Great Doctor Ling Ran

After Boss Shao stepped on the brake and parked the Volkswagen Santana properly, he winded down the car window impatiently and climbed out of the car.

The car’s air-conditioner had broken down a long time ago, the weather was getting hotter and hotter, and it was extremely uncomfortable staying in the car. But Boss Shao was reluctant to fix it. Why would he repair a Santana which had a mileage of over 250,000 miles? With the money needed to replace the air-conditioner, he could even buy an old Mercedes-Benz with a mileage of 250,000 miles.

After fanning himself with his T-shirt and drying the sweat on his back slightly, Boss Shao lowered his head, adjusted his cap, and walked towards the stadium.

Yun Hua Stadium was constructed many years ago. In between, it was on the wane for more than ten years, and was replaced by a new venue. But now, because of its vastness which made it easy for cars to park in, it was renovated again and became the first choice for sports and recreational activities in Yun Hua.

Boss Shao suddenly felt a deep sense of happiness when he gazed from afar at the stadium’s security guards who were keeping the crowd in order.

‘Don’t get excited, don’t get excited. Excitement causes people to faint easily,’ Boss Shao quickly stopped and thought to himself. He waited until his heart rate returned to normal before he put on a cheery expression. He raised his head towards the sun rays, straightened his body, and strode forward to… join the queue.

A few chatty young girls stood in front of Boss Shao. They were chatting excitedly.

“I heard that Brother Shanyu sneezed yesterday because the tissue she used was not suitable for her. After that, a lot of tissue manufacturers dispatched people to send her tissues.”

“Eh, manufacturers sent her tissues? I sent some, too. Sigh, I’m so angry. I even gave the errand boy a tip from Meituan [1]. In the end, he still took such a long time to deliver the tissues, and I don’t even know if Brother Shanyu received it.”

“The news is out, the news is out!” The young girl standing at the backmost suddenly said joyfully, “Brother Shanyu accepted Zhu Hui’s endorsement. From this point onwards, she will be using Zhu Hui’s anti-allergy tissues.”

“Wow, Brother Shanyu looks so good when she’s holding a tissue…”

Boss Shao craned his head to glance at Meng Xue. As expected, she was clad in a pair of black slim-fitting pants, and struck an extremely handsome pose. She held a piece of tissue manufactured by Zhu Hui in her hand.

Even though the advertisement was extremely uncreative, Meng Xue looked really good.

Boss Shao could not help but let out a soft snort and thought, ‘Meng Xue was the sexy dance goddess of my era. You idiotic fans have the audacity to call her Brother Shanyu… Just because she likes to wear slim-fitting pants sometimes.’

When the young girls heard him snorting, they could not help but turn their heads in unison. Their eyebrows, eyelashes, and lips all looked the same. When Boss Shao saw them like this, it felt rather terrifying.

Boss Shao could not help but put his hand on his chest. ‘This won’t do. This is so scary that it’s like watching a horror movie.’

“Are you here to see Meng Xue or Brother Shanyu?” one of the young girls asked.

“Aren’t they the same person?” Boss Shao pretended to be ignorant.

However, the young girls were not ignorant. They gave him another sideways glance in unison and said disdainfully, “Disgusting.”

“Hey, what do you mean by ‘disgusting’?”

“Old men like you! It’s just disgusting to call her Meng Xue!”

“Isn’t Meng Xue her name?”

The young girls shook their heads in unison. “Meng Xue is just her appearance. By calling her Meng Xue, it means that you’re only into her appearance, and don’t truly like her!”

Boss Shao chuckled a few times, extended his hands, and said, “I slaughtered two lambs yesterday and sold roasted mutton till dawn, and that was how I got enough money to buy a concert ticket. Do you think that I’m a true fan now? Or do you still think that I’m a fake fan?”

When the girls looked at Boss Shao’s hands which still appeared a little red, they suddenly did not really dare to yell anymore.

Boss Shao enjoyed the silence. He glanced at his watch and saw that it was 5:40 in the evening. He reckoned that he would get to sit down before six. That was pretty good.

…..

Meanwhile, Ling Ran and Tao Ping entered the venue from the side door.

