Chapter Eighty-Three: The Qi Gate Acupoint!

He hurried to the school gate and spotted at once the black Audi parked there, the one belonging to Director Lin Qingyuan.

Seeing him approach, Chen Lei, Lin Qingyuan’s secretary, quickly opened the door and came forward with a smile. “Long time no see, Qin Luo. The director is waiting for you in the car.”

“Right. Thank you.” Qin Luo patted the man’s shoulder and opened the rear door, getting in.

Whether at Lin Qingyuan’s instruction or not, Chen Lei did not return to the car. Instead, he went to the newspaper kiosk at the school entrance and began browsing the papers.

Qin Luo understood at once: Lin Qingyuan had something private to say, something he did not want others to overhear.

“Grandpa Lin.” Qin Luo greeted him with a smile from the back seat. “Has something happened?”

Lin Qingyuan shook his head and looked at him. “Qin Luo, did you see Wanxi yesterday?”

“I did. Why?” Qin Luo asked. Had something happened to Lin Wanxi?

But just now, at the school gate, he had clearly seen her drive into the campus.

“Then—did you notice anything strange about her?” Lin Qingyuan asked, his eyes fixed on Qin Luo’s, his face full of concern.

“Strange?” Qin Luo gave a wry smile. It was only natural for a girl to be a little out of sorts when her first love returned, wasn’t it?

“Yes. Did she seem different to you?”

Qin Luo thought for a moment. “Grandpa Lin, have you noticed something?”

Lin Qingyuan let out a sigh. “I hope I’m only worrying myself sick over nothing. Yesterday afternoon, Wanxi called to say she wouldn’t be coming home for dinner. She said she was eating out with you. Of course I was delighted. Young people should have lives of their own. When she’s with you, I feel at ease.”

From the very first time he met Qin Luo, Lin Qingyuan had been secretly hoping to bring him home as a son-in-law.

“Last night I was in a good mood and had a couple more drinks than usual, so I went to bed early. Around eleven I woke up suddenly. I heard a car pulling into the garage outside, and I thought the two of you had come back. I went to the window to look. But when I did, I saw Wanxi returning alone.”

“I was worried you two had quarreled, so I hurried downstairs to take a look. I asked her where you had gone, and she said she didn’t know. Wanxi has never been one to drink, but when she came back she reeked of alcohol. I have no idea how she managed to drive home. In a city like Yanjing, with roads like these and so many cars, just thinking about it still frightens me.”

Turning to look at Qin Luo, Lin Qingyuan said, “I thought you would be back later, but who knew you wouldn’t come home all night. I knew then that something must be wrong between you two. I hardly slept at all last night. This morning I got up early and exercised in the courtyard. Wanxi got up very late, and even after she woke she didn’t eat breakfast. She just went straight to the garage to drive to school. I called after her and said, ‘Wanxi, have some breakfast before you go.’”

“But she turned and looked at me. She said nothing, got into the car, and drove off.”

With lingering fear in his voice, Lin Qingyuan continued, “I’ve been thinking ever since about what that look meant. I keep feeling that something is wrong with Wanxi.”

“What kind of look?” Qin Luo’s expression grew solemn as well.

“The kind—how should I put it—the look of someone just awakened from a deep sleep, with no feeling left in it at all. So blank, as if she couldn’t even tell who I was. You know, after your treatment, Wanxi’s condition had already improved a great deal. Though she still doesn’t speak much, she has been courteous enough to me. She even greets me when she comes and goes. But then she suddenly turned like that again, and I’m terribly worried...”

Seeing the worry etched all over Lin Qingyuan’s face, Qin Luo comforted him. “Grandpa Lin, don’t panic yet. Until we know exactly what’s going on, no one can say what the situation really is. I’ll go see Sister Lin later and find out what’s wrong with her. If it’s nothing serious, I’ll call you. All right?”

“All right. Then I’ll trouble you with it.” Lin Qingyuan took Qin Luo’s hand. “Qin Luo, Wanxi has had a hard life all these years, and she doesn’t have many friends. If she does anything that seems improper, please be more patient with her. With her temperament, I’m anxious too. But she is slowly getting better. In time, she will surely become as good as she was before.”

“I will,” Qin Luo said with a smile and a nod.

“Good. Then go back to class. I won’t keep you. If you’re not busy, go and find Wanxi as soon as you can. And let me know quickly what the answer is. Sigh... because of this, I haven’t been able to work all morning. I keep wondering why Wanxi would look at me with such an expression.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll go see her after school,” Qin Luo said.

“I saw your interview. Very good. Very impressive.”

Lin Qingyuan gave Qin Luo’s shoulder a hard pat and nodded with deep satisfaction.

When Qin Luo returned to the classroom, the bell had already rung several minutes ago.

At the seat in the front row by the aisle, there was now a round-faced girl wearing glasses. That had originally been Wang Jiujiu’s seat, but no one knew where she had gone.

Qin Luo felt a faint sense of disappointment. Whenever he stood on the platform speaking with great passion, having a pretty girl staring at him with wide, sparkling eyes and a face full of admiration was a thoroughly pleasant feeling.

