Physician’s Odyssey

Su Tao and Vera only left when the staff started to clear out the area. When they left, Vera suddenly said with a smile, “I’m a little hungry. Let ’s get something to eat!”

After Su Tao looked around, he pointed towards a Chinese chain-restaurant, Wonderful Taste. “I’ll treat you to some dumplings, then!”

Hanzhou City was famous for its crab dumplings, and they’re particular about the manufacturing of it, too. It’s stuffed with crab-meat and roe with authentic chicken soup, with the skin as thin as paper. The dumpling carried a heavy crab taste with a soft texture. There’s also a method of eating one. One would be to drink the soup with a straw before dipping the dumpling in vinegar. The second would be taking a nip on the skin and drink the soup before eating the dumpling.

Aside from crab-meat dumplings, Su Tao also ordered two bowls of congee and some fried dumplings. Out of consideration that Vera wouldn’t be proficient with chopsticks, he even took a sterilized plastic spoon for her, which she ate the food deliciously. Su Tao smiled. “Many foreigners can’t get used to Chinese cuisine.”

Wiping her lips with a napkin, she replied, “That’s because they have condemned the Chinese culture in their hearts. Chinese actually put more effort into their cuisine than other countries, and it can be proven with the phase; food first, ethical niceties second!”

Su Tao ate a dumpling, although the skin was a little hard, the stuffing was sweet. He then responded, “There’s also a phase; by nature, we desire food and sex. Thus, like sex, food is also one of the necessities in life.”

Vera rolled her eyes at Su Tao before she smiled after a brief pondering, “It’s unimaginable that the ancestors of China would speak such crude words.”

Su Tao was briefly stunned before he unhappily replied, “Now, those are some words that I don’t understand. Why don’t you explain it to me?”

Sweeping her gaze over Su Tao’s face, Vera revealed her charming dimples as she answered, “In the eyes of us foreigners, the Chinese are extremely inflexible and dogmatic. Especially with their conservative view of the matters between the two genders. I’ve also heard a joke about how married couples in China have no idea about how to do the deed during their wedding night and even needed their parents to guide them.”

Su Tao was suddenly left speechless since he had also seen similar things online. Actually, those were being promoted on purpose, and for some reason, they were leaked out of the country and were misunderstood. After pondering for a long time, Su Tao was wondering how he should answer Vera’s profound question and talk about the matters between genders from China’s culture. Finally, he sighed, “Actually, those things that you saw aren’t reliable, it’s just like how other countries would report about China. They would naturally re-package the entire matter.”

Vera nodded her head as she smiled. “I know, I’m just teasing you on purpose. The food here is pretty good, and I want to eat here more often in the future.”

Seeing how Vera skillfully changed the topic, Su Tao sighed in his heart. Even if Vera was proficient in mandarin, she still had a little prejudice against China in the depths of her heart. However, Su Tao wasn't bothered by this, since he felt that he could slowly change her mindset. Suddenly, he felt his heart boiling that this was a grand mission and the sense of achievement if he succeeded, which was pretty interesting.

Actually, Vera admired China’s culture, which had been passed down for five thousand years. Especially how Su Tao treated her illness with TCM, which left a deep impression in her heart about TCM. At least for Su Tao, she had an indescribable trust in him. As the heir of the Ormond Family, she had been taught since young not to trust others so easily. But she had no idea when she forgot about this lesson.

As they ate, Su Tao understood Russia’s current situation from Vera. In everyone’s view, ever since the Soviet Union disbanded in the 1990s, Russia’s citizens have been under crisis, but that was a façade that the media had packaged. Even now, Russia was still the only country that dared to challenge a powerful country like America, using its military power to maintain their living standards.

Although the food in Russia is costly, where tomatoes can cost ₽200 per kilo in winter, which was about ¥30 in Yuan and ₽10 for green pepper. But that’s mainly because Russia’s light engineering wasn’t advanced. Thus, food ingredients and daily necessities had to be imported. But the price in other matters was something that other countries cannot be compared to, such as the price of their vehicles. Just USD$100 could buy Western European or American-imported vehicles. As for car maintenance, just the petrol fees would do, and the price wasn’t high.

“Interested in visiting Russia?” Vera’s gaze was direct. She was clearly trying to entice him.

