Chapter 690: Chapter 689: Help

It was nearly one in the afternoon when the Yan siblings and their party got out of the car and boarded the yacht.

After stowing their luggage in their rooms and touring the yacht with the captain and Xu Zhen, they went to the aft section of the second deck for lunch.

In the center of the dining room stood a round table that could seat twelve. It offered a three-sided view of the lake, showing the spray and currents churned up by the engines, a few distant islands, and the slowly receding pier.

Due to the yacht’s massive size, Yan Feifan, who was already seated, could barely feel any swaying or vibration as it began to move.

He took the warm, damp towel a server offered him and wiped his hands, then picked up a glass of freshly squeezed watermelon juice and took a couple of sips.

"Feifan..."

Yan Ziruo leaned in and whispered, "I confirmed with Xu Zhen multiple times. She said..."

"...that they’ll stick to the original service agreement. The ninety-eight thousand is all-inclusive, which means *all-inclusive*. They absolutely won’t charge us a single cent more."

"Feifan, what do you think?"

Yan Feifan said in a low voice, "Sis, just relax and enjoy the trip."

"Most likely, someone wants to get on my good side. Their motive is probably just to get a consultation or a surgery."

"That sort of thing is easy enough to handle."

"As for anything else..."

Yan Feifan gave a cold snort and said, flaunting his connections, "I doubt there’s anyone in this country more powerful than the military."

Yan Ziruo couldn’t help but grin. "That’s true. You’re a hot commodity for the military right now. Who would dare mess with you?"

"I can stop worrying needlessly!"

Just as Yan Ziruo returned to her seat, servers entered and began to bring out the food.

The meal was an all-fish feast: deboned large fish head, steamed fish head with diced hot peppers, braised fish chunks, and a wide variety of other creative dishes made from fish meat, maw, and intestines.

The server explained that all the fish for the meal were wild-caught from Qiandao Lake.

Yan Feifan didn’t know if that was true, but even with his increasingly picky palate, he had to admit the flavor was remarkably good.

Worried that the presence of strangers might make Yanyan uncomfortable, Yan Feifan dismissed all the servers from the dining room once the food had been served.

Wang Chuan picked up the bottle of Moutai Liquor on the table, poured himself a glass, and took a sip. "This liquor has a very rich flavor," he said. "It must have been aged for at least ten years."

"This bottle alone has to be worth tens of thousands."

Yan Feifan smiled and said casually, "We’re already on the yacht, so don’t overthink it. Just eat and drink."

Wang Chuan chuckled. "Oh, I’m not worried."

"They’re just after your medical skills. You have the standing to accept favors from anyone."

He suddenly sighed. "This is the difference between plastic surgeons and doctors in other specialties."

"Plastic surgeons may make a lot of money, but our reputation and social standing are much lower. When someone like you, Feifan, goes on vacation, people fall all over themselves to wine and dine you."

"When I go on vacation, I have to pay for my own luxuries."

Yan Feifan chuckled. "Frankly, I’d rather pay for my own luxuries too. It gives me more peace of mind."

"Oh, stop humblebragging."

Wang Chuan teased, then said with a light chuckle, "Feifan, let me tell you something. Baiyun Medical Beauty officially decided yesterday that they won’t be holding their national peer surgical observation seminar this year."

Yan Feifan said cheerfully, "Is Doctor Ning Shan going back on her word?"

Wang Chuan took another sip of liquor and a bite of food. "She doesn’t have a choice," he said. "Baiyun Medical Beauty can’t find a single doctor who can hold a candle to you."

"Most importantly, that girl from Jingcheng, Jiaojiao, has had a complete transformation. Her looks are stunning now, good enough to rival a celebrity’s."

"If they held the seminar, they’d be obligated by their agreement to bring Jiaojiao on stage."

"And wouldn’t that just be another round of free publicity for you?"

"Plus, you also fixed Ning Shan’s problem—the one where her eyes wouldn’t close when she slept."

