Physician's Odyssey

Chapter 669 - Mahjong Expert Pretending to be Weak

Translator: Thyaeria

When dinner came to an end, Su Tao, Lin Kun, and Ni Jingqiu were brought to the second floor. So it turned out that Kohei Koizumi had already prepared their rooms, but surprisingly, Lin Kun’s room was far from theirs. Instead, his room was closer to the master bedroom. Due to Kohei Koizumi’s condition, he had been sleeping separately with Asaka Ochi, so the master bedroom was only used by Asaka Ochi. Seeing this arrangement, everyone was baffled.

“Why do you want to stay behind?” Su Tao found an opportunity to ask Ni Jingqiu since he had no idea what she was planning.

“I can’t stand Lin Kun.” Ni Jingqiu smiled.

“Since you can’t stand him, why would you want to stay behind? Wouldn’t you have to look at him longer?” Su Tao sourly replied.

“That’s where you’re wrong. I can’t stand him becoming proud and arrogant.” Ni Jingqiu winked at Su Tao.

Su Tao pondered for a long time before he sighed, “You wouldn’t be trying to dispel Kohei Koizumi’s thoughts to invest, right?”

Snapping her fingers, Ni Jingqiu smiled. “That’s right! That’s tens of billions, instead of investing it in hotel chains, he should rather invest that money in your pharmacy. The hotel industry is declining, while TCM is a growing industry in China.”

Looking at Ni Jingqiu in satisfaction, Su Tao replied, “I admire your eyesight, but Kohei Koizumi clearly has his own opinions.”

Ni Jingqiu fell into a long ponder before she said, “I can figure out a thing or two. Kohei Koizumi is trying to find leeway for Asaka Ochi. He knows that he will be leaving the world soon, and if he passes away, his children will definitely pester Asaka Ochi incessantly for the inheritance. Thus, he wanted to leave Asaka Ochi a path of retreat in China. He must have investigated Lin Kun, and found out that the latter has a crush on his wife. This must be the reason why he felt that entrusting Asaka Ochi to Lin Kun might be a pretty good choice, and this is how he came up with the idea of helping Lin Kun to establish a hotel chain.”

“Isn't your imagination a little too fancy?” Personally, Su Tao couldn’t endure giving his wife to someone before he was dead. Truth be told, who on earth would cuckold themselves?

“I had a dream to be a novel author when I was younger.” Ni Jingqiu had a smug expression on her face.

“A story by you will definitely be melodramatic.” Su Tao sourly commented.

Waving her finger, Ni Jingqiu replied, “Nowadays, melodramatic is the market. Furthermore, life is more interesting than a novel.”

Su Tao had to examine Ni Jingqiu again and responded, “I never expected that the refined Ms. Ni would be this kind of person!”

“Must a female Chairman always be high up and out of everyone’s reach? Actually, we’re also the same as everyone else, and many people have a misconception from stories.” Ni Jingqiu smiled.

Nodding his head, Su Tao sighed, “If you didn’t treat me as a best friend, would you show me this side of you?”

“Why, of course! Only the real side of you can win the trust of others.” Ni Jingqiu playfully answered and curled her lips.

All of a sudden, Su Tao felt that Ni Jingqiu looked charming at this instance. Perhaps people who were real would move the hearts of others.

As the two of them were chatting, the door was knocked and Asaka Ochi appeared. She then asked with a smile, “Interested in playing mahjong?”

“You know how to play mahjong?” Su Tao bitterly smiled after a brief stun.

Nodding her head, Asaka Ochi replied, “My father is proficient in Chinese culture. He likes playing mahjong, especially, and this is how I also picked it up.”

“Let’s have a few rounds, then!” Ni Jingqiu stood up and continued, “My family would also play mahjong on new years. But my skill is terrible, and I would always lose money.”

“I don’t know how to play!” Su Tao refused as he waved his hand.

“It’s fine. It’s easy to pick up!”

In the end, Su Tao was dragged by Ni Jingqiu.

Helplessly, Su Tao could only follow them to the garden where Lin Kun was already seated with a ruffian look.

Looking at his expression, Asaka Ochi locked her brows together in disdain. But as the mistress of this house, she had to keep her emotions restrained. At this moment, she wondered, Why did Kohei Koizumi invite Lin Kun over? Is my husband trying to test me?

Asaka Ochi might treat others sincerely, but she’s not an ignorant vase. Hence, she naturally felt indignant with her husband’s arrangement since she felt that her husband didn’t trust her.

At this moment, Asaka Ochi wore a pink nightgown that outlined her figure underneath. At the same time, her oval face had a faint blush that looked incredibly gorgeous.

When Lin Kun looked at her, he instantly hid his expression and smiled. “You guys are here?”

“I invited the two of them over as well, but Su Tao doesn’t know about the rules, so I will have to teach him first.” Asaka Ochi smiled.

“No problem!” Lin Kun confidently gave out a guarantee, “I’m good at mahjong, and I believe that someone as smart as Physician Su will be able to understand the game after a few explanations.”

Meanwhile, Su Tao inwardly sighed. Speaking of mahjong, he suddenly recalled an old friend who was proficient in all sorts of gambling. He had learned a thing or two from the latter, and this was how he was able to deal with those few people who cheated Chu Huilin.

However, he pretended to be ignorant in the game and replied, “I don’t know about anything aside from medical skills, so please be patient in guiding me.”

“Not a problem!” Lin Kun immediately sat in the preceding player seat after Su Tao. He wanted to bully Su Tao with his skills.

Lin Kun followed Asaka Ochi to Japan because he wanted to present himself, but he kept encountering Su Tao, who hindered his plans. Hence, he intended to defeat Su Tao in mahjong today.

He skimmed through the rules of mahjong while he threw out two tiles. As he spoke, he took two tiles. Looking at him, Su Tao could tell that Lin Kun had some skills in mahjong.

Looking at Su Tao, who was pretending to listen, Lin Kun smiled. “In mahjong, playing is the best practise to learn, so let’s start playing.”

After the four of them arranged their tiles, Su Tao looked bewildered as he messed around. After Lin Kun tossed out a tile, Su Tao suddenly stopped and bitterly smiled. “I have no idea what to do.”

Ni Jingqiu was briefly stunned before she smiled. “You’re still a novice, so why don’t I take a look at it for you?”

Everyone else nodded, so Su Tao stretched out his hands and shrugged his shoulders.

When Ni Jingqiu took a look at his tiles, she was first taken by surprise before she had joy written on her face and smiled. “It’s actually the Blessing of Earth!”’

The so-called “Blessing of Earth” was when a player wins on a self-drawn tile in the very first go-around.

Since Lin Kun was the dealer, Su Tao could take Lin Kun’s tile and win the game.

Locking his brows together, Lin Kun muttered, “What the hell? How can your luck be so good?”

He couldn’t help taking a look at Su Tao’s tiles, in which he inwardly cursed. Isn’t that luck a little too strong? It really is a Blessing of Earth!

He had played mahjong for so long, but he rarely encountered the Blessing of Earth.

“It’s so easy to win? So mahjong doesn’t seem too hard after all!” Su Tao smiled.

Although Lin Kun wore a smile on his face, his heart was filled with malicious curses. However, he wasn’t too bothered since there were plenty of chances for him to win.

But what happened next was beyond his expectations. Asaka Ochi and Ni Jingqiu would occasionally win, but whenever he was about to win, Su Tao would suddenly win.

After a few rounds, Lin Kun actually did not even win a single round. He couldn’t help suspecting if Su Tao had done something to the tiles while he constantly, inwardly cursed at his terrible luck today.

When Su Tao won again, Lin Kun’s finally gave up and scattered his tiles before he said, “My luck is too terrible, let’s stop here.”

“Aren’t you a sore loser?” Su Tao wore a playful smile.

Looking at Su Tao, Lin Kun felt that the former was loathsome. Su Tao did not win much, but he would always win whenever he was about to win. After a brief pondering, Lin Kun felt a little suspicious and snorted, “Playing mahjong is all about the mood. Since I’m not happy, then I won’t play anymore.”

When he finished speaking, Lin Kun stood up and went to a corner, where he started to smoke in depression.

Asaka Ochi only wanted to kill time, but she never expected that Lin Kun would be such a sore loser. In the end, she could only bitterly smile. “Since we’re lacking one player, then we’ll stop here. It’s getting late as well, so let’s rest early.”

“That’s right; let’s sleep early, then. I have some official matters to attend to tomorrow.” Ni Jingqiu smiled as she yawned.

But when they came to the door, Ni Jingqiu suddenly held onto Su Tao and smiled. “You can really act. So it turns out that you’re a mahjong expert!”

Placing his finger by his lips, Su Tao smiled. “It’s just a small trick, and I generally don’t reveal myself.”

“That Lin Kun was terribly played by you. I’m afraid that even now, he still has no idea how he lost so badly.” Ni Jingqiu shrugged with a smile.

“Well, I’m only trying to make you guys happy. As for him? I can’t be concerned with his thoughts.” Su Tao smiled.

Winking her eyes, Ni Jingqiu smiled. “That was truly satisfying. Good night, then!”

While looking at Ni Jingqiu entering the room, Su Tao suddenly felt an itch in his heart. Whenever his gaze interacted with Ni Jingqiu, there would often be sparks flickering off their eyes and he would nearly lose control. But every single time it was about to hit a limit, the two of them would restrain themselves.

This was a bizarre sensation that cannot be described in words. In the past, Su Tao would never believe in an innocent friendship between men and women. In his view, when a man and woman interact to a certain extent, they would either go to bed or split, and there’s no third alternative.

But after he had interacted with Ni Jingqiu, his previous thoughts were toppled. There seemed to be a sort of balance between them, and it’s similar to Platonic love. It didn’t require any interaction between bodies, but only a simple gaze would do. Occasionally, it would even surpass the interaction between bodies, and the feeling was indescribable.

Su Tao knew that this was because the two of them have been maintaining it. After all, the two of them had sunken deep in it, and they weren’t willing to pull themselves out.

After turning off the light, Su Tao stared at the dark ceiling. He did not feel sleepy when he recalled that Lin Kun was sleeping right next to Asaka Ochi.

Is it really as Ni Jingqiu has guessed? Did Kohei Koizumi have any special arrangements? As for Lin Kun, can he hold himself back from knocking on the door beside him?

Su Tao suddenly felt that something was amiss and leaned on the door to listen. When he suddenly heard footsteps sounding out, he opened the door and tiptoed towards the master bedroom...