Chapter 031: The Heroine Makes Her Entrance
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Seeing that Zhang Jing remained seated and did not move, the little old woman assumed he had silently given his consent.
Delighted, she hurried downstairs.
Zhang Jing shook his head helplessly. He was genuinely worried that she might sprain her ankle by running too fast.
When the little old woman reached the first floor, she went straight to her daughter and said softly, “Come outside with me for a moment.”
Unexpectedly, Li Ziqi pretended not to hear.
With no other choice, the little old woman raised her voice and repeated herself.
This time, even Gui Cui, who was sitting at the medicine-dispensing and payment window, heard her loud and clear.
Knowing she could not avoid it, Li Ziqi replied, “I’m sorry, Auntie. Were you speaking to me?”
As she spoke, she frantically winked and gestured at her mother.
“All right, Xiaoqi. Your mother has already told him, so you don’t have to...” Being addressed as “Auntie” right to her face, the girl’s actual mother could not help darkening her expression.
Before she could finish, however, Li Ziqi grabbed her by the arm and pulled her outside.
Only after they had run more than twenty yards did Li Ziqi stop.
“Xiaoqi, what are you doing? Are you trying to make your mother run my feet off?” the little old woman panted.
Li Ziqi glared at her mother, puffing up angrily. “And you still have the nerve to say that! What did you promise me before we left?”
“Your mother knows. It was wrong of me to change the plan at the last minute without asking your permission first. But I truly thought Zhang Jing was an excellent young man. I simply couldn’t stop myself from letting it slip,” the little old woman defended herself.
“Mom, you really approve of him?” At those words, Li Ziqi’s anger immediately turned to delight.
“Approve? Of course I approve! And I have to say, Xiaoqi, your judgment this time is truly excellent. Mother is very satisfied.”
“Of course it is.” Li Ziqi wore a smug expression, then asked, “Mom, hurry up and tell me—what did you talk about with him?”
“Er...” Her daughter’s sudden question left the little old woman at a loss.
After all, thinking back, apart from learning that Zhang Jing was the only son in his family, she did not seem to have obtained any other substantial information.
“What? Is it still a secret you can’t tell me?” Li Ziqi teased.
“Of course not. How should I put it? We were looking at things from different perspectives, so you’ll have to spend time with Zhang Jing yourself to find out what he’s really like. I can only say that, as your mother, I absolutely support the two of you dating.”
“How can you support it without a reason? There has to be one.”
If she had been an ordinary girl, Li Ziqi would have been perfectly content as long as her mother gave her approval. She would never have bothered asking why.
But Li Ziqi had been willful since childhood and loved getting to the bottom of everything.
The little old woman smiled and began with a warning. “Xiaoqi, if I really tell you, you mustn’t get angry.”
“Go ahead. What could I possibly be angry about?” Li Ziqi said with complete indifference.
“Ahem...” The little old woman cleared her throat before continuing. “From the brief interaction we just had, your mother feels that the young man is serious about what he does, patient, and well-mannered. He does have one small flaw, though...”
She deliberately paused.
“What flaw? Mom, hurry up and tell me. You’re making me die of impatience.”
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“Your mother noticed that he’s a little dull by nature, and his EQ doesn’t seem particularly high.” The little old woman smiled.
“Oh, please. Mom, stop trying to act fashionable like the younger generation. EQ, really? Do you even know what EQ means?” Li Ziqi’s tone carried a hint of mockery.
“Xiaoqi, don’t look down on us old ladies. How would your mother not know? EQ means emotional intelligence. I see it all the time on TikTok.”
“All right, then. I’ll give you credit for guessing correctly. But Mom, if you think he’s too honest and straightforward, why did you approve of him at first sight?”
“Isn’t it because of you? With that awful temper of yours, if you don’t find yourself an honest husband, you’ll probably spend the rest of your life quarreling. If I entrust you to him, you certainly won’t come off worse. I’ll be completely at ease,” the little old woman teased.
Li Ziqi pretended to pout angrily and lightly pounded her mother’s chest with her tiny fists.
“Mom, you can’t put down your own daughter like that.”
“All right, all right, Xiaoqi.” Smiling, the little old woman caught her daughter by the wrist.
