Jiaochen

Be that as it may, those words still sounded a bit wrong.

It was almost dinner time.

The three of them went for dinner together.

After the meal, Fu Yanzhi sent Ye Zhenzhen home before he and Ji Qingying went back together.

When they arrived in front of the door of their apartments, Fu Yanzhi suddenly stopped her.

Ji Qingying turned her head in surprise. "What's the matter?"

Fu Yanzhi's gaze fell on her cheeks and after a long pause he narrowed his eyes and said, "It's nothing."

“……”

Ji Qingying became puzzled.

She stared at Fu Yanzhi with eyes narrowed for a while.

"Really nothing?"

She said, "If there is something, I can stand here all night long and wait for you."

Fu Yanzhi: "……"

He reached out with his hands and squeezed her cheek, while whispering, "Get some rest. Call me if something comes up."

"…Oh."

Ji Qingying smiled. "Okay."

After going in, Ji Qingying walked straight to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. She stared at her reflection for a long time, silently smiling as she did so.

She knew what Fu Yanzhi's glance at her meant.

That night Ji Qingying slept very well.

She had an indescribable sense of security as if she had been put in a safe space which made her feel relaxed.

~~~~~~~~~

The next day at the hospital.

After a busy morning, Xu Chengli, who hadn’t come to work for a long time, still felt a bit uncomfortable.

He stretched out his hand and rubbed his neck looking at the person next to him.

"Fu Yanzhi, wanna go out for lunch?"

Fu Yanzhi hadn't said a word yet. Zhao Yidong, who was looking for something in their office, instead answered him first, "Dr. Xu, Dr. Fu has someone who will bring him his food."

Xu Chengli: "…Who?"

His brows rose in surprise and he suddenly remembered. "Your cousin’s coming to bring you your food again?"

Fu Yanzhi didn't even lift his head.

Zhao Yidong looked at him strangely and stared at Xu Chengli for a few seconds.

"Cousin?"

Xu Chengli didn't know, so he snorted and looked at Zhao Yidong, "Why, nurse Zhao forgot the beautiful cousin? Didn’t you mention her just now?”

Zhao Yidong blinked, then remembered that Ji Qingying was not Fu Yanzhi's cousin, and also that Xu Chengli did not know about that fact.

When she told everyone about who that girl was, Xu Chengli was not there.

Thinking about that, Zhao Yidong smiled, she didn't plan on telling him the truth.

"Yes, yes, yes. His cousin."

Xu Chengli who was looking at her smile felt that something was off.

"Nurse Zhao, are you hiding something from me?"

Zhao Yidong's eyes widened. "I’m not. Dr. Xu, don't accuse me."

Just as Xu Chengli was about to speak, he caught a glimpse of Fu Yanzhi looking at his mobile phone.

He raised his chin trying to peek and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Fu Yanzhi ignored him.

He frowned. He vaguely felt something really was wrong.

"Nothing."

Fu Yanzhi took off his white coat and lightly said, "Let's go."

"Where?"

"For lunch."

Surprised, Xu Chengli and nurse Zhao looked at each other.

Zhao Yidong with doubt painted on her face asked, "Dr. Fu, Qingying not coming today?"

"Yes."

The hot afternoon sun’s light was falling through the sparse leaves of the trees surrounding the hospital casting beautiful shadows on the ground.

While walking down the road, Xu Chengli vaguely felt that something was wrong.

He looked sideways at the silent man, "Why do I feel like you’re hiding something from me?"

Fu Yanzhi didn't even lift his eyes, and replied indifferently, "Am I?"

Xu Chengli: "……"

"I'm asking you."

For a few seconds, it felt as if his thoughts were being obstructed by something before he gathered himself again and asked in a low voice. "Were you waiting for someone before?”

Fu Yanzhi glanced at him. "Too much curiosity can kill a person."

Xu Chengli:"……"

Both of them entered the canteen together.

They hadn’t seen Xu Chengli for a long time so many colleagues warmly greeted him.

Fu Yanzhi had gone ahead to get his lunch tray when suddenly the phone in his pocket vibrated.

He stopped, took it out of his pocket, and unlocked the screen.

Ji Qingying: [Dr. Fu, I got up late, so I won't be visiting the hospital today.]

Fu Yanzhi's finger paused. He then replied: [I see. You just got up?]

Ji Qingying: [Yes.]

Fu Yanzhi: [Ok.]

Staring at his phone, he thought for a while then made a call.

