Chapter 85: Chapter 79: Exposed, Zhou Fu Calls Qiao Jing Master
 

“…”

The atmosphere was quiet and eerie.

Zhou Fu stared wide-eyed at Zhan Qipei and Qiao Jing.

What was going on?

Why had his master suddenly thrown herself into Zhan Qipei’s arms?

Zhan Qipei was also stunned for a long while, truly not expecting Qiao Jing to appear in such a place.

Qiao Jing oscillated between disgust and tolerance, taking a while to gradually regain her composure from the lapse.

She took a step back, maintaining a certain distance from Zhan Qipei.

Qiao Jing and Zhan Qipei faced each other, you looked at me, and I looked at you, neither wanting to start the conversation, both waiting for the other to speak first in order to gain the upper hand.

In the end, Zhan Qipei was the first to admit defeat.

“How come you are here?”

After asking this, Zhan Qipei looked toward Zhou Fu, who was standing aside, “Do you know him?”

“Friend,” Qiao Jing simply replied.

“Friend? When my mom mentioned Mr. Zhou before, why didn’t I hear you mention this?”

Speaking of which, she seemed to have too many friends.

Divine Doctor Jing’s disciple, Zhou Fu.

Chief Designer of Yueji Pavilion, Ni Yue.

Master of Chinese Painting, Han Zhiyu.

Imperial Capital Police Bureau, Captain Zhao.

And that ginseng from Wonderful Hall that Qiao Jing gave at his grandfather’s birthday banquet; such a premium ginseng usually served as the treasure of the shop, hardly obtainable for an exorbitant sum, not typically sold under normal circumstances.

Yet, Qiao Jing had managed to buy it.

There was no way he would believe there were no favors involved.

Thus, according to his analysis, Qiao Jing must know someone high up at Wonderful Hall.

Not just know them, but also have quite an exceptional relationship.

Facing Zhan Qipei’s doubts, Qiao Jing, after calming her mind, had clearer thoughts.

“In your mom’s eyes, I am just a worthless bumpkin. If I told her I knew Divine Doctor Jing’s disciple, do you think she would believe me?”

Zhan Qipei frowned. She made a lot of sense.

Probably, his mom wouldn’t just disbelieve her, but also mock her.

Just like that painting by Han Zhiyu; Qiao Jing had told the truth, but his mom and his aunt then mocked her, showing off as if it was to their own credit.

“Ahem—” Zhou Fu coughed softly, interrupting Qiao Jing and Zhan Qipei.

“Master—why did you suddenly come downstairs?” Zhou Fu looked at Qiao Jing with a puzzled face and asked.

Speaking of this, Qiao Jing became annoyingly angry, glancing at Zhou Fu with eyes holding a trace of fury, “You’re still so sloppy. Didn’t you think to clean the room a bit? You even attracted cockroaches!”

So his master had unexpectedly run into Xiao Qiang, no wonder she had rushed downstairs so frantically just now.

“I know my mistake, I’ll definitely change in the future!”

“How many times have you said that? When have you ever changed?” Qiao Jing glared at Zhou Fu, unimpressed.

“I am wrong, I truly realize my mistake,” Zhou Fu pleaded.

Observing the way Qiao Jing and Zhou Fu interacted, an intuition told Zhan Qipei their relationship wasn’t as simple as just friends.

Could it be—

Another suitor for Qiao Jing?

Thinking this, Zhan Qipei’s gaze toward Zhou Fu grew unfriendly once again.

Just then, Qiao Jing looked towards Zhan Qipei.

“Why haven’t you left yet?”

Leave him alone?

“Aren’t you coming back with me?” Zhan Qipei asked, his face stern and unpleasant.

“I have to eat dinner with him today, you go back alone,” Qiao Jing said.

So the friend Qiao Jing mentioned on the phone for the dinner arrangement was Zhou Fu.

