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nXiao Yunyun remained silent for a while.

n“When I started interning here, her father, Mr. Zhang, happened to be transferred to my department. I have been responsible for monitoring Mr. Zhang’s case. That’s why the head admitted me into the operating room. But we never expected that there would be any situation of rejection. I was right there when he passed away. I was the doctor, and he was the patient. But there was nothing I could do.”

nShen Yuechuan realized that Xiao Yunyun was feeling guilty.

nShe thought that she was a doctor whose unshakable duty was saving lives. But when the patient died in front of her, she could do nothing but stare.

n“Let’s call it a day. It is not that I am being considerate for her loss, but I shouldn’t be the one whom she lashed out at.” Her lips puckered. “I just feel sorry because she was my patient’s family.”

n“What happened to the smart-looking girl? This is when you should be smart. Shen Yuechuan poked her head. “Of course, saving lives is a doctor’s duty, but doctors are not God. It is impossible to save every dying patient with an incurable disease from death.”

nXiao Yunyun didn’t talk back, looking down at the ground. “I know.”

nIt didn’t seem like her. But it only took Shen Yuechuan a short while to figure out the reason. “Was it your first time seeing something like this?”

nXiao Yunyun nodded.

nShen Yuechuan recalled that the first time he had seen a person fall down in front of him covered in blood, he was creeped out with a chill all over him and was unable to speak for a few seconds.

nWitnessing the passing of lives resonates with people about the fragility of lives.

nThat’s why Shen Yuechuan kind of understood how Xiao Yunyun felt at that moment.

nSubconsciously, Shen Yuechuan reached out to Xiao Yunyun and patted her on the head, saying, “Don’t be silly. It was not your fault.”

nXiao Yunyun froze.

nNot because of what Shen Yuechuan said, but because of what he did.

nThis gesture to many sensitive people was doting and a sort of consolation. When she was little, her dad always patted her head like that, encouraging her gently to take the initiative to try.

nShe felt courageous whenever her dad patted her like that.

nBut then, her dad had got really busy. The form of his encouragement changed to one of material compensation, such as an outrageous credit card limit, and purses, shoes, and clothes from well-known luxury brands, etc. Her dad could offer all these things effortlessly, but couldn’t have dinner properly with her.

nBeing patted, encouraged, understood, and consoled seemed to be something that was long lost.

nIf it weren’t for Xiao Yunyun’s mom calling, she would have been mind-frozen like this for longer.

nShe picked it up. “Yunyun, are you all right? How did this happen?” Her mom sounded anxious and worried.

n“I am fine. It’s all sorted anyway.” Simultaneously, Xiao Yunyun heard flight boarding announcements from over the phone, and asked confusedly, “Mom, are you at the airport?”

nAfter a momentary pause, she said, “Yeah, I am heading to America.” Then her melodic voice became gentle and soft. “Are you really okay? Maybe I should just change my flight and come check on you?”

n“I am fine, really. Cousin Su called her friend to come over and have it all sorted. Just do your thing.”

n“I told you not to work in the hospital and that you shouldn’t be a doctor, and you, in return…”

nThis discussion was inevitable every time they talked over the phone, and it always ended up in a quarrel. Xiao Yunyun was phobic about this kind of conversation, so she interrupted her mom hurriedly. “This incident has nothing to do with my job. It was just the patient’s family being unreasonable. By the way, why do you go to America so frequently lately? We don’t have much business cooperation there.”

n“……”

nAfter a prolonged silence, Xiao Yunyun heard her mom sighing. “I don’t go to America for work. There are some things… Anyway, I’ll tell you later when I see you.” She dreaded that if she told Xiao Yunyun on the phone, catching her unprepared, she wouldn’t be able to take it.

nXiao Yunyun didn’t ask further, hanging up, and smiled at Shen Yuechuan. “Thank you for today.”

nIf it weren’t for Shen Yuechuan, she wouldn’t have been able to handle all that.

