Chapter 60: A Familiar Beauty
After this matter, the Captain of the Basketball Team, Yu Bo, became Su Tao's loyal fan. Whether it was in the Muay Thai Club or Goofy Ice Rink, he witnessed how brave Su Tao was. Furthermore, Su Tao only used a needle to treat the injuries on his ankle that had been troubling him. Recovering from this injury, Yu Bo could finally jump higher and perform slam dunks. To a basketball player, it was definitely a significant boost in morale.
Despite suffering losses, Chen Lingfeng and Old K did not cause any trouble for the Basketball Team and Xiao Jingjing, which Su Tao knew that it must have been Yan Jing's doing. Her nickname as the Poisonous Widow wasn't a false reputation.
Thus, Zhao Jian was full of respect for Su Tao. He no longer had any of the pride that he had in the past and focused on his acupuncture techniques, hoping that the day would come when he could injure others with needles like what Su Tao did.
As for Xiao Jingjing, she became more optimistic. Even her clothing style changed as she slowly developed towards a fashionable girl. She no longer fell into a daze, like she did in the past, and even her tenderness and immaturity gradually started to disappear because of this event.
For example, she threw away all the cheap bras that she brought, three for ¥10, and changed to push up bras. It was a huge change.
Often, when Xiao Jingjing finished work, she would chat with Cai Yan, talking mostly about how to dress up and use makeup. This made Su Tao feel complicated. He had a feeling that an unsophisticated girl was being tainted by society.
However, it was something that would happen sooner or later. It's just that it sped up because of Su Tao's appearance. From the moment Xiao Jingjing stepped out from her village, it was already determined that her future would be incomparable to those in the village. It was unavoidable for her to be tainted and changed while living in the city.
However, Xiao Jingjing's pure heart would never be tainted, and it was something that she had determined before coming to the city.
It was precisely that devotion in the bottom of her heart that caused Su Tao to change and develop her into the ideal target he had set for her.
Under Vera and Yan Jing's cooperation, they established the Three Flavour Cosmetic International Limited, with the slogan of 'Superior skincare products made with secret recipes from the Imperial Palace' to launch into the market. The first product would be the Beautifying Cream and Restoring Serum with a limited stock of ten thousand worldwide.The Beautifying Cream mainly removed blackheads, scars, skin whitening and moisturising the skin. As for the Restoring Serum, the effects would be removing pimples, cleansing the face and anti-aging. Both products were green labelled, made with natural ingredients without any chemicals in them.
The marketing was mainly done with public reputation, published in high-end fashion magazines and skincare forums. Although the net price of one was ¥1998, it was hyped up to over ten thousand and the supply didn't meet with demands.
Commissioned by Su Tao, Cai Yan became the Vice-Chairman of the Three Flavour Cosmetic International Limited, with Vera being the Executive Director and Yan Jing being the CEO. On the other hand, Su Tao was placed at the empty post of the company's founder and the Honorary Chairman.
The sky gradually darkened at roughly 6:30 p.m. and Di Shiyuan invited Su Tao to his home. Su Tao brought a basket of fruits with him from the neighbourhood district. He knocked on Di Shiyuan's door.
Lately, Di Shiyuan had stopped going to the Jianghuai Hospital, since his order of transference had been released. He would take up the post as the Chief of City Health Bureau. Before he left, he transferred someone over from the city's hospital as Vice-President, mainly responsible for the hospital's operation. Thus, even if he left and Qiao Dehao became the President, the Jianghuai Hospital wouldn't decline under the watch of the Vice-President.
As a resourceful person, whether it was his medical expertise, ethics, management or strategies, Di Shiyuan always planned ahead. As the Chief of City Health Bureau, Di Shiyuan would be given a grander stage and more responsibility, so his achievements would also naturally be higher.
Conflicts existed everywhere in society that no one could shy from, and, unwittingly, Su Tao had been pulled into the conflicts in the healthcare and became someone from the same party as Di Shiyuan.
Su Tao was an intelligent person, so his head had been processing the information while he walked up to the building to Di Shiyuan's house. Thus, he concluded that Di Shiyuan had the advantage in this contest. Although he lost control over Jianghuai Hospital, it was an excellent opportunity for him to get into politics.
So when Di Shiyuan invited him over, Su Tao had been thinking whether Di Shiyuan was giving him a signal that he would advance into politics.
Su Tao did not dislike this, since it had been proven since ancient times. Doctors and politics were closely related, there was even a post of Imperial Physician in ancient times, for those that wished to move through the ranks of officials by treating the country.
The door opened and a middle-aged woman in her forties popped her head out with a smile. "You must be Su Tao, right? Old Di is in the study room, and you can look for him first. I still have to watch the fire." When she finished her talk, she immediately rushed into the kitchen.