Qipei’s chest visibly heaved, “I’m hungry too, I’ll join you.”

Zhou Fu eyed Qipei with a strange look. Their master was having a meal; why would an outsider tag along and crowd them?

Also, why did he feel that this man’s gaze towards his master was somewhat inappropriate?

“It’s inconvenient to bring you along,” Qiao Jing bluntly refused.

Qipei pressed his cool, thin lips together, suppressing his breath, “You said you owed me a favor.”

“A meal for my favor?” Qiao Jing raised an eyebrow and asked.

“Not possible?”

“Are you sure?”

“Unwilling to treat?”

Zhou Fu blinked dryly as he watched Qiao Jing and Qipei, wondering what kind of three-word game they were playing.

He thought, “I’m not air; can’t you two stop looking at each other like that? It makes me feel superfluous!”

“Going or not?” Zhou Fu thought it was just three words, he could say them too.

The scene shifted to a certain hotel restaurant.

Originally, they planned to book a private room, but it was mealtime, and the hotel’s private rooms were fully booked. It was already good enough to have a place to sit in the restaurant.

Once the dishes were served, Zhou Fu arranged the dishes Qiao Jing liked in front of her.

“This is your favorite, and this, this…”

Watching Zhou Fu busily serve Qiao Jing, Qipei initially thought Zhou Fu was interested in Qiao Jing, but the more he watched, the more he felt something was off.

From Zhou Fu’s attitude towards Qiao Jing, it seemed there wasn’t that kind of interest, but rather a hint of respect.

Respect???

This word popped up in Qipei’s mind, and he was surprised by himself.

As the closest disciple of Divine Doctor Jing, who could be considered second only to Divine Doctor Jing in the medical field, there was no need for him to show respect to Qiao Jing.

Or was he overthinking it, and Zhou Fu was simply being a gentleman?

After a moment of silence, Qipei turned his head to look at Qiao Jing and tentatively asked, “Did you learn your medical skills from Mr. Zhou?”

“Pfft—cough cough cough—” Zhou Fu choked on Qipei’s surprising question.

Seeing Zhou Fu’s reaction, Qipei thought he had guessed wrong?

“I’ve said it before, I learned from an old traditional Chinese doctor and then read some medical books on my own,” Qiao Jing replied truthfully.

Qipei carefully watched Qiao Jing, not missing any slight expression.

His intuition told him, Qiao Jing wasn’t lying.

“You really haven’t had systematic training?”

“No,” Qiao Jing replied indifferently.

Zhou Fu curled his lips; his master had an extraordinary talent and was self-taught. Who could really teach her?

“No wonder, you’re just a half-baked doctor.” Qipei didn’t continue to inquire.

“Cough cough cough—” Zhou Fu choked again, glaring at Qipei.

His master was at a half-baked level???

What a joke! If his master was half-baked, then who among all the doctors in the world dared to claim they were skilled?

After Qipei chewed through a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs, he frowned and put down his chopsticks.

Qiao Jing noticed Qipei’s action and looked at him quizzically. “What’s wrong? Doesn’t it taste good?”

“It’s not as delicious as what you make,” Qipei said, and only then did he realize that Qiao Jing had spoiled his taste, making food taste elsewhere feel like chewing wax.

“What?!” Zhou Fu felt a great shock, looking at Qipei with eyes full of envy, jealousy, and resentment.

“She cooks for you?” Zhou Fu almost broke his voice.

Qipei furrowed his brows, “She cooks for me, is there a problem?”

Zhou Fu put down the meat from his chopsticks, eyes wide, “How many times has she cooked for you?”

“Almost every day,” Qipei replied honestly.

“Ah ah ah—” Zhou Fu was greatly agitated, looking at Qiao Jing with a face full of grievance, “Master! You are biased. You cook for him every day, but you’ve only cooked for me three times. Am I still your most beloved disciple?!”

“Master?” Waves of shock surged within Qipei!