You Call This a Green Tea? - Chapter 10

He Zhen was stumped by Zhuo Luyuan’s question, but after giving it a thought, it made sense.

Strictly speaking, the He family’s business was even more powerful than the Zhuo family’s. He Zhen didn’t lack money, and Luyuan didn’t know what He Zhen liked. For a moment, he was truly stumped.

Zhuo Luyuan held his tongue and thought for a long time before finally giving up. He turned to He Zhen and asked, “Then what do you want? Let’s get this straight first: nothing too ridiculous.” Then he muttered under his breath, “I haven’t even brought up the fact that you touched my ass yet.”

The Ragdoll cat (the System) huddled by He Zhen’s leg, its watery eyes wide with horror as it stared at him. “Host! You-you-you-you touched the protagonist’s ass?!” Wasn’t the Host straight? And the world I’m running isn’t exactly a Pure Love/BL channel!

He Zhen found the System’s reaction strange and whispered in his mind, “You didn’t know about this?”

The Ragdoll cat shook its head frantically. “There’s a privacy protection agreement between the System and the Host! When the Host is bathing or having intimate contact with others, the System has to look away to protect the Host’s privacy. So, did you really touch the protagonist’s ass?!”

He Zhen: “…I was just trying to steady him and slipped!”

The System thought about it and felt relieved. The Host had been shouting about being straight just a while ago; it was likely just an accident. Relaxing, the System looked at He Zhen with curiosity. “What kind of ‘hush money’ are you going to ask for?” This was the first time it had seen a Host ask the protagonist for things.

From what other System colleagues said, most Hosts try their best to “cling to the protagonist’s thigh” (suck up) out of fear of being discarded as cannon fodder. No one ever dared to demand things from the protagonist.

He Zhen didn’t intend to ask for anything that would make things difficult for Zhuo Luyuan. He pointed to his stained clothes and said, “These clothes are ruined. I think you have good taste—how about you find some time to help me pick out a new outfit?”

Luyuan breathed a sigh of relief. Reverting to his usual cocky self, he leaned back. “Should’ve said so earlier. Small stuff like that is no problem.” He had thought He Zhen would take the opportunity to make some weird request; he didn’t expect something so normal.

He Zhen saw Luyuan let his guard down and knew he had definitely misinterpreted the “groping” incident.

They reached the hospital, and Luyuan took He Zhen to see a doctor. After checking He Zhen’s arm, the doctor began writing a prescription. “It’s not too severe. Luckily your first aid was good, and those two layers of clothing blocked most of it, or it would have been troublesome.”

Luyuan’s first aid had been timely. He had immediately dragged He Zhen to a tap to rinse it, borrowed scissors from the manager to cut the sleeve open from the side, and carefully peeled the fabric away.

The doctor disinfected the area, treated the blisters, and gave him a topical ointment, reminding him to change the dressing and return for a check-up.

Zhuo Luyuan thanked the doctor and prepared to pay, but He Zhen stopped him. He pointed to Luyuan and told the doctor, “He’s burned too. Could you take a look at him?”

Luyuan wanted to say he was fine, but He Zhen firmly pressed him down into the chair. The doctor grabbed Luyuan’s hand, looked at it, and wrote a second prescription. “Not a big deal. Just apply the burn cream regularly.”

He Zhen thanked the doctor again and followed Luyuan out to pick up the medicine.

It was a weekday, but the hospital was still crowded. As they walked, He Zhen asked, “This hospital doesn’t seem as packed as the others. Is it a family business?”

Luyuan shook his head. “No, this hospital belongs to that ‘Beijing Circle Buddhist’s’ family.” Since He Zhen had mentioned the nickname once, Luyuan found it perfectly fitting—and appropriately passive-aggressive—for an idiot like Li Shangle.

So it was the Li family’s place.

As they passed other consultation rooms, a familiar shout erupted from one of them: “What?! Two months?! That long?!”

He Zhen and Luyuan exchanged a look. They glanced at the sign on the door: TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) Department.

The person inside was indeed Li Shangle. He was currently wearing a hat and a mask, looking at the doctor in disbelief. “What? It takes two months to grow back? I’ll be a laughingstock for two months!”

“Li Shangle, what are you doing here?” Zhuo Luyuan poked his head into the room. Before Li Shangle could speak, the elderly TCM doctor frowned at Luyuan. “Young man, this isn’t pathological hair loss. If you really liked having hair, why did you shave it all off? It takes a month or two for hair to grow back normally. Are you here for a consultation or not?”