Remembering how she had just chased after him to bring tea, and how her words had been interrupted by the phone call, Qin Luo could not help thinking: could something have happened to Wang Jiujiu? She had never skipped class before, had she?

Soon, however, he shook his head. With her family background, who would dare provoke her?

He gathered his thoughts, smiled at the students below, and said, “Let’s begin class.”

Qin Luo had been standing under the biomedical engineering building for more than ten minutes. School was long over, and most of the students had already left. Even the teachers had gone in waves from the building, but Qin Luo still had not seen Lin Wanxi come downstairs.

Her champagne-colored BMW, understated yet undeniably luxurious, was still parked in its original spot, proof that she had not left.

But why had she not come down?

Every student who passed by glanced at him. Some pointed him out to others; some took out their phones and photographed him. Most absurd of all, several boys in long coats ran over to ask him for autographs.

It was obvious now: Qin Luo had become a campus celebrity.

Chen Xiaoxue, dressed in Chanel and carrying a Louis Vuitton bag, descended the stairs gracefully. When she saw Qin Luo standing below, her face darkened at once, and with a cold snort she turned away.

Her ex-boyfriend Wang Hao had been sentenced for illegally manufacturing medical waste, and she had long since gotten rid of the red Beetle. Now she drove a silver Mercedes, a car on roughly the same level as Lin Wanxi’s BMW.

Clearly, she still had not given up. She was determined to compete with Lin Wanxi in every possible way.

“Hey, is Lin Wanxi still in the office?” Qin Luo called to her. He knew Chen Xiaoxue and Lin Wanxi worked in the same department. He did not know any of the other teachers, so he had no choice but to seek help from this detestable woman.

Chen Xiaoxue’s face was full of disgust, as though speaking to Qin Luo would soil her mouth. “Why should I tell you?”

Qin Luo smiled without caring. “Which floor is your office on?”

“Don’t know. And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. Besides, I’d advise you not to bother looking. She’s probably flirting with some other man right now. Even if you went, it would be useless. She always acts like some saint, but when she gets shameless, no one can compare.” With that, Chen Xiaoxue started the car.

This woman’s mouth was as venomous as ever. Qin Luo truly had no liking for her at all.

“Didn’t sleep well last night? Your complexion is yellow and sallow, and your kidney channel is badly blocked. If you don’t clear it out, you may have serious trouble later. Your skin will only get worse too,” Qin Luo said, studying her face with a serious expression.

Chen Xiaoxue’s foot froze on the accelerator. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she really did see a sallow face, sunken eyes, and a web of red veins in her eyes. Even with concealer, she could not completely hide it.

“Everyone has a kidney meridian point at the waist, called the Heavenly Pivot Point. You can try massaging it. It works very well,” Qin Luo said.

“Where is it?” Chen Xiaoxue asked. If it were any other problem, she would rather die than ask Qin Luo for help. But when it came to her appearance, she could not help herself.

She had only just hooked a second-generation official and was doing everything she could to keep him in her grasp. If her skin problems scared him away, that would be a terrible loss.

“Place your hand on your waist, just beneath the last rib. Use your fingers to feel around slowly. Where you sense an aching numb pain, that is the Heavenly Pivot Point,” Qin Luo said.

After hearing him, Chen Xiaoxue really did reach out and search around her waist.

A moment later, her brow furrowed sharply. “Found it.”

“Good. Press hard. It may hurt a little, so bear with it,” Qin Luo said with a nod.

After a brief hesitation, Chen Xiaoxue pressed down with force.

Pfft—

A sound like a car tire losing air came from inside Chen Xiaoxue’s car, and then an especially foul and turbid stench spread through the air.

In truth, Chen Xiaoxue had let out a long, disgustingly stinky fart.

“I forgot to tell you. The Heavenly Pivot Point is also called the Air Gate Point. In plain terms, it’s the Venting Point,” Qin Luo said with narrowed eyes.

Chen Xiaoxue went ashen, her mind blank for several seconds before she finally reacted.

She had truly lost every shred of dignity before this man—first losing control of her bladder, and now this. Every humiliating thing a woman could endure, she had suffered here.

This insidious bastard!

Chen Xiaoxue was tempted to bury her head beneath the car seat. Her eyes reddened slightly, blazing with murderous hatred. Grinding her teeth, she said to Qin Luo, “I’ll kill you. I certainly will.”

With that, she slammed the accelerator. The silver Mercedes roared away.

Qin Luo shrugged indifferently and walked toward the magnificent office building.

Since she did not want to come out, I’ll just go up and find her myself.

“Excuse me, do you know where Teacher Lin Wanxi’s office is?” Qin Luo stopped a girl and asked with a smile.

“Fourth floor. The one near the stairwell,” the girl said with a smile. “She’s our teacher, you know. I know you’re Teacher Lin’s boyfriend.”

“Thank you.” Qin Luo smiled inwardly. Boyfriend? That was not him.

He climbed the stairs and found the office near the stairwell on the fourth floor. Sure enough, Lin Wanxi was sitting by the window, head bowed, writing something.

Across from her, a bespectacled man was saying something to her in a flattering tone.