n“Nothing else but a ‘thank you’? That’s unacceptable.” Shen Yuechuan checked the time. “You owe me a dinner. I am starving right now. Buy me dinner.”

n“You are cheeky, aren’t you?” Still, Xiao Yunyun came up with an idea when she was complaining, telling Shen Yuechuan, “Go get your car.”

nXiao Yunyun told Shen Yuechuan where to go after getting in the car. “I have tried this. This definitely is the best Thai food in the city center,” she said proudly.

nShen Yuechuan was speechless. “Miss. Xiao, do you have no courtesy to ask what I want to eat?”

n“I am paying. I am making the call,” “Miss. Xiao” answered with conviction.

n“……” She had a point. Shen Yuechuan couldn’t rebut.

nIn fact, Thai food was quite acceptable to Shen Yuechuan. Probably because of the environment in which he had grown up, he wasn’t picky at all. If he were as picky as Mu Sijue, who could make a long list of food that he didn’t eat, he would have died in the orphanage.

n20 minutes later, the car parked in front of the restaurant. Shen Yuechuan followed Xiao Yunyun. Before they had answered the reception about how many people were in their party, they heard somebody yelling. “Special Assistant Shen, right here!”

nLooking inside, there was a group of young-looking people dressed in smart suits sitting at a table around the corner, waving at Shen Yuechuan elatedly. Seemingly, they were very close to Shen Yuechuan.

nThe first thing that Shen Yuechuan saw was the sparkle in their eyes, which exposed their desire for gossiping. He struggled because he forgot that they were having Thai food today. If he had realized it, he would have taken Xiao Yunyun to have street food rather than have dinner here.

nXiao Yunyun took a glimpse at Shen Yuechuan with a mind full of questions. “Your colleagues?”

n“Those are the assistants and secretaries of your cousin-in-law. They work on the same floor as me,” Shen Yuechuan said in a way as if he had gotten into trouble.

n“Special Assistant Shen, what are you doing standing there? Come on over!” Daisy waved at Shen Yuechuan vigorously.

nSeeing this situation, memories rushed back to Xiao Yunyun. Su Jianan once mentioned to her that Shen Yuechuan has been attractive to many ladies. Obviously, the statement had been proved now.

nShen Yuechuan and Xiao Yunyun didn’t move, so Daisy walked over to them. “Special Assistant Shen, are you on a date? If you don’t mind, come and join us.”

nXiao Yunyun panicked. “Miss, I think you’ve got it wrong. I owe Shen Yuechuan one, so I’m buying him dinner. That’s all. We are not in the kind of relationship that you think.”

n“Oh…” Daisy grinned. “It doesn’t matter. We can still have dinner together.”

nBefore Shen Yuechuan and Xiao Yunyun could reject her, Daisy dragged them to her table.

nAs soon as they sat down, ridicule was poured on Shen Yuechuan. “Special Assistant Shen told us that he was assigned some work by Boss Lu and couldn’t have dinner with us. So, I guess accompanying a beautiful lady for dinner is the work that Boss Lu assigned?”

nShen Yuechuan sneakily kicked that colleague under the table, then introduced Xiao Yunyun to everyone. “This is Boss Lu’s cousin, Xiao Yunyun.”

nAcknowledging the fact that Xiao Yunyun was Lu Boyan’s cousin, the group stopped teasing them, but they were also assured that there had to be something between Shen Yuechuan and Xiao Yunyun.

nAny one of them could help Xiao Yunyun handle her problems. If they were innocent, why did Lu Boyan specifically ask Shen Yuechuan to help Xiao Yunyun?

nXiao Yunyun might be snarky when talking to Shen Yuechuan, but she was definitely a talkative and energetic person when socializing. Additionally, Lu Boyan’s secretaries were everything to all men as well as sociable. Soon, Xiao Yunyun was acquainted with one of the female secretaries, talking about things from gossip to cosmetics and shopping, topics that every woman would love to talk about.