Su Tao faintly smiled. “If there’s a chance, I will surely visit Russia. The unique features of a local environment always give special characteristics to its inhabitants, so I’m curious to see what kind of local environment nurtured such a beauty like you.”

“Pfft!” Vera couldn’t help laughing out as she continued, “Russia has an excess of beauties, but mainly because there are no reliable men for them. So if you take a spin in Russia, who knows, you might be able to bring a wife back.”

What Vera said was the truth. The western countries were experiencing an economic crisis, so marriage had turned into a luxury service. Couples nowadays were both working with no kids, and even the government had come up with schemes to encourage childbirth. On the contrary, China was densely populated with males over females, and reliable men were popular overseas. Just a while ago, there was news going around on the internet that a man managed to get himself an exquisite beauty that left many men in the country envious.

Su Tao asked with a straight face, “Do I seem like one of those casual men-types?”

After a brief pondering, Vera nodded her head. “There’s a good phrase, ordinary people are not casual, yet casual people are not ordinary.”

Su Tao was left speechless from the traps in Vera’s words. He couldn’t treat her as a foreigner; after all, she had ¼ of Chinese in her bloodline.

The two of them passionately chatted, and Vera never expected that she would be talking in such a relaxed manner with a man in another country. Suddenly, her phone rang and Vera took a glance at it before her brows knitted and she asked in Russian, “Achim, how do you know my number?”

---

Achim sat on an exquisite couch as he smiled, “Your caretaker, Shara told me, and I’m at your home, waiting for your return. As your fiancé, can’t I even have the rights to know your phone number?”

Taking a deep breath, Vera unhappily refuted, “What do you want?”

Achim looked around at the decorations before his gaze fell on Achim’s portrait and tapped his fingers on the couch. “Don’t get so emotional, I only want to get closer to you. Right, that man who was driving should be the reason that ruined our relationship, right? I want to meet him and have a talk as men.”

He walked in a gentlemanly way that made others feel confident and easy. Women liked this kind of man with a graceful demeanor that seemed like those fairytale princes.

Vera sighed, “Achim, let me tell you one more time seriously. Our marriage is fake and benefit-driven. If you continue to annoy me, then perhaps I will have to consider canceling our engagement!”

When she finished her words, she immediately hung up the phone. On the other side, Achim’s gaze flashed with regret at how Vera put her words. However, she must also know the current situation. Although the Ormond Family might look wealthy and powerful for the time being, they might face a crisis since they’ve branched out too much. Vera’s father had his eyes on the Belyakov Family’s oil and was intending to develop it together with them. At the same time, he did not want to put in too many funds, so he had decided on marriage to attract other merchants to invest.

Vera’s brief return to Russia was to cancel the engagement, but she wasn’t successful, since many people of the Ormond Family opposed it. Achim was smart, and he had a plan in his heart. Since the Ormond Family had given him an opportunity, then he would have to grasp it well. If he managed to take down Vera, wouldn’t that mean that he would indirectly gain control of the Ormond Family’s assets?

He’s only in his early thirties and an elegant gentleman in Russia’s high-class circle. He was confident in grasping the thoughts of women, and many women had also succumbed to his techniques. The reason why Vera loathed him right now was that she still didn’t understand him well. So he was confident that a romance would bloom between them as they interacted more.

Furthermore, from all the information that he had gathered so far, his competitor might be an outstanding Chinese called Su Tao. However, there’s still a gap between Vera and Su Tao in terms of status. The current Patriarch of the Ormond Family, who was also Vera’s father, wouldn’t allow such an unbalanced wedding. Thus, after some analysis, Achim did not think that there’s a possibility he would fail.

Confidence was something that every outstanding gentleman required. Achim’s confidence wasn’t established due to only his outstanding foundation, he had also done a lot of homework to secure his pursuit of Vera.

Sharapova paid attention to Achim’s mood, and she would occasionally come over to speak a few words. She even gave him a bottle of vodka, a cup, and ice.

In Sharapova’s view, although Achim wasn’t the best choice as a husband for her missy, he was at least more reliable than Su Tao. The Belyakov Family had a huge family with a long history and heritage. Although their reputation wasn’t too good in recent years, there were rumors that they had a private manor with treasures stored in it. However, it wasn’t publically known and remained low-profile. This was also the reason why those prominent families could remain standing despite the setbacks.

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