Chapter 121: A Man and Woman Alone, What Could They be Doing?
Chapter 121: A Man and Woman Alone, What Could They be Doing?
It was quite hard for Lu Chenzhou to lose control of himself because there weren’t many things that could interest him and provoke a strong reaction from him. This was magnified by the fact that he treated trying to pick Cheng Xi up as one of his responsibilities. He did lose control sometimes, but those incidents were too small for anything to really happen.
I won’t actually get into bed with him, would I? Thinking about this wouldn’t be of any use. As she continued to think about this subject, Cheng Xi started daydreaming instead of continuing her conversation with the nurse. In truth, they were both very busy, and even finding time for these few snatches of conversation was difficult.
Even though Cheng Xi was finished with her duties, she didn’t feel at ease. In her anxiousness, she visited her patients’ wards again. As she met with them, she talked with them in passing about their lives and dreams. Chen Jiaman was a little more troublesome than the others, as she was unwilling to even try to interact with strangers. Because Cheng Xi had gone on vacation for a few days and hadn’t seen her during that time, she was no longer willing to respond to Cheng Xi. She wordlessly held onto her sketchbook at the head of her bed. No matter what Cheng Xi said, Chen Jiaman just grunted in response. Only when Cheng Xi was about to leave did Chen Jiaman secretly turn around to look at her.
Everything seemed to be going fine, and of course, no one really cared about the earlier incident with Ceng Xing. The doctors in the psychiatry department encountered far too many strange things and people, and it was even normal for them to be scolded or beaten. The worst case was when a new female doctor had almost been molested while conducting psychotherapy with her patient. Meeting the patients’ strange family members was even more common, so Cheng Xi completely put the matter aside after the incident. When she returned to her office and started flipping through her medical records and books, the only thing on her mind was thinking of a way to stimulate Lu Chenzhou’s emotions.
But the more she thought about it, the more she felt that this was like trying to pluck a hair from a lion’s mane.
She needed a method that would be both precise and safe, and this required meticulous planning.
As she was pondering over the conundrum, the phone rang; it was a call from Tian Rou.
“I had a big fight with someone! Gosh, I’m so angry. Come and accompany me out, please?”
Fighting with someone while celebrating the new year? Cheng Xi was impressed with her friend’s ability to pick fights. As she continued to flip through the records in her hands, she smiled and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Some scumbag was spreading rumors about how Shen Wei and Fu Mingyi are going to get a divorce. Hmph, I just talked to Shen Wei this morning! She’s pregnant and resting well at home, with Fu Mingyi by her side. You tell me, isn’t it immoral to curse someone out of nowhere during the new year? Of course I had to yell at him!”
Cheng Xi stilled at Tian Rou’s rant. “Fu Mingyi’s staying with Shen Wei?”
“That’s right! The two of them even reaffirmed their love for each other in front of me…… Ah, it feels like I’m about to have a bad year. On the first day of the new year, I had a big fight with my mom. Then, today, if you discount the fact that I witnessed a public display of affection in the morning, I got into yet another fight with someone. Cheng Xi, comfort me!”
“Alright. But I already have a date in the afternoon, so would you want to tag along?”
“That Lu fellow?”
“Yes.”
Tian Rou was somewhat embarrassed. “Is that okay?”
Cheng Xi confidently replied, “It’s not a big deal.” Even if Lu Chenzhou wanted to try something, the presence of a stranger should dampen his enthusiasm a bit.
And given how lonely that man was, he needed someone loud like Tian Rou around.
And so Tian Rou happily accepted. “Then it’s settled! It’s a good thing that he’s handsome. That way, I’ll be able to sneak a few glances at him and recalibrate myself.” After confirming the date and time, she cheerfully hung up.
Cheng Xi then called Shen Wei, but she didn’t pick up. Rather, her mother did, and she joyfully told Cheng Xi, “She went for a walk with Fu Mingyi. Ah, she’s probably thought it through by now, and I hope that the two of them will be able to have a happy life together. Everyone makes mistakes now and then, right? It must have been really hard on you during this period of time. I’d like to treat you to a meal whenever you’re free.”
“Alright. Please let me know if anything comes up.”
Cheng Xi sighed, not knowing what was on Shen Wei’s mind. But regardless of what Shen Wei was doing on the surface, Cheng Xi didn’t believe for one bit that she could overlook that incident and forgive Fu Mingyi.
Shen Wei had never been a magnanimous person, and she wasn’t someone who would do this even for her baby.
But Cheng Xi also didn’t have a better treatment plan for Shen Wei than to just check up on her regularly. No matter how worried Cheng Xi was for Shen Wei, she couldn’t do anything about it for the moment. She could only hope that Shen Wei would really think things through—it would be fine as long as she didn’t take any drastic measures.
