As Xu Ze drove, Lin Yumeng beside him took out some tissues and carefully wiped the blood stains he had accidentally gotten in his hair, a playful pout on her lips. “Brother Xu Ze, you were so careless, you even got blood in your hair…”
“Ha, I was in a hurry and didn’t notice!” Xu Ze smiled lightly. “It’s fine… I’ll take a shower when I get home…”
The Maserati slowly entered Chentang Town. After asking and confirming that Lin Yumeng lived on New Street, Xu Ze drove her directly to her doorstep before turning the car around and heading home. It was almost twelve now, and lunch at home would be just about ready. If he didn’t get back soon, his mom would be calling to hurry him up.
Entering the relatively narrower Old Street, Xu Ze slowed the car down considerably.
Many of the neighbors on Old Street saw the distinctive trident logo on the front of the car and knew it was Xu Ze returning. One by one, they broke into warm smiles and waved cheerfully towards the car.
Xu Ze slowly lowered the convertible top and greeted the neighbors around him with a smile.
“Uncle Li, how have you been lately?”
“Sister Xu… home, are you?”
Amidst the greetings, the Maserati finally glided to a stop in front of the familiar red-brick building of the Xu Family Medical Clinic. Looking at the exterior walls, still unrenovated red brick after twenty years, standing amidst the new houses on the street, Xu Ze couldn’t help but smile and shake his head.
Although he had suggested a month ago that they give this slightly old-looking red-brick house a bit of a renovation, his mom and dad had stubbornly refused his proposal.
“Son… this house has been here for decades, forget it… everyone’s used to it…”
But Xu Ze knew that his parents just didn’t want to spend too much money. Even a simple renovation would cost at most a few tens of thousands, but they always wanted to save money for him. Letting him help with Xiao Hao and Qing’er’s living expenses was already their limit.
What made Xu Ze happiest, though, was that with his help, although his parents wouldn’t take his money, his mom had recently stopped setting up her barbecue stall outside. That relieved Xu Ze a lot.
His mom’s health wasn’t great, but over the years, for the sake of the children, she’d work hard in the house and the clinic, and then go out to set up the stall. It was truly exhausting.
This time back, Xu Ze also planned to formally start regulating his parents’ health. Although they weren’t even fifty yet, starting health maintenance earlier is always better.
“Son, you’re back!” His mom, wearing an apron, was sitting at the door shelling beans. Hearing the car, she looked up happily at Xu Ze, her face beaming with joy.
Xu Ze smiled, got out of the car, walked over, crouched down, picked up a bean pod, and carefully helped her shell it, asking with a smile, “Where’s Dad?”
“Knowing you were coming back, he’s inside making your favorite stir-fried free-range chicken…” His mom looked at her son with affection. He hadn’t been home for a long time. Even though he could cook for himself, a boy living alone would inevitably get lazy sometimes. She wondered if he ate enough nutritious food; the meals you buy outside just don’t have much goodness.
“Stir-fried free-range chicken? Great!” Xu Ze couldn’t help but salivate just thinking about his dad’s cooking of this dish. It was his absolute favorite.
Seeing her son’s greedy expression, his mom smiled and gently touched his head. But as she touched it, she suddenly paused, noticing some sticky, dark red substance in his hair. Startled, she asked, “Son, what’s on your head?”
“Oh, on the way here, two cars were in an accident. I helped out a bit… got some blood on me.” Seeing his mom’s worried look, Xu Ze quickly explained with a smile.
Hearing this explanation, his mom relaxed. Then she asked with concern, “I just heard about it too. How bad was it over there?”
Xu Ze quickly reassured her with a smile, “Well, I helped a few people on the bus. Looks like no one died yet… but the other car, a small one, might have issues.”
“Honestly, why are people so careless when driving nowadays… such a shame…” His mom sighed softly, then looked at Xu Ze and carefully instructed him, “You need to be careful when you drive too.”
“I know, Mom. I’m going inside to shower now; this stuff in my hair feels sticky and uncomfortable.” Remembering the blood on his head, Xu Ze put down the almost-finished beans and walked indoors with a smile.
Carrying his bag up to his room, Xiao Hao was inside, playing games on the laptop Xu Ze had given him a while back.
Xu Ze walked over with a smile and vigorously ruffled his short, prickly hair.
Xu Hao turned around in surprise, looking at Xu Ze. “Brother! You’re back!”
