The Gorgeous Counselor's Dorm Inspection? That Uterine Cold and Exhaustion Need Treating!

The next morning.

Room 502, Building Three of the men's dorms at Jinghai University.

Sunlight fell through the gap in the curtains onto the terrazzo floor.

The dorm was filled with the murky air peculiar to a boys' room, a mixture of sweat and instant noodles.

"Holy shit! Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!"

Fatty Wang's strange cries suddenly broke the dorm's silence.

On the opposite bed, Liu Chen, his hair a bird's nest, grabbed his pillow and hurled it over.

"Are you summoning the dead this early? I lost ranked matches all night and only just fell asleep!"

"Stop sleeping! Check the freshman group chat! A senior leaked a photo of our class counselor!" Fatty Wang shoved his phone screen in front of Liu Chen's face, practically drooling. "What the fuck kind of counselor is this? She's the absolute pinnacle of hot married women!"

The words "pinnacle of hot married women" instantly drove away Liu Chen's sleepiness.

Even Chen Mo, who was reading nearby, silently closed his copy of Sapiens and looked up.

Liu Chen snatched Fatty's phone, took one look, and stared.

The photo had clearly been taken secretly.

The background was an office building corridor. The woman wore a fitted white silk blouse and a black, high-waisted pencil skirt. Below its hem, her covered legs were straight and long.

Her figure wasn't that shriveled, pale, young, and skinny type. She was voluptuous and full, with plenty of flesh wherever there should be, and a waist slim enough to span with a hand.

Especially striking was her face, with its vivid, elegant features and gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, radiating a cool, intellectual beauty that kept people a thousand miles away.

"Th-this is really our counselor?" Liu Chen swallowed, his throat feeling a little dry. "If she runs our class meetings, who the fuck's going to pay attention?"

"Her name's Shen Ruoxi. Apparently she's twenty-six and already married, though rumor has it she seems to be divorced." Fatty Wang's gossip-gathering skills were first-rate; he had already dug up her background. "What a waste of such a fine cabbage. Who knows which pig got to root around in it?"

As he spoke, the bathroom door opened.

Lin Bei walked out, drying his face with a towel.

After having his sinews cleansed and marrow purified last night, his body was now in astonishingly good condition.

His formerly slightly dull skin had become smooth and delicate. There was an indescribable freshness about him, and even his gaze had grown considerably deeper.

Fatty Wang stared at Lin Bei for a long while, then leaned over suspiciously.

"Brother Bei, did you sneak off for skin-boosting injections last night? How come one night's sleep left you practically glowing? Your skin's smoother than a woman's."

Lin Bei casually draped his towel over the rack and rolled his eyes at him.

"Look at fewer hot married women and drink more hot water. You'll glow too."

He had barely finished speaking.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Someone knocked on the dorm door.

"Who is it this early?" Wearing nothing but baggy SpongeBob SquarePants boxers, Fatty swaggered over and pulled open the door.

The door opened.

The impatience on Fatty's face instantly froze.

Standing outside was precisely the woman whose photo they had just spent so long studying.

Shen Ruoxi.

She was even more striking in person.

She held several freshman rosters, her white blouse slightly open at the collar, revealing her delicate collarbones.

A breeze passed through the corridor, carrying a cool perfume reminiscent of freesia.

Her gaze passed over Fatty and swept across the messy dorm.

That powerful aura of a mature woman instantly subdued the young pups inside.

Fatty Wang hastily covered his patterned boxers in fright and stammered, "H-hello, ma'am..."

Liu Chen reacted fastest, springing straight out of bed and frantically stuffing the pile of crumpled tissues and smelly socks on his desk into a drawer, his face flushed bright red.

Chen Mo wasn't quite so dramatic, but he, too, stood stiffly upright.

Shen Ruoxi frowned slightly.

She had supervised several freshman cohorts and was long accustomed to the chickens-flying-and-dogs-jumping chaos of boys' dorms.

It was just that she had been in an extremely bad mood lately, and her face also showed traces of fatigue she couldn't hide.

"I'm your counselor, Shen Ruoxi. I'm here for a dorm inspection and to let you know about military training."

Her voice was lovely, but carried a coldness that warned strangers away.

Just as the awkward atmosphere in the dorm reached its peak.

Lin Bei stepped forward.

His expression was natural, entirely free of the stiffness his three roommates displayed before their beautiful counselor.

He took a clean disposable paper cup from the desk, filled it halfway with warm water from a thermos, and walked up to Shen Ruoxi.

"Teacher Shen, these guys are used to being slobs. Please, have a seat and some hot water."

Lin Bei offered her the cup.

Shen Ruoxi gave the young man a somewhat surprised look.

He looked very clean-cut, but most importantly, his eyes were clear.

There was none of the sleazy feeling of other boys sneaking looks at her chest. Instead, he exuded a detached composure.

"Thank you. I won't sit."

Shen Ruoxi reached out to accept the cup.

At the instant their fingertips briefly met across the rim of the paper cup.

The [Taiyi Divine Needle] inheritance Lin Bei had obtained just last night suddenly activated on its own within his mind.

"Observation, listening and smelling, inquiry, palpation."

