Jiaochen

Ji Qingying was wondering how Fu Yanzhi could say that in such a calm manner.

Her face turned red and she looked away unnaturally.

Sensing her silence Fu Yanzhi asked calmly, "You don't want me to eat it?"

Ji Qingying: “…”

Why are you making bogus accusations? This is bullying!!

"I didn't mean…" Ji Qingying trailed off as she took a small bite. "You're off today?"

“En.”

She smiled and was about to speak when her phone vibrated.

Chen Xingyu had sent her a message full of pictures of her with Rongxue.

Chen Xinyu: [Rong Xue and I decided to have some hot pot at home tonight. Are you coming back?]

Ji Qingying pondered, then turned her eyes towards Fu Yanzhi.

“What is it?”

“Xinyu and Rongxue said that they want to eat hot pot at home.”

She pursed her lower lip and looked at him. “Would you like to join us at my house?”

Fu Yanzhi seemed to ponder for a few seconds before he asked in a low voice, "You want to head home to eat?"

Hearing his question, Ji Qingying quickly said, "You don’t absolutely have to."

Listening to her anxious tone, Fu Yanzhi chuckled.

"Let's head back and then you can think of the reward you want."

Ji Qingying contemplated for a few seconds before agreeing.

Anyway, she will be spending more time with Fu Yanzhi from now on.

Also she had just won, she should not put her lover over her friends.

[TL/N: 重色轻友 idiom is being used here which basically means paying more attention to one’s lover than friends.]

But in the end, Fu Yanzhi did not eat with them .

When they had arrived at the entrance of the building, Fu Yanzhi had received a phone call saying that one of Xu Chengli's patients had gone into a critical state and asked him to come back to the hospital right away.

Therefore, Ji Qingying dared not delay him for even half a minute more and quickly got out of the car urging him to go.

Fu Yanzhi did not say too much and just bade her a few words. “Go inside and send me a message."

“Okay.”

Seeing the car lights disappearing from sight, Ji Qingying sighed helplessly.

Sigh! I never thought a doctor’s hectic schedule could be busier than I could have ever imagined.

As soon as she got out of the elevator, Ji Qingying smelled the aroma of food wafting out of her house.

She raised her brows in wonder and pressed the doorbell.

“Coming.”

It was Rongxue who came rushing to the door.

Upon seeing Ji Qingying she hugged her tight and exclaimed, “Sister Qingying! I missed you so much.”

Being caught off guard with the sudden enthusiastic greeting, Ji Qingying staggered back two steps before she regained her footing.

She broke into laughter and patted Rongxue on the shoulder, "Okay, I can see that."

Then she said, "Get off first. Your sister Qingying hasn't eaten for days. Now she doesn't have the strength to hold you."

“…Oh.”

Both of them entered the house.

Chen Xinyu who was looking at the two of them couldn’t help but ask, " Why does it look like you haven't seen each other for hundreds of years?"

Self-justified and confident, Rongxue replied with, “One day apart feels like three years.”

[TL/N: 理直气壮 is another idiom meaning to say something in an self-righteous and confident manner.]

She counted on her fingers and said, “Sister Qingying and I haven’t seen each other for so many days. It’s equal to not seeing each other for many years.”

Chen Xinyu rolled her eyes and deadpanned, “I don’t know about those many years of yours.”

Turning, she glanced towards the door and wondered, "Dr. Fu isn't coming?"

Ji Qingying nodded. “Something happened in the hospital at the last moment.”

Her attention turned towards the things on the table and she gave a slight glance before saying, “I will take a shower before eating.”

“We’ll wait for you then.”

After taking a shower and changing into more comfortable home-worn clothes, Ji Qingying felt that her tense nerves had finally relaxed.

And by a lucky coincidence, the hot pot, as well as the dishes that Rongxue made for them, were all ready.

“Come quickly and eat.”

“Okay.”

Ji Qingying sat down unceremoniously and immediately the smell and the aroma wafting off the table made her stomach growl.

“I'm so hungry.”

“I didn't eat for almost three days," she mumbled.

Speechless at hearing those words, Chen Xinyu picked up some food and put it on her dish saying, “Then you can eat more, but don’t eat too fast.”

“Okay.”

The gathering of three people was full of constant laughter.

Rongxue was like a class clown and after two years of work Chen Xinyu had also evolved into a person with the talent to speak with beautiful eloquence.

[TL/N: 舌灿莲花 is an idiom which quite simply means to be entertaining in one’s speech or a more broad way of saying it is, having the literary talent to speak eloquently.

Source: chinese stack exchange ]

The conversation between the pair was like cross talk and Ji Qingying kept listening overwhelmed with joy.

[Tl/N: cross talk – comic dialogue or art of chinese comedy]

The evening breeze drifted in from outside the window mixed with an unfamiliar scent.

Ji Qingying supported her chin and listened to the two talking, her heart was as warm as a boiling hot pot.

As they talked, Chen Xinyu suddenly said, “I want to drink wine.”

Ji Qingying said without hesitation, “Drink, some time ago a customer happened to send me some of her brew.”

Rongxue: “…”

She looked at the two people next to her and worried about the neighbors upstairs, downstairs and next door for some three full seconds.

Ji Qingying's capacity for liquor was good.

Chen Xinyu was relatively poor, but it was not too bad.

Of course, this was not the main point. The point was that whenever these two drank, the two would go crazy.

Rongxue remembered clearly that last time Chen Xinyu had gone to Jiangcheng to look for Ji Qingying. They had ended up getting drunk in a street shop.

She and Xiao Shuang had to bring them back together with tears in their eyes.

Ji Qingying was still a bit manageable. When she was drunk, she would be soft and coquettish, wanting to eat sweets and go to the zoo.

Chen Xinyu, on the other hand, would get totally crazy when she got drunk and somehow she could sing everything.

In the end everything about their drunk state was annoying to others.

~~~~~~~~~

Fu Yanzhi returned to the hospital and gave the patient an emergency check up.

Something had gone wrong with the patient who had gotten a heart bypass surgery.

Fortunately, the situation was not too serious.

By the time Fu Yanzhi’s checked up had finished and the patient’s condition was stabilized Xu Chengli had finally arrived.

He glanced at the suitcase that Xu Chengli had placed at his feet and asked with a raised eyebrow, “Just got out of the car?”

Xu Cheng Li nodded. "I'll go have a sip of water first."

Originally, he wouldn’t have been back until tomorrow.

Today was the last day of the study exchange. As soon as it was over, he saw a message in the department group chat about the patient’s condition.

At that moment, Xu Chengli didn’t hesitate even a minute longer, directly asked for a transfer to an earlier flight and came back.

He was relieved that Fu Yanzhi had taken over for his own patients, but after all, it was an operation he had personally done, and for good reason, it made sense for him to have come back earlier.

What’s more, today was Fu Yanzhi’s day off.

After drinking a large glass of water, Xu Chengli looked at him. “What’s the patient’s current state?”

Fu Yanzhi helplessly stated, “Discomfort caused by strenuous exercise.”

Xu Chengli: “…”

He nodded, expressing clearly, “Then I will go and take a look. You can go home and rest.”

“No need, I am on duty tonight.”

Xu Chengli smiled and patted his shoulder. “Thank you, but there is no need.”

He said, “I am on duty tonight, and I can have one day off tomorrow. You have to go to work tomorrow.”

He raised his chin and said, “If you don’t take a rest, how can I rest assured and hand over my patient to you?”

Fu Yanzhi: “…”