Taming The Hidden Bigshot By Kissing Him
Chapter 321: Qiao Xi, My Heart Aches for You

Chapter 321: Chapter 321: Qiao Xi, My Heart Aches for You

Huo Xingzhou slightly changed his position, holding her completely in his arms with his head leaning on her shoulder.

His sharp gaze fixated on the red dots on her arm, the needle marks scattered across the acupuncture points.

Were they done by someone else, or by herself?

Qiao Xi swiped the screen to answer the call, "Hello, Grandpa Tang. What do you need from me so late?"

The owner of Fu’an Hall, Tang Chengde, was an old friend of Cheng Han, and many of Qiao Xi’s medicinal materials were purchased from him.

Tang Chengde was also a member of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association of Haicheng.

"Qiao Xi, I saw the Liu Family at the Haicheng City Traditional Chinese Medicine Association today, talking about revoking your competition slot. I inquired around and realized that the initial public announcement of your registration without submitted documents was a trick by Liu Huimin and Ma Hongwen!"

"You need to be careful with the Liu Family. This time, the Lu Family hasn’t even made a move yet, but someone has already handed them a pillow."

After hearing his words, Qiao Xi was stunned.

Liu Huimin teamed up with the Vice President of Haicheng’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Association, Ma Hongwen, to deceive her?

She remembered Ma Hongwen; he was the one clamoring to have her banned from practicing medicine for life and was severely humiliated by Grandpa Cheng. Originally, Zhuo Feng said he cut off someone’s financial path, pointing to Ma Hongwen having a stake in Zhuo Feng’s Wanren Hall.

So Ma Hongwen had always held a grudge against her, targeting her.

Qiao Xi could understand his hatred.

But she never expected Liu Huimin to also meddle. Did she detest her that much?

Qiao Xi felt a suffocation in her chest, making it somewhat difficult to breathe.

"I understand, Grandpa Tang. Thank you for telling me about this, I’ll definitely be cautious."

Tang Chengde offered a few more words of careful advice before hanging up.

Huo Xingzhou, who had listened to everything clearly, took this opportunity to pry open Qiao Xi’s mouth.

His voice was low and a bit hoarse, "Compete, what competition are you entering?"

Qiao Xi, gripping her phone tightly, met his deep eyes, feeling that she could no longer hide anything.

"It’s the trial needle conference."

She explained with guilt, "Actually, I mentioned this to you a long time ago, and Grandpa Cheng also said that the Lu Family might not target someone as junior as me. But I only recently discovered that my name had already been submitted for public notice. I thought it was a punishment for seeing Liu Zongyun and breaking the rules. But I never expected it was Ma Hongwen and Liu..."

She seemed very reluctant to mention Liu Huimin’s name.

Huo Xingzhou held her wrist, looking at the red dots and saying, "So you’re in such a hurry that you’ve started practicing on yourself? Did you do these needle marks?"

Qiao Xi tried to pull back her hand, but Huo Xingzhou wouldn’t let her.

She said with her head lowered, "Yes."

"Next time, ask Sun Weimeng to find a few more guinea pigs. He knows plenty of tricky friends. Don’t poke yourself again... If it comes to that, you can poke me."

"My needle technique is very steady, it won’t hurt."

"But..." he looked into her eyes, "Qiao Xi, it pains me."

Her heart felt scalded by his words, "Don’t worry, I know my limits."

"So your idea of limits is to be forced into a competition and still keep it from me?"

His fingertips gently caressed over the needle marks on her skin, "Am I not trustworthy enough for you?"

"It’s not like that!"

Qiao Xi quickly explained, "The preliminary round is in Haicheng, and the difficulty is very low; I should be able to pass smoothly. So I thought I’d tell you after it was over."

She hadn’t deliberately kept it a secret, but seeing him recently troubled with the Zhong Family’s orders, she didn’t want to add to his worries.

Huo Xingzhou’s voice was slowly deepening, "Have you already decided to compete?"

Qiao Xi nodded earnestly.

