Chapter 22: Chapter 22: The Promise

Lu Xiao waved her hand, at a loss for how to explain Ansen’s behavior.

Seeing that she didn’t want to talk about it, Teacher Ai Li didn’t press the matter. She just pulled her over to a seat. “Well, you should rest for a bit and drink some water.”

“Thanks.” Lu Xiao took the water and had a sip. “My clinic application was approved today, right? Let me see if anyone has applied.”

Seeing her thinking about the clinic when she hadn’t even fully recovered, Teacher Ai Li didn’t know whether to scold her or praise her. “I just checked. It’s been approved. And just as we agreed, there will be two slots per day.”

“That’s great! Thank you, Teacher Ai Li.” Lu Xiao said, eagerly turning on her terminal to log into the Fifth Research Institute’s internal network. However, when the system booted up and she excitedly accessed her clinic’s page, she found not a single application.

Lu Xiao stubbornly refreshed the page a few times, but the result was the same.

Standing beside her, Teacher Ai Li let out a chuckle. “Even if there were applications, it wouldn’t be this early. Besides, very few people from the S-Class Shelter apply on their own these days.”

“Then what should I do?” Lu Xiao had prepared for everything, but the reality was completely different from what she had imagined.

It was as if her fiery enthusiasm on a hot summer day had been doused by a bucket of cold water poured over her head.

Ai Li watched her slump onto the chair, completely deflated and devoid of energy, and said with a smile, “How about I contact the shelter and have them send two over?”

“Is that possible?” Hearing this, Lu Xiao’s eyes instantly lit up, and she looked at Ai Li with eager anticipation.

“You’re serious? Wouldn’t it be nice to have some downtime?”

“But it’s boring. I want to have something to do,” Lu Xiao said, looking at Ai Li with a pitiful expression.

Teacher Ai Li couldn’t stand her stare and gave her a kind warning, “You have to know, once this starts, there’s no turning back. They’ll keep sending people here one after another. You’ll be overwhelmed.”

“I’ll take a day off if I can’t handle it!” ’I’m not a saint. I won’t let myself collapse from exhaustion.’

Seeing that she seemed to have thought it all through, Teacher Ai Li nodded. “Alright, I’ll contact them for you.”

Lu Xiao jumped up and gave Teacher Ai Li a big, loving hug. “Teacher Ai Li, you’re truly the most beautiful and kind-hearted female I’ve ever met!”

“And you’re the most silver-tongued female I’ve ever met.”

Teacher Sherry came in from outside and saw the two of them hugging. “What are you two doing?” she exclaimed. “So sappy it’s killing me!”

With a look of resignation, Teacher Ai Li explained what Lu Xiao had asked her to do. Upon hearing this, Teacher Sherry put on an “I knew it” expression.

Lu Xiao just giggled and didn’t argue.

Teacher Ai Li returned to her workstation and contacted the person in charge of the S-Class Shelter, explaining Lu Xiao’s situation.

The head of the S-Class Shelter was so surprised to hear Teacher Ai Li’s words that he thought he was having an auditory hallucination. “Teacher Ai Li, it’s a great honor to receive your call. I’m sorry, what did you just say? I didn’t quite catch that.”

“You heard me right. Don’t doubt your ears, Hans. Arrange for two Early Stage S-Class males to be sent over right now. Our Healer Lu has nothing to do and wants to get some practice in. Understood? From now on, arrange for two people to come to our Healer Lu’s clinic every day.”

After saying this, Teacher Ai Li hung up the call. She then saw Lu Xiao giving her a thumbs-up.

Teacher Ai Li lifted her chin. “Just wait. They’ll be here in a little while.”

’There’s no way they’d pass up an opportunity like this.’

Just as Teacher Ai Li had thought, after the call ended, Hans shot to his feet. “Quick! Arrange for two Early Stage S-Class males to go to the Fifth Research Institute to find Healer Lu right now! No, from now on, arrange for two to be sent over every day. No matter what they plan to do, this is a great thing for our S-Class Shelter.”

Hans even felt the urge to go see for himself who this Healer Lu was and why she had this sudden benevolent impulse!

’No, I shouldn’t be too hasty. I’ll wait and see. Calm down, calm down.’

Soon after Teacher Ai Li’s call, Lu Xiao saw escorting officers arrive with two S-Class males.

“Excuse me, which one of you is Healer Lu? We were asked to bring some people over.”

The lead officer stood stiffly in the doorway.

Lu Xiao stood up. “Follow me. I’m Lu Xiao. From now on when you bring people, just come directly to me. One can come in, and the other can wait outside.”

After entering the clinic, Lu Xiao turned on the equipment and checked the two men’s information. As before, there were only serial numbers. Both of their Spirit Seas were currently in the Early Stage.

After the escorting officer locked the man into the chair and was about to put a helmet on him, Lu Xiao spoke up. “There’s no need for the helmet. Thank you. You can leave the rest to me.”

The escorting officer froze for a moment, then his face flushed red. He clearly hadn’t expected Lu Xiao to thank him. He was so flustered he was practically tripping over himself on the way out.

His partner saw him come out and stared, dumbfounded. He lowered his voice and asked, “What happened? What did you do in there? Why is your face so red?”

The red-faced officer hesitated for a long time before whispering, “J-Just now… Healer Lu said thank you to me.”

“What?”

…

Lu Xiao activated the synchronous recording on the instrument. “Before we begin the treatment, can you tell me your name?”

The tall male locked in the chair was also wearing a muzzle, which obscured most of his facial features. But from his exposed dark eyes, she could see his surprise at her question.

“I don’t think your condition is so severe that you’ve forgotten your own name,” Lu Xiao said with a smile, showing him the notebook in her hand. “Every patient I treat will be recorded in this notebook. I don’t want to open it and see nothing but cold serial numbers.”

“My name is Kels. I’m Major Lu of the Third Corps. I’ve participated in…”

Lu Xiao didn’t interrupt his introduction, and she even carefully recorded all the information in her notebook.

’For these S-Class males, giving such a self-introduction is a form of release in itself.’

When Kels finished, Lu Xiao looked up. “That’s a brilliant service record. I imagine if you weren’t here, you’d probably be a Colonel by now, or even a Major General.”

“Unfortunately, I’ve lost that chance.” Kels tried to give a wry smile, but the muzzle restricted his expression. Still, Lu Xiao could sense his sorrow.

“I don’t think so. In fact, I think you might still have a chance. A person can’t live without hope. If you do as I say after this treatment is over and your performance is good, you’ll get a reward next time we meet. What the reward is will be a secret for now. How about it? Will you make this pact with me?”

Kels stared in shock at the unusual young female before him. “You… do you know what you’re doing?”

’A female was actually making a pact with him of her own accord. Was he so sick that he was starting to hallucinate?’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep