xu Ze agreed, he naturally controlled his own schedule—going when he wanted to. He wouldn’t devote all his time to the hospital.
Winter break began, and under her father’s orders, Sun Lingfei reluctantly left Xu Ze behind and flew back to Beijing. Alone in Xingcheng, aside from occasionally visiting Elder Tang, Xu Ze didn’t have much to do.
Realizing it had been a long time since he visited home, he knew it was time to go back…
With their elder brother’s financial support, Xu Hao and Xu Qing’er no longer needed to take on part-time jobs during the holidays to earn money. So, as soon as the break started, they had returned home early.
Xu Ze drove his car, with Lin Yumeng hitching a ride in the passenger seat, gently heading towards Chentang Town.
During this period, Lin Yumeng had grown quite close to Xu Ze. Xu Ze regarded this lovely girl like a younger sister, often looking out for her at university. Although he was somewhat aware of her feelings, his heart currently had no room for anyone else’s shadow.
Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to reject the closeness of this adorable girl who appealed to him so much. He could only maintain this ambiguous distance—close yet detached.
The highway between Lianyang County and Xingcheng was exceptionally well-maintained. Xu Ze cruised steadily at 120 km/h and soon entered Lianyang County territory.
The several dozen kilometers from Lianyang County to Chentang Town, though not the best road, was a standard national highway. Xu Ze checked his watch, estimating he could reach home by 11 am, in time for lunch.
Sitting beside him, Lin Yumeng gently brushed the hair away from her ear, looking at Xu Ze’s handsome profile, and couldn’t help but recall how he used to look outside the Second High School gate. With a smile, she said, “Big Brother Xu Ze… you don’t sell barbecue anymore, right?”
Hearing Lin Yumeng’s question, Xu Ze was momentarily stunned, then chuckled softly. Remembering his days selling barbecue outside the Second High School gate now evoked many feelings.
He really admired his past self back then—cycling over sixty kilometers home every week, helping with family chores, selling barbecue… and he had persevered through it all.
And the driving force that kept him going back then was simply knowing he wasn’t his parents’ biological child. He just wanted to avoid burdening them and repay their kindness.
Thinking of this, Xu Ze couldn’t help but find it somewhat amusing. Although less than a year had passed since then, he felt he had grown a lot during this year and understood many things more clearly. So what if Mom and Dad weren’t his biological parents? What difference did it really make?
They had loved and raised him with a devotion surpassing that for biological children. He had always regarded them as his dearest, most beloved parents. This was truly good… Although there was a small regret about his origins, it was just that—a small regret. He already possessed the best parents in the world.
Recalling those barbecue-selling days, Xu Ze smiled again. During that time, enduring the sweltering heat beside the charcoal grill, working earnestly to earn money—though tough—had filled his heart with great satisfaction. It had also given him many insights, helping him grow from a naive child into someone gradually more mature and understanding…
Looking back after this year, it felt like a lifetime ago…
Seeing the warm smile gradually spread across Xu Ze’s face, Lin Yumeng beside him also began to smile. This man… even if she couldn’t have him, being able to stay close to him like this and watch him smile was a happy thing in itself.
Reminiscing about these past events, the two smiled like blossoming flowers, wordlessly speeding towards Chentang Town.
Watching the fully loaded minibus ahead continuously accelerating and overtaking one car after another, Xu Ze couldn’t help but frown. These passenger bus drivers nowadays were really bold—daring to drive so aggressively with so many people on board.
However, he was aware that the buses running from Lianyang County to Chentang and nearby townships were notoriously fast. To snatch more passengers, several buses often raced each other on the road like sports cars. Over the years, he’d heard there had already been two accidents.
Xu Ze sighed softly, shook his head, and then slowed down, putting some distance between himself and the recklessly speeding minibus. Tailgating so closely was dangerous; if the bus suddenly braked, a collision was likely.
As Xu Ze’s car slowed down, a vehicle behind immediately accelerated and rushed forward.
It was a Beauty Leopard sports car. Recently, these cheap yet stylish-looking sports cars had become quite popular among young people in the area, with even two in Chentang Town itself.
As the two cars drove side by side, through the open windows, Xu Ze could clearly hear the blaring heavy metal music from the other car. Two fashionably dressed young men inside were excitedly smoking and nodding their heads to the beat.
The young man in the passenger seat turned his head, looked over at Xu Ze, and then spotted Lin Yumeng sitting beside him. His eyes immediately lit up.