Su Tao knew that this was Di Shiyuan's wife, Zhang Fang. She was an elementary school Chinese Teacher. He looked around in the living room. This apartment was distributed by the education system ten-odd years ago, so the wallpaper was already peeling off. However, all of the decorations in the living room were still elegant with paintings and calligraphy hanging on the walls. There was also a goldfish tank on the coffee table with several fish swimming about.
From the apartment, Su Tao could tell that Di Shiyuan was an honest person that did not want a high life.
Su Tao did not enter the study room; on the contrary, he entered the kitchen and started to wash his hands with a smile. "Sister Fang, let me help you!"
Zhang Fang was immediately shocked before she exclaimed, "How can you do that? You're a guest here!"
Su Tao waved his hand and smiled. "I'm a socialiser, myself. Although my cooking skills might not be good, I'm pretty good at being an assistant."
When he finished speaking, he took two radishes that had already been washed and his knife contacted the chopping board, reducing the radishes into shreds.
Zhang Fang involuntarily laughed when she saw Su Tao's skills. "Nice knife skills you have there. If I hadn't heard from Old Di that you're from the TCM Department, I would've thought that you're a surgeon."
Su Tao faintly smiled and responded, "I'm afraid that even surgeons might be inferior to me."
When he finished his words, he had sliced a piece of pork loin into slices. Seeing his proficient knife skills, Zhang Fang also no longer rejected his help.
After he was done, Su Tao washed his hands and smiled. "I'll go and look for President Di, now."
Zhang Fang had a good impression of Su Tao from his actions. She felt that his EQ was high, and he was also good at socialising.
When Su Tao entered the study room, Di Shiyuan was looking at a document. When he saw Su Tao's arrival, he waved his hand with a smile. "You're here. Come and have a seat. I have some stuff I have to discuss with you."
"Must not be anything good!" Su Tao smiled.
Di Shiyuan rolled his eyes. "Why are you saying that? Judging from your attitude, I feel that you are discriminating against me."
Su Tao smiled. "Di Shiyuan, I understand you. Whenever you are kind, you intend to give someone pressure."
Di Shiyuan was briefly stunned before he pointed his finger at Su Tao and laughed, "Alright, you're right. I have an important mission for you, but it's good news."
"What is it?" Su Tao helplessly shook his head with a bitter smile.
"Look at this!" Di Shiyuan handed a document over to Su Tao.
Su Tao skimmed through the document and his brows knitted. "You want me to participate in the Physician King Tournament?"
"Correct! Old Tang fought for the Jianghuai Hospital this year and obtained a place in the tournament. So I was thinking of giving it to you." Di Shiyuan smiled.
Actually, Su Tao wasn't too surprised, since Yan Jing had previously suggested for him to participate in the Physician King Tournament that would be hosted in the Medicine King Garden. Just yesterday, Yan Jing sent a message to remind him not to reject it if the Jianghuai Hospital gave him a place in the tournament.
It was also within Yan Jing's plan that the Jianghuai Hospital could obtain a place. After all, how could the medical standards in Jianghuai Hospital's TCM Department obtain a place in the tournament?
"Wouldn't it be bad for me to occupy it?" Su Tao briefly pondered as he smiled.
Di Shiyuan shook his head and smiled. "Your medical skills are excellent, you just lack in fame. As long as you're willing to participate in the tournament, you can definitely obtain the Physician King's title. At that time, it would be promoting the Jianghuai Hospital along with your Three Flavour Hall. It's a good promotion."
Su Tao sighed, "Then, I'll stop pushing it around. I'll accept it."
Di Shiyuan's mood was pretty good and he continued, "Su Tao, if the medical system wasn't all about experiences, I would have passed the entire Jianghuai Hospital to you. If you managed to win in the tournament, I will surely do my best to fight for you."
"President Di, are you tempting me?" Su Tao never expected for Di Shiyuan to have such intentions.
Di Shiyuan cunningly smiled. "How will you be willing to work if there's nothing in it for you? But if you really obtained the title of the Physician King, it's not much for you to be the President of Jianghuai Hospital. It is precisely because of Wang Guofeng's reputation that he became the Vice-Principal of Huainan TCM University. But didn't he lose to you as well?"
Hearing Di Shiyuan's words, Su Tao felt his blood boiling, but he remained modest with his words, "It was by pure luck. Wang Guofeng's foundation is strong, and his standards are also high."
Suddenly, Zhang Fang's voice rang out and Di Shiyuan smiled. "Let's go. We'll talk while we eat."
When he entered the dining room, he saw a beauty that had sat down as well. She wore a pink dress with cartoon sandals, with her toes exposed. Her face was fair and her long hair was draped before her chest. Su Tao was stunned for a long time while looking at her before he turned to Di Shiyuan. "Why does she look so familiar?"