Chapter 1530: 1483 Painting the Skin

Huh?

Zheng Ren froze for a moment.

Afterwards, beneath the hair, a layer of skin was lifted up by the girl……

Is this a modern real‑life version of Painting the Skin? Zheng Ren felt a bit creeped out.

He instinctively looked up; the sun was bright, with no trace of gloomy yin energy or layers of ghostly shadows.

"Pay attention." Su Yun was quite dissatisfied with Zheng Ren's absent‑mindedness.

In the video, the girl pulled open a few centimeters of the "skin" on her neck, then let go; the patch of skin snapped back, showing no abnormality at all.

"Boss, awesome, right?" Su Yun also felt amazed.

"What is this?" Zheng Ren asked, bewildered.

Zheng Ren was good at watching videos, but he hadn't encountered much of this miscellaneous stuff.

In this area, Su Yun excelled.

But lately, spending so much time with Zheng Ren on medical duties has left her out of the loop on the latest trends.

The girl in the video laughed and spouted a bunch of technical jargon.

Zheng Ren felt like a patient facing a doctor—she explained in detail, but he understood nothing.

Taking glycerin suppositories orally didn't seem hard to grasp.

In the video, the girl turned and left; her silhouette vanished, yet the video kept playing.

Su Yun blew a smoke ring and said, "Boss, do you get it now?"

Zheng Ren shook his head, bewildered.

Painting the Skin?

Or a homemade horror flick using gu poison?

Soon she reappeared in the video, but her whole figure had changed dramatically.

What appeared was a rustic country lass.

But… the mosaic on her face was much the same as before.

Maybe, probably, roughly the same person?

She held up a "garment"—flesh‑colored, feeling somewhat like rubber.

Zheng Ren, dazed, asked, "Is it a person?"

"Of course." Su Yun replied.

It was a one‑piece suit, finely crafted.

Zheng Ren froze at first sight, not realizing what was happening. But when the girl in the video began to show the material and elasticity of the outfit, Zheng Ren froze again.

That's how it is……

"These days many cross‑dressers wear this; you can't tell it's fake." Su Yun remarked, "Even livestream hosts wear it, and supposedly it sells very well."

"…" Zheng Ren was speechless.

That was a world he wasn't familiar with.

"The material resembles real skin, a peak of early biomimetic technology." Su Yun smiled, saying, "If you don't touch it, you can't tell it's fake. It's incredibly lifelike and natural. Even if you do touch it, most people wouldn't notice."

"And then?" Zheng Ren asked, clueless.

"Then you start a livestream and wait for tips. Haven't you noticed that there are hardly any nurses under 25 left in Haicheng Shi Yiyuan?"

"It's because Haicheng's population is draining away." Zheng Ren said.

"That's only part of the reason; mainly, any young girl with a bit of looks goes back to livestreaming. Working night shifts, exhausted, earning maybe two or three thousand a day? After ten years, if she can't handle night shifts, she'll be ruthlessly discarded." Su Yun said.

Zheng Ren said nothing.

"Like a scumbag." Su Yun gave her final comment, not sure who she meant.

"Going into livestreaming changes everything." He immediately brightened up, "Nowadays makeup techniques are just a modern version of the disguise arts from old martial‑arts novels. With this high‑tech gear, altering one's figure, I can't tell the difference. It's practically a ninja's transformation… no, it's the Painting the Skin from Liaozhai!"

When the video ended, Zheng Ren's vision filled with the image of the girl Su Yun had found, using her fingers to lift the "skin" on her own neck.

This world is absolutely crazy.

No wonder Su Yun had trouble hearing the heartbeat—there was a layer of "skin" on the outside. The heart sounds came across as faint and distant; otherwise it would have seemed like a ghost.

After going through it all, Zheng Ren felt it wasn't for nothing—he'd gained insight. Next time he ran into such a situation, he wouldn't cause a huge blunder like Su Yun did.

He explained the situation to Zhou Litao, and neither of them went to the Emergency Department.

Finally, tense analysis of the condition and ruling out the cause of the faint, distant heart sounds consumed a lot of energy, and Zheng Ren also felt a bit tired.

Back in the ward, Zheng Ren sat once more in the sunny spot, basking in the sun while reading.

An hour later, Director Wei came to the Intervention Department.

"Zheng Lao Ban, anything up today?" Director Wei asked as he entered.

"Director Wei, why did you come? Is your back feeling better?" Zheng Ren asked with a smile.

"Not bad, same old trouble."

"Just a minor ailment; get it treated early." Zheng Ren politely rose and invited Director Wei to sit and talk.

"To be frank, I've always been afraid to touch the lumbar disc area." Director Wei gave a wry smile.

Zheng Ren sensed that Director Wei had a stubborn reluctance to perform surgery on him.

After all, you only feel pain when the knife cuts your own flesh—no wonder Director Wei feels that way.

"Back in school, a classmate played tennis and aggravated a lumbar disc protrusion. Think about how old we were then."

Indeed, in our twenties, when blood and vigor are at their peak, the body is at its best.

"Later he went to a fairly famous hospital that treats lumbar disc protrusion with massage. Half a month later he became incontinent." Director Wei said, "It's possible the psychological trauma started then."

"Has the technology improved now?" Zheng Ren asked with a smile.

His orthopedics skill tree hasn't been opened yet, and he also doesn't want to attract a troublesome patient like Director Wei for himself.

Zheng Lao Ban, do you have anything tonight? Director Wei asked.

What's wrong?

Isn't it that Zhang Weiyu from Jiuyang is arranging to treat you to a meal? He's also recruited a batch of good meat, which should have arrived at the shop by now. Fresh, but if you eat it tomorrow the texture will be a bit worse.

Zheng Ren hesitated a bit, then immediately smiled and said, "Okay, I'll ask Su Yun and them."

Su Yun that guy again doesn't know where he ran off to; Zheng Ren dialed his phone, and over there he seemed to be chatting and laughing happily, saying something.

"Tonight Zhang Weiyu is treating guests to eat meat." Zheng Ren got straight to the point.

"Um... I'll ask."

Zheng Ren looked helplessly at Director Wei and asked, "Su Yun's side also has two friends who want to treat guests; why not combine them?"

"No problem, the more people the livelier." Director Wei said with a smile.

People…… many…… lively…… noisy……

Zheng Ren's head buzzed.

"Okay, let Qin Tang and Zou Yu come together." Zheng Ren said: "I'll ask Director Wei; once we settle the time I'll tell you—just go directly, don't hassle."

"Who is it?" Director Wei, hearing Zheng Ren directly use the name, seemed familiar and asked.

"Xianggang, the two kids from the Zou family and the Qin family." Zheng Ren said in an elder's tone.

"……" Director Wei recalled having seen them before, but didn't have a deep impression.