The young man eagerly nudged the driver beside him, gesturing towards Xu Ze’s car.
The driver turned to look, saw Lin Yumeng next to Xu Ze, and his eyes also brightened. The two exchanged a glance, then simultaneously whistled loudly in their direction.
Hearing the whistle, Lin Yumeng curiously turned to look and saw the two young men in the other car grinning playfully. Her face flushed slightly, and she gave a light, dismissive click of her tongue before ignoring them.
The two whistled a couple more times, but seeing Lin Yumeng no longer react and observing Xu Ze’s calm, sunglasses-clad expression, they lost interest. Accelerating, they overtook the Maserati and sped ahead.
Watching the sports car shoot off at high speed, Xu Ze couldn’t help but shake his head slightly. Given the Beauty Leopard’s safety features, driving at such speeds on this road was extremely risky. If nothing happened, fine—but if there was an accident, those two were guaranteed not to walk away unscathed.
After another slight shake of his head, Xu Ze maintained his speed of around 80 km/h, driving steadily forward. They weren’t far from Chentang now, just over twenty minutes away—plenty of time to get home.
Lin Yumeng actually quite liked this speed. It was safe and comfortable, with no bumps on the somewhat rough road.
The car continued. As they neared home, Lin Yumeng chatted casually with Xu Ze, about to ask when he planned to return to Xingcheng so she could ride back to university with him. Suddenly, a dull thud came from ahead.
Hearing the heavy sound and the unpleasant screeching of brakes from the car in front, Xu Ze frowned slightly. Without a moment’s hesitation, and under Lin Yumeng’s slightly fearful gaze, he smoothly pressed the brake pedal.
The Maserati, traveling at 80 km/h, slid forward only a couple of meters under Xu Ze’s control before coming to a gentle stop thanks to its excellent braking performance, causing no discomfort for Lin Yumeng.
Xu Ze looked at the two vehicles dangerously close to a rear-end collision ahead and frowned. He opened the car door and stepped out. He was stuck behind a truck and couldn’t see the situation ahead clearly, but he knew there had been an accident. They probably wouldn’t be moving for a while.
Seeing Xu Ze get out, Lin Yumeng also realized something was wrong ahead and quickly followed, peering forward.
The scene ahead was rather grim. Xu Ze saw that the Beauty Leopard from earlier had crashed through the side guardrail, half its body wedged inside. The fully loaded minibus that had been in front was now lying on its side.
Looking at the two smoking vehicles and the people quickly running from cars behind towards the crash site, Xu Ze turned and said a few words to Lin Yumeng before also sprinting towards the scene.
As he ran closer, the situation became clearer. He saw that the passenger side of the Beauty Leopard was completely crushed flat, still smoking, stuck in the guardrail. Meanwhile, people were trying to climb out through the upper windows of the overturned minibus.
Xu Ze knew he couldn’t hesitate now. The Beauty Leopard was almost beyond help—the two inside were likely already dead. But the minibus still had at least twenty to thirty people inside who needed immediate rescue.
He hurriedly joined the others rushing towards the bus.
Seeing people quickly climbing onto the bus, trying to pull passengers out through the windows, Xu Ze didn’t dare act so boldly. Since the terrifying car crash incident during the Beijing street race, he had become much more cautious.
His visual interface activated rapidly as Xiao Dao began a swift assessment and analysis of the entire vehicle’s condition.
Rescuing people was crucial, but he needed to understand the current situation clearly. In rollover accidents, one danger was paramount: the risk of explosion. If a rescue attempt failed and led to more casualties, it wouldn’t be worth it.
If the analysis revealed a problem with the vehicle, Xu Ze would have to immediately warn the rescuers to evacuate. Otherwise, losing the rescuers as well would be a disaster.
Xiao Dao’s analysis results came back quickly: the vehicle’s fuel tank hadn’t sustained major damage, and there was no sign of fuel leakage. There were no significant safety risks.
With that, Xu Ze didn’t hesitate any longer. There were undoubtedly many injured people inside who needed to be rescued as soon as possible.
After quickly assessing the vehicle’s condition—since it was on its side, the door was now on the roof—rescue efforts had to start from the top.
Xu Ze now joined the others running towards the roof. However, he didn’t need to climb like the rest. With a light running jump, he effortlessly reached the two-meter-high roof.
