133: scoundrel ex-boyfriend

A few days ago, when he called his maternal grandfather, the old man had specifically asked for his address.

So that was why!

All of this, without a doubt, had been arranged by his grandfather using the connections he had kept sealed away for many years!

A bomb seemed to explode in Lin Chao's mind, setting off a massive wave of shock.

From his fingertips came the cold, thick sensation of paper.

But his heart felt as if it had been cast into boiling lava, churning incessantly.

He recalled the incident from a few years ago.

At that time, his paternal grandfather and maternal grandfather had decided to stop practicing medicine and forbade him from studying it as well.

But now... what was this supposed to be?

Lin Chao's knuckles turned white from the force of his grip, and the thick stack of certificates deformed slightly in his hand.

His heart was filled with a complex mixture of emotions.

Shock, doubt, confusion, and a hint of... a rekindled heat that he didn't even dare to admit to himself.

This stack of certificates was not a prompt, nor was it an order.

It was a form of protection.

A protection so deep it was silent, yet it weighed more than a thousand pounds.

His grandfather and the others were afraid.

They were afraid that their grandson, who had the blood of a healer in his bones and could not change his instincts, would impulsively save someone out in the world.

If something went wrong and someone caught wind of it, slapping him with the heavy label of 'Illegal Medical Practice'... those words alone would be enough to ruin a person's life!

That was why they used this method to give him a solid backing, a protective talisman that could be shown in the light of day.

Lin Chao's gaze slowly fell upon the bright red issuance date on the certificate.

It had been processed right after his visit home last year.

So, from that time on, his grandfather had already been paving the way for him.

A surge of warm current, mixed with guilt and gratitude, instantly collapsed the final barrier in Lin Chao's heart that had been built up by the past.

He reached out with his fingertip and gently, almost reverently, stroked the distinct texture of the embossed seal on the certificate.

The cold paper now seemed to possess a searing temperature, burning all the way to the depths of his heart.

Just then, a faint commotion drifted from upstairs, sounding like people arguing.

One of the women's voices was sharp, cold, and filled with a suppressed, extreme anger and disgust.

This voice... was it Shen Zhixia?

Lin Chao's brow furrowed sharply.

He carefully placed the stack of certificates, which felt as heavy as a mountain, back into the cardboard box and turned to walk out the door.

He didn't take the elevator but instead rushed up the fire stairs toward the nineteenth floor.

The moment he stepped onto the nineteenth-floor landing and turned the corner, the scene before him made his brow knit further.

The security door to Shen Zhixia's home was wide open.

A man wearing a high-end tailored suit with slicked-back hair was kneeling firmly at the doorway in an extremely unsightly and humble posture.

His hands, like two iron pincers, were tightly clutching one of Shen Zhixia's thighs—she was wearing silk loungewear pants—crumpling the expensive fabric into a mess.

On the ground nearby lay an over-packaged, massive bouquet of at least ninety-nine roses; petals were scattered all over the floor in a pathetic state.

“Guo Fandong! I'm warning you for the last time, get lost!”

Shen Zhixia's voice carried an imperceptible tremble, a physiological reaction born from the peak of disgust and rage.

Her face was livid, her chest heaving violently; she was so regretful her intestines were nearly turning green!

When the doorbell rang just now, she thought it was Lin Chao, whom she had an appointment with for dinner.

Looking through the smart screen of the door lock, she only saw a large bouquet of tacky, showy roses completely blocking the visitor's face.

She thought that guy had acted on a whim and wanted to give her a surprise... who would have known!

Who knew that the moment the door opened, she would be met with this face that made her nauseous!

Seeing the door open, Guo Fandong didn't give her any time to react; he immediately pounced like a stray dog in heat.

“Zhi Xia! Zhi Xia, listen to me! Can we get back together?”

“Zhi Xia, you know, I love you so much...”

He spewed out affectionate confessions, every word like a greasy fly that made Shen Zhixia's stomach churn.

“Shut up!” Shen Zhixia shouted sternly. “I told you to get lost! Do you not understand human speech?”

“We ended a long time ago! Completely! Give up on this idea!”

She tried hard to close the door and shut this plague out.

But Guo Fandong seemed to have anticipated her reaction; with a 'thud,' he knelt down without any dignity and grabbed her leg!

“No! Zhi Xia! Give me another chance!”

He wept bitterly, burying his face against her pant leg and letting out wailing sobs, looking like a madman.

“Think about our past days! Have you forgotten? We went to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower together, made wishes by the Aegean Sea together, those...”

“Enough!”

Shen Zhixia felt goosebumps rising all over her body.

She tried hard to pull her leg back, but he held on even tighter.

This rogue behavior left her, a strong woman who was decisive in the business world, somewhat at a loss for what to do.

Just then, Lin Chao arrived.

“What's going on here?”

Lin Chao's appearance was like a drop of ice water suddenly falling into a boiling pot of oil.

The suffocating atmosphere in the entire hallway was instantly ignited.

When Shen Zhixia saw him, a flash of surprise crossed her eyes, which were tense with anger; then, a sense of... grievance that she hadn't even noticed herself surged up.

As for Guo Fandong kneeling on the ground, the moment he saw who had come, the affection and humility vanished from his tear-stained face, replaced by a snake-like malice.

It was him again!

Lin Chao walked up to the two of them, glancing down at Guo Fandong's hand clutching Shen Zhixia's pant leg, his brow furrowing imperceptibly.

Then, he looked up, casting his gaze toward the empty hallway, his voice not loud but clear enough for the entire floor to hear.

“The security at Qinglan Garden is getting worse and worse.”

“How can they let just any random riffraff in?”

These words were like an invisible slap, landing hard on Guo Fandong's face!

“Who are you calling riffraff?!”

Guo Fandong snapped his head up, glaring at Lin Chao with bloodshot eyes, his expression looking as if he wanted to bite a piece of meat off him.

“This is a private matter between me and Zhi Xia! What does it have to do with an outsider like you?”

He questioned him, yet he had no intention of letting go; instead, he gripped tighter due to his agitation.

“And what about you? Why are you here?!”

Guo Fandong's mind raced, and an absurd, unbearable thought began to grow like a poisonous weed.

“Are you trying to harass Zhi Xia again?!”

Before he could finish, his nose twitched at an inopportune moment.

A rich aroma of braised pork was drifting leisurely out from that wide-open door.