"What about your ex-girlfriend?"
"I lost her. She will never return, ever again."
The emotions she had been feeling abruptly ended then.
Yes.
The man in front of her treated her well and was gentle with her. He even helped to get her out of trouble.
But he had done all these just because she looked like his ex-girlfriend, and that was all.
"What kind of person is she?"
She'd suddenly blurted out the question, regretting it instantly. She wished she could just bite her tongue.
Jiang Beiyuan paused for a moment as he looked at her.
She smiled a little awkwardly. "I am sorry… I just thought about your ex-girlfriend earlier and wondered what kind of a person she is."
What kind of person was his ex-girlfriend?
Jiang Beiyuan's eyes were laced with a little mischief. He squinted his eyes at her with a teasing look.
"Her studies were atrocious, and her temper was bad."
Yan Nian was startled.
She originally thought that the lady Jiang Beiyuan was in love with would be an outstanding woman.
"That bad?"
"Yeah, but I like it very much."
Yan Nian: "…"
When he spoke, his smile was evident through the corners of his eyes.
This man was born with a handsome and defined face. His tender expression and warm radiance were to die for.
It was a pity that this gentleness was only reserved for someone else.
Yan Nian suddenly had the urge to meet Jiang Beiyuan's ex-girlfriend. She wanted to know if she really did look like her.
"Go home and stay there."
His words broke off her train of thought.
She raised her gaze as Jiang Beiyuan continued, "You have seen my house last time. If there's anything you are unsatisfied with, I can refurbish it."
"No, the house is great. I am satisfied."
"Glad that you are happy with it. So, come back and stay."
Yan Nian licked her lips as she kept silent.
Why did it feel like she had fallen into a trap?
She went back there that night.
She couldn't help but admit that the guest room was a lot better than the master bedroom.
The room had been tidied up by Jiang Beiyuan himself. It looked like a room fit for a princess.
During the first night of Yan Nian's stay, dinner had been prepared by Jiang Beiyuan.
He was still coughing a little as he had yet to fully recover from his cold.
"The soup I've cooked for you last time that was sent over by the courier, did you not drink it?"
She still dared to ask about it?
What kind of courier did she use? It took two days for the soup to arrive despite them being in the same city. By the time he had received it, the soup had soured. He could only throw it away.
"I drank it, it didn't work," he said blandly.
Yan Nian smiled. "I am no doctor, after all. I wouldn't be as professional as you. How could you fall sick despite being a doctor yourself?"
"Who set the rules that doctors can't fall ill?"
When he saw her rare smile, Jiang Beiyuan's mood lightened up significantly as he began to chat idly with her.
"Also, I specialize in internal thoracic cavity surgery, not general surgery."
"What's the difference?"
Yan Nian was unsure about the medical side of things.
Jiang Beiyuan glanced at her.
"The difference is huge. Come find me at the hospital one day, I will bring you around to have a look at the different surgeries."
"Ugh… I'll let you know again when I have time."
…
Yan Nian felt a slight change in her relationship with Jiang Beiyuan within a night.
However, this change was instantly destroyed the next morning by her mother, Ma Xueyan.
In the afternoon, Ma Xueyan had given Yan Nian a call. She was in a bad mood, clearly still hung up over what had happened in the store the day before.
"I don't care which friend of yours lent you the money, but you will come with me to a matchmaking tonight. I will send you the time and location later!"
"I'm very busy. I won't go!"
"I didn't ask for you to say yes or no! I've already taken the matchmaker's money, you have to go!"
With that, Ma Xueyan ended the call.
A while later, Yan Nian received a text. She immediately deleted it without even glancing at it.
At six in the evening, Ma Xueyan gave her a call once again. "Why aren't you there yet? You are making other people wait!"
"I said I won't go. Even if you are my mom, you can't force me to do something I don't like."
"Are you going against me? You think you are capable now, just because you opened a d*mn shop? If that's so, give me a million yuan right now and I will not bother you ever again!"
A million yuan was impossible.
She had just started her business and had yet to earn back the shop front money. Plus, she still owed Jiang Beiyuan two hundred thousand yuan. Where would she be able to find one million yuan?
However, she had witnessed Ma Xueyan's sharp and unkind behavior ever since her father's passing. Therefore, she was too lazy to answer her.
Ma Xueyan softened the tone of her voice in the end. "Just this once, why not head over and have a look? If you aren't happy, you can leave. I've already taken their money, it would really be shameful on our part if we do not turn up."
Before Yan Nian could even say a word, her mother had hung up the phone.
She reckoned that if she did not attend this session, Ma Xueyan would probably destroy her shop the next morning.
On the way over, Yan Nian suddenly noticed the goodness in Jiang Beiyuan.
At least, that man had never forced her to do something she didn't like.
He even sought her opinion when it came to going home, only heading back after she had agreed to it.
However, such a perfect man ultimately belonged to a better woman.
Moreover, between her and Jiang Beiyuan— they only took what they needed from the other. There were no feelings involved.
The other party wasn't there yet when she arrived at the Western restaurant. Yan Nian began to browse the news on her phone before she heard footsteps approaching her. She quickly raised her gaze. "I'm sorry, mister, but I'm already—"
The word "married" that hung at the tip of her tongue was quickly swallowed back down.