Chapter 239: Chapter 239

(Thanks to my friends for the strong cup of tea, the super-heavy weight cruiser, and fellow book lover 20170825224958876 for the encouragement with their monthly ticket.)

When it comes to haircuts, Liu Banxia has always been very casual, focusing mainly on the price. He'll happily spend 25 yuan, no need for a 30 yuan shop. If the barber shop offers a discount card that saves him an extra 5 yuan, he'd gladly recharge it with 100 yuan.

This time, Qiaoqiao and the other girls brought him to a high-end hair salon. It was said that the master stylist in the shop charged him more than 300 yuan for a buzz cut.

According to Liu Banxia's aesthetic standards, he honestly couldn't figure out the difference between this 300 yuan haircut and the one he could get for 20 yuan.

"You're so annoying! Danny, the hairstylist, doesn't usually take walk-in clients," Qiaoqiao grumbled on their way to the restaurant.

"Pull the other one. If I'd listened to him, I would've spent a couple hundred more. Even your best hair products are chemicals. It's fine to treat yourself occasionally, but doing it frequently is harmful to your skin," Liu Banxia retorted.

"I've realized it's really easy to earn your money. I did a little asking around; getting your hair done costs at least two to three thousand yuan each time, doesn't it?"

"Depends on what you want to have done," Wang Xiaoyan answered with a grin.

"Alright, enough of that. How was my performance today? I saw that Jiaojiao really let go, and her comeback was quite a success," Liu Banxia said.

"Haha, Big Bro," Qiaoqiao said, winking playfully, "I don't want to strive anymore. What should I do?"

"Keep your eyes on the road. Everyone in this car is my cash cow," Liu Banxia said with a stern face.

The girls were greatly amused. Compared to Liu Banxia's makeover, today's counter-move was truly successful.

This was Liu Banxia's first time at Jinbao, a high-class restaurant. He had only heard about it before, as its prices were beyond his financial reach. Yet, he had to admit the interior design was truly exquisite, exuding elegance from every corner.

"Impressive, right? This is all Qiaoqiao's work from a couple of years ago," Wang Xiaoyan exclaimed.

"Wow, really?" Liu Banxia looked at Qiaoqiao in surprise.

"What are you looking at?" Qiaoqiao huffed.

"Nothing, just think the style really matches you," Liu Banxia said earnestly.

"Get out of here. Can't I ask someone for help with design? Go to the Auspicious Hall on the second floor, which I reserved for you. I originally wanted to give you a 30% discount, but now I'll only give you 20%," Qiaoqiao retorted, glaring at him.

"I'm still grateful. That saves a lot of money," Liu Banxia responded, grinning.

"I can't believe you. You're generous when treating others to a meal, but when doing business with us small-timers, you haggle over every penny," Qiaoqiao complained.

Liu Banxia gave a thumbs-up. This lass had a sharp tongue!

The waitstaff looked on in surprise. When had their cranky boss ever been so pleasant and cheerful?

Laughing and joking, they followed the waiter to the Auspicious Hall. As soon as they pushed open the door, they saw the table was already full of people; it turned out they were the last to arrive.

"Good heavens, Banxia, have you reinvented yourself altogether?" Zhou Li was the first to recover from the shock.

Liu Banxia shrugged. "It was the price of my performance. You have no idea how hard my morning was. Look at this handbag, it's pretty snazzy, right? But it's actually empty."

"Who told you not to put your phone in there? You could even put your keys in there," Liang Xiaolin muttered.

"I was worried I wouldn't hear my phone ringing. I didn't want to buy it in the first place, and now it'll just gather dust. Now that everyone's here, let's dig in. I'm really hungry. Anything else you guys especially want to order? We can still add dishes," Liu Banxia asked.

"The waiter already showed us the menu. It's already very plentiful. But not just anyone gets to adjust their menu spontaneously, right?" Zhou Li asked with a cheeky smile.

"This restaurant is owned by Qiaoqiao's family. Order any drinks you like. I'll just have beer," Liu Banxia said nonchalantly.

"Teacher Liu, where are you planning to go after dinner?" Xu Yino asked.

"I have to help someone with a live stream. Earning money is so hard. It's all hard-earned money. I'm just short of selling my body," Liu Banxia responded with a helpless complaint.

"Hahaha, girls, I don't want to put in any more effort," Xu Yino parroted, affecting Qiaoqiao's tone.

"My goodness, you all already know? How did it spread so fast?" Liu Banxia asked in astonishment.

"It's on WeChat Moments. But it hasn't been long, less than 20 minutes. I predict that by tonight, Teacher Liu will be the talk of Binhai City. Who knows, you might even become famous throughout the country," Xu Yino said, grinning. "But the Teacher Liu in the video isn't as handsome as he is in person. It's better to see him face-to-face. Teacher Liu, can we join you this afternoon? You said it was a welcome event, didn't you? Just having a meal doesn't count as a proper welcome."

"Alright, you win. If you want to come, then come. You can also relax by doing some yoga," Liu Banxia said.

"That's something for you young folk. We old folks should go home and rest. We also have to see the new house this afternoon. I haven't seen it even once until now," Wang Lei said with a wry smile.