“Yeah, I’m back!” Xu Ze smiled and nodded, then gently tapped Xu Hao on the head and said with feigned sternness, “Don’t play games all day. I’m telling you, if you fail any courses, watch out for me.”
“I know, bro! Don’t worry, Xiao Wei keeps an eye on me now. When do I have time to play?” Xu Hao stretched his neck to look outside, then quickly lowered his voice. “Bro… don’t tell Mom I’m playing games now.”
“I don’t have the energy for that. Just watch yourself.” Xu Ze shook his head helplessly, grabbed his underwear, and went downstairs to shower.
When he came out of the shower, his dad had already prepared a whole table of food. Seeing his son come out, fresh and handsome after his shower, he nodded contentedly and said with a happy smile, “Son… come eat!”
Eating his dad’s home-cooked food, Xu Ze, who usually relied on absorbing external energy and could barely manage one or two bowls per meal, broke his routine today and ate three big bowls, still wanting more.
Lying in bed, smelling the familiar scent of his room, Xu Ze rarely skipped his energy circulation practice and just slept soundly.
But he hadn’t slept long before Xiao Dao pulled him into the virtual space.
Xiao Dao, who hadn’t looked troubled in a long time, now had a long face as he looked at Xu Ze, sighing deeply.
Seeing Xiao Dao like this, Xu Ze couldn’t help but feel a jolt of alarm. Xiao Dao had been in good spirits lately; could something unexpected have happened again?
Xiao Dao’s mood was indeed terrible. Before Xu Ze could even ask, he explained the reason: it turned out that after the battlefield medical system was activated earlier, Xu Ze had consumed nearly eighty percent of the system’s stored energy in just that short half-hour.
Hearing this, Xu Ze was also shocked. A quick mental calculation seemed to confirm it. After all, once the battlefield medical system started, the skeletal and internal organ checks all relied on auxiliary functions like X-ray vision, ultrasound, and color Doppler. Then there was the automatic indication of damaged areas, automatic searching for suitable materials, the magnification function, and so on – all of which definitely consumed energy. If he hadn’t recently advanced, increasing his energy storage capacity, he probably wouldn’t have lasted even that half-hour before running out.
He quickly exited the virtual space and practiced his energy circulation intensely for two hours. Fortunately, Chentang Town had a decent environment with relatively abundant spiritual energy, allowing him to replenish some energy before he went back to sleep.
After a good, sound sleep, Xu Ze reluctantly got out of bed at seven o’clock, which was late for him. But what followed wasn’t a leisurely relaxation period, because after breakfast, things started coming his way.
First were several long-time patients from Chentang Town. Ever since Xu Ze went to Yanjing, many hadn’t had the chance to see him. Having heard yesterday that Xu Ze was back home, but not wanting to disturb him on his first night back, and not knowing when he might leave, they came early in the morning after breakfast to wait at the door of the Xu Family Medical Clinic, giving Xu Ze’s mom, who had just opened the shop, quite a start.
But after one look at these familiar old patients, Xu Ze’s mom understood why they were there. She quickly invited them all in to sit.
Seeing so many people waiting for her son, although she felt bad waking him up, she also felt it was inconsiderate to keep them waiting. Just as she was about to go wake him, the patients stopped her.
These long-time patients were fine with waiting a bit longer for Xu Ze. They were all very understanding; after all, Xu Ze had only just returned yesterday, and young people liked to sleep in. They insisted she not wake him. They said they had nothing to do early anyway, it wasn’t an emergency, they’d just chat first and wait until Xu Ze woke up naturally.
Seeing them insist like this, Xu Ze’s mom was happy to let her son sleep a little longer.
Luckily, although Xu Ze slept later than usual today, it wasn’t excessively late compared to others. The patients only waited about ten minutes before Xu Ze got up.
Xu Ze’s mom had already prepared noodles with eggs. After Xu Ze washed up, she had him eat before coming out to see the patients.
Seeing the waiting patients, Xu Ze naturally couldn’t refuse. He had originally come home hoping for a couple of days’ rest, but seeing this, he could only smile wryly.
In the past, seeing these long-time patients would have made Xu Ze want to run away. But these last two times back, he felt much more confident and wasn’t the least bit intimidated by patients.
Taking the medical records from these long-time patients, Xu Ze carefully reviewed each one, combining past examination results and diagnoses to conduct necessary targeted checks and treatments. Because his own energy reserves, though somewhat replenished yesterday, still hadn’t reached fifty percent, he had to conserve as much as possible. If an emergency cropped up and he couldn’t handle it, that would be trouble.
