"Oh, I didn't realize you had an ear for accents, Meiko."
Claire studied Meiko, trying to guess her angle. "And Sloane shouldn't even know my grandfather's family lives in Cabinda."
Meiko's eyes flickered. "You just sound a little different from Sloane when you speak."
"So I figured you weren't from around here."
Claire treated it like a casual remark, quickly brushing past the topic.
She offered a polite smile. "I'm heading back to my grandfather's place for dinner.
He's getting older and needs the company, so please excuse me."
Unlike her usual cheerful retreats, Meiko didn't step aside this time. Instead, she frowned.
She hesitated, clearly biting her tongue.
It looked as if she was struggling with something hard to talk about.
"Did you need something from me?"
"If there's something I can help you with, just say it."
"Otherwise, you've sought me out so many times I'm running out of polite ways to decline."
A muffled laugh echoed nearby.
Someone eavesdropping on their conversation hadn't been able to hold back their amusement.
Meiko's mouth twitched.
Seriously, what was wrong with Claire?
Wasn't she supposed to be a friendly, helpful classmate?
Hadn't everyone said Solenian students were always incredibly welcoming to exchange students?
Solenian students?
Who told her that?
If a dog from Sundara walked past, they'd be tempted to kick it. Welcoming? Yeah, right.
People from Sundara really lacked self-awareness.
"I wanted to discuss medicine with you. I heard you're amazing at traditional medicine, so could you maybe help me..."
Meiko lowered her voice to a whisper. "I get terrible cramps every month. I want to see if you can fix it."
Claire highly doubted this girl was approaching her for a medical consultation.
She was so young, and people rarely trusted a student with their health.
Why bypass all the experienced professors at the medical school to seek out a freshman?
Claire's skeptical gaze told Meiko that this girl was not easily fooled.
"I really want you to take a look. I'm too embarrassed to go to the faculty and the local hospitals are just too confusing for me to
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Claire didn't buy it. She was certain Meiko was lying through her teeth.
Still, she wasn't the type to aggressively interrogate people.
"Honestly, you could just ask Sloane. She should be perfectly capable of handling this."
"She comes from a family with a deep background in traditional medicine. How could she not know how to treat cramps?"
Was Sloane capable?
Sloane certainly thought she was!
When Meiko had previously complained about her monthly pain, Sloane had already taken a look.
She had checked her pulse and prescribed a remedy, looking incredibly professional doing it.
Sloane had even taken the
prescription to her family's
pharmacy, brewed the medicine, and brought it back in neat little packets for Meiko.
But drinking it hadn't made the slightest difference.
To be exact, Meiko had barely drank it.
"Sloane is great, of course, but I hate the bitter taste. Every time I try to drink it, I gag half of it back up. It's awful."
"I heard you know acupuncture. I wanted to ask if you could use that to treat me instead."
Dropping the embarrassed act, Meiko blurted out her true intentions in one breath.
She could tell that if she didn't get to the point, Claire's patience would evaporate, and she might never get another chance.
"It's possible, but acupuncture alone is a slow process. It's not a quick fix."
"And who exactly told you I knew acupuncture?"
Claire needed to clarify this, because Meiko's sudden interest felt incredibly suspicious.
Meiko didn't panic this time. She
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"It was Julia. She was
life using acupuncture." .net