Leaving the research base, Ling Chen took Nanrong Wanqing back to the car and slowly drove onto the road.
Throughout the journey, Nanrong Wanqing barely spoke, maintaining silence. Seeing this, Ling Chen couldn’t help but ask, "What’s the matter?"
"It’s nothing," Nanrong Wanqing replied indifferently. "I was just thinking, if it had been back then, maybe I would be the one who could help you now, not Zhu Xiaozhu."
Hearing this inexplicable remark, Ling Chen asked in surprise, "What do you an?"
"Have you always been curious about why the relationship between and Zhu Xiaozhu isn’t very friendly?"
Ling Chen nodded, this had indeed piqued his curiosity. Unfortunately, whether it was Nanrong Wanqing or Zhu Xiaozhu, neither of them had ever been willing to speak out. Now that Nanrong Wanqing brought it up, could it be that she was preparing to tell him the reason?
Thinking this, Ling Chen imdiately shut his mouth, adopting a posture of listening attentively.
"You should know that the Nanrong family has a good relationship with the Zhu Family. When we were little, since our parents weren’t around, my grandfather would be worried about staying at ho alone and getting sick, so every year he would send to stay with the Zhu Family in Beijing for a while to have Zhu Hong and Zhu Xiaozhu keep company. When I was five or six years old, my relationship with Xiaozhu was very good, like real sisters. As we grew older, our relationship got even better. However, sothing happened at that ti. It was also then that our relationship began to crack."
"What happened?"
"Xiaozhu was bright and talented, and we both were very gifted. Back then, Shi Su of the Shi Family wanted to take a disciple and specifically approached the Zhu Family. She was impressed by Xiaozhu’s talents and wanted to take her on as a disciple. Coincidentally, I was at the Zhu family’s house at that ti. Shi Su originally ca looking for Xiaozhu, but that day Xiaozhu happened to be out, and I was the only one playing in the courtyard. Shi Su had never seen Xiaozhu and mistook for her, and so she struck up a conversation with ."
"Perhaps my displayed talents swayed Shi Su, and she imdiately expressed the wish to take as her disciple. I had heard of Shi Su’s great na; to call her the number one divine healer in Huaxia wouldn’t be an overstatent, and becoming her disciple was naturally a good thing, so I accepted her offer. However, I clarified my identity to her at the ti and told her I was not Xiaozhu. Originally, Shi Su planned to take Xiaozhu as her direct disciple, but because of , Xiaozhu missed that opportunity."
Saying this, Nanrong Wanqing gave a bitter smile and continued, "It’s also because I was too young at the ti, what could a child of a few years old think of? I was simply amazed by Shi Su’s abilities and wanted to learn sothing from her, not caring about the consequences. As for the matter of Shi Su taking a disciple, Xiaozhu had already received the news and was eagerly waiting for it. You’ve known Xiaozhu for so long, you should understand her; she isn’t interested in many things, only passionate about dicine. Unfortunately, because of , she missed the opportunity."
Ling Chen asked, "If both of you were so exceptional, why didn’t Shi Su simply take you both as disciples?"
"Whether it is or anyone else, a master will only take one direct disciple. Although they are both disciples, only the direct disciple is the true heir. Moreover, teaching a direct disciple requires a lot of energy, especially in the field of dicine, which is more complex than martial arts. Martial arts training is about the master leading you through the door, but the cultivation depends on the individual. However, dicine is different, it requires continuous guidance and teaching, so most famous doctors usually have only one disciple as a direct successor."
"It was because of this that my relationship with Xiaozhu cracked. Since then, she has never contacted proactively, and because I was busy learning from my master, I didn’t have energy to spare to think too much."
"So, what happened afterwards?"
"Afterwards... You can probably guess without my saying. After all, I’m from the Nanrong family and will eventually have to take on the burden of managing the Hongyu Group. My grandfather would never permit to study dicine. However, to satisfy , he still let follow Shi Su for a year. A year later, my grandfather went to the Shi Family to take back, initially Master was unwilling, but after so persuasion and at a significant cost, she finally agreed to terminate the master-disciple relationship with . From that mont on, I focused on learning enterprise managent and never touched dicine again. Many years have passed, and I’ve completely forgotten everything about it."
"Later, I heard that Shi Su eventually did take Xiaozhu as her direct disciple. At that ti, I made a call to Xiaozhu, wanting to congratulate her and apologize in passing. But, Xiaozhu never picked up my calls, perhaps she was still mad at . It is precisely because of this that from then on, our relationship beca like that of strangers."
After listening to Nanrong Wanqing’s account, Ling Chen felt sowhat puzzled. From what he knew about Zhu Xiaozhu, she was not soone who easily bore grudges; there could be other reasons.
"Wanqing, since you want to reconcile with Xiaozhu, why do you always have to confront her every ti you et?"
"That...," Nanrong Wanqing’s face turned slightly red, and she said softly, "If I tell you, you can’t get angry."
"Don’t worry, do I seem like that kind of petty person?"
"Back then, I had a childhood friendship with Zhu Hong, but when he left Huaxia, he didn’t even call , as if he had vanished all of a sudden. At that ti, Xiaozhu was at ho too. If she really regarded as a friend, she would definitely have inford . But she didn’t say a word, and I endured years of unrequited love."
With that, Nanrong Wanqing spoke sheepishly, "I really wasn’t generous in dealing with this, blaming others for no reason. Perhaps, it was because I cared too much at the ti, so I..."
"That’s enough, you don’t need to continue, I understand," Ling Chen said with a smile. "Everyone has their foolish monts, especially won in love. However, hearing all this, I think the misunderstanding between you and Xiaozhu isn’t that serious. The reason you’ve ended up like this is nothing more than pride—you both do not want to be the first to lower your head, which has led to this stalemate. How about this: when we have ti, I’ll arrange for both of you to et and have a good chat, hoping to clear up the misunderstanding."
"Do as you please," replied Nanrong Wanqing indifferently.
"What, you don’t want to reconcile with her?"
"It’s not that, it’s just... every ti I see Xiaozhu, she reminds of Zhu Hong, and I feel a bit uncomfortable." Having said that, Nanrong Wanqing looked at Ling Chen and asked, "Do you know about Zhu Hong’s current situation?"
"I’m not sure, I haven’t heard from him in a long ti," Ling Chen answered nonchalantly.
But this was not a brush-off; he really did not know. Back when he was at the Heavenly chanism Pavilion, Zhu Hong had suddenly disappeared and has been unheard from ever since; it was unknown whether he was alive or dead.
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