She said, "Actually, Grandpa Cheng has long anticipated that I wouldn’t be able to avoid it, so he gave me the ’Plum Blossom Nine Needles’ early on. He probably regrets the North-South Division rule of traditional medicine, which should belong to those who achieve greatness, not to those who are smug in their own minor skills. The dominance of Lu’s Acupuncture Technique not only targets our Cheng Acupuncture Technique but also suppresses the development of other family-acquired acupuncture traditions."

"Mr. Huo, this rule is unreasonable. I don’t want Grandpa Cheng to regret it for the rest of his life. He and the Lu Family seem to have an unresolvable issue. And I can’t forget my grandmother’s death."

"These things will drive me to keep striving. If in the end, it doesn’t work out..." she lowered her head to look at her wrist, "then it means I’m not strong enough. Challenging authority should come at a cost."

The worst outcome would be the severing of my tendons and being forced to abandon the medical path.

This Acupuncture Conference was just the first step I took.

If I couldn’t even overcome such a difficulty, how could I realize my dream and become a figure like the National Doctor Cheng Han?

I hope that one day, everyone who sees me will address me as the National Divine Hand Qiao Xi.

Her slender and frail back was straight, and her eyes shone with determination that was clearly beautiful.

Huo Xingzhou tightened his embrace and said, "Since you have already decided, then go ahead and do it. I can’t guarantee to protect you from all harm, but I can bear the consequences with you."

"That’s enough! I thought you would blame me for keeping it from you."

Qiao Xi’s heart felt sour and bittersweet, and the emotion was about to overflow.

Huo Xingzhou clasped her hand tightly: "Qiao Xi, we are husband and wife. A husband and wife are supposed to share both joy and sorrow, and face life and death together."

Qiao Xi looked at him, her clear eyes brimming with tears.

How lucky she was to have become his wife.

"Mr. Huo..."

She called out, her eyes full of emotion.

Huo Xingzhou gently caressed the back of her hand, "Call me Xingzhou or... husband."

Qiao Xi pursed her lips and called out, not quite adeptly: "Xingzhou."

She repeated the name silently in her heart, over and over again.

Xingzhou.

Xingzhou...

She always felt his name was the most pleasant to hear, the most meaningful.

A slight smile appeared on Huo Xingzhou’s lips: "Why do you always call me Mr. Huo?"

After a moment of silence, Qiao Xi said, "Because it’s out of respect and love, I always felt ’husband’ was too flippant. Xingzhou... is an equal form of address. ’Mr. Huo,’ you once saved me from dire straits; you were the person I thought about the most during my school days, the person whom I wanted to repay."

The Xingyue Foundation gave her the chance to study and attend university.

Huo Xingzhou was the beacon in her life, the sudden warmth after a downpour, Xingzhou that travelled across the four seas.

Calling out "Mr. Huo", with deep, restrained affection, was her most modest form of romance.

Huo Xingzhou’s deep eyes seemed to see into her heart: "Little Divine Doctor, we are inherently equal. You can call me on equal terms; I am the man you legally possess."

Married by certificate, allowed by the law.

Qiao Xi laughed at his words, a sweetness bubbling in her heart.

The man she legally possessed.

"Xingzhou... Xingzhou!"

She whispered his name softly.

The inferiority in her heart was seen by him, carefully and thoughtfully looked after. He didn’t mock or utter any unkind words; he simply told her plainly.

Even though there was a vast difference in their social status, and their upbringings were entirely different.

Their souls were equal.

Qiao Xi quickly pecked him on the cheek: "I really like you a lot."

The driver Old Chen in the front quickly diverted his gaze, pondering whether he should lower the partition behind to avoid disturbing the young couple’s intimacy. The young people nowadays just didn’t know restraint; he kept catching Aunt Qian worrying about what to prepare for them to boost their health.

"Old Chen." Huo Xingzhou suddenly called out.

Sitting upright, Old Chen responded, "Yes, young master. What can I do for you?"

Huo Xingzhou spoke flatly: "Change course to the Liu Family."

"Alright, young master."

Qiao Xi put away the warmth on her face and asked, "Why are we going to the Liu Family?"

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