59 - F*** you
Rouxi drove them to a barbecue place she normally visited with Xuxu for lunch. Afterward, they went around to all the tourist spots and old antiquity markets. Rouxi looked very excited to visit all the places since she herself wasn't too familiar with the city.
Being the Sunday before New Years, the streets were decked out in red banners and lanterns. There were more pedestrians and tourists, making it difficult to navigate.
"You know I didn't call you old," Li Yun said he took a hold of Rouxi's hand and walked down the street.
She must have been a child when she started grifting.
Rouxi laughed. "Obviously."
"It would have helped if you told me your birthdate."
"I did."
"With the year."
"How long have you been dating Dr. Li? Don't you know it's rude to ask a woman her age? You should have asked for my zodiac sign."
Seeing her playing coy, he knew she was just messing with him. After turning the corner, they stopped by an antiquity shop.
Li Yun wanted to visit the antiquity markets and tour ancient places because he wanted to test Qivi. He had tried Qivi on corpses, and it worked to a certain point. That certain point may be the amount of qi remaining in the body after death. After a few days, the qi dissipated, he was unable to use Qivi.
As for items, he had not encountered ones where he could detect qi. He wasn't sure if it was possible to detect objects at all, or if there were other requirements.
Li Yun picked up a vase that was from the Ming dynasty. It was expensive, but it didn't exhibit any qi. Even the ancient cauldron at the Longhua Temple weren't reacting. Li Yun was a bit disappointed.
"Say eggplant!" Rouxi said as she pointed her phone stick in front of the cauldron.
Li Yun turned around, but didn't expect her to give him a peck on the cheek.
"Ah, this is a good pic!" Rouxi looked at the picture of Li Yun looking dumbfounded.
She scrolled through all the pictures they took. It was mainly Li Yun being caught off guard and her looking cutesy. Li Yun smiled, at least she was having fun.
In the evening, they arrived at Xuxu's apartment. There were two rooms, and it looked like Rouxi stayed over in the guest room quite often.
"How did you really meet Xuxu?" Li Yun asked.
Rouxi pretended to look offended. "I wasn't lying. We met at a party, and we bonded over our family's issues."
Li Yun partially believed that. Before he could ask her further, Chief Gao called.
"Hey punk, you're not even in Magic City for 24 hours and already causing a ruckus," Chief Gao greeted him over the phone.
"Uh, yeah, anything else?"
"I saw your video. *****. What ****! *** ****!" Chief Gao said some curse words that even Li Yun didn't understand.
"Are you using some very old swear words or did you make that up?" Li Yun asked.
"No *****. How in the world did you perform an atherectomy without any imaging?"
"Chief Gao, remember I once said that my strengths are too many to list? This is one of them."
"F*** you. What is it for real?"
"I have been practicing pulse reading for a long time. I think I've gotten pretty good at it."
"F****** good at it?"
Li Yun could imagine Chief Gao pulling out his own hair.
"All right, Chief Zhang approved of the surgery. I'll see you when you get back."
Li Yun hung up, and looked at Rouxi who was cracking up on the sofa listening in to the conversation. He quickly rushed to her side and kissed her. She could be adorable, sometimes.
"You have surgery early," Rouxi said, nudging him back a bit.
"I don't need a lot of sleep."
Li Yun slept exactly three hours to refill his stamina after spending most of it on Rouxi. He also managed to get up and dressed before she did.
"Rouxi, I'm going to take the bus, pick me up around noon?" Li Yun whispered into her ear.
She nodded, but went back to sleep. He better message her later in case she forgot.
Li Yun arrived a good hour early before surgery to review some of the procedures with Professor Shao Shan and the 2nd assistant, Doctor Meng, who was the deputy chief of cardiovascular surgery.
There were a lot of people who heard about the surgery and wanted to see it for themselves. It seemed like some sort of hoax, but it looked like the hospital was going to allow it. In normal situations, it wouldn't be allowed, but Professor Shao Shan was spearheading the surgery.
In the conference room, Yi Ansha led her grandfather to take a seat by the side. Old Yi Bao wore an old style Tang suit. He was an old practitioner, but most people who looked at him would not be able to guess. His face was round, and he was very happy and smiling all the time.
He was very excited to hear there was a young man who was so skilled in pulse reading that he didn't need to use those radiation machines.
"When is it going to start?" The old man asked impatiently as he looked at the empty wall.
"Grandpa, the screen is that way," Yi Ansha pointed in the opposite direction.
Lao Yi Bao coughed. "Of course, I know that," turning to the correct front. "You don't have to tell me. I at least know how to use the latest ePhone."
While they were waiting, there were other people in the room commenting before the surgery.
"I can't believe the hospital allowed this to happen," said one of the doctors. "What if there is a complication?"
"They set this up in the angiography suite for that reason," explained another doctor. "If something happened, they could simply hook up the patient. It's minimally invasive to begin with, so the hospital isn't that concerned. Besides, the patient is already informed of how the procedure will work."
"Yeah, but seriously, who is crazy enough to accept this type of surgery? Sure, the guy might have saved his life, but what if it was a fluke?"
"Well, let's watch and see. The other conference rooms are pretty crowded as well. There are a lot of people who want to see this operation. Considering it was only announced yesterday."
"This type of sensational surgery isn't done everyday. How are they even advertising this? A combo of TCM and western medicine? Who still believes in TCM these days?"
Yi Ansha had heard it too many times, but it was still painful to hear. In the world of science, TCM had achieved very limited success. Yi Ansha was well aware of the limitations, but she believed that TCM could not be measured by western yardstick. There were too many intricacies of TCM.
Instead of paying any attention to them, Yi Ansha focused on the screen. It looked like the surgery was about to begin when the anesthesiologist gave them the signal.