Chapter Seventy-Five: A Strange Sensation in the Body

Xie Qingtang walked over and said to Zhao Xianglan, “Aunt Lan, where on earth did you go last night? You didn’t come home at all—we were worried sick about you.”

“My little miss, I don’t know what happened yesterday. I fainted right at the vegetable market and only woke up this morning. I rushed back from the hospital as soon as I could, and I forgot my phone. I’m sorry for making you worry,” Zhao Xianglan apologized, her face full of regret.

When she heard that Zhao Xianglan had fainted at the market, Xie Qingtang immediately grew concerned. She took her hand and checked her pulse, discovering signs of elevated blood pressure.

“Aunt Lan, I should be the one apologizing. I’ve been so caught up in my own affairs lately and neglected you. Don’t worry, from now on I’ll help you tend to your health as well,” Xie Qingtang said earnestly.

Zhao Xianglan smiled and nodded, then went off to care for Xie’s grandfather. Xie Qingtang moved to the front hall, wrote a prescription for herbal medicine to lower blood pressure, and asked Zhou Jinfan to fetch it.

She also wrote down the names of several medicinal herbs, instructing Zhou Jinfan to procure them and order new cabinets, so that the Benevolence Hall could be restored as quickly as possible.

“This time, she personally asked me to go,” Gu Xiujin put down his book, his expression calm as he spoke to Li Zhao. The way he changed clothes made clear he was eager to visit the Benevolence Hall.

Li Zhao smiled and nodded. “That’s right, Dr. Xie herself said so—she wants you to go to the Benevolence Hall for a consultation.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll go, reluctantly. After all, there’s so much to take care of at the company. Let’s hurry,” Gu Xiujin replied with a hint of pride, and headed out with Li Zhao toward the Benevolence Hall.

As he entered, Gu Xiujin immediately noticed something different about the place. The pearwood chairs that once lined the room were gone. Even the rows of medicine cabinets that reached the ceiling were missing one, leaving an odd emptiness. Gu Xiujin glanced around and understood at once.

“You’re here. Have you been taking your medicine on time these days? You look a bit worse than the last time you came,” Xie Qingtang approached, her brows furrowed, and bent down close to his face.

In that instant, Gu Xiujin, seated in his wheelchair, sat up straight. His dark eyes stared intently at the girl before him, their breaths intermingling in the quiet. Her porcelain skin, clear eyes, and slightly flushed lips lent her a tempting allure, impossible to resist. By the time Gu Xiujin managed to pull his gaze away, Xie Qingtang had already turned and returned to her seat behind the consultation table.

“What are you spacing out for? Give me your hand,” Xie Qingtang said, waving her hand in front of him as Gu Xiujin sat motionless.

Gu Xiujin snapped out of it, glanced at her calmly, and extended his wrist. She placed her hand gently on his pulse, diagnosing him as usual.

But in the next second, Xie Qingtang’s demeanor changed entirely. She glared at Gu Xiujin and shouted, “You’ve been staying up late working again, haven’t you? You’re the most disobedient patient I’ve ever treated. The more I tell you not to do something, the more you insist on doing it!”

Li Zhao, witnessing the sudden outburst, flinched in surprise, and Gu Xiujin was even more stunned, facing her wrath directly.

“Your blood and energy are stagnated, you’re exhausted in body and mind, eating little and overwhelmed by work. Gu Xiujin, do you even want to get better? All my efforts for you have been wasted,” Xie Qingtang said angrily, tossing his hand back at him.

Gu Xiujin’s brow furrowed slightly. He had been striving to regain control of Gu Family Hospital, which inevitably meant more business to handle. Eating less and working more, he could feel his own health declining from exhaustion, yet he couldn’t let go of his responsibilities.

So Xie Qingtang’s words were entirely accurate—his overloaded schedule had left him physically and mentally depleted.

After finishing her diagnosis, Xie Qingtang said nothing further, her face dark as she busied herself with the herbs. The atmosphere in the Benevolence Hall grew heavy and tense.

“Dr. Xie seems really angry. Should you explain yourself?” Li Zhao whispered to Gu Xiujin.

Gu Xiujin hesitated, then wheeled himself over to Xie Qingtang and said in a low voice, “You know the Gu family’s situation is unstable. Even my own relatives are hoping I’ll die soon, so they can divide my assets.”

“There are things I can’t avoid, no matter how much I wish I could,” he continued, his tone tinged with helplessness. Xie Qingtang’s hand paused as she arranged the herbs, then she sighed softly.

Hearing his explanation, Xie Qingtang understood. She turned to him and said, “Sorry, I lost my temper a little just now.”

“No doctor likes to have a patient who won’t listen. I get it. There’s a chance I could be bedridden at any time, so I have to be prepared while I’m still able to manage something,” he said, a look of determination in his eyes.

Xie Qingtang suddenly realized that she and Gu Xiujin were not fundamentally different—both were living on the edge, in constant peril, surviving with vigilance.

“All right, I understand. Looks like I’ll need to adjust your prescription. I suspect you’ve gone to great lengths to resist the drowsiness caused by the herbs lately,” Xie Qingtang said with a helpless smile.

When she first prescribed the medicine, she’d included plenty of sleep-inducing herbs. Inevitably, after taking it, Gu Xiujin would fall into deep sleep. But he’d been working tirelessly through the night, and must have struggled hard to fight off the drowsiness.

“Dr. Xie, you’re spot on. To keep himself awake, Gu even used needles to stab his own thigh,” Li Zhao grinned, exposing Gu Xiujin’s secret.

Xie Qingtang was taken aback, surprised by Gu Xiujin’s ruthlessness toward himself. She gave him a thumbs up. “Gu Xiujin, there aren’t many people I admire—but now you’re one of them.”