nThere were some people beating around the bush, trying to glean the information from Xiao Yunyun about her relationship with Shen Yuechuan. But she only mentioned that she ran into some problems today, which were solved by Shen Yuechuan. Then, she took him to dinner out of gratitude. That’s all, a purely innocent relationship.

nIn light of Xiao Yunyun’s position, the group dared not make fun of her. They could only pretend to buy what she said.

nAfter dinner, the female secretaries exchanged numbers with Xiao Yunyun, suggesting that they should hang out more often whenever they were free.

nWitnessing this, the male colleagues asked purposefully, “Yunyun, do you like any ball games?”

nXiao Yunyun nodded. “I like playing badminton.”

n“We always play badminton together after work.” The male colleague said half-jokingly, “Maybe we should exchange numbers and can go to play badminton sometime?”

nBefore Xiao Yunyun said anything, the male colleague felt a knife-like stare from Shen Yuechuan.

n“You see,” his purpose accomplished, the male colleague pointed at Shen Yuechuan and yelled, “Special Assistant Shen gave me that glare! I say, he is definitely jealous!”

n“No, you misunderstood.” Shen Yuechuan explained calmly, “I gave that glare on behalf of Boss Lu. Before I left the office today, Boss Lu asked me explicitly to take good care of Miss. Xiao and keep her away from evil-minded wolves.”

n“……” They all became speechless when they heard “Lu Boyan”.

nNot only did the group become speechless, but Xiao Yunyun as well. Only she knew that Shen Yuechuan meant more than that. She was once tricked by Qin Yang and gave him her number. It was Shen Yuechuan alerting her and reminding her that Qin Yang was not a good guy later.

nShen Yuechuan ignored the expression on their faces, then grabbed Xiao Yunyun’s wrist. “Let’s go.”

nHe pushed Xiao Yunyun into the car and left, driving her back to her apartment.

nOn the way, he remembered that when Su Jianan was a freshman in college, Lu Boyan asked him to look into Su Jianan’s daily routine back in those times, and he said that Su Jianan was either in the dorm or in the library. At most, she would do some tutoring job at the Pangs. He teased that Su Jianan’s life revolved around nothing but studying.

nLu Boyan heard and gave him an emotionless look. “You don’t understand. This is the best.”

nBut now he understood. The fewer social activities Su Jianan had, the less likely she would interact with another guy, which also meant that it was less possible that she would be tricked and stolen away by the other guys.

nTherefore, he sent Xiao Yunyun back. The decisions of having her staying at home and blocking the chances of her exchanging numbers with others could not be any wiser.

nThe yellow sports car parked in front of the apartment. Xiao Yunyun unfastened her seat belt, said, “Thank you,” and was about to get out of the car.

n“Wait.” Shen Yuechuan stopped Xiao Yunyun. Hesitating for a while, he cleared his throat and said, “I am fine.”

nXiao Yunyun looked confused. “You lost me.”

n“Didn’t you… hmm… call Jianan and ask her if I was sick?” Shen Yuechuan stared at Xiao Yunyun seriously. “If you are worried, next time you can just call me.”

nShen Yuechuan had no idea why he was being so unlike himself. But after he let that all out, he weirdly felt sweet and satisfied.

nXiao Yunyun blushed and was annoyed by that impulsive call, but she remained calm and sneered. “Shen Yuechuan, you seriously think that I was worried about you? It’s just that you are my ride all the time and I didn’t want to be infected, so I casually asked my cousin if you were sick.”

n“That’s it?”

nShen Yuechuan seemed calm. But actually, the sweetness and satisfaction vanished, and were replaced by a bitterness that he had never realized.

n“Otherwise?” Xiao Yunyun asked rhetorically, “What else do you expect?”

nLeaving Shen Yuechuan a mysterious smile, she left.

nShen Yuechuan gazed at Xiao Yunyun’s carefree-looking back and gritted his teeth. “That woman!”

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