One Dart to the Throat

Don't get the wrong idea. Chen Jue was simply interested in that rope dart.

There were so many pretty young women on the streets, in shopping malls, and online. Chen Jue couldn't fall for every one he saw.

But as a seasoned LSP with 396 pretty girls in his favorites whom he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, he definitely wasn't going to brazenly walk up and chat one up.

Going up and forcing a conversation like that wasn't flirting. It was harassment.

He first bought some soy milk and a scallion pancake from a stall by the park entrance, then wandered over to watch the old men playing chess.

Chen Jue didn't ask a single question. He just ate breakfast and pricked up his ears.

Just like the intelligence network formed by the aunties who sat around at the entrance to the village, these old chess players were just as well-informed.

"Old Wu's granddaughter has gotten prettier and prettier since she graduated from college."

"My grandson's no good. He went overseas to study and came back with a foreign doll. Otherwise, I'd really want to arrange a marriage between our families and Old Wu's."

"Give it a rest, Liuer. With those few little two-bedroom apartments you've got, you think you can arrange a marriage with Old Wu's family? You're not in the same league!" These shameless old men chatted as they played chess, exposing their landlord status without a trace of shame.

In less than twenty minutes, they had also spilled all the details about the grandfather and granddaughter practicing with the rope dart.

The white-haired old man's surname was Wu. He was a retired university teacher who liked coming to the park to practice martial arts and stay in shape. The rope dart was his specialty.

His granddaughter was a teacher too, though she taught high school physical education. She had trained in martial arts with her grandfather since childhood and had competed in all kinds of martial arts tournaments.

She was twenty-six, and plenty of people from the nearby residential complexes were after her.

But so far, nobody had seen her bring a boyfriend home. Supposedly, her standards were high and she was very picky.

Chen Jue looked over his own appearance, then stole a few more glances at the graceful, spirited young woman with her curvy figure. Suddenly, the scallion pancake in his hand didn't taste so good.

First, lose weight!

Then work on my appearance. After that, I'll see if fate brings us together. Chen Jue made up his mind.

There was no helping it. In every era, people cared about looks.

At the moment, Chen Jue had neither money nor charisma. His one impressive dart-throwing skill wasn't enough to make him stand out.

After being single for so long, he'd developed a bit of an inferiority complex.

After leaving the park, he took the results of his last physical examination and drove to a nearby major hospital to see a gastroenterology specialist.

Other minor problems, like the bursitis in his left shoulder and his herniated lumbar disc, could be improved through exercise.

As for the hemorrhoids and hair loss, one was caused by his job. He'd heard the rhymes "sitting too long brings hemorrhoids," "nine out of ten men have them," and "ten out of ten women have them" so often that he had a pretty good idea how common the problem was. He could just find a time to come to the hospital and get them removed.

But he'd heard that the surgery hurt a lot and the problem was prone to recurring. It was another condition that couldn't be completely cured.

Hair loss was even more widespread. Worst of all, it had many different causes, and there was no universally effective treatment. Neither traditional nor Western medicine had a solution.

Just look at the British royal family. Every prince turned out bald.

As for the dashing, handsome princes from fairy tales, they were based on those wealthy Middle Easterners who wore headscarves, not the bald princes of Britain.

They were one of the world's most powerful royal families. What medical resources could they not get their hands on? And yet they were still bald. It was incurable. That told you all you needed to know.

After waiting for a little over an hour, it was finally Chen Jue's turn to go in.

The specialist was a man in his fifties, a chief physician. An appointment with him cost 300 yuan, and he was highly skilled.

He took a quick look at Chen Jue's examination report and case notes, then pressed a few spots along the upper part and right side of Chen Jue's abdomen. Chen Jue yelped in pain at once, and the doctor soon recommended conservative treatment.

"Appendicitis is usually caused by a fecalith or digestive matter blocking the appendix. Yours is chronic, so it's fine as long as it doesn't flare up. Still, I recommend having it removed. If it becomes acute, the pain can be excruciating, and you could even go into shock."

"As for these gallstones, they're a bit more troublesome. Unlike kidney stones, they can't be broken up with ultrasound and then gradually passed through the urinary tract."

"The ureter runs downward, so once a stone is broken into small pieces, it can pass through. But the gallbladder is tilted upward, and your cystic duct is shaped like an N, like a paper clip. Even if the stones are broken up, they'll still stay in your gallbladder. When they flare up, the pain will be intense." The chief physician pointed to the diagram of the organs on the wall and patiently explained it to Chen Jue.

"Doctor, is there a way to remove the stones but save the gallbladder? I'm still young. I don't want to have it removed just yet," Chen Jue asked.

He'd looked up the consequences of gallbladder removal online. There were all kinds of complications and side effects, so naturally, he didn't want to lose his gallbladder at such a young age.

"Of course there is!"