The doctor looked at the fully disguised Li Shangle with dissatisfaction. He couldn’t understand what the youth was thinking. TCM isn’t magic; you can’t just mix a potion and have hair grow back in days!

Li Shangle: “…”

He Zhen: “…”

As it turned out, Li Shangle found his bald head too embarrassing, so he had snuck into his own family’s hospital to see a TCM specialist, hoping for a miracle hair-growth cure—only to be caught red-handed by Luyuan and He Zhen.

Since his dignity was already gone, Li Shangle stopped hiding. He grabbed the doctor’s arm. “Please, just prescribe some hair growth tonic! I’ll be mocked to death by those guys if I go out like this. Just give me some Fleeceflower Root or something, anything for a bit of length!”

The doctor shook his head. “You can’t just throw medicine at it. Young man, stay up less and drink less. If your routine is healthy, your hair grows naturally. Next!” He had felt Li Shangle’s pulse earlier; this kid was definitely not living a “wellness” lifestyle.

The next patient entered. Li Shangle had no choice but to get up and leave. He readjusted his hat with a soul-crushed expression and looked at the other two. “Laugh if you want. Why are you two here?”

Luyuan pointed to He Zhen’s arm. “He Zhen got burned. Came for a check-up.”

Li Shangle snapped out of his misery and noticed the injury. “Whoa, what happened? Looks pretty bad.”

Luyuan briefly explained the incident at Sishiju, clearly dissatisfied with the waitress. “Even though He Zhen said to let it go, if the restaurant doesn’t provide compensation or punishment, I’m going to have a talk with their boss.”

Li Shangle nodded. “Right, or who would dare eat there? He Zhen, you’re a real one for taking the hit for him. Guess you really are the same kid who followed him around.” He nudged Luyuan’s shoulder with a suggestive wink.

Luyuan ignored him. “Anyway, we need to get our meds. Not staying to chat.”

Li Shangle had nothing better to do, so he decided to walk with them. “I’ll accompany you. My turf, after all. Oh, by the way, I’ve got some gossip. You guys want in?”

As they walked to the pharmacy window, Li Shangle lowered his voice. “You definitely know her, He Zhen too. It’s Zheng Xi—the one who had that friction with He Zhen at the banquet. I don’t know what’s gotten into her, but lately, she’s been asking everyone for a way to get taller.”

Li Shangle didn’t notice the “done with this” expressions on He Zhen and Luyuan’s faces. He continued, “She’s 27! Does she not know her growing years are over? There’s no secret recipe for that. Zhuo Luyuan, did you reject her by saying she’s too short?”

Li Shangle thought it was possible. Everyone knew Zheng Xi hadn’t given up on Luyuan, and Luyuan avoided her like the plague.

“Not me, don’t pin that on me,” Luyuan clarified immediately. “How do you even know this?”

Li Shangle looked dejected again. “Because my family owns the hospital! She’s been asking around and eventually reached us. Someone actually introduced her to an old TCM doctor who gave her a prescription. That’s how I found out.”

He Zhen’s suspicion grew. “This TCM doctor… wouldn’t happen to be…”

Li Shangle nodded miserably. “Yeah, that’s the one. I thought if he was legendary enough to help someone grow taller, then growing hair should be a piece of cake. So I…”

Zhuo Luyuan and He Zhen said nothing. They could guess why Zheng Xi was suddenly obsessed with her height—she’d been triggered by being mistaken for a “rival’s daughter” during the shopping trip. She’d never admit that, though.

And given the doctor’s refusal to give Li Shangle a “miracle cure,” he likely hadn’t given Zheng Xi a height-growth potion either. Li Shangle was just the only one dumb enough to fall for the legend.

He Zhen and Luyuan got their medicine and prepared to head home to recover. Since He Zhen had injured his right arm, he couldn’t work. His mother forced him to stay home. “Forget the office! You’re just like your father, not taking care of your body!”

He Zhen had no choice but to stay home. He spent his time exploring the new system function unlocked after completing the “leads’ first meeting” task.

The System had been updating for three days and hadn’t bothered him. He was almost starting to miss it.

Just as He Zhen was comfortably eating fruit and resting, the “dog system” dinged back online:

【Host! The “Omission” function you wanted is finally open!】