And just like that, the floodgates of conversation opened. As doctors, their common pain point was the demanding nature of their work, leaving them with very little time they could truly call their own.

Liu Banxia was a high-priority customer for Qiaoqiao, so she ensured the dishes flowed to the table like water. He hadn't put much thought into the menu, letting Qiaoqiao arrange everything.

Once all the dishes were served, the waitstaff brought over a trolley with an enormous metal dish loaded with a seafood feast. Crabs, abalones, jumbo shrimps, mantis shrimps, and more, piled up in layers.

"Did you bring this to the wrong table? We didn't order this," said Liu Banxia.

"Mr. Liu, the boss instructed us to add this dish," the waiter replied with a smile.

"Alright, please thank Qiaoqiao for me. What's she eating? Should we bring her three crabs?" asked Liu Banxia sincerely.

The waitstaff didn't know how to respond to that, unsure if Liu Banxia was joking.

"Hey Banxia, why don't you invite Qiaoqiao and the others over? They're not strangers. Let's all eat together; there's still plenty of room at the table," Zhou Li suggested.

"Yeah, you... forget it, I'll just call her," said Liu Banxia. The source of this content ɪs novel·fire·net

"What are you up to now?" Qiaoqiao's voice came over the phone as soon as it connected.

"It can't be much fun for the three of you eating alone, come and join us. Besides, they sent over so much seafood, we can't possibly eat it all," said Liu Banxia.

"Hmm…okay, it's just that we don't know you guys that well," Qiaoqiao hesitated.

"You're always in our emergency department, who doesn't know you? By the way, there are some people you might not know. Today, you'll get to meet our behind-the-scenes heroes," joked Liu Banxia.

Zhou Li, listening nearby, sighed and almost rolled her eyes. She had thought her friend had finally gotten a clue, but he was still as dense as ever.

For the sake of Liu Banxia's personal life, she had really racked her brains, which was why she had suggested inviting the others over earlier.

Initially, she had set her sights on Liang Xiaolin. However, she later noticed something was off. Despite their constant squabbles, there didn't seem to be any chemistry between them.

Now, she had shifted her attention to Qiaoqiao.

In the three years that Zhou Li had known Liu Banxia, she understood him quite well. She knew he would never spend money on an outfit like the one he was wearing today—it would be like asking for his life.

So after watching the video, she guessed that the outfit must have been Qiaoqiao's doing. His talk about a 'performance fee' was just nonsense. If a girl didn't have feelings for you, would she buy you so many things? And put so much care into dressing you up?

However, today's situation was a bit complex, leading Zhou Li to misjudge. The outfit, today's dinner, and the seafood feast—it all gave Liu Banxia an immense amount of face, making him seem extraordinarily important today.

It had to be said, Qiaoqiao handled things with true generosity and really knew how to give face. When she arrived with Wang Xiaoyan and Jiaojiao, she even brought over two bottles of Maotai and two bottles of red wine.

"I noticed you guys didn't order much alcohol. Just drinking soft drinks isn't good enough," Qiaoqiao said with a smile.

"We don't usually drink much, and we all have to work tomorrow... But since you brought it over, let's drink," said Liu Banxia, changing his tune under Qiaoqiao's gaze.

Qiaoqiao and her friends were quite outgoing and had met Zhou Li and her group in the emergency department before. The only unfamiliar faces were those of Wang Lei and others who typically only appeared in the operating room.

After a few drinks, the atmosphere really livened up. However, the topics of discussion kept revolving around Liu Banxia.

"You all have excellent taste. Banxia never looked this energetic before. The most presentable he ever looked was probably during his first few days at the Second Hospital, right? After that, he became unbearable to look at," Zhou Li said with a laugh.

"What can I do about it? Who doesn't want to be energetic every day? But that's not possible. Back then, I just wanted to make a good impression and learn more; I didn't even have enough time to sleep," Liu Banxia said ruefully. "This younger generation is doing much better than we did back then. Although their studies will make their lives busier, they can save a lot of unnecessary time."

"Teacher Liu, we've also heard that residency training is very tough. How does it compare to what we're doing now?" asked Xu Yino curiously.

"For you guys? It'll only be harder. Don't expect to slack off. Internships are for learning. Slacking off means missing out on many things," Liu Banxia replied. "But a lot of it also depends on your own initiative. We're so busy with work that we really don't have time to create detailed study plans for you. We can only teach you what comes to mind, which is definitely different from your experience in medical school."

"It's not a big deal; we all pretty much went through the same thing. As anesthesiologists, we have to remember even more. Even so, we often encounter situations not covered in textbooks," Wang Lei said with a laugh.

"I'm glad I'm not that smart and not good at studying. Looking at you guys, it seems really tiring," Qiaoqiao remarked with a sigh.

"You're not that dumb, maybe only half-dumb," Liu Banxia teased.

That earned him a barrage of eye-rolls. On this point, even Zhou Li sided with Qiaoqiao, not Liu Banxia.

For a while, Liu Banxia became the common enemy, which, paradoxically, only livened up the atmosphere at the dinner table even more.