The front seat tickets Li Lei the manager gave them were tickets that were not sold to the public but only given to other people as gifts. Naturally, they would not let these guests jostle their way in from the front entrance.

This was the first time Tao Ping enjoyed this kind of treatment. She could not help but mutter to herself, “If I knew this earlier, I would have brought your father over to enrich his knowledge.”

Ling Ran rolled his eyes. He did not even bother to retort.

The audience in the front row was given priority to enter the venue. Tao Ping happily looked around. She took a few selfies before she asked Ling Ran to take a few pictures of her. She then saw that Ling Ran was a little distracted, and asked, “Are you tired? Even though there was only such a short time just now, you still massaged people. Don’t tire yourself out.”

“I’m not tired.” Ling Ran’s gaze lingered on neck after neck.

“You must take care of your health,” Tao Ping paused for a moment and said, “Don’t listen to your father. Even though you get to earn a lot of money by massaging people, that’s not as important as your health. Besides, your job as a doctor earns you enough money already. What do you want so much money for? You’ll have enough money to pay for all your necessities your whole life. I have experimented with that.”

Ling Ran sighed and said, “Can we not talk about the experiment anymore?”

“Without the experiment, how could we have come to a decision? Besides, your father and the others were the ones who suggested it.” Tao Ping adjusted her clothes as she spoke and raised her mobile phone again.

“What experiment are you guys talking about?” The girl to Ling Ran’s left had been extremely excited since she first saw Ling Ran. She wanted to strike up a conversation with Ling Ran so much that she was almost going crazy. At this moment, she immediately came out with a question. She pretended to be interested in their story instead of Ling Ran’s handsome face.

Ling Ran calmly glanced at his mother. Tao Ping smiled and said, “You tell her.”

She still wanted to put on an elegant façade in front of other people.

So, Ling Ran said, “When I was younger, my mother hung a box over my chest. It was written on the box that anyone can take a picture with me for 1 RMB. She then asked me to stand in front of the entrance of a shopping mall.”

“Then?” the beautiful girl asked, curious.

“The box was filled up.” Ling Ran’s reply was still short.

Tao Ping was the one who could not hold back her pride and said, “After we brought him home, we spent over an hour counting all the money. There was 100 RMB inside.”

“Wow.” The beautiful girl was extremely surprised. She evaluated Ling Ran from top to toe, and was immediately captivated by his eyes. She could not help but say in a soft voice, “If I encountered him then, I would be willing to take a picture with him, too.”

As she spoke, the girl glanced at Ling Ran’s chest. There was naturally no box, neither was there a sign that indicated that she could take a picture with him.

“After that?” The beautiful girl went out of her way to find more topics of conversation.

Ling Ran said, “Nothing else.”

“Nothing? Why? Wasn’t it very profitable?”

“We just wanted to prove that my son will not suffer from a lack of money in the future. What’s the meaning in earning money?” Tao Ping’s way of thinking had always been different compared to that of normal people.

The beautiful girl tilted her head and thought about it. She then glanced at Ling Ran’s face. She truly had no way to retort Tao Ping’s statement.

“Everyone, I’m the stage manager for this concert. Let’s take a few shots where you guys are clapping first, shall we…” A thirty-something-year-old man clad in sparkling clothes went in front of the seats with a smile.

There was no reason for the crowd to refuse, and they clapped at the empty stage.

Ling Ran put his left and right palms together in a feigned manner, and continued to sweep his gaze across the necks around him.

At this moment, Li Lei, the manager who gave Ling Ran the tickets, suddenly walked over quickly from backstage. Her eyes lit up when she saw Ling Ran, and she immediately went to him and said in a soft voice, “Doctor Ling, your massage techniques can be used to treat muscle cramps, right?”

“The massage will probably relieve it,” Ling Ran said.

“Can you come and take a look for me? We have a few back-up dancers who got muscle cramps while they were warming up.” Li Lei looked at her watch vexedly and said, “The ice-breaking segment will start at around seven. There’s still one more hour. Will this be enough to treat them?”

“Yes.” For some reason, Ling Ran started to feel good. The guilt he felt from wasting his time watching the concert decreased greatly.