Then she added, “By the way, you’d better hurry upstairs and let the man you like examine you. Your Doctor Zhang is still waiting there eagerly.”
“What do you mean? Aren’t Auntie and the others still waiting in line?”
“Before I came down from the second floor, I told Zhang Jing that you would be going up right away.”
“What?” Li Ziqi cried out. “Mom, why didn’t you tell me sooner? You’ve made Doctor Zhang wait for nothing! You’re going to be the death of me!”
With that, she dashed back toward Mingde Hall.
The little old woman shook her head with a smile and hurried after her.
The two returned to the clinic, one after the other.
The moment they entered, they found that the various aunts and older female relatives who had been invited to come along for the blind date had already fallen into a noisy uproar.
It was hardly surprising. The two main characters had not even said goodbye before running off.
They had left all these supporting players sitting there by themselves. What kind of behavior was that?
Seeing the pair return, the oldest of the women spoke up.
“I say, Third Sister-in-law, what do we do now? Are we still getting treated?”
“I’m sorry, Eldest Sister-in-law. Something unexpected came up. There’s no point in all of us staying here, so let’s head back for now.” The little old woman quickly apologized.
Then she waved them over. “Second Sister-in-law, Third Younger Sister, Second Younger Brother’s Wife—why don’t we all go to my place for a meal?”
At once, the group of older women assembled and filed out of the clinic in grand procession.
Li Ziqi was just about to sprint upstairs again when she suddenly realized that such behavior did not fit the persona she had adopted for the day.
She immediately calmed herself and adjusted her state of mind.
Step by step, she climbed the stairs at a leisurely pace.
At last, she reached the entrance to the acupuncture and tuina consultation room on the second floor.
Li Ziqi drew a deep breath and gently knocked on the door, even though it was not actually closed.
“Come in!” Zhang Jing called softly.
“Thank you.” Li Ziqi moved with delicate grace toward the examination desk.
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Zhang Jing raised his eyes to look at her and gestured toward the chair. “Please sit.”
“All right. Thank you, Doctor,” Li Ziqi replied softly.
Remembering how she had courteously yielded her place in line earlier, Zhang Jing could not help thinking to himself: I truly never imagined that girls this gentle and demure still existed in this day and age.
Still, that faint fondness vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
In this lifetime, he had only one obsession: to devote himself wholeheartedly to the practice of traditional Chinese medicine.
“Miss Li, I heard from your friend, Ms. Bai, that you’d like to regulate your irregular menstruation, is that right?” Zhang Jing asked indifferently.
“Yes.” Li Ziqi nodded quickly.
“All right. I’ll begin by taking your pulse. Please place your left hand here, palm facing upward.”
Li Ziqi slowly extended her left hand and carefully rested her wrist on the pulse pillow.
Zhang Jing extended his right hand and began examining her pulse with the traditional three-finger technique.
After examining her left hand, he continued with her right.
The entire process took roughly five or six minutes.
His diagnosis was a weak, slippery pulse.
This was Li Ziqi’s first time seeing a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine, and also her first time having her pulse examined.
Misled by the miracle doctors portrayed in television dramas, she had no idea that pulse-taking could take so long.
When she saw Zhang Jing moving his fingers back and forth over her wrist for such a long time, she assumed that the man she liked was deliberately trying to get closer to her.
At that thought, her fair cheeks gradually flushed.
Zhang Jing noticed and felt somewhat puzzled. It was only a pulse examination—was there really any need for her to be so shy?
He was no ancient miracle doctor, nor could he diagnose someone’s condition by examining a pulse through a silk thread. A certain amount of physical contact was unavoidable.
Next, Zhang Jing examined Li Ziqi’s tongue.
“Miss Li, please open your mouth wide.”
Li Ziqi merely parted her lips slightly, making it impossible for Zhang Jing to see inside.
“I’m sorry, but please open a little wider. A tongue examination requires me to inspect the entire inside of your mouth.”
Li Ziqi fidgeted bashfully for a while before suddenly saying timidly, “I’m sorry, Doctor Zhang. I’ve never had a boyfriend before.”
At those words, Zhang Jing froze completely.
He could not understand it no matter how hard he tried. What on earth did opening her mouth wider have to do with whether or not she had ever been in love?
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