The traditional Chinese medical method of visual diagnosis laid Shen Ruoxi's physical condition before Lin Bei's eyes in the finest detail.

The space between her brows was dark, and there were bluish shadows beneath her eyes that she was trying hard to conceal-outward signs of prolonged, heavy worries and severe insomnia.

Although she wore lipstick, an abnormal pallor showed around the edges of her lips: deficiency of both qi and blood.

Most seriously, Lin Bei could clearly sense an extremely heavy chill emanating from this woman, especially around her lower abdomen, where pathogenic cold had accumulated and her meridians were thoroughly blocked.

Severe uterine cold.

Lin Bei withdrew his hand without betraying anything.

Shen Ruoxi took a sip of warm water, which eased much of the chill brought on by the draft in the corridor.

"At two this afternoon, all freshmen will assemble at the South Playground to collect their military training uniforms. Training officially starts at eight tomorrow morning. No one is to be late."

Shen Ruoxi set down the cup, resuming her cool, businesslike tone.

She picked up the roster and turned to leave.

Before she could move, Lin Bei suddenly spoke unhurriedly.

"Teacher Shen, try soaking your feet in mugwort with a little aged ginger before bed. Don't set the air-conditioning too low, and don't indulge in the cold."

Shen Ruoxi stopped dead.

Fatty Wang and the other two, who had still been stealing glances at her retreating figure, all froze as well.

Had this guy gone crazy?

Why was he trying to chat up their icy counselor first thing in the morning?

And telling her to soak her feet?

Ignoring his roommates' ghost-struck expressions, Lin Bei looked at Shen Ruoxi's rigid back and continued evenly.

"Your qi and blood are severely depleted. If you don't start regulating your health, I'm afraid the pain will keep you awake all night, night after night."

At these words, Room 502 fell deathly silent.

Fatty Wang's jaw nearly hit the floor.

Holy shit! Brother Bei, what the fuck kind of outrageous stuff are you saying?!

You're talking about periods with our counselor right off the bat?!

Shen Ruoxi whipped around.

The intellectual mask that her stunning face had maintained until now completely crumbled.

Her beautiful eyes were filled with incredulous shock.

For more than half a year, insomnia and severe menstrual cramps had indeed tormented her until she felt better off dead.

Especially during those days each month, even painkillers did nothing, and she rolled around on her bed in agony.

Because her husband was perpetually away from home and the two were like strangers, she didn't even have anyone to confide in.

This was a woman's most private, unmentionable trouble; she hadn't even told her closest female friend.

How did this freshman she had only just met know?!

And every word he said was exactly right!

"H-how did you know?"

Shen Ruoxi's voice trembled a little.

Lin Bei grinned.

"Don't be nervous, Teacher Shen. My ancestors practiced traditional Chinese medicine. I grew up immersed in it, so I know a little about visual diagnosis."

He pointed to his eyes. "Your complexion, along with the temperature of your fingertips when you took the water just now-to someone who knows the trade, it's no different from having it written on your face. This uterine cold and exhaustion could be minor or serious. It needs treating."

Traditional Chinese medicine?

Shen Ruoxi froze.

As she looked at Lin Bei's open, composed manner, the embarrassed anger she felt at being intruded upon inexplicably dissipated.

For so many years, that husband in name had never even bothered to ask after her when she had a cold or fever, yet now an eighteen-year-old boy had seen through all her suffering at a glance.

"I... I understand."

A flush visibly crept over Shen Ruoxi's pale ears.

"Th-thank you for the water."

Leaving behind those words, as faint as a mosquito's buzz, the gorgeous counselor renowned for her icy demeanor hurried away in her high heels.

Even after the clicking of her heels had completely vanished down the corridor.

Room 502 remained so quiet that a falling pin could have been heard.

A full half-minute passed.

"Gulp."

Fatty Wang swallowed with difficulty and looked at Lin Bei.

"Brother Bei..."

"You fucking... even dare to flirt with our counselor? And you actually made her blush?!"

Liu Chen charged straight over and wrapped his arms around Lin Bei's thigh.

"Brother Bei! Divine Doctor Lin! Teach me! How do you learn this visual-diagnosis method of picking up girls? I'm willing to become your disciple!"

Though Chen Mo said nothing, the way he looked at Lin Bei had completely changed as well.

Yesterday, he had already found Lin Bei's moving the bed to change the feng shui a little uncanny, and today he had shown off traditional Chinese medical diagnosis.

The secrets hidden within this seemingly laid-back roommate were definitely no simple matter.

Lin Bei kicked Liu Chen away and brushed the dust from his trouser leg.

"What flirting? Didn't you hear me say this is medicine?"

Lin Bei walked to the desk and picked up his military training uniform.

"A healer has a parent's heart. I'm looking after our counselor's health. Do you guys understand or not?"

At Lin Bei's sanctimonious show of posturing, Fatty and the other two all raised their middle fingers.

"Pfft-"

Lin Bei couldn't be bothered with them, but the corners of his mouth couldn't help lifting.

This Taiyi Divine Needle thing wasn't just good for treating illnesses. It was great for showing off, too.