With most of her tasks completed, Cheng Xi went home after tidying up her desk. She then casually ate lunch, took a bath, and napped for a short while. At 3 PM in the afternoon, she got up and did half an hour of yoga before leisurely changing and preparing to go out.
While she put her outfit together, she recalled her mother’s words about her fashion sense and inspected her reflection in the mirror. She usually wore loose clothes for comfort, and naturally, all the clothes she had worn this season were shirts and sweaters. If it was a bit colder outside, then she might put on some extra layers; if it was warmer, then a windbreaker or a jacket.
Since she was going on a date, she should really treat her attire a bit more seriously. After some careful consideration, she picked out a black dress and a bright red wool jacket to compliment it. As her mother had said, Cheng Xi very seldomly wore bright colors. This jacket was something that Cheng Yang had gifted her during the last new year, and she had hung it up in her wardrobe for an entire year without ever wearing it.
When she tried it on, she felt that it was fine, and that it was pretty compatible with the outside celebratory atmosphere of the new year. Pleased with the look, she had chosen to wear it.
And since she had put special care into her outfit, she might as well style her hair too—into a simple bun, which was simple, convenient, and not much of a hassle.
After she finished getting ready, she walked outside and tried to hail a taxi. For the entire first month of the lunar year, finding a free taxi was a difficult ordeal. Cheng Xi waited for quite a while, but the taxi that she was waiting for never showed up. However, Ceng Xing did.
He was getting off work then, and when he saw Cheng Xi dressed all in red and standing by the roadside, he hesitated for a moment before pulling up to her.
“Where are you going? I can drop you off.” Even though he said this, he felt somewhat uncomfortable, for no other reason than the fact that the two of them had been fighting against each other for a long time. Thus, acting amicably with her made him feel very conflicted inside.
Cheng Xi was also a little shocked by his offer, but she quickly regained her calm and asked, “Where are you headed?”
“Anywhere’s fine. In any case, I’ll drop you off wherever you need to go!” When he saw that she wasn’t planning on responding, he became even more impatient. “Stop dilly-dallying and get in the car. I’m not supposed to stop here!”
Without any real choice, Cheng Xi could only hurriedly get into the car.
As the two of them had studied under the same professor and were even colleagues now, the relationship between them should have been pretty good. However, they had never been able to mesh well. And besides their incompatibility, Ceng Xing often obstructed her at work and spoke to her with barbed words, like right now. When Cheng Xi gave him the location she was going to, he briefly glanced at her before sourly commenting, “You’re meeting up with your rich boyfriend again, aren’t you?” And then, “I thought that the kind of men you liked would be compatible with you in heart and soul. I never thought that you’d be one of those women who prized wealth and material possessions.”
Cheng Xi wanted to ignore him, but when she realized that he could keep talking the whole way even without a word from her, she finally replied exasperatedly, “Senior, you’re also a rich man. Why’re you discriminating against the wealthy? If you’re saying all this because you’re thankful for my help, then let me tell you that there’s really no need. I really didn’t do much. And if it’s not because you’re thankful, then it’s even more unnecessary because we don’t even know each other that well.”
Cheng Xi’s words made Ceng Xing’s face turn green, but he did shut up, and the world was quiet once again.
Cheng Xi wasn’t at all afraid of offending him because she was quite confident that, despite his caustic mouth and somewhat limited abilities, he wasn’t a bad person at heart.
But she didn’t expect that he would be so indefatigable today. After Cheng Xi got out of his car, he seemed to have suddenly thought of an irrepressible question. He followed her out, pulled her back from behind, and calmly asked, “Cheng Xi, do you look down on me?”
Cheng Xi had no idea what he was insinuating. “You’re overthinking it.” She tried to struggle free, but was unable to do so. Because the two were both good-looking, they normally drew a significant amount of attention, and the minor tiff between them immediately drew much more.
Baldy and Lu Chenzhou had arrived at the building quite a while ago, with Baldy having been called over by Tian Rou. The two of them had met at Shen Wei’s birthday banquet, and after that, they had developed a certain camaraderie.
Tian Rou wanted to stare at a handsome man, but she also didn’t want to be blinded by their displays of affection alone. So after she received an invitation from Cheng Xi, she had called Baldy up. “I’m going to be a third wheel for my sister. Do you want to be one for your brother too?”
Baldy was very, very bored from visiting his friends and family for the New Year, so he had eagerly come over, even hitching a ride with Lu Chenzhou.
The two men were currently sitting by a table near the window, and they suddenly heard someone say, “There are two people quarrelling downstairs.”
Baldy loved to gawk, so he excitedly turned around and looked at the scene before exclaiming in surprise, “Hey, isn’t that Dr. Cheng? A man and woman alone, what could they be doing?”
Cheng Xi was currently being held back by Ceng Xing, as if they were playing out the role of a couple trying to settle a dispute.