~~~~~~~~~

The canteen was always a busy place.

Although Fu Yanzhi did not speak much, it did not hinder the people talking beside him.

After eating, he threw a sentence to the one particular chatterbox. "I'll go back first."

Xu Chengli and several others just stared at each other dumbfoundedly.

He frowned as he asked. "Doesn’t Dr. Fu’s mood seems to be not well?"

A colleague next to him started laughing. "He’s not being accompanied by the great beauty today. So it's normal that he’s in a bad mood."

Hearing that, Xu Chengli’s eyebrows went up in askance.

"What great beauty?"

"Oh, you don't know yet?"

Xu Chengli: "……"

"She's a beautiful lady who has a crush on Dr. Fu. Recently, she has always been visiting the canteen with Dr. Fu every day. They are a perfect match."

"Yes, yes, yes. Both of them have become a sight to see for everyone at our hospital canteen around this time."

Xu Chengli's eyes went wide in disbelief.

"Fu Yanzhi? Having a meal with a woman?"

"Yes."

All the colleagues laughed stating, "The pride of our hospital has finally grown up."

Xu Chengli: "……"

After sending the message to Fu Yanzhi, Ji Qingying regretted it a little.

Was she being a bit too obvious this way?

But if she didn't make excuses like this, she wouldn’t be able to help herself from running to the hospital again.

Plopping her head on the table she sighed helplessly.

Her doubts had been cleared, but sometimes they would come back to haunt her. Reminding her to pay attention.

This decision was made by Ji Qingying after putting in some thought with careful consideration.

Everyone had a different thought process.

She was indeed afraid of destroying Fu Yanzhi's image in everyone's hearts, even though he might not care so much.

So after being told those words by Su Wanying, Ji Qingying could no longer completely ignore them.

Sitting in front of the desk, Ji Qingying stared at her phone for a long time and held back an urge to send a message to Fu Yanzhi.

She turned her head and glanced at the clock. It was almost one o’clock.

Ji Qingying rubbed her eyes, got up, and walked to the kitchen.

The day before yesterday, Rongxue and Chen Xinyu had gone to the supermarket to buy a lot of things so her refrigerator was packed to the brim.

Ji Qingying stared at the fruits and vegetables for a few seconds, bent over to open the freezer, and took out a pack of frozen dumplings.

Just as she took them out, the doorbell rang.

Ji Qingying opened the door in surprise.

The opened door revealed a handsome man standing in her doorway.

"Hello, are you Ms. Ji Qingying?"

Ji Qingying nodded.

The visitor smiled and handed over a bag to her. "This is the takeaway that Brother Fu asked me to deliver to you."

It was sunny outside the window.

When Ji Qingying got up in the morning, she had opened all the living room curtains and even the french windows.

The sunlight was dense, filling the room with light.

It also increased the temperature indoors. Even the wind blowing in was hot.

Ji Qingying didn't care.

She had been working on a cheongsam all morning and hadn't cared too much about whether it was hot or not.

But right now, she seemed to be burning all over.

An indescribable heat spread from the soles of her feet to her chest and even her heartbeat had increased.

She looked down at what she had just taken out of the bag.

In addition to two dishes and one soup, there was also a dessert.

And, a splendid jasmine in full bloom.

Ji Qingying had never thought about it.

That Fu Yanzhi would ask someone to deliver her a meal and a flower.

