137: Chef Shen

He turned around, his face having already returned to that calm, expressionless doctor's look from before, as if the awkwardness just now had never happened.

Shen Zhixia subconsciously held her breath.

She saw his fingers flying, his movements quick and steady; those Silver Needles still pricked into her body were cleanly and efficiently gathered back into the leather case by him.

With the major concern removed, Shen Zhixia almost immediately reached out, wanting to close the torn neckline of her nightgown.

However... her small face flushed bright red once again.

Lin Chao's move just now had been a solid, violent tear.

Let alone the buttons, even the piece of fabric where the buttons were attached had been torn to shreds.

Clutching the two pieces of torn cloth, she didn't know whether to cover herself or not, so embarrassed she wished she could dig a hole in the bed and crawl inside.

She had no choice but to tightly clutch the lapels of her gown and scramble off the bed in a pathetic state.

"I... I'm going to change my clothes."

Before she could finish her sentence, she had already dashed into the walk-in closet like a startled rabbit without looking back.

Lin Chao watched her fleeing back, a faint smile unconsciously tugging at the corners of his mouth.

He didn't stay in the bedroom, but consciously retreated and sat down on the sofa in the living room.

However, that sitting posture was... somewhat hard to describe.

His back was ramrod straight, and his hands were placed neatly on his knees.

His eyes stared straight ahead at the television without wavering, looking exactly like an elementary school student waiting for a teacher to hand out exam papers.

By the time Shen Zhixia changed into loungewear and came out of the closet, this was the scene she saw.

She was stunned for a moment, then let out a "pfft" and burst into laughter.

This laughter was like spring water breaking through ice, instantly dispersing all the remaining awkwardness in the room.

Hearing the laughter, Lin Chao's tense body suddenly relaxed.

He turned his head and looked at the beaming Shen Zhixia, but deliberately put on a stern face and spoke solemnly.

"Director Shen."

"You invited me to your house for dinner."

"Now, this meal... can we still eat it?"

Only then did Shen Zhixia suddenly remember this major matter that had been thrown to the back of her mind!

"Ah!"

She cried out, no longer caring about laughing, and turned to run toward the kitchen.

"My braised pork!"

Fortunately, when she rushed into the kitchen and looked, that pot of enticingly colored braised pork was just sitting quietly in the pot, not having been stewed into charcoal due to its owner's negligence.

Before rushing out to open the door, she had subconsciously turned off the heat.

Shen Zhixia breathed a long sigh of relief and turned the heat back on to reheat the meat that had already cooled down a bit.

Immediately after, she took out the vegetables she had prepared earlier and, in a fluid motion, turned on the stove, heated the pan, poured in the oil, and added the vegetables.

"Sizzle—"

The steam and aroma rising from the pot finally restored the warmth that this home, which had just experienced a hysterical farce, ought to have.

Without her noticing, Lin Chao had already walked to the kitchen doorway.

He didn't enter, but simply leaned against the doorframe, watching her slender back as she busied herself at the stove.

"Do you need any help?"

His voice was deep and gentle, carrying a reassuring power.

Shen Zhixia didn't look back, only giving him a crisp reply.

"No need."

"I prepared the dishes in advance."

"Just a quick stir-fry and they'll be done soon."

Her voice still carried a hint of the breathlessness that had just subsided, which sounded quite charming to Lin Chao's ears.

Lin Chao gave an "Mhm" and didn't persist.

His gaze rested quietly on her back as she moved amidst the cooking steam.

She wore a loose beige loungewear set, her long hair casually pulled back with a shark clip, revealing a section of her snowy-white, slender neck.

Stripped of her professional decisiveness, at this moment, she was like a white magnolia washed clean by rain—gentle, soft, and possessing a heart-stirring domesticity.

The greens in the pot sizzled, their emerald color tumbling in the hot oil as the aroma instantly filled the entire kitchen.

Shen Zhixia's movements were very skilled; she clearly cooked often.

Tossing the pan, stir-frying, adding seasonings—it was all done in one smooth motion.

Lin Chao just leaned against the doorframe, watching quietly.

His gaze was focused and deep, as if he were admiring an exquisite painting.

However, this gaze seemed to have a tangible temperature.

Shen Zhixia felt as if her back had been branded by something, waves of heat radiating from it.

She could clearly feel that gaze, from the top of her head to her neck, and down to her wrist holding the spatula.

It followed her like a shadow, leaving her nowhere to hide.

The blush that had just faded unhelpfully crept back up to the tips of her ears once more.

She finally couldn't take it anymore.

"You..."

She turned around abruptly, oil droplets still dripping from the spatula in her hand.

"Could you please not stand there and watch!"

Her voice carried a bit of bashful annoyance and a hint of a pout: "It's putting so much pressure on me!"

Lin Chao looked at her small face, which was flushed pink from the heat and her shyness, and the smile in his eyes could no longer be hidden.

He raised both hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Alright, alright, I won't watch."

"I'll go to the living room and wait for you to serve the meal, Chef Shen."

Having said that, he readily turned around and walked back to the living room.

Watching his departing back, Shen Zhixia finally breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling like the air around her had started to circulate again.

She patted her burning cheeks, turned back, and continued to "struggle" with the food in the pot.

Yet the corners of her mouth uncontrollably curled upward... Meanwhile, after being kicked out, Guo Fandong leaned against the cold wall, the sharp pain from his chest and abdomen causing him to curl up entirely.

Lin Chao's punch and kick had been delivered without any mercy.

He looked up, staring fixedly at the tightly closed security door in front of him.

Inside the door were warm lights, the aroma of food, and perhaps... the tenderness and laughter of that adulterous couple.

Outside the door, he was all alone, like an abandoned stray dog.

Humiliation, anger, resentment... various emotions gnawed at his heart like poisonous snakes.

"Lin Chao..."

"Shen Zhixia..."

He squeezed these two names through his teeth, his voice rasping like sandpaper.

"You adulterous couple!"

"Just you wait!"

He cursed viciously, supported himself against the wall, and staggered toward the elevator.

A few minutes later.

Inside the black Mercedes-Benz, Guo Fandong didn't immediately start the car and leave.

He leaned back in the driver's seat, panting heavily, his face distorted beyond recognition by pain and fury.

He took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello?"

"Help me look someone up, a supervisor at the Health and Wellness company here in Linhai City named Lin Chao."

"Yes, those are the characters."

The person on the other end of the line responded quickly.

Guo Fandong hung up the phone and slammed it onto the passenger seat.

In his mind, Lin Chao's words from just now replayed over and over.

Applying needles... in this day and age, people still play these kinds of charlatan tricks?

The corners of Guo Fandong's mouth curled into an extremely cold smile.

This Lin Chao was either a swindler pretending to be a mystic to trick Shen Zhixia with such methods...

Or... he really did know some medical techniques.

But either way, he's dead meat!

...