"He's gone. Well, he looks pretty decent, with great charisma. It's easier to think of him as a movie star rather than a doctor."
Ding Baoyi had commented this with a smile as she plopped her butts on the seat. Glancing at He Huaiguang standing to one side, she raised her brow as a sign of acknowledgment.
All of Yan Nian's attention was on the first sentence.
Jiang Beiyuan has left?
She hurried to the exit to take a look. There was no one. He was gone, truly.
For some unknown reasons, she was actually disappointed to know that he had left.
But… what did he come over for?
Back inside the shop, the lady in question could only go, face down, on the tabletop. For a long time, her face lay buried in her arms folded across the table.
From where her bestie sat, the only thing visible on her head was her hair bun.
Laughing teasingly, she probed, "Hey, what are you up to again? Are you missing your hubby now because you didn't catch him earlier?"
"You still have the cheek to make fun of me!"
She looked up abruptly and glared at her best friend.
"It's all your fault to suggest that I should offer my body to him openly!"
"So, what happened after that? Don't tell me you really offered yourself to him?"
"Yeah, I went to look for him. Turned out that there was someone else in the lounge as well. How embarrassing can that be?! I wish I could dig a hole to bury myself in!"
Pfft—
Her bestie almost spurted the mouthful of tea she just drank. Much amused, she said, "Sis, you are 22 years old already. Haven't you learned anything yet?"
"Hey! Let's not talk about that right now. Tell me, what should I do next to salvage my pride? Quick, give me some ideas!"
Her buddy merely shrugged her shoulders in resignation.
At the side, the man was also silent. Looking distracted, he seemed to be in deep thoughts with his brows furrowed.
The lady turned even more agitated at her buddies' lack of support. Gazing at Ding Baoyi, and then at He Huaiguang, she lamented, "You two, are you still my buddies? Yes?"
He Huaiguang shook himself out of his pondering and sighed. "I realized that I have to attend to something at home. I have to take my leave first."
He had been downcast since Ding Baoyi entered the shop.
Ding Baoyi sized him up for a bit, raising an eyebrow quizzically. "What happened to you?"
"Ignore him. You know he's always been like this, wishy-washy…"
The protagonist held the side of her cheeks with each hand. Her two eyebrows had turned into deep creases by now as she cried out to her bestie again. "What's more important is me right now! Me — me! You think of something for me, quick, or how am I gonna face him at home tonight?"
"Then you may as well avoid him. What's the big deal? Oh, right. I, your friend, am here to pass you a movie ticket."
She then took out a ticket from her bag and flicked it to her buddy.
"Blu-ray, 9D, HD giant screen. I'll see you tomorrow at 8 PM. My boyfriend will be there as well. The three of us will watch the movie together."
"You two go ahead. I'm not going to be a lightbulb!"
"Chey, we agreed that I'll introduce him to you at the right time. This is a good chance for you to get to know him."
With that, she left.
She still needed to work in the afternoon.
She was a sales manager in a 9-to-5 job, and her hours were not flexible like her good friend's.
He Huaiguang did not return to the shop, and Yan Nian was left to her own devices in the afternoon.
She had everything planned.
If Jiang Beiyuan was to inquire further on her proposition later, she would cook up a story about spouting nonsense when she was drunk earlier in the day.
That's right, this'll be my excuse!
Soon, it was evening, and she packed to get ready to close the shop.
The moment she stepped out of the door, she was taken aback.
The man whom she did not want to see was already waiting for her at the entrance.
Jiang Beiyuan was in a silvery gray shirt this time. With his sleeves rolled up midway, one of his hands was in the pocket while the other was holding onto his car key. He looked like he had just alighted from the vehicle.
His lively face was captured by the setting sun. The brilliant light seemed to highlight the softness between his eyes that made him so captivating.
He was here earlier at noon, too.
After he had finished his operation, and without bothering to remove his white coat, he'd quickly rushed over to check on her. He was able to go away, relieved, when he saw that she could cope with the situation.
Before this, he had already suspected that she was not that weak.
"You… Why are you here?!"
Her pitch rang shrill at the sight of him, much like a naughty student who was caught in the act by her form teacher.
"Can't I come over to pick you up from work? Get in."
His tone was deep and brassy. He drove his black Aston Martin and parked it on the opposite street.
She, without another word, took off and fled from him without warning.
"Hey—"
He was calling out behind her but she pretended not to hear him. Whatever excuses she had prepared at the back of her head had long slipped her mind.
And this was how it went. In the bustling and spacious streets, passers-by were treated to this scene:
The man with a tall and broad frame taking big strides in his long and slender legs, chasing after a petite lady who was desperately running away from him. Her hair bun had come undone by now.
What was comical about this scene was that no disparity could be observed between their speed. The one who was running was not any faster than the one who was walking.
Pong—
It was a disastrous sight to behold.
The one running in front tripped and fell on a piece of watermelon skin, landing ungracefully on the ground.