"One option is a special medication: tauroursodeoxycholic acid capsules. They can dissolve cholesterol stones. The other option is gallbladder-preserving stone-removal surgery. Our hospital can do it too, but the best place for the procedure is Shanghai Oriental Hospital. They have a dedicated gallstone disease department. It's the only one of its kind in the country, so you can go there and have a look."

The chief physician figured that Chen Jue had money to spare, since he'd paid for a specialist appointment, so he kindly pointed him toward another place that could help.

"Shanghai Oriental Hospital?"

Chen Jue noted the name on his phone, thanked the doctor a few times, and picked up some prescription medicine to take home and try for a while.

"Seeing a doctor sure burns a hole in your wallet."

"I only paid for an appointment and a few prescriptions, and there went 2,000 yuan." Chen Jue couldn't help grumbling.

The medicine was imported, so it wasn't covered by medical insurance. He had no choice but to buy it from a pharmacy near the hospital.

But men's spending habits were strange.

They'd happily spend several thousand yuan on a spa treatment at Jingtanghui, but when it came to seeing a doctor to protect their health, they'd loudly complain about spending a little money.

After eating lunch outside, he drove back to the talent apartment and picked up a few packages from the parcel lockers downstairs.

Shipping within the same region was incredibly fast. Often, you could order something the night before and have it delivered the next afternoon.

More importantly, after spending so long living away from home, Chen Jue had picked up plenty of useful tricks.

When shopping online, for example, he usually ordered from sellers in the same province. Delivery typically took just twenty-four hours, which was very convenient.

He went upstairs and opened the packages. The two power banks and the darts had arrived.

He plugged in the power banks and picked up the newly delivered martial arts dart to examine it.

The dart was shaped like a short sword and made of solid stainless steel. The words "Flying Rainbow" were stamped into it.

It wasn't sharpened, but it glinted silver in the sunlight. The tip looked sharp, and it felt satisfyingly heavy in his hand, making it quite eye-catching.

"Traditional Chinese darts are still the best."

"This feels so much better than needle darts, those foreign imports!"

Chen Jue loved it. He felt the few hundred yuan he'd spent had been well worth it.

He packed it in the storage pouch the seller had included, then took a one-hour nap to rest up.

After getting up, Chen Jue headed to a nearby park to test his new dart.

He had some free time that afternoon and planned to practice with the more difficult Chinese-style darts to improve his proficiency and attributes.

He hadn't even found a suitable spot in the park when he heard adults and children screaming.

He ran over and saw a large dog on a broad lawn nearby, almost half the size of an adult, attacking and biting a little boy.

The dog had bulging muscles and brown-black fur. He didn't know what breed it was, but it was clearly an aggressive one. It had the boy by the thigh and was spinning in place, growling low in its throat. No matter how the adults beside it tried to shield the child, they couldn't stop it.

A park cleaner nearby swung a broom at the dog's head. Even after hitting it several times, the dog still wouldn't let go.

"Find something to pry it off!"

"Save the child first!"

"Call the police! Hurry and get them here!"

The old men who had been exercising and taking walks in the park were frantic. Some went to look for rocks and sticks, while others called the police and tried to get help.

The dog was terrifying when it went berserk. Ordinary people were too scared, and hardly anyone dared approach it.

The child's cries, the adults' screams, and the dog's snarls all mingled together. The scene was utter chaos.

Just then, a flash of light cut through the air. A dart with a rope attached came flying from the hand of a spirited-looking young woman nearby and struck the big dog hard.

"Arf—woof!" The dog let out a pained growl.

But it still didn't release the boy. Instead, it only bit down harder, driven into an even greater frenzy.

The dart on the rope had a conical tip and wasn't sharpened. It was a martial arts practice dart, so it didn't pack enough force to cause serious injury.

But the young woman wielding it was clearly very strong. She swung it into the dog twice more, and at last the pain proved too much. The mad dog yelped and took off.

It hadn't run more than a few meters when a sharp whoosh cut through the air. A pointed dart slammed into its neck, spraying blood across the ground.

The dog hadn't gone far before it collapsed with a whimper. It wheezed, making a wet, rattling sound in its throat, kicked its legs a couple of times, and then went still.

"One dart to the throat?"

"Who did that? That's some skill!"

The young woman who'd been practicing with the rope dart froze in surprise. She turned around and searched the crowd, finally spotting the dart thrower.

He was a pudgy young man of ordinary appearance, dressed in a tracksuit. He held a storage pouch in his right hand and another sword-shaped dart in his left.

The two of them exchanged glances and nodded to each other.

Neither said anything, because the chaos still hadn't died down.

A middle-aged woman dressed in flashy jewelry pushed through the crowd. She picked up the still-warm body of the big dog and cried out, "My Da Bao! My Da Bao, are you all right?"

"Why aren't you moving, Da Bao?!"

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