Sitting on the way back in the car, Claire had a lot on her mind that she wanted to share with Mu Lin. However, to ease Mu Lin’s emotions, she first mentioned the two young female officers, telling Mu Lin that their words at the airport were merely due to youthful pride and hoped that Mu Lin could forgive them.
Mu Lin never expected that even a small clinic’s opening, a minor side project of his, could become so complicated. He naturally knew that she already knew about his dual cultivation with Finney and the others. Reflecting on how much Claire had actually sacrificed for him, he looked at her composed, intellectual face without saying a word, gently holding her hand. Since Hong Jia Ni was sitting in the front passenger seat, Claire felt a bit shy expressing her longing for Mu Lin, so she just tightly held Mu Lin’s hands. Mu Lin sensed her feelings and gave her hand a firm squeeze. The rest of the ride was silent, with Hong Jia Ni pretending to be her usual quirky self.
For dinner, Mu Lin personally cooked, and the evening welcomed Claire and her companions with a banquet hosted by Teacher Wang and his two granddaughters. Seeing two more beautiful older sisters, Wang Jia and Wang Ni couldn’t help but ask Hong Jia Ni curiously, “Sister, are you also Mu Lin’s girlfriend?”
Hong Jia Ni had pondered this question for a long time in Boston; her heart had already been fully devoted to Mu Lin. Yet she felt somewhat resentful and always liked to oppose him, secretly hoping to draw more of his attention. Pointing at Mu Lin, she said to the two young girls, “Why don’t you ask this little brat himself!”
Wang Jia was already quite familiar with Mu Lin and immediately replied, “Do we even need to ask? You must be Mu Lin’s girlfriends. We just wanted to confirm it. Otherwise, why would you be staying at his house?”
“What about those two then?” Hong Jia Ni pointed at the two young female officers who were busy eating, reigniting the conversation.
“Do we even need to ask? They’re obviously Mu Lin’s girlfriends too! You don’t know—they three are always together!” Wang Ni answered with an old-fashioned tone.
“You two little brats, talking nonsense! Who’s this little brat’s girlfriend?” The two young female officers, embarrassed due to Teacher Wang’s presence, couldn’t swallow their food fast enough before they retorted.
“Who would believe you? If you weren’t his girlfriends, why would you follow him everywhere he goes?” Wang Jia argued confidently.
The two young female officers were finally left speechless.
Finney and the others finally couldn’t help but burst into laughter!
The two young female officers blushed deeply, stomped their feet, and shyly covered their faces before running off.
Everyone turned their eyes toward Mu Lin, who looked completely innocent, asking, “Why are you all looking at me?”
Wang Jia then said, “Brother, your girlfriends ran off embarrassed. Why don’t you go comfort them?”
“Me?” Mu Lin pointed at himself, “No way! Didn’t you hear them call me a brat? I’m not going. If anyone should go, let her go! She started this!” He pointed at Hong Jia Ni. There was no way he was going now—after all, they were just two little girls! If he went, he’d probably get scolded or pinched again.
Eventually, Finney and the others followed the two young female officers to comfort them. Unfortunately, today the two young officers had been teased by the two little girls and Hong Jia Ni, and were too embarrassed to return to the dining room to face everyone again. With no choice, Finney and the others had the servants prepare another dinner for the two young female officers.
After dinner, everyone discussed the upcoming grand opening ceremony. Facing everyone’s hopeful gazes, Mu Lin had no choice but to agree to their requests, letting Claire and Finney arrange the schedule while he unconditionally supported their plans.
When Mu Lin entered Claire’s bedroom, she had already prepared a cup of fragrant tea for him, wearing a pale yellow embroidered silk nightgown, sitting on the sofa waiting for him. Seeing Mu Lin come in, she quickly stood up to serve him tea. Mu Lin directly hugged Claire from behind, whispering softly in her ear, “Sister, you’ve endured a lot these days.”
When Claire was embraced from behind by Mu Lin, her body had already softened slightly. As she heard Mu Lin’s whisper by her ear, her entire body collapsed into his arms. Mu Lin scooped Claire up in his arms and walked toward the large bed in the room.
The next morning, as the sky was just turning light, a knock sounded at Claire’s door. Startled awake by the sudden knocking, Claire tried to move but found her entire body sore and weak. Turning her head to see Mu Lin watching her, she shyly said, “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
Outside the door came Wang Jia’s voice: “Sister Claire, hasn’t your brother gotten up yet? We came to call him for morning exercise!”
Now the two felt too embarrassed to stay in bed any longer. Claire pinched Mu Lin slightly before replying, “Alright! Wang Jia, your brother will be up soon. You two go ahead and start exercising!”
It turned out that Wang Jia and Wang Ni, seeing Mu Lin, Finney, and the two young female officers regularly doing morning physical training, became excited and begged Mu Lin to teach them. Mu Lin, according to their physical characteristics, taught them the martial arts and sword techniques of the Yue Girl sect, which fascinated them greatly, making them follow Mu Lin every day.
So this morning, not seeing Mu Lin up, they went to ask the two young female officers. The two officers, having been teased by the two little girls the previous day, wanted revenge and told them that Mu Lin was resting in Claire’s room, suggesting they go wake him up. The two little girls didn’t think much and indeed came to tease them.
When Finney and the others learned that the two young girls had gone to tease the couple, they couldn’t help but smile bitterly after understanding the situation. They carefully explained the truth to the two girls, who then realized they had unknowingly been used by others, doing something good but feeling too embarrassed to face Mu Lin again.
Mu Lin’s 38 clinics’ opening ceremonies proceeded according to the bosses’ requirements, and he traveled across the blue skies of the U.S. with a group of people for nearly a month. This left Mu Lin, who usually preferred peace and quiet, extremely stressed. Fortunately, he could flirt with the two young female officers, banter with Hong Jia Ni, and cultivate with Claire and Finney, making the journey not too lonely.
Throughout the journey, Mu Lin was mostly idle. Claire and Hong Jia Ni were busy building relationships with local bosses, Finney and the others were preparing the establishment of foundations for each clinic, the two young female officers were memorizing contact persons for each clinic and representatives of local bosses, teachers, and Chinese acupuncturists were starting to get familiar with the situation and the first batch of patients. The only one left with nothing to do was Mu Lin, leisurely watching everyone work busily. This made everyone a bit resentful, and after discussing it, they realized that the small tasks didn’t require him, and the big tasks hadn’t come up yet, so everyone could only watch him stroll around leisurely.
After completing all the clinic opening ceremonies, Mu Lin returned to New York and handed over the clinic-related affairs to his teachers. The entire clinic command system was set up in New York, with them stationed at headquarters. The clinics were usually managed by the acupuncturists recruited from China, treating general chronic diseases, while the teachers handled more difficult and complex cases. As for special cases, Mu Lin would personally intervene.
Returning to New York, Claire took Hong Jia Ni back to Boston, while Finney and the others continued organizing the clinics’ work, remotely managing the various foundations’ affairs. Only Mu Lin and his two young female officer secretaries became idle again. At first, he occasionally visited some clinics to help, but later, as the physicians at each clinic became more experienced, he generally had nothing more to do.
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