The five-and-a-half-year-old baby doctor comes to the city to cure those who refuse to listen.

There was an unsettling atmosphere at the entrance of the West Suburbs Garden.

The black Hongqi sedan without license plates stood silently in front of the peeling vermilion gate, like a silent iron beast.

The man in the Zhongshan suit got out of the car. His walking posture was very special, and the distance of each step seemed to have been measured with a ruler.

He walked up to Li Weiguo, holding a red envelope without any markings in both hands, and handed it to him.

When Li Weiguo saw the man, he instinctively tensed up and stood ramrod straight.

When he saw the envelope again, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his outstretched hand stiffened.

The soldiers repairing the gate stopped what they were doing, and only the rustling of leaves in the wind could be heard.

"Chen'er," Lin Jianguo sensed something was wrong and subconsciously tried to pull Chu Chen back a little.

Chu Chen peeked out from behind him.

His dark, bright eyes curiously examined the man in the Zhongshan suit, then looked at the red envelope.

He didn't reach out to take it.

Instead, he stood on tiptoe and peered into the opening of the envelope, as if trying to see what was hidden inside.

"uncle."

He called out in a childish voice.

"Did you put money in this envelope?"

One sentence, like a pebble thrown into a calm lake.

Li Weiguo almost couldn't catch his breath, his expression frozen on his face.

The shoulders of several young soldiers around him began to tremble uncontrollably.

The man in the Zhongshan suit's expression went blank for a moment.

A muscle twitched on his otherwise hard face.

He seemed to have imagined countless scenarios for their meeting, but he never expected it to start like this.

"Mr. Chu," he spoke, his voice flat and devoid of emotion, "this contains an invitation, more valuable than money."

"oh."

Chu Chen pouted, his little face clearly showing his disdain.

"Any invitation that doesn't involve discussing money is just playing dirty tricks."

This sentence, which has a distinctly modern internet flavor, left the man in the Zhongshan suit stunned once again.

Lin Jianguo was horrified. How could this little brat dare to say anything out loud?

He quickly stepped forward, forcing a friendly smile, trying to smooth things over.

"Chen'er, stop fooling around! This gentleman is..."

"Okay, okay." Chu Chen waved her little hand impatiently, interrupting Lin Jianguo.

He strode up to the man in the Zhongshan suit and snatched the "incredibly precious" envelope from his hand.

Then, in front of everyone, he rolled the envelope into a paper tube.

"Whoosh, whoosh."

He held the envelope like a summer popsicle, fanning himself with it.

"Let's go."

He fanned himself and gestured with his chin toward the black Hongqi car.

"Lead the way. I'm so full from dinner, I'll go for a walk to digest."

The corner of the man in the Zhongshan suit's eye twitched violently twice, uncontrollably.

He looked at the letter that would have been taken seriously by any important figure in the capital, now being treated like a broken fan by a little brat, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.

Is this thing for fanning you?

He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, as if forcibly suppressing some kind of impulse in his heart.

In the end, he didn't say a word, turned around and walked to the back door.

He bent down, made a textbook-perfect invitation gesture, and opened the heavy car door.

"Mr. Chu, please."

"Grandpa, I'm going out to play for a while. You don't need to wait for me to eat." Chu Chen stuffed the envelope into his pocket and called out to Lin Jianguo.

After saying that, he climbed onto the back seat of the spacious Hongqi sedan using both his hands and feet.

Lin Jianguo opened his mouth, looked at the car whose door was slowly closing, and then looked at Li Weiguo next to him with a serious expression. His heart was in turmoil.

"Li... Staff Officer Li, who... who is this person?"

Li Weiguo shook his head, his lips pressed into a straight line.

"Old Lin, don't ask, and don't inquire."

He watched the Hongqi car disappear into the distance, his eyes filled with a sense of awe that he himself couldn't quite explain.

in the car.

Chu Chen, like a curious child, shifted his little bottom back and forth on the soft leather seat.

He touched the smooth wood interior for a while, and then poked at the window lift button.

"Uncle, this car is quite comfortable to sit in," he said, crossing his legs like a little adult.

The man in the Zhongshan suit driving, also known as Falcon, glanced at him in the rearview mirror but didn't say anything.

"What's your name?" Chu Chen asked again.

The man remained silent.

"Who is your boss? Why are you being so mysterious, making such a big fuss over a little kid like me?"

"..."

"Does he owe someone money and is afraid to go out?"

Falcon's hands gripping the steering wheel were bulging with veins.

He decided not to say a word until he reached his destination.

Chu Chen wasn't angry that he was ignoring him.

He took the crumpled red envelope out of his pocket, unfolded it, and placed it on his lap.

Then he pulled out a pencil from another pocket, which he didn't know where he had taken it from.

He lay on the wide back seat and began to draw little figures on the back of the envelope, stroke by stroke.

He drew a little person, and then drew a turtle next to him.

"Pictionary".

He held the envelope up to the back of the driver's head.

"Is this bastard your boss?"

"squeak--"

A screeching sound of brakes.

The Hongqi car suddenly stopped at the side of the road.

If Chu Chen hadn't reacted quickly and grabbed the seat in front of him, his little head would have hit it directly.

Falcon stared intently at Chu Chen through the rearview mirror.

His eyes were frighteningly cold; any adult would have panicked long ago.

Chu Chen, however, seemed oblivious.

He blinked his innocent-looking big eyes and continued to hold up the "painting" in his hand.

"You guessed wrong?"

He drew a circle on the turtle's shell with a pencil.

"So that's you?"

The falcon closed its eyes.

He was afraid that if he kept watching, he wouldn't be able to resist breaking the rules and throwing this little tyrant off the car.

After a full half minute, he opened his eyes again, his gaze returning to its usual calm and serene state.

He restarted the car and continued driving without saying a word.

The car was moving much faster than before.

Feeling bored, Chu Chen yawned and stuffed the envelope and pencil back into his pocket.

He leaned against the car window, watching the street scene rushing past outside.

Instead of heading to any bustling areas, the car drove further and further into remote alleys, disappearing into a series of narrow and secluded lanes.

Finally, we stopped in front of what looked like an ordinary courtyard house.

There were no plaques here, the vermilion wooden door was tightly closed, and there wasn't even a stone lion at the entrance; there were only two pots of drooping asparagus ferns.

"Mr. Chu, we've arrived." Falcon got out of the car and opened the door.

Chu Chen jumped out of the car and looked around the unremarkable courtyard.

He wrinkled his little nose and sniffed the air.

A faint yet incredibly rich medicinal fragrance wafted out from under the door.

It doesn't taste like any precious medicinal herbs, but rather like the most common licorice and angelica mixed together, a flavor that has been mellowed over a hundred years.

Like the counter of an old pharmacy, it has been polished and patinated by the years.

"Squeak—"

Before Falcon could knock, the vermilion wooden door opened by itself from the inside.

An elderly man dressed in gray cloth, with gray hair and a slightly hunched posture, was sweeping fallen leaves in the yard with a broom.

He swept very carefully, meticulously, as if every leaf in the yard were a rare treasure.

Hearing the door open, he slowly raised his head.

When his gaze fell on Chu Chen, his cloudy yet deep eyes lit up.

He put down the broom, gave Chu Chen a kind smile.

"Young friend, you've finally arrived."

His voice was gentle, like that of the neighbor's grandfather.

"My teapot is almost cold."