Chapter 53: Take Off Your Clothes

Sun Tiancai took quite a while to process what Su Miaomiao had just said. His face lit up with joy, but he quickly suppressed it.

“Comrade Su, do you really understand what you’re saying? Comrade Lu’s injury isn’t simple.”

“I know. Without surgery, he only has one or two months left at most. With surgery, the success rate is less than one percent,” Su Miaomiao replied calmly.

“Since you know, how can you still say something like that?” Sun Tiancai frowned.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Su Miaomiao countered coolly.

That one response left Sun Tiancai completely speechless.

Though the young girl looked delicate, she stood with her back straight, exuding a natural confidence that made people instinctively want to trust her.

Where does such a young girl get this kind of presence?

After a while, Sun Tiancai regained his composure.

“Comrade Su, Comrade Lu’s identity is quite special. Even if what you’re saying is true, I still need to get approval from higher authorities…”

“No need. I can make the decision myself,” Lu Xiuyuan interrupted before he could finish.

Sun Tiancai turned and stared at Lu Xiuyuan, practically pulling his hair out in anxiety.

“Comrade Lu, this isn’t something to joke about.”

“I understand my own condition. You don’t need to apply for anything. If anything goes wrong, I’ll take full responsibility. It has nothing to do with Comrade Su,” Lu Xiuyuan stated with firm conviction.

“You…” Sun Tiancai felt like he was going to collapse.

He had originally thought Su Miaomiao was a pleasant young girl, so he’d wanted to accompany Lu Xiuyuan in delivering the award and see her again.

He hadn’t expected things to escalate into something so serious.

He was just a low-ranking team leader—how could he make decisions of this magnitude?

“Comrade Lu…” Sun Tiancai still tried to reason with him, but Lu Xiuyuan was already making his way forward by touch.

“Hey! Be careful! Don’t fall,” Sun Tiancai quickly reached out to support him.

Su Miaomiao was quite satisfied with Lu Xiuyuan’s decisiveness.

She had a heart to save people, but if Lu Xiuyuan had shown any hesitation, she would’ve backed off without guilt.

“Help him into that tent. I’ll go get a few things,” Su Miaomiao instructed, gesturing toward a makeshift tent.

“But…” Sun Tiancai wanted to say something more, but Lu Xiuyuan was already moving.

“Aiyo! Wrong direction, you’re going the wrong way,” Sun Tiancai said as he rushed to help, sighing at how firmly Lu Xiuyuan trusted Su Miaomiao.

The tent was something the Huo family had thrown together—just a few wooden poles covered with tarpaulin. Lu Xiuyuan was so tall that his head bumped the tarp as soon as he stepped in, and he instinctively ducked.

When Su Miaomiao arrived with her acupuncture needles, that was exactly what she saw—and the smile at the corner of her lips deepened.

Normally, this tent was just used for sleeping, and it had never felt cramped.

But with Lu Xiuyuan standing there, it suddenly felt… small.

“Sit down,” Su Miaomiao instructed.

Lu Xiuyuan groped his way to sit down slowly.

Su Miaomiao glanced at the still-nervous Sun Tiancai beside her.

“You can leave now.”

“Can’t I stay and keep watch?” Sun Tiancai asked.

“No.” Her reply was swift and firm.

“You should leave too,” Lu Xiuyuan added.

Sun Tiancai really couldn’t find any excuse to stay in the tent and had no choice but to turn and leave.

Once he was gone, only Su Miaomiao and Lu Xiuyuan were left inside.

Lu Xiuyuan heard the soft rustle of movement, followed by a faint, pleasant fragrance.

Su Miaomiao seemed to have sat down right in front of him.

He momentarily forgot how to breathe.

“Give me your hand,” Su Miaomiao’s gentle voice floated to him.

Lu Xiuyuan slowly extended his hand.
The next moment, a few cool fingers gently pressed against his wrist.
At the touch of skin against skin, Lu Xiuyuan felt as if his heart had been struck by something—but he quickly pushed the feeling down.

Su Miaomiao carefully examined his pulse. Just like he had said, there was a blood clot in his brain, and the location was extremely dangerous.
Even in the future with advanced technology, surgery success in such a case wouldn’t exceed ten percent.

Seeing that Su Miaomiao had remained silent after checking his pulse, Lu Xiuyuan thought maybe his condition was worse than she expected. Just as he was about to tell her not to force it, her voice came again:

“Take off your clothes.”

“Huh?” Lu Xiuyuan wondered if he’d misheard.

“I need to use acupuncture to expel the blood clot in your brain. It might stain your clothes during the process,” Su Miaomiao explained.

“…Oh.” Lu Xiuyuan finally came to his senses and began fumbling to unbutton his shirt.

But whether it was because he couldn’t see, or because his heart was flustered, he couldn’t manage to undo a single button for quite a while.

He felt a wave of frustration—normally, he was calm and always excelled at any training.
How come now, he couldn’t even unbutton his own shirt?

Just then, a soft hand covered his, bringing with it that familiar faint fragrance.
Lu Xiuyuan’s entire body stiffened as if he’d been frozen by a spell.

Su Miaomiao, seeing that he was too slow, simply took over and unbuttoned his shirt for him.
When she looked up, she noticed his face seemed a bit redder than before.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” Su Miaomiao asked quickly.

Given the blood clot in his brain, a sudden emergency could happen at any time.

“N-no…” Lu Xiuyuan tried to calm himself.

“Really?”

“Really,” he replied—and as if to prove it, he took off his shirt himself.

Su Miaomiao glanced briefly.
Hmm…

A well-built chest.
Tense muscles.
One…
Two…
…Eight!

Perfect textbook abs.

Soldiers really did have great bodies—slim in clothes, muscular without.

But Su Miaomiao quickly looked away.
There were more important things to focus on right now.

She opened her acupuncture kit and ran her fingers across the silver needles, finally pulling one out.

“I’m going to begin the acupuncture now. It might hurt a bit, but I need you to bear with it,” Su Miaomiao warned.

“Okay.” Lu Xiuyuan responded lightly.

Su Miaomiao could hear the determination in his tone.
After all, anyone who could survive such a severe injury must have a strong will.

With no more hesitation, she inserted the first silver needle into an acupoint on the top of his head.

Lu Xiuyuan felt a mild sting, followed by a tingling ache and slight pressure where the needle entered.
For him, this level of pain was nothing.

But then came a second needle in another acupoint.
This time it hurt a bit more, though still tolerable.

Then Su Miaomiao inserted three more needles in quick succession.
Lu Xiuyuan’s hands, resting on his knees, clenched into fists.
Sweat beaded lightly on his forehead.

“Still okay?” Su Miaomiao lowered her head and asked.