She stared at the things in front of her for a long time and couldn't help but give him a call immediately.

It quickly connected and she heard the cold tone she was familiar with.

"Hello?"

"Why did you…" Her lips were pursed for a moment but she still finished her question. "Send me these?"

Fu Yanzhi was in the corridor of the hospital. Feeling the hotness brought by the sun hanging in the sky, he replied, "You haven't eaten yet, right?"

Ji Qingying: "Yes."

She said, "But I didn't expect you to send these to me.

"Well," Fu Yanzhi said lightly, "Courtesy demands reciprocity."

Ji Qingying: "…Oh."

That didn't sound very nice.

Her emotions were still unstable but the man's pleasant voice sounded in her ears again. "It's not a courtesy exchange with the intention of drawing a line."

Upon hearing this, Ji Qingying smiled and asked, "What kind is it then?"

"What do you think?" was the reply.

"Huh?" Ji Qingying couldn't help but laugh. "But, I never gave you flowers."

Fu Yanzhi chuckled.

Ji Qingying couldn't control herself as her ears instantly turned red.

"Why are you laughing?"

"The flower is to apologize."

Ji Qingying was stunned.

"Apologize?"

Fu Yanzhi said slowly, "Yes."

Ji Qingying was confused. "…What are you apologizing for?"

Fu Yanzhi reminded her. "Yesterday."

Hearing this, Ji Qingying's heart stopped. Could it be that Fu Yanzhi knew about her conversation with that doctor?!

Or was it for something else?

She gulped nervously, wondering. "What about yesterday?"

Fu Yanzhi smiled, "Why are you so stupid?"

Ji Qingying: "…I'm not stupid."

Fu Yanzhi burst out into laughter and didn't contradict her.

"It seems that I didn't coax someone well enough yesterday." He replied.

Suddenly, Ji Qingying felt that her ears and her body were not her own.

All her attention was focused on Fu Yanzhi's words.

It was as if her ears could hear the sounds of bursting fireworks that lit up the sky with every color under the sun, making her so dizzy that she was unable to get back to a right state of mind.

Her heart thumped violently. All because of his words and it did that only for him.

She felt as if she didn’t have enough air to breathe for a second.

She couldn’t help but smile.

Ji Qingying sat cross-legged on the carpet, knocking her head on the marble coffee table before regaining her senses.

After hearing the light banging noises Fu Yanzhi frowned, "What are you doing?"

"Knocking my head."

Fu Yanzhi: "…Knocking your head?"

"Yes."

Fu Yanzhi couldn't help but laugh as if he could picture her doing these things.

He smiled. "Eat first."

"Don't want to."

Ji Qingying arrogantly said, "You haven't told me who the certain someone is."

“……”

"You can't guess it?"

Fu Yanzhi cooperated and went along with her game.

"Yes."

Ji Qingying said frankly, "You said I am stupid and stupid people will definitely not be able to guess."

Having no choice due to his helplessness, Fu Yanzhi indulged. "Okay, let me tell you."

"Then say it quickly."

"Ji Qingying."

"Yes?"

Ji Qingying responded subconsciously.

Fu Yanzhi paused, then with a smile he whispered. "I've said it."

Ji Qingying wanted to bang her head again like a mad person. The adrenaline rush in her was rising sharply.

For some reason, she felt that Fu Yanzhi seemed to have changed.

What had he become?

He had turned into what she liked more and more.

"No."

Winning an inch and wanting a mile, Ji Qingying said again, "Say it again."

"Fu Yanzhi."

With her soft tone containing all the emotions that had been drawn out by him, she coquettishly asked, "Can you please say it one more time?"

He once again didn’t have any other alternative and yet still finding everything funny he asked, "Why are you so manipulative?"

"Hmm. I precisely am," she admitted

Fu Yanzhi: "……"

The helpless him softened his tone and indulged her again.

"Ji Qingying."