"At a seminar they’d be hosting, you wouldn’t be the main attraction, but you’d steal the show. They’re not stupid."

Yan Feifan mused, "Isn’t Baiyun Medical Beauty’s specialty gender reassignment surgery? Why not showcase their own strengths?"

Wang Chuan analyzed, "For one, there’s the privacy issue. Very few patients are willing to be put on public display after a surgery like that."

"For another, they’re afraid of others stealing their techniques."

"Not everyone is as confident as you are, unafraid of others learning your secrets."

After a pause, Wang Chuan couldn’t resist asking, "Feifan, all your skills... can they actually be taught to students?"

’Well...’

’He couldn’t help but recall his time in that world of consciousness, practicing dissection over and over again on cadaver after cadaver.’

’When there was nothing left to dissect, he’d done the opposite.’

’In reverse order, he would take the human tissue that he had dissected down to the finest detail and restore it, suture by suture, piece by piece, until it was reassembled into a complete cadaver once more.’

"Actually, there’s no great secret," Yan Feifan said slowly. "It’s just a matter of practice. If you calm your mind, practice over and over, and specialize in one particular field, then perhaps it’s possible."

Wang Chuan pressed, "Practice to what extent?"

Yan Feifan said softly, "Restoration."

"When you can dissect something to its absolute limit, and then restore it to its original state, that’s when you’re there."

Wang Chuan nodded, a look of understanding dawning on his face.

「Around two in the afternoon」

Having eaten and drunk their fill, Yan Feifan, Wang Chuan, and the others went up to the third deck to admire the scenery.

They settled into seats on the highest, most open part of the yacht. A sunshade overhead blocked the bright sun, a cool breeze blew in off the water, and they were surrounded on all sides by the beautiful scenery of the lake and its islands. They all felt completely at ease.

Suddenly, Yan Ziruo declaimed with mock-heroic passion, "Ah, the scenery before me is like a painting, I wish I could compose a poem for the world to hear! But alas, I have no culture, so all I can say is... damn, the lake is huge!"

Amid the laughter, Yan Ziruo grumbled, "You know, those ancient scholar gatherings must have been pretty great. Faced with a view like this, every single one of them would have been inspired to compose a few poems!"

"Look at you lot now. You’re supposedly geniuses and beauties, but I bet you couldn’t even come up with a simple limerick."

Yan Feifan rolled his eyes at his sister, not bothering to engage with someone who had already downed more than half a bottle of Moutai Liquor.

He felt a tightness on his left side as Yu Suye, who was next to him, wrapped her arms around his arm and rested her head on his shoulder.

Yan Feifan turned his head. He saw her eyelashes flutter and her cheeks flush slightly. "Not feeling well?" he asked softly.

Yu Suye nuzzled his shoulder. "I’m *too* comfortable," she murmured. "So comfortable I could fall asleep..."

Just then, Xu Zhen came up the stairs to the deck. She asked if they wanted to stop at a scenic island up ahead and explore.

Yan Feifan felt too lazy to move, but seeing his sister and Yanyan’s high spirits, and that Su Ye also wanted to stretch her legs, he agreed.

「A little over ten minutes later」

The yacht docked at the island’s pier.

Yan Feifan’s party of seven, plus Xu Zhen, disembarked via the gangway. They set foot on the pier and began to explore the island, following a path paved with bluestone slabs.

The path was quiet and wound through a dense forest filled with the chirping of cicadas and birds. They occasionally passed ancient trees and unusually shaped rocks. The scenery was quite pleasant.

They only encountered a few scattered tourists along the way; there were none of the massive crowds one often finds at scenic spots.

This left Yan Feifan and his companions, who were strolling leisurely, feeling very relaxed. They remarked to one another that this was true relaxation, not just rushing to a spot to "check in" and prove they had been there.

They had followed the path about halfway around the island when, suddenly, a panicked scream rang out.

"Snake! Snake! There’s a snake! Help!"

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